WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 196: 18th-Floor Hidden (1)
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The White House.
Government officials, including the president and the director of the Climber Bureau, had gathered together.
All of them watched the replaying footage with serious expressions.
An out-of-the-ordinary monster, so tall it extended beyond the boundary of the stratosphere and nearly reached the mesosphere.
They watched the sight of that monster being split in half and killed instantly the moment it emerged from the summoning circle.
“Even after mobilizing all satellite reconnaissance records, we have found no moment when Person123 appeared near the site.”
At the defense secretary's report, the president nodded.
“Then it is highly likely that he killed the boss monster through some remote means.”
“Or he may have used a method such as concealment, but...”
In truth, how he had killed the boss was not important.
It had been impossible to measure his abilities by ordinary standards for a long time now.
What deserved attention was Person123's attitude.
For this Floor 18 rule, Person123 had exceptionally told every Climber to choose the reward.
Would someone who cared so deeply about human lives have made that decision if there had been even the slightest possibility that a single person might be harmed?
That was unlikely.
It was reasonable to believe he had that much confidence and certainty.
He had shown certainty despite knowing that a Level 1,000 boss, or one close to it, would appear.
Perhaps levels no longer meant anything to Person123.
“...Did he truly deliver divine judgment?”
The president muttered while watching the replaying footage.
Person123 had become godlike enough to convey his will to all humanity, and had even temporarily stopped the Tower's deadline.
And then there was his declaration that the Tower would fall and humanity would prevail.
It was not an unreasonable leap.
Person123 now had the power to stand against the Tower itself.
Had the world reached some enormous turning point?
Everyone vaguely felt that it had.
The president looked away from the footage, surveyed the room, and spoke with the utmost gravity.
“From this point onward, the United States must prepare with all its strength. For the even more turbulent future ahead.”
What Person123 had shown humanity this time was a more fundamental hope, unlike anything before.
For nearly ten years, the world had adapted to and grown accustomed to the incomprehensible Tower.
The Tower's existence was now common sense. Most people would consider a world where it disappeared to be absurd and unimaginable.
But if Person123's declaration was true...
It might truly happen.
In the distant future, or perhaps one not so far away.
A world where the Tower, which had seemed eternal and absolute, was gone.
An ordinary world that no one could even imagine back when they had been desperately trying to extend the deadline every year, only ten years ago.
The nation had to prepare in advance for that possibility. That was the government's role.
‘If that moment really comes...’
Then I'll be unemployed too.
The director of the Climber Bureau smiled at the silly thought, then focused on the meeting again.
* * *
After the Floor 18 rule ended safely, I immediately prepared to enter Floor 18.
“It might take quite a long time.”
I warned my family in advance.
What I needed to do in the Floor 18 Hidden Route was not just clear it, but search for any divinity that might exist in that world.
There was no telling how long that would take.
‘The opportunity is at least open while the Hidden Route clear is underway...’
Once I finished the clear and the Hidden Route closed again, finding divinity would become impossible.
Repeat clears were empty worlds where the inhabitants no longer appeared.
I had already tested it on other floors.
If I strayed too far from the clear location during a repeat clear, the world would stop rendering beyond a certain point.
Just like how there had only been darkness beyond Zone 10 on Floor 5.
So I had to search for clues about divinity while keeping the Hidden Route active.
Whether that was actually possible, I would only find out by trying.
After saying goodbye to my family, I entered Floor 18.
[You have entered Floor 18 on Nightmare difficulty.]
It was an inorganic space covered in pure white metal.
First, I had to clear it again.
I approached the tightly shut door and cut a passage through it with the God-Slaying Sword.
When I entered, I saw the skull-headed boss.
I switched the God-Slaying Sword for the Sword of Heaven's Gatekeeper.
Since I had no idea what might happen once the Hidden Route began, I shouldn't waste divinity unnecessarily.
The skull-headed boss shone its eye lights, and the space was covered in red.
Bzzzzzz!
An indiscriminate laser bombardment poured in from every direction.
I moved to avoid the warnings sent by Supreme Combat Sense.
After easily approaching the boss, I swung my sword.
After striking it a few times with Heavenly Aura, sparks flew, and the boss exploded.
Clear complete.
I immediately took out the warp device and activated it.
[9:59]
For now, my plan was simple.
Whether I succeeded or failed the Hidden Route clear, I would be expelled from Floor 18.
So what if I simply left the storyline altogether?
The clear itself wasn't important anyway.
That was when it happened.
Wheeeee-
The walls around me suddenly turned red, and a loud alarm blared.
Was the Hidden Route progressing?
I stood still and waited for the warp device's timer to run down.
Before long, I sensed presences converging on me.
Cyborg soldiers whose bodies were half machine.
The moment they spotted me standing in the middle of the room, they aimed their guns.
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat!
Light Bullets poured toward me in blue flashes.
I casually dodged the attacks and fired Elemental Arrow Barrage.
Wind-element arrows pierced through the cyborg soldiers' bodies.
“Aaagh...!”
Some died instantly, while others screamed as they fell.
They seemed like ordinary grunts, but their weapons were quite powerful.
It looked like Floor 18's world had a highly advanced civilization.
I grabbed one who was still alive and questioned him.
“What kind of facility is this? Answer me.”
“Ghk... F-for His Majesty the Emperor...!”
Boooom!
Red circuits flashed across the cyborg soldier's body, and he self-destructed.
I had already stepped back and avoided it.
An emperor? Was this some kind of imperial army? What sort of government facility was this?
More cyborg soldiers continued to pour in.
I did not bother leaving my position and subdued them all.
After ten minutes passed, the warp device activated.
Without caring about the direction, I warped a long distance away.
My vision changed.
Before me was a city at night, filled with neon lights.
The word cyberpunk naturally came to mind.
The passersby glanced at me, then continued on their way without much interest.
Every one of them had worn, lifeless faces.
I could also see many people whose bodies were partially mechanical, like the cyborg soldiers from before...
[You have failed the Floor 18 Hidden Route clear on Nightmare difficulty. (1/3)]
[You will exit the Tower.]
A message suddenly appeared.
Before I could be expelled, I immediately stopped time.
‘Come on...’
So this method wouldn't work?
Had I failed because I had strayed too far from the location, or had some failure trigger occurred within the existing storyline?
I had barely done anything, yet I had received a failed-clear judgment.
I thought for a moment.
Acting while keeping time stopped would probably be impossible.
Divinity was continuously consumed, so there was a limit.
I couldn't recover divinity while time was stopped.
To be precise, due to the nature of my ability, I could recover divinity while time was stopped, but it would only consume that much divinity again anyway, making it pointless.
It was like trying to make a perpetual-motion battery.
‘Another method...’
One possibility came to mind.
Could it work?
Forcing me out was ultimately the Tower's power, so what if I resisted it with my divinity?
I released time.
Then I channeled divinity and tried to push back the Tower's power.
[$^#!^$!%&&$%$?!#%&]
As expected of a universal cheat key like divinity, it worked.
The message before me became garbled, and I was not expelled. But...
‘...This won't do.’
The backlash was much stronger than I had expected.
I couldn't hold out for long like this. It was impossible to act on Floor 18 while continuously resisting this power.
I withdrew my divinity and had no choice but to obediently be expelled.
My first attempt had failed.
[You have entered Floor 18 on Nightmare difficulty.]
I immediately entered again.
For now, I had confirmed that it was impossible to leave the Hidden Route storyline and act freely.
This time, I would follow its progression obediently.
Wheeeee-
I cut through the door, defeated the boss, and the alarm sounded again.
I moved while defeating the cyborg soldiers converging on me.
“Hmm...”
I examined the holographic map beside the door.
The internal layout, which had been changing in real time, was no longer changing. All the key icons had vanished as well.
Instead, another marker had appeared in the center of the map.
‘A prison?’
What did that mean?
Should I head there for now?
I started moving toward the prison marker from my current position.
I did not bother memorizing the map.
The paths were unbelievably complicated, but that did not matter.
Craaaash!!
I simply blasted through every blocked path as I moved.
Thanks to the hourglass's effect, Elemental Arrow Barrage now had a 0-second cooldown.
I continuously unleashed fire arrows, demolishing every wall and structure in my way. The path I took became the passage.
Cyborg soldiers kept coming, and traps occasionally activated, but of course, neither could stop me.
Before long, it seemed I had reached my destination.
I smashed through another door and entered.
“...”
An ominous sight unfolded before me.
It was a space like a massive factory.
Inside a semitransparent machine in the center, red liquid boiled violently.
On the conveyor belts connected to it, people were tied up like cattle in a slaughterhouse.
And on the other side, countless people were imprisoned inside iron cages.
A researcher operating the machine turned to me and asked,
“Who the hell are you?”
The elderly researcher frowned as if annoyed at having their work interrupted.
The cyborg soldiers who had gathered around me urgently aimed their guns.
I looked around, then asked the elderly researcher,
“What is this place?”
“Well, obviously you're some riffraff from the rebel forces. Where are your other comrades? But are you a pure human? I don't see any signs of implanted parts. How did you obtain such combat ability?”
The elderly researcher did not answer my question either, instead saying only what they wanted before examining my body with interest.
Even without an answer, I could roughly guess.
With the imprisoned people and the faint scent of blood in the air, this appeared to be a facility that used people as materials for something.
Was rescuing these people the condition for clearing the Hidden Route?
When I looked at the prisoners, the elderly researcher grinned and spoke.
“Oh, did you come to retrieve the materials? Then you'd better behave.”
The elderly researcher raised a switch.
“All I have to do is press this, and they'll all go boom. Got it? I'm not going to feed you bullshit about surrendering peacefully, so just stay right there and wait.”
Ignoring the elderly researcher's rambling, I stopped time.
I passed the cyborg soldiers and approached the elderly researcher.
Then I took the switch and released time again.
“...!”
Seeing me suddenly appear before them, the elderly researcher fell onto their backside in shock.
Craaaash!!
I then easily dealt with all the cyborg soldiers using Elemental Arrow Barrage.
The elderly researcher, sitting on the ground, urgently looked down at their hand.
Naturally, the switch was already in mine.
I spoke to the elderly researcher as they looked up at me with their chin trembling.
“So, what now?”
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