WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 168: Sacrificial Lamb
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After resting for a bit, I reentered Floor 14 to organize the information.
This time, I went to the opposite pole.
And what was there?
Instead of a spaceship, there was a huge machine that looked like an ATM.
It only had one button, so I pressed it. The black screen lit up.
[Enter all the numbers that belong in the blank spaces within the time limit.]
[0:59]
Numbers appeared on the screen in a grid.
‘This is...’
Sudoku.
The time limit was one minute.
Counting them, there were seventeen given numbers.
God, this fucking bastard...
I let out a hollow laugh the moment I saw it.
I'd been into Sudoku for a while, so I knew that seventeen was the minimum number of clues needed to solve one.
In other words, it was brutally difficult.
And they were telling me to solve it in just one minute.
Unless luck was on your side, solving this with a human brain in under a minute was practically impossible.
But who am I?
This kind of thing doesn't work on me.
I stopped time and tried solving the Sudoku.
It was hard. It took quite a while, but I filled in every blank.
[Correct.]
A three-digit number appeared on the screen along with the message.
[392]
So this was where I got the password.
I continued through the rest of the clear.
I boarded the spaceship, then once again drove like a man possessed through the asteroid field.
This time, I entered the password correctly and reached the destination safely without the spaceship exploding.
After finishing the clear, I organized the information and posted it in the Communication Window.
[Person123: Information on clearing Nightmare Floor 14.]
That was everything I had to do.
Now all that remained was waiting for this rule, Sacrificial Lamb, to begin.
“What kind of bullshit are they going to pull this time...”
[‘Sacrificial Lamb’ will begin in 24 hours.]
[When the time comes, all Climbers who have reached Floor 2 or higher will participate in a vote.]
[Time Remaining: 16 hours 11 minutes 54 seconds]
I had a bad feeling about this.
The very word sacrificial lamb sounded ominous.
Qualification Trial, Joint Battle, Treasure Hunt... and now this rule.
As I cleared Nightmare, the Tower's rules kept throwing the world into chaos without pause.
But there was nothing I could do.
I had too little time left. I couldn't slow down my climbing.
Was enduring all I could do from now on?
...I could only hope this would end safely, without anyone dying.
* * *
Nightmare Floors 13 and 14 had been cleared.
Person123's march of clears showed no sign of stopping.
[Lily: Damn, already Floor 15?]
[BlackWolf: They went straight from Floor 8 to Floor 14 in less than two months. That's insane.]
[BladeOfGrass: Looks like they'll catch up to Hard soon;]
[ScrapMetal: Feels like just yesterday we were praying for a clear every year and worrying ourselves sick... How many years has the Nightmare time limit piled up to now?]
[Pioneer: It literally was just yesterday though lololol]
[Hoho: Person123 is a god! Person123 is a god! Person123 is a god! Person123 is a god! Person123 is a god!]
As always, people were astonished and sang Person123's praises.
At the same time, there was also concern over the rule for Floor 14.
It had only been a week since Treasure Hunt caused countless casualties.
[Destruction: The time limit has more breathing room now, but the rules are the problem. Doesn't it feel like they're getting more malicious?]
[Daniel: It only ended with this much damage because it was America. If it hadn't been for a Floor 10 Nightmare Climber, I don't think the military could've stopped that Stage 7 Fallen.]
[Mosquito: Even the name Sacrificial Lamb is fucking unsettling;]
[Croissant: Every day is so damn dynamic. And what kind of vote are they making us do now?]
[StarCluster: Everyone, please have some human decency! Are the rewards really that tempting?]
[Kud: Didn't you hear about the bombs during Treasure Hunt? Just because you're Climbers doesn't mean you're automatically safe. Whatever it is, ignoring it is the best option.]
[Ball: If another bastard ignores Person123 again, I'm seriously going to kill them.]
[Douglas: Who the hell are you? lol I'm going to cause some real chaos with this rule.]
[Bulldog: Douglas? Does anyone know who this is? We should report them to the Association, Security Force, and Black Star Society.]
[Pierrot: Douglas, I sent Person123 a private message with what you just said. If someone knocks on your front door, know that your time has come.]
[Python: That idiot had been stirring shit up for a while, then ran away scared lololol]
Time passed.
Just as they had before Treasure Hunt began, governments around the world and even the Association released statements urging Climbers to stand together. Famous high-floor Climbers also stepped forward to post messages in the Communication Window.
[Time Remaining: 1 second]
Then the time ran out.
With the eyes of the entire world focused on them, a message appeared before the Climbers.
[‘Sacrificial Lamb’ has begun.]
[The highest-floor Climbers of each difficulty have been selected as the ‘Sacrificial Lambs’ who will receive penalties.]
[All Climbers who have reached Floor 2 or higher may vote to decide how the Sacrificial Lamb of their respective difficulty will be treated.]
[The penalties each difficulty's Sacrificial Lamb will receive are as follows.]
[Easy: Permanently lose 2 levels.]
[Normal: Permanently lose 4 levels.]
[Hard: Permanently lose 8 levels.]
[Nightmare: Permanently lose 20 levels.]
[Voting will begin with Easy difficulty.]
[You may vote either ‘Yes’ or ‘No.’]
[If more people vote ‘Yes,’ the Sacrificial Lamb will receive the penalty.]
[If more people vote ‘No,’ the Sacrificial Lamb will not receive the penalty and will instead receive a Level Advantage equal to half the penalty.]
[However, if ‘No’ is selected, all Climbers who have reached Floor 2 or higher on that difficulty will receive a penalty equal to half the penalty in place of the Sacrificial Lamb.]
[If you do not vote within the time limit, you will automatically vote ‘Yes.’]
[‘The Riser’ has been selected as the Sacrificial Lamb of Easy difficulty.]
[Easy difficulty is currently voting.]
[Time Remaining for Voting: 29 minutes 50 seconds]
.
.
.
A sudden vote between yes and no.
Just like during Qualification Trial, the highest-floor Climbers of each difficulty had once again been placed on the podium.
This time, though, they had no choice in the matter.
The sacrificial lambs were the highest-floor Climbers.
[Mask: Holy shit, what is this now?]
[Sun Wukong: So if we vote yes, the highest-floor Climber gets the penalty, and if we vote no, everyone else gets it...?]
[KimPark: It's exactly two floors' worth of levels.]
[Downstream: So for Easy difficulty, we're being told to choose between the highest-floor Climber losing 2 levels, or every other Easy Climber losing 1 level?]
[SantaClaus: If we vote no, the highest-floor Climber gets an advantage instead, so I think it means they'll gain 2 levels.]
The rule was simple.
Either the highest-floor Climber received the penalty alone.
Or every other Climber received the penalty, while the highest-floor Climber received a Level Advantage instead.
And every Climber who had reached Floor 2 or higher had the right to vote.
- Easy difficulty is currently voting. Vivan, India's highest-floor Easy Climber, has been selected as the Sacrificial Lamb. If Easy Climbers vote yes, Vivan will receive a penalty of losing 2 levels...
News outlets urgently reported the breaking news.
The Easy Communication Window was in chaos.
[Bull: Is that even a question? Of course we should vote yes.]
[Dopamine: Making every Climber take the penalty instead is completely unbalanced, holy shit lol]
[Cell: All right, everyone, vote yes~]
[Aphrodite: Weren't there three highest-floor Climbers in Easy right now? I feel bad for the one who got picked.]
[Picasso: Just think of it as returning the 2-level benefit we got thanks to Person123.]
Naturally.
The overwhelming majority intended to vote yes.
Everyone else receiving a penalty because of one highest-floor Climber?
Who in their right mind would choose that?
It was an absurd option.
The voting period was only thirty minutes, not very long.
[Time Remaining for Voting: 1 second]
Time quickly passed.
The result for Easy difficulty came out.
[The vote for Easy difficulty has ended.]
[Vote Results]
Yes: 325,589 votes
No: 6 votes
[The Sacrificial Lamb of Easy difficulty will receive the penalty.]
The result had been obvious.
The highest-floor Easy Climber had to take a level penalty out of the blue.
Next came Normal difficulty.
[‘Liberty’ has been selected as the Sacrificial Lamb of Normal difficulty.]
[Normal difficulty is currently voting.]
The highest-floor Climber of Normal difficulty was the same person from Qualification Trial. Gabriel from the United States.
[Lefty: Wow, Gabriel got picked.]
[Zodiac: He's getting exactly what he deserves after Qualification Trial, right? lol]
[Quattro: Losing 8 levels would hurt a lot. Poor guy.]
Since Gabriel had made a bad impression during Qualification Trial, no one particularly sympathized with him.
[The vote for Normal difficulty has ended.]
[Vote Results]
Yes: 141,963 votes
No: 2 votes
[The Sacrificial Lamb of Normal difficulty will receive the penalty.]
There was no room for doubt in the outcome.
Next was Hard difficulty.
[‘Strength’ has been selected as the Sacrificial Lamb of Hard difficulty.]
[Hard difficulty is currently voting.]
The highest-floor Hard Climber was also the same as during Qualification Trial. Dmitri from Russia.
The result was the same.
[The vote for Hard difficulty has ended.]
[Vote Results]
Yes: 32,917 votes
No: 1 vote
[The Sacrificial Lamb of Hard difficulty will receive the penalty.]
And with that, the highest-floor Climbers up through Hard difficulty all received penalties.
[‘Person123’ has been selected as the Sacrificial Lamb of Nightmare difficulty.]
[Nightmare difficulty is currently voting.]
Finally, it was Nightmare's turn.
Of course, Nightmare was what everyone cared about most.
The Communication Window stirred.
The other difficulties were one thing, but Nightmare...
[Dew: Hey, what are the Nightmare Climbers supposed to do?]
[MapleLeaf: Nightmare has to vote no. We can't let Person123 take the penalty.]
[Salt: A 20-level penalty is seriously way over the line, isn't it?]
[QuickBiriSif: But if they vote no, every other Nightmare Climber loses 10 levels.]
[Orange: If Nightmare Climbers lose 10 levels, isn't that basically a death sentence? They won't be able to challenge any further.]
[Shield: What else can they do? Are you saying Person123 should take the penalty?]
[NorthSouthEastWest: Even if everyone has to sacrifice, shouldn't they give Person123 a 10-level advantage?]
[DesertIsland: No matter what we say, the Nightmare clearers are the ones making the choice.]
[SteelWarrior: Still, won't yes have more votes?]
[Peacock: Fuck, I'm nervous... Why do I feel like no will get more votes?]
[CheongsangBaekseokju: Person123, say something! Why aren't you saying anything?]
[Soul: I seriously have no idea how this will turn out.]
The world was in an uproar before the final Nightmare vote.
[Time Remaining for Voting: 15 minutes 26 seconds]
Time passed.
* * *
[‘Sacrificial Lamb’ has begun.]
[The highest-floor Climbers of each difficulty have been selected as the ‘Sacrificial Lambs’ who will receive penalties.]
.
.
.
When the time came, the messages appeared.
“Huh.”
...I never expected it to be something like this.
After reading the full explanation, I let out a sigh.
Thankfully, this wasn't a rule that got people killed.
Still, the highest-floor Climbers would receive level penalties.
Were they just throwing out penalties without warning now? This was ridiculous.
It couldn't have been more unfair.
I sat on the edge of my bed and watched the proceedings.
The voting began with Easy.
As expected, yes won by an overwhelming margin.
One highest-floor Climber taking a penalty, or every other Climber taking the penalty instead.
No sane person would choose the latter.
Normal and Hard ended the same way.
The three highest-floor Climbers all received level penalties equivalent to two floors.
[‘Person123’ has been selected as the Sacrificial Lamb of Nightmare difficulty.]
[Nightmare difficulty is currently voting.]
[Vote either ‘Yes’ or ‘No.’]
And finally, it was my turn.
I let out a sigh.
A 20-level penalty.
It would hurt quite a bit, but not enough to be fatal.
I had levels I'd gained from hidden rewards, after all.
But it was different for the other Nightmare clearers.
Other than Taylor and Ye Tianwei, all of them were on Floor 4 or lower.
For them, a permanent penalty of losing 10 levels was no different from having to completely give up climbing from now on.
They would have to challenge Floor 2 in a state barely different from an ordinary person, Floor 3 at level 10, and Floor 4 at level 20...
The existing Nightmare Climbers wouldn't be able to challenge any further.
Even for Ye Tianwei and Taylor, who had reached level 90, it would be devastating.
...Honestly, I didn't know.
Which choice was right.
No, I knew it logically.
Rather than me receiving a 20-level penalty, it was coldly the right choice to sacrifice the other Nightmare Climbers, who had almost no chance of climbing as high as I had.
But they must have had goals and convictions of their own.
They were people who had risked their lives challenging Nightmare, where the survival rate was close to zero.
There was no reason they had to sacrifice themselves for me.
[Nightmare (26)]
There were twenty-six Nightmare clearers in total.
I didn't check the Communication Window.
I decided to do nothing and wait quietly.
I honestly had no idea whether yes or no would have more votes.
Either way, I would accept whatever they chose.
And then...
[Time Remaining for Voting: 1 second]
[You did not vote within the time limit and have automatically voted ‘Yes.’]
[The vote for Nightmare difficulty has ended.]
“...”
When I checked the result...
I was at a loss for words.
[Vote Results]
Yes: 1 vote
No: 25 votes
[The Sacrificial Lamb of Nightmare difficulty will receive a Level Advantage.]
[In place of the Sacrificial Lamb of Nightmare difficulty, the Climbers of that difficulty will receive a penalty equal to half the original penalty.]
[Your level has increased.]
[Your level has increased.]
[Your level has increased.]
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Footnotes:
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