WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Mordor
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Escaping the Tower at Hell Difficulty ◈
Chapter 47
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The food trucks had a more varied selection than I expected.
Maybe because it was free, long lines had already formed everywhere.
We picked up some American-style hot dogs and came back.
Eating was prohibited inside the park, so we found a spot nearby and sat down.
"Oh, this is pretty good. It really tastes authentic."
"Team Leader, have you been to the United States?"
"No. But I've sold hot dogs before."
As we finished the sandwiches Yuki had made for dessert, Queenbell Hartman, the old man in the wheelchair, approached us.
I instinctively took a step back.
Hartman spoke as if he felt wronged.
"Why are you backing away?"
"I don't want people to mistake me for your caregiver and accuse me of neglecting you."
"No one's going to say that..."
The richest man in the world let out a deep sigh.
He must have struggled to wheel himself over here alone...
He should exercise once in a while.
"It feels nice to move around yourself, doesn't it? Have some water."
He accepted the water, took a drink, then spoke.
"Not long ago, we tried to create an EX-rank hunter in the United States."
A second EX-rank hunter besides me?
He'd succeeded in getting my attention.
Just like a businessman.
Before I knew it, Yuki and Kim Yuna had begun listening to him as well.
"We mobilized America's best team. The candidate was a First-Tier special forces operative with multiple decorations. The plan was to enter from the seventh floor and defeat the bosses on nearly every floor."
They must have gone in with a full team of five.
"The operation proceeded ideally. They minimized conflicts with other hunters, defeated the bosses on the seventh, fifth, and fourth floors one by one, then escaped from the third floor."
They had hunted three bosses.
I'd only managed to kill one Hellhound Handler on the seventh floor!
Of course, I had stolen the fifth-floor boss loot.
Wouldn't that much easily meet the requirements for time spent inside and loot score?
The Tower apparently thought otherwise.
"If you tried to make an EX-rank hunter, that means it failed, right?"
"They were still graded S-rank because they failed to meet the requirements."
"Huh..."
"It seems you have to clear the Tower alone starting from the seventh floor to become EX-rank. Congratulations. You are still the only EX-rank hunter in the world. Perhaps you always will be..."
Was that good news in its own way?
"Thanks for telling me. But why did you come looking for me?"
To be honest, my first impression of him hadn't been great.
I'd turned down a meeting through the Hunter Association, yet he'd suddenly shown up like this.
Still, the food trucks and our conversation had improved my mood a little.
The sight of him wheeling himself over had helped too.
He'd come a long way, so I figured I could at least hear him out.
"I would like to propose a technology exchange."
"An exchange?"
"A few hours ago, the American Association purchased Alchemy Equipment Enchanting Technology. We will provide it to Korea."
Alchemy Equipment Enchanting Technology...
Wasn't that worth 300,000 gold?
Even for the American Association, that must have been a massive sum.
Kim Yuna asked with a guarded expression.
"Why would you give that to us?"
"Mass production is impossible without Korea's Dimensional Energy Reactor Technology anyway. The cost is simply too high."
Just as I thought.
Taking the lead on the Dimensional Energy Reactor Technology had been the right call.
The Ultra-Alloy Materials Manufacturing Technology had already made that clear.
Mana Potions weren't unlimited.
We couldn't pour Mana Potions into the process every time we made something.
Without a Dimensional Energy Reactor, we couldn't even attempt the advanced version of that technology in the first place.
"So you want the Dimensional Energy Reactor Technology in return?"
"Do you think that's too much? You only need to sell us the finished products without sharing the technology. Our technological capabilities are insufficient to decipher it anyway."
"The difference in value is pretty significant."
I'd never intended to make money by monopolizing technology we'd secured first.
I'd only taken the lead because it seemed far better than letting someone else take it first.
That was why I'd left it to the Hunter Association...
But this old man had come over and made things complicated.
I said what Go Jiho and I had agreed on beforehand.
"I'm not trying to be unfair. Bring another 200,000 gold. I'll accept goods in kind too."
Since we already had a monopoly, we could have demanded 700,000 gold or even a million instead of 500,000.
But I wasn't a merchant. I was a hunter.
I was also considering sharing the technology at an appropriate time.
Yuki quickly added from beside me.
"Of course, only the finished products will be sold, with no technology transfer. The machinery will be charged separately. If you use the equipment you receive for business, the contract will be terminated immediately."
I'd read the contract with the Hunter Association too...
But I'd skimmed through it, so Yuki's version was probably right.
"No sharing it overseas, and please provide it equally to hunters affiliated with the United States."
"... Remarkable. Do you have no greed?"
Hartman sounded genuinely surprised.
"Equality is a vague concept. Wouldn't true equality be giving preferential treatment to hunters who have contributed more to the Association?"
Wasn't he known for discriminating against hunters outside his own faction?
He saw my expression and immediately changed his tune.
"But I won't play word games in front of you. The technology will be provided equally."
"Can you pay 200,000 gold?"
"Not immediately. The 300,000 gold spent to purchase the Enchanting Technology was already quite a stretch. We've also been actively reinvesting lately."
He spoke calmly.
"You said you would accept goods in kind. What about information?"
"Information?"
"I have quite a bit of information on the ninth floor."
Didn't he say earlier that he had an S-rank hunter with a Prophecy skill?
Yuki immediately objected.
"You cleared the eighth floor much later than the Team Leader, and you have information on the ninth floor? Didn't you say it took time for those prophecies?"
That was definitely worth pointing out.
Hartman answered right away.
"I deliberately did not gather information on the eighth floor. I saw a future where it would be cleared soon enough. So I focused on the ninth floor early."
We had cleared the eighth floor quickly.
"... What is the ninth floor like?"
"I think it may be difficult for anyone but your team."
He immediately began explaining.
Fortunately, I had enough information to tell whether he was lying.
Sang Hajun had gathered information on the ninth floor.
"Clearing the ninth floor will likely be a long battle lasting at least a week. It will take place in a field resembling a deserted island, and hunters will have to make use of every skill they possess."
That was similar to the information our team had gathered.
"It seems you can escape by simply holding out for long enough... but the island's environment won't be easy to endure."
That was only natural.
A place as high as the ninth floor couldn't possibly be easy.
Hartman looked at my face and caught on.
"You don't look surprised. As expected, your side had information as well."
"Is that all?"
"The most important information remains."
He wheeled himself a little closer.
"The ninth floor begins with two members per team. The other three must be summoned later using resources found on the island."
We had to summon additional team members?
That wasn't the end of it.
"There is a temple at the center of the ninth floor, along with four statues."
"A temple and statues?"
"The temple opens only after all four statues are manipulated. Naturally, the temple contains important rewards."
Oh, that was useful information.
Assuming it was true.
"The ninth floor is called the Island of Sleeping Souls. That is everything we have learned so far. If we obtain additional information, I will send it immediately."
"... You gave us all that information before even receiving the technology?"
"Information alone means nothing if you simply possess it."
Hartman gave a quiet laugh.
"I believe the ninth floor cannot be cleared without your team. At least not right now... That makes it a product I can sell only to you. So now, pay a fair price."
No one here would ask whether it was really necessary to clear the ninth floor.
Monsters were already causing chaos even now.
Who knew what kind of disaster might occur later if clearing the Tower was delayed?
We needed to unlock the additional rewards quickly and become stronger.
I contacted the Hunter Association.
"I've reached an agreement with Queenbell Hartman. Yes, we'll provide only finished products, on the condition that they aren't leaked."
The Dimensional Energy Reactor Technology was so complex that fully deciphering it would take years.
What we'd made recently was only a very basic prototype.
"Thank you. The Enchanting Technology will be shared immediately. I wish you luck on the ninth floor."
"Get home safely."
After parting ways with him, I spoke honestly.
"He doesn't seem as bad as I heard... I heard he controls hunters."
"That's because you're someone he can't control. We don't know what he might be like toward weaker hunters."
"Oh, is that so?"
Kim Yuna had a point.
Yuki asked from beside me.
"It seems you've already decided to clear the ninth floor."
"We got the information now."
This was a problem.
My excuse for avoiding the ninth-floor challenge had been the lack of information.
That had been resolved to a considerable extent.
Kim Yuna was unexpectedly positive as well.
"If it's survival, isn't that totally Kang Hyun's specialty? You're so versatile thanks to your Transcendence skill..."
To be honest, I'd rushed into the eighth floor without much preparation and suffered terribly before regretting it...
But the rewards had been worth it.
More hunters would be coming in now, so the eighth floor couldn't be considered completely safe anymore.
The Russian hunters in particular would be desperate to come after us.
[The largest monster ever to appear in Russia is still moving without stopping...]
It seemed monsters summoned to Earth grew weaker over time.
Especially monsters as huge and powerful as that one.
Probably because the environment had so little mana.
That monster's hunt was likely being put off for the time being.
As soon as I got home, I wrote a detailed guide for clearing the eighth floor.
I'd already shared it with the Korean Hunter Association.
But this time, it wasn't for them.
'Leave this out, and this is a little dangerous too, so leave it out...'
It was a watered-down version with bits of information missing here and there.
Still, it should be enough to make a game.
I would send it to Tower Division Company, the developer of Tower Escape.
A scheduled email might get hacked, so I sent it to the Hunter Association through secure email instead.
Go Jiho contacted me right away.
Wasn't it getting late? Didn't he ever leave work?
[Hyun, what is this now?]
"Please send that to Tower Division Company in about a month."
I might enter the ninth floor and never return.
Wasn't it a practical yet stylish will?
Go Jiho immediately understood what I meant.
[All right.]
"And could you recommend a survival skills instructor from CCT?"
[Yeah, I know a decent one. I'll call them in first thing tomorrow morning.]
"Thanks."
I thought about it from every angle...
The next clear would be the ninth floor.
Island of Sleeping Souls.
The world's first clear of the ninth floor!
Just thinking about it made my heart race so much that I couldn't sleep.
A little later, Bravo Team returned the Key of Snow.
They seemed to have decided to specialize entirely in training rookie hunters.
Their newest rookie earned an S rank without difficulty.
"Alpha Team Leader, we used it well again. Can we borrow it next time too?"
"Sure. I'll give you a 2,000-gold discount."
"Really? Thanks."
After completing survival skills training, we all sat down to make a clear plan.
"Who should be the first two people to enter the ninth floor?"
"The team leader is a must... so either Yuki or Hajun."
Both had information-gathering abilities.
I chose Yuki, who was more versatile.
"But what are we supposed to do with a five-kilogram entry limit? Doesn't that mean we can't bring guns at all?"
"... Probably."
A firearm and ammunition alone weighed at least 1.5 kilograms.
Clothes and boots alone weighed three kilograms.
I boldly gave up on bringing a firearm.
"We'll loot guns inside and use them... We should bring essential supplies instead."
The first thing I packed was the Ever-Burning Heart.
It weighed 0.4 kilograms, but after giving it some thought, I decided to take it.
It could provide heating and cooking without consuming any fuel...
And it didn't produce smoke even when a fire was lit in broad daylight.
It was like an induction cooktop powered by mana.
The dagger and mask didn't count toward the weight limit, so I naturally brought them.
"We have 1.6 kilograms left. Are you taking the Hood of Hell?"
"I should."
I was bringing almost all of my artifacts.
That was probably the ninth floor's intended purpose.
The weight limit gradually decreased to prevent us from bringing modern equipment inside.
Artifacts had overwhelmingly better performance for their weight.
"What about the Alchemist's Ammunition Box?"
"I should bring that too."
We could probably loot firearms on the ninth floor...
But it would be incredibly frustrating if we couldn't use them because we had no bullets.
Besides, there were plenty of ways to use ammunition even without a gun.
I'd scraped together every alchemy material stored at the Hunter Association and raised my Alchemy skill to level 6.
From an alchemist's perspective, the Ammunition Box was a way to obtain an almost unlimited supply of high-quality gunpowder and metal.
"The box has used up almost all the remaining weight. Wouldn't it be better to bring at least one empty gun?"
"No. There are too many things to bring... We'll get firearms locally."
I had the Instant-Death Dagger, so I could at least defend myself.
Of course, I had the other team members carry firearms.
"Let's take Yuki's sawed-off double-barrel shotgun. And an axe for work too..."
After an intense discussion, we finished preparing.
"Time's up."
"All right, shall we become legends?"
"Team Leader, don't forget to summon me last. It would be even better if you didn't summon me at all!"
Han Juwon joked, making everyone snicker.
It seemed the standby members would wait in the Interfloor Zone.
"Then we're going. Five members entering the ninth floor!"
[Entry weight limit: 25/25 kg. Passed. Would you like to enter?]
This time, we'd matched it exactly.
[You have entered the Island of Sleeping Souls on the ninth floor of the Tower. Successful escape will grant a gold bonus and skill experience.]
Footnotes:
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