WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Mordor

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◈ Escaping the Tower at Hell Difficulty ◈

Chapter 32

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With Complete Senses active...

I could feel emotions from footsteps alone.

The owner of those footsteps was a hunter.

Caution, impatience, and... anticipation lingered in those steps.

It looked like they were alone too.

Anticipation on the 8th floor?

Had they lost their mind?

Maybe they were looking forward to killing me and taking my supplies.

I aimed my rifle and stopped them.

"Stop!"

The hunter rounding the corner widened their eyes in surprise.

So did I.

'Wait. This woman...'

I knew her.

Yuki, the Japanese hunter I had met on the 4th floor during my first escape.

She had gotten separated from her team, but she'd listened to me and made it out safely.

Why the hell was she here?

Getting stranded in the middle of the 4th floor must have been horrible enough... yet she'd entered a dungeon again.

Not that I was one to talk.

"... Yuki?"

"There you are! I knew it was my Benefactor's voice."

Yuki's frightened face brightened at once.

It felt a little wrong to shoot at someone smiling like that.

I lowered my rifle slightly.

Looking closer, she seemed much more like a hunter than before.

"What are you doing here?"

"I heard you were challenging the 8th floor, so I followed you in! There probably aren't many hunters on the 8th floor, so I thought we might get matched together..."

"What?"

She entered the 8th floor just to find me?

... Why?

Setting that aside.

She expected us to enter the same Tower?

That was just wishful thinking.

What would she have done if she'd ended up in a different Tower?

I'd heard Japan's gold situation had gotten pretty bad lately.

Had the Japanese Hunter Association pressured her into this?

This was really something I shouldn't be saying...

But I had to say it to her.

"Y-you could die doing that..."

"It's okay. I got to meet you again, Benefactor."

Her gear was as simple as mine.

Durable combat clothes, a sawed-off double-barrel shotgun, and something like a machete in her left hand.

Her backpack was a Subspace Backpack.

Looking at her now, she seemed like an experienced hunter capable of exploring the 8th floor.

'Come to think of it, Yuki entered the 5th floor first, didn't she?'

She must have received an A-rank Basic Skill when she escaped.

She was someone who should have been treated well...

Yet she'd entered the 8th floor alone just to follow me.

And since I'd suddenly announced my attempt to clear the floor, she probably hadn't had much time to prepare.

"... What were you planning to do after meeting me here?"

"To thank you, of course."

She bowed deeply.

"You must have been in a difficult situation too back then... Thank you so much for helping me. I was able to escape safely because of you."

"... But doesn't entering the more dangerous 8th floor after escaping safely defeat the point?"

"What do you mean, defeat the point? I got to meet you again."

Could this woman think I was some amazing escape expert?

I was the world's first EX-rank hunter, so most people probably saw me that way.

It seemed she wanted to clear the 8th floor comfortably and safely with me.

Sure enough.

"You came to the 8th floor to save your team member, right? That's incredible. Please let me help you this time! I'll do whatever you tell me to..."

My senses picked up something strange.

I'd met quite a few hunters by now...

But what I felt from Yuki was a little different.

Why?

Even as the strange discomfort made my skin crawl, I seriously considered her offer.

Two people were obviously better than one.

Besides, Yuki wasn't a complete stranger.

Maybe I could trust her a little.

More than anything, I wasn't in great condition right now.

I'd kept Complete Senses active for too long and fought several battles, leaving me exhausted.

I was only still standing because the skill's level had increased so much.

In the past, I would've collapsed long ago.

"... Let's move somewhere else first."

"Okay!"

"Have you found anywhere safe to stay? How far have you explored?"

"Ah, I started in that Residential Area over there."

It was where I'd just dealt with the Guard Unit.

So Yuki had been the one who tore apart the weapon rack.

"Then I went that way, but it was an old storage room without much inside. Oh, but there's an exit over there."

"Really?"

Yuki had been exploring properly too.

When I followed her, I found a small stone tunnel.

It definitely looked like an exit.

That secured our retreat route.

It was a little too far out on the edge to be convenient...

But we could escape if things went wrong.

Yuki looked at me anxiously.

"Um... did I do well?"

"Yes. That helped."

Only then did she finally relax.

Since she'd given me information, I should give her some too.

"That passage leads to a Sewage Treatment Plant. We can get water there. There's also a staircase nearby that leads to the 9th floor."

"The 9th floor? There was a 9th floor too?"

After thinking about it for a while, we returned to the Residential Area.

There was nowhere else suitable to rest.

The Residential Area remained quiet after I'd dealt with the Guard Unit.

"Yuki, keep watch here. There are traps over there, so be careful not to step on them..."

"Okay! Oh, and feel free to give me orders. You're the team leader, after all."

Team leader and team member.

That sounded fine.

While Yuki kept watch, I quickly dismantled the remaining traps.

I'd used up all the traps I'd made by reinstalling the ones in the Residential Area...

But the Cartridge Traps remained.

I'd set around ten Cartridge Traps, but only three had been triggered.

One of those had even misfired.

The piece of metal that was supposed to strike the primer had been crushed.

I didn't even retrieve that one because it was too unreliable.

'I recovered all the remaining ammunition...'

Yuki kept watch without even looking in my direction.

She should've been nervous or curious about what I was doing.

She looked like an obedient guard dog.

Still, I couldn't let my guard down yet.

I couldn't use my old hideout anymore, so I needed to make a new one.

This time, I decided to camouflage it near an air vent.

"Yuki, have you gone into this air vent before?"

"Ah, it connects to the corridor over there."

"Really?"

That wasn't bad.

We could evacuate through it in an emergency.

I quickly arranged furniture and camouflage netting.

My hands were starting to shake from exhaustion.

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

"I'm almost done anyway."

"Wow, you really can't tell from outside."

Once I finished the camouflage, I checked Yuki's luggage.

She spoke proudly.

"I watched the video you uploaded and packed similar things."

I'd once made a video about packing equipment for exploring the 8th floor while keeping it under ten kilograms.

That information was public anyway, so there was no reason to hide it.

Of course, what I'd actually brought was somewhat different.

I'd kept the Alpha Team's artifact information secret.

Yuki had packed food, drinking water, clothes, various emergency supplies, and simple weapons.

Something suddenly came to mind, and I asked her.

"Um, your skill..."

"Ah. My skill? I'll show you right away. Hup!"

Swish!

When Yuki used her skill, something like a doll that looked exactly like her appeared.

No, I wasn't even sure if it was really a doll.

"Wait, what's that?"

"My skill is Clone Technique."

"Clone Technique?"

"I can control it even when it's some distance away... and it can do physical work too."

There was only one clone, but Yuki could move it freely.

"I can see what the clone sees too."

"Wow... you can share senses with it too?"

I was genuinely impressed.

Out of all the skills I'd seen so far, this might've been the best.

Excluding my own skills, of course.

It was incredibly versatile.

It could scout, fight, and create distractions.

The clone could even hold a weapon.

There was a reason she'd entered the 8th floor alone just to find me.

"Doesn't using it tire you out?"

"If I use it too much, I suffer backlash, but once I summon it, I can maintain it for about three hours. That's when I don't make the clone do anything, though."

It was definitely amazing, but...

I couldn't hold out any longer.

My body had reached its limit.

I decided to eat quickly and get at least a little sleep.

As I started preparing a meal, Yuki pulled out a can.

"Ah, wait! I brought this... for when I met you again. What do you think?"

"Huh? That's..."

What she pulled out was a can of fish.

The same thing I'd foisted off on Yuki after getting gold on the 4th floor.

It had tasted so bad that I couldn't bring myself to eat it.

"This was really delicious. I really wanted to eat it with you again, Benefactor."

"... Really?"

They said hunger was the best seasoning, so it probably tasted good back then.

But if I ate it now, wouldn't she realize I'd foisted that disgusting stuff off on her?

She took out cooking equipment from her backpack without caring about my reaction.

It looked small and light, made for camping.

It looked expensive at a glance.

"Ah, can I start a fire?"

"... Use this."

She was delighted when I lent her the Ever-Burning Heart.

"This is so convenient. You got it after defeating the Hellhound Handler on the 7th floor, right? Just wait. I'll make it delicious. It tastes good as it is, but if you grill it..."

Sizzle...

She opened the can filled with small fish and poured the contents into the pan.

There was oil in the can, so there was no need to add any separately.

After grilling it for a moment, she held out the whole pan.

"Here, you eat first."

"... Thank you for the meal."

I picked up a piece while telling myself to keep my expression under control.

If hunger was the best seasoning, I should be able to enjoy it now too.

But when I actually tasted it...

It was surprisingly good.

The fish were small, like herring, a little salty and nutty.

Simply grilling it couldn't have transformed that awful canned fish into this...

Had the can I'd eaten been defective?

'I was lucky I didn't get food poisoning.'

I finished it with crackers, and it made for an excellent meal.

Yuki looked sincerely relieved.

"That was good."

"Ah, it was nothing! I'm glad you enjoyed it. I can't believe I get to be here with you, Benefactor..."

"... Why did you enter the Tower, Yuki?"

She seemed restless over every word I said.

I needed to know her motives before I could relax even a little.

Honestly, everything about her so far made her seem completely insane.

"Ah, me?"

Yuki hesitated for a moment before speaking.

"Actually, I entered because a female friend recommended it. I didn't have anything I was especially good at or wanted to do... but I heard hunters could make a lot of money."

Financial reasons.

The most common reason people started hunting.

Anyone could enter, after all.

Of course, they soon bitterly regretted entering.

"Everyone praised me while I was training with the Hunter Association, so I thought things would go well... But when trouble broke out on the 4th floor, they abandoned me first and ran away. That's when I met you."

So she'd already parted ways with her old team.

There was no way those bastards had escaped safely in the first place.

"I thought I could keep entering the Tower if I was with you."

She kept watching my reaction, then spoke anxiously.

"Ah, I'm sorry. That was a long, boring story, wasn't it? I want to die..."

The mood changed in an instant.

It was a classic sign of depression.

I knew because I'd met people like that a few times while streaming.

Only then did I realize what that discomfort I'd felt from her earlier was.

Yuki hadn't entered the Tower to gain something, like other hunters.

She'd entered to die.

Otherwise, she couldn't have willingly entered the 8th floor.

Though when she was actually about to die, she'd been afraid and run away.

First, I set a rule as the team leader.

"If you want to be on my team, don't say things like you want to die."

Emotional stability, my ass.

I just didn't want to hear that kind of thing.

"Ah, understood. You're really a good person, Benefactor. Ah... also, I left lots of comments on your videos... Did you see them?"

Yuki changed the subject, as if trying to lighten the mood.

I froze for a moment.

"... Yuki, were you the user Yuki?"

"Yes! I'm that Yuki."

Yuki puffed out her chest proudly as she declared it.

A chill ran down my spine.

I wasn't an idiot. When I saw the username Yuki, she was the first person I thought of...

But there was a reason I'd tried not to connect the two.

I let out a small sigh and spoke again.

"Yuki, let me ask you one more time."

"Yes! Anything, as much as you want!"

"Every time I upload a video, you pick fights with other subscribers. Whenever Yuna appears on a joint stream, you insult her. When you get banned, you make a new account, manipulate the like count, and come back. Every time I start streaming, you spam domestic and international hunter communities using illegal programs. Donating is fine, but every time, you use the full character limit for your donation message and write it like a letter..."

"..."

It was a really long list once I started talking.

That malicious viewer had done far too many things.

But I still wasn't done.

"You made viewer subtitles in Japanese and English, but only my parts were translated properly, while most of Yuna's parts were mistranslated. You pestered companies that advertised with Yuna to use me as an advertising model too. You edit highlights from my streams better than I do, upload them as Shorts, and keep asking Goblin Merchants about the consumables I buy often until the information reaches my ears. Are you saying you're that Yuki?"

I'd been a streamer for quite a while...

But even across the entire history of streaming, it'd be hard to find a malicious viewer as uniquely awful as Yuki.

She was like a cyber ghost that had crawled out of hell.

After a long silence, Yuki spoke.

"... Now that I think about it, I think you've mistaken me for someone else."

"... Right?"

It wasn't that I had no interest in women.

But this woman was a land mine that would ruin my life the moment I touched it.

An explosive I needed to keep at a proper distance at all times.

"Then I need to rest, so you should rest too, Yuki."

"Okay! Thank you for being considerate."

Unable to overcome the fatigue pouring over me any longer, I lay down inside the air vent.

The air was very fresh.

I didn't have a sleeping bag, so I laid down scraps of cloth I'd gathered from around the Residential Area.

I wanted to bring the Snowfield Troll Hide with me...

But that damned weight limit made it impossible.

Rustle.

I laid my rifle beside my head.

But I hid a pistol and a dagger beneath my blanket.

So I could use them at any time.

While I closed my eyes and pretended to sleep, Yuki did nothing.

She just rested nearby.

Unable to fight off the drowsiness any longer, I fell asleep.

I had no idea how long I'd slept when I woke up completely refreshed.

"Whew."

I got up, stretched lightly, then mixed a Purification Capsule into my canteen and drank it.

For breakfast, I ate a combat ration.

It had a relatively balanced nutritional profile and was filling too.

Yuki ate beside me, then finished getting ready.

"Where are we going now, Benefactor?"

"We've already secured the outskirts of the 8th floor, so let's go farther in."

Yuki, who had initially appeared in the Residential Area, had secured food in ten-kilogram units, so we didn't need to worry about food for a while.

We could replenish drinking water at any time too.

"First, we need to find more weapons and ammunition."

The Goblin Merchant had told me to look for a Potion Warehouse.

It seemed the 8th floor had several different types of warehouses.

Naturally, there should be a weapons warehouse too.

If a battle on the same scale as before broke out even once more, I'd run out of ammunition.

I recovered loot from the Guard Unit's bodies in the Residential Area.

One gem dropped by a Gargoyle.

And a pistol from the Commander Doll.

The pistol it dropped was quite unusual.

'A Mauser... no, a Luger?'

It wasn't even 9mm, but 7.65mm Luger.

It really had everything.

Was this a Tower or some kind of gun museum?

The ammunition wasn't compatible with my pistol...

But it was still an artifact, so I kept it for now.

"I'll take the lead. We'll move as stealthily as possible."

"Okay!"

She sure answered well.

I wished she were this quiet in my video channel's comment section too.

Together with Yuki, I headed toward the stone door leading to the Central Zone.

Footnotes:

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