Escaping the Tower at Hell Difficulty - Chapter 83

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Mordor

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Escaping the Tower at Hell Difficulty ◈

Episode 83

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The morning after returning from the Dwarf dimension began with great news.

[EX-rank Hunter Kang Hyun's collaboration cup noodles sell out... Is this the power of a hunter's IP?]

"Mm, now that's the best kind of news."

As I watched the rabbits eat breakfast from their automatic feeder through the camera installed in their room, I prepared my own breakfast.

"Yuki, want to have breakfast together?"

Ding-dong!

The doorbell rang before I'd even finished speaking.

She must've already had the place bugged and a clone waiting on standby.

She probably even knew my front-door passcode.

This was a hunter-exclusive apartment building, so security was stricter than usual...

But someone like Yuki would still find a way in.

The fact that she didn't pick the lock and let herself in was probably the minimum courtesy she showed me.

Click.

When I opened the door, Yuki greeted me brightly.

"Good morning. What would you like for breakfast?"

"Something simple today. I was thinking cereal."

"Sounds good!"

It wasn't store-bought cereal, though.

Most commercial cereals were practically snacks.

Usually, I mixed whole grains with berries and banana slices, then ate it with milk.

I used to eat it with just milk, but it tasted so bad I couldn't keep doing that.

Still, I couldn't skip breakfast if I wanted to maintain my weight.

Even eating proper meals inside the Tower was work.

While having breakfast with Yuki, I flinched at the next breaking-news update.

[XX company plans to increase production and resell collaboration cup noodles...]

"Ah, I finally got them sold out..."

"It's okay. They'll sell out again this time."

Yuki said that confidently, but her opinion usually wasn't much help when it came to objectively judging anything about me.

I checked the internet.

Not just anywhere, but sites related to my video channel.

[Five Seconds Before Escape: The owner's collaboration cup noodles sold out?]

[Jissou Kung Fu: This actually happened lol]

[Don't Do This and That: I work part-time at a convenience store, and I saw something scary.]

[Spreme Justice: If you don't tell the story within five minutes, I'm reporting you and getting you banned.]

[Don't Do This and That: A bunch of foreigners suddenly came rushing in at night in cars, and I was completely terrified. Then they asked for every one of the owner's collaboration cup noodles we had.]

[Spreme Justice: Tell us more or I'm reporting you and getting you banned.]

What a heartwarming story.

Maybe the world was still worth living in after all.

[Don't Do This and That: They even used a translation app to talk to me, so I sold them by the box. Then more foreigners came and demanded that I sell them some too. They nearly started fighting...]

[Jissou Kung Fu: Does that even make sense?]

[Sixth Floor Ghost: The owner said on the last stream that he'd stop sharing technology if people didn't buy the collaboration cup noodles.]

[Jissou Kung Fu: Then they only need to secure their own share, don't they?]

[Five Seconds Before Escape: If you monopolize the owner's collaboration cup noodles, you can monopolize Dimensional Energy Reactor technology too. Holy crap.]

Hmm, things were getting weird.

Wasn't this supposed to be a heartwarming story?

Similar reports followed soon after.

Foreigners were buying collaboration cup noodles for ridiculous prices on secondhand sites.

There had even been a chase over a truck at dawn.

After breakfast, I headed straight to the workshop.

Yuki showed me a cafe in the city, but I had something urgent to deal with.

"Team Leader, won't you go here with me?"

"Let's go later. I need to deal with Doll Technology first."

"Ah... okay."

Yuki nodded reluctantly, looking a little disappointed.

I needed to decipher the Doll Technology we'd brought back from the Dwarf dimension as soon as possible.

I was managing this technology myself, and only a tiny handful of people, including me, could decipher it in the first place.

It seemed like advanced technology that required countless foundational technologies, including Dimensional Power Reactor technology.

The moment I arrived at the workshop, I got to work.

"We're starting with the body. The manual's well organized."

"Wouldn't it be too difficult to start right away?"

"It's fine. I'm not trying to make a high-end doll."

What I was making right now was a simple labor doll, not even as good as the guard dolls I'd seen on the eighth floor.

I skimmed the material list in disbelief.

"It needs Soul Crystals too?"

There really was nowhere they weren't used.

Most of the materials could be bought from the Tower shop.

I quickly shaped the frame using Reconstruction.

Then I checked the most important part, the artificial intelligence. It used powdered Soul Crystals to make the doll move according to lingering thoughts.

That must've been why I hadn't gotten any Soul Crystals even after killing dolls on the eighth floor.

"Are high-end dolls different...? Yuki, could you heat up the alchemy cauldron?"

"Sure!"

There were so many parts that it wasn't something I could finish in a day or two.

I placed orders for parts with other craftsmen affiliated with the Association, then joined the strategy meeting for the twelfth floor.

It was difficult to get direct information because of the Tower’s Curse...

But hunters had already learned how to work around it.

The Tower’s Curse only stopped intentional information leaks. It didn't control unconscious leaks or things like selling loot.

That was why hunters from other races had learned a fair amount about each floor from the data accumulated so far.

"It seems the twelfth floor has an poisoning-related gimmick. That's the main obstacle."

"Like Soul Erosion? The Tower really is consistent..."

"If it's poisoning... the more people we have, the more supplies we'll burn through."

"Exactly."

I would be relatively fine thanks to the Death Priest’s Garb and Adaptability.

The other team members were the problem.

"I found something that might help in Iron Lord Holos's warehouse."

"Oh? What is it?"

I opened the potion bag and lined up bottles of every color.

"If it's a kind of poisoning with an antidote, one of these should be the antidote."

"I see. Someone like an Iron Lord would naturally keep an antidote for the twelfth floor's gimmick on hand."

"Where's Orca? I know they can't tell us directly because of the Tower’s Curse, but wouldn't it be better for them to attend the meeting?"

"They said they were overworked and resting."

I'd brought them along for the glorious battle to stop the Reapers' conspiracy, and this was how they repaid me?

The Reapers' losses were apparently severe enough that they wouldn't be able to operate in the Tower for a while.

They'd probably spend nearly all their stockpiled resources trying to recover.

The other races would be suitably wary of us now, too.

This was the best time to clear the twelfth floor.

"We can't finish off the Reapers?"

"I heard their dimension is tangled like a maze, so it's no joke."

They were practically a common enemy, so of course their defenses would be solid.

The terrain was unfavorable too. It was basically the Vietnam War.

More than anything, I didn't see why we had to attack them ourselves.

The other Hunter Lords hadn't even sent support.

"I didn't think the Hunter Lords would be that cowardly and irresponsible."

"It's strange that they can still hold onto their positions."

"That just means they're strong."

Iron Lord Holos.

If Gillius hadn't assassinated him, he would've been quite dangerous.

After a productive day, I returned to the apartment with Yuki.

She gave me a very formal farewell in the elevator.

"Good work today, Team Leader."

She was so formal that I could almost feel a sense of obligation and distance from her.

I figured she was tired and went upstairs.

"Good night."

I slept soundly through the night, and the next morning, while feeding the rabbits, the doorbell rang.

Ding-dong!

Of course, it was Yuki.

But she was wearing the exact same clothes as yesterday.

'What's going on?'

Yuki and Kim Yuna were both interested in fashion, so they wore different outfits every day when they weren't training or clearing the Tower.

Yuki even had a separate dressing room built in her home.

The instant I opened the door, she greeted me brightly.

"Good morning. What would you like for breakfast?"

The atmosphere didn't seem bad.

It was probably just my imagination.

"Mm... How about something simple, like toast?"

"Sounds good!"

While we ate breakfast, I checked the internet.

[Don't Do This and That: I work part-time at a convenience store, and I saw something scary.]

[Spreme Justice: ...What? This looks like the post from yesterday.]

[Five Seconds Before Escape: Is something wrong with the forum server?]

[Sixth Floor Ghost: You remember what was posted at this time yesterday? The problem isn't the server. It's you idiots who haunt this forum.]

[Spreme Justice: No, I'm sure I've seen this.]

Spreme Justice had been watching my broadcasts from the early days and managed the forum, so they had to be right.

Managing the forum without pay.

They were surely an intellectual with refined tastes and shining convictions.

"Uh... Yuki? Doesn't this story look familiar?"

"It's okay. They'll sell out again this time."

"What?"

The conversation wasn't flowing normally.

Yuki's mouth was smiling, but her eyes weren't.

'I feel like I heard that yesterday.'

A chill ran through me.

Had Yuki's instability finally evolved into a new realm?

Come to think of it...

Yuki was the forum's chief administrator.

She seemed to have some hacking skills too, so reposting the exact same posts under the exact same usernames as yesterday would be easy.

'Why is she doing this?'

Cold sweat ran down my back.

I was more nervous than when Iron Lord Holos had confronted us with a weapon.

Once the commotion on the forum died down, Yuki suddenly held out her phone.

A picture of a cafe in the city was displayed on it.

"Team Leader, won't you go here with me?"

Ah, right.

I'd said we'd go later yesterday, but we never did.

Was that why she was doing this?

She didn't like how yesterday went, so she'd declared it invalid.

She was giving me a chance to start over.

"W-Wow... It looks great. Let's go right away."

"I knew you'd like it!"

Only then did Yuki smile with her eyes as well. She linked arms with me as we left.

I'd somehow survived another day.

Maybe I really did have what it took to become the greatest hunter.

Yuki took countless pictures at the cafe, then happily finished our walk before we returned to the workshop.

Managing team morale was hard.

Still, compared to other teams, this was nothing.

"Team Leader, did you hear? Mike's team is filling another vacancy."

"What? Didn't that team clear the eighth floor?"

"One person says they can't do it anymore. They nearly died to the alchemist on the eighth floor."

"...That happens a lot."

Han Juwon spoke with a shrug.

Everyone on our team was a veteran, and none of them seemed likely to quit easily.

"There's a supercar in the parking lot I haven't seen before... Did Yuna buy a new one?"

"Yeah. It's her third."

"Isn't she scared of taxes...?"

"Hunters get huge tax deductions. You have to make proper use of them."

"What does Hajun spend his money on?"

"A bunker. He's putting almost all his money into building one."

So that was his hobby.

I steadily prepared for clearing the twelfth floor.

"I think I found the antidote."

"Oh, really?"

I had to use an entire bottle for analysis...

But I'd identified the item most likely to be the twelfth floor's antidote.

[Hallucinogenic Spore Antidote: Purifies symptoms caused by Hallucinogenic Spores.]

"Hallucinations? The Tower really loves this kind of thing..."

"They're fatal during a clear."

"Spores... Are there poisonous mushrooms or something? Then why did Orca come down to the eleventh floor instead of living on the twelfth? If it's a forest or cave, it should be a Druid's playground."

"There must be another gimmick we don't know about. Maybe it's dangerous to stay exposed for too long."

The eleventh floor also had the Soul Erosion gimmick, but it wasn't a serious problem as long as you didn't stay underground too long.

After checking the changed Item Level Restriction for the twelfth floor, I packed my equipment.

"We can bring up to level 400 now. Everyone has a Gas Mask and Infinite Filter, right?"

"Yeah. It won't hurt to bring one. They barely cost any points."

As this was our first expedition, there was a lot to prepare, so I couldn't upgrade our equipment too much.

Still, I used the equipment dropped by the Reapers as materials to reinforce it as much as possible.

"If everyone's ready, we're leaving right away."

"Our Team Leader really is impatient."

Even at this moment, I was afraid some other thieves might be taking my loot.

Flash!

[Item Level Restriction 2000/2000. Passed. Would you like to enter?]