WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 137: Joint Battle (3)

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"Everyone, attention! Let's get into formation!"

Before Round 2 began, Robert stepped up and began directing the Climbers.

Based on the attack patterns and strength of the Round 1 monsters, he assigned positions according to level range.

The core sat right in the center of the Zone 0 portal. They had to surround it, not too spread out and not too tightly packed, and stop the monsters from getting through.

"Climbers in the Level 10 range can stay on the inside! Don't push yourselves. Just take down the monsters you can handle, so don't leave!"

Shin Su-jin also spoke with Clara and the other Security Force members so they could coordinate their movements.

Things had gone in a direction none of them wanted, but now that it had started, they had to do everything they could to hold the line.

To keep the core from losing any Health.

[Round 2 has begun.]

A message appeared.

'About ten minutes.'

It seemed they were given around ten minutes of rest between rounds.

"All right, let's go!"

"Let's wipe out Round 2 too!"

A few people shouted, and the other Climbers responded.

Round 1 had ended easily enough that morale was still high.

Shin Su-jin looked toward the monsters pouring out of the forest again.

Werewolves, lions with scorpion tails, Cyclopes carrying axes...

There were more types of monsters than in Round 1. Overall, they were bigger too.

The Climbers and monsters collided.

Once again, the high-level Climbers stopped the charge from the front.

Grrroooar!

Shin Su-jin cut through the leg of a Cyclops charging straight at her, throwing off its balance before bringing her sword down on its neck.

The impact jolted through her hand. At that moment, a werewolf leaped past her side.

Before Shin Su-jin could move, Clara smashed its head apart with a mace wrapped in an aura skill.

There wasn't even time to look away. Shin Su-jin immediately moved to stop the other monsters.

They had to use skills now. The monsters had become far stronger.

The other Climbers were fighting desperately amid the chaos too.

"Urgh...!"

"Hold them! Stop that side first!"

As Shin Su-jin swung her greatsword, she gradually realized something was wrong.

No, perhaps she should call it certainty. She had already suspected it.

The other Climbers probably felt the same way. The gap in difficulty between Rounds 1 and 2 was far bigger than they had expected.

And this was only Round 2. There were still four more rounds after this.

Robert, too, wore a grim expression as he darted about, killing monsters.

The Climbers in their Levels 50s and 60s, including Robert, were holding back the area where the monster density was highest...

But it was becoming harder and harder for the Climbers to stop monsters rushing in from every direction.

In the end, near the very end of the round, a gap opened up.

"...!"

Several monsters had nearly reached the core on the opposite side.

"H-huaaagh!"

Faced with the charge of those enormous monsters, a low-level Climber on the inside went pale and immediately left.

Shin Su-jin pulled her sword from a monster's head and launched herself forward.

Whoosh!

She linked a jumping skill with a descent skill, landing as she drove her sword into the lion monster's head.

Then she swung her sword sideways and cut a werewolf in two with one blow, but...

Boom!

In that brief gap, a Cyclops managed to strike the core with its fist.

[99,999,891/100,000,000]

The core's depleted Health.

Robert came racing in right after and blew the Cyclops' head apart.

[Round 2 has ended.]

They dealt with the remaining monsters, and Round 2 ended.

[Round 2 Result: 99,999,891/100,000,000]

[A total of 109 non-Climbers will die at random.]

[Round 3 will begin shortly.]

The Climbers fell silent as they looked at the result.

Clara, still catching her breath, looked around with a dark expression.

"...I told you so. Did none of you realize this would happen?"

Her gaze turned to Robert.

"It's already this bad. What are you going to do? There are still four rounds left, you know?"

"...Only one got through. We just need to hold them better from here on."

Shin Su-jin stopped Clara before she could lose her temper and start swearing.

She was furious too, but now wasn't the time for them to fight among themselves.

Until it was over, they all had to work together.

The Climbers' morale had dropped, and injuries were starting to pile up. Some of the injured and low-level Climbers gave up and left.

'If only I'd been a little faster...'

Shin Su-jin clenched her fist, weighed down by guilt over the 109 people who had died.

Just how many more people would die before Round 6?

If all 100 million died...

What was most despairing was that it already felt like a predetermined future.

[Round 3 has begun.]

* * *

[A total of 109 non-Climbers will die at random.]

After the message saying 109 people had died appeared.

I couldn't calm down and kept pacing around the room.

What I could infer so far was this.

The Climbers on Floor 5 were engaged in some kind of round-based battle.

And after every round, ordinary people died based on the result...

[Round 2 Result: 99,999,891/100,000,000]

Looking at that number.

It seemed that as many as 100 million people could die. Just like during the Masked Auction.

'How many rounds are there?'

I had no idea how many were left.

The most fucked-up part was that even if I knew, there was nothing I could do.

"Whew..."

Breaking news began pouring in, and the Communication Window was in an uproar.

I kept going in and out of it for no reason when...

"...!"

I spotted a post at the center of the commotion and quickly read it.

It had been written by someone who had been dragged into the Joint Battle and had just left Floor 5.

[Starfish: I almost died fighting, so I left. We have to protect the core from the monsters...]

The summary was this.

1. The Joint Battle involved protecting the core from monsters rushing in from Zone 0.

2. The number 100 million was the core's Health, and non-Climbers died in numbers equal to the Health it lost.

3. They could choose up to Round 6, and because the Round 6 reward was curse immunity for every Climber, the Climbers had voted to go for Round 6.

4. Climbers could leave in the middle of the battle.

5. Non-Climbers who died would not become Fallen.

"...Ah, seriously."

My head began to spin.

Curse immunity for every Climber.

That was the special reward I'd been offered during the isolation zone incident.

This time, the Tower had offered that reward to the other Climbers.

I'd warned them so clearly, and yet...

Why the hell couldn't they understand? Why?

[Viper: Curse immunity for all Climbers? Is that for real?]

[Tering: If that's true, isn't that fucking amazing? Doesn't it mean Climbers won't die even after the deadline runs out?]

[Biyeon: Can they make it through Round 6? Only 100 got taken off in Round 2, so doesn't that mean there's a chance?]

[Chess: You crazy bastards. The problem is that we don't know how many more people are going to die.]

[Flamingo: What's done is done. We should be cheering them on.]

I turned off the Communication Window, which had become a complete mess, and rubbed my face.

I knew the Tower.

I could say that I knew it better than anyone.

I could see the future clearly. They would never succeed.

One hundred million people.

An absurd number of people were going to die.

A chill ran through my chest. My family might be among them.

"..."

Call it intuition if you wanted.

But at this timing, it felt like that bastard would...

I lowered my hand from my face.

A message was floating before my eyes.

[The Tower proposes a deal to 'Person123'.]

[If 'Person123' accepts the following contract, they will immediately gain the right to participate in the 'Joint Battle'.]

[Contract Details]

- Once the contract is formed, the Tower will open all areas of Floor 5 through Zone 10 and cause the bosses of Zones 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 to appear.

- From the moment the 'Joint Battle' ends, 'Person123' must defeat all bosses in Zones 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 within one hour.

[If the contract is not fulfilled, 'Person123' will be permanently barred from entering Nightmare difficulty.]

[If 'Person123' wishes to accept the proposal, express your intent to accept.]

"Ha."

I immediately stopped time.

Had this been its plan from the start?

It had isolated me so I couldn't interfere, and now it was offering me that as the price of its proposal?

It wasn't surprising anymore, but wasn't this far too petty?

I read the Tower's proposal.

The terms were strange too.

Open all the remaining zones on Floor 5, then defeat all the bosses within an hour...?

- Don't accept it.

The Demon King's voice reached me.

After thinking it over, I said, '...Don't you think it's worth trying?'

Even the boss of Zone 10 should only be around Level 200, shouldn't it?

If I used Radiant Incarnation and borrowed the Demon King's power.

I didn't think it would take even a minute, let alone ten, to kill five bosses.

...Of course, I knew.

If it were that easy, the Tower wouldn't have made this offer.

- If you know that, then give up. And forget the other zones, do not take the boss of Zone 10 so lightly.

'...Even with your power, Demon King, it would be difficult?'

- It was not easy even when I had my original body. You will face a different kind of boss, but its rank should be roughly similar.

The Demon King was saying that?

Was the Zone 10 boss much stronger than a Level 200 monster?

- It is absurd. If the Tower is going this far, it has made up its mind.

'...'

- Do you understand, you foolish brat? Stop entertaining pointless thoughts.

The Demon King, who had read my mind, tried to persuade me.

- To begin with, it was a miracle that no one had died under the Tower's rules up until now. All the way to Floor 10.

'It wasn't as if nobody had died...'

- Give up on a hundred million. That is only around one hundredth of this world's population.

'Demon King.'

I let out a hollow laugh inwardly.

'I really don't want to do this either.'

- ...Tch.

'I don't have a choice.'

There were six rounds in total. Four remained.

I had no expectation at all that the Climbers on Floor 5 would pull this off.

I had no idea how many people would die in the next three rounds.

There was an extremely high chance they would fail to protect the core in the end and all 100 million would die.

The number alone was bad enough...

But if my family happened to be among them, there would be no taking it back.

I hated this too, but I had no choice except to accept. It was unavoidable bullshit.

...Since I was taking it anyway, I might as well look on the bright side.

If I succeeded, I would get all the rewards up through the Zone 10 boss in one go.

Maybe I'd get a Legendary-grade skill, or an item of that level.

And since Zone 10 seemed to be the final zone, there would be no reason to waste more time on Floor 5. If I succeeded, that was.

Yeah, you bastard.

Let's see who wins.

['Person123' accepts the Tower's proposal, and the contract is formed.]

As soon as I resumed time, I accepted the proposal.

The proposal had been a global announcement, so my family must have seen it too.

The outside grew noisy, then my door flew open.

"Seo-hyeon...!"

My mother, father, and younger sibling stood there with shocked expressions.

I smiled and left them with one sentence.

"I'm sorry. I'll take care of everything and be right back."

[Would you like to enter Floor 5?]

I took a mask from Subspace and put it on.

Then I entered Floor 5 immediately.

* * *

Round 3 began.

"Curse immunity is waiting for us! The core has only lost 100 Health so far!"

Robert shouted to encourage the Climbers.

Their morale had taken a hit, but the Climbers still burned with fighting spirit.

But then.

"What the...?"

They had no choice but to panic at the sight of monsters whose numbers seemed to have at least doubled.

The battle began.

Stronger monsters, greater numbers. It was a far fiercer fight than Round 2.

The monsters charged straight for the core like berserkers, and the Climbers desperately tried to stop them.

But the defensive line was breached almost immediately.

Even the high-level Climbers quickly reached their limits against the overwhelming numbers.

Shin Su-jin was holding back monsters on the edge of the formation when she saw the left side being breached one after another and hurried inward.

No matter how many they killed, the monsters mindlessly pushed forward.

Shin Su-jin swung her greatsword clad in an aura skill like mad, but she was gradually forced back toward the core.

The other Climbers nearby gave up and fled.

Even Clara, who had been fighting beside Shin Su-jin, finally pulled back and shouted.

"Shin Su-jin! What are you doing!"

If she didn't retreat, she would be crushed to death.

But if she did, the monsters would attack the core.

Shin Su-jin knew it was already hopeless, but she stubbornly held the line until the end.

That was when it happened.

[The Tower proposes a deal to 'Person123'.]

[If 'Person123' accepts the following contract, they will immediately gain the right to participate in the 'Joint Battle'.]

.

.

.

[If the contract is not fulfilled, 'Person123' will be permanently barred from entering Nightmare difficulty.]

[If 'Person123' wishes to accept the proposal, express your intent to accept.]

The messages appeared before every Climber at once.

'What...'

Shin Su-jin had no time to care about them.

Clang!

A four-armed ogre struck her side.

"Urk...!"

Shin Su-jin sucked in a breath and was forced back right in front of the core.

Monsters rushed in at the same time.

['Person123' accepts the Tower's proposal, and the contract is formed.]

That was the moment.

Fwoooosh!

A massive pillar of fire rose before Shin Su-jin's eyes.

The monsters vanished without a trace.

For a moment, Shin Su-jin blankly stared at the scene before turning her head to the side.

"...Ah."

And she saw him.

A man wearing a mask, though she had no idea when he had appeared.

When he casually flicked his arm...

Flames exploded in every direction and melted the monsters pushing in from all sides in an instant.

Footnotes:

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