WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Mordor

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Escaping the Tower at Hell Difficulty ◈

Episode 86

──────

The flames spread incredibly fast.

This damn cave was practically perfect for a fire to spread through.

The spore mist naturally brought dust explosions to mind.

They used to show up all the time in games and novels.

The reason I said that in the past tense was because they didn't come up as often these days.

People now knew dust explosions weren't that easy to cause.

This cave's environment was nearly ideal for a dust explosion, but...

There was one fatal problem.

The humidity was too high for one to occur.

Put another way, if the humidity dropped, one could happen at any time.

That was why I'd even made an extra device to keep the fire from spreading while I used Alchemy.

But there was a blaze raging over there.

If we left it alone, it might affect other areas too.

"What are those guys doing...?"

"Those monsters from earlier looked like boss-level monsters. What should we do?"

"Let's follow them and watch for now."

We had to move anyway.

The monsters and Mushroom Zombies I'd driven away with the Monster’s Gauntlet would soon come swarming back.

"Hajun."

"That high ground over there would be good."

After carefully moving into position, we crouched down and watched.

Thick, acrid smoke was already rising from the area across from us.

It was only a matter of time before the fire spread to the next area.

The blue-skinned giant monsters leaped into the flames without hesitation.

Ice shards poured from their bodies, rapidly putting out the fire.

"Oh, as expected..."

This damn cave was the kind of place where a large fire could burn through the entire cavern.

That was probably why those things acted as Firefighters.

They found Orc hunters trembling in the flames.

They must have started the fire.

There were piles of monster corpses nearby.

"Grrgh... R-Run away!"

"..."

Crunch!

One blue giant brought down its arm and killed a hunter in a single blow.

The hunter seemed to have activated some kind of defensive skill, but it was useless.

"Aaargh! S-Someone help!"

Why had they started a fire if this was going to happen?

Still, they might not have been in their right minds from the intoxication.

There were plenty of monsters nearby too.

They probably hadn't had much choice.

I could sense quite a few other hunters nearby.

They had rushed over after hearing the commotion.

Not a single team reached out to help.

"They called in the Firefighters. They're insane."

"They brought it on themselves. They won't come this way, right...?"

"I heard something strange from the Hallucinogenic Mushroom area earlier. What was that?"

"Who knows? You never know what those addicts might do..."

The arsonists were quickly dealt with, and the situation seemed to be winding down.

After completely extinguishing the fire, the monsters slowly turned around.

I didn't know where they had come from, but it looked like they were about to head back.

Then the other teams began making a fuss.

"No one has a fire-element artifact or anything, right?"

"Of course not. Who'd bring something like that to the 12th floor?"

A fire-element artifact?

My teammates' eyes naturally turned to my backpack.

The Ever-Burning Heart.

The monsters had somehow sensed its mana and began moving toward me.

Now that a fire had broken out once, they intended to eliminate even the means to start another one.

"Ah, they're coming! Team Leader?"

"Everyone, prepare for battle."

Giving up the Ever-Burning Heart might let us avoid a fight, but...

I couldn't hand it over.

I was much more used to this than a gas stove now.

Without the Heart, I'd have to burn through an enormous amount of fuel every hour.

I wouldn't be able to use Alchemy properly that way.

It was an essential artifact for our team.

I activated Four Seasons and Collapse Point in an instant, then drew my weapon.

Sang Hajun shouted from behind me.

"Watch out for the ice shards! Those things are ridiculously durable!"

I could see that myself.

Even after using Collapse Point, their weak points appeared as tiny marks.

That meant their structure and material were incredibly tough.

By the 12th floor, being fast and tough was apparently standard.

And they had ice shards on top of that.

It wasn't just a matter of getting hurt. If I got frozen, I'd be completely helpless.

I drank the potion I'd taken out just in case and decided to end this as quickly as possible.

There were too many hunters nearby. A long fight would be dangerous.

Shing.

When I opened my right hand, the Death Priest Dagger appeared in my palm.

I activated Acceleration and charged toward the giant leading the way.

I slashed it as I passed, then swung at the next one.

Slash!

Maybe it had noticed its companion collapse so helplessly.

The next one quickly dodged and tried to fire ice shards at me.

Its upper body was more flexible than I expected.

That put it at the perfect range for a pistol shot.

Bang!

The Hand Cannon struck its weak point dead on.

Chunks of flesh like splintered wood sprayed out, and another giant fell.

My left-hand shooting practice had paid off.

Crack!

With a strange bursting sound, the last giant scattered ice shards everywhere.

Shhhhck!

I slid away with the Gale Boots in time, but the attack covered too wide an area.

Small shards embedded themselves in my arms and legs.

At least my tactical vest stopped the ones aimed at my torso.

It was fortunate they were small shards.

If I'd taken them head-on, I would've been shredded in an instant.

Fwoosh!

Riding the adrenaline, I pushed forward through the pain.

Gunfire came from my teammates behind me.

Shatter Enchantment tore away at the giant's legs.

I'd given some thought to what Kim Yuna should aim for.

The torso took comparatively longer to shatter, so I ruled it out.

That left the limbs, and the legs were better than the arms.

The arms were relatively thin, making them easier to miss, and crippling their mobility was more worthwhile anyway.

Slash!

I finished off the last one with the dagger.

As all three fell in an instant, the hunters nearby stirred in alarm.

"Wait, that person just stabbed them with a dagger. Isn't that a Death Priest?"

"A Death Priest! Everyone, get together!"

The commotion spread more than I'd expected.

For a moment, I wondered if they were some kind of Death Priest fan club, but that wasn't it.

"What's with you people? Is this your first time seeing a Death Priest in a dungeon?"

"You're behind on the news. The Hunter Lords put an enormous bounty on the Death Priests!"

"What?"

I'd more or less expected it, but I hadn't thought they'd put up a bounty.

It was probably because of the Dwarf Iron Lord Holos.

Gillius had killed him last time, and now the Hunter Lords were in serious trouble.

The Dwarf Iron Lords must have been the ones pushing the bounty.

Their neighbor had died, after all.

They probably thought they would look weak if they didn't put one up.

"How much are we talking about?"

"Enough to live without working for a long time. I heard they'd even waive your taxes for life!"

"Idiot. Don't you know promises not to collect taxes never last? You expect us to believe that and attack a Death Priest?"

Still, having seen my abilities, no one rashly attacked yet.

As I reloaded the Hand Cannon, Elves' voices came from beyond the mist.

They seemed to be the Sherpa team we'd run into earlier.

"Sherpa, since things have turned out this way, could you show us what you can do..."

"What? You're joking, right? You want me to fight a Death Priest for this money?"

"B-But the bounty..."

"Are you paying it? You said the Dwarves put it up. That makes it perfect for them to stiff us."

Had those Hunter Lords even stiffed people on bounties before?

They really did every rotten thing imaginable.

Considering what they were usually like, it wasn't even surprising.

The Sherpa openly held back.

No wonder they were capable of leading novice hunters around.

It was an illegal job to begin with, so the chance of getting cheated out of a bounty was several times higher.

"I'm giving you advice because you paid me. Don't get greedy beyond your capabilities in the Tower. You won't live long if you do."

"..."

Of course, that didn't mean they helped us either.

If we left things like this, someone might actually attack us.

Then a second and third challenger wouldn't be far behind.

Before it was too late, I raised my voice.

"Reapers and Iron Lords have fallen to Death Priests, so who do you think you are, coming after me?!"

"Ugh..."

I wasn't used to playing this kind of role.

Still, it was much better than looking like an easy target.

The Sherpa left first.

"Let's go. The Firefighters are dead, so we'd better leave this area."

"Ah, yes!"

Since the Tower’s Curse prevented direct explanations, the Sherpa was acting as their leader.

Going by the implication, the 12th floor seemed to have some additional defensive mechanism.

The Mycelial Network had probably noticed the Firefighters' deaths.

It wouldn't be strange if a stronger boss appeared.

I hurriedly collected the loot and grabbed a small amount of mushrooms as well.

These mushrooms had a stimulant effect.

They were probably the exact opposite of Hallucinogenic Mushrooms.

They seemed like the most useful of the mushrooms, so it was a shame that almost all of them had burned away.

"I've got everything. Let's move."

"Where to?"

"The exit in the red mushroom area."

The situation felt bad, so we needed to play defensively.

We had already passed through that area, but it had an exit and a hiding place, so it was worth returning to.

Maybe they gained courage once we'd gotten farther away.

I detected a crossbow bolt flying through the spore mist.

It was obviously fired by a hunter.

Whoosh!

They seemed to have a skill that let them see through the mist, because the shot was fairly accurate.

I pulled Yuki away from the bolt and drew my pistol.

Bang!

Before I could fire, Sang Hajun's sniper shot took down the crossbowman.

A crossbow was only a secondary weapon, and the target was fairly heavily armed.

Still, Hajun hit them in the head and blew a hole straight through it.

"I-It's a fight!"

"Run!"

Pfft, pfft, pew!

As I fired my pistol, I pulled Yuki behind cover.

Normally, there was no chance of hitting anything beyond twenty meters...

But thanks to training with the max-level Four Seasons skill, two or three shots landed.

Of course, pistol rounds couldn't penetrate hunters' armor.

They were enough to damage the attackers' makeshift Gas Masks, though.

"Urgh! I-I'm hit!"

"Retreat!"

We didn't bother pursuing them.

Our team should have held an overwhelming advantage in a mid-range firefight like this, but three of the five of us, excluding Sang Hajun and me, could barely see anything.

Rustle.

As we moved again, I used Reconstruction.

I was recycling the vest plate that had been wrecked by the shards earlier.

I couldn't restore the pieces that had shattered and flown away, but it was far better than using it as it was.

"Wow, Team Leader, your skill has gotten really good."

"I even went and watched the manufacturing process for ballistic plates to do this."

"Are any of them still following us?"

"Not yet."

As we wandered through the mist, we soon reached the red mushroom area.

But we couldn't go any farther.

Hunters who clearly weren't ordinary were approaching.

"...Mushroom Zombies?"

"They're different."

Unlike the listless zombies from before, these ones moved with a clear purpose.

Their equipment wasn't bad either.

It was old, but still functional enough.

At first, I thought they were looking for Hallucinogenic Mushrooms.

But they were clearly looking for us.

"Are they controlling stronger hunters with Hallucinogenic Mushrooms...?"

"Let's retreat."

Fortunately, their tracking ability wasn't very good.

That was only natural, since they were moving while led by hallucinations.

But we still didn't know how capable they were in battle.

As we hurriedly fled, we found a staircase that went up for no particular reason.

Maybe the hunters nearby thought we had been cornered.

They slowly began closing the distance again.

Being a hunter meant risking your life anyway.

They might have thought it made more sense to risk it when they had a chance to turn their lives around.

That was one way to see it.

Just as we had no choice but to prepare for battle, I sensed a presence from the stairs behind us.

'Ah, damn...'

Since the stairs led to an upper level, someone could come down from there.

I thought we'd have to deal with hunters from the upper level too, but...

The presence was strangely familiar.

Coming down from above was the Orc Death Priest Hunter Lord.

Goloks, who always seemed to have far too many titles.

Goloks had stormed off angrily last time, but...

They probably didn't hold any particular grudge against me, right?

Come to think of it, Goloks was a Hunter Lord and still went in and out of the Tower.

Goloks spotted me and greeted me warmly.

"Oh, junior?"

"Ah, Senior Goloks..."

Goloks glanced around the area, then nodded.

"Hmm. I get the situation. Is this because of the bounty?"

Shing.

Without hesitation, Goloks drew a sword.

Footnotes:

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