WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Mordor

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◈ Escaping the Tower at Hell Difficulty ◈

Chapter 20

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We were in the Interfloor Zone before heading down to the third floor.

I opened a combat ration pack.

I even had a small cup of ramen ready for dessert.

With five people in the Interfloor Zone, it felt crowded.

Team Leader Go Jiho asked, "Kang Hyun, are you okay? You've been staggering around."

"I'm just hungry. Once I eat this, I'll be completely fine."

"Ah, right..."

Go Jiho immediately started dividing up the loot.

To be honest, we'd gotten almost nothing from the fourth floor.

Other than the Mist Pill, which I'd already taken.

Still, we'd gotten so much on the fifth floor.

"After you two went down first, we took care of all of them and recovered the loot."

"Ah... So they couldn't get away?"

The elevator Kim Yuna and I had used on the fifth floor couldn't be used again for five minutes after activation.

Even though it was a Descent Exit, it had a cooldown.

That was why they hadn't been able to escape and were hunted down by Go Jiho's main group.

"We also recovered the gear from the ones you dealt with near the factory... Their equipment was pretty decent."

If they were bold enough to attack on a higher floor like the fifth, they must have been at least somewhat prepared.

Naturally, we'd sold almost all of it in the previous Interfloor Zone.

The total came to a whopping 28,000 gold.

Once we escaped the tower and sold the firearm parts, we'd easily reach 40,000.

Including the Mist Pill, it was effectively 50,000 gold.

We'd already made more than enough, so there was no need to get greedy.

Go Jiho split the 28,000 gold into four shares of 7,000 each.

Then he gave 7,000 gold to everyone except Han Juwon, the machine gunner.

"It's to spread out the risk and serve as emergency money. Keep it safe."

"Why isn't Juwon getting any?"

"Juwon's already carrying a lot. They're the machine gunner."

"Ah..."

So that was special treatment.

Gold was fairly small and light, but 7,000 gold still added a noticeable burden.

After I finished eating, I restocked my smoke grenades.

There were some left over from the dead hunters.

Already the third floor.

We'd be out of the tower soon.

Then I could relax for another month.

'... Isn't this the best job ever?'

My thoughts might change if someone died, of course.

But so far, it was great.

There were no pointless power struggles, and everyone looked out for each other.

A workplace with no stress from personal relationships.

I reclined comfortably against my backpack and listened to Go Jiho.

"Good thing the ones who came at us were from the North Korean Army."

"Who were the people on the fifth floor?"

"From what I saw, Eastern Europeans and mercenaries? Anyway, they definitely weren't from an allied country."

So they considered things like that even inside the tower.

Well, we were Korean hunters, after all.

When I showed interest, Go Jiho explained further.

"A while ago, I think it was Japan and France? They got into a serious fight in the tower, and it caused a huge uproar."

"Uh... Why did they fight?"

"Probably over loot. The problem was that both sides had survivors. They escaped safely, and it turned into an international issue. Usually, people just cover things like that up."

So that was why he'd asked, during our last meal, whether there had been any survivors or witnesses near the hunter I'd killed.

"Anyway, don't worry about that stuff. If someone seems suspicious, just shoot."

"What if I shoot someone from an allied country?"

"Then it's the fault of the person who got shot. Won't your ramen get soggy?"

"Ah, right!"

Slurp!

The hot, spicy broth restored my energy.

Complete Senses had recovered to one hundred percent too.

After rinsing my mouth, I even took an hour-long nap.

Around the time I woke up, Sang Hajun was looking at me in amazement.

"... You sleep well in a place like this."

"I can sleep anywhere."

As I stretched and answered, I suddenly grew curious.

"By the way, why did you become a hunter, Hajun?"

"Me? I have an incurable illness, so I need to take medicine regularly."

"An incurable illness?"

"Yeah. It's hereditary optic neuropathy... If it's left alone, I'll eventually lose my sight for good."

"What? Can that be cured?"

"... Don't you know what incurable means?"

Ah, right.

Still, it seemed the tower's medicine could cure it.

"So it can't be cured all at once?"

"Yeah. But the more medicine I take, the better it gets. I used to need it once every three months, but now once a year is enough."

They said the panacea sold in normal shops could cure anything in one go...

It seemed genetic diseases were more complicated.

Still, he was gradually getting better.

That was a relief.

The tower's medicine really was incredible.

Sang Hajun seemed to have more experience than he looked.

From the way he spoke, he'd been doing this for at least two or three years.

"The medicine is sold in the regular shop, right? How expensive is it?"

"About 10,000 gold?"

"Wow..."

Medicine really was expensive.

And since that medicine was for personal use, Sang Hajun had to buy it with his own money.

"What was our team's split again?"

"Kang Hyun, you joined the team without even knowing that?"

Kim Yuna explained with an incredulous look.

"Our team splits everything equally, twenty percent each after expenses."

From the sound of it, our team was more equal than North Korea.

The 20,000 gold paid to the Hunter Association every month obviously had to be excluded...

If we escaped this time, we'd get around 20,000 gold.

Twenty percent of that was 4,000 gold.

After various expenses, it would be less.

Since we entered the tower once a month, taking the medicine once a year should be manageable somehow.

"Does the illness cause any problems besides your eyesight?"

"No. It only affects the optic nerve."

Then couldn't he have avoided entering the tower by simply giving up his sight?

Sang Hajun seemed to have chosen to risk his life fighting in order to preserve his vision.

Some people might call that foolish...

But I couldn't bring myself to condemn him.

Compared to why I'd started conquering the tower,

Sang Hajun's reason was more than noble enough.

"Ah, then is the reason you don't talk much because of your illness..."

"That's unrelated. Snipers look cooler when they're quiet."

Ah, so he cared about things like that?

He was secretly quite stylish.

"... Thanks for telling me."

"Kang Hyun, aren't you going to ask me too?"

Han Juwon, the machine gunner, asked playfully.

"After hearing something like that, it feels a little wrong to ask right away..."

"Fair enough. Hajun has the best story in the team."

"Can I use it for a story on stream later?"

"No. Use it after I die."

Sang Hajun answered Kim Yuna coldly.

Trouble with his eyes could be a weakness.

And for a sniper, it was especially fatal.

"Human! Three minutes remaining!"

"Let's get going."

Go Jiho rose to his feet.

"We'll take the shortest route to the escape point. Everyone, check your masks."

"Yes, no problems."

We moved to the third floor.

Flash!

Compared to last time, we were closer to the city.

A huge supermarket stood right in front of us.

Among the areas that weren't part of the Toxic Zone, it was a fairly good place for farming.

"A large supermarket. Let's take a quick look around."

"Since it's this close, we should at least take a look."

While Sang Hajun climbed onto the supermarket roof, the rest of us searched inside.

Even if it was one of the main farming areas, it was a poison-free zone.

And it was only the third floor, so we couldn't expect anything too valuable.

While searching the warehouse, I found something somewhat useful.

"Oh, batteries."

"Not bad. Take them."

As expected of something from the tower, their capacity and efficiency were extraordinary.

They could even be used for research outside.

After clearing out the supermarket in only five minutes, we put on our masks and headed into the Toxic Zone.

"I want to assess the situation before we go to the Abandoned Hospital. Is there a good place to do that?"

Go Jiho asked me.

I had an answer right away.

"Let's look from the top of that large parking garage over there. But there are a lot of zombies along the way."

"Really? We still have plenty of ammunition, so it should be fine."

Sure enough, zombies swarmed where I pointed.

Something was strange, though.

Instead of wandering around aimlessly like usual, they seemed to be gathered on one side.

"... Did something make noise at the Abandoned Hospital?"

"Either way, we need to break through. Juwon."

"Everyone, move aside."

Han Juwon aimed the machine gun at the zombies.

Then Juwon activated a skill and fired.

Rat-a-tat-tat-tat!

Even with a suppressor, it was loud.

The zombies rushed toward us in a flood...

But the next moment, they fell beneath a barrage of bullets.

The rounds fired from the machine gun multiplied two or three times over and swept through the horde.

Ghost Bullets.

It was Han Juwon's A-rank Basic Skill.

It had almost no versatility, but its power was no joke.

Even body armor and cover would be shredded in moments.

Juwon handled our team's fire support.

"Done. Get up there!"

After taking position on the roof of the parking garage, we immediately looked toward the Abandoned Hospital.

It was the only location with the third floor's Direct Exit...

but black smoke was pouring from the hospital.

"Huh, what is that? Did a war break out?"

"Wait. I think part of the building collapsed."

"What?"

At Sang Hajun's observation, everyone took out binoculars.

The ceiling near the stairs leading from the first-floor lobby to the underground morgue had completely collapsed.

"What the hell was that? Did they use an anti-tank weapon or something?"

"Ah! Don't tell me..."

The Fog Village team that had been firing rocket launchers on the fourth floor.

Could they have done something similar at the Abandoned Hospital?

Ambushes at the Abandoned Hospital were practically a tradition, so it was entirely possible.

"They got down first... Deputy Team Leader, what do you think?"

Go Jiho asked for my opinion.

Without taking my eyes off the binoculars, I answered, "Even the east stairway won't work if it's that bad. The underground morgue must be completely buried."

"... Probably."

"Let's just go to the second floor. There's no way through."

We couldn't clear the rubble by hand.

And even if we did, we'd have to work in the middle of zombies and Crows.

It wouldn't be over in an hour or two.

"You're right, but the second floor is very different from the game you played."

"Uh... In what way?"

Honestly, I was a little uneasy too.

I'd never personally been to the first or second floor.

Go Jiho gave a quiet sigh.

"A lot of criminals enter the tower too. They can enter even if they're imprisoned or awaiting execution."

"R-right."

That had been reflected in the Tower Escape game too.

But I didn't know whether it had been reflected well enough.

"They usually enter on the first or second floor... Most of them can't escape either. If they do, they're captured right away."

When you escaped, you appeared near the tower entrance on Earth, close to where you'd entered.

Naturally, you'd be arrested the moment you came out.

"Then what do they do?"

"They gather food and water on the second floor and live among themselves."

"..."

Naturally, they wouldn't let us pass peacefully.

As groups of criminals who had entered with barely any supplies, they'd inevitably be short on resources.

"We haven't been to the second floor much either, right?"

Kim Yuna sounded uneasy.

Since Go Jiho's team had overwhelming combat ability indoors,

they'd probably escaped through the morgue of the third-floor Abandoned Hospital most of the time.

I quickly sorted out my thoughts.

"But we don't have another option."

There was no need to think about it for long.

We just had to do what needed to be done.

During my first escape, I'd thought I would never go to the second floor...

But now I had dependable teammates with me.

Besides, the equipment level of hunter criminals could only be so impressive.

They still hadn't escaped.

The moment they escaped, they'd be caught due to the one-month re-entry cooldown.

'Wait, though... What happens if they escape and get caught? Don't they just go back to prison?'

There were still plenty of countries that carried out executions...

But most countries would simply throw them back in prison.

If so, there might be hunters who entered again.

'If they put in that much effort, I should give them a proper fight.'

If someone was willing to escape the tower empty-handed and come back in, I was almost looking forward to meeting them.

Flash!

We landed in a wasteland swept by dusty winds.

Footnotes:

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