WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 167: Nightmare, Floors 13 and 14 (3)
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‘...Parts?’
I stopped time and read the spaceship’s description.
Of course it wouldn’t end this easily.
It looked like I needed to recover three parts to get the spaceship running.
The problem was, where the hell were those parts?
There wasn’t any information about that in the description.
For now, I had no choice but to search the nearby area.
Booom!
I resumed time and leaped high into the air.
As I cut down the swarming ants, I surveyed the ground over a wide area.
Hah. Just how well had they hidden them?
Don’t tell me I have to scour the entire planet for them... Hm?
That was when something caught my eye among the ants.
Within the crater was something like a lump of metal embedded in the ground.
Could that be it?
I immediately descended toward it.
Up close, it was a metal gear about the size of a human body.
I picked it up.
But if this is a part, how am I supposed to assemble it?
...This doesn’t require specialized knowledge, does it? I’m not Billon.
I returned to the spaceship and held the gear against it.
Nothing happened.
I set the gear down on the ground.
‘Diul.’
The ants were getting in the way, so I had Diul hide me.
Only then did the ants that had been crazily clinging to me all stop at once.
I carefully inspected the spaceship.
After circling it and looking it over, I found several grooves on its surface.
One was octagonal, one was shaped like a dumbbell, and one was shaped like a gear.
‘Do I put them in?’
I tried fitting the gear into its groove.
Click.
It slid in perfectly with a metallic sound.
[Special Item: Near-Light-Speed Spaceship in Need of Repair]
This is a spaceship that travels through space at speeds close to the speed of light. Once boarded and activated, it will automatically travel toward its destination. Its main parts have been removed, leaving it nonfunctional. Recover all the parts and repair it!
Collected Parts: 1/3
The number changed.
I cheered inwardly.
I’d already found one.
I moved again to find the remaining parts.
Searching while hidden would’ve been easier, but I dropped the concealment.
There was no need to waste Diul’s power.
As I continued searching the crater while cutting down ants...
I quickly found another one. A dumbbell-shaped part.
[Collected Parts: 2/3]
After installing it on the spaceship, I went looking for the final octagonal part.
The octagonal part was also within the crater.
I tilted my head as I picked it up.
‘...They made it this easy to find?’
Contrary to my expectations, it took less than twenty minutes to find all three.
[Collected Parts: 3/3]
Once I installed the final part, the spaceship’s information changed.
[Special Item: Near-Light-Speed Spaceship]
This is a spaceship that travels through space at speeds close to the speed of light. Once boarded and activated, it will automatically travel toward its destination.
Repair complete.
Whiiir-
The spaceship’s entrance opened by itself like an automatic door.
I stopped time and thought.
Was I supposed to board the spaceship and escape like this?
Still, it felt too easy.
No boss monster had even appeared.
I doubted escaping the planet in this thing would be the end. There was probably another stage after that.
Let’s go for now.
‘Demon King.’
Before boarding the spaceship, I handed my body over to the Demon King.
These ants kept coming no matter how many I killed.
They might interfere with the spaceship’s launch, so I should clear some out.
Swoooosh!
Using his power, the Demon King froze the ants across a wide area.
Then I took my body back and hurriedly boarded the spaceship.
The entrance automatically closed behind me.
The spaceship’s interior was simpler than I expected.
As I approached what looked like the cockpit, I spotted one large button.
[Automatic Navigation]
There was even a helpful explanation.
Before the ants could cling to the spaceship, I quickly pressed the automatic navigation button.
All right, let’s go!
[Starting automatic navigation.]
The words appeared like a hologram on the cockpit’s front window.
Rumbleee-
I felt the spaceship rise amid violent vibrations.
Then it accelerated in an instant.
The planet grew distant in the blink of an eye.
They called it a near-light-speed spaceship, and it really did seem close to the speed of light.
But shouldn’t accelerating to light speed have crushed my body?
Well, it was probably all the Tower’s power anyway.
[Traveling to the destination.]
Endless space stretched beyond the cockpit window.
An arrow floated before me as though displayed through augmented reality, and the spaceship was moving in that direction.
Was the destination somewhere along this route?
I looked around the controls.
Other than the automatic navigation button and a joystick-like device, there was nothing else.
It said automatic navigation, so it didn’t seem like there was anything I needed to touch...
Keeping my guard up, I watched the view ahead.
About five minutes passed.
Then new words suddenly appeared on the window.
[Entering an asteroid field.]
[Control the spaceship and avoid collisions.]
“...?”
What?
At that moment, Sixth Sense started blaring warnings.
I stopped time.
I assessed the situation.
Entering an asteroid field.
Control the spaceship and avoid collisions.
When I looked closely ahead, countless tiny dots were visible in the distance.
...Judging by the message, they were all asteroids.
‘Control...’
How exactly was I supposed to control it?
There was only one thing that looked like a control: the stick beside the automatic navigation button.
The moment I resumed time, I tilted the stick to the side.
[Switching to manual control.]
The spaceship turned, and an asteroid shot past it in the blink of an eye.
A chill ran down my spine.
‘...I almost got f*cked!’
With the spaceship traveling at near-light speed, the dots that had seemed distant closed in instantly.
If I’d turned even 0.01 seconds later, I would’ve collided with it.
There was no time to relax.
The space ahead was still full of dots.
I turned the stick again and avoided another asteroid.
‘Fuck.’
Wasn’t this supposed to be automatic navigation...?
Shouldn’t you be avoiding these on your own, then?!
One collision threat followed another.
Using Sixth Sense and time stop, I avoided every asteroid one by one.
After dodging around ten of them...
[You have exited the asteroid field.]
“...Hoo.”
The message appeared, and I relaxed.
I’d turned the controls so much while avoiding asteroids that I was now heading in a completely different direction from the arrow.
I pressed the automatic navigation button.
[Switching to automatic navigation.]
The spaceship began following the arrow on its own again.
I knew it wouldn’t end this easily, but they really threw everything at me.
‘What else is left?’
After another five minutes of uneventful travel, I saw a faintly glowing celestial body at the end of the arrow’s path.
Unlike the surrounding stars, it alone gave off a blue light...
‘Is that it?’
Could that be the destination?
That was what it felt like.
I stayed alert, and sure enough...
Wee-woo, wee-woo, wee-woo!
A red holographic screen suddenly appeared with an alarm.
[The spaceship has been hacked.]
...Out of nowhere?
[In accordance with the security manual, the spaceship will self-destruct in one minute.]
[Enter the three-digit password to reset the system.]
[If you enter an incorrect password even once, you will be unable to attempt a system reset.]
[0:59]
A number dial appeared alongside the shocking, bolt-from-the-blue messages.
I stopped time.
What the hell is this now?
‘What’s the password?’
It seemed I needed to enter a password to stop the spaceship from self-destructing.
But there was no way I could know it.
There was no way they expected me to guess.
For a three-digit number, the odds were one in a thousand.
There had been a pure luck gimmick on Floor 4 too, but even then, blindly guessing with 0.1% odds was absurd.
There had to be a clue somewhere.
I resumed time.
I only had one minute.
Thinking the password might be hidden somewhere inside the spaceship, I searched every corner.
[0:10]
With ten seconds remaining, I stopped time again.
...I didn’t know. I couldn’t find anything.
What had I missed? There had to be something.
Then a thought flashed through my mind.
‘...The opposite pole.’
There had been one massive crater at each pole of the starting planet.
Could there have been something at the crater opposite the one where the spaceship had been?
I instinctively felt that there must have been a clue to the password there.
But I’d headed straight for the spaceship without checking the other side.
‘I’m f*cked.’
Realizing it now was too late.
I couldn’t exactly turn the spaceship around at this point.
...In that case, I had no choice but to go with Plan B.
I bet everything on the 0.1% chance.
I resumed time and entered the password.
[123]
[Incorrect password.]
“Fuck.”
There were no miracles.
[0:01]
Guessing it correctly had been impossible in the first place.
This was the real Plan B.
Just before the spaceship self-destructed, I used my last resort, Radiant Incarnation.
...Boooom!!
A massive explosion erupted.
I took no damage because I had used Radiant Incarnation.
Having said goodbye to the spaceship, I moved at light speed without hesitation.
Straight toward the blue star I believed to be the destination.
‘Can I make it?’
The maximum distance I could travel in this state was 180 million kilometers.
It didn’t look that far away from here, but...
If it was much farther, I was screwed.
And if that wasn’t the destination, I was screwed too.
I continued forward at the speed of light.
Thankfully, the blue star slowly drew closer.
‘It might work...!’
Nearly ten minutes passed.
The blue star was now right in front of me.
Once I had nearly closed the distance, I saw that it wasn’t a star at all, just a blue planet.
With only three seconds left before Radiant Incarnation ended, I barely managed to reach the blue planet.
I landed on its surface, and Radiant Incarnation ended.
‘...Did I do it?’
But no clear-success message appeared.
Had I chosen the wrong destination? Was I screwed? Just as that thought crossed my mind...
Rumble-
The ground heaved, and something emerged.
A giant whose entire body was covered in blue minerals.
“Phew.”
I let out a relieved laugh when I saw it.
Right. The boss fight was the final stage.
When I activated Weak Point Insight, the boss’s weak point was marked near its neck.
The boss charged at me with a thunderous roar.
I fired Elemental Arrow Barrage.
Flaming arrows exploded across the boss’s entire body.
Grrrooo-
As it staggered, I rushed in and unleashed Fatal Strike.
Heavenly sword qi cleanly split the boss’s head and torso apart.
[You have successfully cleared Nightmare difficulty Floor 14.]
A message appeared.
[Absorbing the power of the floor.]
[Your level has increased.]
[Your level has increased.]
[Your level has increased.]
.
.
.
[Your level has increased.]
[You are the first to successfully clear Nightmare difficulty Floor 14.]
[Moving to the Reward Room.]
The scenery changed.
Only after arriving in the Reward Room did I finally catch my breath.
‘That was close.’
One wrong move, and I might’ve ended up stranded in space.
I really only cleared Floor 14 thanks to Radiant Incarnation.
[A new rule will be added.]
[‘Sacrificial Lamb’ will begin in 24 hours.]
[When the time comes, all Climbers on Floor 2 or higher will participate in a vote.]
I checked the rule messages.
“Sacrificial Lamb...?”
What was that?
The name alone didn’t sound good.
At least it wasn’t going to drag everyone somewhere like Treasure Hunt... But a vote?
On Seri’s world, the Floor 14 rule had allowed Climbers to level up by killing non-Climbers.
Surely this wasn’t going to be a rule on that level too.
I really hoped this one would end without anything happening...
Clicking my tongue, I checked the reward.
An item appeared.
It was a gold-and-silver necklace.
[Item: Saint Shurian’s Necklace]
This blessed necklace was once used by Shurian Il, leader of the Holy Empire. Using the necklace’s power, you can deploy the ‘Cradle of Light.’ The Cradle of Light has a radius of 100 meters and blocks entry and exit between the outside and inside. The user and targets recognized by the user as allies receive a 10% increase to their physical abilities within the Cradle. Once the Cradle is dismissed or destroyed, it can be used again after 24 hours. You can consume Willpower to restore the Cradle’s durability.
“Hmm...”
That was a long explanation.
I guess I could think of it as an area-of-effect buff skill.
It gave a physical ability buff to allies, including me, within a 100-meter radius.
The range was incredibly wide, but since I had no reason to fight alongside anyone, it didn’t seem like a particularly useful item.
Or... Since it blocked entry and exit, maybe I could use it like a barrier?
I placed the item in Subspace.
[Difficulty: Nightmare]
[Floor: 15]
[Level: 167]
[Willpower: 14,790/14,790]
[Skills: Radiant Incarnation (Legendary+), Elemental Arrow Barrage (Epic+)(+3), Destruction Beam (Epic+), Weak Point Insight (Epic)(+4), Hellfire Eruption (Epic)(+1), Subspace (Epic), Air Step (Epic), Finger-Flick Art (Epic), Life Devourer (Epic), Fatal Strike (Epic), Phantom Shift (Epic)...]
[Nightmare]
Participants: 1,273,615
Time Limit: 6 years 341 days 20 hours 1 minute 21 seconds
Highest Floor Reached: Floor 15
Either way, I’d safely cleared Floor 14.
Compared to Floor 12, Floors 13 and 14 had been much more manageable.
I exited the Tower.
Footnotes:
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