WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 147: Nightmare on the 11th Floor (1)

──────

"...Me?"

I pointed at myself.

"That ability of yours. What do you think its origin is?"

"I don't know either. I've told you that more than once."

If anyone knew, I'd like them to tell me.

Well, it wasn't as if I'd ever been particularly curious about it or given it much thought.

The Demon King spoke.

"The Tower is an incomprehensible being. It is feared precisely because it cannot be understood."

"That's true."

"Then perhaps you, too, are such an existence to the Tower."

I scratched my chin.

So...

Was the Tower so intent on keeping me in check because it couldn't figure out my ability and was afraid of it? Did it want to get rid of me as soon as possible?

"No way."

It didn't sound very convincing.

What could I possibly mean to a seemingly all-powerful being like the Tower?

It was only time stop, and I couldn't even move while using it.

"Whatever the case, the way the Tower treats you is undeniably obsessive to a bizarre extent."

The Demon King jerked his chin.

"There is something about you. That unknown power, for one, but your mind as well."

"What about my mind?"

"The time you spent on the eighth floor and in the Mindscape. Do you truly believe a mere human could endure the passage of so much time with their sanity intact?"

...Was that so?

Didn't it just mean I had a lot of patience?

"But you held out well too, Demon King."

"Am I the same as you?"

The Demon King clicked his tongue.

"At any rate, that Sage fellow must have had a reason to place his hopes in you. He even gave you something, despite exposing the fact that he had been beyond the Tower's influence."

At his words, I looked down at my palm.

The Sage.

I still didn't know what exactly the Sage had given me.

Wasn't this normally the kind of thing that awakened during a crisis?

How many life-or-death situations had I faced since the hidden stage on the seventh floor? Tch.

I raised my head and asked, "You're counting on me too, just like the Sage, aren't you?"

That was why he listened to everything I said and cooperated without complaint.

Of course, if I died, the Demon King would die too, and we'd agreed that I'd give him freedom from time to time.

Still, compared to before, he had practically become as meek as a lamb.

The Demon King scoffed, but he didn't deny it.

Seri's words suddenly came to mind.

"Don't trust him too much. He's an existence who has accumulated an immeasurable amount of karma through slaughter."

What kind of being had the Demon King been in his world?

Had he been as cruel as the name Demon King suggested? Just as Seri had warned?

Honestly, I didn't care that much.

I'd known he was evil from the moment he first took over my body...

No matter how much evil karma the Demon King had accumulated, we were tied together now. We couldn't separate even if we wanted to.

His power had been an enormous help in climbing the Tower, and for now, that was enough.

To prevent the destruction of my world, clearing Nightmare difficulty was the only thing I needed to focus on.

"Since everyone has such high hopes for me, I guess I'll have to work even harder."

I summoned my sword again and pointed it at the Demon King.

"Let's start training again."

I had to go hard until it was time to enter the eleventh floor.

* * *

Radiant Incarnation came off cooldown, and two more days passed.

It was about time to prepare for the eleventh floor.

The Epic-grade skill enhancement stones I'd received by defeating the Zone 6 through Zone 10 bosses.

I used the Epic skill enhancement stones to upgrade Weak Point Insight.

After thinking it over, I eventually used the two Epic+ skill enhancement stones on Elemental Arrow Barrage.

I figured it would be better to upgrade a skill with a short cooldown and lots of projectiles than one with a single powerful attack.

I already had more than enough maximum firepower, and I also had Hellfire Eruption.

As expected, Elemental Arrow Barrage gained ten additional arrows with each upgrade.

After two upgrades, it now fired thirty arrows. The number had grown absurdly high.

[Difficulty: Nightmare]

[Floor: 11th Floor]

[Level: 127]

[Willpower: 8,710/8,710]

[Skills: Radiant Incarnation (Legendary+), Elemental Arrow Barrage (Epic+)(+2), Destruction Beam (Epic+), Weak Point Insight (Epic)(+3), Hellfire Eruption (Epic)(+1), Subspace (Epic), Air Step (Epic), Finger-Flick Art (Epic)...]

That was my current setup.

I'd also obtained a huge number of boss items, so I felt well prepared.

All right, should I go?

"I'll be back."

"All right... Be careful, Seo-hyeon."

After saying my final goodbyes to my family, who looked as worried as ever...

[Would you like to enter the 11th floor of Nightmare difficulty?]

I immediately entered the eleventh floor.

.

.

.

The theme of the eleventh floor could be described as a dungeon-exploration RPG.

The objective was to overcome the various monsters and traps in the dungeon and find treasure chests.

Why was it called an RPG?

Because I'd heard that once you entered the eleventh floor, you started by choosing a class, like changing classes in a game.

Warrior, Mage, Priest, Archer.

There were four classes.

You also received buffs based on your class's traits.

For example, in Hard difficulty...

[Warrior]

The effects of Physical-Type skills increase by 10%.

[Mage]

The effects of Magic-Type skills increase by 10%.

[Priest]

The effects of skills with healing and stat-enhancing effects increase by 30%.

[Archer]

Damage dealt to enemies from 5 meters or farther away increases by 30%.

That was how it worked.

Of course, the buffs differed depending on the difficulty.

For instance, the Warrior class in Easy difficulty increased skill effects by as much as 50%, while Hard difficulty only gave a measly 10%.

Even with buffs like that, the eleventh floor was said to feel considerably difficult.

What would Nightmare difficulty be like?

It was time to find out.

[You have entered the 11th floor of Nightmare difficulty.]

The instant I entered, I stopped time.

Then I checked the information before me.

I was inside a crystal cave with walls glowing blue.

A massive stone gate stood ahead, while five branching paths stretched behind me.

The moment I released time stop...

A series of messages appeared before my eyes.

It was the class list.

[Warrior]

Only Physical-Type skills can be used.

[Mage]

Only Magic-Type skills can be used.

[Priest]

Only skills with healing and stat-enhancing effects can be used. Skill effects increase by 10%.

[Archer]

Damage dealt to enemies within 10 meters is reduced by 99%.

"...?"

What was this?

Something was off.

I stopped time again and carefully read through the class descriptions.

'These aren't class buffs...'

They were class debuffs.

It was ridiculous.

While the other difficulties gave advantages based on a class's traits...

Nightmare difficulty gave penalties based on those same traits.

Warriors could only use Physical-Type skills, while Mages could only use Magic-Type skills.

Of course it was Nightmare!

It played by completely different rules!

I looked through them one by one again.

Priests could only use skills with healing and stat-enhancing effects...

Aside from Rapid Regeneration and physical-enhancement passives like Enhancement, nearly all my skills would be blocked.

That 10% increase was a completely meaningless attempt at balance.

Archers had their damage reduced by 99% when attacking from within 10 meters.

It was basically the same as losing all damage from close-range attacks.

'It has to be Mage.'

The answer was obvious.

My main skills were Magic-Type skills, after all.

Archer didn't prohibit skills entirely...

But the range penalty was too severe.

It meant I'd have to fight every enemy from at least 10 meters away.

Without much hesitation, I decided to choose Mage and released time stop.

Then...

[Your class is being decided.]

A holographic roulette suddenly appeared along with that message.

"Huh?"

I froze for a moment before understanding what was happening.

...Fuck.

Not only did I not get a choice, but it was random too?

Whirrrr-

A roulette wheel bearing the four words Warrior, Mage, Priest, and Archer began to spin.

I stared at it while swearing internally.

The trauma from the fourth floor came rushing back.

Was it really going to start like this? Was this another goddamn RNG garbage game?

'I'm screwed if it lands on Priest.'

Priest was the absolute worst.

All my skills would be blocked, and I'd only be able to use things like Rapid Regeneration.

If I get Priest, this is seriously rigged, you Tower bastard. I won't accept it.

The roulette gradually slowed.

As I watched it tensely...

"...!"

Something occurred to me, and I took every item and object out of Subspace.

If Magic-Type skills were blocked, I wouldn't be able to use Subspace either.

After pulling everything out in a rush, I checked the roulette's result.

The needle of the slowly stopping wheel pointed to...

[Your class has been set to 'Warrior'.]

[Warrior]

Only Physical-Type skills can be used.

"...Whew."

I let out a breath.

At least I'd avoided the worst outcome.

Still, it wasn't the best result either, so my expression couldn't help but stiffen.

[Only Physical-Type skills can be used.]

A message appeared when I tried to use Subspace.

Having Magic-Type skills blocked was a pretty big problem.

More than anything, I couldn't use Radiant Incarnation. My trump card had been sealed.

I could still use the Demon King's power since it wasn't a skill...

It couldn't be helped.

When had Nightmare difficulty ever been easy?

"Let's do this."

My mind settled down quickly, and I started putting on the items scattered across the floor.

There were so many once I laid them all out.

Had I gotten too used to Subspace?

I was reminded once again of how incredibly convenient an inventory was.

I put on all the accessories, such as bracelets and rings. I stuffed things like the music box and the Mist Monster King's Pearl into a sling bag, then secured it tightly against my body.

I piled all the water and food in a corner of the cave.

Finally, with the Sword of Heaven's Gatekeeper in one hand, I began exploring the dungeon.

"Hmm..."

I examined the enormous stone gate first.

I hadn't heard that other difficulties had a stone gate like this.

Their clearing condition was simply to find the treasure chests hidden inside the dungeon.

There was a large keyhole in the center of the stone gate.

It was clearly meant to be opened with a key.

Kraaaak!

I tried touching the stone gate with the Sword of Heaven's Gatekeeper's Heavenly Aura.

Even with ten times the power of ordinary aura, it didn't leave so much as a scratch on the door.

Well, it was obviously an indestructible object.

I turned around.

Five branching paths.

For now, the most likely course was to find a key in one of those paths and use it to open the stone gate.

Wouldn't there be a treasure chest hidden beyond it?

Without much thought, I decided to start with the path on the far right.

As I entered the passage, the blue crystal walls changed to gray crystals.

"...?"

Huh.

I found a treasure chest.

As I went farther in, a single treasure chest sat all by itself.

Well, that couldn't mean I'd already cleared the eleventh floor...

Naturally, it had to be a trap or a dud.

I slowly approached the chest.

Sixth Sense didn't react.

It was a wooden treasure chest with a keyhole.

I tapped it a few times with the Sword of Heaven's Gatekeeper, still wrapped in aura.

It didn't even leave a scratch. As expected, it was an indestructible object.

It looked like I'd need to find a key to open it...

That was when I heard a loud noise deeper inside the passage.

The sound drew closer, and I soon saw what it was.

A swarm of bats.

They were the size of ordinary bats, but there seemed to be hundreds of them.

I reflexively tried to use Searing Zone... Right, it was blocked.

I activated Skin Hardening.

Since I couldn't simply use a skill to wipe them out, I'd have to deal with them all with my sword.

Just as I was about to swing at the swarm of bats approaching right in front of me...

"...!"

I paused and immediately deactivated my aura.

The moment I tried to attack the bats, Sixth Sense sent out a powerful warning.

'Do they self-destruct?'

The exploding undead from the third floor immediately came to mind.

Maybe these things were similar.

Flap flap flap flap flap...!

The bats filled my vision and began flying rapidly around me.

I calmly looked over the bats.

Then I suddenly noticed something.

There was one white bat mixed in among the black bats.

What was that thing?

I decided to try attacking the white bat.

Unlike the other bats, it didn't make Sixth Sense sound an alarm.

...It seemed I needed to kill that one.

The white bat was noticeably faster than the others.

I stayed still and waited.

If I even bumped into the bats too hard, they might all explode one after another.

I simply watched the white bat until it shot past me like a bullet.

Swish!

I thrust out my sword.

Without touching the other bats, I precisely pierced one of the white bat's wings.

The countless hours I'd spent training in the Mindscape hadn't been for nothing.

The white bat, its wing torn off, fell to the ground.

I didn't kill it right away because of what I'd learned from the Golden Monkey.

As I picked up and examined the struggling white bat...

I found something gleaming inside its mouth.

I pulled it out, and it was a key.

Footnotes:

Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried