WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Mordor

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Escaping the Tower at Hell Difficulty ◈

Chapter 58

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The basement workshop of Alpha Team's private building.

All the equipment that had originally been in the Association's workshop had been moved here.

There was an Alchemy cauldron and a metal smelting furnace, along with all kinds of crafting tools and even workbenches for firearm maintenance.

Whenever a newer Dimensional Power Reactor came out, Go Jiho personally brought staff over to replace it.

They couldn't let just anyone in because of security concerns.

Wooooong!

I activated the Dimensional Power Reactor and started with some warm-up work.

I added a simple Protection Enchantment to the Soft Armor we would be wearing.

Since it was Soft Armor, there was no point in hardening it completely.

It would become heavy and restrict our movement.

Yuki, who was helping while watching from beside me, asked, "What are you going to do this time?"

"I'm going to make it able to block only the first hit."

It was a little expensive for a one-time Enchantment...

Still, it was cheaper than my teammates' lives.

Once I finished the prototype, I hung up a bulletproof vest instead of a target and fired at it.

Bang!

Crash...

"Hm, it stops exactly one rifle round."

"It stopped it, then broke?"

"That's right."

I hadn't personally benefited from wearing body armor very often...

But whenever I took it off, fragments somehow found their way into my body.

So I had to wear it.

"This should do."

As I kept the workshop open and continued working...

Hunters who had heard the rumors began arriving one by one.

"Team Leader! Are you working right now?"

"Welcome. What brings you here today...?"

"I want to get some Enchantments on my equipment! Can you do a Weight Reduction Enchantment?"

"You brought the materials, right?"

I took Enchantment requests now, too.

Enchantment materials were so rare that even Hunter craftsmen affiliated with the Association had barely handled them before...

Which naturally meant I had become the most skilled person around.

[Eye of Disassembly skill transcended, Collapse Point skill activated]

[Sleight of Hand skill transcended, God's Hand skill activated...]

The labor fee, excluding material costs, was only 500 gold.

I offered a fair price.

"It's done."

"Wow, it's so much lighter! Thank you."

"You're Alpha Team's leader, and you even learned Enchanting?"

As I worked, some familiar faces showed up.

It was Bravo Team, with Choi Ilhyuk among them.

"Alpha Team Leader! I heard business has been good lately."

"What business? This is public service."

"Ha ha, is that so? Can we ask for some Enchantments too?"

"Of course. Everyone except Choi Ilhyuk over there..."

"Hey! Why am I the only one you treat like this?"

Yet Ilhyuk's order was the most demanding.

"I want a Destructive Force Enhancement Enchantment on my weapon. But I've got a question first..."

"What is it?"

"I heard firearm Enchantments apply separately to each part. Does that mean you can put different Enchantments on different parts?"

"You can, but there's not much point."

I gave him a simple explanation.

"There's no point?"

"If you put on Enchantments that are too strong, they conflict with each other even if they're on different parts."

I took out the Nightfall Custom and showed it to him.

It had dual Enchantments, Sound Suppression and Concealment.

Still, they worked especially well together, so they were practically the same as having a single Enchantment.

The Sound Suppression Enchantment itself wasn't all that powerful, either.

"You can only put weak Enchantments on non-core parts... and those barely have any effect anyway."

"Why?"

"Look. The barrel, bolt, and trigger group... those are the parts with strong Enchantments. Do you see what they have in common?"

"Uh, well..."

As Ilhyuk hesitated, Bravo Team's leader beside him answered.

"That's the path the bullet travels through. The trigger is a little questionable, though."

"Correct."

A gun was ultimately a device for firing bullets...

So it was only natural for its core Enchantments to be concentrated in the parts that came into direct contact with the bullet.

For the remaining parts, Weight Reduction or Concealment Enchantments were about all I could do.

"Then what about enchanting the bullets?"

"It's possible, but not economical, and it conflicts with the gun's Enchantments. You can do something like a Soul Crystal coating."

Of course, Soul Crystals were incredibly valuable materials, so that was only worth doing on the ninth floor.

"So, what do you want me to do?"

"... Could you put a Destructive Force Enhancement Enchantment on the core parts, then Weight Reduction Enchantments on the rest?"

"I won't be responsible if it fails and your gun explodes."

I wouldn't get hurt, but the material costs would go up in flames along with the gun.

"... Fine."

In the end, I successfully enchanted Ilhyuk's gun.

The remote lessons from HTT had paid off.

"I might actually be a genius..."

"I keep telling you, Team Leader, you are a genius."

After building up my skill and instincts through commissioned work...

I finally moved on to my main weapon.

The 6.8mm version of the MCX SPEAR.

It had been quite a while since I'd last seen my weapon.

Most of its parts had been replaced with Ultra-Alloy, by the way.

The Marlin 1894 with its Penetration Enhancement Enchantment was an excellent weapon...

But it had the inherent limitations of a lever action.

No matter how much I practiced, reloading took too long.

It had also been modified into a shortened version, so it only held six rounds.

That made it unsuitable for sustained combat.

I had actually struggled because of it during the eighth-floor boss fight.

"So you're taking the MCX this time?"

"I'm taking both."

"Ah, we had quite a few points to spare."

The shortened Marlin lever action would work well enough as a second gun.

Spin-cocking had become second nature to me, so I could handle it with one hand.

I had wanted to use pointed, high-velocity armor-piercing rounds in the Marlin to improve penetration...

But HTT told me it would be a disaster and talked me out of it.

"Huh? Why not?"

"Lever actions use tubular magazines. The rounds get jolted by the recoil when you fire... and if you use pointed bullets, they can strike the primers and explode."

"Ah! I never even thought of that."

"Experts really are different."

So I decided to put a different Enchantment on the MCX.

"I gave it a lot of thought, and I think a Light Bullet Enchantment would be best."

"Is that different from a Weight Reduction Enchantment?"

"It makes the fired bullets lighter. That increases their muzzle velocity."

It would make the rounds harder to dodge...

And it would pair well with high-velocity 6.8mm armor-piercing rounds.

Even though the bullets became lighter, their increased speed would slightly improve their penetration.

The problem was that it put more strain on the gun itself...

But replacing most of its parts with Ultra-Alloy had solved that.

It could withstand the tremendous chamber pressure unique to 6.8mm rounds.

After carefully finishing the work, I test-fired it and got satisfying results.

Ratatatat!

"Hm, not bad. The sound and muzzle flash seem a little stronger, though."

Should I work on Han Juwon's machine gun last?

The SIG Sauer M250.

It was a latest-generation squad support weapon that had received good reviews.

Unlike mine, it used 7.62mm NATO rounds instead of 6.8mm.

"Our team's ammo calibers are seriously all over the place..."

I knew 6.8mm was too large and heavy to carry much of.

Still, I had no idea how we'd managed our ammunition before this.

Han Juwon had the Ghost Bullets skill, so even if each round's power was a little lacking, he could overwhelm enemies with sheer volume.

After taking care of a similar Enchantment...

I checked our points again.

"After enchanting all our equipment and bringing one more main weapon, we have 100 points left."

"That's insane. But why do we have so many points left?"

"If we have this many left over, what kind of equipment are Hunters from other dimensions bringing in?"

Kim Yuna and Han Juwon were marveling at it...

When Sang Hajun pointed something out.

"... Don't they bring a ton of armor?"

"I-Is that it?"

"We barely brought helmets and Soft Armor... Juwon's the only one with hard plates."

We also had tactical vests and Subspace Pouches...

But they might as well have offered no defensive capability.

"I heard armor takes up the most points."

"That's right."

Besides, armor wasn't something you could get by with just one or two pieces.

If we had equipped ourselves properly, our points would have disappeared in a flash.

"If you wore full-body armor like the Mirror Knight we saw on the eighth floor, wouldn't 500 points vanish right away?"

I see.

Maybe we were the ones with the more casual attitude toward human life.

It felt a little strange to have it pointed out now.

When the weight limit had been imposed on the eighth floor, we had naturally given up body armor first.

A hard-plate bulletproof vest alone would easily cost us ten kilograms.

I didn't feel like loading up on armor now, either.

The surest defense was eliminating the enemy with overwhelming firepower.

"Let's just go like this. We're a nation of ranged DPS."

"It'd be nice if we could make up for it with skill traits..."

"Protection Attribute Soul Crystals felt especially rare."

Things were taken out of and added to our backpacks right up until the day we challenged the tenth floor...

But we never ended up outfitting everyone with hard plates.

Maybe it would be different once Go Jiho fully recovered.

Without the relevant skills, Enchanted equipment alone couldn't perform to its full potential anyway.

Tap tap tap tap!

As I packed my backpack one last time, Yuki's fingers flew across her smartphone screen beside me.

Even at that speed, she barely made any typos.

Even with a Hunter's reflexes, I couldn't type that fast.

"Is something going on?"

"An American Hunter is insulting you on social media, Team Leader, so I'm responding with thirty-fold Clone Technique."

"No, why are you the one dealing with something like that, Yuki...?"

"I'm also your manager!"

I appreciated the sentiment...

But couldn't she have just not told me in the first place?

I didn't use social media, so I had no idea.

Running video and streaming channels was already exhausting enough.

"Oh. This person is receiving support from Queenbell Hartman. I should file a complaint with his side."

"Why would you file a complaint over something like that...?"

Hartman's people responded very quickly, though.

I watched a video of the Hunter reading out an apology on social media and couldn't help but be impressed.

"Wow, even if they're a successful Hunter, their pride must be enormous. They really went through with that..."

"That old man Hartman has a tight hold on the purse strings."

No matter how powerful a Hunter was, outside the Tower they were just well-trained infantrymen... right?

Honestly, I had no idea.

Things might change completely on the higher floors.

The more skills, artifacts, and privileges they accumulated, the more monstrous they became.

How long could the current system really last?

A few days later.

We challenged the tenth floor almost exactly on time.

I didn't ask Go Jiho to look after the rabbits and Heentteok.

He would probably nag me about it.

Even if I died, he'd take care of them on his own.

His daughter liked the rabbits quite a lot.

"Five-person entry, tenth floor!"

[Item Level Restriction 1750/1750. Passed. Would you like to enter?]

"Yeah."

[You have entered the Tower's 10th floor. Upon successful escape, you will receive a gold bonus and skill experience.]

Flash!

We landed in fairly complex terrain.

The space was wide enough for a full-scale battle.

But it seemed we couldn't go beyond a certain range.

There wasn't a path anywhere.

The terrain could broadly be divided into a lower and upper level.

Its design resembled ancient ruins...

The lower level was cluttered with ruined flooring, puddles, toppled statues, and collapsed pillars.

There was even a stage that looked exactly like the sort of place a boss would appear.

The upper level stood on higher ground.

It had rail-lined paths wrapping around both sides of the lower level, bridges, narrow halls, and more.

"It's an enclosed structure."

"Wait, a notification popped up!"

[Time remaining until Gatekeeper appears - 3:00:00]

[The Gatekeeper has powerful durability and a trait that adapts to the immediately preceding attack.]

[Seal will be released in 3 hours.]

"... They're giving us preparation time?"

[Appraisal skill transcended, Loot Expert skill activated]

As soon as I examined the field, I spotted useful loot scattered everywhere.

There were even cauldrons and combat equipment in the hall on the upper level.

Most of it was spears, swords, and bows, so we couldn't use it.

Rather than being happy, my teammates looked uneasy.

"Just how strong is the thing that's coming out for them to give us such an outrageous advantage...?"

"Huh, what's that over there?"

In a corner of the upper-level hall, curtains were thrown open to reveal a counter that looked like a ticket booth or pawn shop.

A familiar face sat behind it.

"Human! You've finally made it this far?"

"Huh, Interfloor Merchant?"

Wasn't the Interfloor Merchant unable to leave the Interfloor Zone?

I had barely seen them after moving up to the eighth floor.

The teammates who had been waiting to be summoned on the ninth floor might have seen the merchant, though.

The merchant declared proudly, "Tell me if you need anything before the trial! You have been given 10,000 gold."

"Wow, they're giving us money too?"

"They're probably offering us goods worth 10,000 gold. Since we're buying from the Interfloor Merchant, it's really less than 7,000 gold in value."

I quickly sorted out the situation.

"From now on, follow my instructions."

"When haven't we? What do we do, Team Leader?"

"Gather every last piece of loot from the lower level. If you find water containers, fill them with water too!"

The Gatekeeper adapted to the immediately preceding attack.

That meant we couldn't defeat it by thoughtlessly firing guns at it.

We needed a variety of attack methods.

I began crafting on the spot in front of a cauldron.

It was a good thing I'd watched that video where an Indian person explained how to make improvised explosives.

Footnotes:

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