WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Mordor

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Escaping the Tower at Hell Difficulty ◈

Chapter 40

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Yuki's naturalization as a Korean citizen was processed at an astonishing speed.

An S-rank hunter becoming a Korean citizen.

The Hunter Association had no reason to refuse.

Saying otherwise would be treason.

Naturally, Japan was in an uproar...

Still, it was supposedly a free democratic country. What could they do when she wanted to leave?

Even Japanese hunters took Yuki's side.

[The Hunters Who Love Japan stated that this situation was entirely the Japanese Hunter Association's fault...]

"They're surprisingly willing to side with Yuki."

I said that during our team dinner at a Chinese restaurant, and Han Juwon snickered.

"Isn't it because they'll be next?"

"I don't know... Immigration isn't that easy."

Kim Yuna picked up a piece of sweet and sour pork as she looked at Yuki.

Yuki had come over far too easily, but not everyone could do what she had.

"Won't that make things harder for the hunters still in Japan?"

"One person leaving is a lot less painful than the association continuing to run like a complete mess."

That was true.

Han Juwon tried to pour liquor into my glass, but I quickly stopped them and moved it away.

"I'll have a soft drink."

"What, did you suddenly quit drinking?"

"Yeah. I think I drank too much last time... I need to take better care of myself."

It probably wasn't just the alcohol that had caused me to make a mess of things.

Still, there was no harm in being careful.

Yuki made a huge fuss beside me.

"As expected of our Team Leader! Your self-control is superhuman. Everyone should learn from you..."

"Not drinking for a bit doesn't make me superhuman..."

I'd just finished a training session with Yuki.

The team's impressions hadn't been bad.

Having cleared the eighth floor, she had the basics down.

I also felt comfortable because we'd already fought together once.

"That Clone Technique skill was seriously broken, though."

"Team Leader, when are we entering the Tower?"

"... As soon as the re-entry restriction ends."

Originally, I'd planned to take it slower.

Our sniper, Sang Hajun, was still recovering.

I thought we'd rest for around a month and spend more time getting used to working with Yuki.

But the shop had started selling additional products, so we couldn't afford to take our time anymore.

One technology in particular was important.

[Infinite Dimensional Energy Reactor Technology - 500,000 gold]

Energy technology was already our top priority.

On top of that, it provided unlimited power after the initial investment.

That was probably why it had the highest price.

"Is it really that important?"

"It's apparently the foundation for the other technologies. Every time I made Ultra-Alloy, I had to use Mana Potions, right? We won't need those anymore."

"Ah..."

It would effectively create an environment similar to the Tower's.

It was essential if we wanted to mass-produce the Tower's creations or improve their quality.

Preparations for mass-producing Ultra-Alloy were already underway.

The research results apparently rated its usefulness and economic potential near perfect.

Once we bought the dimensional energy technology, we might be able to acquire the other technologies through negotiations.

"So we need to gather 500,000 gold?"

"Yuki and I brought back around 250,000 gold by ourselves last time... If four of us enter, shouldn't it be possible?"

"But will the Goblin Merchant buy those Mirror Shards again like last time?"

"Yes. They're a fixed purchase item."

We'd get even more loot if we defeated the alchemist, the boss of the Central Zone.

If things went well, I thought 500,000 gold was entirely possible.

We'd already figured out all the gimmicks anyway.

With our team's strength, we could clear it quickly.

Besides, we could make Basic Skill Enhancement Pills on the eighth floor.

We had to go back in even if money wasn't the reason.

Han Juwon tossed back a shot of Chinese liquor and grumbled.

"Ha, I'd feel so much safer if former Team Leader Go Jiho were here... Ah, I'm not saying you're lacking, Kang Hyun."

"I miss having Jiho around too."

The pill could raise a Basic Skill to A rank.

I'd wondered what would happen if Go Jiho took one, but after consulting the Goblin Merchants, I learned it likely wouldn't have much effect.

His Mana Heart had deteriorated.

Strengthening his Basic Skills wouldn't help.

So I gave it to Sang Hajun instead.

Once his condition stabilized, his skill would be raised to A rank so he could get used to his new eye early.

"A four-person clear... Our equipment is in good shape, right?"

"Perfect."

Brown and Chad, who had customized our equipment, returned to the United States after receiving an armful of gifts.

I also gave Chad information about clearing the eighth floor.

Chad's Sierra Squad was strong enough to clear it too.

After shortening the rifle and replacing most of its parts with new materials, my lever-action rifle's weight had dropped to just over one kilogram.

That was light enough to bring as my primary weapon.

I replaced not only my Nightfall Custom but even the Magnum casings with Ultra-Alloy.

The other team members' main weapons were the same.

"But they can't make armor plates out of Ultra-Alloy?"

"They said shattered armor plates could injure us with fragments, so it isn't suitable."

"That's a shame."

Han Juwon looked slightly uneasy. They had been saved by body armor several times, so the concern was understandable.

Yuki, who had been watching me eat from right beside me, spoke as if she couldn't stand it anymore.

"Um, when can I appear on the stream with everyone?"

"You had that kind of ambition?"

Kim Yuna asked in surprise. Yuki then showed us the comments on our channel.

"No, Japanese people keep leaving comments. They say you lured me away by saying terrible things... I came here on my own."

"We didn't even know those comments said that until you told us. We didn't bother translating them."

"I've thought of some content ideas. Like finding the real me among my clones. Since I'm Japanese, couldn't we make Korea-pride content just by going around together?"

Oh, that did sound like decent content.

She had more interest in streaming than I'd expected.

We ate and drank for a while, then returned to our accommodations.

Yuki's place was directly below mine.

She seemed satisfied with it too, which was a relief.

"Then I'll see you tomorrow, Team Leader!"

I still flinched a little every time I heard it.

Me, a team leader.

"R-right... Let's prepare our eighth-floor exploration packs in advance."

"Ah, but I'm still not very good at reading Korean... It might be confusing, so could you help me?"

"Yuki, you were perfectly capable of leaving malicious comments in Korean. Last time, you even speed-read the Alchemist Apprentice's Journal."

When I pointed that out, she gave a feeble reply.

"That's... because translation software has gotten so good lately."

"Ah-ha."

Did the Tower's automatic translation not work outside the Tower?

Come to think of it, I hadn't been able to read the Japanese comments last time either.

Now that I thought about it, it might be difficult.

I planned to remove a lot of food and water from our existing eighth-floor packs.

We'd fill the empty space with ammunition and weapons.

"Then come to my place. I have Purification Capsules and a few things to share."

"Yes! I'll be right there!"

I liked how quick she was.

We packed our bags together.

We cut our water down to 500 ml and reduced our food to about the same amount.

Then we filled the remaining space with a lever-action rifle and ammunition.

Since we were bringing a primary weapon, we couldn't bring grenades.

"It's still tight. What should we bring for food..."

"How about cup noodles? You like them!"

"Oh, they're lighter than I expected. One should be fine..."

It weighed around 70 grams on the scale.

That was definitely manageable.

We could get water easily anyway.

Psssh.

At some point, Yuki took a small step back and summoned her clones...

They surrounded me in a triangle and quietly watched me pack.

'... What are they doing?'

Was it some kind of ritual?

I was too afraid to ask, so I didn't.

Maybe it was skill training.

After packing, I sent Yuki home and finally got some rest.

My new home's bathroom was nice and spacious.

I'd also installed a top-of-the-line massage chair.

Thanks to that, I slept deeply and woke up the next morning feeling an unfamiliar presence outside my front door.

'What? This is...'

When I checked with Complete Senses, it was one of Yuki's clones.

No wonder Yuki always came out at exactly the same time as me.

She had summoned a clone beforehand, then swapped places with it as soon as I left.

'Doesn't she get tired...?'

Last time, she'd even tried to make me breakfast.

I didn't usually eat breakfast, but after becoming a hunter, I had to eat whether I liked it or not.

Click!

I picked up today's training equipment from the room that served as both a storage area and maintenance room.

The display case made of specially treated bulletproof glass was lined with loot I'd obtained from the Tower.

Any hunter would go crazy upon entering this room.

Seeing it all laid out like this made me fairly proud.

I briefly touched the jewel dropped by a Gargoyle before leaving the room.

It was definitely an Enchanting material, but I still didn't know what it was for.

The shop sold Enchanting-related technology, so I'd find out once I bought it.

After several days of thorough preparation, we finally set out to clear the eighth floor again.

Everyone gathered at my home with their packs and equipment.

Before leaving, we set our priorities clearly.

"First, we secure the Potion Warehouse and strengthen our combat power with Alchemy. No objections?"

"No objections, Team Leader!"

Kim Yuna replied in a slightly teasing tone.

There was no way anyone would object to permanently strengthening the team.

"Second, defeat the alchemist boss."

Defeating the alchemist boss would definitely be one of the conditions for unlocking the ninth floor.

On top of that, there was the massive amount of loot in the Central Zone.

We could kill two birds with one stone.

"Third, we'll explore the Mirror World. Let's go."

Before leaving, we took off all our clothes except our underwear.

The women were no exception.

It was to reduce as much weight as possible with the Subspace Backpacks.

"Team Leader, don't turn around."

Yuki said teasingly from behind me.

Han Juwon and I were both facing away.

Since I'd lent the Hood of Hell to Yuki for a moment, it was pretty embarrassing.

"Everyone ready? Here we go. Four-person entry to the eighth floor!"

[Entry weight limit: 39.7/40 kg. Passed. Would you like to enter?]

Huh? What was that?

"Wait! Cancel entry!"

I understood the 40 kg allowance since there were four of us.

But we'd measured the pack weights very thoroughly.

Why did we have 0.3 kg to spare?

That was enough to bring a decent amount of ammunition.

"What? We used an extremely precise electronic scale this time..."

"... Let's try it individually."

We found the culprit right away.

"Enter the eighth floor!"

[Entry weight limit: 9.7/10 kg. Passed. Would you like to enter?]

What? It was me.

How embarrassing, especially as the team leader...

Where had I gone wrong?

When I put my pack back on the scale, it showed exactly 10 kg.

"... Nothing's wrong?"

It wasn't like the weight had increased. The Tower calculated it as lower, so I could bring more things...

But I felt far too uneasy about entering without figuring it out.

"Wait. Let's properly go over the entry rules."

Kim Yuna spoke calmly behind me.

"Exactly what counts toward the ten-kilogram limit?"

"It only counts the weight of everything a hunter carries besides their body. Underwear is included."

Han Juwon answered for me.

The scale showed 10 kg.

But the dungeon recognized 9.7 kg.

Something weighing 0.3 kg wasn't being counted.

What piece of equipment weighed that much?

'It isn't the guns. Could it be... the Ever-Burning Heart? No. It was counted properly last time.'

No matter how hard I thought, nothing came to mind.

I weighed everything I could and eventually found an item that weighed exactly 0.3 kg.

"Ah, this dagger..."

Yuki had somehow come right up behind me.

It was the Death Priest’s Ritual Tool.

It weighed exactly 0.3 kg.

"..."

I put the dagger on the table and tried again.

"Enter the eighth floor."

[Entry weight limit: 9.7/10 kg. Passed. Would you like to enter?]

This was it.

I took out the dagger, but the calculated weight stayed the same.

The dagger hadn't been included in the calculation from the beginning.

"Kang Hyun, did you find it?"

"Yes. It's this dagger."

"Can it erase its own weight because it's a special artifact?"

"No. The scale counted its weight properly."

Kim Yuna calmly voiced the possibility I wanted to avoid.

As hard as it was to believe, once we ruled out everything impossible, that was the only explanation left.

"The dagger is recognized as part of Kang Hyun. Body parts are excluded from the entry weight calculation..."

"You've used that dagger for a long time, right? Maybe a hidden function activated?"

"It's like you've reached the state of becoming one with your sword. That's cool, Team Leader!"

"..."

It wasn't a good sign, but I decided to accept it.

It was an artifact, so something like this could happen.

More importantly, wasn't Yuki getting too good at Korean?

Maybe Japan had an expression with a similar feel.

"I should bring ammunition to fill the remaining weight."

"Sounds good."

In the end, we filled all 40 kg and entered the eighth floor.

Fwaaaash!

[You have entered the 8th floor of the Tower. Upon successfully escaping, you will receive a gold bonus and skill experience.]

The moment we arrived on the eighth floor, we hurriedly took out our clothes and put them on.

This time, we landed in an office in the Sewage Treatment Plant Zone.

It looked slightly different from last time, though.

'There really must be several similar areas. The outer region is huge.'

"Here you go, Team Leader! It fit well! I wish I could borrow it a little longer, but..."

Yuki joked as she returned the Hood of Hell to me.

The moment I put it on, I could feel the warmth and scent left in the clothes.

"..."

I shuddered without meaning to, and Yuki looked slightly worried.

"Are you cold? I should've returned it earlier..."

"No. Let's secure drinking water first."

"Okay!"

We filled the plastic bottles we'd brought with water.

We normally used sturdier canteens, but we were trying to reduce our weight as much as possible.

"There's nothing special among the loot. From here on, we'll move quickly."

"I'll follow you, Team Leader."

We had to raid the armory first.

Holding my lever-action rifle, I dashed into the corridor.

Footnotes:

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