WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Mordor
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Escaping the Tower at Hell Difficulty ◈
Episode 110
──────
They really were selling Door Plaques at City Hall in the center of town.
There were several other hunters nearby besides us...
Most of them were resting while keeping a reasonable distance from one another.
It seemed hunters didn't attack each other on sight.
Looking at it that way, it might seem like a pretty generous environment.
In reality, it wasn't at all.
A hunter's goal was to acquire valuable loot before escaping.
From that perspective, this was an incredibly irritating floor.
"Let's look around some more."
There was also a shop for hunters beside the counter selling Door Plaques.
It had a row of high-end equipment on display, all under heavy guard.
Naturally, it looked like they only accepted Nightmare Coins.
You might wonder why a shop here sold equipment for hunters...
There were two possible reasons.
First, they wanted to recover the Nightmare Coins hunters possessed somehow.
I didn't know exactly what they used them for.
Second, they wanted hunters to kill Nightmare Monsters.
Judging by how the Nightmare Zone had turned into a slum, Nightmare Monsters certainly weren't welcome among the residents.
"The price is... one thousand coins? That's expensive..."
"Some items cost ten thousand."
The fare for five people to use the Descent Exit was 1,250 coins.
The prices here were set quite high.
Still, the goods were definitely high quality.
Just in case, I asked the clerk.
"What are your business hours?"
"We remain open for about an hour after sunset."
They stayed open for a while after sunset.
It was considerate enough to be suspicious.
"I see. Thank you."
Ding.
When we left the shop, the surrounding hunters turned their attention to us.
"Did they buy something?"
"No, I think they just asked a few questions and left."
Just as I thought.
Even if we had the money, buying equipment wouldn't be easy.
Those bastards would try to take it from us.
There was a large bounty board in front of City Hall.
Most of the names on it belonged to hunters who had committed crimes.
There were a few criminal residents too, but their bounties were mostly pocket change.
"It'd be hard to live legally in this town..."
We looked around the city a little more before returning to Han Juwon and Sang Hajun.
On the way back, Kim Yuna spotted the guards from earlier again and quietly said,
"What if we just kill the guards protecting the exit and leave?"
"I'm not sure. I don't think the 13th floor will be that easy."
There was probably some kind of gimmick.
Maybe the guards had to open the door themselves, or maybe the door shut the moment they were killed.
Sang Hajun dropped his Stealth and greeted us.
"How was it?"
"It'll take longer than I expected."
Starting trouble and fighting the guards head-on was the worst possible approach.
Because of the bounty system, every other hunter would become our enemy too.
"If we commit a crime in the city, wouldn't the exit close as well?"
"I don't think so. It's not like they communicate by radio."
There were probably exits without guards too.
Of course, the price we'd have to pay would probably be similar.
"Team Leader. What's the plan? Bounty hunting?"
Hunting every night was obviously a bad deal, so that was out right away.
Bounty hunting would be best if possible...
But actively attacking another hunter team carried too much risk.
They didn't look like easy targets either.
"I have something in mind, but we don't have enough information yet."
"Yeah..."
"Let's hunt once more tonight for now."
Since we'd arrived on the 13th floor at night...
Would that mean we'd be active outside for around thirty-six hours?
We had time to rest during the day, so we could manage that much.
We could take over a resident's house, but hurting residents who hadn't been hostile to us didn't sit right with me.
Besides, we'd first have to find a house occupied by exactly five people.
Swish.
I raised the Death Priest’s Lantern and habitually scanned the area.
The city's streets were starting to look a little familiar now.
A group of souls was moving through the abandoned factory grounds deep in a back alley.
This was the outskirts of the city, so public safety wasn't particularly good.
"Let's check over there. There might be wanted criminals."
"All right. Lead the way."
Robbing other criminals was the ideal scenario.
Their bounties might not be worth much, but any money they had would become legal loot for us.
As we made our way through the maze-like alleys, four new presences approached the abandoned factory.
Hunters, without a doubt.
"Hide."
We decided to watch the situation first.
The criminal residents staying in the abandoned factory noticed them too late.
"W-Who are you? Agh!"
"Enemies!"
It was a fight between hunters and ordinary criminals.
They didn't stand a chance.
As I watched the Lizardman hunters, I noticed something.
"They're wanted criminals."
"Oh? How did you know? I memorized all the wanted posters earlier too, but..."
"Isn't it easy to tell Lizardmen apart? Their scale colors are all different."
It wasn't like I could recognize reptilian faces.
Count Kwatum was about the only one I could identify at a glance because I'd seen them so often.
Ah, I guess Kwatum was a marquis now.
If I saw Kwatum again, Kwatum would probably act even more smug.
Anyway, wanted criminals were clearing out back-alley criminals.
Yuki watched them with a puzzled look.
"If they're wanted, they can't collect bounties anyway, can they?"
"That's true. Were they only after the criminals' property? ... Ah!"
There were four of them.
One was missing.
"It looks like one of them plays the role of the non-criminal."
"What does that mean?"
"When they do something completely illegal, one person stays out of it. That way, they won't become wanted, so they can conduct business normally at City Hall."
"Oh, that's possible?"
It was a method I'd never considered.
Was it because my team was too close-knit?
Watching how other people cleared floors was useful too.
"What do we do?"
"That's a tough one."
Even if they were wanted criminals, attacking another hunter team first wasn't our style.
I solved the problem simply.
"Hey, guys."
"Gah! A hunter!"
"When did he get here?"
The moment I stepped out of the shadows, the bastards collecting loot in a frenzy spotted me.
Then they attacked.
Maybe they had too much to hide, because they didn't hesitate.
Now that they'd attacked first, I could stick to our principles.
Rat-a-tat-tat!
It had been a while since I'd fired the MCX, and the familiar recoil struck my body.
Automatic weapons really were dependable against lightly armored opponents.
My role on the team had been taking out priority targets lately, so I hadn't used automatic weapons much.
"Aagh! My shoulder!"
"It's a human ranged weapon!"
"Run!"
Whoosh!
They threw something that scattered sharp fragments everywhere.
Were they imitating grenades?
Our lightly equipped team couldn't ignore an attack like that.
Still, there weren't that many fragments.
People said even the grenades we used lacked killing power, so improvised weapons like those had to be worse.
I quickly moved out of the blast radius, covered my head with both arms, and briefly used Desperate Strength.
Most of the fragments bounced off my clothes and arms.
We weren't even inside a building yet, so the shrapnel was pathetically weak.
Things like that only showed their real power in enclosed spaces.
"He's fine!"
"Stop right there!"
Bang!
Sang Hajun shot the leg of the one who tried to run first.
We were fighting pretty loudly, yet the guards showed no sign of coming.
This really was an area that had turned into a slum.
We captured all four of them alive and confiscated all of their criminal proceeds.
We'd put this to good use.
"What? This isn't much."
"Do you think we'd do this if we had lots of money?"
That was true.
I kicked the one who shouted, my way of agreeing, then moved on to the interrogation.
"Where's the other one? The one who travels separately so they don't get branded a criminal?"
"Hmph! You think I'd tell you that?"
When I raised my pistol, they began talking at a frantic pace.
"I-If we tell you, you'll let us live?"
"There's no need to kill you. You're broke anyway."
"B-But there's a bounty on us."
"You're not worth much."
Was it twenty coins per person?
Even turning in all four would only get me eighty coins.
Information was far more urgent than that.
"Fine. I don't need your companion's location, so tell me more."
"... What do you want to know?"
"Let's start with the city's geography."
They cooperated very eagerly.
They didn't seem like complete beginners, considering they had overcome the Tower’s Curse to some extent.
Why had they reached the 13th floor if they were going to get taken down this easily?
Was my team just too strong?
"What's your usual escape route?"
"There's a hidden Descent Exit near the river in the south of the city! It's right in the middle of the Nightmare Zone, so it's practically unusable at night, and there are lots of ambushes during the day... But it barely costs anything."
"Nice. Nightmare Coins don't disappear if you take them out of here, right?"
"Y-Yeah. Stop asking already! It hurts because of the Tower’s Curse."
"... All right. Go."
The moment I released them, they stared in shock.
"R-Really?"
"You're... the human Death Priest, aren't you?"
"That's right. Here, take your weapons too. One each."
Their equipment wasn't even worth taking.
Their chances of surviving here after losing almost all their gear were slim.
But a promise was a promise.
More and more people were recognizing me now, so I had to maintain my reputation.
Of course, I didn't know if these bastards would spread the word properly.
"Ah, one last thing."
"What is it?"
"What happens to wanted criminals if they're handed over to City Hall?"
"They die, obviously."
Their leader answered as if the question was ridiculous.
"They get dragged to an underground prison and die there... I don't know exactly how they're executed. Probably something like what happens when a Night Watcher gets you."
"I see. Goodbye. If you come at us again, I'll kill you next time. And don't spread any strange rumors."
"A-All right! We don't want to make an enemy of a Death Priest either!"
They grabbed the bare minimum of equipment and hurried away.
Adding up the criminal group's property and the coins we'd taken from them, we had a little over two hundred coins...
That brought us to 380 coins.
It was enough to get through tonight.
We'd originally planned to hunt again tonight.
Instead, I changed the plan and headed for City Hall.
"We should buy a Door Plaque."
"You said it's a one-night consumable."
"We need proper rest. We can't get anything worthwhile by saving pocket change anyway. We're still in the exploration stage, so let's not push ourselves."
The pressure of challenging a new floor was beyond imagination.
Everyone had probably built up quite a bit of fatigue.
We'd fought almost as soon as we arrived last night.
When I said we wanted to buy a Door Plaque, the City Hall employee replied,
"Which district would you like a house in?"
"... Are there price differences?"
"Of course. The outskirts and western district are usually the cheapest."
A Door Plaque for a house on the dangerous outskirts or in the western district cost two hundred coins.
One in the city center cost as much as four hundred.
I bought a Door Plaque for the southern district for 250 coins. It was reasonably cheap, and public safety wasn't too bad.
When we went to the address written on the Door Plaque, we unexpectedly found a proper two-story house.
It wasn't well maintained, but compared to a collapsing barn, it was more than enough.
We were able to rest comfortably.
"Whew... I finally feel safe."
"But if we spend the night here, we won't earn anything tonight."
"Think of it as an investment in the future."
"An investment? Where are we going to make money?"
I grinned and pointed at the factory across from the window.
Luckily, it was nearby.
"... A factory?"
"It's one of the southern district's main facilities."
"Ah, so that's why you paid extra for a southern district Door Plaque."
Economic activity between residents was lively in this city.
Since it was a city, there were places where money inevitably gathered.
City Hall, banks, markets, factories like that one, and so on.
A gleam appeared in my teammates' eyes.
"Team Leader. Don't tell me..."
"We'll make one huge score and get out before we become criminals."
"But that's a factory. Would a factory have that many coins?"
"I doubt they transfer money through internet banking."
I could only hope the city's credit transactions weren't that advanced.
That factory would have to pay its employees salaries or weekly wages in cash.
At the very least, it would have some cash on hand.
"... A factory feels risky. Too many residents come and go."
"The factory is our best option. Most other facilities are in parts of the city with much tighter security..."
It made no sense to rob a bank with top-level security right away.
At least the factory was isolated in the southern district.
Being close to an exit in case things went wrong was another important point.
"I'll watch it until tomorrow morning and decide then."
"Then you barely get any rest, Team Leader!"
Yuki spoke up as if challenging me, and Sang Hajun quickly stepped in.
"No, I can take turns with him... Even if we're inside a house, someone has to keep watch."
"Ah... I see."
It was still daytime, so even taking shifts, we could get a full eight hours of rest.
While the sun was still up, I decided to look around the factory.
Footnotes:
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
