WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ Climbing the Tower with Time-Stop Ability

Chapter 50

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Floor 4 Hidden (1)

I took a morning flight home and had lunch at the house.

- Last night, Nightmare difficulty Floor 4 was cleared, and at the same time, the Tower's 3-year rule was nullified. Climbers will no longer die for not entering the Tower, nor will they turn into Fallen.

- In particular, Nightmare Climbers and their families are sending heartfelt praise and gratitude to Person123 for choosing the penalty. The story of Choi Won-young, whose high school-aged daughter is a Nightmare Climber, is drawing attention.

- "My daughter has suffered from osteosarcoma since elementary school, and three years ago, she was even chosen as a Nightmare Climber."

"...I thought it was all over. Even when I saw the Tower's message, I desperately hoped for it, but deep down, I never believed Person123 would choose the penalty. But then this miracle happened. Honestly, I still can't believe my daughter won't die now."

"In case Person123 somehow sees this interview, I wanted to leave these words. Thank you so much. You saved my daughter's life. Until the day I die, I will never forget your kindness, and from now on, I'll cherish every single day with my daughter..."

An interview with someone who had a daughter in Nightmare was playing.

Watching it made me feel weirdly embarrassed, so I changed the channel.

"Hey, why'd you change it? I was watching that."

"Let's watch something else. It's all Person123 this, Person123 that."

At that, my little sister sprawled on the sofa looked at me like I was ridiculous.

"Nightmare Floor 4 got cleared yesterday, you know? You seriously don't care?"

"It happens every year."

"Hey, every year only comes because that person keeps the world safe. If you're human, you should be grateful."

Wow, "that person," huh.

My sister shot me a look with a hint of genuine disgust.

"Since we're on the topic, seriously, stop doing that, oppa. Last year too, around this time, why do you always go traveling? Mom and Dad don't say it out loud, but honestly, they don't like it either. You should stay home and pray with everyone."

"..."

This little brat... lecturing me?

Getting a serious scolding from her put me in a slightly bad mood, but from my family's point of view, my behavior probably did look that way.

Still, what could I do? This was my routine now.

Personally, before a clear, I felt calmer spending time alone and looking at natural scenery. I was obviously going again next year too.

A funny thought popped into my head, so I spoke up.

"Hey."

"What."

"Then do you have anything you want to say to Person123? Give me one line of thanks and I'll pass it on."

"...? What are you even talking about? How?"

"I'm a Climber. I can just send a whisper through the Communication Window."

Her eyes widened.

"You said people should be grateful, right? I'll send it for you, so hurry up and say it."

"...Even if you send it, why would that person read it? Do you know Person123?"

"No. But the Communication Window doesn't have a whisper-block function. If they open it, the notification has to show up."

Which was honestly annoying.

There's not even an inquiry function. Tower, improve your system already.

"So Person123 might see it, right? Sending one whisper isn't a big deal. Other Climbers are probably all sending thank-you messages too."

She looked flustered, but interested.

"You're really gonna send it?"

"Yeah. I'll relay it exactly, so if you've got something to say, say it. I already opened the Communication Window."

"Uh... wait. Ahem."

She sat up on the sofa, rolled her neck, and started speaking in a halting voice.

"Um, I live in South Korea... and I'm always cheering for you from afar. Ah, no, I don't know if it's actually afar, but anyway, I'm cheering for you."

"..."

"Uh, and this time, when you chose the penalty, I was truly moved. I think your choice was really, really cool. Thank you for keeping the world safe again this year."

"Pffft."

"...Send that. Damn it, why are you laughing!"

I couldn't hold it in, and it slipped out.

"No, no, it was good. I'll definitely pass it on."

Ah, this was fun. Really fun.

After teasing my sister to my heart's content, I handed the TV remote back and cleared the lunch table.

* * *

[Time remaining until the first sub-tower appears: 6 days 7 hours 9 minutes 16 seconds.]

A timer had been added to my vision after clearing Floor 4.

Since I had no idea what a sub-tower was, there was nothing I could do except prepare until time ran out.

I just had to take care of my own business.

[You have entered Nightmare difficulty Floor 4.]

After lunch settled, I entered right away to clear the Hidden route, same as always.

- The golems inside the workshop are currently rampaging due to a malfunctionnn, staff are asked to dispose of them immediately upon discoveryyy...

The announcement played.

I moved to the entrance path.

Anyway, Floor 4... how was I supposed to write an info post for this?

It was complicated.

If someone steadily farmed points and used the shop strategically, other Nightmare challengers could probably clear it too.

I had basically cleared it comfortably after upgrading magic damage only five times.

Sure, other people would have much lower base stats than me, but then they could just spend more points on upgrades. They also wouldn't lose points from not knowing the gimmick.

...Or maybe not? The point cost for damage upgrades got brutal the more you stacked it, so maybe it'd still be rough.

If you pushed it to 200%, it cost over 15,000 points.

Either way, the key was building the most efficient point-spending strategy possible.

More importantly, there was another problem besides that.

The shittiest part of this Floor 4 was that in the end, there was a section you had to leave to luck. That damned draw.

Even if someone saved points perfectly and made it to the boss, ability nullification...

And it's not like other people could copy the exact method I used. Hell, even I couldn't do that twice.

Ding-

The entrance opened.

I summoned Pli and put it on auto-hunt.

I'd think about the info post later.

Right now, it was time to focus on clearing the Hidden route.

Pli chewed through, tore up, and smashed the basic golems pouring out.

[You have gained 50P.]

[You have gained 50P.]

[You have gained 50P.]

.

.

.

I collected all the cores too, and easily cleared up to Stage 3.

Kwaaang!

[You have gained 100P.]

[You have gained 100P.]

[You have gained 100P.]

.

.

.

I blew them all apart with magic and cleared.

Stages 7 to 9, red golems with 99% magic damage immunity.

I stayed out of it and had Pli destroy them.

['Physical Damage +10% (100P)' has been purchased.]

['Physical Damage +10% (200P)' has been purchased.]

An experiment I couldn't afford to try during the first clear, when points were too precious.

I upgraded physical damage a few times and watched whether Pli's damage increased.

It definitely did.

So damage upgrades weren't just applied to me. The mechanic seemed to buff any damage dealt to golems, no matter what caused it.

[You have gained 150P.]

[You have gained 150P.]

[You have gained 150P.]

.

.

.

Stages 9 to 12, black golems that ignored damage below a fixed threshold.

I moved down to the route myself and started smashing golems directly.

I was level 55 now, with physical damage upgrades on top.

Every punch left wide cracks across their bodies. Easy clear.

After that, I kept point spending to a minimum and pushed through the remaining stages without trouble.

- Our workshop's finest masterpiece is malfunctioninggg... Staff are advised to proceed very, very carefullyyy...

Final boss appearance.

I opened the shop.

[Shop]

- Physical Damage +10% (500P)

- Magic Damage +10% (200P)

- Willpower +10% (100P)

- Attribute Conversion (500P)

- Force Field (50P)

- Slow (50P)

- Stop (100P)

- Special Draw! (5,000P)

Points Held: 35,500P

[Special Draw! (5,000P)]

Begins the Special Draw. This is a random draw. (All probabilities are equal.)

- Skill Effect 300% Scroll

- Ability Nullification Parts

- Great Incineration Switch

I got here without taking losses and saved hard, so now I had enough points for seven draws.

If I calculated the chance of not getting it even once... around 5%, maybe?

Well, this was a repeat clear, so even if Ability Nullification didn't show up, I wouldn't have to do that horrific self-incineration show again.

Still, if it didn't show up, it would be a problem, since leaving would waste one attempt.

But failing to get it in seven pulls? That would be absurd.

"Come on, try screwing me over again~."

I've got seven bullets now.

I spun the draw right away.

['Special Draw! (5,000P)' has been purchased.]

Ddiriririr-

['Ability Nullification Parts' won!]

A nut-like part about the size of a fist dropped in front of me with a thud.

"..."

Back then, it refused to show up even once.

Now it pops on the first try.

"That pisses me off..."

What the hell is this thing's problem?

I let out a hollow laugh and picked up the part.

[Ability Nullification Parts]

Nullifies all abilities of one golem unit. Can be used by making the parts touch the golem.

I climbed onto the boss's shoulder as it moved down the route.

Clang!

The moment I touched the part to it, it stuck to the boss's body like a magnet.

A weak spark crackled.

The boss flinched, then started walking again.

I swung my fist hard into the boss's head.

Kwaaang!

A fine crack formed on its head.

Its abilities were definitely nullified.

I hopped down from the boss's shoulder.

Then, in midair, I stretched out a hand toward it.

"See you."

We'd gone through getting incinerated together and all, but business was business.

I stopped time, focused, then fired a full-charge Destruction Beam.

A pitch-black beam pierced the exact center of the boss's body.

The giant boss tilted and fell.

Now that the 99% damage immunity was gone, it really did go down in one hit.

Clunk.

Once the boss died too, the entrance closed.

No more announcements came out.

Well... you said to dispose of the golems, right? I did.

Shouldn't I get some kind of special bonus for this?

I dropped the pointless thought and started seriously looking for the route.

"The entrance is blocked."

Then only the exit was left.

I'd already dealt with all the golems, so if I went out through the exit now, great incineration shouldn't trigger, right?

I carefully stepped out through the exit.

As expected, no announcement played.

Outside the exit, a pitch-black hallway stretched ahead with no lights.

Using Diul's ability, I moved forward without any trouble seeing.

As I kept going, the paths split in more and more complicated ways, with stairs going both up and down.

I couldn't tell where to go, so for now I chose the way up.

I pricked up my ears.

From far away, I could hear faint human voices.

At least I hadn't wandered onto a completely wrong path.

'A workshop...'

This place was a workshop.

It made golems, and it had a sort of cyberpunk feel.

What exactly was I supposed to do in this hidden route?

Then I saw it.

Creeeak...

It didn't seem locked.

I quietly opened the steel door.

A bright corridor appeared.

"...Did they solve everything? The broadcast went quiet."

"The guard unit must've handled it. More importantly, listen. About Experiment DF-5, if we lower mana tension a little more and run it again..."

People were about to come out from the corner of the opposite corridor, so I hid first.

People in white coats, like researchers, came into view.

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