WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Mordor
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Escaping the Tower at Hell Difficulty ◈
Chapter 24
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Early that morning, every team member arrived at the new training ground.
It was a newly built facility created using Tower Escape map data exactly as it was. The scale had been reduced somewhat, but the interiors had been reproduced in remarkable detail. The placement of the walls and furniture, even the interior design, was all similar.
There was even a viewing area atop the structures where people could climb up and watch.
“Then where are we training?”
The training ground was naturally divided by floor.
The third and seventh floors still felt unfinished. They had so many indoor areas, and the maps themselves were huge.
What Team Leader Go Jiho chose was...
“We’re moving to the seventh-floor training ground.”
“The seventh floor?”
Kim Yuna’s expression darkened.
Training at the seventh-floor training ground meant we would be entering the seventh floor on our next raid, didn’t it?
“Isn’t that rushing things too much? Kang Hyun might be a monster rookie, but we’ve only worked together once...”
Alpha Team was more egalitarian than it looked.
Anything related to operations was discussed openly. Team Leader Go Jiho usually managed to persuade everyone, true to his special forces background, but deciding which floor to enter was an especially sensitive matter.
As the Hunter Association’s PR team prepared to film, Go Jiho spoke.
“Don’t you know the truly valuable loot is on the sixth and seventh floors?”
Thinking about it, nearly all the truly valuable loot I owned had come from the seventh floor.
The Instant-Death Dagger, also known as Death Priest’s Ritual Tool, was an exception, but...
The Hood of Hell, which raised my Stealth skill and had been extremely useful.
The Ever-Burning Heart, the heating device I used whenever I ate.
Both had dropped after killing the Hellhound Handler, the seventh-floor boss.
The Snowfield Troll Hide came from the sixth floor.
The Gas Mask was from the sixth floor too.
The Small Subspace Pouch had come from a fifth-floor boss monster.
They were all from the higher floors, the fifth floor and above.
The higher you went, the more sharply the quality of the loot increased.
It had been the same in Tower Escape.
Still, Kim Yuna wasn’t objecting thoughtlessly.
“The seventh floor carries too much risk.”
More hunters entered the seventh floor than one might expect.
Incredible treasures lay hidden there.
Bring back even one decent item, and your life could turn around.
Yet only a tiny fraction of them made it out of the tower alive.
Anyone could enter, but escaping was another matter.
The real problem was that the danger stacked up.
The tower’s structure forced you to descend from the upper floors to the lower ones.
Breaking through the lower floors after your body and mind had been worn down upstairs, with your supplies depleted, wasn’t easy. That was why we had safely started from the fifth floor.
“Why are we suddenly trying to enter the seventh floor?”
Team Leader Go Jiho lowered his voice slightly as he explained.
“Hunters’ equipment is steadily improving. Remember the body armor those guys on the fifth floor wore?”
“W-Well, that...”
High-grade body armor that had stopped even 5.56mm armor-piercing rounds.
It had obviously been made in the tower.
“Before long, people will clear up to the eighth floor. Hunter work is ultimately competition with other teams. If we want to keep doing this, we need to take the right risks at the right time.”
“I don’t think the seventh floor qualifies as the right amount of risk.”
“Why not?”
When Go Jiho asked, Kim Yuna answered haltingly.
“Because if you try to farm, Goblins and Orcs swarm you like crazy, and you might as well assume there’s no Direct Exit at all. The sixth floor isn’t exactly safe either.”
“That’s the important part. The lack of a Direct Exit.”
The seventh floor’s Direct Exit was in the middle of a monster military base.
It was practically unusable.
The sixth floor’s exit didn’t even open without a special item, while on the fifth floor, they had to kill the boss, activate the train, and compete with other hunter teams.
Direct Exits on every high floor were difficult to use.
The fourth floor, with its endless wait, almost seemed better by comparison.
Team Leader Go Jiho grinned.
“But the sixth floor has a Direct Exit.”
“Huh?”
As long as we had the item needed to open it, the sixth floor’s Direct Exit was a pretty good option.
It was hidden in a mine shaft, and our team was exceptionally strong in indoor combat.
We had Go Jiho and Han Juwon, after all.
If necessary, we could clear every angle with grenades as we advanced. And if we came down from the seventh floor to the sixth, we would still have plenty of supplies left.
Right. As long as we had the item needed to open the exit.
The item needed to use the sixth-floor exit was dropped by one of the seventh-floor bosses.
It was a rare reverse farming structure in the tower.
Probably because the seventh floor had so much valuable loot.
“Don’t tell me... you want to kill a seventh-floor boss?”
“That’s right. The boss that drops the [Key of Snow] appears in the massive Underground Shopping Mall on the seventh floor. Goblins and Orcs barely enter that place.”
It was underground, and it was the boss’s territory.
But that also meant a lot of hunters gathered at the seventh-floor Underground Shopping Mall.
It was one of the main farming areas to begin with.
Since the access routes were limited, we would naturally have to expect ambushes.
Of course, if we succeeded, it would be a massive jackpot.
We would be able to use the sixth-floor Direct Exit without limit.
The safety of farming the sixth and seventh floors would increase dramatically.
“Even if we manage to shake off hunters who come running after hearing the noise, how are we supposed to kill the boss?”
The Underground Shopping Mall’s boss was the Manager.
It wasn’t a weakling like the Hellhound Handler.
It also had a powerful special ability.
Go Jiho moved us to the Underground Shopping Mall training ground.
It was suitably enormous. Despite being an underground mall, it had two stories.
There were dozens of shops of various sizes, with escalators and a circular plaza in the center.
The construction cost had apparently been too high, so they had simply built the training ground above ground.
Still, they had at least made the effort to put a roof over it.
“The boss will be on the second floor over there. It’s a position where sniping is almost impossible.”
Even if sniping had been possible, it probably wouldn’t have made much difference.
The thing was a translucent ghost-type monster with a Physical Resistance skill.
Bullets barely affected it.
On top of that, its attacks had a wide area of effect and ignored cover.
It was an absurdly powerful boss suited to a trash game like Tower Escape.
The only viable strategy was landing a counterattack while it attacked.
Its ghost form temporarily dropped whenever it launched an attack.
“Drawing it out is easy enough. Fortunately, Juwon’s Ghost Bullets work quite well even when it’s in ghost form. We tested it on a ghost monster in the sixth-floor underground area last time.”
“Ah... because they’re both ghosts?”
“Exactly.”
The only other attack that worked well was an Incendiary Grenade.
Maybe because it spewed cold air, it was weak to fire.
“We’ll focus our firepower the moment we start and end it as quickly as possible. Grab the key and run. That’s it.”
It was a strategy made possible by Han Juwon’s skill compatibility.
Kim Yuna was still cautious.
“What if it doesn’t work?”
“Then we call it off and run. The Manager doesn’t pursue anyone outside the Underground Shopping Mall.”
The final shred of conscience from a boss armed with broken abilities.
Once a Hellhound got on your trail, it chased you to the ends of hell.
This thing didn’t.
“...It would be nice if we could get the Key of Snow.”
“With Kang Hyun joining, our ability to detect hunters has improved greatly. I think it’s worth trying. Of course, I won’t force it if it isn’t unanimous.”
“...I’ll decide after doing some training first.”
As Sang Hajun spoke, the other team members nodded too.
We needed to get a better sense of what we could handle.
We began training in earnest.
“This is an Incendiary Grenade. Its range isn’t as wide as a fragmentation grenade’s, so use it carefully. I won’t be participating in the fight against the boss. I’ll keep watch for other teams.”
Team Leader Go Jiho had skills specialized for defense, but the boss’s attacks ignored both cover and defenses.
He had decided it would be better to guard our rear.
“Now, draw it out like this... Open fire!”
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat!
We poured Ghost Bullets into the target board, then threw an Incendiary Grenade to finish it off.
I quickly recovered the loot.
“Hot!”
“Be careful. Incendiary Grenades can melt armor plating. If it seems dangerous, wait until the fire is completely out before going in.”
“Won’t the loot get damaged?”
“Boss loot is incredibly durable, so it’ll be fine. I’ve never seen any break.”
After repeating it several times, I slowly got the hang of it.
So this was why they had built a training ground just for this.
“Direct Exit secured... This might be manageable.”
“If it gets dangerous, we retreat immediately, right?”
“Right. Does everyone agree to raiding the seventh floor?”
“I’m in too.”
We were about to film some promotional and educational material when another hunter team entered.
“Oh, Bravo Team? It’s been a while.”
“How have you been, Team Leader Go?”
They were a First-Tier Team similar to Alpha.
Then I spotted one familiar face.
Choi Ilhyuk.
He had been expelled from Alpha Team and appeared to have joined Bravo Team.
I was surprised.
“Didn’t you join Beta Team and die?”
I had heard everyone on Beta Team except the team leader had died, so I had assumed this bastard was responsible.
“No, why are you saying something like that, you crazy bastard? I’m with Bravo Team!”
Choi Ilhyuk protested as if he had been genuinely wronged.
Go Jiho looked at Bravo’s team leader and snickered.
“You took him in at Bravo?”
“He’s still A-rank. It would’ve been a waste to throw him away. Handling troublemakers like him is my specialty. I heard Alpha Team applied for this training ground. It seems well made.”
“Sure. I’ll let you use it after you bow to me once.”
The team leaders were joking around when Choi Ilhyuk suddenly spoke.
“Let’s have a mock battle.”
“What? Me?”
Go Jiho frowned sharply, and Choi Ilhyuk immediately pointed at me.
“No, against Kang Hyun.”
A mock battle, like a survival game?
It was sudden, but it sounded fun.
I had been curious about another First-Tier Team’s ability.
“Sounds good.”
Go Jiho made another suggestion.
“Then add two more people from your team.”
“Isn’t that looking down on Bravo a little too much?”
Bravo’s team leader frowned too.
But their expression changed at Go Jiho’s next words.
“Kang Hyun’s total skill levels are higher than mine.”
“What? You said he was a rookie.”
“Yeah. You might get hurt, so no Basic Skills. Use BB pellets.”
“...You guys, give it a try.”
Bravo picked two more team members and assigned them to Choi Ilhyuk.
I was given an airsoft pistol and training grenades.
“...How many seconds is the fuse on this?”
“A little under five seconds.”
“Ah, it’s similar to the real thing.”
The mock battle began in a fairly complex urban district from the seventh floor.
We started at a suitable distance from each other.
My teammates had all climbed up to watch.
“Can Kang Hyun really handle three against one?”
“Shh. He’s moving.”
I activated Complete Senses and moved slowly.
Bravo Team spread out wide to cover their angles, but they didn’t recklessly separate from one another.
Swish...
My form melted into Shadow Walking.
I threw a piece of glass far away, but...
Crash!
“Gah!”
“Don’t go. It’s a distraction.”
They didn’t take the bait easily.
Was their Detection skill pretty high too?
This time, I tossed a grenade pin directly in front of them.
Ting!
Flinch!
Choi Ilhyuk, who was relatively close, flinched.
Pfft!
I fired without missing the opening.
If he was going to get caught that easily, why had he picked a fight?
“W-What is this... I couldn’t see anything at all... That’s cheating!”
The guy who had been hit in the forehead left the training ground, grumbling.
“He’s over there!”
But there were still two left.
I threw a perfectly cooked grenade at one of them.
I counted three and a half seconds before throwing it, so there was no time to react.
Ting!
“Out!”
The last one held on for quite a while.
I kept changing positions, then climbed to the second floor of a house.
I prepared another grenade by cooking it for three and a half seconds.
But before I could even throw it, they smoothly dodged away.
I had been unsure since earlier, but now I was becoming certain.
That person had Complete Senses.
Their level was probably much lower than mine, but still.
“I heard Kang Hyun doesn’t have military experience. Is that movement even normal?”
Bravo’s team leader grumbled as they watched.
“Look at Kang Hyun. His whole body is shaking, but he’s still doing exactly what he needs to do. Guys like that are strong.”
What? My body had been shaking?
It must have been from nerves.
Soon after, that person took out every grenade they had.
Ting, ting, ting!
They pulled out the pins one by one.
Then they threw them like they were conducting an airstrike.
Ting!
They were training grenades, but they were still fairly loud.
They were throwing all of them to constrain my position and drown out the sounds.
Ting, ting!
Within the noise of the grenades, the figure I had been tracking with Complete Senses disappeared.
‘Wait, this...’
They weren’t even team-leader level, yet they had unlocked Complete Senses, the upper skill of Detection?
It wasn’t like they had escaped the seventh floor alone like I had.
I formed a reasonable suspicion, threw a smoke grenade, and rushed the opponent.
“Ugh!”
They had suspected the smoke grenade was a fake, so they were slightly startled when I boldly charged in.
Still, they immediately pulled out a training rubber knife and engaged me in close combat.
But they were clearly being pushed back.
They were bigger than me, but they couldn’t compete with me in a contest of strength.
“Guh?!”
Just as I thought.
They had focused on raising Detection, so they had barely raised Physical Technique.
Physical Technique was also absurdly difficult to level up in the first place...
And despite how I looked, my Physical Technique was level five.
“Agh!”
In the end, he was slammed to the ground and stabbed with the rubber knife.
“Why... why are you stronger than me? Your Physical Technique is higher than our team’s too?”
No one knew the exact formula for skill levels rising, but I had a rough idea now.
They seemed to rise much faster when you traveled alone, and even faster when your life was in danger.
Otherwise, my absurd leveling speed couldn’t be explained.
I had fallen onto the seventh floor empty-handed, which was why I leveled up faster than everyone else.
I had grown in extreme conditions where it wouldn’t have been strange to die at any moment.
“Alright, that’s enough. We’re done for today.”
After training for about a week, we returned to Seoul.
I was considering what video to upload to the channel next when Team Leader Go Jiho stopped me.
“Kang Hyun, are you eating properly when you’re alone? Not hotel food. Home-cooked food.”
“Yes, I’m having sesame ramen today.”
“Didn’t you have ramen yesterday too?”
“Yesterday was Shin Ramyun.”
“...This won’t do. Come with me. You need to eat home-cooked food sometimes.”
I didn’t understand why he was worried when they were clearly different menus.
He tapped on his phone for a moment, then brought me to his home.
“Honey, I brought him. Give him some food.”
“Welcome! My husband isn’t being too hard on you, is he?”
“Ah, hello...”
His beautiful wife and young daughter greeted me.
One second was enough for me to understand how unfair the world was.
“...You’re married?”
I had heard he had a family, but still.
Team Leader Go Jiho replied calmly.
“Soldiers usually get married early. Special forces soldiers are especially popular.”
“Huh...”
I was sincerely impressed.
Then again, hadn’t Escape Life said a hunter stole his girlfriend?
Could I become that popular too?
“If special forces soldiers are popular, hunters must be popular too, right?”
“No, hunters are kind of...”
“Huh? Why?”
“Women want to date or marry a strong, cool man. They don’t want to become widows.”
“...”
Flawless logic.
It seemed I had chosen the wrong profession.
Filled with resentment, I shoved down the home-cooked meal.
Footnotes:
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