WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 202: Joint Training (1)
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- You were more levelheaded than I expected. I thought you might mope around and hesitate again.
The Demon King’s voice reached me.
I replied casually.
“As if.”
No matter how real it felt, that world had already been destroyed.
I wasn’t going to forget that.
Whatever happened, my goal of finding and absorbing divinity wouldn’t change.
Take everything I could and grow stronger. Then, in the end, bring down the Tower.
That was the most I could do to repay those ruined worlds.
I finished settling the divinity I’d absorbed from the Emperor within me.
It was lower in quality and smaller in amount than what I’d gained from the God-Slaying Sword and the Fighting Demon God.
‘As I thought, ordinary divinity...’
It wouldn’t be enough to increase mine by much.
The quality of my own divinity was simply too high.
Still, this was very encouraging.
The Floor 18 Hidden Route had given me clear proof that I could keep gathering divinity from the hidden worlds inside the Tower.
I just had to keep doing this.
Clear more floors, explore their hidden worlds, and gather more divinity.
“...”
Suddenly, something felt a little strange.
Why could I absorb divinity normally even from worlds that were nothing but empty shells?
Looked at another way, that could mean the Tower had deliberately left some divinity behind instead of absorbing it.
Whether it couldn’t absorb it or simply chose not to... I had no way of knowing.
Whatever the reason, it meant that even now, after becoming a god, I still had a path to greater heights.
...It almost felt as though the Tower was still giving me opportunities.
Was that a ridiculous misunderstanding?
‘It must be.’
Either that, or it had something to do with its restrictions.
After all, the thing was desperate to kill me.
There was no need to try to understand the Tower’s conflicting behavior or contradictions.
It was simply an enemy I had to defeat, the source of all this evil.
All I needed to focus on was becoming strong enough to fight it as soon as possible.
[Item: Ur Empire Imperial Guard’s All-Purpose Combat Parts]
Specialized combat parts used by the Ur Empire’s Imperial Guard. They have five forms. Form 1 is a light-bullet gun, Form 2 is a guided beam cannon, Form 3 is a barrier, Form 4 is a propulsion unit, and Form 5 is a self-destruct device that destroys everything. Each form except Form 5 consumes Willpower when used.
[Epic+ Skill Enhancement Stone]
Enhances one Epic+ skill when used.
I checked my rewards.
As expected of a Hidden Route, I’d received one item and an Epic+ skill stone.
Honestly, rewards didn’t matter much to me anymore.
Still, enhancing Elemental Arrow Barrage with this would bring it to +5, wouldn’t it?
I’d be able to get a Legendary-grade magic skill.
[‘Skill: Elemental Arrow Barrage (Epic+)’ has reached its maximum enhancement level.]
[You have acquired ‘Skill: Meteor Shower (Legendary)’.]
[Skill: Meteor Shower (Legendary)]
Rains meteors down over an extremely wide area. Requires 30 minutes of mental concentration to cast.
Category: Magic
Willpower Cost: 5,000
Cooldown: 1 hour
Enhancing it gave me a skill called Meteor Shower.
The name alone gave me a pretty good idea of what it did.
[Would you like to exit the Tower?]
I left right away.
“I’m back.”
After greeting my family, who welcomed my safe return, I immediately entered the Tower again.
Other than Radiant Incarnation, this was my first Legendary-grade skill, so I wanted to try it out.
When I cast Meteor Shower on the plains of Floor 3, a sphere as bright as the sun appeared above my head.
Flash!
The sphere burst, sending countless streaks of light pouring out in every direction like shooting stars.
Just as the skill’s name suggested, it looked like a meteor shower.
Light covered the land, wiping out every undead creature in sight.
The skill seemed to cover a radius of several kilometers.
Each individual meteor was also nearly as powerful as an Epic-grade magic skill.
So it was that kind of massive area attack.
Once a skill reached Legendary, its power and range really were on a different level.
Still, Elemental Arrow Barrage had a zero-second cooldown, so it was much more efficient.
After trying out the skill, I left again and enjoyed a little rest.
I’d enter Floor 19 in another two days or so.
Honestly, I didn’t need a break and wanted to go in right away, but my family would worry too much. I’d decided to leave at least that much time between attempts.
“Vince Wright of the United States, who recently cleared Floor 18 and reached the highest floor on Hard difficulty, has announced that he will soon attempt Floor 19 as well...”
I watched TV in the living room while eating fruit.
Vince Wright, an American Hard-difficulty Climber.
Apparently, he’d recently been climbing at a rapid pace, even overtaking Security Force Captain Alex to claim the highest record on Hard difficulty.
His face looked a little familiar... Had I seen him when I helped them defeat the Zone 3 boss?
The news played an interview with Vince.
“I plan to attempt Floor 19 within the next few days. Why am I climbing so quickly? Is that what you want to know?
“Of course, it’s all for Person123! He’ll soon clear Floor 19, then Floor 20, but Hard difficulty is falling behind right now, isn’t it? Considering what he showed us during the Floor 18 rule, he clearly intends to collect the rewards from every future rule as well. But at this rate, the Floor 20 rule won’t activate.
“That’s why I plan to hurry and clear Floor 20. All the other top-floor Hard-difficulty Climbers who used to be ahead of me should take a hard look at themselves. Person123 is now fighting the Tower itself, and they’re still climbing with their own safety in mind? They should do something for him!”
“He must be a really devoted believer too, huh?”
My younger sister spoke from the couch, munching on fruit.
As I watched his interview, I thought,
‘It would be nice to keep collecting the rule rewards.’
That would drain at least a tiny bit more of the Tower’s power and get the Climbers some rewards.
And if I kept securing rewards that raised everyone’s levels, like the Floor 18 rule had, I might eventually be able to fully restore the levels of the Nightmare Climbers who’d made such great sacrifices for me.
Of course, I wasn’t going to pressure the top Hard-difficulty Climbers into climbing higher...
But if someone wanted to try, I was more than willing to help make their clear easier.
I’d already done that for Taylor and Ye Tianwei.
‘...Should I do it again?’
That Vince guy said he’d be making another attempt soon.
I made up my mind and opened the Communication Window.
Vince’s Communication Window username was public.
But since I’d never contacted him before, I sent Taylor a whisper instead.
This damn unfriendly Communication Window didn’t even let you enter someone’s username to send a whisper. If you’d never contacted someone before, you had to track down a post they’d written first.
[Person123: Can you get in touch with Vince, the Hard-difficulty record holder?]
They were both American Climbers, so maybe Taylor had contacted him before.
Her reply came right away.
[Squirrel: Yes, I can.]
[Squirrel: Is there something you’d like me to pass on?]
[Person123: Yes. Could you ask him something for me? Ask if he’d like me to train him before he attempts Floor 19.]
Taylor had been through it herself, so she’d know what I meant.
[Squirrel: Understood. I’ll tell him right away.]
[Person123: Thank you.]
A little later, a whisper arrived.
[Grand General: Hello, Person123. It’s a pleasure to meet you. Taylor told me about your offer, so I’m contacting you.]
[Grand General: Is everything Taylor said really true...? I can hardly believe it]
It was Vince.
I replied.
[Person123: It is. Would you like me to train you?]
[Grand General: Yes, absolutely! It would be the greatest honor to receive your help!]
Vince accepted immediately. Even through his messages, I could feel how excited he was.
Then another whisper came from Taylor.
[Squirrel: In that case... could I possibly join too...?]
[Squirrel: If it wouldn’t be any trouble, I’d like you to train me again.]
[Person123: Of course. That’s fine.]
There was no reason to refuse.
More importantly... was Taylor still planning to attempt Floor 10?
Honestly, I wished both Taylor and Ye Tianwei would just leave Floor 10 alone. There was no point anymore.
I’d have to talk to them about that when we met.
I decided to invite Ye Tianwei too.
Needless to say, he replied that he’d join right away.
When we discussed a time, all three said they were available immediately.
There was no point wasting time, so I was about to arrange for us to meet shortly...
“Hmm.”
Then I thought of Normal difficulty.
Its current highest floor was Floor 32.
There were plenty of floors left, so there was no need to help them just yet, but Manager Shin suddenly came to mind too.
Since I was inviting people anyway, should I invite her and help her as well?
As far as I knew, Manager Shin wasn’t one of the top-floor Climbers, but that hardly mattered. With my help, she’d catch up in no time.
Above all, I’d known her for a long time and could trust her.
I decided to ask if she was interested.
I sent Manager Shin a whisper.
* * *
These days, Shin Su-jin began each day with a prayer as soon as she woke up.
Naturally, there was only one person she prayed to.
Person123, who had now truly become something like humanity’s god.
She knelt in the living room, brought her hands together, and prayed with devotion.
At first, Shin Su-jin had joined Person123 Church activities as a hobby, but there was a reason she’d been acting like an even more devoted believer lately.
Was it that mental connection everyone had felt, and the voice they’d heard?
Of course, that was part of it.
She’d known Person123 since he was a relatively ordinary human(?) compared to now, but even she no longer doubted that he’d become some kind of divine being.
However, Shin Su-jin had another thought too.
If Person123 really had become a god, perhaps the deeper people’s faith grew, the more it would help him... It was nothing more than a hunch.
Either way, it couldn’t hurt to do what she could.
“...By your grace, I safely begin another day. O great and merciful one, our savior, please protect humanity forever.”
With those words, Shin Su-jin finished her prayer and opened her eyes.
...But now that she thought about it, if Person123 could send a message to all of humanity...
Could the things she said during her prayers reach him too?
The thought suddenly occurred to her.
Shin Su-jin glanced around self-consciously, then closed her eyes and prayed again.
“Um, you could say this is the standard prayer used by the Person123 Church. Thank you, as always. I hope you have a good day.”
The thought that he might hear everything suddenly embarrassed her, so she added an excuse.
“...Ahem.”
What was she doing?
Feeling a little foolish, Shin Su-jin stood up and got ready for work.
After Person123’s declaration, the Person123 Church had become completely mainstream in no time.
Its number of believers was growing at an explosive rate every day.
Experts predicted that, at this pace, more than half of humanity would belong to the Person123 Church within a year.
Of course, that was counting only the officially recorded members.
In truth, it was fair to say there was no one left on Earth who didn’t think Person123 was a god. The only difference was the depth of their faith.
“By the way, there’s still no news about a Floor 19 clear.”
“Right. Is he taking a longer break this time?”
Shin Su-jin clicked her pen as she listened to her team members chatting in the office.
Person123 had personally split the boss from that shocking Floor 18 rule in half and killed it.
Yet weeks had passed since then, and there was still no news of a Nightmare Floor 19 clear.
People found it strange. Ever since Floor 8, Person123 had charged through the floors like a runaway train, clearing one every few days, or a week at most.
Naturally, the whole world paid close attention to even the slightest change involving him.
Some people were anxious, while others praised him, saying he was now preparing to fight the Tower itself rather than simply climb it.
Shin Su-jin was among those who worried.
No matter how amazing Person123 was, she couldn’t help worrying about him and hoping he stayed safe.
Of course, she was sure nothing was wrong this time either...
“Hmm...”
She wanted to know.
She wanted to contact him through the Communication Window.
Shin Su-jin hadn’t contacted Person123 since he’d become a god.
It felt as though he’d become something different from the person she’d known... Somehow, even asking how he was doing had become harder.
Naturally, Shin Su-jin was terribly curious too.
What on earth had happened to Person123? What was he doing now?
She let out a deep sigh, pointlessly opening and closing the Communication Window.
Then a whisper arrived.
“...?!”
It was from Person123.
Startled, Shin Su-jin checked the message.
[Person123: Hello, Manager Shin.]
[Person123: There’s something I’d like to ask you. This is a little out of the blue, but do you intend to keep climbing the Tower?]
His tone was as ordinary as ever.
For some reason, Shin Su-jin felt relieved. She replied immediately.
[Lotus: Hello(_ _)]
[Lotus: Yes, I plan to keep climbing.]
[Lotus: May I ask why...??]
There was so much she wanted to ask, but she should answer his question first.
But why was he asking that? Had she done something wrong?
[Person123: Are you aiming for the highest floor?]
[Lotus: Yes. I still have a long way to go, but I’m always aiming to set a new highest-floor record.]
[Person123: Then would you like me to train you? I’ll help you.]
“...??”
What was this?
A scammer pretending to be him?
For a moment, Shin Su-jin even forgot that they were exchanging messages through the Communication Window.
His offer was that unimaginable. But there was no way someone could impersonate him through the Communication Window.
...Then was this really happening?
He was offering to help her train? Her? Out of nowhere? Why?
Confusion swirled through Shin Su-jin’s mind.
[Lotus: I accept.]
“Ah.”
Without thinking, she’d accepted before anything else.
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