WeTried Translations

Translator: Goku

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ I Became a Villain Perfect for Leveling Up

Chapter 033

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33. Rusty Clock Tower (1)

Sigrun, Dina.

What exactly was the purpose of those two women coming to find me?

It was also difficult to understand that my heart looked exactly like the heart attached to the gigantic World Tree of Resonance.

“Hey, are you a hunter who’s new here?”

A thug holding a hand knife approached me as I was organizing my thoughts amidst the confusion.

“If you’re a rookie, shouldn’t you show respect to your senior~ huh?”

He casually placed a hand on my shoulder, chuckled, and then lightly grazed my cheek with his knife, leaving a shallow wound.

When I showed no reaction, he seemed to think I was ignoring him, lost control of his anger, and stabbed his knife into my abdomen several times.

《 Perk ‘Addicted to Defeat’ activated!

- Target ‘Clock Tower Hunter’s’ level increases by 32. 》

“I’ve seen all sorts of crazy bastards. …Huh?”

Seeing me collapse powerlessly, he noticed his level rapidly increasing and exclaimed at his windfall.

“32…?! With this level, I can finally enter the Clock Tower…!!”

Unaware that I would resurrect again soon, he sang that he too could now escape this damned back-alley life.

《 Resurrecting at checkpoint. LOADING… 》

Having resurrected right there, I approached him from behind as he was joyfully unaware, and deeply plunged Freud’s Fang into his back.

“Kuh-hok…. Wh-what….”

As I returned the exact same action he had done, repeatedly piercing my abdomen, he looked at me with an expression as if he had seen a resurrected grim reaper, and soon, death cast its shadow as he fell to his knees.

《 Perk ‘■■ Addicted’ activated!

- Having defeated Target ‘Clock Tower Thug,’ the 32 levels increased due to the effect are returned. 》

Soon, the levels that had risen due to Addicted to Defeat were returned to me.

《 STATUS WINDOW 》

Name: Dean

Level: X

Perk: Addicted to Defeat ( - Upon defeat, opponent’s level increases by +64)

Status│Unallocated Points ( 32 )

Stats:

• HP: 4 (+2)

• Stamina: 7

• Mana: 6

• Intelligence: 3

• Strength: 1 (+20)

Although I had only received levels back twice, my level had jumped all the way to 64 in one go.

As it was not the time to simply be happy, I quickly allocated my stats without a second thought.

《 Status:

• HP: 4 (+12)

• Stamina: 7 (+10)

• Mana: 6

• Intelligence: 3 (+2)

• Strength: 1 (+30) 》

Whereas before I had only invested in Strength, this time I evenly distributed my stats for overall balance.

Feeling that my body’s condition had changed even more than before, I once again speculated about the current situation.

…Dina.

Her referring to me with the word ‘Alter,’ and her strikingly similar appearance.

Furthermore, considering what she said when she didn’t kill Eirene and left her alive….

“…Another me.”

She was clearly an alter-ego-like existence of mine.

I didn’t know why her gender was reversed, but considering the meaning of the word ‘Alter,’ this part was easily interpretable.

And Sigrun, the last NPC to inherit memories.

The shining blonde woman maintained a kind of cooperative relationship with Dina, despite seeming to be on bad terms with her.

When Sigrun grumbled, Dina told her to ‘think of the hostage,’ so she was unwillingly held by a weakness.

Since Sigrun had effectively caused me no harm, it was clear that she didn’t harbor resentment from being killed in the past.

“……Eirene.”

As the flow of my deep thoughts became somewhat settled, the words I hadn’t been able to convey to Eirene belatedly lingered at my lips.

“…I’ll find you again. For sure.”

The hopeful observation that the complex relationship was slowly unraveling was tragically blocked by a world that brought misfortune.

It felt as if I still had much left to do, like a coercive trial continuing by God.

“……….”

Gripping Freud’s Fang tightly in my hand, I raised my head and gazed at the colossal structure towering into the sky.

…Rusty Clock Tower.

I remembered struggling with Desperado Reunion's level design, which was several times more malicious than Resonance.

Terrain designed to cause death by falling if you mispress the dodge key or take even a slightly wrong step.

Even enemies that suddenly appeared from blind spots to launch surprise attacks.

Even though it had the appearance of a slum, different from the game, it was just a matter of slight differences in wording, with no significant change felt.

Normally, I would have resurrected at the Altar of Lamentation, designated as a checkpoint, but due to some error, the checkpoint disappeared, and I ended up at the Rusty Clock Tower.

Since I had no major business here, I moved towards the exit.

However, when I headed for the entrance I remembered, it was blocked by a thick wall, preventing me from leaving.

“……Haa.”

As I recalled, the Rusty Clock Tower, this entire city itself was structured as an underground city, wasn’t it?

It belatedly occurred to me that I used to enter the Rusty Clock Tower through a broken hole.

In other words, to leave this city, I absolutely had to pass through the top floor of that tall Clock Tower.

Because there was only one way out.

Moving with a clear objective was something I hadn't done since the Labyrinth of Fissures, so I didn't move aimlessly as before.

As my level had increased compared to before, the risk of each death grew enormous, so I moved calmly, surveying my surroundings.

The path to exit the underground city was at the top of the Clock Tower, so I wound through the alleyways and found the entrance to the Clock Tower.

“Kkeu-eoeo-eo….”

A street lined with slaves carrying gigantic grandfather clocks on their backs.

They uniformly monitored the surroundings, blocking outsiders trying to enter the Clock Tower.

It was a force large enough to be overwhelming to face alone, but it didn’t seem like there would be much trouble facing them with Freud’s Fang.

However…, having Freud’s Fang alone no longer solved all problems.

Before, it was just a matter of dealing with NPCs targeting me, but now, conversely, I had to ascend the Clock Tower, conquering enemies of various races as if playing a game.

Beyond just the paralysis status effect, I needed weapons prepared for various situations.

‘…This much is no problem.’

Having experience collecting all the equipment in this world, I was intimately familiar with all the top-tier weapons that could be used in such situations.

And also, that one of the top-tier weapons with good versatility for dealing with monsters was located in this underground city.

I quickly revised my plan and moved elsewhere instead of heading to the Clock Tower.

Since I clearly remembered where to go to find the elite monster that dropped that weapon, I easily navigated the intricately winding paths.

“…….”

As the difficulty would exponentially increase due to 'Addicted to Defeat' if I failed to catch the bastard within the first attempt, I considered the strategy with utmost caution.

The moment I took even one hit from the bastard swinging a gigantic hammer, I would be crushed like a tomato without being able to resist.

Moreover, now that it wasn't a game anymore, the monster didn't have patterns, so there were many variables to consider.

Freud’s Fang, my only weapon, was nothing more or less than a whip-sword moving by will against the Beast’s Golem, which was immune to paralysis….

“…….”

Suddenly, a small spider in front of me was seen shooting out silk and weaving a line.

…A method to use Freud’s Fang, which had almost become a white elephant, as the core of my strategy came to mind.

I fed Freud’s Fang blood, transforming it into its whip-sword state.

I then shot the blade at a small pillar in front, grappled it, and at the same time I lifted my feet, I retracted the blade all at once.

The whip-sword, extended like a taut rope, gathered all at once, and my body instantly moved to the front of the pillar.

If I couldn’t use Freud’s Fang as a weapon, I could apply the characteristic of its blade, which freely segmented and retracted.

Just like using a grappling hook.

If I used this method, I would move faster than the Golem’s slow attacks, with time to spare.

“Hmm? Are you a new hunter?”

Just then, some guinea pigs appeared from the darkness to help me with my test.

“…….”

“No answer?”

I quietly gripped Freud’s Fang and assessed the surrounding space.

Whether there were places to shoot the whip-sword and grapple onto, whether there was space to apply the technique.

“You’re arrogant for a rookie, aren’t you? This won’t do. I’ll have to teach you some hunter’s laws.”

A total of five thugs walked out from the darkness, and one by one, they began to charge at me, holding daggers or swords.

“…Hup!!”

With a shout, I grappled onto a building window frame with Freud’s Fang.

They had faltered when the whip-sword was shot, but seeing the attack aimed at an irrelevant spot, they scoffed.

“Pfft?! What are you doing? A bastard who can’t even handle a weapon properly-.”

“Sorry. I did it on purpose.”

Riding the shot blade, I lunged at the scoffing bastard and shattered his face with a kick.

“Kuh-heo-eo…….”

Leaving behind the guy who fell backward with all his front teeth missing. I moved along a pillar, widening the distance.

A perfect combo followed in a brief moment, even astonishing myself.

“Kill him!! Just focus on where he’s moving on!”

The bastards quickly spread out.

They were mistaken, thinking Freud’s Fang was merely a means of transportation.

“Kkeu-heok…!”

“It has this function too.”

I shot the blade at a guy who was moving without defense, killing him instantly.

The blade, moving as if it had a will of its own, soon returned to its master. Just before the bastards could gain spatial advantage, I swiftly moved by embedding the blade into a distant wall.

Just like a spider hunting, unconstrained by space, freely.

“H-He’s the Clock Tower Hunter!! With that level of strength…! He might be stronger than the master!”

“What?! This damn…! We picked the wrong fight!!”

The bastards realized they had picked the wrong opponent and backed away to flee.

“Keu-heuk!! Hey, you…! Son of a bitch!!”

The guy who looked strongest among the group pushed the weakest-looking man to the floor, and from that point, they all began to flee.

“It’s no use running like that.”

I watched them from my position on the wall, then lightly descended to the ground and stomped on the fallen bastard’s head, crushing it.

“Kkeu-geu-geu-geuk!!!”

The guy, with his survival instincts maximized, screamed desperately and hit my foot.

…Was this guy, dying at my hands, truly evil?

No, if he harbored even a slight grudge against me, it would be better to kill him without hesitation.

“….”

I roughly shook off the blood on my foot, then shot the blade at the wall and once again chased after the fleeing bastards.

Having experienced being entangled and struggling with countless grudges until now, I had no intention of leaving even a speck of anyone who harbored resentment alive.

“Oh, don’t come-!!”

I quickly flew along the wall and embedded the blade into the crown of the head of a guy who was fleeing miserably.

“S-Save… Save me! Keu-heuk-.”

“No.”

The guy, cornered in a dead end, was slowly strangled to death.

“…He’s dead.”

When I finally went to find the guy who looked strongest, he seemed to have judged that he couldn’t escape and had committed suicide by piercing his throat with a knife.

“Ha.”

To deal with five thugs so easily, a hollow laugh escaped me.

I had merely applied Freud’s Fang while my level was slightly raised.

I had become incomparably stronger than before.

At this level, facing the Beast’s Golem shouldn’t be much of a problem.

“Shall we move?”

Leaving behind the more successful-than-expected test, I retrieved the cheap dagger stuck in the neck of the dead thug, and then headed towards the underground waterway where the Beast’s Golem was likely to be.

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