WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ Climbing the Tower with Time-Stop Ability

Chapter 42

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Normalization (2)

At a daily newspaper office in the United States.

"Daniel."

"Yes, sir. Strong article, right?"

"Drop it and rewrite it."

At Harry's firm response, Daniel reflexively asked, "What?"

"What is it missing? Isn't this enough to hook people?"

- Savior Person123 Reveals His True Colors? Threatening governments worldwide by using Nightmare-difficulty climbing as leverage...

Harry rubbed his forehead and sighed.

"Even if it hooks people, this is not how we do it right now. Don't even think about running a single negative line about Person123."

"What? No, why..."

"If you don't want your head and mine rolling together, just rewrite it."

Daniel's eyes widened. Harry glared at him, his temper flaring.

"Do you really want to write garbage like this when things are this tense? Huh? That man has saved the world how many times now?"

"Since when did you care about conscience..."

"Talk back one more time and you are losing something. Out."

After kicking Daniel out of his office, Harry let out another long sigh.

After Person123 made his shocking announcement that he would not challenge Floor 4...

Whether major or minor, not a single truly negative line about Person123 was coming out of the American press. Even when something did appear, it was quickly buried.

Harry did not know the full picture either.

Still, from what he had casually heard from the editor-in-chief, the people at the very top of politics, across party lines, were all trying together to control public opinion with everything they had.

It was so strange he wondered whether anything like this had ever happened before.

Then again, he had nearly twenty years in this industry. He had a sense for these things.

Anyone could figure it out with a little thought.

Person123 had said he would not challenge Floor 4 unless the government and the association reached an agreement.

That alone was unprecedented. Person123 had quietly done nothing but climb Nightmare all this time, and now he had spoken up.

Seen another way, it also meant he was that displeased with this whole situation.

What if they tried to turn public opinion against Person123 now?

What if that made him actually quit Nightmare climbing for good?

No one could handle that. No one could undo it.

Waging an opinion war against the person holding all eight billion lives by the throat was nonsense from the start.

An agreement? Of course they had to make one.

The fact that they were this careful about keeping nonsense out of the news meant they had already reached that conclusion.

They had to wrap this mess up without provoking Person123 and without letting the mood turn ugly.

The Climber Association was probably in a similar position.

Still, both sides had taken hard stances until now, so they were likely trying to dress things up and end them while saving face.

From the government's side, they might even have seen this as a lucky break.

After all, Person123 had not taken the association's side just because he was a Climber.

"...Scary stuff."

Harry leaned deep into his chair and muttered.

One cough from Person123, and all the people at the top were panicking and holding their breath.

He felt it again, clearly this time, who the one person was that was carrying the world alone.

* * *

After Person123 posted in the Communication Window, it erupted too.

[Tyrannosaurus: Wait, hold on, is this real?]

[Hanata: What are you saying, Person123... Why are you acting like this? You're scaring me.]

[Jobless: Person123 is seriously fucking pissed, damn.]

[Windmill: This is no joke, this is seriously bad. Has Person123 ever made a statement this direct before?]

[NumberCounter: Forget direct, he barely ever made statements at all. This is unusual.]

For years, if you excluded his information posts, you could count on one hand how many posts he had written at all.

And this was the first time he had stepped into politics.

[Goldfish: To be fair, both sides really need to cut it out. How long are they going to keep fighting?]

[TraceOfRadiance: But honestly, shouldn't Person123 be taking the Climbers' side...? Is neutrality really right?]

[Liyen: This is disappointing. He's an unregistered Climber himself, and this is his stance?]

A few Climbers in the window did complain about Person123.

[Galaxy: These idiots are actually trash-talking Person123 now. They've lost their minds.]

[Ruby: Did you forget whose thanks you're breathing and living right now?]

[Conviction: Person123 did the right thing stepping in. The Communication Window's been a dumpster fire lately.]

But those complaints were quickly drowned out by a far larger wave of support.

Who had the right to curse someone who had already saved humanity three times?

The association side had also been driving opinion in the Communication Window, so they moved especially fast to build favorable sentiment.

If things turned into a mood where Person123 was criticized, they would not be able to handle the fallout either.

"So Person123 basically gave them an ultimatum? Told the government and the association to agree fast."

"They kept beating each other up so long that Person123 had to step in himself."

"...But no way he'll really refuse the Floor 4 challenge if they don't agree, right?"

People who supported the government, and even people who had not cared much about this mess, started watching closely to see where things would go.

On that side too, only a tiny minority were blaming or criticizing Person123.

A man saving humanity in real time by climbing Nightmare without asking anything in return.

Even if this was political, no one could dare say, "Who are you to interfere?" to Person123. His actions and achievements until now made that impossible.

And he had not blindly taken the Climbers' side just because he was one.

He stepped in for the public good, to stop the fight between the government and the association. The threat he attached was terrifying, sure.

The anxiety and fear of what would happen if he really refused the Floor 4 challenge also spread through people.

So everyone knew where the arrows would point.

"Make a deal now! How long are you going to keep this up!"

"People are going to die because of you!"

As public criticism of both the government and the association surged, articles came out as if they had been waiting.

- U.S. government moving to negotiate with the association...

At a private meeting somewhere in Washington.

The chairman of the Climber Association and the White House Chief of Staff sat face to face and wrapped up a long discussion. It was prearranged alignment before official talks.

"...Then it's settled. We accept only mandatory reporting."

"Just make sure no noise leaks out. You stirred up the Climbers that much."

"Oh come on, both sides did the same thing."

In this situation, both sides got their own gains, separate from the actual deal terms.

The government side got to confirm Person123's stance.

It was a relief for them that even though he was a Climber, he had not sided with Climbers and had declared neutrality. If he had openly taken the Climbers' side... even imagining it was horrifying.

The association side was also fairly satisfied with ending it this way.

Person123 had declared neutrality, but he was still a Climber in the end.

His threat to stop climbing the Tower subtly imprinted one thing on people: who really held the blade between Climbers and the government.

From now on, the government would not dare to provoke Climbers recklessly.

With different thoughts in their heads, they exchanged a polite handshake and dispersed.

* * *

After I posted, the Communication Window and the media blew up, just as expected.

Honestly, I did not feel great.

What I did was basically a threat made while holding people's lives hostage.

Of course, I never actually intended to stop climbing the Tower, but the fear people would feel from my statement was real.

So seriously, stop beating each other up and solve this already.

But what if even this did nothing?

That worried me.

Still, thankfully, the pressure seemed to work pretty well.

[Chicken Sandwich: I hear both sides are already negotiating under the table. The info came from inside the White House, so we should watch a little longer.]

Billon said it would not take long for an agreement to be reached.

From what he heard, the association side would accept only mandatory reporting and close it out.

"That's a relief."

What surprised me was how little negative news or articles about me I could find.

I thought I'd get at least some hate, but weirdly, almost nothing.

There was something even weirder than that too.

Maybe "weird" is not the word. Maybe "absurd."

Yesterday, while I was walking, I saw a few people protesting on the street with picket signs.

"Climber associations and governments, wake up and reach an agreement now according to His will!"

"It is a revelation from Savior Person123-nim! Agree now!"

...They were followers from the Person123 Church.

I had roughly heard about it from the news.

Lately, cult-like religions that worship me kept popping up... Should I even call them cults, or what?

Anyway, those kinds of groups were appearing here and there.

The Person123 Church was the leading one among them, and they said it was growing the fastest worldwide.

"Noona?"

The absurd part was that I recognized one of the people protesting.

"Huh? Seo-hyeon?"

"...What are you doing here?"

Ji-woo noona, a senior I had been pretty close with in college.

Seeing her again like this stunned me.

I thought she was the last person who would ever get involved in something like this. What happened to her?

"Ah, this isn't weird! You know about the Person123 Church too, right?"

We took a short break and talked, and she passionately explained the religion.

"So Person123 is humanity's savior, and we just sincerely believe in him and follow him."

"Well... isn't it basically kind of, you know, a cult..."

"Hey! Watch what you say! He is literally saving the world!"

"Ah, yeah. True."

"You, me, all of us are living safely today thanks to his devotion. Right? We believe in someone who actually exists, so how is that a cult?"

Then she even tried to recruit me.

"It really isn't weird, and only good people join. Don't think of it as religion too much. Just think of it as a group that believes in and supports him."

"Ah, no, I'm okay."

"Aww, if you change your mind later, just call me anytime!"

It was already weird enough that a religion existed around me, but seeing even someone I personally knew call herself a follower, I did not know how to describe that feeling.

Anyway, that happened too.

- The U.S. government and the association have reached a dramatic agreement. They said sincere dialogue helped narrow their differences...

Just like Billon said, the fight between the government and the association finally seemed to be winding down.

Starting with the U.S. government, other governments that had been in conflict with the association also began settling things one by one.

So thankfully, it looked like things were ending well.

Of course, the root problem itself could not be solved.

Every year, at least tens of thousands.

The higher I cleared Nightmare floor by floor, the Climbers who did not climb the Tower would keep dying. Or they would become monsters.

That reality did not change.

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