WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ Climbing the Tower with Time-Stop Ability

Chapter 4

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Nightmare Floor 1 (3)

I followed the path, and the uphill stretch flattened out again.

There was something ahead.

All kinds of weapons were laid out on top of a long rock.

I walked closer and looked them over.

Swords, spears, axes, maces, shields, bows, crossbows, whips... it had everything, like a weapon shop.

Were they telling me to pick whatever I wanted?

'Why are they being nice all of a sudden?'

I stared at the passage that continued forward.

They gave me one lousy sword and made me crawl through hell, and now they were suddenly handing out weapons?

What were they trying to pull? It made me more uneasy, not less.

I picked out a weapon for now.

Sword and shield was still the best combo, right?

There was no reason to pick weapons I could not even handle properly.

I tossed the sword and spear I had brought and took a new sword and shield, one in each hand.

Tensed up, I moved forward again.

The passage kept getting wider.

The minerals embedded in the walls had changed from white to red, and the whole place felt ominous.

It looked like a boss room in a game.

Something stood motionless in the center of the cavern.

I stopped time and checked it out.

The second I saw it, all I could do was sigh.

Fuck, what is that now...

A knight, covered head to toe in armor, holding a huge mace.

After confirming there was nothing else besides that thing, I released time.

Kerrrrk-

It let out that nasty goblin cry.

A goblin?

Its size was on a completely different level from the others.

The Goblin Knight strode toward me.

The sound of its steel boots echoed through the cave, clank, clank.

I stopped time again.

Okay, think.

How do I fight that?

An enemy covered in full armor.

A sword was not going to do much.

A medieval combat method from some history documentary came to mind.

Against plate armor, you dragged the fight to the ground and stabbed through the gaps.

'No way that works.'

Up close, it looked even bigger than I thought.

At least two meters tall.

I was supposed to wrestle a monster like that on the ground?

That was not a fighting method, it was a suicide method.

Still, attacking armor gaps really was the only way to deal damage.

I had no choice but to aim for them somehow.

'Where are the armor gaps again?'

The visor slit, the joints... places like that, right?

I had to clash with it first.

My strategy was simple.

Dodge or block no matter what, then counterattack.

It had already proven effective after dealing with six goblins.

I released time.

The Goblin Knight had been walking, then suddenly exploded forward.

"...!"

I had gotten used to the speed of the goblins so far, and it caught me off guard.

I used Time-Slicing.

The mace was already coming down over my head, so dodging was awkward. I raised my shield.

KWAANG!

A crushing blast, and the shock slammed straight into the arm holding the shield.

I could not breathe for a moment.

I could not take the impact and got flung backward, rolling across the floor.

I scrambled up and stopped time.

'What kind of strength is this...!'

I realized right away that my judgment had been wrong.

One hit shattered the wooden shield.

That kind of monstrous strength could not be blocked.

I had to dodge everything.

I released time, felt my whole body throbbing, threw away the shield, and ran.

My arm was not broken... right?

My forearm and ribs hurt badly, but the bones seemed intact.

Kiiieee-!

The Goblin Knight screamed and chased me.

My body moved just fine when I thought, If it catches me, I die.

It was faster than I expected, and much stronger too.

But running alone solved nothing.

I had to dodge and counterattack to take it down.

The distance kept closing, and I boldly turned to face the Goblin Knight.

I used Time-Slicing again.

The Goblin Knight's arm rose slowly.

Judging by the angle, it was going to come down diagonally.

I started dodging by twisting my upper body left and leaning back.

The mace came down exactly along the path I expected... and it was still fast.

On top of that, what it held was a Morningstar, a round iron ball with thick spikes.

It was bulkier than a sword, which made it even harder to evade.

Whooong!

The wind slapped my face.

I barely dodged the strike.

I prepared to counter.

A bunch of thoughts flashed through my head, but no matter how I looked at it, there was only one clear weak point.

'I have to aim for the visor slit.'

The gap in the helmet that gave it vision.

I aimed my sword at the Goblin Knight's helmet and stopped time.

Even with Time-Slicing, I could not finely adjust every millimeter of a thrust once I started it, so hitting that tiny gap exactly was difficult.

Still, I had to do it. It was my only option.

I focused and thrust.

Clang!

Failed.

The blade missed the visor slit and scraped just above it.

As expected, it was not easy.

I quickly pulled back.

The mace came right after me, swinging like it wanted to crush my waist, so I had to retreat again.

A spike on the mace caught my shirt and ripped it as it passed.

Damn it, I cannot even reset my stance...

I kept backing up, desperately dodging the Goblin Knight's attacks.

My skin had probably torn, a sharp sting at my side, but that was better than getting my head smashed.

After dodging five or six times and barely finding my balance again, I went for another counter.

I ducked the mace and cut inside the Goblin Knight's guard.

I aimed at its helmet and stopped time.

I would keep trying until it worked.

This time my sword was closer to the visor slit than before, so the odds looked better.

I focused, released time, and drove the sword forward with everything I had.

The blade caught slightly, then slid between the helmet plates and sank in deep.

Kiiieeeeeeek-!

A tearing scream rang out.

I got it...! Fuck.

The Goblin Knight's fist, thrown in convulsion, was already heading for my head.

It was too late to dodge, so I blocked with my arm as much as I could.

A dizzying shock rang through my skull, and my body flew.

Somewhere in that mess, maybe half-unconsciously, I thought I had to get away from the Goblin Knight.

I deliberately rolled across the floor for a long time.

Piiiiii-

What is this? Ringing in my ears?

I stopped rolling and tried to get up, and then delayed agony flooded my arm.

I looked down at my right arm. It was twisted. Broken.

"...!"

It hurt. It hurt like hell...!

I bit down hard on my lip.

My left arm was weak too, but I barely pressed against the floor and raised my torso.

I forced myself to focus and looked where the Goblin Knight was.

Luckily, it did not look like it had room to pay attention to me.

It was staggering around with my sword stuck in its helmet.

Thud.

Then it collapsed.

It had felt like a deep stab. Maybe the sword reached its brain.

"Ngh..."

Sweating cold, I staggered to my feet.

Was it dead?

I walked up to the fallen Goblin Knight and checked.

No movement at all.

But the clear message did not appear.

Thinking it might still be barely alive, I tried to pull the sword from its helmet with my less-damaged left hand.

Tung!

The moment I grabbed the sword, a sound rang by my ear.

That chilling twang of a tightly drawn bowstring snapping loose made me stop time on reflex.

A little farther ahead.

Only then did I see a goblin in the corner of the cavern, lying low and aiming a large crossbow at me.

And a bolt hovering in front of my abdomen, frozen in place.

...What the hell is that one.

I was sure there had only been the Goblin Knight.

My thoughts stuttered for a second.

Time had stopped right before the bolt hit me.

I could not dodge it.

At this point, it was basically the same as already being hit.

At this distance, there was no way to evade it.

Unless I could move my body at the speed of light.

I had been sure the Goblin Knight was the final boss, so what was this?

I froze half in panic, then came back to myself.

'What do I do?'

If I released time now, the bolt would hit my stomach.

...Would it hurt? Fuck, of course it would hurt like crazy.

It would probably hurt way more than a broken arm.

Pain was one thing, but I would die. I would die like this.

There was only one path left.

Kill that Crossbow Goblin before I died.

If it was the last enemy, then the clear message would appear.

I had definitely heard that if you cleared it, all injuries would recover, so that was the only chance worth betting on.

Yeah, I had to do it.

I could not fail like this after coming all this way.

Take the bolt, run straight at it, kill the Crossbow Goblin.

A person would not die just from a bolt through the belly, right?

No, you could die, sure, but I would not drop dead instantly.

The Crossbow Goblin was only about ten meters away.

A few seconds to run up and stab it.

...But could I endure that pain?

A bolt punching through my stomach? Me?

I had to endure that and run all the way there?

Just imagining it made me dizzy.

I was not sure it was even possible.

'I am seriously losing it.'

Brace yourself... brace yourself.

Think of humanity's survival resting on your shoulders.

Ah, but still, no matter how I think about this...

No. Do it. I can do it.

Okay... do it.

Am I really doing this?

After barely pulling myself together one last time, I released time.

Thunk!

With a burning burst of agony.

I instantly could not think at all.

I had known I needed to run the moment time restarted, but my body collapsed on its own.

I stopped time again.

The wave of pain that had turned my head white vanished in an instant.

When time stopped, body pain stopped too.

Of course, it would start again when time resumed.

'Motherfucker.'

The bolt had pierced clean through my abdomen.

The curses poured out on their own.

You want me to move while enduring that pain?

No. This is impossible. I cannot do it.

This is not something willpower can solve.

I cannot. I will not.

I stayed like that for a moment, then snapped myself awake again.

If I cannot, then what, give up? Just die?

I would kill it.

Even if I died, I would kill that thing first.

I steeled myself and released time.

Horrific pain crashed over my mind.

"Ghk... uh..."

I could not even breathe.

It hurt enough to bring tears to my eyes.

The wound burned like fire, and cold chills ran down my back.

I clenched my teeth so hard they felt like they would shatter and forced myself up. I barely grabbed the sword.

The goblin entered my shaking vision.

If I took one more hit from that thing, I really would not hold out.

That fear, survival instinct, and pure rage that I would kill that bastard no matter what all mixed together, and my legs finally started moving.

I ran, feeling like my belly was being torn apart.

If I hesitated for even a second, I would collapse again.

Somehow I stayed up and reached right in front of the goblin.

It was hurriedly reloading its crossbow, then gave up shooting and tried to run.

I squeezed out my last strength and threw myself at it.

I drove my sword into its back and went down with it.

Kiiieek-

Half out of my mind, I hacked at its body with the sword however I could.

In the middle of that, it pulled a dagger and stabbed at my neck.

"Cough."

Maybe that had been its final struggle, because it stopped moving after that, but my consciousness also started to fade.

Ah, am I dying.

Why is the clear message still... I do not know.

I want to rest now.

"..."

[You have successfully cleared Nightmare difficulty Floor 1.]

[The Status Window and Communication Window have been unlocked.]

[Absorbing the power of the floor.]

[Your level has increased.]

[Your level has increased.]

[Your level has increased.]

.

.

.

[Your level has increased.]

[You are the first to successfully clear Nightmare difficulty Floor 1.]

[Floor 1 Hidden Route has been unlocked.]

[Moving to the Reward Room.]

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