Climbing the Tower with Time-Stop Ability - Chapter 170

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 170: Nightmare, Floor 15 (2)

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The Demon King, the Sage, and Seri.

I had already met many Nightmare Climbers from other worlds.

So meeting another new Nightmare Climber wasn't surprising in itself.

What shocked me was something else.

[Current Participants: 2/2]

The person before me was a Climber who had entered Floor 15 to clear it, just like me.

He had probably entered before me and been waiting here.

He was different from the Demon King, the Sage, and Seri.

His world had not already been destroyed by the Tower. He was still in the midst of climbing it.

‘Does the Tower exist in several worlds at once...?’

I'd assumed that after the Tower swallowed one world, it moved on to another.

Apparently, that wasn't the case.

At this very moment, the Tower was driving not only Earth, but other worlds as well, toward destruction.

...No, was that really true?

Maybe this was just part of Floor 15's concept. Maybe the Tower was deceiving me...

- That probably isn't the case.

The Demon King's voice rang out.

I stopped time and asked him.

‘You knew it would be like this, didn't you? Did you meet another Nightmare Climber on Floor 15 too?’

- I did.

‘...What did you have to do to clear it?’

- What would be the point of telling you? It's bound to be different from yours. I'll watch, and if there's anything worth telling you, I will.

Why not just tell me something?

After sorting out my thoughts, I resumed time.

“Hey, can't you understand me? Or can't you speak?”

The nonhuman standing in front of me continued speaking to me.

“No, I understand.”

“Oh! You weren't saying anything, so I thought we couldn't communicate!”

“I was just surprised. You're a Nightmare Climber who entered Floor 15 too, right?”

The nonhuman burst into strange laughter.

“Kyak! That's right. I am Kanyuk of Tunebalk. What is your name?”

“...I'm Hyeon.”

I gave him my name too, shortening it a little.

“Hyeon! What race are you? I've only lived in my tribe's homeland, so I don't know much about other races. Are you Babat? Huwel? Or perhaps a Desagoltan?”

Listening to Kanyuk, it seemed he didn't even know that we came from different worlds.

“My world and yours are completely different worlds.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I mean...”

After I gave him a rough explanation, Kanyuk nodded.

“Is that so? I see!”

Kanyuk didn't seem particularly shocked or concerned.

I assessed Kanyuk again.

He was at least a head taller than me, wielded a spear, and looked more like a martial fighter than a mage.

More importantly...

‘He's stronger than me.’

That was what my Sixth Sense told me.

Kanyuk was clearly stronger than I was.

If Kanyuk was a Nightmare Climber who had obtained every hidden reward on the way to Floor 15, he could be up to forty levels above me.

I'd been unable to obtain hidden rewards since Floor 7.

‘Or maybe he was just naturally strong.’

Perhaps he hadn't grown strong through the Tower's power, but had been powerful from the beginning, like the Demon King and Seri.

Kanyuk's strength couldn't compare to those two, of course. Still, I could clearly tell that he was stronger than me.

Unlike me, who remained wary, Kanyuk kept chatting cheerfully.

“Hyeon, do you know how long I waited here for another challenger? A whole year! There was nothing here, and I was so bored I thought I'd lose my mind.”

“...A, a year?”

“There were exactly three days left until it cleared automatically. Then you entered.”

[Two challengers are required to begin clearing Floor 15.]

[If no other challenger enters within one year, Floor 15 will automatically be cleared.]

If no other challenger entered within a year, the floor would automatically be cleared...

I couldn't help feeling flustered by Kanyuk's words.

According to him, Floor 15 would have been cleared in just three more days, but I had entered and interfered.

...I really did feel bad about that.

“Um, I'm sorry.”

Kanyuk laughed when I apologized.

“Kyak! It's fine. I wanted to meet another Nightmare Climber besides myself. If I'd cleared the floor and left like that, I would've regretted it in its own way.”

Kanyuk seemed like a decent person.

‘...Come to think of it, I almost got into serious trouble, didn't I?’

Looking at it the other way, I had been lucky.

What if I had entered Floor 15 a few days later, when Kanyuk was no longer here?

I might have been trapped here and forced to wait a year. Until my lifespan ran out.

I silently thanked Kanyuk and looked around.

The place where we stood was flat ground.

It seemed to have a radius of roughly one hundred meters. There were cliffs on every side.

A rock stood at the center. Water had pooled in a hollow in the rock, and black, dumpling-like lumps were placed around it.

“What are those?”

“Those? Food.”

Kanyuk answered.

“It is the only food on Floor 15. Once you eat it all, it reappears on its own. I survived here by eating that.”

“I see.”

So the floor provided food while we waited.

But that didn't look edible at all.

“If you're curious, try one. It tastes better than clay, at least.”

“...I'll pass.”

[6:10]

There were about six minutes left.

Once the time ran out, the Floor 15 clear would begin.

“Let's do our best, Hyeon. There are two of us instead of one, so won't clearing it be easier? Kyak!”

“Haha...”

...Who knew?

The problem was what the clear condition would be.

There was no guarantee that it would be a mission where we combined our strength and worked together.

‘Cooperation, or competition...’

Which would it be?

Naturally, I hoped for the former, but considering the Tower's cruelty, cooperation seemed unlikely.

The problem was that Kanyuk was much stronger than me.

I had no idea how likely I was to win in a one-on-one battle.

Of course, I had my trump cards too. Radiant Incarnation and the Demon King's power.

Kanyuk was strong, but he didn't feel anywhere near as strong as Seri.

If I used everything I had, I would probably overwhelm him. Still, I hoped it wouldn't come to a fight...

Kanyuk still seemed unconcerned.

Had he already judged my full strength?

Perhaps this composure came from deciding I was weaker.

His personality seemed simple from our brief conversation, but the mind of a Nightmare Climber who had reached Floor 15 couldn't be that simple.

Without letting down my guard, I prepared myself.

[0:01]

The time ran out.

Messages appeared.

[Both challengers will simultaneously undertake a total of three rounds.]

[If all three rounds are passed, Floor 15 will be successfully cleared.]

[If a round is failed, clearing Floor 15 will fail, and there will be no chance to retry.]

[If one challenger dies, the remaining challenger will immediately clear Floor 15.]

I stopped time and read the messages.

‘...As expected.’

I groaned inwardly.

The final line alone showed that clearing Floor 15 was far from cooperative.

Three rounds.

Failing even one round meant failing Floor 15, with no chance to try again.

The conditions for success were to pass the rounds until the end, or for the other person to die.

...Then what if both of us survived and passed through the third round?

Could we both clear it without either of us failing?

The moment I resumed time, I looked at Kanyuk.

Kanyuk had apparently finished reading the explanation too and met my eyes.

“...”

I couldn't read Kanyuk's expression.

Then more messages appeared.

[The first round begins.]

[Eliminate all summoned monsters.]

[The monsters' levels are proportional to the strength of the two challengers.]

Flashes of light flickered one by one in every direction.

Monsters began to appear.

Humanoid creatures with bright red skin and grotesque black veins.

They looked like demons that had crawled out of hell.

The strength I sensed from them through Sixth Sense was no joke either.

I gripped the Sword of Heaven's Gatekeeper and a sword of light in each hand.

Kanyuk spun the spear in his hand as though starting up an engine.

At the same time, demons rushed in from every direction.

I concentrated.

When I activated Weak Point Insight, the demons' weak points were not much different from a human's.

I swung the Sword of Heaven's Gatekeeper, wrapped in Heavenly Aura, at one demon's head first.

Shhk!

Its head was cleanly severed, but the resistance I felt through the sword was considerable.

If it was this difficult even with Heavenly Aura, the sword of light would be useless.

I immediately dismissed the sword of light and gripped the Sword of Heaven's Gatekeeper with both hands.

At that moment, Sixth Sense sounded an alarm behind me.

I twisted my body and dodged.

A sharp strike barely grazed me. It was terrifyingly fast.

‘Fast...!’

A demon that had transformed its arm into a blade stabbed at my head again.

I leaned back and cut off its arm.

Sixth Sense blared warnings from every direction.

These demons were strong.

If I let my guard down even slightly, I would be in danger.

I cast Elemental Arrow Barrage and fired arrows in every direction.

It held them off for a moment, but the elemental arrows didn't seem to do much damage.

After killing another demon, I quickly glanced toward Kanyuk.

With the condition that one person's death would immediately clear the floor for the other, I couldn't ignore Kanyuk even while dealing with the demons.

“Kyak, kyak, kyak!”

Kanyuk was rampaging wildly.

His weapon was a spear, or more precisely, a crescent-bladed glaive...

Whenever Kanyuk swung its crimson aura-radiating blade, the demons were effortlessly torn apart and burst open.

As expected, Kanyuk's raw physical ability far surpassed mine.

I deliberately put more distance between us.

It was easier to prepare for a surprise attack from afar than at close range.

Naturally, the space became divided in two as we fought separately.

I dealt with the demons while keeping part of my attention on Kanyuk.

The demons were basically humanoid, but they could freely alter their bodies.

They stretched their limbs out long and swung them like whips, and spikes suddenly shot out of their bodies.

On top of that, ordinary attacks could barely deal any proper damage.

Heavenly Aura, along with magic like Destruction Beam and Hellfire Eruption, seemed to be the only things that would work.

I used Air Step to rise into the air.

The demons formed wings on their backs and immediately chased after me.

I held back the swarming demons with Flame Barrage and Elemental Arrow Barrage, killing them one at a time in the gaps.

[Skill: Life Devourer (Epic)]

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

Classification: Magic-Type

Willpower Consumption: 60 per second

Cooldown: 1 minute

I activated Life Devourer.

With Enhancement at its maximum effect, I continued struggling on.

More and more demons were being summoned.

Their abilities became increasingly varied. Some did more than alter their bodies, shooting lasers from their eyes or causing their blood to explode.

It was becoming quite difficult.

Still, it wasn't yet beyond what I could endure, so I hid my key skills and item effects as much as possible, mindful of Kanyuk's eyes.

As I dodged and blocked the demons' relentless assault...

I tried to take off another demon's head, but my sword cut through empty air.

The demon had suddenly vanished.