WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 150: Help (1)

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[The 11th floor has been cleared on all difficulties.]

[The Tower is calling new entrants.]

I was moved to the reward room.

The moment I arrived, my clothes and all my destroyed items were restored.

More urgently than anything else, I reached up and felt the top of my head.

"Phew."

Thankfully, my hair had been perfectly restored too.

Even though I knew it would grow back, I'd still been worried.

After putting all the scattered items into Subspace...

I immediately checked my rewards.

There was one Epic skill stone and one Epic skill enhancement stone.

[Skill: Life Devourer (Epic)]

Creates a barrier within a 10-meter radius. Absorbs the vitality of targets that die within the barrier. Requires three minutes of concentration to cast.

Type: Magic-Type

Willpower Cost: 60 per second

Cooldown: 1 minute

It was a Magic-Type skill.

Life Devourer.

It seemed to be a field-type skill like Searing Zone, and it consumed Willpower per second.

I felt like I'd seen a similar skill a loooong time ago...

That was after clearing the hidden stage on the first floor. Was it Life Absorption?

It felt like an upgraded version of that skill.

If it was called Life Absorption, it probably restored health or healed injuries.

I'd find out once I used it myself.

I decided to test it later.

[You have learned 'Skill: Life Devourer (Epic).']

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

Weak Point Insight was now at +4.

One more upgrade, and I'd gain an upper-tier Epic+ skill.

'I really got a lot out of Weak Point Insight this time.'

It had helped when I took down the Golem Knights, and it had also let me find the boss's weak point right away at the end.

Compared to the other floors, I cleared the 11th floor without facing any major danger.

Weak Point Insight wasn't the only thing that helped. The Zone boss items had been a huge help too.

Especially if I hadn't had poison resistance and the Sea Dragon's Ruyi Pearl, things might've gotten really bad in the boss room. Luckily, the match-up had worked out well.

Then again, I'd endured all that bullshit and defeated every Zone boss to gather all the rewards...

The 11th floor should at least be easy to clear.

Of course, the Tower had no conscience to begin with.

[Difficulty: Nightmare]

[Floor: 12th Floor]

[Level: 137]

[Willpower: 10,080/10,080]

[Skills: Radiant Incarnation (Legendary+), Elemental Arrow Barrage (Epic+)(+2), Destruction Beam (Epic+), Weak Point Insight (Epic)(+4), Hellfire Eruption (Epic)(+1), Subspace (Epic), Air Step (Epic), Finger-Flick Art (Epic), Life Devourer (Epic)...]

[Nightmare]

Participants: 973,617

Time Limit: 3 years 351 days 4 hours 29 minutes 11 seconds

Highest Floor Reached: 12th Floor

After organizing my rewards, I checked my status window.

The Nightmare time limit had now increased to four years.

My Willpower had also passed 10,000 before I knew it.

It had already passed 10,000 with the effect of Rosalia's Necklace applied, though.

[Remaining Lifespan: 284 days 20 hours 42 minutes 39 seconds]

I checked the broken scale's Remaining Lifespan too.

285 days.

Not that there was any point in checking it every time.

I put the broken scale back into Subspace.

[Would you like to leave the Tower?]

Anyway, I'd safely cleared the 11th floor too.

It had taken quite a while, so my family was probably worried.

I left immediately.

* * *

After Person123 issued a severe warning through the Communication Window...

Most Climbers and Climber organizations started keeping their heads down.

At a time when governments across the world were busy strengthening sanctions against Climbers, the Association, which normally would've thrown a fit, remained silent.

It only released a formal, surface-level statement saying it hoped proper legal punishment would be carried out against the Climbers who had endangered countless lives.

There were also certain famous Climber influencers who claimed they were the chosen new humanity or openly displayed a sense of superiority by saying Climbers were better than non-Climbers.

Some of them had probably made deliberately extreme statements for attention.

Still, it was a funny sight watching their old social media posts disappear one after another.

Person123's warning hadn't only been aimed at the Climbers who participated in the Joint Battle. It had been aimed at all Climbers.

Who could've imagined that Person123, humanity's savior, would come out this aggressively?

Many Climbers were reading the room. The atmosphere was unusual, and if they defied Person123, they might really die.

Rumors had even begun spreading.

That the Climbers who chose Round 6 during the Joint Battle were disappearing one by one.

No one knew if it was really true.

Ordinary people, of course, worshipped Person123 even more fiercely.

The curse immunity reward had only been given to Climbers.

People couldn't help but feel anxious as Climbers' position grew increasingly dominant.

Then Person123 stepped forward and gave a powerful warning.

The strongest Climber and humanity's savior was protecting ordinary people.

There was nothing they could do but worship Person123.

[The 11th floor has been cleared on all difficulties.]

[The Tower is calling new entrants.]

News that Nightmare's 11th floor had been cleared soon followed.

It had only been about ten days since the 10th floor was cleared.

Person123 was still clearing Nightmare at an incredible pace.

[Tero: Kya! The 11th floor clear is out!]

[Destruction: They're clearing it at a seriously terrifying speed... Are they determined to make sure they never run short on time like they did on the 8th floor?]

[Explorer: I can only praise you. Person123! Person123! Person123! Person123! Person123! Person123!...]

Elsewhere, somewhere in the forest of Zone 1 on the fifth floor, Taylor stared at the person waiting for her with a stiff expression.

Ye Tianwei smiled and greeted her.

"Welcome, Taylor."

Taylor approached, raising her guard even further.

Ye Tianwei was China's representative Nightmare Climber.

They had run into each other by chance a few times and spoken before, but they weren't close enough to meet privately like this. There was no reason for it.

Ye Tianwei looked around casually.

"I'm always happy to speak with you, but we could've met at Drake's Restaurant. Why did you call me to such a secluded place?"

Taylor was the one who had called him here today.

They had exchanged Communication Window nicknames before, so she knew how to contact him.

She had called him because there was something she had to ask.

Taylor got straight to the point.

"Was it you?"

Ye Tianwei asked in response to the sudden question.

"What do you mean?"

"John Davis. Daniel Moore."

The two were Climbers from the Security Force.

They had also been identified as people who chose Round 6 during the Joint Battle.

Those two had gone missing on the fifth floor not long ago.

Taylor believed they were already dead.

She was also half certain about who had killed them.

Ye Tianwei nodded.

"I took care of them."

He admitted it so readily that it was almost unsettling.

Taylor glared at him.

"...Why would you do that?"

Taylor didn't care whether the Black Star Society's Climbers lived or died.

That was their business.

But killing even Climbers affiliated with the Security Force was an entirely different matter.

Ye Tianwei smiled and asked in return.

"I heard the Security Force already expelled them. If that's the case, don't you think there's no reason to care what happens to them anymore?"

"That doesn't mean you get to kill them."

"What's the difference? The Security Force is too soft. That's why I stepped in. Don't you think so too, Taylor?"

"...Their punishment was still under discussion. Once the review was complete, they would've been punished legally."

"That's exactly what I mean by soft."

Ye Tianwei shook his head.

"Vermin that can't understand a warning even after that person personally gave one. A blight on humanity that offers no help at all on that person's path of salvation."

"..."

"They deserve to be purged. This is all I can do for now, after all. So I can be even the slightest help to that person."

Taylor flinched at those words.

"Don't you agree, Taylor? With this Joint Battle, that person dealt with every Zone boss up through Zone 10. It's a truly unbelievable achievement."

Ye Tianwei's smile vanished as his gaze met hers.

"That person must've received all the boss rewards too. There is nothing left for that person to gain on the fifth floor now. Us hunting monsters and filling the Zone gauges no longer means anything either."

As if he had said everything he wanted to say, Ye Tianwei walked past Taylor.

"Instead of calling me out to discuss such trivial matters, shouldn't you be doing something? I'd like to ask you something too, Taylor. How do you plan to help that person from now on?"

"...I..."

Taylor couldn't answer. She watched his back as he walked away.

She stood there blankly for a long time, unable to move.

* * *

Taylor didn't drink alcohol.

Even if she focused entirely on training to clear the Tower, it still wouldn't be enough. How could she have time to drink?

She wasn't someone who enjoyed drinking to begin with, but it was the same with other things too.

Taylor normally didn't allow herself any leisure time.

"Haah..."

For someone like her to sit alone at a bar and sip alcohol was unusual.

Max and the other Climber Bureau employees would've rubbed their eyes and looked again if they saw her.

Taylor put down her whiskey glass and lowered her head.

She had too much on her mind.

Her already troubled thoughts had become even more tangled after her conversation with Ye Tianwei.

‘I'd like to ask you something too, Taylor. How do you plan to help that person from now on?’

Taylor wished someone would tell her. What exactly was she supposed to do?

As Ye Tianwei had said, hunting monsters on the fifth floor no longer helped Person123.

No, had it ever helped in the first place?

Person123 had filled several dozen percentage points of Zone 5's gauge alone in an instant.

Taylor was still stuck on the seventh floor of Nightmare, so she couldn't even serve as a backup.

Person123 had already cleared as far as the 11th floor.

She was still preparing to clear the seventh floor with the government's and Climber Bureau's support, but her chance of success remained extremely slim.

...Was doing something like Ye Tianwei really the only way she could help?

Taylor couldn't deny it.

She raised the whiskey glass again.

Her superhuman body, past level 60, refused to get drunk easily.

Taylor drank bottle after bottle of strong whiskey until she was drunk.

Then she suddenly opened the Communication Window.

Part of her wanted to ask Person123 directly... what she should do.

She pressed the spot between her brows and closed the Communication Window again.

She hadn't lost her mind enough to do something like that.

She drank again. Today, she just wanted to drink.

.

.

.

"...Mmh."

Taylor woke up and sat up.

She was in bed. She remembered getting drunk and coming home.

Frowning, she tried to piece together more of her memories...

Then she remembered something that should not have existed and hurriedly opened the Communication Window.

[Squirrel: What am I supposed to do? No matter how much I agonize over how I can help you, I honestly don't know anymore. I'm completely uselessss and I'm so sorry what is wrong wthh mee]

It was the record of the whisper she had sent Person123.

Taylor froze for several seconds as she saw the disaster she had caused the night before.

"...Fuck."

There was no reply yet.

She hurriedly sent another whisper.

[Squirrel: I'm sorry. I got drunk and made a mistake. I was extremely rude.]

Taylor shut the Communication Window as if throwing it away, then collapsed back onto the bed.

"Aaaugh..."

Her ears had turned bright red. She pulled at her hair, then rubbed both hands over her face.

She wanted to die. Seriously.

Footnotes:

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