WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ Climbing the Tower with Time-Stop Ability

Chapter 5

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Nightmare Floor 1 (4)

The White House Situation Room.

The President of the United States and key figures from the government and military were gathered in one place.

In the solemn atmosphere, everyone kept their eyes on the giant screen.

[02:46:32]

As the countdown on the screen kept dropping, their faces grew darker.

The time limit for the Tower’s Nightmare difficulty.

The clock counting down to humanity’s end.

"How is the situation, Director Ben?"

The president spoke quietly.

Ben, director of the newly established Tower Climber Management Bureau, answered while staring at the status window before him.

"The rate of decline is speeding up. We are at around sixteen thousand right now... If the time limit drops further, we may see a massive drop all at once."

No one felt like blaming them.

A difficulty no one had cleared, even after tens of thousands died.

The apocalypse was right in front of them, but who would willingly throw themselves into a death trap with a 0% survival rate?

If anything, the courage of the more than twenty thousand people who had challenged it so far was admirable.

Who could have imagined this just one year ago?

Not climate change, not nuclear war, not an asteroid impact, but extinction in this form.

The Tower appeared, Climbers entered it, and they brought a new substance called Mana Stone out of it, throwing the world into upheaval.

It did not take nations long to realize that the future world would be rebuilt around the Tower and the Climbers.

The United States also moved quickly to prepare for that changed world, but in the end it was all pointless.

Even Hard difficulty, notorious for being brutal, had already passed Floor 6.

What kind of hell was Nightmare difficulty, if no one could clear even Floor 1?

Soon, the curse foretold by the Tower would descend.

When time ran out, 99% of humanity would die.

It sounded completely absurd, but how could anyone ignore it?

A transcendent being had raised a giant Tower in the middle of the Pacific, selected random people across the globe, and granted them supernatural abilities. That was the one making this declaration.

If such a being said it could wipe out humanity overnight, it would not even sound strange.

The only thing humanity could do was unleash the full firepower of all the technology it had built, aimed at the incomprehensible Tower.

If no one cleared it before the time limit hit thirty minutes, they would begin a nuclear strike on the Pacific Tower. That was their final line.

But everyone in the room already sensed it. It was meaningless.

They had concluded long ago that the Pacific Tower, believed to be rooted all the way down to Earth’s inner core, could not be destroyed by any means.

An unknown energy membrane covering the Tower’s surface blocked all outside physical force, as if it existed outside the laws of physics.

So this was only a last desperate struggle.

"God..."

All they could do was pray.

Pray that someone among those remaining would clear it. Pray for a miracle.

"If the time limit drops to one hour, I will enter the Tower as well. I will call in someone else to handle status reports."

All eyes turned to Director Ben.

He too was a Climber assigned to Nightmare difficulty.

"Tens of thousands have given their lives. As director of the Tower Climber Management Bureau, should I not fulfill my final responsibility as well?"

"...Understood. Thank you for your dedication, Director Ben."

People could only nod gravely.

The chance that one more person could overturn this disaster was close to zero.

Ben, eyes heavy, checked the remaining number again.

[Floor 1 has been cleared on all difficulties.]

[The Tower is calling new Climbers.]

A message appeared before his eyes.

Ben blinked, then snapped his eyes wide open and checked the difficulty status.

[Nightmare]

Headcount: 175,837

Time Limit: 1 year 2 hours 39 minutes 2 seconds

Reached Floor: Floor 2

"It... it worked!"

Ben forgot his composure and shouted.

People stared at him in shock.

"Holy fucking shit! It worked! It worked! We cleared it!"

"...Is that really true?!"

"A message just appeared saying Floor 1 has been cleared on all difficulties! I also confirmed Nightmare’s time limit increased by one year! Hahaha!"

Waaaah-!

People embraced each other in joy. Some even cried in relief.

Director Ben laughed as he hugged Samuel, his deputy director.

"Thank God, Director!"

Humanity had survived.

They had only bought one more year, but no one cared about that right now.

"The headcount on each difficulty also increased by another hundred thousand. It happened along with the message that all Floor 1 clears are complete."

"Really? Could it be that every time all difficulties clear a floor, the headcount increases?"

Their joy was brief. They had to think about what came next.

A clear on Nightmare Floor 1, and brand-new Climbers.

With this new phase beginning, they would be swamped without a moment to breathe.

"Still, who could it be? The hero who cleared Nightmare difficulty."

"That is what we need to find out now."

The first clear of a difficulty where not a single person had ever returned alive.

No matter which country they were from, an announcement would probably break soon.

Unless that person was an unregistered Climber who never reported to a government.

Whatever the case, one thing was certain.

That person had saved humanity once, right before extinction.

* * *

My eyes opened.

I sat up and looked around.

"...?"

I was alive?

I checked my body.

The arrow that had pierced my stomach was gone, and my neck was fine too.

There were no bloodstains, and even my torn clothes were intact. Everything looked fully restored.

I think I saw a clear message right before I blacked out...

Did I pull it off?

If my body was restored because I cleared it, then I must have succeeded.

I checked Nightmare difficulty progress and became sure.

[Nightmare]

Headcount: 175,830

Time Limit: 1 year 2 hours 38 minutes 31 seconds

Reached Floor: Floor 2

The reached floor had changed to Floor 2, and the time limit had increased by one year.

For some reason, the first thing that came out was a dry laugh.

"Haha..."

I really did it.

The world was not ending.

Joy, relief, and a tangle of mixed emotions.

It felt like winning a bet where I had staked everything. Which was exactly what it was.

"...But why did the headcount increase?"

Not just Nightmare. Every difficulty had gained one hundred thousand people.

I tilted my head, then looked around again.

The wide, round cavern-like space I had been in moments ago.

I had a pretty good idea where this was.

"The Reward Room?"

I had heard that Climbers did not leave immediately after a clear. They first received rewards in a place called the Reward Room.

Ah, I was starting to remember the messages that appeared right before I blacked out.

I spoke quietly.

"Status Window."

[Difficulty: Nightmare]

[Floor: Floor 2]

[Level: 10]

[Willpower: 100]

[Skills: - ]

A simple window appeared before me.

So this was the Status Window.

A shared reward granted to Climbers who clear the Tower for the first time.

Through this, Climbers become stronger as they climb, eventually becoming superhuman.

And there was something called the Communication Window too... I could check that later.

I stood up.

My body had been brimming with strength for a while, so I tried jumping in place once.

I shot several meters into the air with ease.

"Whoa."

Physical ability strengthened by leveling up.

I jumped around and threw a few punches, feeling just how completely my body had changed.

This was pretty insane.

But why was my level this high? Ten?

I knew higher difficulty gave more levels.

Was it because this was Nightmare difficulty?

I stopped the physical test and decided to check my rewards.

Two stones, each emitting a different light, lay on the floor nearby.

I went to the golden one first and checked it.

[Top-Grade Mana Stone]

This is a Top-Grade quality Mana Stone.

The moment I picked it up, information appeared.

"So this is a Mana Stone."

One of the rewards you can get from the Tower.

I had heard Climbers sold these and made huge money.

People treated it as an incredible resource that could massively advance human civilization, though I did not know much about that.

I set it back down and looked at the other stone.

A green, droplet-shaped stone emitting light.

[Skill Stone: Flame Strike (Rare)]

Using this lets you learn 'Skill: Flame Strike (Rare)'.

[Do you want to use 'Skill Stone: Flame Strike (Rare)'?]

Ah, so this was a Skill Stone.

A stone that gives you a skill when used.

But I thought Skill Stones were not rewards that dropped from Floor 1. And this was Rare grade?

"Flame Strike... does it shoot fire?"

The name alone gave me a rough idea of what kind of skill it was.

I learned it right away.

[You have learned 'Skill: Flame Strike (Rare)'.]

The Skill Stone in my hand dissolved into light and was absorbed into my body.

[Skill: Flame Strike (Rare)]

Launches condensed flames forward, causing an explosion. Casting requires 20 seconds of mental concentration.

Category: Magic

Willpower Cost: 100

Cooldown: 30 seconds

I read the description.

Could I test it right here?

"Ah."

Only then did I remember the outside world.

I should not be standing around here. I needed to get home fast.

Looking at the time limit, more than thirty minutes had passed since I entered.

[Do you want to exit the Tower?]

A message appeared as soon as I thought about leaving.

"Exit."

The scene before my eyes changed.

I returned to the exact alley where I had entered.

I put the Mana Stone in my pocket, left the alley, and headed home.

When I got back, maybe my family would be relieved too.

The alarm I had set had not gone off yet, so they probably had not seen the note I left behind.

Yeah, first... I should rest.

I wanted to get back and throw myself straight onto my bed.

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