WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Climbing the Tower with Time-Stop Ability
Chapter 70
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Floor 5 (8)
Inside a private conference room in China’s Zhongnanhai.
“Do you really have to challenge it?”
Xiaolin, a Central Committee member soon to join the Politburo Standing Committee for his major contribution to the coup, looked at the man before him with a worried expression.
Ye Tianwei, surrounded by specialists and undergoing medical checks, answered calmly.
“Of course I do.”
But why?
He had already secured power in the Party flawlessly. He was now in a position where all he had to do was enjoy that enormous authority.
Xiaolin could not understand why he still wanted to keep clearing Nightmare stages.
He had watched and assisted Ye Tianwei since childhood, yet Ye Tianwei remained an incredibly difficult man to read.
“Isn’t Floor 4 the kind of floor where, no matter how capable you are, you still need heaven-defying luck? I’m deeply concerned. And also, why rush like this...”
According to Person123’s Floor 4 information post, Nightmare Floor 4 could fail no matter how thoroughly you prepared.
China’s top talents had worked together to build an airtight Floor 4 strategy, but regardless of Ye Tianwei’s ability, there was still a fixed chance of failure.
And if he gave himself more time before attempting it, he could obtain more skill stones, so why hurry this challenge?
Was it just competitive pride, wanting to succeed before the U.S.?
Xiaolin knew very well that Ye Tianwei had little interest in that sort of thing.
“Because Zone 3’s boss gauge is almost full.”
“...”
“I need to enter Floor 5 as soon as possible. If I’m lucky, I might even get a chance to watch.”
Xiaolin had vaguely known that Ye Tianwei held a strange admiration for Person123...
But honestly, he had not expected it to be this much.
Ye Tianwei smiled as he spoke.
“Life and death are decreed by fate. If I am meant to die, I die. If I am meant to live, I live. If I die here, then this is simply as far as I was ever meant to go.”
Xiaolin still could not understand why deliberately charging into mortal danger was somehow unavoidable, but he stopped arguing and nodded. He could not stop him anyway.
If Ye Tianwei died, then Party power would, at least on the surface, pass into Haoran’s hands.
Xiaolin could only hope Ye Tianwei would succeed safely as he watched him, perhaps for the last time.
Soon, after the preparations were complete, Ye Tianwei disappeared.
- China succeeds in clearing Nightmare difficulty Floor 4...
* * *
“You’ve recovered already? You look perfectly fine.”
“What level do you think I am? Injuries like that heal fast.”
As soon as he recovered from his wounds, Peacekeeper Captain Alex returned straight to Floor 5.
The atmosphere on Floor 5 had been relatively calm lately.
The Black Star Society was lying low and staying cautious, and the Peacekeeping Corps also avoided provoking them unnecessarily.
Person123 had not taken a clear stance on what happened in Zone 3 and had not sided with either camp, so both sides stopped arguing over it. People had died on both sides, after all.
A lot had happened in a short time. Wang Kai’s death, China’s coup, the reveal of Person123’s nationality, China’s success in clearing Nightmare Floor 4...
Alex was not exactly a government-affiliated Climber, but as the top U.S. Hard record holder, he was still closely connected to U.S. climbing authorities.
So he knew the rough outline of multiple internal reports related to China and the Black Star Society.
After Wang Kai’s death, the one leading Floor 5’s Black Star Society was now Li Zeyan, a Chinese Hard Floor 14 Climber.
That was the official line, but Alex knew who was really behind it.
‘Ye Tianwei...’
China’s representative Nightmare Climber, and the figure behind the coup in China.
And just recently, he had gone and cleared Nightmare Floor 4 before America’s Taylor.
Details on Ye Tianwei were top secret, but Alex had to deal with the Black Star Society frequently on Floor 5, so the U.S. government had shared information with him.
Even from this alone, Ye Tianwei was a very hard man to predict.
Why seize power through a coup, then challenge Nightmare again?
...Either way, he was no ordinary figure. Wang Kai was dead, but things were not going to get easier.
“By the way... what do we do about the boss?”
At the question from an officer, Alex groaned and rubbed his temple.
[Zone 3 (98.9%)]
Only 1% remained on Zone 3’s boss gauge.
Person123 was probably hunting in Zone 3.
Once the Zone 3 boss appeared, what should the Peacekeeping Corps do? That was their current concern.
Of course, this was not about the first-clear reward. Naturally, Person123 should take that.
They were worried about his safety.
No one knew exactly how far Person123’s power went, even after he killed Wang Kai in an instant, and no one knew how strong Zone 3’s boss would be either.
From the look of things, Person123 seemed to be planning a solo boss attempt.
They could not help worrying that something might go wrong. The U.S. government had also expressed serious concern on this point.
So the Peacekeeping Corps had sent him a whisper saying they wanted to help.
[Person123: It’s okay.]
All they got back was a curt reply saying he did not need it.
“I don’t know if it’s really okay. Letting Person123 fight the boss alone.”
At that moment, Shin Su-jin, who had been listening, spoke up.
“When the boss spawn time gets close... how about we prepare as well and move into Zone 3 first?”
“...Person123 said he didn’t need help.”
“He didn’t say we were forbidden from entering Zone 3. If we find the boss first, we wait at a distance. If we see Person123 fighting it, we observe the situation.”
Shin Su-jin was just as worried about Person123’s safety as anyone else. He was incredible, but no one could know how things would turn out.
At this point, she thought this might be the best the Peacekeeping Corps could do without interfering with him.
Alex thought it over, then nodded.
“Then we’ll do that. Notify every hunting squad in Zone 3.”
* * *
About a week into hunting to fill the remaining Zone 3 gauge.
Kwaaaaaang!
Two pterosaurs diving to attack me were blown apart nicely by my Flame Strike and fell from the sky.
I checked the gauge.
[Zone 3 (99.9%)]
Okay...
Just 0.1% left.
Soon, I’d be challenging the Zone 3 boss.
Honestly, I wasn’t especially nervous.
The Zone 3 boss should be around level 60, or maybe level 70 at most no matter how strong it was...
And this wasn’t a Nightmare floor I had to clear in order to leave.
Even if it turned into an “Ah, shit, this won’t work” situation, I was confident I could escape.
[Mountain Range: Person123-nim, would it be possible for our Peacekeeping Corps to join the Zone 3 boss clear? We want to help so Person123-nim can secure the Zone 3 boss first-clear reward.]
The Peacekeeping Corps had offered to help with the Zone 3 boss.
[Heaven and Earth: Person123-nim, if you need any help from the Black Star Society for the Zone 3 boss clear, please feel free to tell us anything.]
Even the Black Star Society had reached out.
But honestly, I didn’t want help.
I had plenty of reasons.
Fighting alongside other people just felt burdensome.
I was planning to spam magic, and if other Climbers were up close trading blows with the boss, they’d only get in my way.
And if this was a boss I couldn’t kill alone, then other Climbers probably wouldn’t help much either, and a lot of them would just die.
So I simply replied to both sides that it was fine.
Still, saying, “I’ll handle the boss alone, so nobody interfere,” felt a bit much...
Even if not for the first-clear reward, other people would still want the Zone 3 boss first-time reward.
Though realistically, there probably weren’t many Climbers at a high enough level to build contribution score.
Either way, I didn’t think I had the right to stop them.
So my stance was to let everyone do as they wished.
I spotted a Lava Giant passing in the distance and blasted it apart with another Flame Strike.
After killing a few more monsters...
[Zone 3 (100%)]
[Zone 3 boss has appeared.]
The message finally appeared.
“Let’s go, Pli.”
Now it was time to find where the boss had spawned.
I pulled my hood up, took a mask from subspace, and put it on.
Ready in case I ran into other people again.
After summoning Pli, I climbed onto its back and took off.
I planned to circle all of Zone 3 clockwise, from the innermost area out toward the perimeter.
If I kept moving like this, I’d find the boss.
After sprinting for quite a while...
“...!”
I finally spotted something and stopped.
Far away, on top of a small rocky hill, a fairly massive figure was lying down.
It had wings. Huge ones, not even comparable to the pterosaurs.
...A dragon? A wyvern?
Those were the first words that came to mind.
Staring at the wyvern covered in blazing red scales, I took out the pre-charged Warp Device from subspace and activated it.
[9:59]
This was insurance, just in case.
If the boss turned out much stronger than expected, I’d run.
If activation was canceled once, it reset to a full 10 minutes, so I couldn’t instantly warp whenever I wanted during combat. I had to activate it in advance before the fight.
I planned to start fighting when about 3 minutes remained.
Three minutes would be enough to judge whether I could do it or not.
If it seemed doable, I’d cancel activation. If not, I’d use the Warp Device after 3 minutes and bail.
But anyway...
I looked around.
I wasn’t alone. People were visible far off to both my left and right.
On the right were Peacekeeping Corps Climbers. I could recognize Alex at the front.
And on the left... looked like the Black Star Society.
Did they come to help even after I said I was fine?
By chance, everyone seemed to have found the boss at around the same time.
No need to worry about them. I just had to do my part.
[3:30]
When the Warp Device timer dropped to around three minutes,
I charged at the boss.
As soon as I got close enough, the boss reacted.
It rose from the top of the rocky hill and flapped its huge wings.
Flames swirled, and a blast of hot wind reached all the way to me.
“Mm...!”
Scorching.
My Sixth Sense told me the boss was strong, as expected.
But I didn’t feel at all like this was an enemy I shouldn’t fight.
Around level 60 after all? This looked doable.
Kraaaaaah!
The boss let out a massive roar and launched into the air with a powerful wingbeat.
I was now almost within striking distance.
The strategy I had set was simple.
One: fire Destruction Beam.
Then pour every other magic skill on top of it.
‘The question is how much Destruction Beam will work.’
Could this maybe... one-shot it?
Hard to say. Zone bosses were known for stubbornly high vitality.
I planned to get as close as possible and fire Destruction Beam at the boss’s head.
“...Jump!”
Toward the boss high in the sky.
Pli leaped, and I stepped on Pli’s back and leaped once more.
At that moment, the boss opened its jaws wide toward me.
Was it about to fire something?
I stopped time.
After finishing 300 seconds of concentration,
the instant I released time, the boss spewed a massive flame breath.
At the same moment, I cast a fully charged Destruction Beam.
...Kwaaaaaaaaaa!
The pitch-black beam erased the flames instantly and pierced through the boss’s head.
I was about to immediately fire my remaining skills too, but stopped short.
The boss, now left with only its long neck after losing its head, flapped its wings in a death spasm, then crashed to the ground.
...Huh?
Kwoooom!
[Zone 3 boss has been slain.]
[You have obtained the Zone 3 boss kill reward.]
[You have obtained the Zone 3 boss first kill reward.]
As the messages appeared before me, I landed below as well.
Looking at the boss’s corpse, I could only let out a short exclamation.
“Wow.”
That really got one-shot?
I already knew the power, but it still surprised me every time.
Destruction Beam... way too strongggg!
* * *
[Zone 3 boss has appeared.]
The Peacekeeping Corps had already entered Zone 3 as the gauge neared full.
As soon as the boss spawn message appeared, they hurried to find it.
And luckily, they found it quickly.
Far away, a winged monster on top of a rocky hill.
“...That’s the boss!”
Its size was nowhere near comparable to the pterosaurs in Zone 3.
“What is that...”
“That’s not even close to the Zone 2 boss.”
For a moment, the Peacekeeping members could only stare at the boss from afar, overwhelmed.
Then they saw something charging toward it.
A jet-black beast, and a rider on top of it.
Shin Su-jin shouted.
“It’s Person123!”
Every gaze in the Peacekeeping Corps snapped toward him.
He was approaching the boss’s position directly, clearly planning to engage immediately.
“Sh-shouldn’t we move too?”
“...Move!”
The Peacekeeping Corps rushed toward the boss in a panic.
Then the boss rose and flew into the sky.
The Peacekeeping Corps was still far away, but Person123 had already closed to point-blank range.
Person123 jumped into the air, and the boss blasted flames at him.
The Peacekeeping members were horrified, thinking he was about to be swallowed by fire.
Then a pitch-black beam shot out from Person123.
The exact same skill that had vaporized Wang Kai. The black beam erased the boss’s breath outright.
Then it blew off the boss’s head, shot upward as if to reach the sky, and slowly faded.
[Zone 3 boss has been slain.]
“...”
The Peacekeeping Corps stopped running and stared blankly at the falling boss, unable to close their mouths.
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