WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Mordor
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Escaping the Tower at Hell Difficulty ◈
Chapter 8
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I’d taken care of the sniper, but finding somewhere to sleep tonight was the immediate problem.
I’d considered it while recovering my left arm on the sixth floor, but...
There was no clear answer.
The fifth floor’s field was cramped as hell.
Getting down to the fourth floor as quickly as possible would’ve been best.
But the hunters lying in ambush meant I couldn’t even get close to an exit.
I climbed to higher ground where I could get a better view and spotted one of them.
‘They’re still at it.’
It was almost impressive that they kept it up while monsters diligently patrolled the area.
The problem was that those bastards had taken over every decent hiding spot nearby.
A decent hiding spot was also a decent sniping position.
After thinking it over, I entered a warehouse right near them.
It was a large warehouse with a smaller storage room inside, separated by another door.
Honestly, it wasn’t a particularly good place.
It was too close to the outside, on the first floor, and patrols passed through from time to time.
Hunters could easily approach it too.
Still, they said the darkest place was right under the lamp.
The hunters lying in ambush outside would probably stand guard all night anyway.
I silently closed the door and pulled food and drinks from my backpack.
I spread Snowfield Troll Hide across the floor and used the heart for heat.
Bang, bang!
Gunfire echoed from far away even after the sun had set.
What a perfect atmosphere.
I tried to force myself to sleep while things were quiet, but woke up almost immediately.
Bang!
“Kiiaaah...!”
‘This is driving me insane.’
Because of Complete Senses, I could hear every damn noise.
I couldn’t turn the skill off in case things got dangerous.
Thanks to that, my sleep quality was awful.
It would’ve been better to dig a snow trench and sleep while shivering in the cold.
After recovering some strength through brief naps, I left the warehouse early in the morning.
The ambushers near the sewer exit hadn’t changed at all.
They showed no sign of moving anytime soon.
‘Let’s find another exit.’
They’d been prepared for a long standoff from the start.
I followed the outskirts toward the train station.
The area was more open than the abandoned factory district.
Monsters roamed around more often too, making it more dangerous.
But that also meant there should be fewer hunters.
There was also a Direct Exit at the train station.
If I got really lucky, maybe I could use it.
Holding on to that hope, I moved forward.
[Shadow Walking skill level has increased to 2.]
Keeping an eye on guard posts, I moved from shadow to shadow.
Bang, bang, bang!
The gunshots were especially heavy.
A chill ran down my spine.
That was the boss.
The fifth floor’s train station boss was the Twin-Headed Ogre.
It used a heavy machine gun as a personal weapon, and since it had two heads, one headshot couldn’t kill it.
It also had plenty of underlings, making it far more dangerous than the Hellhound Handler.
Even so, there was no shortage of challengers.
You had to kill the boss for the Direct Exit to open.
‘Someone’s fighting the boss!’
Boom!
Grenades and gunfire mixed together chaotically.
It looked like they’d failed to finish it cleanly with sniper fire.
I lay prone on higher ground and watched the situation.
Monsters came rushing in, but the five-person team that had killed the boss had already prepared for everything.
They lured enemies into their defensive line and quickly dealt with them one by one.
Bang!
“Gaaah...!”
They’d set traps, of course, and used grenades without holding back.
It felt like they intended to use everything since they were going home anyway.
They were making a much bigger spectacle than I expected.
‘This will draw in all the crows looking for corpses...’
Their goal was obvious.
Escape.
The monsters’ assault didn’t last long after losing their boss.
The moment they lost their will to fight, one hunter entered the rail yard.
They were going to operate the train, the fifth floor’s Direct Exit.
Of course, the other hunters didn’t just stand around and watch.
Bang!
A fight broke out almost immediately as people rushed toward the train.
Some were probably after the boss’s loot too.
The team that killed the boss didn’t even glance at the loot and boarded the train.
It was fairly long, with plenty of room for other teams.
“Wait! Take us too! We’ll pay the fare!”
Hunters approached with their guns lowered and tried to negotiate.
By “money,” of course, they meant gold.
Besides the Interfloor Merchant, there were official stores you could use after escaping the tower.
They offered much fairer prices than the Interfloor Merchant.
I naturally thought the offer would be ignored, but...
The hunters who had brought out the train shouted.
“How much?”
“... We’ll pay 700 gold per person! There are four of us!”
“1,200 gold!”
Some hunters tried to approach the train during the brief negotiation, but...
Rat-tat-tat!
There was no proper cover around the train, so they were quickly riddled with bullets.
They must’ve parked it there on purpose.
The train, on the other hand, was a creation of the tower, so ordinary bullets couldn’t pierce it.
In the end, they settled on 1,000 gold.
‘No need to watch any further.’
The price was too cheap.
With 1,000 gold, you could buy two potions from the Inter-Floor Shop and be broke.
I’d barely collected any loot so far...
But if I’d properly gathered things while coming down from the seventh floor, I would’ve amassed quite a lot of gold.
1,000 gold was far too cheap for a hunter’s life.
That was definitely a trap.
Sure enough.
As soon as they boarded the train and the doors shut tight, the train slowly began accelerating.
Boom!
At the same time, explosions and gunfire erupted.
Someone had used a grenade inside the train.
Bang, bang!
Who would survive?
Probably the team that killed the boss.
Their equipment and combat ability had looked extremely good.
I stopped paying attention to them and looked toward the fallen boss.
Then I spotted a Goblin that had survived the chaos.
The bastard had pretended to die after getting shot, then suddenly sprang up. It grabbed something from the dead boss and began running away with a snicker.
‘That’s a strange one. I can’t let my guard down just because it’s a monster.’
If it wasn’t a hunter but a monster, there was no need to hesitate.
I waited until it reached a suitable spot, then heightened Complete Senses.
Whoosh!
It felt like the rifle and my body had become one.
Thinking of that Goblin as an Interfloor Merchant, I pulled the trigger.
Pshoo!
The bullet hit its chest, killing it instantly.
It crumpled forward.
Bang!
A bloody battle for the loot began in the outskirts.
I hurried down from the high ground to inspect the Goblin’s corpse.
It was carrying a small pouch.
‘Huh, what’s this?’
It looked like a pouch I’d seen in Tower Escape.
The moment I picked it up, an alert appeared.
[Small Subspace Pouch]
Jackpot.
Its capacity wasn’t that large, but subspace was still subspace.
With this, I could carry much more gear.
Of course, my backpack was half empty right now, so it didn’t mean much.
It would be useful for storing consumables like disinfectant, bandages, and magazines, then taking them out when I needed them.
‘The Descent Exit... I found it!’
A narrow path beside the rail yard.
There were no ambushers because of the earlier commotion.
They’d probably all gone to pick up loot.
Without looking back, I entered it.
As I ran down the path like my life depended on it, stone stairs appeared as if by magic.
A Goblin Interfloor Merchant welcomed me.
“Oh, human! You were fast this time!”
There were seven floors in total, and the first floor barely counted, so I was already halfway through.
Complete escape was finally within reach.
Without hesitation, I rented a washbasin first.
Nothing restored your energy like a bath.
The Goblin chattered beside me as if it were strangely excited.
“If things go well, you might become the first hunter with an EX-rank skill!”
“... Don’t tell me not a single person has escaped after starting from the seventh floor?”
“That’s right! One hunter made it down to the third floor, but died just before the end.”
“Wow...”
If they died on the third floor, they’d almost made it.
I really couldn’t let my guard down until the very end.
Judging each floor by danger alone...
The second and third floors were no less dangerous than the fifth.
Since they were lower floors, far more hunters gathered there.
After spending about an hour bathing, I showed the Goblin my loot.
“Do you charge appraisal fees too?”
“Not for that. Did you get something good?”
I decided to hide the [Death Priest’s Ritual Tool] for now.
It was obviously no ordinary item.
Instead, I held out the Small Subspace Pouch.
“What about this?”
“You picked up something good, human. It can hold about as much as a small backpack.”
The Small Subspace Pouch had been an incredibly expensive item in the game too.
It increased farming efficiency, making it a necessity for every hunter.
Of course, dying while carrying it would come with a huge loss.
“I can give you 1,500 gold for that!”
“I’m not selling it.”
“Human. Showing something like that and refusing to sell it is illegal.”
“Don’t talk bullshit.”
The Goblin stomped its feet in frustration.
“Then what about this?”
Next, I took out the Gas Mask I’d found in the Mining Village on the sixth floor.
The Goblin looked it over closely despite acting offended.
It was so obsessed with material possessions that it couldn’t resist examining it.
“It’s a creation of the tower, and it’s in perfect condition. Are you going to use it on the third floor?”
“Yeah.”
The third floor was the Toxic Zone.
There were areas without poison, but those were dangerous because so many hunters gathered there.
I would’ve had to buy one, so this worked out well.
If necessary, I’d planned to sell the [Ever-Burning Heart].
“The Tower Gas Mask is durable. This one can even block fire.”
“Really?”
So it worked against chemical, biological, and radiological hazards, as well as fire.
It also had no filter lifespan, meaning I could use it forever.
“If you sell that, I’ll give you 400 gold.”
“So you want me to die on the third floor?”
“N-no. Buy it again after you clear the fourth floor. It’ll cost 600 gold then.”
It wanted to buy it from me and sell it back to me?
At this point, businesspeople in my country should learn from it.
I decided to remain in the Interfloor Zone until the full two hours were up.
On the fifth floor, I’d gone down too quickly and spawned in the worst possible location.
‘Whew, I’m more tired than I expected.’
The fifth floor’s clear time had been short, but I was still quite exhausted.
Part of it was because I hadn’t slept properly...
But even considering that, it was strange.
Was it because of Complete Senses?
It was a skill that put me into a state of extreme concentration, so maybe that was only natural.
‘This is bad. The fourth floor is the Fog Lake Region... I’ll need to rely on Complete Senses. It should be fine if I use it normally, right?’
There was no point worrying about it.
I decided to think of a catchphrase I could use on stream after escaping the tower.
“Human! Five minutes left.”
“I’m all ready, you know.”
“... Human, did you eat something bad? You suddenly started acting strange.”
That reaction was pretty terrible.
Then again, what would a Goblin running a crooked business know?
I slowly got to my feet.
Flash!
A short while later, I arrived at a rotten wooden building.
It was already half destroyed, no longer capable of functioning as a building.
Damp air welcomed me.
Ssshhh...
Beyond the fog, everything was quietly still.
Not even the sound of insects.
The monsters here had degraded eyesight, but were extremely sensitive to sound.
They were sharp, mantis-like monsters that attacked at close range.
They moved quickly, and a single slash could tear even top-grade armor apart like paper.
Putting monsters like that on the fourth floor was one of the countless pieces of evidence proving Tower Escape was a completely broken game.
At least their defense was weak, so bullets killed them easily.
‘The fog is thick right now. I should find the route first.’
With Complete Senses extended, I walked into the fog.
Footnotes:
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