WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ Climbing the Tower with Time-Stop Ability

Chapter 78

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Nightmare Floor 6 (4)

[Floor 6 has been cleared on all difficulties.]

[The Tower is calling new personnel.]

[A new rule has been added.]

[The Masked Auction will be held 24 hours from now.]

[When the time comes, 100 Climbers who have cleared Floor 6 will be randomly invited to the Masked Auction.]

[Time remaining: 23 hours 59 minutes 50 seconds]

I was moved to the Reward Room.

Then I checked the messages that appeared next.

What the hell was this now?

Floor 5 was not exactly a floor you clear in the usual way, so I thought maybe Floor 6 would not add a new rule, but I guess not.

Did a new rule pop up every even-numbered floor no matter what?

Masked Auction?

It said Climbers who had cleared Floor 6, in other words 100 Climbers on Floor 7 or higher, would be randomly invited to something called the Masked Auction.

...If it was an invitation, where would they be sent?

And why an auction out of nowhere?

What kind of stunt was the Tower trying to pull this time?

I ignored the part I would find out in 24 hours and checked my rewards.

A Rare-grade Skill Stone... and an item.

Huh, was this the first time an item had shown up as a reward without a Hidden clear?

It was an earring decorated with emerald-colored accents.

I checked the item info.

[Item: Rosalia's Earring]

This is an earring cherished by Rosalia, the eldest daughter of a prestigious noble house.

Willpower increases by 20%.

It was a simple item that raised Willpower.

"...A dud."

It was useless to me.

A 20% increase was pretty big, sure, but it obviously meant nothing to me when my Willpower was basically infinite.

I tossed it straight into Subspace.

Since the item was a bust, I at least hoped this rolled well as magic-type.

[Skill: Sword of Light (Rare+)]

Compresses the power of light within a 1-meter radius to summon a sword. Requires 50 seconds of mental concentration to cast. By consuming additional Willpower, you can detonate the Sword of Light. Detonation requires 100 seconds of mental concentration.

Classification: Magic-Type

Willpower Cost: 20/300 per second

Cooldown: 5 minutes after detonation

"Nice."

At least it rolled as magic-type.

Reading the description... it was a pretty unusual skill.

A magic skill that summoned a sword?

[You have learned 'Skill: Sword of Light (Rare+)'.]

I learned it right away and used it.

Fwaaa.

The moment I activated it, golden light gathered and condensed into a sword shape in my hand.

It really was exactly what the name said, a sword made of light.

I grabbed it and swung.

It was way lighter than a normal steel sword, so light it almost felt weightless...

"Oh."

I dragged it across the floor once.

With no resistance at all, the blade split the stone floor cleanly.

This thing was seriously strong...?

It felt like I was using sword aura.

From now on, I could just summon the Sword of Light and use that as my weapon.

This one also consumed Willpower per second, so it was a maintainable skill.

And it even had a self-destruct function.

The skill description did not just say 5-minute cooldown, it said 5 minutes after detonation.

So as long as I did not explode the sword, it looked like I could summon and dismiss it freely with no cooldown.

How strong would the explosion be?

I would check later, detonating it in the Reward Room would be a problem.

[Difficulty: Nightmare]

[Floor: Floor 7]

[Level: 80]

[Willpower: 3,600]

[Skills: Destruction Beam (Epic+), Subspace (Epic), Sixth Sense (Rare+) (+2), Teleport (Rare+), Rapid Regeneration (Rare+), Searing Zone (Rare+), Sword of Light (Rare+), Flame Strike (Rare) (+5), Thunder Strike (Rare) (+1), Blade Whirlwind (Rare), Heightening (Rare), Skin Hardening (Rare), Fairy Light Bolt (Common+) (+1), Lesser Toxic Resistance (Common+), Lesser Burn Resistance (Common+), Lesser Freeze Resistance (Common+), Leap (Common) (+2)...]

Before I knew it, my level was already 80.

Willpower had passed 3,000 too.

Including Floor 5 level rewards, it had jumped by 20 in one go compared to before I entered.

I would probably hit level 100 soon.

[Nightmare]

Population: 478,821

Time Limit: 1 year 20 days 4 hours 8 minutes 16 seconds

Reached Floor: Floor 7

Either way, I bought another year again.

By the time I got to around Floor 6, I had become pretty calm about this.

Before I even felt relief, my first thought was whether I would be able to clear Floor 7 too.

"Diul."

I called Diul out.

No matter what anyone said, the MVP of this Floor 6 clear was Diul.

Sure, Pli worked hard holding the line too, but if Diul had not stepped in at the end, it definitely would have failed.

If I had used Scales of Life, what would have happened?

"Diul?"

Diul crawled out of the bracelet.

I looked at Diul and froze.

Huh?

Diul, who used to be round and blob-like... had changed into a human shape.

Not an actual human, just the silhouette.

It looked like a tiny fairy.

"...Diul? What happened?"

Its form had changed a little when it unlocked Stealth back on Floor 3 too...

Did it evolve again while unlocking a new ability?

Diul looked exhausted and hovered around my head as if flying.

'Idiot!'

A voice rang through my head.

"...!"

I got startled.

We had always shared emotions, but Diul had never expressed itself this clearly.

Wait, come to think of it... during the last sub-tower clear, Diul had spoken to me too, right?

My memory was fuzzy since it felt like a dream back then.

'Idiot! Stupid!'

After grumbling like that, Diul went back into the bracelet.

How interesting...

Could we finally communicate properly now?

Diul looked pretty dissatisfied. Maybe because it had to overexert itself because of me.

'...Idiot!'

Anyway, I could feel how tired it was, so I let it rest.

I needed rest too...

Before exiting, I spoke into empty space.

"I did it, you bastard."

If you wanted to block my challenge that badly, then there you go.

I left while snickering.

* * *

[Parallel Universe: No way he picks Ark, right? Right?]

[Sandor: How do you know? You never know.]

[Sunlight: Should I seriously look into flying to Korea right now...?]

[Monster: I'm Korean lol jealous?]

[Cinnamon: Ark's range is only a 3km radius, idiot. If you're Korean, does that mean Person123 will let you in?]

[Krzysztof: I'm telling you, he won't choose Ark. You still don't know Person123?]

After the Tower gave Person123 its Second Proposal.

The world was noisy and chaotic.

People told themselves it would not happen, but still felt anxious that maybe Person123 would choose Ark, and some even moved fast to head to Korea right away.

Of course, those in power moved much faster.

"Wouldn't it be best if you moved to Korea first? Everything is prepared."

Xiaolin said.

Ye Tianwei, calmly doing calligraphy, gave no reply.

Xiaolin spoke again.

"If Person123 wants guaranteed survival for humanity, he might choose Ark, Tianwei-nim. So..."

Ye Tianwei smiled as if he had heard something amusing.

"He will not choose Ark."

"...Who can be certain of that?"

"Only ordinary fools who do not understand him would be uncertain. That is why the world is in uproar over something so trivial again."

"..."

"Person123 will challenge Floor 6 as always. Because..."

That was when it happened.

[The Tower's proposal has been nullified.]

The same message appeared before both of them at once.

Xiaolin was shocked.

If the Tower's proposal had been nullified, it meant Person123 had ignored the proposal and entered Floor 6.

Ye Tianwei was not surprised. He only widened his eyes a little, then looked away from the message and resumed his brushwork.

"Because he is a true savior. And this time too, he will succeed."

Transcending the ordinary, entering sainthood, saving the world.

Ye Tianwei finished the calligraphy and smiled in satisfaction.

Meanwhile, there was someone else who had been certain Person123 would not choose Ark.

The moment he saw the message that the Tower's proposal had been nullified, Billon let out a quiet sigh.

"Mr. Kim entered..."

Allen, standing beside him, nodded with a stiff face.

Person123, Kim Seo-hyeon, they had met him in real life several times.

Not long ago, they even had a meal together and shared a fairly honest conversation, so they understood now.

In the end, he was still just one ordinary person.

If he chose Ark, he would no longer have to keep risking his life.

Most of humanity would die, yes, but he could still save every precious person around him, including his family, then choose peace. He could live like the king of a new world.

He gave that up and chose to challenge once again.

Even if it had begun for one reason, now it was no longer just because of that.

Billon simply prayed, for the safe return of humanity's savior. Please let him pull it off again.

[Hydra: Person123 entered!]

[Dash: Are you sure he entered? Maybe not yet?]

[Ruiba: It said the proposal gets nullified if he enters... so I think he really entered?]

[Rox: As expected! I knew it!]

[Solar Flare: This isn't the time to celebrate. Everyone hurry up and pray.]

Person123 rejected the Tower's proposal.

And the world that had been in chaos suddenly felt like all noise stopped.

- It appears Person123 rejected the Tower's proposal and entered Floor 6. This is several hours earlier than during the Floor 4 challenge...

People felt relief. Then they held their breath and prayed.

[Darkness: Alejandro failed, but he'll succeed, right...? Please.]

[Kakadtika: You think Person123 and Alejandro are the same? Just trust and wait.]

[Boomerang: As expected, only Person123 can do first clears.]

That feeling was even stronger because Alejandro, who had been called a super rookie, failed just yesterday.

A long time passed. Longer than during the Floor 4 clear.

Right when people felt their blood drying up with tension, a message appeared.

[Floor 6 has been cleared on all difficulties.]

A success message.

The Communication Window exploded first.

[Rainbow: Clear success!]

[Chocolate Chip Cookie: Humanity, extended one more year...!]

[Bonda: Thank you so damn muuuuch! Person123!]

[Splendor: How hard was it this time...? It keeps taking longer and longer.]

[Pigeon: Ah, His grace knows no end. Everyone, believe in the Person123 Church too.]

- Person123 rejected the Tower's proposal and once again saved all humanity. We offer respect and gratitude for his noble choice...

[The Tower is calling new personnel.]

[A new rule has been added.]

[The Masked Auction will be held 24 hours from now.]

[When the time comes, 100 Climbers who have cleared Floor 6 will be randomly invited to the Masked Auction.]

[Time remaining: 23 hours 56 minutes 1 second]

Meanwhile, the Tower's rule appeared again as usual.

It felt quite different from anything before.

At words like auction and inviting Climbers, people felt curious, or uneasy.

[Goblin: Masked Auction? What's it trying now.]

[Topur: Does that mean it starts exactly 24 hours later?]

[Crown: Whatever it is, it doesn't seem good.]

[Alien: Damn it, I'm a Floor 7 Climber, no way I get picked, right?]

Either way, the world gained another year.

On streets, at home, at work, everywhere, cheers poured out from people celebrating.

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