WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 184: Floor 17 Hidden (1)
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[The Tower makes a proposal to 'Person123'.]
[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.]
.
.
.
The Tower's proposal.
The Tower, which had been quiet since the Joint Battle under the Floor 10 Rule, had once again made an offer to Person123.
The world's attention focused on it.
[Battery: The Tower is up to something again.]
[Simple: That Tower bastard is seriously relentless. I can't even imagine how badly it wants to kill Person123 lol]
[Luban: Hidden Route? What's a Hidden Route?]
[Werewolf: Rule Nullification Authority is quite an unprecedented reward.]
[SongHwang: I don't know what Hidden means, but isn't it saying the clear difficulty will increase?]
For the public, who did not know Hidden Routes existed, the proposal itself was difficult to understand.
Still, opinions were sharply divided over the reward called Rule Nullification Authority.
[OppositeofDeath: It looks doable... Do you think Person123 will accept?]
[Natalie: Doesn't seem necessary. Is there any reason to take that risk?]
[Phone: The rules seem to be getting stricter. Thinking about the future, it might be worth taking.]
[WesternKing: Why are you all assuming success? You never know what could happen if you let your guard down.]
[Library: Still, it's hard to imagine Person123 failing.]
Some firmly believed that Person123 would succeed again because failure did not exist for Person123. Others believed there was no need to take an unnecessary risk.
Person123 had accepted two of the Tower's proposals and rejected two.
Person123 had only accepted its proposals when people's lives were directly at stake, during the clear of Floor 4 and the Joint Battle.
So, regardless of people arguing over whether Person123 should accept it, public opinion leaned toward Person123 refusing the Tower's proposal this time.
The whole world tensely watched Person123's choice.
* * *
"Don't entertain foolish thoughts. You aren't thinking of accepting it, are you?"
While I continued to deliberate, I heard the Demon King's voice.
Rule Nullification Authority is the reward. It's no ordinary reward.
"Don't you know that rewards are always just bait?"
I know that well.
Appetizing bait hanging from a fishing hook.
But so far, I had always succeeded in taking only the bait and getting away.
I couldn't help thinking that maybe I could pull it off again somehow.
"How long do you think that luck will last? One failure, and everything ends."
The Demon King clicked his tongue.
"If that thing is offering such a reward, doesn't that mean it's confident it can finish you off this time? It will be far worse than the boss of Zone 10."
Probably...
That was why I was thinking about it.
[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.]
Its determination to kill me for sure in the Floor 17 Hidden Route was obvious.
But... the reward was too good to give up.
Just like the Great Invasion, the Tower's rules were becoming more and more extreme.
If rules like gaining levels for killing non-Climbers, which I had seen in Seri's world, or Sacrificial Offering appeared, or something even worse appeared...
The Tower wouldn't offer a reward like this then.
If people's lives were at stake, it would know that alone would force me to accept its proposal.
My younger sibling had become a Climber now, too. They could get caught up in danger again at any time.
This might be an opportunity that would never come again.
Of course, there was a way to put the problem off.
Hard difficulty had currently been cleared up to Floor 18.
If Hard difficulty did not set a new highest floor, I would only need to endure one more Floor 18 Rule. After that, no more Tiered Floor Rules would arise.
I had less than a year left to live anyway.
I could postpone the problem of the rules until I solved my lifespan problem or did something else.
But...
"Exactly, your lifespan. You should be thinking about resolving that first. You will be dead in a year anyway, rules or no rules, so why would you accept this? What is there to consider?"
I answered the Demon King.
...I've had a thought lately.
"What is it?"
Can I really do anything about the Tower just by climbing floors?
The Demon King, Seri, and the Sage.
All the transcendent beings who had been far more capable than me had failed.
Defeating the Tower would be something close to a miracle.
The Demon King said that the Tower's proposal was poison that I should never accept and should ignore.
But Seri's world had ultimately been destroyed even though there had been no proposals from the Tower at all.
What if the opposite was true?
Either gain everything, or lose everything.
What if only by continually breaking through odds as narrow as the eye of a needle with that mindset, only by reducing the Tower's influence whenever I had the chance, could even a slight possibility of defeating it finally open up?
It was just a feeling.
An intuition with no basis whatsoever.
The Demon King spoke as though dumbfounded.
"Intuition, my ass. Think it through. Why would it make this proposal to someone with less than a year left to live? Unless it wants to stop you before you climb any further."
Of course, the Demon King was right.
No, logically, it was a far more reasonable argument.
Even so... why did giving up this time bother me so much?
Was this feeling simply born from the arrogance of believing that I would succeed again because I had succeeded until now?
I didn't know.
After much deliberation, I released time.
My family stared into the air with startled faces.
"Seo-hyeon, this..."
"I need some time alone. I need time to think."
I went into my room.
Sitting on the edge of my bed, I muttered quietly.
"...I have no intention of accepting the proposal as it is."
Putting everything else aside, the condition about increasing the difficulty was too vague, which made it too risky.
What if something came up that would necessarily take a year or longer to clear?
I would simply wither away until my lifespan ran out.
"Make the conditions better. Then I'll accept it."
Just as I had negotiated with the Tower during the Mask Auction before, I spoke to the empty air.
I didn't know whether it could hear me.
If the conditions could not be adjusted, I would regret it, but I would have to give up.
Then a message appeared.
[Regardless of the clear conditions for the Hidden Route on Floor 17 of Nightmare difficulty, if 168 hours pass after 'Person123' enters Floor 17, it will unconditionally be recognized as a successful clear.]
...It had actually added a condition.
168 hours?
That meant one week.
In other words, if I only survived for a week after entering Floor 17, it would count as a successful clear.
It was an extraordinary condition, but conversely...
The Tower seemed confident that it could kill me within a week on Floor 17.
"Is that all? I have no intention of accepting it, so add more."
I spoke sarcastically.
But there were no further changes to the conditions.
I smacked my lips and stared at the message again.
After agonizing over it for a long time...
My resolve tilted to one side.
"Demon King."
"You really won't listen, will you?"
"I'm sorry. Still, let's give it a shot."
I had overcome every absurd hardship until now.
I could do it again. I had to.
It was simply too regrettable to give up, so I decided to take the challenge.
My preparations had already been completed, so I returned to the living room.
My family looked at me anxiously.
"I've decided to do it."
"..."
"It's an opportunity I can't miss. We don't know what kind of rules might appear in the future. I have to stop them here."
My parents simply nodded silently.
They knew that even if they tried to stop me, they couldn't.
"...Please be careful."
I smiled confidently.
"You know, don't you? Failure does not exist for me."
After hugging each member of my family, I looked toward the empty air.
['Person123' has accepted the Tower's proposal.]
['Rule Nullification Authority' has been permanently granted to 'Person123'.]
The messages appeared as I accepted the proposal.
"I'll be back. It may take as long as a week."
[Would you like to enter Floor 17 on Nightmare difficulty?]
All right... let's see what you've got.
I can do this.
I steadied my resolve and entered Floor 17.
* * *
Come to think of it, to proceed through the Hidden Route, I first had to clear Floor 17 again...
Phew, did I really have to go through that terrible ordeal one more time?
Thinking that, my vision changed.
But as soon as I entered, the Demon of the Scales stood before me.
I heard the demon's voice.
"You won, so as promised, I will let you go."
What?
The events from when I had cleared it continued exactly as they had before.
Does that mean it will skip the repeated clear?
The Demon of the Scales reached out a hand toward me.
"...!"
Then space warped, and my vision changed once again.
I immediately stopped time.
The new location was... a street in a medieval-style city.
But the passersby were not ordinary humans.
...Demons?
They had pale skin and horns growing from their heads.
There was not a single human. Everyone had that appearance.
Like the demon noblewoman I had seen in the Floor 2 Hidden Route... Could this be the same world?
Let's see...
I thought while time was stopped.
First, I only needed to survive for a week.
[Time remaining until successful clear: 6 days 23 hours 59 minutes 49 seconds]
A timer had even appeared in my view.
But naturally, I had no intention of doing nothing and waiting.
The Tower had imposed that condition because it intended to kill me within the time limit. I needed to find out what would happen.
I should treat surviving for one week as nothing more than minimal insurance and aim to clear the proper route.
It had been a long time since I had entered a Hidden Route, but... understanding the setting and gathering information came first.
I released time.
The moment I did, I concealed myself with Diul's ability.
This seemed to be a city of demons. I would stand out like a two-eyed person in a village of one-eyed people, so it was best not to reveal myself.
Did it say that the space I just escaped from was the Demon Realm?
According to the Demon of the Scales, that entirely purple space had been the Demon Realm.
Wondering whether the existence of the Demon Realm might be related to the clear conditions, I wandered through the city while hidden.
"Fresh fried ghoul tongues, only 1 Loki! Buy three for 2 Loki!"
"Hyah! Move aside if you don't want to die!"
Street vendors lined the roads, carriages pulled by strange monsters passed through, and children ran about playing.
After looking around, the city was no different from an ordinary city where people lived.
More importantly, where should I go?
Diul's concealment duration had increased greatly, but I could not stay hidden forever... Would wearing a mask make me stand out?
As I wandered around, I noticed a large tavern.
I headed toward it.
It was a simple train of thought.
After all, it was a cliché that taverns and inns were where people talked about all kinds of information.
Inside, demons were noisily drinking together.
I stood with my back against the wall in a corner and listened in on their conversations.
Most of them were talking about similar things.
"All 26 Families will gather in Kagolak soon, right? To decide whether to resurrect the Twin Demon Gods."
"To tear those arrogant humans to pieces, of course we should resurrect the demon gods! Right?!"
"With the Demon King dead, everyone says things will end up going Grand Duke Keilteir's way..."
The 26 Families and the Twin Demon Gods.
Those were the two keywords I heard most often.
What did resurrecting the Twin Demon Gods mean?
It felt like something related to clearing this floor...
"More importantly, won't the Dapriya Family be unable to participate?"
"Heh. The commander of their family knights staged a rebellion. Would they even be in a state to attend?"
Then a word caught my attention.
"...Dapriya?"
Huh?
I had heard that somewhere before... Where had I heard it?
I went upstairs and briefly dismissed my concealment in a hallway with no guests.
Then I took an item out of Subspace.
[Item: Dapriya Family Ring]
A ring engraved with the Dapriya Family crest. It is proof that you have done the Dapriya Family a favor.
"..."
Right. Dapriya.
It was the ring I had received from the demon noblewoman after clearing the Floor 2 Hidden Route.
I had wondered, but... it seemed that Floor 17 truly shared the same world as Floor 2.
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