WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby
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◈ Climbing the Tower with Time-Stop Ability
Chapter 86
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Bug (4)
I went back to Zone 0, took the portal, and moved to the Reward Room.
I had to check the reward I got for killing the Zone 4 boss.
[Item: Frozen Hydra Blood]
Upon consumption, cold resistance increases. The body's regenerative power and all regeneration effects received by the body increase. You will not die unless your head is destroyed or your neck is severed.
"...Hmm?"
The first reward was a small glass bottle filled with blue liquid.
I was surprised when I read the item description.
First, it was a consumable item, something I had never seen before.
And beyond that, the effects were insane.
Cold resistance, increased regeneration, and most of all...
'I won't die unless my head is destroyed or my neck is cut off?'
Wasn't this the Zone 4 boss's ability?
This item had the boss's ability packed into it as-is.
"That's kind of insane...?"
So as long as I protected my head, I was basically immortal.
And it even boosted regeneration.
My head was still an exposed weak point, so it wasn't completely broken...
Still, it was a pretty extreme effect.
I uncorked the bottle and gulped it down right away.
It tasted like plain water, but it was so cold my tongue almost froze.
It slid down my throat, and a chill spread through my body with a hiss.
['Item: Frozen Hydra Blood' has been consumed.]
[Skill: Cavalry Charge (Rare+)]
Charge while mounted on a unit. For 5 seconds, the caster and mounted unit's speed, defense, and resistance greatly increase. Targets hit by the charge are knocked back greatly. Can only be used while mounted on a unit.
Classification: Physical-Type
Willpower Cost: 130
Cooldown: 1 minute
The standard reward wasn't Epic-tier, just Rare+...
Still, this one was pretty unusual too.
A skill used while mounted on a unit?
Speed, defense, resistance increase for 5 seconds.
Basically, it was a burst charge buff.
Since I had Pli, it was a skill I could use too.
['You have learned Skill: Cavalry Charge (Rare+)'.]
[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+), Cavalry Charge (Rare+), Flame Strike (Rare) (+5)...]
I was briefly checking the Status Window.
Then I heard the Demon King's voice.
- "You... were you a Nightmare Climber?"
I couldn't help being surprised.
"...You know what this is?"
Did the Demon King know about the Tower's system too?
Earlier, when the Tower tried to do something, he had told me to stop time, so I had wondered if he was aware of the Tower's existence...
"How do you know that? Who are you, Demon King-nim?"
Among all the intelligent beings I'd met inside the Tower so far, none understood the concept of the Tower or climbing.
During Hidden clears, they knew nothing. They were basically just NPCs.
The Demon King ignored all my questions and asked one of his own.
- "How many floors have you cleared? How much time remains in your world's Time Limit?"
"...Up to Floor 6."
- "Huh. For a mere creature, you've climbed quite far. Are you the top record holder?"
"Yes."
The Demon King sounded slightly surprised.
- "Then again, for a lowly creature, you even wield that divine art that stops time..."
"No, I asked what you are, Demon King-nim."
Only then did he answer.
- "I too was a Nightmare Climber."
"...?!"
- "I have a proposal. Hand your body over to me, and I will clear Nightmare difficulty for you. I will prevent your world from perishing."
Hold on, hold on...
This was moving way too fast.
He was a Climber? Him too?
How? Why?
"...I don't understand any of this right now, so I need an explanation."
- "What?"
"Are there worlds besides Earth? You're not from Earth, Demon King-nim."
- "What a stupid thing to ask. Countless worlds exist besides your own."
Huh.
So there really were other worlds.
Honestly, it wasn't even that shocking.
Ever since the Tower appeared, common sense had already shattered, so other worlds besides Earth wasn't much compared to that.
I'd vaguely felt that during Hidden clears too.
The shocking part was this: those worlds also had Towers and Climbers.
"You said you'd stop this world's destruction?"
The Demon King spoke with a slightly arrogant tone.
- "Yes. Soon enough, you will fail. Accept my offer. I shall extend Nightmare difficulty's Time Limit."
I asked again.
The Demon King was silent for a moment, then replied.
- "I climbed far higher than you."
"So which floor?"
- "I passed Floor 20."
- "..."
"What, that got my hopes up for nothing. You couldn't clear it either, and you're talking about stopping destruction...?"
Well, whatever happened, he failed, so wasn't that why he was buried on Floor 5 like that?
The Demon King exploded.
- "Insolent little creature, how dare you! Do you think you'll even reach Floor 10!"
Still, it seemed true that he had climbed past Floor 20.
Maybe because our souls were linked, I could vaguely tell whether he was lying or telling the truth.
I tuned out his insults and sorted out my thoughts.
There were worlds besides Earth, and they had Towers and Climbers too.
The Frost Demon King inside me had also been a Nightmare Climber.
And for some reason, he had been buried on Floor 5... treated as an error and nearly erased by the Tower.
"Forget that. Tell me something else. Why were you buried on Floor 5, and what is this error thing?"
I had a lot of questions.
Why was a former Nightmare Climber stuck like this inside the Tower, how was he not dead even after failing a clear, what exactly was the Tower, what was its goal...
If it was the Demon King, maybe he knew more than I did.
The noisy Demon King scoffed.
- "You think I'll tell you? Hand over your body, and then I will."
Hm...
Did he really know anything?
"You'll tell me what the Tower is and what it wants?"
- "Yes. I will tell you everything you want to know. I'll clear Nightmare too!"
It was a lie.
From what I could feel through the soul link, the Demon King didn't seem to know anything especially major either.
- "Damn it all, so you're rejecting the offer?"
"Of course. Why would I hand it over?"
- "You will fail soon! I could extend your world's lifespan by ten years at least. Then hand over half!"
No chance.
Maybe if the Demon King could truly clear Nightmare for me, it would be different.
But there was no way I would hand over the body I barely got back just for a little Time Limit extension.
I couldn't trust him in the first place.
Right now, I had fully reclaimed control of my body, but if I handed it over once, control would go back to the Demon King.
What if this bastard refused to give it back again?
Then time-stop and that exhausting second round would start all over again. No thanks.
And there was another issue... was the Nightmare he cleared even the same as the Nightmare I was clearing?
"Demon King-nim, what happened on Nightmare Floor 6?"
The Demon King answered.
- "Floor 6? It's hazy. A volcano erupted, I think."
...A volcanic eruption?
"Not ogres spawning and destroying enemy cores and all that?"
- "What are you talking about? Ah, yes, I remember now. I froze the entire volcano and blocked the eruption."
I had no idea what kind of insane talk that was, freezing an entire volcano...
Anyway, even Nightmare difficulty seemed different for each person.
That made this meaningless.
What changed if the same body just had a different pilot?
'Ah.'
Maybe not?
Come to think of it, setting my body aside, the Demon King had used abilities that weren't among my skills.
When he waved his hand, freezing air surged, and he flew through the sky freely.
'Can he use his own abilities even with my body?'
The Demon King said,
- "With a pathetic body like this, I cannot use my true power. Even so, you would become more than twice as strong as your normal limit."
"You're amazing."
- "Yes, now you finally understand. Will you accept the proposal?"
"No."
I said I wouldn't.
I ignored the Demon King, who kept shouting in my head.
Whew... should I have just let the Tower erase him?
The Tower's unusual reaction still bothered me.
I didn't know if stopping time had been the right call.
Well, I couldn't undo it now anyway.
I left the Reward Room and exited Floor 5.
I returned to my room.
It felt like scenery I hadn't seen in ages.
It really had been a long time. I'd kept time stopped for quite a while.
I opened the door and went out.
My family was in the living room watching TV.
...Was it the weekend? Right, it was.
My father glanced back at me.
"Why are you just standing there?"
"...It's nothing."
"What a flat answer."
On TV, breaking news was reporting that I had killed the Zone 4 boss.
I went back to my room and dove onto the bed.
"Ugh..."
I was too tired.
I needed to rest first.
* * *
[Spiderweb: So he really solo-cleared the Zone 4 boss too.]
[Pain: The minimum was probably level 80, that's seriously amazing.]
[Figure: Told you there was nothing to worry about.]
[Devans: Did nobody see him kill the boss? There isn't a single detail this time.]
[Kikikikikiki: Person123 personally warned people not to come close because it was dangerous, so...]
I looked through the Communication Window, then closed it.
A lot of unexpected things had happened...
But I had killed the Zone 4 boss, and now it was time to get back to work.
"Demon King-nim."
I called out to the Demon King once.
He had been making a huge fuss about accepting his offer earlier, then went quiet again...
- "If you're not handing over your body, don't talk to me."
"Okay."
If that's what he wanted, fine.
The Demon King grumbled.
- "Damn it, how did I end up inside the body of such a weird little creature..."
"You were lucky."
- "What nonsense is that?"
"If I hadn't stopped time, the Tower would've erased you. By that logic, I'm your lifesaver, so can't you cooperate with me a little?"
Of course I had no intention of giving up my body.
Still, now that things had turned out this way, if the Demon King cooperated, he could help in a lot of ways.
- "Don't even dream of it. If you want my help..."
"You want half of each day."
- "Yes. Have you changed your mind?"
"I'll review that negatively."
- "...You rotten bastard!"
Time to do what I needed to do.
[Would you like to enter Nightmare difficulty Floor 6?]
Floor 6 Hidden clear.
Instead of looking around newly opened Zone 5, I was doing Hidden first.
[The match begins!]
[Destroy all of the enemy's cores!]
Goblins spawned from the portals.
I pushed through Floor 6 quickly.
Bang, bang, bang!
I went straight for the base core and pounded it with my mace.
I'd gone through hell because of this ridiculous trick.
[You have destroyed an enemy core!]
[Destroyed cores (1/4)]
After destroying the base core, I ran straight to Lane 1.
I dealt with the Ogres, pushed through the first and second turrets, bulldozed all the way to the base, and destroyed Core 1.
I wondered if the order changed every time I entered, but...
[You have destroyed an enemy core!]
[Destroyed cores (2/4)]
As expected, there was no difference.
I could just destroy them in order, 1, 2, 3.
[You have destroyed the first turret in Lane 2!]
[You have destroyed the second turret in Lane 2!]
.
.
.
[You have destroyed an enemy core!]
[Destroyed cores (4/4)]
I speed-cleared the last core too.
[You have won the match!]
A message saying I had won the match appeared.
I looked around.
Now it was time to find the Hidden Route...
Flash!
"...?"
A portal suddenly appeared right beside me.
What was this? Was it telling me to get in?
I moved closer to the portal.
Sixth Sense wasn't sending any warning, so I carefully stepped inside.
Then the location changed...
"...?"
A few knights were surrounding me.
Clap, clap, clap.
Someone walked out between them while applauding.
Human... no, not human.
Gray skin, three eyes, and limbs longer than a human's... an alien-looking man.
His outfit was flashy too. In contrast to the knights around me, he looked like a noble.
He spoke in a pleased voice.
"Excellent match. Slave No. 199."
"...?"
"Now only the final championship remains. Go back and rest well."
One knight poked my back with his sword, as if telling me to move already.
- "What are these trashlings? Kill them at once."
The Demon King's voice rang through my head.
I ignored it and stopped time.
'Slave?'
This felt different from the Hidden routes up to now.
Was my role fixed from the start?
Information came first... I should play along for now.
I released time.
Then I let the knights escort me and moved somewhere.
- "What are you doing? I said kill them all."
'Ah, be quiet.'
Why do you keep telling me to kill everyone? Crazy old man.
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