WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 183: The Fifth Proposal
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I took out the Heavenly Music Box and activated it.
My mind had been so thoroughly battered that I needed to recover.
Even now that I knew it had all been fake, the lingering bitterness in my heart would not easily fade. That was how shocking it had been.
♪~ ♬~
Listening to the music box's melody, both my body and mind felt much more at ease.
The lingering negative emotions were soon washed away completely.
"Phew..."
All right. Fully recovered.
I got up and checked my rewards.
There were two skill enhancement stones.
One was Epic+, and the other was Epic.
"Oh."
Weak Point Insight would reach +5 now.
I would be able to obtain a higher-tier skill from Weak Point Insight.
I used the skill enhancement stones immediately.
I used the Epic+ stone on Elemental Arrow Barrage, and the Epic stone on Weak Point Insight, which was at +4.
['Skill: Weak Point Insight (Epic)' has reached its maximum enhancement level.]
['Skill: Supreme Combat Sense (Epic+)' has been acquired.]
[Skill: Supreme Combat Sense (Epic+)]
See through your opponent's attacks.
Classification:
Willpower Cost: None
Cooldown: None
The description was just as brief as Weak Point Insight's.
As expected, it was a passive skill.
See through my opponent's attacks?
I would have to test it against monsters later to see exactly how it worked.
[Difficulty: Nightmare]
[Floor: 18]
[Level: 210]
[Willpower: 23,100/23,100]
[Skills: Radiant Incarnation (Legendary+), Elemental Arrow Barrage (Epic+) (+4), Destruction Beam (Epic+), Blood Frenzy (Epic+), Supreme Combat Sense (Epic+), Weak Point Insight (Epic) (+5), Hellfire Eruption (Epic) (+1), Subspace (Epic), Air Step (Epic)...]
[Nightmare]
Participants: 1,573,608
Time Limit: 9 years 329 days 9 hours 1 minute 25 seconds
Floor Reached: 18
One more enhancement for Elemental Arrow Barrage, and it would reach +5 as well.
Then I would be able to obtain a Legendary-grade magic skill.
[Would you like to leave the Tower?]
Anyway, even though I had no memory of clearing it...
I had safely cleared Floor 17 as well.
I left the Tower.
"...Seo-hyeon!"
When I returned to the living room, my family warmly greeted me.
...This was really reality this time, right?
I stopped and resumed time for no reason, then let out a sigh.
After looking over my family's faces, I hugged all three of them at once.
"W-What's wrong?"
"Was the clear very difficult...?"
My younger sibling was flustered, while my parents patted my back and asked worriedly.
I smiled.
"Nothing. I'm home."
After getting some sleep and resting my exhausted mind,
I entered the Tower again to test my new skill, Supreme Combat Sense.
[You have entered Floor 16 on Nightmare difficulty.]
Deep-Sea Fish charged at me from every direction.
The moment I faced the monsters, I understood Supreme Combat Sense's effect.
'Ah...'
So this was how it worked?
Red filled the space, marking the Deep-Sea Fish's attack routes in advance.
It was like seeing a boss's attack range appear in a game.
The Deep-Sea Fish could only charge, so every red line was straight.
To examine the skill's effect in more detail, I entered a different floor.
Floor 11, the room with the Golem Knights.
When I faced them, every trajectory of their swinging swords was marked.
'So that's how it is.'
Rather than merely vaguely displaying the range of an attack, it clearly warned me of everything: the extent of the enemy's attack and the trajectory it would follow.
Its effect was similar to Sixth Sense, but this skill could be called a visible version of Sixth Sense.
Sixth Sense was, after all, only a sense, so it did not have this level of precision.
'Nice.'
A skill that let me perfectly predict my opponent's attacks.
It was an extremely good skill.
True to its name, Supreme Combat Sense seemed as though it would double my combat efficiency from now on.
After finishing the skill test,
I immediately organized and posted a guide for Floor 17.
But fuck, how were other Climbers supposed to clear this?
If I had not had the Demon King, I would have had no choice but to erase my memories of climbing the Tower.
And for other Climbers, not only the Gray Scales, but the Red Scales and Blue Scales would each be devastating.
Well... it was a completely pointless concern.
The lower floors were already full of problems anyway.
There were no longer any Climbers capable of challenging Nightmare difficulty besides two people.
[Person123: Nightmare Floor 17 Clear Guide.]
After posting the guide, I trained in the Mindscape without rest.
The Great Invasion had eaten up time, so I would challenge Floor 18 tomorrow without delay.
The rules that followed clearing even-numbered floors were always a major concern as well.
But time was precious, and my lifespan was limited...
There was nothing I could do. I could not slow down.
All I could do was keep running without stopping.
Hoping that I would make it through safely again this time.
* * *
Nightmare Floor 17 had been cleared.
Nightmare clears had become almost routine by now, but the news still brought people great joy whenever it arrived.
After all, the world's lifespan was growing by a year at a time.
[Pig: Congratulations! Nightmare Floor 17 cleared!]
[Angel: Looking at the guide, this one was no joke too. You had to offer memories?]
[Paulo: One more floor and we'll catch up to Hard!]
[Greatsword: Hard Climbers, are you guys for real? Hurry up and set a new highest floor already. What's with all the slacking?]
[Dullahan: How does it make sense to break through the highest floor every few days lol Person123's the abnormal one lol]
[Star: Can't be helped~ How could humans keep up with a god's footsteps?]
The Great Invasion had ended safely, and the world was peaceful.
People worried more about the Tiered Floor Rule than whether Nightmare floors would be cleared now, but Person123 was preventing most of its effects without any damage.
It was a peace that felt like living in the eye of a typhoon.
"It was only last year that we were shaking in fear that the world would end. Right?"
"Hahaha, seriously."
The employees of the Climber Affairs Office were returning to the government complex after lunch.
They noticed people collecting donations on the street.
"We are collecting donations for displaced children overseas who suffered greatly due to the Fallen. Please lend us your support!"
Judging by the sign reading “International Person123 Church Welfare Foundation,” they were members of the Person123 Church.
One of the employees said,
"Should we make an offering to celebrate the clearing of Floor 17?"
"Oh, let's do it together."
The employees readily opened their wallets and put their remaining cash into the donation box.
"Thank you! Have a wonderful day!"
As they continued down the street, the employees talked.
"I still remember it clearly. When the world was only hours away from ending because Nightmare Floor 1 had not been cleared."
"Oh, it was a complete mess. There were even people setting fires in the streets and beating others up."
"Honestly, I thought we might barely hold on for a year, but that the world would not last many years. Didn't everyone think so? We only barely cleared Floor 1 with a few hours left. How were we supposed to clear Floor 2 after that?"
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Who could have known?
That the world would become this peaceful after the Tower appeared.
It was an achievement accomplished by a single superhuman.
For Koreans in particular, the fact that humanity's savior was Korean was a source of incomparable pride.
One employee playfully clasped their hands together.
"The fact that we're living like this is practically a miracle. Isn't it all thanks to Person123's grace?"
"Exactly. This life is miraculous, but now we have to go back to work on such a wonderful day."
"Can't the day a Nightmare floor is cleared be made a holiday?"
"Then we'd get an extra weekend day every week."
They were happily chatting and making harmless jokes when...
"Haha... Huh?"
Everyone froze.
Not only them, but pedestrians throughout the street stopped walking and looked up into the air.
[The Tower makes a proposal to 'Person123'.]
The message that had appeared before the eyes of people all over the world once again.
* * *
After finishing my preparations to clear Floor 18,
I stood in the living room while my family saw me off.
"I'll be back. I'll clear it safely and return."
[Would you like to enter Floor 18 on Nightmare difficulty?]
I had just said my final goodbyes and was about to enter Floor 18.
Then another message suddenly appeared.
[Error correction has been completed.]
[The Hidden Route has opened.]
"...?"
Huh?
I was momentarily flustered.
A message saying that the Hidden Route had opened.
After the incident with the Sage on Floor 7, the Tower had closed the Hidden Route on its own, saying it would correct the error.
More than a year later, it had suddenly reopened.
At this time? Out of nowhere?
'...Wait.'
Did that mean I could enter from Floor 8 onward and clear the Hidden Routes?
I had not received First-Clear Rewards since Floor 7.
Rather than clearing Floor 18 right now, I should collect all the First-Clear Rewards I had missed first...
"Seo-hyeon? What's wrong?"
My family asked with worried expressions, wondering whether something was wrong.
I was about to tell them it was nothing when another message appeared.
[The Tower makes a proposal to 'Person123'.]
"...!"
What?
Right after the notice that the Hidden Route error had been corrected... the Tower's proposal.
With time stopped, I read the messages that continued appearing one after another.
[If 'Person123' accepts the following penalty, they will receive an exceptionally special reward in exchange.]
[Penalty: The difficulty of the Hidden Route on Floor 17 of Nightmare difficulty will be increased, and all Hidden Routes on floors before Floor 17 will be closed.]
[Reward: 'Person123' will permanently obtain 'Rule Nullification Authority'.]
['Rule Nullification Authority' can permanently nullify rules that arise after clearing floors of any difficulty, with no limit on the number of uses.]
[If you enter the Tower before accepting the proposal, the proposal will be invalidated.]
[If the proposal is accepted, 'Person123' must enter Floor 17 on Nightmare difficulty within 24 hours and cannot leave until the Hidden Route is cleared.]
[If the proposal is accepted and 'Person123' does not enter Floor 17 within the time limit, 'Person123' will be permanently banned from entering Nightmare difficulty.]
[If 'Person123' wishes to accept the proposal, please indicate your acceptance.]
'...'
I was surprised.
Very... surprised.
Because the reward offered by the Tower was something I had never expected.
Rule Nullification Authority.
It was the authority to nullify all of the Tower's Tiered Floor Rules, which were the biggest problem I faced after my lifespan.
I looked at the penalty again.
[Penalty: The difficulty of the Hidden Route on Floor 17 of Nightmare difficulty will be increased, and all Hidden Routes on floors before Floor 17 will be closed.]
Closing the Hidden Routes on other floors was no big deal.
Give up the First-Clear Rewards I had not received so far and gain Rule Nullification Authority?
Obviously, that was an incredible deal. It could not get any better than that.
The problem was this.
Increasing the difficulty of the Hidden Route on Floor 17.
...The Tower had never used wording like this before.
It had tried to make a clear more difficult indirectly by imposing penalties, but this was the first time it said it would directly increase the difficulty itself.
Two thoughts occurred to me at once.
One was that the Tower could not interfere with floor clears however it wanted.
That was why it was making this proposal, even bringing up Rule Nullification Authority.
The other was... then what happened if it did interfere?
Did not saying it would increase the difficulty mean the Tower would adjust it directly?
Nightmare was already terrible. How much worse would it become? How much did it intend to increase the difficulty?
'...Fuck.'
It was giving me another headache.
With time stopped, I stared at the messages before me.
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