WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ Climbing the Tower with Time-Stop Ability

Chapter 49

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Nightmare Floor 4 (5)

"...Huuurk!"

The instant I came to, I jolted upright, gasping for air.

My hands moved on reflex, patting all over my body.

Smooth skin, not a single wound.

After confirming I was in the Reward Room, I flopped right back down.

Wow...

Wow......

I really thought I was dead.

Is this what falling into hellfire feels like? It was so horrific I never wanted to go through it again.

I sat there blankly for a while, then finally read the messages in front of me.

[Floor 4 has been cleared on all difficulties.]

[The Tower is calling in new participants.]

[A new rule has been added.]

[From now on, five sub-towers will appear at random locations every 7 days.]

[Time remaining until the first sub-tower appears: 6 days 23 hours 59 minutes 32 seconds]

"...You fucking bastard."

At least let me catch my breath first.

I had a bad feeling this would happen. The moment the 3-year rule got nullified, another rule popped up.

Sub-towers, random appearances?

I had no idea what they were, but the word tower alone sounded ominous.

Were more towers going to appear besides the one in the Pacific?

Rules came out on Floors 2 and 4, but not on Floors 1 and 3.

I wondered if, like I'd guessed before, rules were generated every other floor.

Ah, whatever... I'll think about it later...

My body had fully recovered, but the aftereffect of that burning pain still left me tingling all over.

That pain was on a completely different level from anything I'd felt before.

[Item: Heavenly Music Box]

This is a lost relic of the Paeli Order. When used, it plays a melody that calms the body and mind. It can be used by consuming 1 Willpower per second.

I pulled out the music box.

An item I'd gotten after clearing Floor 3 Hidden.

It was still an item, so it came in with me.

I turned it on, just in case it helped.

♫~ ♪~

The moment I heard the melody, my body and mind started settling down.

"Haa..."

Damn, this thing wasn't useless at all.

So they tossed me a mental recovery item so I wouldn't get PTSD from climbing the Tower. How generous.

Either way, it worked for real.

I left the music box running until my Willpower ran out.

Okay, mental recovery complete.

I got back to my feet.

[Level: 55]

After gaining 10 levels, I was now level 55.

I could feel my body had gotten much stronger again.

Kwaooong!

When I threw a punch into empty air, the bursting sound boomed.

At this point, I might even be able to go barehanded against Pli or the fully strengthened Floor 3 boss.

I checked my rewards.

Skill Enhancement Stones were scattered on the floor.

No Skill Stone...?

Just two Skill Enhancement Stones?

[Rare+ Skill Enhancement Stone]

When used, you can enhance one Rare+ grade skill.

Two Rare+ Skill Enhancement Stones.

Since these were rarer than Skill Stones, maybe I should call this lucky.

More skills were always better, but this wasn't bad.

No, this was better.

Because now I knew that if a skill reached +5 enhancement, I could learn one higher-tier skill.

[Difficulty: Nightmare]

[Floor: Floor 5]

[Level: 55]

[Willpower: 1,800]

[Skills: Destruction Beam (Epic+), Teleport (Rare+), Sixth Sense (Rare+), Rapid Regeneration (Rare+), Searing Zone (Rare+), Flame Strike (Rare) (+5), Blade Whirlwind (Rare), Exaltation (Rare), Skin Hardening (Rare), Fairy Light Bolt (Common+) (+1), Lesser Toxic Resistance (Common+), Lesser Burn Resistance (Common+), Leap (Common) (+1), Swing (Common), Thrust (Common), Ice Bullet (Common)]

Come to think of it, I hadn't enhanced a single Rare+ skill yet.

'What should I do?'

Teleport, Sixth Sense, Rapid Regeneration, Searing Zone.

Teleport would probably increase range.

Sixth Sense... maybe it would just sharpen my intuition? It wasn't really a numbers-based skill in the first place.

Rapid Regeneration would improve healing, and Searing Zone would increase damage or range.

The safe pick was probably Teleport.

Rapid Regeneration did huge work this time, but the cooldown was too long anyway, and it was physical-type.

If I enhanced Searing Zone, I might get an Epic-tier fire skill, but I already had a great attack skill in Destruction Beam.

Teleport looked best overall. More movement range, and at full enhancement it seemed likely I'd get a higher-tier movement skill.

But still.

'Sixth Sense...'

For some reason, I was drawn to Sixth Sense.

When clearing new floors, there was nothing more reliable than this skill.

And what would the higher-tier version of Sixth Sense be?

I was curious. It felt like it would be something really good.

Splitting enhancements was inefficient, so I had to all-in one skill anyway.

I could've decided later, but I made up my mind immediately and used both stones on Sixth Sense.

['Rare+ Skill Enhancement Stone' has been used on 'Skill: Sixth Sense (Rare+)'.]

['Rare+ Skill Enhancement Stone' has been used on 'Skill: Sixth Sense (Rare+)'.]

['Skill: Sixth Sense (Rare+)' has been enhanced, further strengthening danger detection ability.]

I couldn't tell the difference right away.

It only activated in dangerous situations, so I'd check later.

[Nightmare]

Population: 383,157

Time Limit: 1 year 19 days 22 hours 39 minutes 16 seconds

Reached Floor: Floor 5

After sorting my rewards, I checked that Nightmare's time limit had increased.

In the end, I survived again and again and again.

The world gained another year.

This run really did feel unusually packed with problems...

'What is the Tower?'

Did it actually have a grudge against me?

When the Tower used the 3-year rule as bait and offered me a penalty, that felt like pretty blatant malice.

And in this clear too, that draw... the way Ability Nullification never came up, did the Tower rig it?

Or was I just unlucky?

Thinking about it calmly, it still felt more like the latter.

If the Tower really wanted me dead and could interfere with clears however it wanted,

then it could just block every needle-sized opening and leave no path to survival.

But it didn't, so maybe the Tower also had rules or restrictions it had to follow...

All I could do was guess.

There was no point overthinking a question with no answer.

The Tower was an incomprehensible existence. In the end, all I could do was keep climbing.

'Still...'

It definitely did seem to want me dead.

Yeah, and I still didn't die this time either, right?

After all that forced bullshit, I survived again, right?

[Do you want to exit the Tower?]

"Had so~ much fun~."

Like hell I did. That was a horrifying clear I never wanted to experience again.

Hoping it was listening, I laughed out loud on purpose and exited.

I'm exhausted... time to rest.

* * *

After Person123 chose a penalty,

people gathered on streets all over the world behaved the same way, as if by prior agreement.

Men and women, adults and children, all held their breath and prayed.

If he chose a penalty, then he was probably already inside Floor 4, in the middle of the clear.

Even live news anchors spoke sparingly, like they'd forgotten what broadcasting was supposed to be.

One minute passed, then another.

As the silence dragged on, people's faces twisted with anxiety, fear, impatience, desperation, and dread.

[Honeybee: Isn't this... taking too long?]

[Black Dragon Sky: What's the average clear time for Nightmare again?]

[Leweer: About 20 minutes. But the floor-by-floor gap is huge, so that doesn't mean much. And this is a first clear.]

[Warrior of Strife: The number in the Nightmare Communication Window still hasn't dropped.]

[Savanna: Please, Person123. Please...]

More than an hour had passed since Person123 chose his penalty.

Climbers could at least confirm that the number hadn't dropped in the Communication Window, but ordinary people, who received delayed information, could only grow more terrified as time passed.

Some bit their nails, some bowed their heads deeper in prayer, some frantically searched the news on their phones...

Some parents soothed children who burst into tears. Even a six-year-old understood how serious this was.

Some people shouted in despair. Others cursed them for it.

"Shut up and pray! He's still challenging it!"

"If you're gonna spew bullshit, get lost!"

That dark mood kept spreading, and then,

"Ah!"

"Uh...!"

A few people in the crowd cried out.

They were Climbers, the ones who could see the message that all difficulties had been cleared.

"I-it succeeded! Floor 4 was cleareddd!"

That shout was the signal.

The restless crowd erupted into cheers loud enough to shake the streets.

Waaaaaaah!

- We just received breaking news. Floor 4 has just been cleared on all difficulties!

- Ah... and the Tower has also added a new rule. Sub-towers will appear at random locations every 7 days...

News channels delivered the update.

People hugged each other and cried tears of joy.

Their relief was as huge as the anxiety they'd endured.

[Steady Step: We lived! Another year!]

[Kimchi Stew: Person123 is a god! He's a god! He's a god! He's a god! He's a god! He's a god! He's a god! He's a god! He's a god! He's a god!]

[Kenshong: No, but seriously, how?? He picked one of those insane penalties and still cleared it?]

[Megaphone: You're still doubting Person123? That's just ridiculous now.]

[Poseidon: Ha... when he picked that penalty, my heart seriously dropped.]

[Beast123: But what the hell is a sub-tower? Feels bad.]

Another new rule had popped up, but nobody cared right then. They only wanted to bask in the relief in front of them.

Person123! Person123! Person123!

His name was chanted all across the streets. The name of the hero who had saved humanity several times, and who didn't abandon even the small minority, but saved everyone.

"Haha... you really are..."

In Billon Must's office,

Billon let out a hearty laugh, then sank deep into his chair as the tension drained from his body.

He had hoped Kim Seo-hyeon would not choose a penalty.

If you weighed the risk, the right choice had seemed painfully obvious.

But Kim Seo-hyeon chose to save everyone, without exception.

And in the end, he got everything.

Even Billon, who had always chosen high-risk high-return in his own life, knew that if he were in that position, he would never have chosen the penalty.

...It was incredible. Beyond incredible, it was awe-inspiring.

With his eyes closed, Billon quietly celebrated his partner's safe return.

At the Climbing Surveillance Division office.

[Floor 4 has been cleared on all difficulties.]

"...Yes!"

The moment she saw the message in front of her, Shin Su-jin shouted without realizing it.

Kang Ju-hyeok beside her looked at the message in shock, then got startled a second time by her shout.

Only then did Shin Su-jin clear her throat, looking slightly embarrassed.

"Whew, he did it in the end. Picking one of those penalties and still clearing Nightmare... he's truly amazing."

Kang Ju-hyeok kept staring at the message in admiration.

He took on a fatal penalty and still pulled off the clear. Kang Ju-hyeok couldn't even begin to guess the level of his ability.

Shin Su-jin also felt her heart pounding and quietly rejoiced to herself.

It was such a relief that he came back alive.

"...With this, that person has granted his fourth salvation."

Inside a dim church.

Compared to a year ago, the hall was much larger and packed with far more people.

A man on the platform spoke with a voice that sounded ready to break into tears at any moment.

"The wicked Tower played its tricks. It exploited his compassion, held people's lives hostage, and tried to block the path of salvation he walks.

Ah, why did he not turn away? How could he refuse to bend even a little? He has never once turned his face from a single pitiful life. He willingly shackled his own feet with heavy chains and leapt into hell to save everyone."

The man continued, almost sobbing. The believers, who had listened in reverent prayer, also began to sniffle, unable to hold back their tears.

"No matter what vile, cowardly, pathetic acts the Tower repeats, this has proven that it can never stop him. Until the glorious day he saves all humanity, we will believe and follow."

"We believe, we believe..."

"Tonight, please rejoice with all your hearts. Give thanks that by his grace, we can live another year. Give thanks for that endless devotion and sacrifice..."

After the prayer, people roared in cheers at the top of their lungs.

That day, in every corner of the world, the name Person123 and endless cheers never stopped.

* * *

The moment I got out of the Tower, I collapsed and slept like a log, only waking near dawn.

I got hungry and ordered room service for a late-night meal.

I sliced up a tender, perfectly cooked steak and stuffed it into my mouth.

"Delicious."

Food after finishing a clear was absolute heaven.

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