Climbing the Tower with Time-Stop Ability - Chapter 93

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Climbing the Tower with Time-Stop Ability

Chapter 93

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Before Floor 7

"Yeah, that's a relief, hyung. Tell noona I said hi."

I ended the call with Juwon hyung.

Fortunately, Ji-woo noona had made it home safely and seemed to have come back to her senses.

"- Lawmaker Baek Gyu-ho has announced his voluntary resignation from his National Assembly seat.

Lawmaker Baek is currently facing multiple allegations related to the Cheonin Church, including bribery and aiding and abetting, and prosecutors stated they are proceeding with an investigation under the judgment that national security was also seriously undermined..."

When I stepped into the living room, the news was on TV.

After I posted that call-out in the Communication Window, Korea was still in an uproar over the Cheonin Church scandal.

From the recent reports, it looked like everyone involved was being investigated and punished without exception.

"End times, seriously."

My little sister lay on the sofa, muttering at the news.

I called out to her.

"Hey, sis."

"...Yeah?"

"You be careful of cults like that too."

Maybe because we had seen what happened to Ji-woo noona.

From where I stood, this kid looked a little shaky too.

She shot me a glare and snapped back.

"Do you think I'm an idiot? Like I'd fall for that?"

"You are an idiot, though."

"Ah, come on, why are you picking a fight again?"

"-...Since Person123 stepped in directly to disband the Cheonin Church and even posted in the Communication Window, analysts say he expressed deep regret over this incident.

- The Korean government stated it will actively investigate religious groups tied to Person123 and prepare measures so a second Cheonin Church incident does not occur..."

My sister flicked the remote and pointed at the screen.

"See? Person123 even posted himself. Who's gonna get fooled by that now?"

Who knew...

Things would stay quiet for a while, but as time passed, wouldn't that effect wear off again?

It wasn't like I could hunt down every cult leader and beat them senseless the way I did with the Cheonin Church.

Not that I had time to worry about that anyway.

Still, I felt like I'd done everything I could on this one.

"Anyway, just be careful. I'm saying this because a college senior I know got sucked into the Cheonin Church."

"...Seriously? Then did that senior actually see Person123 in person?"

"Don't know."

* * *

At the moment, there were only a few dozen Nightmare clearers worldwide.

But only two countries were always right on Person123's heels: the U.S. and China.

The U.S. and China both put everything on the line for this Nightmare Floor 6 climb.

Well, they always did, but Floor 6 was much more important than the others.

Clear it, and you jumped not 10 levels, but 20 at once.

That meant level 60.

Even setting aside the special status of being a Nightmare clearer, that made them top-level Climbers across all difficulties.

This time, the U.S. challenged first.

Much earlier than on the other floors.

They had prepared thoroughly, even consulting Person123 for strategy, but under normal circumstances they wouldn't have moved this quickly.

Taylor's will pushed it through.

She wanted to challenge as soon as possible, and in the end she succeeded safely again.

Not long after, China challenged Floor 6 as well. The result was the same as the U.S.

Now both countries had a level 60 Climber, the highest Nightmare record holder besides Person123.

Slash!

Taylor swung her sword.

The leg of a Giant Stick Insect that had ambushed from a tree through the fog was sliced off by her aura-coated blade.

Siiik-

The Giant Stick Insect thrashed and whipped its remaining legs.

Taylor stayed calm, cut off the rest as if pruning branches, then split the torso in half.

Green fluid gushed out, and the Giant Stick Insect died on the spot.

Taylor wiped blood from her blade with a cloth, then tied that cloth to a nearby branch as a marker.

Zone 5 was dangerous. Person123 had warned everyone himself.

Of course, Person123 had posted all the monster info too. The highly durable Bone Dinosaurs, the tree-camouflaging Giant Stick Insects, the Fog Wraiths that created fake clones, and so on...

But in a field choked with fog, it was hard to detect monster presence.

She moved while leaving cloth markers here and there, but one moment of carelessness and she could still lose her way and wander the forest.

Even so, Taylor was hunting in Zone 5 for one reason.

Not for monster byproducts, but to fill the gauge.

The Zone 5 boss would be at least level 100 strong, so why fill a boss gauge for a boss she couldn't kill anyway...?

It was for Person123.

The U.S. Climber Management Bureau had fiercely opposed Taylor's Zone 5 hunting. It was too dangerous. Even now, this was a unilateral action.

Taylor had already made her role clear in her own mind.

If all she did was keep clearing Nightmare with information given by Person123, then what was the point of her existence?

She knew it. No one, including herself, could replace him.

If he failed, no one could clear Nightmare difficulty anyway.

So she had to do anything that helped. Holding back because it was dangerous would miss the point entirely.

No one was hunting Zone 5 right now in the first place.

There were very few Climbers at a level high enough to hunt those monsters, and they had no reason to take that risk.

So Taylor fought again today, to offer even the tiniest help to Person123, who had to fill Zone 5's gauge alone.

As she advanced through the fog...

"...!"

Taylor sensed movement behind her and spun around.

But what appeared wasn't a monster.

The man smiled and raised both hands as if to show no hostility.

"I'm human."

A black-haired East Asian man.

Taylor lowered the sword she had aimed at him.

'Ye Tianwei...?'

China's top Nightmare record holder.

This was her first time seeing him in person, but she recognized him immediately.

The U.S. had been watching him closely, so she had memorized his face from photos.

"I didn't expect we'd meet in a place like this. Nice to meet you, Ms. Taylor."

Of course, Ye Tianwei recognized Taylor right away too.

"...Nice to meet you."

Taylor lowered her sword, but her guard stayed up.

After the Wang Kai incident, China and the Black Star Society had been moving more quietly than before, and there had been no major clashes on Floor 5 so far.

Still, the U.S. and China were competitors.

And this was Zone 5.

No one would know what happened here. Even if someone died right now.

Besides, why was Ye Tianwei here in the first place? For what purpose?

"I don't think you need to be that wary."

Taylor kept staring at him as she answered.

"Sorry. I'm a little on edge."

"Understandable. Given where we are."

Ye Tianwei's eyes swept over the monster blood splashed on her clothes.

"But hunting monsters alone in Zone 5... that's surprising. It doesn't seem like something the U.S. Climber Management Bureau would want."

"Who knows. What about you?"

Ye Tianwei also had no reason to be wandering alone in Zone 5.

He held Taylor's gaze, then smiled.

"I've been curious about you for a long time..."

"..."

"Looks like we're the same kind after all."

Taylor narrowed her brow slightly. What was he talking about?

At that moment, a monster burst out of the fog from the side.

Taylor moved to raise her sword.

But Ye Tianwei's hand moved faster.

Bang!

Something shot out at high speed and blew the Bone Dinosaur's head to pieces.

Taylor paused and stared at Ye Tianwei.

...What skill was that just now?

It looked like a Common+ throwing skill, but it was way too fast for that.

Ye Tianwei flicked his hand and gave her a small bow.

"It was nice meeting you."

"...You too."

"Let's both hunt hard, for him."

Still smiling, Ye Tianwei disappeared into the fog again.

Taylor watched where he vanished, and only then could she finally relax.

'...For him?'

What did he mean by that last line?

Could Ye Tianwei also be hunting Zone 5 for Person123?

Taylor could no longer get a read on him at all.

* * *

My daily life stayed in the same monotonous pattern as always.

I went in and out of Floor 6, gave Nightmare clearers strategy advice, and hunted in Zone 5.

This time, the U.S. and China challenged pretty early. They both succeeded.

And lately, for some reason, the Zone 5 boss gauge kept filling little by little even when I wasn't hunting monsters.

Was someone else hunting in Zone 5 besides me?

I had said it was dangerous.

Anyway, thanks to that, the gauge filled a little faster.

Even so, it was still nowhere near enough to make the Zone 5 boss appear before I challenged Floor 7.

"- We have news that Universe Z's second crewed probe from the U.S. will arrive on Mars very soon. This mission notably includes Climbers, and CEO Billon Must stated he plans to test the Tower's range of influence..."

Another thing in the news lately.

After the first crewed mission, Billon's Universe Z had sent a second probe to Mars.

They said the technology had improved too, so it was much faster.

More importantly, this time some of the crew were Climbers.

With this chance, Billon planned to run at least a rough test of the Tower's range, just as he had said before.

[Chicken Sandwich: If the Tower's supernatural abilities function normally on Mars too, then we should assume with very high probability that the curse affects it the same way.]

[Chicken Sandwich: We keep advancing into wider space.

The Solar System, our galaxy, and beyond...]

I didn't know whether humanity could endure until then, but Billon's dream was grand.

Of course I supported him too.

Now, honestly, it was hard to expect much.

Because thanks to the Demon King, I now knew other worlds existed.

The Tower destroyed other worlds too, so even if we went far from Earth, could we really escape the Tower's reach?

"-...The explorers are coming out now. They will soon attempt to enter the Tower."

It was being broadcast live.

The second probe had arrived on Mars safely.

The cameras were also showing Billon at Earth's control center, watching everything unfold.

They said the Climber would first try posting in the Communication Window, then try entering the Tower.