WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Mordor
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Escaping the Tower at Hell Difficulty ◈
Episode 100
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The Eastern Bloc hunters looked at me and said something I never expected.
"We have no money."
Did they think I'd ask for a rescue fee?
I replied as if I were a daycare teacher.
"Start by saying thank you."
"... Thank you."
"Where are you from?"
"We're a Romanian hunter team."
Their equipment was so shabby that they didn't look capable of clearing the 11th floor.
Still, it looked like they'd managed to get something.
Even the Soul Crystals from the underground cemetery were worth a fair amount. Mine a few, and you could live off them for quite a while.
'I should be charging them for the trouble, but these guys...'
I'd be lucky if they didn't rob us instead of paying us.
In the end, we decided to let them go.
"Are you leaving?"
"That's the plan."
"Get out safely. The exit's close that way."
"... You're really letting us go?"
"Why, don't you want to?"
They hesitated for a moment, then headed for the exit.
"T-To just let people like that go..."
The German team didn't look pleased, but they didn't say anything.
They'd barely done anything this time.
"Let's keep moving. This way."
We quickly passed through the stale-smelling underground cemetery.
We were ambushed a few more times along the way, but we drove them back without much trouble.
Thankfully, the nonhuman hunters still weren't used to firearms.
"Whew, they'd probably be better off just using their own weapons..."
"That's because they're a bunch of lowlifes."
Any decent hunter wouldn't bring an unfamiliar weapon they couldn't trust straight into real combat.
Still, they were hunters who had reached the 11th floor, so they had one or two useful pieces of equipment.
It was the German team's turn, so they took them.
"This haul's pretty good."
"We're getting close to the Great Temple."
They flinched when I told them the truth.
The two teams were taking turns choosing loot.
If we obtained loot from the Great Temple, it would be our team's turn.
I quickly reassured them.
"Well, it's not like the Great Temple will only give us one piece of loot."
"R-Right?"
The Great Temple was the 11th floor's best farming area, only opening after all four Sub-Temples had been opened.
There was no way it would just hand out a single item and end there.
Like the treasure room in the ninth-floor temple, it would probably have all kinds of things.
We'd pick the best item first, then take turns choosing the rest one at a time.
"Let's make sure the area around it is completely clear first."
"Sounds good."
We used Sang Hajun's Glass Bead to secure our view and set a few traps.
The sound of battle would definitely draw the Crows in.
After clearing the entire underground section, we finally found the stairs leading up to the Great Temple.
As if it were only natural, the entrance stood open.
I pushed the senses of Four Seasons to their limit.
I could see everything beyond the thick stone door.
The Great Temple was quite spacious, with monsters wandering all over inside.
The boss was in a secluded corner.
A massive pipe organ had been installed against the Great Temple wall, and it was the boss's main body.
It was heavily armored.
I could walk up and stab it to finish it off, but there were too many minions nearby.
"They're all armed with firearms."
Everyone's faces darkened at my words.
"Then can we kill it?"
"We need to strike fast. We'll throw grenades in first and finish it before the ones outside can come in."
"All right."
At some point, the German team and I had started speaking formally to each other.
Honestly, I found this more comfortable.
I spoke formally to my own team members too.
Sang Hajun adjusted his sniper rifle and asked,
"Can I pierce the boss with the Ghost’s Cartridge Necklace?"
"I'm not sure... I think it'll be difficult."
The Ghost’s Cartridge Necklace enhanced penetration.
Still, its power seemed a little lacking.
The mana I felt from that boss was no joke.
"Not even with .338 Lapua Magnum armor-piercing rounds?"
"That boss has been strengthened too much... Its core is pretty large too."
Since it was a boss stuck against the wall and unable to move, it must have had considerable durability to begin with.
Now that it had been strengthened, even bullets would have a hard time killing it.
"Still, it's better than not shooting."
"Don't forget to keep the noise to a minimum."
"But you said we'd start by throwing grenades."
"We can't help it if we want to clear a path inside. Should we use smoke grenades instead?"
"You guys confident you can dodge bullets inside the smoke?"
"... Let's use grenades."
In the end, we adjusted the plan a little.
Yuki, Kim Yuna, I, and a few others would enter through the Great Temple's surface entrance.
Once the attack began from that side, the rest would charge in from underground.
We decided not to use grenades after all.
There were enough of us, so attacking from both sides made more sense here.
"I'll leave the timing for the underground assault to you, Hajun."
"All right."
"Let's go."
After taking some time, we emerged aboveground.
The forest was completely quiet.
The other hunters must have figured out the situation by now.
With Firmament Veil active, I entered through the open temple doors.
Yuki and Kim Yuna stayed close by my side.
Yuki nervously gripped the suppressed pistol she had borrowed from Kim Yuna.
'We're going.'
I signaled with my lips, then peeked into the Great Temple.
The undead had quite a varied lineup, but I picked out the bulky miniboss that looked the most troublesome.
I'd deal with that one myself and avoid pushing the others too hard.
Normally, I couldn't kill something like that with a pistol either.
I could only do it because of Firmament Veil's additional effect.
Ssssh!
The shadow covering my body was sucked into the pistol.
Pfft!
The undead giant's thick head jerked hard.
But the bullet failed to penetrate.
One shot definitely wasn't enough.
I activated Collapse Point and fired repeatedly.
Pfft, pssht!
Rat-a-tat-tat!
Yuki and Kim Yuna opened fire as well, but there were too many of them.
Maybe we should've just used explosives.
The survivors soon started shooting back.
Bang!
Even after taking out as many as possible, more than ten remained.
The gunfire was so loud that the pipe organ shook in a sickening tremor.
Its mana surged in response to the noise.
At that moment, Sang Hajun, Han Juwon, and the German team emerged from the underground stairs and joined the fight.
Rat-a-tat... Bang!
Even with a suppressor, the unusually loud gunshot struck the pipe organ.
The Ghost’s Cartridge Necklace let the bullet pierce its thick armor and hit the core.
Still, it only left a large wound in the core. It didn't kill it.
"Gooooo...!"
The tall pipes vibrated and began to howl.
I wondered what would happen if it started playing properly...
But I didn't want to find out.
Nothing good would come of it for us.
Pssht, pssht!
As I diligently punched holes through the pipes, I noticed the air in the room being pulled into a large pipe.
That was the intake.
It was feeding air in before the performance truly began.
An instrument that large would naturally need a dedicated component.
'That's it!'
Faster than thought, I pulled the pin from a grenade and threw it with all my strength.
My aim was a little shaky because I threw it in a rush, but it didn't matter.
It was already drawing air in, so the grenade was naturally sucked into the vent.
Normally, something like that should have been installed in a separate room.
Maybe they built this old Great Temple without thinking it through.
Boom!
With an explosion that sounded almost refreshing, the entire ventilation duct blew apart.
I saw the monsters that had been outside in the forest returning too late.
I immediately pulled out my dagger and rushed forward.
Rat-a-tat-tat!
Kim Yuna's submachine gun shattered the boss's armor.
I swung my dagger at the finally exposed core.
Crunch!
The core was still incredibly tough, but once the dagger stabbed into it, it shriveled pathetically.
Wooooong...
The pipes that had remained intact let out mournful groans as they collapsed.
"Huff! Did we get it?"
"Watch out for the monsters outside! Watch all directions!"
Now that we'd killed the boss, the Crows might come pouring in at any moment.
A moment later, a cluster of light began spilling over the altar.
"Oh...! Rewards!"
"That's a lot, isn't it?"
There was far more loot than expected, enough to fill a roughly sixty-liter backpack.
Of course, it wasn't all artifacts. There were plenty of things like mid-grade Soul Crystals mixed in as well.
'Since the boss was strengthened, did the rewards increase too?'
We set up a defensive line at the temple entrance and examined the loot.
There were various talismans and artifacts.
But the top prize had already been decided.
[Eye of Foresight: Warns the wearer before danger arrives.]
It was a necklace-shaped artifact.
And a Search-type one at that.
Could it enable limited future sight?
With this, we wouldn't have to worry about ambushes.
Combined with my Four Seasons skill, it would make me almost invincible.
"We'll take this."
"Wait, could you... give that to us?"
The Julius Squad spoke after learning the artifact's effect.
Their Search skill level was low, so it was natural for them to want it.
Honestly, any hunter would want an artifact like this.
But this was a reward we'd earned by risking our lives.
With it, dealing with Modus's sword energy would become easier too.
"I'm sorry, but we can't. Choose something else."
"Mm..."
They looked deeply disappointed, but there was nothing they could do.
The atmosphere suddenly turned strange.
It felt like walking on a blade.
I hadn't even put on the necklace yet, but the sense of danger made the hairs on my body stand up.
They might be fellow human hunters, but they were still a team from another country.
There was no shortage of betrayal throughout history.
If humanity could overcome greed that easily, the world would be far better than it is now.
'They can't take their eyes off the necklace...'
The atmosphere had been good until just a moment ago.
Then loot that was too valuable appeared.
As the team leader, giving this up was a decision I could never make.
What should I do?
No matter what, they probably wouldn't attack us openly...
But I couldn't relax with them behind us like this.
'Wait, they know what this artifact does too.'
If I put it on, wouldn't they give up on trying anything pointless?
Of course, that could change if an opportunity appeared during our escape, like being attacked by another team.
"..."
It bothered me.
That feeling of unease I'd tried to push aside earlier.
Why was the German team's Search skill level abnormally low compared to their Stealth skill?
There were two possible explanations.
First, the teammate specializing in Search had recently been killed or retired.
That was entirely possible.
In that case, they would be even more desperate for this artifact to move up to the higher floors.
The second possibility was far worse.
The Julius Squad might specialize in ambushing people near exits.
The kind of bastards who hide near an exit, ambush hunters, and steal their loot.
They stayed hidden in one place, so naturally, their Stealth skill would rise quickly.
On the other hand, their Search skill would remain low.
You had to go around seeing all sorts of things to raise that skill.
I wanted to believe the second possibility wasn't true...
But blindly believing that when there was a real chance wasn't trust. It was avoidance.
"Then our team will..."
The second- and third-best pieces of loot were talismans.
They were valuable, but they couldn't compare to a first-class artifact.
I made my decision.
As they took their loot, I swiftly pulled out the necklace and put it around my neck.
It would be better to make them give up for certain.
Unfortunately.
They were hunters who didn't know how to give up.
It was an attitude worthy of respect as a hunter, but did they have to be that way with me too?
They must have made plenty of money to reach the 11th floor.
Why not just retire and live comfortably?
Not that I'd do that myself, even if I said it.
Click.
A suppressed rifle was subtly trained on me.
Were they planning to ambush me before I could put on the necklace?
But I already had Nightfall Custom ready in my left hand.
In a quick-draw contest, a pistol was obviously best.
Pop!
My pistol round struck their shoulder.
Rat-a-tat-tat!
The missed bullets struck the floor of the Great Temple.
My team members, who had already read the mood to some extent, moved immediately.
"What are you doing?!"
"Stop!"
"Huff..."
Having already crossed the line, they couldn't stop anymore.
Even if they stayed still, we'd take them down.
"You fucking... stupid bastard!"
"Kill them!"
The next bullet grazed my earlobe.
Kim Yuna teleported with me, so I wasn't hit.
What should I do?
Was there any way to end this without shooting them to death?
Unfortunately, I knew the answer to that far too well.
Too well to hold even the slightest hope.
Unlike my confused heart, my hands moved with precision and cruelty.
Pssht, pssht!
I shot the two people who were about to activate their skills one after the other.
This time, I didn't aim for their shoulders. I aimed for their heads.
I didn't know what would happen if their skills went out of control.
Bang!
Unlike the other team members, who hesitated slightly, Yuki fired her shotgun without even blinking.
She had been subtly repositioning her Clones from the start.
"W-Wait! Stop! Stop it! We made a mistake, so please spare..."
Bang!
After killing one person crawling on the floor, Yuki shot the team leader, who had been rolling around after taking a hit to the shoulder.
Then she reloaded her shotgun and spoke.
"Well, we don't need to distribute the loot anymore. What are you all doing? Pack up and get ready to leave. The team leader is waiting."
"... Yeah. Let's move."
Kim Yuna barely nodded, her face twisted.
I decided to forget our brief friendship with them as quickly as possible.
Footnotes:
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