Climbing the Tower with Time-Stop Ability - Chapter 7

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby

◈ Climbing the Tower with Time-Stop Ability

Chapter 7

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Information Sharing (2)

[Person123: This is strategy information for Nightmare Floor 1. Once you enter, you start in a cave-like location, similar to the other difficulties. You are given the same weapon as well, a single longsword. If you wait, three goblins come out at once from the straight passage ahead. Two carry longswords, and one carries a spear. After all three are taken down, three more goblins appear. I cannot confirm whether they appear immediately or after a fixed amount of time. Those three use a sword, a sword and shield, and a bow. This is just my personal impression, but the goblins did not seem to coordinate and tended to charge in recklessly. I used that tendency to strike and pull back, taking them down one by one. But as for the Spear Goblin and Archer Goblin...]

After writing the post, I went to school.

I listed the information as thoroughly as possible and kept my own opinions to a minimum.

It was not like I was some combat strategy expert.

Specialists would analyze how to deal with goblins and come up with their own strategies.

When I got back, the Communication Window was in total chaos.

[Retriever: Is that post real? I can’t believe it.]

[Patrok: Isn’t that on a whole different level even compared to Hard difficulty...?]

[Light: There’s a boss mob? On Floor 1?]

I watched people’s reactions, then noticed something late.

[Whispers (1,651)]

A whisper notification had piled up in one corner of the Communication Window.

Did this thing even have a feature like that?

When I opened it, messages kept pouring in like an inbox left unchecked for years.

Most were simple whispers, greetings, thanks, questions about my level, or what reward I got.

Among them, a few stood out.

[Lucas: Hello, Person123-nim. I am Director Ben Baker of the U.S. Tower Climber Management Bureau. First, thank you for the information you provided. The reason I am sending this whisper is...]

[Seong-cheon: Greetings, Person-nim. I am in charge of overall Climber operations for the People’s Republic of China. Thank you for openly sharing details of Nightmare Floor 1. The reason I am contacting you is to convey a message from our chairman...]

[Podrick: Hello, Person123-nim. I am from Russia...]

Requests to talk from a national-level standpoint.

There was one from our country’s Climber Special Affairs Office too.

No thanks. Not interested.

I ignored all of them and closed the Communication Window.

I had already given them the information, so now I just hoped they would prepare properly for Floor 1 with it.

I lay down on my bed.

With my eyes closed, I thought about what was coming.

Everyone else would work hard in their own way, and if more Nightmare clearers appeared, that would be great.

Still, I could not skip preparing on my end.

Within a year, someone would have to clear Nightmare Floor 2 anyway.

What if I ended up having to do it again?

I would have no choice.

I did not want to die either. I did not want the world to collapse.

“I’ll do it. What else can I do?”

In the Tower, even floors you had already cleared could be entered again and repeatedly cleared.

Repeated clears only gave Mana Stones, and that was the main source of income for Climbers.

I had no interest in Mana Stones.

But I clearly remembered one message appearing after I cleared Floor 1.

“It said the Hidden Route was unlocked...”

I searched online, but nothing came up about a Hidden Route.

It was probably connected to a first-clear reward.

For other difficulties, people said first-clear rewards were Skill Stones or items, but there was nothing about Hidden Routes anywhere.

The only option was to reenter Floor 1 and check for myself.

There was not much risk.

I had heard that on a floor you had already cleared, you could leave at any time even without clearing it again.

And I had gotten stronger.

My physical abilities had surpassed human limits, and I had gained a skill too.

I already knew what could pop out and what to do.

Compared to that first run where I fought like my life depended on it, this would be much easier.

I needed to go back into Floor 1 again soon.

* * *

A few more days passed without anything special.

“Hey, I actually became a Climber.”

We were listening to lectures as usual, then eating lunch together, when one of my friends suddenly dropped that line.

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m serious. Not joking.”

Sang-cheol’s face was serious. He did not look like he was messing around.

As if me becoming one was not enough, now my friend became a Climber too.

Was I cursed or something?

While the others sat there stunned, I asked first.

“What difficulty?”

“Easy difficulty. I’m thinking about taking a leave next year and trying the Tower.”

Another friend tried to stop him.

“You crazy bastard, you want to die?”

“I won’t die. They say Easy difficulty is a joke. Floor 1 survival is over 90 percent.”

Sang-cheol said, eyes shining.

“I looked it up, and they say even if you only clear Floor 1, the Mana Stones can make you hundreds of millions of won a year. Plus, if you become a Climber, military service is exempt, and there are all kinds of benefits.”

“What, then you’re not becoming a doctor? You worked your ass off to get here.”

“That’s why I said I’m thinking about it. But becoming a doctor is still far off. With military service in the middle, I only graduate in like seven years anyway... and when I thought about it, this path didn’t look bad either.”

“Still, that side is uncertain. And if even a few percent means your life is on the line, you think that’s low odds?”

He said he was thinking it over, but Sang-cheol already looked half decided.

I gave him my own warning too.

“If you’re really going to do it, be careful. Did you check out training facilities for Climbers?”

“Yeah, I checked everything. They say you go in there and learn swordsmanship and all that.”

The others all said he was insane, but from my view... I did not know.

The world had become a place where even one year ahead was impossible to predict.

Even then, I was still going to school too.

[Rhino: Hello, Person123-nim. I am Max, the trainer in charge of climbing teams at the U.S. Tower Climber Management Bureau. I am contacting you because there is a part of the information you shared that I really want to ask your advice about.]

After I got home and checked the Communication Window, that whisper was waiting.

It was not from that director guy who had been whispering over and over.

Reading it, this was not one of those offers to talk or promises to do something for me.

It was purely about asking questions on strategy information.

[Rhino: Using the information you provided, we are currently planning a large-scale program to train members who can clear Nightmare difficulty. If we do not, one year from now the world will once again face the threat of apocalypse. They will stand on the front line of Nightmare difficulty for humanity alone. We believe you willingly shared Nightmare Floor 1 information with no compensation because we are looking in the same direction. If we could have a conversation...]

A large-scale program to train Nightmare clearers?

Yeah, this was it.

If it was this kind of thing, I had no reason not to reply. I welcomed it.

I sent a reply.

* * *

“So, what do you think? How much chance do they have?”

At the headquarters of the U.S. Tower Climber Management Bureau, Max poured coffee and answered Director Ben’s question.

“Director.”

“What?”

“Imagine I have to enter a building alone through the front entrance with just a pistol, and it is packed with insurgents carrying rifles. On top of that, those bastards have seized a nuclear switch and are threatening to detonate it, so retreat is not an option.”

“...”

“Whether there’s a chance or not is buried deep underground. It’s a joke to even discuss it. We do it because we have to.”

“Is it that bad? Even with the maximum possible preparation?”

Max shook his head. The man still was not getting it.

“It is that bad. This is not a prep issue. At this point I genuinely question whether the person who cleared this with zero information is even human.”

Nightmare Floor 1.

Fight two Sword Goblins and one Spear Goblin at once.

Then immediately fight one Sword Goblin, one Shield Goblin, and one Archer Goblin at once.

When the stone gate starts closing, somehow finish the fight and escape into the passage.

Once inside the passage, a giant steel ball rolls in, so run forward and slip into the notch in the middle of the passage to evade it.

Keep going and the final boss, the Goblin Knight, appears. Its strength far exceeds a human’s, and it is fully armored in plate.

During the fight with the Goblin Knight, or right after it goes down, beware the sudden ambush from a Crossbow Goblin.

You had to clear all of that with one sword in your hands.

You could not heal injuries in the middle either.

...How did he even do that? Did that make any sense?

Reality was not a movie.

A Climber challenging Floor 1 was still just an ordinary person with no abilities yet.

No matter how gifted someone was, facing three goblins armed with melee weapons at once on flat ground with no terrain advantage was already absurd.

Say they somehow took down all six, and if they knew about the stone gate and rolling ball, maybe they could prepare for those parts.

But the final part was a Goblin Knight?

They had to bring down a monster stronger than a human and covered in plate armor, while also watching for bolts flying in out of nowhere?

It was total madness.

There was a reason tens of thousands had died.

Even so, his mission was to somehow train members who could execute those insane conditions...

The government had staked everything on it.

No one wanted to relive the helplessness of the day of destruction from a few days ago.

Max, a former Delta Force operator, veteran CQC instructor, a Climber who had cleared Hard difficulty up to Floor 3, and originally the instructor for Hard Floor 1, had been appointed chief instructor for this Nightmare member training project.

Recruitment of Nightmare Climbers had already begun across the United States, with exceptional terms attached.

How many would survive was still a question, but if sacrifice was necessary for humanity’s survival, there was no avoiding it.

“Still, you said you got in touch with that person, didn’t you?”

“Yes.”

“...Not just consultation, is there any way we can get more active help?”

At Director Ben’s suggestive question, Max clicked his tongue and answered.

“Director, and tell the people above you too, stop doing useless crap. If you bother that person too much and I lose contact too, that will be on you.”

Max thought about that person.

Person123.

At this point, the only clearer of Nightmare Floor 1.

He already knew Director Ben had tried repeatedly to start a conversation and got ignored.

Even so, he had reached out once hoping for detailed consultation related to the posted information, and surprisingly, he got a reply.

[Person123: Hello. What are you curious about?]

They went back and forth with questions and opinions, and it turned into a useful conversation.

Of course, they could not declare the information absolutely true, but if they got hung up on that, there was nothing else they could rely on anyway.

Max felt he understood, at least roughly, what kind of person that man was.

“At least he is someone who cares about humanity.”

That was obvious from how he released all Nightmare Floor 1 information without asking for anything.

He rejected every attempt by Director Ben to talk, yet actively replied when asked for strategy consultation.

To begin with, he had to be an unregistered Climber with no intention of revealing his identity.

Even so, it was clear he wanted the number of Nightmare clearers to increase.

Then their side just had to produce results with everything they had.

“Please leave now. I’m busy too.”

“Ugh, I can’t tell who the director is anymore. Anyway, I’ll leave it in your hands.”

Ben grumbled and left.

Max finished his coffee and organized the papers scattered across his desk.

It was daunting, but there was still one point that gave him some hope.

Among the new Nightmare Climbers who received the Tower’s Summons after Nightmare Floor 1 was cleared this time, one person had applied to the project faster than anyone else.

Max knew him too. A comrade who had gone through battlefields with him back in military days.

He was also the most monstrous human Max had ever seen in his life.

As a Delta operator, he had left behind countless legendary achievements, enough that his nickname was God of the Battlefield.

“If it’s him, he might actually pull it off.”

Produce as many Nightmare Floor 1 clearers as possible.

Max planned to do everything he could in the role he had been given.

For the world, and to place this country at the forefront of clearing Nightmare difficulty.

* * *

Early Saturday morning.

I had gone to sleep early yesterday and woke up before dawn.

As I loosened up my body, my mind woke up too.

This hour, while my family was still asleep, was the perfect time.