WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Mordor

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Escaping the Tower at Hell Difficulty ◈

Chapter 36

──────

Even after leaving the tower, the messages showed no sign of stopping.

[Achievement Reward: Converter trait acquired. The chance of failure when performing alchemy-related actions decreases, and you can sense the effects of ingredients more accurately.]

[Achievement Reward: Mirrorbreaker trait acquired. Strength and Stamina permanently increase slightly.]

I'd really done a lot in there.

Everything I'd done in the Core Area had been recognized as an achievement.

[Activities required to unlock the 9th floor: (1/3) complete.]

What? I couldn't just move up to the ninth floor?

It seemed defeating the Mirror Knight or performing Alchemy was one of the requirements.

What were the other two?

'I can make a rough guess.'

They were probably exploring the world inside the mirrors or killing the alchemist.

Of course, there was no need to get greedy right away.

The eighth floor was hard enough, and profitable enough.

When I arrived at Gwanghwamun Tower, the government workers nearby began murmuring.

"Ah, Alpha Team has returned!"

"Contact the team members! Are any of you injured...?"

While they were making a fuss,

[World first: Successful clear of the eighth floor.]

[Achievement Reward: Pioneer trait acquired. The effectiveness of all skills slightly increases upon entering an unexplored area.]

What? There was something like this too?

So I really was the first in the world.

I headed to the hospital carrying backpacks that weighed over 100 kilograms in total.

"Taxi!"

"Open the door for him, now!"

There were always taxis waiting in front of the Gwanghwamun Gate.

Apparently, the government paid them even for long hours of waiting, so it was a popular job.

It seemed only genuine deluxe taxis were allowed to come here.

Somehow, it was already the middle of the night.

Go Jiho's wife was still there, keeping watch.

Hospital rules required someone to stay with a patient around the clock...

She was probably too worried to leave him with a caregiver.

She still had a young child, yet she was going through all this.

But that hardship was over now.

I threw open the door to the two-person room and pulled out the Heavenly Elixir I'd made myself.

"Drink it all at once!"

"What? You scared me! Did you really...?"

It was homemade, but my Appraisal skill guaranteed it.

As soon as Go Jiho drank the elixir, the color returned to his pale face.

"Did it... work?"

"Oh... My stomach feels better somehow... Kang Hyun, you should go in and get some rest first. You look terrible."

"... I'll do that."

"Tell me about the eighth floor later, okay?"

He probably wouldn't be discharged until tomorrow afternoon, after the doctors ran their tests.

I said goodbye to Go Jiho, his wife, and Sang Hajun, who was hospitalized in the bed beside him, then left the room first.

His wife tried to stop me, but the team members held her back.

I'd meant to head straight to the bathhouse, but...

No, this wouldn't do.

I returned to Gwanghwamun and went to the shop.

I had to do something about these damn 100-kilogram backpacks.

Even though it was the middle of the night, Kim Yuna and Han Juwon had rushed over after hearing the news.

"Kang Hyun, you..."

Both of them were properly pissed that I'd gone in alone.

Before they could scold me, I struck first.

"You two, I'm the team leader now, right?"

"That's right."

"So things went according to my plan, and everything worked out, right?"

"..."

"Does anyone have a complaint about the team leader's decision?"

It was a little underhanded to pull rank...

But the results had been good.

I was the team leader, after all. It didn't feel right to get scolded by my own team members.

Kim Yuna, who had been standing with her arms folded, took one of my backpacks.

"We should see the results before deciding how good they were. Ugh! Why is this so heavy? You only went in carrying ten kilograms..."

That was true.

My usual gear and consumables weighed less than normal...

So the loot accounted for more of the weight.

We set down the backpacks at the shop and began sorting everything out.

First, I pulled out the Mirror Shards the Goblin Merchants had requested.

It was a considerable amount, nearly ten kilograms' worth.

The Goblin Merchants were grinning from ear to ear.

"You brought them! And you even selected only high-quality pieces..."

"How much will you buy them for?"

We couldn't use them ourselves anyway.

Still, I put on a bit of a show.

The Goblin Merchants didn't even try to haggle.

"We will offer 200,000 gold."

"... Two hundred thousand?"

For a moment, I completely lost all sense of what money was worth.

I'd destroyed all five mirrors...

So that was 40,000 gold each.

"Ah, no... Does that even make sense?"

"Think about it. Isn't it worth that much?"

Kim Yuna cut in.

"When you defeat a boss in a dangerous area on the seventh floor, it's guaranteed to drop the Key of Snow. That sells for over 100,000 gold or so. It's incredibly useful because it can produce S-rank hunters. And that's not the only thing that drops."

"Well... That's true."

"But Mirror Shards are something only one team can collect on the much more dangerous and difficult eighth floor, before the mirrors are restored."

Ah, right.

The Room of Mirrors was right next to the eighth floor's Core Area.

There was even a boss inside that could reflect attacks and revive.

The risk wasn't remotely comparable.

We were lucky no other hunter teams had been there this time...

If we'd had competition like on the seventh floor, it would've been seriously dangerous.

On top of that, I had destroyed every mirror, giving up the chance to explore the world inside them.

Considering that, it was a fairly reasonable price.

'They were a lot heavier than the Key of Snow, though. Carrying them out was a pain.'

In the end, I accepted the 200,000 gold without another word.

I kept a few large pieces as souvenirs and sold the rest.

They were Alchemy ingredients, so they might come in handy later.

"I accept."

"Thank you. Here are 200,000 gold. Please confirm the amount."

There were twenty high-value gold coins worth 10,000 gold each.

Checking them took a while too.

"It's all there."

Next came the loot meant to be converted into cash.

Most of it had come from the Central Zone.

It accounted for most of the backpacks' weight.

The team members helping me were impressed.

"Things like this drop on the eighth floor too?"

Loot that would have ranked among the most valuable and rare items on the lower floors came pouring out like junk.

It had no real use beyond selling, so there was no reason to hesitate.

"How much for all of this?"

"43,220 gold."

The quality was good, but it wasn't worth as much as I'd expected.

Near the end, things had been so urgent that I grabbed anything that looked decent.

I might've done better if I'd carefully considered the price-to-weight ratio...

But I already felt like I was about to pass out. There was no way I could've done that.

Besides, two backpacks' worth of loot selling for 40,000 gold wasn't bad at all.

"Good. Sell it."

The backpacks became much lighter.

All that remained was the food and water I'd brought, along with my guns and ammunition.

Every gun had an Enchantment on it, so I planned to keep them for now.

Especially the lever-action rifle with the penetration Enchantment. It was good enough to use as my main weapon.

Only then did Han Juwon notice my gun. As we left the shop, Han Juwon said,

"Wait, is that a Marlin 1894? Holy shit, that's an actual lever-action?"

"Ah... So that was the model name?"

1894. It really was an old design.

Still, I was grateful it worked so well despite that.

"But I really can't hold on anymore. I'm going to take a bath and sleep."

"Ah, right! How much gold are you giving the Hunter Association?"

"... Two runs' worth. I'll give them 40,000 gold. How's that?"

Even if we pretended the Key of Snow rental fee from last time didn't exist, we'd barely been able to give them any gold after going to the seventh floor.

Naturally, there'd been an emergency with two team members hospitalized.

"This month's gold income has been poor, so they'll be happy if you give them a little more."

"Ah, then 50,000 gold."

I would probably owe the Hunter Association a favor soon anyway.

Yuki had decided to become a Korean citizen.

No, come to think of it, bringing in an S-rank hunter was basically the same as doing them a favor. Maybe I was putting them in my debt instead?

Either way, enough funds would be needed for things to work out.

Beep!

[Benefactor! Did you get back safely? I'm about to wash up and sleep...]

Yuki had already sent me a long message.

I replied diligently while washing up at the bathhouse.

I'd been given a waterproof case for my smartphone, and it was pretty useful.

Thanks to so many recommendations, this time I got help from a professional massage therapist instead of using a massage chair.

"Argh...!"

It felt like every muscle in my body was being wrung out.

Still, if I didn't loosen up like this, tomorrow would be hell.

I ate the grilled meat Kim Yuna and Han Juwon cooked for me, told them about the eighth floor, then returned to the hotel to wrap up the day.

When I woke up the next day, I definitely felt better.

This was better than a massage chair.

When I checked my charged phone, an enormous number of messages had arrived.

A few were updates saying Go Jiho and Sang Hajun were undergoing detailed examinations.

Most of the rest were from Yuki.

[Benefactor. I compared things as objectively as I could, and I think it would be better for me to go to Korea after all.]

[... Why aren't you answering? You're still asleep, right? You're not the kind of person who would ignore me.]

[Are you being watched? I'll help you!]

The moment I read them, a chill ran down my spine.

As soon as I quickly replied, she contacted me right away.

[Ah, what a relief. Did you sleep well?]

I thought for a moment before asking.

[Can you really come to Korea?]

I wasn't asking about Yuki's resolve.

From the way she talked, she was already Korean at heart.

I was asking whether it was actually feasible.

Japan, already struggling with low gold income, would never let Yuki go without a fight.

They'd try to keep her there with every excuse imaginable.

Fortunately, she had a plan.

[In a few days, a Japanese Hunter Association delegation is scheduled to visit Korea. It's for hunter technology sharing and gold purchases. I'm part of the delegation too.]

Ah, they wanted to import gold from Korea.

That worked out well.

Korea was relatively better off in gold because its land area was much smaller.

If things went as Yuki said, becoming a Korean citizen wouldn't be too difficult.

As soon as I finished breakfast, I went back to the hospital.

Go Jiho looked like he had already finished his examinations.

"How were the results?"

"They said I can be discharged. But they also said I've lost almost all of my strength as a hunter..."

Damn.

If he'd taken the Heavenly Elixir immediately after being injured, he might've been fine.

The wounds must have lasted too long.

It had taken over a month before he could reenter the tower.

Of course, Go Jiho was capable enough to do plenty besides hunter work.

The Hunter Association already seemed eager to bring him in as a training instructor.

His wife actually looked relieved.

"So what are you going to do now?"

"I'm going to work in hunter support at the Hunter Association."

"I think that'll work out well."

"It will. It's all thanks to you."

Go Jiho had always been good at teaching people...

And he had plenty of field experience, so he would make an excellent instructor.

Sang Hajun returned shortly afterward.

"Ah, you're already here? I'm being discharged too."

"Is your eye okay?"

"Yeah. They told me to rest for over a month and watch how it goes. I have to come to the hospital once a week."

His hospital treatment was over, but he wasn't fully healed yet.

Go Jiho's condition was probably similar.

Go Jiho took me out into the hallway for a moment.

"... From now on, you're Alpha Team's official team leader."

"Got it."

It made me a little proud.

We'd only gone into the tower together three times...

But Go Jiho was one of the finest hunters I knew.

Then he finally confessed something to me.

"Actually, there's something I need to apologize to you for."

"What is it?"

"Before you joined the team, I asked whether hunter work was fun. That... wasn't one hundred percent sincere."

"Ah, I already knew that."

Of course I'd noticed.

Go Jiho had said it was fun to kill and take from people who defied him...

But he took far too good care of the people around him for that to be true.

"What? You're perceptive too. Anyway, tell me whenever you need help. The doctor said I should rest for another week and keep an eye on things, though."

"Take it easy. First, we need to build an eighth-floor training ground."

"Right. I heard you made a lot this time. Have you picked the replacement member?"

"I happen to know someone suitable."

After watching them get discharged, I returned to the Hunter Association and met with the staff member in charge.

I planned to hand over a full 50,000 gold from the huge amount I'd brought back.

"Hunter Kang Hyun, thank you very much. This will be a great help while everyone is having a difficult time."

"By the way, before I sign the gold sales contract... I heard a delegation is coming from Japan?"

"What? How did you... We're considering refusing the visit. The Hunter Association's policy is that Korea's gold should be used for Korean hunters first..."

I liked the policy itself.

But if that happened, Yuki wouldn't be able to come to Korea.

From what I could tell, the Korean government didn't have much room to spare either.

Alpha Team had nearly been dismantled, and Beta Team had been completely wiped out.

Even Bravo Team, where Choi Ilhyuk was, had gotten crushed during their last expedition.

By the way, I still didn't know why there was a Bravo Team when Beta Team already existed.

The names of First-Tier Teams were probably taken from radio call signs.

But both started with B, so they overlapped.

Had they been competing with each other or something?

Only Bravo Team remained now, so it wasn't a problem.

After thinking it over, I made my demand.

"Accept it. Tell them you'll trade, even if it's only a small amount. That's my condition."

"What? Do you have some kind of business with Japan...?"

"I can't explain too much. You'll find out later."

If the information leaked, Yuki would be in danger.

For now, it was better if I was the only one who knew.

I was bringing in an S-rank hunter from another country. Wouldn't they thank me later?

After thinking it over, the staff member nodded.

"Understood. You're not just anyone, you're Alpha Team's leader, and in the end, this is Hunter Kang Hyun's hard-earned money. I'll report it to my superiors immediately."

That was right. When you got down to it, it was my hard-earned money.

This person knew how to say things I liked.

I could keep working with them for a long time.

Fortunately, approval from above came right away.

There was no reason for them to object when I wanted to dispose of the gold I'd earned however I wanted.

While eating lunch with the team members, Kim Yuna told me something unexpected.

"You got a ton of advertising inquiries this time too. You were unavailable, so they kept asking me."

"Ah, really?"

"There was one unusual offer, though. It came from some game company."

"What? Don't tell me... Tower Division Company?"

"That's right. That was the name. How did you know?"

How could I not know?

They were the company that made Tower Escape.

I'd cursed that company out plenty of times!

"What did they say?"

"They want you to provide clearing information while they're making the eighth-floor map..."

"Huh... I've lived long enough to get an offer like this. Fine."

"What? Aren't you agreeing too easily?"

Of course, I wouldn't release the information right away.

I'd release it when we were about to move up to the ninth floor.

The eighth floor had a lot of mechanics that would get you killed if you didn't know about them.

If I didn't give out information, people wouldn't even be able to clear it properly.

Only after hearing my explanation did the team members finally calm down.

"Ah... So it won't be released for at least three months."

"Our team leader has thought it all through."

"There's one condition. I don't need payment for the information, so tell them to display my name whenever someone enters and escapes the eighth floor."

"Wow. You're something else... How did you even come up with that?"

Kim Yuna passed along my demand.

They replied before our main dishes even arrived.

"Oh, they agreed."

"... I'm immortal now."

Even if I died in the tower, my name would be engraved in Tower Escape.

Kim Yuna and Han Juwon looked at me with strange expressions.

Footnotes:

Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried