WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Climbing the Tower with Time-Stop Ability

Chapter 44

──────

First Proposal (2)

Choi Won-young had an eighteen-year-old daughter in high school.

And before long, that daughter would die.

Because she had been chosen as a Nightmare-difficulty Climber at age fifteen.

The Tower had only existed long enough for a few years of data, but there had still been no official case of anyone under fourteen being chosen as a Climber.

In other words, the minimum age requirement to be selected was fourteen.

Like a cruel joke, her daughter was chosen as a Nightmare Climber on her fifteenth birthday.

Her daughter had spent years suffering through treatment after getting osteosarcoma at twelve.

She had finally beaten the disease, and they thought miracles were real, but what waited after that was an even worse nightmare, just like the name of the difficulty she had drawn.

"It's okay, Mom! I can still live two more years. That means I have to squeeze a whole lifetime of fun into that time, so I can study and play as much as I want, right?"

Her daughter, still just a middle schooler then, said it like it was some tiny everyday concern.

She had always been a bright kid. Even through brutal chemotherapy, she never lost her smile.

"Hm? Mom... I really am okay. So don't cry."

So Choi Won-young tried not to be sad.

For the time they had left, she needed to make as many happy memories with her daughter as possible.

Her husband had already passed away early, and if she lost her daughter too, then she would have no family left.

In a few weeks, her daughter would die. She would die and become a monster.

To avoid becoming a monster, she had to either enter the Tower or be euthanized and leave not even a corpse behind.

Both her daughter and Choi Won-young chose the latter.

Even when the best of the best prepared thoroughly and challenged it, the number of successful clears was only around twenty.

There was no real chance of clearing Nightmare.

Even if there were the tiniest sliver of a possibility... Choi Won-young could never accept her daughter dying in agony at the hands of monsters.

- Only three days remain until the Nightmare timer reaches 20 days. As the whole world prays for Person123's success...

Whether the world would end or not did not really sink in.

The only thing she could not process was the fact that her precious only daughter would soon die.

Even so, she smiled in front of her daughter like she was wearing a mask. Her daughter had not lost her smile either.

That day, after crying to herself until she finally fell asleep, she woke before dawn.

As she walked up to her daughter's room, she heard muffled sobs.

She quietly opened the door and stepped in. Her daughter was crying, trying to hold the sound in.

"Hic... sob... I'm scared, Mom... I don't want to die..."

In the end, Choi Won-young could only collapse too, clutch her daughter, and sob with her.

The day before the Nightmare timer reached 20 days.

Now she had to accept saying goodbye to her daughter.

She looked at her daughter eating dinner and gave a weak smile.

Then suddenly, text appeared in front of both of them.

[The Tower proposes to 'Person123'.]

"...Huh?"

A message she could not understand.

* * *

What the hell was this?

I had barely steeled myself, and then this sudden curveball threw my head into chaos.

A proposal? From the Tower? To me? Out of nowhere?

What kind of trick is this...

[If 'Person123' selects one of the following penalties and enters Floor 4, the rule 'Climbers who do not enter the Tower within 3 years will die' will be nullified.]

What the Tower put on the table for me was nullifying the 3-year rule.

[1. Physical abilities reduced by 50%]

[2. Skill cooldowns increased by 2x]

[3. Use of three random skills prohibited]

[4. Use of one highest-grade skill prohibited]

[5. Item use prohibited]

If I wanted that, I had to pick one penalty.

My first thought as soon as I saw it was... what kind of bullshit is this?

Physical ability cut in half, skill cooldowns doubled, three random skills locked, Destruction Beam locked, items locked.

Every single one was brutal.

More than anything, the fact that the Tower was making me this kind of proposal at all felt very suspicious, very dirty.

[The penalty remains only during the first clear attempt of Floor 4.]

['Person123', if you accept the proposal, select a penalty and enter.]

But this bastard... if it's pulling something like this, does that mean it really has a will?

So it's not just some mechanical system?

"Ha..."

I raked my fingers through my hair and looked over the options again.

If, just if, I picked one, what should I choose?

[1. Physical abilities reduced by 50%]

Skip this for now.

[2. Skill cooldowns increased by 2x]

I'm magic-focused, so that means my whole skill cycle slows down to half speed.

Fatal. Seriously fatal.

[3. Use of three random skills prohibited.]

If it landed on useless Common-grade skills, it would barely even count as a penalty... but if it chained onto my core skills, it was hell. Pure gambling.

And the fact that it was random bothered me.

What if the Tower rigs it?

[4. Use of one highest-grade skill prohibited]

That was basically the same as banning Destruction Beam, my strongest finisher.

...I did not know. Considering Floor 4's theme, was this more fatal than the others?

[5. Item use prohibited]

Given Floor 4's theme, sure, maybe I could accept losing Diul... but losing Pligas was fatal.

Even setting aside the small stuff like the ice dagger.

Ah... I don't know.

Why was it suddenly giving me this trial?

Do I really have to pick this? No matter how I looked at it, this was wrong.

I was already going into this insane Nightmare, and now it wanted me to carry a penalty too?

Frowning, I wrestled with it, then suddenly opened the Communication Window. But then.

"...?"

I looked at the messages pouring into the window and turned on the TV.

A breaking news alert was on.

- A message from the Tower has appeared before people around the world. In this unprecedented situation, the Tower is making a proposal to Person123...

...Why is this a global notice?

It looked like not just Climbers, but ordinary civilians could see it too.

I could only sigh in disbelief.

* * *

After the Tower broadcast a global notice to humanity.

The world exploded. The Communication Window blew up first.

[Rabi: ?]

[Crusher: ??]

[Wow: What is this...? It's not just me seeing this, right?]

[Blue Field: The Tower can make proposals?]

[Lucifer: This is insane, what kind of situation is this]

[Fire Dragon: I heard normal people can see the message too, not just us?]

The Tower proposing something to a specific Climber was something that had never happened before.

Nullifying the Tower's 3-year rule.

In exchange, Person123 had to accept a penalty.

Public opinion in the Communication Window quickly flowed one way.

[Cyclops: Are you crazy, who would accept this? He absolutely shouldn't.]

[Glass Bottle: Every single option is brutal.]

[Claude: This has 8 billion human lives on the line, this can never happen.
Accepting that just to save a few tens of thousands.]

[Hoda: Well, it's tens of thousands every year, so in the long run it is more.
And it'd solve the Fallen issue too... still, he shouldn't accept it.]

[Leaf Tea: Person123, are you watching the window? You absolutely can't pick a penalty!]

Emergency special broadcasts were rushed out across global news and media.

On a major U.S. cable news show, panelists sat around a desk and discussed it.

"The Tower has proposed penalties to Person123 in exchange for nullifying the 3-year rule. What do you all think?"

"He absolutely must not accept it. Absolutely. This is a trap."

A man with glasses spoke firmly, face set.

"The fact that the Tower singled out Person123 alone is already strange. And one day before he enters Floor 4. It's openly showing intent to sabotage his clear."

The others nodded in agreement.

"It is clear in the current situation that the Tower intends to obstruct Person123's clear. He has no reason to follow what the Tower wants."

"If he goes into already horrific Nightmare difficulty while carrying a penalty, how much does that reduce his odds of clearing?"

"It's unfortunate, but humanity's survival is at stake. No one can blame him for refusing a penalty. Prioritizing all humanity is the obvious choice."

An overwhelming majority naturally hoped Person123 would not pick a penalty.

Failing Floor 4 meant humanity's end, and a penalty would sharply raise that chance.

With 8 billion lives on the line, there was no room for emotion.

"...Please choose a penalty! I'm begging you! Please!"

Only an extreme minority wanted him to choose one.

Nightmare Climbers about to die soon, and their families or acquaintances.

They rushed into the streets, held small rallies, and screamed until their throats tore.

Hoping Person123, whoever he was and wherever he was, might hear them.

"Are you people insane?!"

"If he picks a penalty, the world ends! You can't be that selfish!"

Scenes played out of passersby cursing at them.

[Nightmare]

Population: 283,157

Time Limit: 20 days 30 minutes 56 seconds

Reached Floor: Floor 4

A storm-like 24 hours passed, and the 20-day deadline was almost here.

All that remained was Person123's choice.

* * *

I agonized over it all day, then agonized some more.

Honestly, I'd reached the conclusion a long time ago.

"Do not choose."

I could not pick a penalty.

That was the obvious answer.

Nightmare difficulty was something I could not guarantee even at full preparation, not even 1 percent. Add a penalty on top of that?

That was insane.

Had I already forgotten Floor 3? How many times I almost died there.

Floor 4 was likely even harder than that Floor 3.

Even for the world's sake, choosing a penalty was something I could not do.

Fail, and humanity ends.

Take that risk just to save a minority.

Not just a minority. An extreme minority.

Could you even compare 8 billion people worldwide against tens or hundreds of thousands?

Sure, it would solve the Fallen issue too.

And maybe, just maybe, it could prevent my family from facing the risk of becoming Climbers.

But rationally speaking, even with all that, the scale still did not balance.

If I failed this time anyway, my family died too.

So no penalty.

...I knew that. I just still felt heavy inside.

I had been lying on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling, then sat up.

TV news kept running different reports about the situation.

People saying penalties were absolutely unacceptable, families of Nightmare Climbers in the streets screaming in protest...

Whispers to me in the Communication Window were flooding in too.

The Tower had dropped a global notice to the entire planet, so the world was in chaos again.

I did not care about their public opinion. I could not care.

This was only about making the choice that was right.

[Chicken Sandwich: No one has the right to criticize Mr. Kim if you do not choose a penalty. No one would dare, and no one is qualified.]

[Chicken Sandwich: You do not need to feel guilty in the slightest.
This is just one of the Tower's tricks. Mr. Kim has already saved humanity multiple times, and not choosing a penalty is once again the choice that saves all humanity.]

[Person123: Does Billon also hope I don't choose a penalty?]

[Chicken Sandwich: ...I will respect Mr. Kim's choice.]

I talked it over with Billon too.

The right answer was still the same.

The 20-day deadline was now almost up.

I had to choose.

- ...In the end, we must respect whatever choice Person123 makes. Even if he chooses a penalty, and even if that leads to the end of the world, at least I will respect the nobility of his spirit...

I turned off the TV with the broadcast still running.

After equipping all my items, I stood in the middle of my room.

[1. Physical abilities reduced by 50%]

[2. Skill cooldowns increased by 2x]

[3. Use of three random skills prohibited]

[4. Use of one highest-grade skill prohibited]

[5. Item use prohibited]

Looking at the options again left me dumbfounded all over again.

Was it scared I might clear Floor 4 too?

So it was pulling tricks like this.

"Seriously, what is this, trying to shut down the ace..."

If its goal was to throw off my mind no matter what I picked, then it had succeeded.

But I was not going to choose a penalty.

[Would you like to enter Nightmare difficulty Floor 4?]

I ignored the penalty window and opened the entry prompt.

"Ent...!"

I tried to shout boldly, like I was shaking off the bad feeling, then stopped.

"..."

Let's not do this.

You know this isn't right.

None of this is my fault.

It's just a rule the Tower set however it wanted, and now says it will nullify however it wants.

I...

"...Ha."

A crooked smile slipped out.

I closed my eyes for a long moment, opened them, and looked at the penalty selection window again.

"This is genuinely insane."

I knew.

Did I start believing I was really some savior just because people kept calling me one?

...Still, just this once.

I wanted to be stubborn.

I raised my finger.

* * *

After seeing the Tower's notice, Choi Won-young went outside.

She finally found a street rally and shouted together with people in the same situation, begging him to choose a penalty.

She did not know if it meant anything, or if it could ever reach Person123. She just clung to any straw she could.

Exhausted, she came home, then tightly hugged her crying daughter who threw herself into her arms.

"I'm really okay, Mom... I'm okay now..."

On the TV news, the Nightmare difficulty timer was displayed in giant text as it counted down.

Only a few minutes remained until the 20-day limit.

She knew.

If she thought of the world, she should not hope for him to choose a penalty.

She knew that wish was horribly selfish.

But please... still, please.

If she could be allowed to hope for one miracle just once.

['Person123' has accepted the Tower's proposal and selected a penalty.]

[The rule 'Climbers who do not enter the Tower within 3 years will die' will be nullified.]

"...!"

Mother and daughter, embracing each other, lifted their heads at the same time.

For a long while, they could only stare blankly at the message in front of them.

"Hoo..."

A dark office.

Leaning back in his chair, Billon ran a hand down his face and let out a long sigh.

"...If that is your choice."

He looked at the floating message and muttered.

"Please pull it off, Mr. Kim."

At the Climbing Surveillance Division office.

"He... chose a penalty."

Kang Ju-hyeok said it while staring into space, cup noodles still half-lifted.

Shin Su-jin also nodded with a stiff face.

Without realizing it, she had clenched her fist hard.

Silently praying with all her heart that he would come back alive.

* * *

"...He has made his choice."

The live news anchor spoke in a low voice.

There was no need to say what he had chosen.

Everyone had seen the message.

Gwanghwamun streets in Seoul, packed with crowds.

For a moment, sighs broke out from all over.

Then a few people clasped both hands and began to pray.

People beside them did the same, then people beside those people, one by one.

Soon the whole street sank into silent stillness.

The world held its breath and waited for the result.

Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried