WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ Climbing the Tower with Time-Stop Ability

Chapter 83

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Bug (1)

"You really worked hard. They said you were the first one to step up and try to stop the auction, Manager Shin, right?"

"I didn't stop it. Person123 was the one who stopped it."

"Heh heh, even so, your actions alone raised the Republic of Korea's national standing another level, didn't they? I'm truly proud."

After the Masked Auction.

The public praised Person123, and Shin Su-jin also got some of the spotlight.

Among the auction invitees, she had been the first to step forward, remove her mask without hesitation, and try to stop the bidding.

She had tried to prevent the deaths of countless civilians. That alone was remarkable and worthy of respect. People praised her without holding back.

It wasn't that Shin Su-jin disliked those compliments, but they were troublesome too.

She had already been a celebrity in Korea to begin with.

She held the top domestic Normal record, and she was attractive too, so there was no way the media would leave her alone.

Climbers affiliated with Korea's Climber Affairs Office received special treatment that allowed some commercial activity even as public officials.

It was basically the government's desperate attempt to attract at least a few more Climbers who absolutely refused to work as public servants.

So she already received occasional requests for TV appearances and ad deals.

After news of what happened at the Masked Auction spread, she had already gotten five offers today. Rejecting each one was a hassle.

And externally, as well as internally...

"By the way, I heard you also spoke directly with Person123, Manager Shin?"

The Director of the Climber Affairs Office asked in a subtle tone.

Shin Su-jin said, "I only thanked him for stopping the auction. We didn't have any other conversation."

"Ahem, still... even something small is fine, could you tell me? Ah, could you at least tell whether Person123 is definitely Korean?"

Shin Su-jin sighed inwardly.

After it became all but certain that Person123 was Korean, the government had quietly continued investigating him. From things she heard in passing from the Director, Shin Su-jin had a rough sense of the mood.

His very existence was a national issue, so the government was trying to gather even a little more information.

Shin Su-jin worked for the country, but she had no intention of sharing what she knew.

It wasn't like she knew Person123's identity, and it wasn't some huge secret either, but no matter what, she would never speak about Person123.

She had promised Person123 she would keep his secret, and of course that came first.

It was a promise to someone who had saved her, both publicly and personally.

Shin Su-jin gave a vague response and left the director's office.

Before entering Floor 5 again for work, she went to the break room for caffeine.

As she stirred and drank a cup of coffee, she recalled what happened at the Masked Auction.

...If not for him, the auction would have ended in a horrific massacre.

When No. 41's incitement turned the room into chaos and people started bidding one after another, she had done nothing. She had only panicked.

She had thought there was no way to undo it, but Person123 found a solution immediately.

Without a trace of hesitation, he executed No. 41 and resolved the situation perfectly.

He was truly incredible. Was that why someone like him could keep clearing Nightmare difficulty?

After that, she had another chance to talk with him at the banquet...

She honestly regretted not having a proper conversation.

She wanted to personally thank him for all the help he had given her, with Seo Dong-woo and with the Seoul Arts Center Fallen, but there were too many people listening, so she couldn't bring up personal matters like that.

And when she finally got a chance to speak with him directly, she got nervous too.

Deputy Captain Justin had chatted away excitedly, but Shin Su-jin had mostly listened from the side. She should have said more herself.

"Haah..."

Did he think she was a boring person...?

Still, she wasn't usually like that.

She hoped another chance would come someday.

* * *

I took one day off, then started what I needed to do.

Zone 4 hunting.

[Zone 4 (89.5%)]

I decided to delay Floor 6 Hidden a little and kill the Zone 4 boss first.

The gauge didn't have much left anyway.

Wouldn't it be better to challenge Hidden after getting the Zone 4 boss reward?

Boss attempts weren't limited, but Hidden had a limit of three tries.

Order-wise, challenging the boss first was the right move.

The downside was that posting the Floor 6 info guide would be delayed too...

[Person123: I will post the Floor 6 info guide after clearing the Zone 4 boss.]

I posted that notice in the Communication Window in advance.

Sure, I could upload only what I knew right now.

But if I did that, I couldn't help if other Nightmare clearers asked me to verify something. Entering Floor 6 would consume Hidden chances.

It was cleaner to finish the Hidden clear first, then post the Floor 6 information.

Slash!

I took off a yeti's head with Sword of Light.

Its headless body staggered and collapsed.

I pushed through the blizzard and moved to find another monster.

To build proficiency with the new skill, I was mainly using Sword of Light to hunt Zone 4 monsters.

Now that I was level 80, with my physical stats plus the cutting power of Sword of Light, which was basically a lightsaber, there was no way monsters in the level 40 range could handle me.

Every swing chopped through monster bodies like pudding.

Buuuuung-!

I spotted a giant hornet flying over my head.

I threw Sword of Light at it.

The spinning sword flew through the air and cleanly severed the hornet at the waist.

The halved hornet fell, and I held out my hand.

Then the flying Sword of Light came back like a boomerang. I caught it in one grab.

I hadn't known because it wasn't in the skill description.

But it had a return function too. Not bad at all.

I wandered some more and found White Wolves this time.

Those things always moved in packs, so I could see a large cluster of them in the distance...

I threw Sword of Light toward them.

"Explode."

Kwaaang!

A blinding flash exploded and swept through the White Wolf pack.

The explosion power of Sword of Light was a little stronger than buffed Flame Strike.

Well, it was a Rare+ skill, its Willpower cost was much higher, and its cooldown was longer, so that made sense.

Anyway, I was pretty satisfied with Sword of Light.

I kept hunting.

It would take at most two months to fill the remaining 10% of the gauge.

Let's challenge the Zone 4 boss as fast as possible.

* * *

Whenever Person123 cleared a new floor, there was always one thing people waited for: the info post.

This time, attention had shifted more toward the Masked Auction.

Still, a lot of people were waiting to see what Nightmare Floor 6 had been like.

Then this appeared.

[Person123: I will post the Floor 6 info guide after clearing the Zone 4 boss.]

There wasn't much Zone 4 gauge left now.

That meant Person123 would soon challenge the Zone 4 boss, and people sent both support and concern.

[Anchor Rope: How much longer till Zone 4 fills up?]

[Card: Probably about a month.]

[Break Time: Is he planning to solo the Zone 4 boss too? Will that be okay...?]

[Pumpkin Porridge: He'll handle it fine. He one-shot the Zone 3 boss too.]

[Reven: He even cleared Floor 6 and gained 20 levels. No need to worry, right?]

[Zebra: What do you mean no need to worry? If this goes wrong, the world is screwed.]

Meanwhile, the Peacekeeping Corps also kept hunting hard in Zone 4.

This zone had monsters much stronger and trickier than Zone 3.

Only the Peacekeeping Corps' top elite Climbers could hunt here.

"Ice Wasp! Watch out!"

Captain Alex of the Peacekeeping Corps spotted an Ice Wasp flying in and warned the team.

It could fly and had deadly poison, making it the most troublesome monster in Zone 4.

Taylor stepped up.

Slash!

She dodged the stinger thrust with Quickstep, then immediately swung her sword wrapped in aura and cut through the hornet's weak point, its waist.

The team let out impressed reactions at the clean response.

Alex, who had deliberately just watched without stepping in, nodded too.

For sure...

Nightmare clearers were different.

Taylor had recently cleared Nightmare Floor 4 and entered Floor 5, and she had lately joined Peacekeeping Corps hunts from time to time.

Including Alex and Taylor, several of the Peacekeeping Corps' top elites had recently been focusing only on Zone 4 hunting...

Of course, the goal was to help Person123.

To fill the Zone 4 gauge even a little faster, and to save the precious time of humanity's savior.

And honestly, Taylor had volunteered.

She was a precious Nightmare clearer backed by massive U.S. support, so why would anyone welcome her taking the risk of Zone 4 hunting if something went wrong?

Even so, Taylor said she wanted to help Person123 and came to hunt Zone 4 with Alex's team.

But watching her, there wasn't much to worry about.

Taylor wasn't just level 40. Her combat sense and skill usage were both excellent. Alex honestly thought that at the same level, she fought better than he did.

Alex's team kept moving, searching for monsters.

"I see White Wolf tracks."

Taylor found traces.

White Wolves were the only Zone 4 monsters that moved in packs.

Each one wasn't exceptionally strong on its own, but they could gather in large groups, sometimes dozens, so they were dangerous. They were fairly intelligent too.

Judging by the tracks, there seemed to be quite a lot of them.

But when they followed the trail, what spread out before them was...

A massive explosion site, and White Wolf corpses blown apart so badly their forms were unrecognizable.

Alex looked around with a stiff face.

This wasn't Black Star Society... they hadn't collected byproducts.

No, they couldn't have collected them.

There was nothing left to collect.

"...Could Person123 have hunted them?"

One of the team members spoke up.

Taylor and Alex thought the same. In this vast Zone 4, overlapping routes was just chance.

But what kind of skill could leave traces like this? It looked like the wolves had all exploded to death in one hit.

Looking at the explosion marks, it didn't seem like the jet-black beam had been used either...

Still, since it was Person123, it wasn't surprising.

Alex and the team naturally found themselves thinking the Zone 4 boss was probably nothing to worry about either.

* * *

About a month passed as I hunted Zone 4 diligently.

[Zone 4 (99.9%)]

Now it was right in front of me.

The appearance of the Zone 4 boss.

I had finished all preparations.

How strong would the Zone 4 boss be?

At least level 80 or higher, and I was level 80 too, so honestly, maybe this could go as easily as the Zone 3 boss...

It'd be great if a one-tap Destruction Beam worked again this time.

Either way, I couldn't let my guard down, so I raised my focus.

I'd already sent notice through the Communication Window to both the Peacekeeping Corps and Black Star Society.

If they were thinking of helping with the boss clear, don't.

I didn't especially stop them during the Zone 3 boss fight, but this time it was a Zone 4 boss, far stronger than Zone 3. At minimum, it would be in the level 80 range.

Other Climbers couldn't handle it anyway, not even Captain Alex, the highest level among them.

Even if they went searching for the boss to help me, it would only be dangerous, so I'd warned them not to come near at all.

I planned to use the same method as in the Zone 3 boss fight.

Activate the warp device in advance, then start fighting the boss.

If it looked bad, warp out. If it looked doable, keep fighting.

I moved around searching for monsters to fill the final 0.1%.

Soon I found one Ice Wasp.

The moment I shot it down with Flame Strike...

A message appeared.

[Zone 4 (100%)]

[The Zone 4 boss has appeared.]

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