WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Mordor

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Escaping the Tower at Hell Difficulty ◈

Chapter 75: Episode 75

──────

Escaping the Tower wasn't just about fighting.

It was a kind of all-around art form.

You had to use every skill and bit of knowledge at your disposal.

I'd built a house in the Tower.

I'd practiced Alchemy, cooked, and made improvised weapons.

I'd even played dead in a pit full of corpses.

But had I been coddled too much until now?

Now I was being told to kill a dragon.

"This really crosses the line..."

The exit where the dragon had landed had completely collapsed.

Even if we somehow restored the path leading to it, ominous wind and mana still lingered nearby.

The dragon would probably come flying back the moment we approached.

We had to assume that exit was unusable.

"There isn't only one exit, right?"

"They say the Spiral Tower has lots of exits. Let's find another one."

Not long after we started moving again, we came across a path that had almost completely collapsed.

Large and small rocks formed a precarious path barely as wide as a narrow trail.

They were floating in midair, and I had no idea how they were staying up.

Probably mana.

"Wow, that really doesn't look like something I want to cross."

"Sounds like you've got the time to complain?"

Kim Yuna held up the Stabilizing Stone and sent Yuki's clone ahead.

Thanks to the Stabilizing Stone, there were no further collapses.

"This is pretty useful. Does it work on other living creatures too?"

"It probably won't work on creatures with mana above a certain level."

The Stabilizing Stone's power steadily weakened.

Fortunately, Sang Hajun had already gotten used to its light.

"Over there. I can see a similar light."

"Already? We're lucky."

The Stabilizing Stone still had plenty of time left, yet another one appeared.

We dug it out and combined it with the one we already had.

The Stabilizing Stones fused together smoothly, like clay.

"Oh, so that's how it works."

"Let's keep going. We don't have time to rest."

"Deputy Team Leader, monster ahead. We can ambush it. Let's set the machine gun up over there."

"Alright."

They worked perfectly even without me.

The Collapsing Spiral Tower was notorious even among the Mini Dungeons on the eleventh floor.

Our team really was elite, even without me.

Rat-a-tat-tat-tat!

We wiped out the monsters in an ambush and moved on to the next area.

As we made rapid progress, we soon ran into another obstacle.

Sang Hajun, who had been checking the route, spoke.

"We've got a problem... The path ahead is completely cut off."

"What? Is there a detour?"

"There is, but it'd take a long time to go around. And there aren't any Stabilizing Stones that way."

The path ahead had completely collapsed.

This wasn't a procedurally generated game, so there had never been any guarantee that there would always be a route.

"Can't we jump over it?"

"It's pretty far... If that section over there were a little longer, maybe."

"Hmm."

If I could properly use Reconstruction, I could've made a path in no time.

Kim Yuna could only destroy things, not create them.

I felt like I could somehow use my skill once more now.

Should I push myself a little?

The moment I thought that, Kim Yuna and Yuki grabbed me.

"Find something we can use as a support or temporary bridge. Team Leader, don't do anything."

"There's a thick plank over there. Wouldn't it work if we piled rubble on one end as a counterweight?"

"That could work."

"Let's attach two of them and make an A-shape. It should hold better with two counterweights."

The team members quickly put together a temporary bridge on the spot.

Even so, it was too short to reach the other side.

In the end, Kim Yuna decided to teleport everyone one at a time from the end of the temporary bridge.

After reaching S-rank, she could bring up to two people with her...

but the distance was too great this time, so one person was the limit.

"Will you be okay? You'll have to use your skill seven times if you move everyone one at a time."

"It'll be rough, but this is faster."

"What about using a rope?"

"There's nothing on the other side to tie it to, and it'd be too slow. If we drag this out too long, monsters or the boss might show up."

That made sense.

Kim Yuna decided to cross with Han Juwon first.

"Going."

Whoosh!

They ran across the improvised bridge and jumped.

They were still far short of the other side, but Kim Yuna's teleportation skill got them there safely.

"Whew, I've still got some room. Next!"

"Be careful. The bridge is creaking, so it won't hold for long!"

The wind blew like crazy, making everything feel even more unstable.

The only good thing about the environment in the Spiral Tower was that we didn't need to worry much about noise.

It was all swallowed by the wind anyway.

We could barely hear each other's voices, so we communicated by reading lips.

Whoosh!

Kim Yuna jumped back and moved Han Juwon and Yuki across in turn.

I was last... and she looked a little tired after using her skill repeatedly.

"Are you okay?"

"Of course. Team Leader, the bridge can break now, so just run."

"Alright."

Kim Yuna gripped my hand tightly, and we ran together.

"Ugh!"

I activated the Pain Seal and jumped with all my strength.

Wasn't the world record for the long jump less than ten meters?

Any Hunter could break it immediately.

Too bad Hunters couldn't compete in sports.

Whoooosh!

At the worst possible moment, the wind violently shoved us away.

Kim Yuna used her teleportation skill before it was too late.

But we fell slightly short.

"Ah..."

Flash!

In the end, she used her skill once more and collapsed onto the ground.

I supported her and brought her over to the others.

"Yuna!"

"Huff, hah..."

Kim Yuna's heart must've been pounding like it was about to burst.

She wasn't in any condition to fight a boss.

Yet the next exit was nowhere to be seen.

"What's going on? There isn't an exit."

"Do you think that thing buried it again?"

"A boss that focuses on destroying exits? That's seriously nasty..."

"Maybe it's in a bad mood today."

The monsters in Tower Escape were known for choosing the worst things to do...

but this was too much.

What was the point of exits if this kept happening?

It might not have been the boss. The exits could've been buried when the terrain collapsed.

We kept moving and found another Stabilizing Stone.

Han Juwon made small talk, seemingly trying to lighten the mood.

"By the way, when we fought that Reaper earlier, Team Leader, shooting your own arm was an accident, right?"

"No. I meant to do it."

"... What? Seriously?"

"If it had slammed me down like that, every bone in my body would've broken and my insides would've burst. I would've died."

"This is driving me crazy. No matter what, how could you actually do that?"

Maybe I couldn't have done it if I'd had to slice off my arm with a knife.

But all I had to do was pull a trigger...

Guns really were amazing.

Sang Hajun pointed upward.

"I think we're almost at the top floor."

"Ugh, do we really have to fight it after all?"

"If we can somehow stab it with the dagger just once, it'll be over."

I was also in a state where I could use my skill once or twice more.

"Since we've come this far, let's grab as much as we can before we leave."

"Alright. Let's do this."

Everyone steeled themselves as we reached the top floor.

It was an open rooftop with nothing blocking the view.

There were bits of rock scattered around here too, but the floor wasn't all broken up like the lower levels.

We quickly understood why.

"Is that thing in the center a nest?"

"It's the dragon's nest. That's why it didn't destroy this place. It's where it lives."

The Spiral Tower itself had probably once been a city.

Now it had lost its owner, and some dragon had taken it over.

The dragon was apparently roaming around the Tower, because it still hadn't appeared.

Beyond the crude nest in the distance, I saw a small tree.

It was obviously being treated as something special.

"... Maybe it couldn't destroy this place."

"What do you mean?"

"That tree is at the central axis of the Spiral Tower. It's the one place that hasn't been damaged at all."

"Ah."

But we didn't have time to admire the scenery.

Flap!

The dragon appeared, beating its wings as it landed atop the nest. It looked at us and roared.

"Kwaaaaa!"

It slammed one of its massive legs into the ground.

Thud!

But the floor held because the Stabilizing Stone was still active.

"Whew, we're safe..."

"Don't let your guard down! It's coming again!"

The thing grabbed a huge boulder with its foreleg and hurled it straight at us.

Crash!

It gripped the boulder so hard that it shattered in midair, turning into a blast of rock fragments.

The impact might have been reduced, but there was nowhere to dodge.

"Get behind cover!"

Han Juwon hastily created a Reinforced Barricade.

Boom!

Half the barricade, which could easily withstand machine-gun fire, was blown away.

Still, everyone was safe because of it.

"Spread out!"

"The wings are relatively weak."

Sang Hajun pointed out its weakness and activated Stealth.

Everyone except Han Juwon hurriedly scattered.

Rat-a-tat-tat-tat!

Most of Han Juwon's machine-gun fire was deflected by the wind surrounding the monster's body.

From a distance, the trajectory would be ruined, making it almost impossible to hit.

This was the worst possible enemy to fight with firearms.

Even the few rounds that landed by luck had lost most of their force.

Rip!

Yet even those weakened bullets tore through its wings. Its wings really were weak.

"Kiaaah!"

Click!

I equipped the Hand Cannon and carefully waited for an opening.

My body was still shivering, but this wasn't the time to complain.

Rat-a-tat-tat-tat!

Perhaps burdened by Han Juwon's fire, the boss concentrated the wind in front of itself.

Despite being a dragon, it didn't seem like the type that breathed fire.

Kim Yuna and I fired almost at the same time.

Tat-tat-tat... Bang!

Kim Yuna's 4.6 mm rounds were too light, so most of them missed.

But the Hand Cannon's .50-caliber Enhanced Ammunition struck the monster with insane force.

Blood burst from the boss's side.

"Kaaah!"

Naturally, it turned toward me.

A wall of wind swept around its body like a storm.

Whoooosh!

Yuki lowered herself and endured the wind pressure, then summoned a clone inside the barrier.

She sent the clone charging forward.

Click!

The moment I finished reloading, Yuki's clones switched places with each other.

The newly appeared clone held a custom Adhesive Incendiary Grenade.

The adhesive grenade stuck firmly to the monster's hind leg.

Sizzle!

"Kkaah?!"

The boss whipped up wind like crazy once the grenade ignited...

but that thing burned even underwater.

A little wind wasn't enough to put it out.

Bang!

While it thrashed around, I fed it another Hand Cannon round.

If one shot wasn't enough, then two.

I'd keep shooting until it worked.

"Urgh!"

The terrible recoil made every bone in my body ache.

Had it always been this bad?

I stopped my knees from buckling, then broke open the gun to reload.

I mercilessly drove a third round into the monster's twisting body.

Bang!

I wasn't confident I could hit its head, so I aimed for its torso.

The huge body of the dragon swayed violently once more.

Rat-a-tat-tat-tat!

Its wings were already in tatters from the machine-gun fire.

There was no way it could escape now.

Maybe because its wings were damaged, the wind seemed much weaker.

"That's it! Finish it!"

"Kiaaah!"

Kim Yuna dodged its wildly swinging foreleg with teleportation.

I punished it immediately.

Bang!

The thing finally collapsed, unable to hold on any longer.

Sang Hajun's sniper shots had been landing steadily too, so there wasn't a single intact part left on it.

"Kiiik..."

It writhed on the ground, struggling to breathe.

Part of me wanted to take it with us...

but it was too big for us to keep anywhere.

And I still hadn't forgiven it for destroying the exit earlier.

Click.

I approached the suffering monster, aimed at its head, and ended its life.

Bang!

"We got it..."

"It would've been tough without the adhesive grenade."

The moment it went completely still, the sky cleared and the weather became calm.

The wind no longer howled painfully.

Fsss...

"But how are we supposed to collect the loot from this?"

"Yuna, chop it up with your axe. It's a dragon corpse, so shouldn't all of it be useful?"

"Seriously..."

While Kim Yuna sweated buckets as she cut up the dragon's corpse, we finally took in the view from the top floor.

The tower stood alone and proud above a sea of clouds.

"Wow, I want to take a picture. We don't have a camera, do we?"

"Even without one, we won't forget this."

"Team Leader! Let's check out that tree!"

"Ah, sure."

The tree at the top of the Spiral Tower had dried up and died long ago...

but several strips of cloth and leather were tied to its branches.

There weren't that many.

"What's this?"

"Hunters who reached the top of the Spiral Tower left them behind. I heard it's a ritual where you make a wish."

"They were surprisingly willing to pass on that information."

"Wow, this is the kind of thing Japanese people like, right?"

When Han Juwon said that, Yuki shrugged.

"Is there any country where people don't like that kind of thing?"

"Is that so..."

Thinking about it, she was right.

This was a rare moment when Yuki won in the common-sense department.

"Should we tie one to the tree too?"

"Sure. We have plenty of leather scraps..."

Bellion or Orca had probably tied some here too.

I considered untying a few to take a peek, but stopped myself.

That would be too tasteless, even for me.

"Team Leader, here you go!"

"Thanks."

After thinking for a moment, I made a simple wish.

[Please let the collaboration cup ramen sell out]

I didn't write anything too grand.

I'd achieve those things myself.

Yuki, who had glanced at mine, quickly erased what she had been writing.

Unfortunately, I accidentally caught a glimpse of it.

[Let me become my benefactor's eternal scar...]

"Ah."

Our eyes met for a moment.

Honestly, I'd expected this.

I had more or less guessed why she kept entering the Tower with me.

Yuki smiled awkwardly and asked, "... Is it not good?"

"No, I can't grant that wish."

"T-Then what should I change it to?"

"... How about being an eternal presence or a source of pride?"

"That sounds good! I'll go with eternal presence!"

The other team members silently praised me from afar.

Footnotes:

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