WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 161: Treasure Hunt (3)
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As I flew around looking for people, faint screams carried to me on the wind from far away.
The moment I caught the sound, I headed straight toward it.
But...
“...?!”
As I scanned the ground, I was startled.
Because I saw someone who shouldn't have been here.
‘Kim Seo-a?’
It was my sister.
Why was she... here?
She was with someone else.
And that person was, surprisingly, Ye Tianwei.
“Oppa!”
...Confused, I immediately used Air Step at maximum speed.
Boom!
I landed in front of them.
The second I landed, my sister ran over and threw herself into my arms.
“I-I thought I was really going to die...! Waaaah...”
Seeing her burst into tears, I was flustered too.
I patted her back and looked over.
Ye Tianwei stood there with a surprised expression. When our eyes met, he gave me a small bow.
I nodded back, then gently pulled my sister away.
“Calm down. You're okay.”
Only then did she stop crying, still sniffling.
I asked, “What happened? Why are you here?”
I didn't even need to ask. The answer was obvious.
My sister had become a Climber.
And she'd been selected for this Treasure Hunt.
“Well... after the 12th floor was cleared...”
“You became a Climber?”
She nodded.
“Why didn't you tell me? I told you to let me know right away if you became a Climber.”
“S-sorry...”
I sighed.
What the hell was going on?
When I looked back at Ye Tianwei, Seo-a spoke up.
“Ah, he saved me. I was almost killed by a monster...”
...Ye Tianwei had saved my sister?
“We happened to meet,” he said. “It seemed she was attacked by monsters before the ten minutes were up and fled without being able to leave. I was just about to guide her to the portal.”
So that was what happened...
The thought that my sister had nearly died made my heart sink.
Deeply grateful to Ye Tianwei, I thanked him.
“Thank you so much, Mr. Ye Tianwei.”
Just as I was about to bow deeply, I heard an urgent voice.
“Wait!”
I awkwardly raised my head again.
For some reason, Ye Tianwei looked flustered.
“Please don't bow to me.”
“Pardon? Why?”
“I am far too ashamed.”
...What was he talking about?
He really was a strange person.
Still, I thanked him again.
“Thank you, truly. For saving my sister's life.”
“Th-thank you...”
Ye Tianwei smiled.
“I only did what was right. I am relieved your family member is safe.”
My sister whispered, “You knew him...?”
...This wasn't the time for that.
“Which way is the portal? You need to get out quickly.”
This island was dangerous.
I had a lot to ask her, but that could wait. First, I had to get her out.
I picked her up and lightly leaped into the air.
“Eek...!”
Since she couldn't remember where the portal was, I searched the area.
She couldn't have fled very far with an ordinary person's speed and stamina, and I found the portal right away.
Several corpses lay around it.
None of them were intact. They were in horrific condition.
“Close your eyes.”
“Huh? O-okay.”
I set my sister down at the edge of the portal.
“Come on, get out.”
“What about you...?”
“I'll leave soon too, after I get all the other Climbers out first.”
She asked anxiously, “T-there are lots of monsters here... Isn't it dangerous?”
At that moment, a Pterosaur dived down from the sky at high speed.
Now that I looked, there was nothing above this portal.
So that was why they'd been attacked by Pterosaurs.
I swung the Sword of Heaven's Gatekeeper. The sword aura of Fatal Strike shot forward.
Slash!
The Pterosaur split in half in midair and crashed into the forest beyond.
My sister stared blankly at the sight.
“Don't worry. Go wait outside, and tell Mom and Dad not to worry either.”
She nodded.
Then she disappeared before my eyes.
After confirming that she'd left, I let out a breath and turned around.
Ye Tianwei was walking toward me.
He spoke as though giving a report.
“I have sent all one hundred Climbers who were summoned with me out. But I would like to ask whether I did the right thing.”
Ah, Ye Tianwei had sent all the Climbers on his side out too.
I nodded.
“You did well. I sent out all one hundred from my side as well.”
Then it seemed they really had been summoned in three groups of one hundred...
That meant we only had to send out the one hundred assigned to this portal.
“The Climbers can't be allowed to find the treasures. Absolutely not.”
“...Have you already found one?”
“Yes. It's similar to the Mask Auction. Ordinary people will die, or the Tower's time limit will be reduced.”
Ye Tianwei seemed to understand immediately without needing a full explanation.
“We need to find the remaining Climbers and get them out quickly. Can you help me, Mr. Ye Tianwei?”
“Leave it to me,” Ye Tianwei said. “But do you trust me?”
Trust him? I wondered what he meant, then understood.
He was asking whether I trusted him not to touch the treasures.
I nodded.
“Of course I do.”
Ye Tianwei, China's representative Nightmare clearer.
He was a little unusual, but we'd trained together for a long time in the Mindscape. I knew enough to understand that he was deeply devoted to me.
Besides, he'd already sent all the Climbers on his side out and even saved my sister's life.
If I couldn't trust him, who could I trust?
For a moment, Ye Tianwei looked moved by my words. Then his expression quickly returned to normal, and he nodded.
“I will do my best. Let us go.”
We split up and began looking for the Climbers scattered in every direction.
We searched around the portal. They couldn't have gone too far.
We quickly found them one or two at a time.
“Are you all right? I'll take you to the portal.”
“Ugh, thank you...!”
There were people wandering through the forest or hiding from monsters. Here and there, we also found the corpses of those already killed by monsters.
I took everyone to the portal and killed every monster I saw.
While doing that, I found another treasure.
Like the gauntlet from before, it was a bone necklace bound in chains at the center of a magic circle.
[Item: Shlau’s Bone Necklace]
This is a bone necklace filled with the will of the outstanding shaman Shlau. Willpower increases by 50%.
[The treasure is sealed.]
[The treasure will bind itself to the first Climber to unseal it.]
[You may unseal the treasure by choosing one of the following.]
[1. Five Stage 6 Fallen will appear in a random area.]
[2. 1,000,000 random non-Climbers will die.]
[3. There is a 30% chance that 10,000,000 random non-Climbers will die.]
[If the treasure is destroyed, one of the effects above will be applied at random.]
The same message appeared when I touched it.
The choices were different this time.
‘They've really got every kind of bullshit ready...’
It seemed the choices weren't the same for every treasure. They were all horrifying, though.
“Demon King.”
I decided to borrow some of the Demon King's power.
I couldn't move the item, and I couldn't destroy it either.
Shhhhh!
So I completely covered the area around the magic circle in solid ice.
Even if someone found it, they wouldn't be able to use it as long as they couldn't touch it.
I continued searching for the remaining Climbers.
I found one more treasure and froze it so no one could touch it.
Only after sending out exactly thirty-nine people could I no longer find any survivors nearby.
I met up with Ye Tianwei again.
“I sent out eighteen people on my side.”
That meant Ye Tianwei and I had sent out fifty-seven people in total. Fifty-eight including my sister.
Forty-two were still unaccounted for.
Of course, some people had died. This time, we searched for and counted every corpse too.
But some bodies were too badly mutilated, and there were probably people eaten by monsters, so it was impossible to get an exact count.
There were surely people who had fled and returned to the portal on their own as well...
In the end, it was impossible to determine whether there were any Climbers left by counting heads.
‘...There probably aren't any more, right?’
Hadn't all the living people left by now?
Honestly, most of the Climbers were probably ordinary people. They wouldn't have had the ability to travel far from the portal.
We had searched the entire area around it.
The undergrowth was thick enough to make it hard to see, but there was no way my senses would have missed someone.
A high-level Climber might have been able to travel much farther from the portal, but...
If there had been a high-level Climber among them, would everyone have needed to run? Pterosaurs were only around level twenty or thirty.
‘You fucking Tower.’
How hard would it be to display the number of people remaining?
Not that I expected anything from it.
“What will you do?”
As I thought it over, Ye Tianwei seemed to reach the same conclusion and asked.
The Treasure Hunt would end once all Climbers had left or died.
In other words, if there were no survivors left on the island, Ye Tianwei and I only had to leave.
But once we left, that was it, so we couldn't leave carelessly.
If any Climbers remained, there was no telling what might happen.
I'd warned them that I'd kill anyone who did anything stupid, but someone might unseal a treasure if they thought they could hide their identity.
“Let's search a wider area first...”
That was when it happened.
[The treasure has been unsealed.]
[The Tower's Curse will descend upon a random area within a 10-kilometer radius.]
“...!”
A message appeared before my eyes.
Fuck...
I ground my teeth.
‘They actually did it.’
I'd hoped otherwise, but someone really had unsealed a treasure somewhere on the island.
The Tower's Curse would descend upon a random area within a ten-kilometer radius.
Naturally, the effect would apply to the real world outside, not Treasure Island.
Ye Tianwei's expression hardened too.
I said only one thing.
“...Let's split up and find them. Hurry.”
“Yes.”
I took to the sky again.
Keeping my surging anger cold.
A radius of ten kilometers.
If it struck a densely populated city, it would be a disaster.
And this was explicitly called the Tower's Curse.
Everyone who died would definitely become Fallen.
I began to worry deeply about what was happening in the real world, but...
There was nothing I could do about what had already happened.
All I could do now was find the bastard who had unsealed the treasure and prevent further damage.
I used Air Step at maximum speed, searching for the culprit with my eyes wide open.
After freezing the treasure on the side Pli had been guarding, I had Pli search for the culprit too.
Boom...
Then an explosion sounded in the distance.
Ye Tianwei had fired a magic skill into the sky as a signal.
I headed there immediately.
When I descended, Ye Tianwei was standing in front of a magic circle.
But the chains had been released, and the treasure was gone.
“It seems the seal was unsealed here.”
“...It seems so.”
The bastard had taken the treasure from here.
Not much time had passed since the message appeared.
We searched the area.
Following the footprints in the dirt and crushed grass leading away from the magic circle, we followed the trail.
I hadn't learned any tracking skills, but it wasn't difficult with superhuman senses.
Soon, we found something.
A cave hidden by tall grass.
The entrance had an artificial stone door. It was obvious something was inside.
“The trail seems to end here.”
The stone door wasn't closed. It was wide open.
There was a high chance the culprit had entered the cave. Were they still inside?
“Let's go.”
The two of us entered the cave.
Torches hung on the cave walls.
Ye Tianwei used Light Orb to brighten the dim space.
Sixth Sense gave no warning. No monsters or traps jumped out.
A long, straight passage continued until it split into three paths.
“I'll check the left path,” I said to Ye Tianwei.
“Then I will check the right path.”
I wasn't worried about Ye Tianwei. He was an exceptional Climber over level ninety.
The culprit might have gone down the center passage, so I summoned Pli again and had Pli block the entrance to the crossroads.
If we didn't catch them quickly, more treasures could be unsealed.
Hoping the culprit was still somewhere in this cave, we split up and headed down opposite paths.
* * *
Agus, an Indonesian Climber who had reached the 20th floor on Normal difficulty.
For the first time, he had been selected by the Tower's rules.
Amid the panicked people, he calmly read through the rules of this Treasure Hunt.
‘Treasure, huh...’
The Tower wouldn't hand out free rewards to Climbers.
Considering the Mask Auction and Joint Battle, the Tower generally seemed inclined to reward Climbers by sacrificing non-Climbers' lives.
Then there was a high chance this Treasure Hunt would be the same.
Agus didn't care either way.
Why were high-floor Climbers high-floor Climbers?
Many climbed the Tower because their desire for power was greater than anyone else's, and Agus was the same. He didn't give a damn how many non-Climbers died.
But after the Joint Battle incident, Person123 had warned all Climbers.
If Agus openly sacrificed people's lives and got caught, he might really be killed.
There were even rumors that the Climbers who chose round six during Joint Battle were dying one after another.
‘Well, as long as I don't get caught, it's fine, right?’
Then Person123 suddenly appeared among the crowd.
Agus was inwardly terrified, but he soon began to doubt that it was the real Person123.
The person claiming to be Person123 seemed far too weak somehow.
Then Pterosaurs attacked the people from the sky.
The man who called himself Person123 was killed by a Pterosaur.
‘So he was a fake after all.’
Amid the chaos, Agus moved toward an area without people.
Monsters? There was no reason to fight them.
Thanks to that, everyone scattered, and he stopped standing out.
Agus quickly moved through the forest, looking for treasure.
Then he found one.
[Item: Kirital’s Staff]
This staff contains the power of the lightning mage Kirital. When used, it fires a powerful beam of lightning in a straight line. After one use, it can be used again after three hours.
[The treasure is sealed.]
[The treasure will bind itself to the first Climber to unseal it.]
[You may unseal the treasure by choosing one of the following.]
[1. The rate at which the time limit for Hard difficulty is reduced will triple.]
[2. There is a 30% chance that the time limit for Nightmare difficulty will be reduced by three years.]
[3. The Tower's Curse will occur in a random area within a 10-kilometer radius.]
[If the treasure is destroyed, one of the effects above will be applied at random.]
A message appeared when he touched the treasure.
He only had to choose one to get a free item, and Agus was excited.
Messing with the time limits in choices one and two made him uncomfortable, so he chose option three without much thought.
[The treasure has been unsealed.]
[The Tower's Curse will descend upon a random area within a 10-kilometer radius.]
After obtaining the item, Agus eagerly went looking for more treasures.
He only had to take as many treasures as he could, then return to the portal and leave.
Before long, he found a cave that looked unusual.
Rumble.
When he opened the stone door and entered, he found three paths.
He continued along the right path and found another treasure.
[Item: Mysterious Skull Mask]
This skull mask is filled with the grudges of countless people. When worn on the face, it reduces the physical ability of enemies within a 20-meter radius by 20%. When used, it absorbs the power of those grudges, increasing physical ability and Willpower by 50% for 10 minutes. After one use, it can be used again after 24 hours.
[The treasure is sealed.]
[The treasure will bind itself to the first Climber to unseal it.]
[You may unseal the treasure by meeting the following condition.]
[Offer the heads of 50 Climbers (0/50).]
“What...?”
Agus tilted his head as he placed a hand on the skull mask.
There were no choices this time?
It wanted him to offer the heads of fifty Climbers. That was an absurdly demanding condition.
It was an incredibly good item, and Agus smacked his lips regretfully.
Then a flash of light appeared.
While his hand was touching the item, Agus's right arm was suddenly severed.
“...Aaaah!”
Blood poured from his severed arm as Agus screamed.
Someone emerged from the dark passage.
“What am I to do with vermin like you, who endlessly offend him?”
Ye Tianwei stepped into the passage.
“D-dieee...!”
In a panic, Agus thrust the staff toward the intruder.
Crackle!
Sparks flashed, and a blue beam of light covered the spot where Ye Tianwei had been standing.
Its power was beyond imagination. His opponent had vanished without a trace.
Agus panted in pain, relieved for a moment.
Stab.
An arm burst through his chest.
“Ghk.”
Agus spat out blood and looked down at the hand piercing his heart.
“I would rather not let you die peacefully, but consider yourself lucky. I don't want to show him something so ugly.”
Agus died instantly.
Ye Tianwei pulled out his hand and picked up the staff without even glancing at the corpse.
[This item cannot be used.]
A message appeared before his eyes.
“Ah... Didn't it say it binds itself to the person who unseals it?”
Since the seal had already been unsealed, he had hoped it might be of some help to that person.
Did killing him not release the binding?
Thinking the man was useless even in death, Ye Tianwei looked down the passage.
Footsteps were coming this way, as though Person123 had heard the scream.
* * *
After following the left passage for a while, I reached a small dead end.
The culprit wasn't there.
There was a treasure instead.
A... heart bound in chains at the center of a magic circle?
[Item: Tecan’s Heart]
This is the heart of Tecan, the Beast King. When consumed, physical ability increases by 10%. The body's regenerative power and all regeneration effects received by the body increase. You will not die unless the heart is destroyed.
[The treasure is sealed.]
[The treasure will bind itself to the first Climber to unseal it.]
[You may unseal the treasure by meeting the following condition.]
[Offer the heart of a Climber level 50 or higher (0/1).]
I frowned slightly after checking the message.
What was this now?
Rather than choosing an option like the other treasures, this was a mission.
It wanted the heart of a Climber level fifty or higher?
...Wait, was it possible?
It was a bizarre mission, but a thought suddenly occurred to me.
Couldn't I just offer my own heart?
I wouldn't die even if my heart was removed. I had Rapid Regeneration too.
Of course, removing my heart would hurt like hell.
Reading the item's effect, it was almost identical to the ability granted by the Frozen Hydra's Blood I'd consumed.
This one made you immortal as long as your heart, rather than your head, remained intact.
...This wasn't the time for this.
I stopped examining the treasure.
To check the remaining center passage, I headed back.
That was when it happened.
“...?”
A faint scream echoed through the cave.
Thinking it came from Ye Tianwei's direction, I hurried over.
After going down the right passage, I soon saw Ye Tianwei.
And... the corpse of some man.
I guessed what had happened and asked, “...Was that the culprit?”
“Yes. He was touching a treasure, so I dealt with him immediately.”
I turned my attention to the skull mask beside the magic circle.
There had been a treasure in this passage too.
Ye Tianwei held the staff out to me.
“This appears to be the treasure he obtained after unsealing it earlier.”
When I took the staff, a message appeared saying I couldn't use the item.
It had supposedly bound itself to the person who unsealed it, so it seemed others couldn't use it.
I put the staff down and looked at the man's corpse.
His heart had been pierced, and it seemed he'd died cleanly in an instant.
Naturally, I felt no sympathy.
I would have killed him immediately too. I'd warned them not to do anything stupid.
What were these items worth, that someone would sacrifice so many lives for them...?
Beside me, Ye Tianwei asked carefully, “Should I have kept him alive?”
I shook my head.
“No. You did well.”
At least it seemed we'd put out the immediate fire.
Though I didn't know whether other Climbers remained.
I looked away from the corpse and approached the skull mask.
I checked the treasure's information.
[Item: Mysterious Skull Mask]
This skull mask is filled with the grudges of countless people. When worn on the face, it reduces the physical ability of enemies within a 20-meter radius by 20%. When used, it absorbs the power of those grudges, increasing physical ability and Willpower by 50% for 10 minutes. After one use, it can be used again after 24 hours.
[The treasure is sealed.]
[The treasure will bind itself to the first Climber to unseal it.]
[You may unseal the treasure by meeting the following condition.]
[Offer the heads of 50 Climbers (0/50).]
...This one also demanded the lives of Climbers.
If the forest treasures were meant to wreak havoc on the real world, the treasures in this cave seemed meant to provoke conflict between the Climbers summoned to the island.
‘Hmm...’
Come to think of it.
Couldn't I just give that heart item to Ye Tianwei?
It had little meaning to me anyway, and its effect overlapped with what I already had.
I didn't know whether consuming it would make both my head and heart weak points.
More than anything, I wanted to repay Ye Tianwei somehow for saving my sister.
Once I decided, I spoke to him.
“Mr. Ye Tianwei, come over here.”
I took him back to the left passage.
[Item: Tecan’s Heart]
This is the heart of Tecan, the Beast King. When consumed, physical ability increases by 10%. The body's regenerative power and all regeneration effects received by the body increase. You will not die unless the heart is destroyed.
[The treasure is sealed.]
[The treasure will bind itself to the first Climber to unseal it.]
[You may unseal the treasure by meeting the following condition.]
[Offer the heart of a Climber level 50 or higher (0/1).]
Ye Tianwei looked surprised after checking the treasure's information.
“What an incredible effect. You cannot die unless your heart is destroyed... And it even increases physical ability and regenerative power.”
“Right?”
“I will use my heart to unseal it.”
“...What?”
Ye Tianwei suddenly coated his hand in aura with a resolute expression.
Startled, I grabbed his wrist.
“No, no. What are you doing?”
Ye Tianwei spoke with utter seriousness.
“You cannot let this go. It is all right, use my heart.”
...Was he actually insane?
I knew he was strange, but he'd gone further off the rails than I imagined.
“Stop talking nonsense and dismiss the aura. I already have a similar ability, so I don't need this item.”
Ye Tianwei tilted his head and dismissed the aura around his hand.
I sighed and raised the Sword of Heaven's Gatekeeper.
“So, Mr. Ye Tianwei, you should have this.”
I aimed the blade at my heart.
It would be better to cut it out cleanly with a sword than with my hand.
Ye Tianwei looked at me in alarm and reached out.
“What are you doing...?”
Was it around here?
It would hurt like hell, but I just had to endure it.
I thrust the sword into the area directly below my heart.
Stab.
The blade wrapped in heavenly sword aura sank in without any resistance.
Ye Tianwei screamed as though he were about to faint.
“...Nooooooooo!!”
Footnotes:
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