WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: DereKimchi
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◈ The Abandoned Tank is a Disaster-class Awakener ◈
Chapter 14
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Crack!
I split the last Ent’s body in two.
Its upper body, as large as a giant tree, slid sideways and collapsed. Dark sap poured from the severed cross-section like a waterfall, and even its root legs, which had tried to brace themselves against the ground, lost their strength and crumpled.
Then.
[You have gained sufficient experience.]
[Level increases from 39 → 40.]
[You have gained 5 Status Points.]
A level-up.
Somewhere along the way through the forest, I had reached Level 40.
It made sense. I had cut down an enormous number of Ents while making my way through this forest.
“...”
I glanced behind me.
Everything was a mess.
Giant trees that had likely stood for hundreds of years had all been uprooted.
Severed trunks, broken branches, shattered roots, mud, and sap covered the forest floor.
The dense woodland that had greeted me when I first entered now looked more like a massive logging site than a forest.
After all, I had cut down dozens, even hundreds of Ents in tree form.
Normally, the proper strategy on this floor was to make as little noise as possible, keep the number of awakened Ents down, find a route, and escape the forest.
But this time, I had done the opposite.
I deliberately destroyed things.
I deliberately stirred things up.
I deliberately awakened more of them.
I turned the entire forest against me, then turned the entire forest into experience points.
Then.
[You have met the conditions for completing the trial.]
[You have passed through the 26th floor, “Living Forest.”]
System messages appeared and began announcing the results.
[Clear Time: 3 minutes, 53 seconds]
My gaze paused briefly on the clear time.
Then.
Heh.
A laugh slipped out.
The 26th floor had originally been one of the most time-consuming trials.
Finding the route was work.
Avoiding or luring the Ents was work.
If things went wrong even once, you could end up surrounded by the entire forest and waste all your time before it was over.
That was why it was one of the floors furthest from record competition.
Yet it had not even taken four minutes.
I had cleared one of the most time-consuming trials faster than the 25th floor.
[The 26th-floor International Ranking will be updated.]
[You have surpassed the previous first-place record.]
[South Korea: Kang Seong-un Party (55 minutes, 15 seconds) → America: Kang Seong-un (3 minutes, 53 seconds)]
Just as before.
I had broken the record I had set in the past once again.
‘They’ll keel over when they see this record.’
I imagined Park Gang-sik’s twisted expression.
But I only savored it for a moment.
Hummmmmm.
The air around me changed.
A subtle tension spread through the entire forest, and another system message appeared.
[You have exceeded the clear conditions.]
[The gate to a hidden trial opens for the challenger who has proven their qualifications.]
“...As expected.”
I had anticipated it.
An absurd record.
An overwhelming clear.
And achievement beyond ordinary standards.
When all of that overlapped, the floor revealed what it had been hiding.
Rumble!
The ground shook.
At first, it came from far away.
Then the tremor spread across the entire forest.
The severed trees scattered around began to tremble, and half-broken trunks started moving on their own. Roots embedded in the ground writhed as they crawled back into the soil.
Then.
Shhhhh.
Broken branches and leaves, sap and soil, roots and trunks, everything that had made up the forest began gathering in one place.
It was as if an unseen hand were sweeping up the entire massive woodland.
Everything rushed into the empty space at the center of the forest.
Rumble!
The ground rose.
Roots tangled and overlapped, forming a massive structure.
Dozens, hundreds of roots piled up in layers, while thick trunks formed a framework over them.
A staircase made of trees and roots.
A dais formed as nature itself twisted.
Above it, enormous trunks, vines, and living roots tangled together into a single shape.
A throne.
A throne the forest had made on its own.
The sight was grand enough to be chilling.
As though this entire floor were one living creature, and it had only now finished preparing to welcome its true master.
And above the throne.
『26』
The number representing the 26th floor gleamed ominously.
Hummm.
Then the center of the throne began to emit a dark green light.
Light pulsing as though it were breathing.
Shhk!
Something grew from within it.
At first, it looked like a massive pillar of roots.
But I soon realized it was a leg.
Boom.
One step onto the ground.
That single footstep made the forest, which had just fallen silent, roar once more.
Then came a second leg.
A massive torso.
Shoulders rising like mountains.
Two enormous trees, too thick to call arms, hung at its sides.
And finally.
Shhhhh.
The vines and leaves covering the throne parted, and a head emerged from within.
It was clearly an Ent.
But it was on an entirely different level from the ones I had seen so far.
Ordinary Ents were giant trees around three meters tall.
That thing was over twenty meters.
No, it felt even taller than that.
Its body rising toward the sky looked like a small castle wall, and its limbs were as thick as battering rams.
The bark covering its entire body was not simple outer skin. It was layered like enormous armor.
Blue moss and black vines tangled across its body, while faint green light flowed through the gaps in its trunk.
It looked as though the heart of the forest itself had been embedded inside it.
And its face.
A vertical crack at the front of the giant old tree slowly opened.
Within it.
Flash!
Two eyes opened.
They were dark green.
Eyes that held the darkness of an ancient forest, with life and death both lingering within them.
Its gaze slowly lowered and fixed on me.
At that moment.
Boom!
Invisible pressure burst in every direction.
Dead leaves and splintered wood were swept away at once, while the wreckage of collapsed Ents rolled like waves.
Whoooooosh.
The fog tore apart, and the wind swirled in reverse.
“Hoo.”
I let out a short breath.
This opponent would not be easy either.
It was intimidating in a different way from Karganon on the 25th floor.
It was not simply a powerful monster.
It was the entire forest condensed into a single king.
The very will of the living woodland.
「I am the beginning of roots, the one who reaches the forest’s end.」
Like Karganon, it conveyed its will.
Rumble.
At the same time, roots beneath its feet came alive and crawled beneath the throne.
「You intruder who cut down hundreds of bodies, trampled the breath of the forest, and still did not stop.」
The enormous Ent rose from its throne.
The roots stretching down from the dais slowly withdrew, revealing its massive body in full.
「Your strength has been proven.」
Hummmmmm.
A huge green vein pulsed at the center of its chest.
「Therefore, face me.」
Its massive arm slowly rose.
The entire forest seemed to breathe along with that movement.
「I am the king of old trees. The first trunk that rules the eternal forest. The guardian who protects the twenty-sixth throne.」
Then.
「I am the Ent Lord, Verderaum.」
Boom!
A green shockwave exploded outward from Verderaum.
The forest shook.
Even the broken trees and fallen giant trunks trembled as though reacting to the wave.
“...”
But I paid it no mind.
Instead.
Shing.
I slowly raised my greatsword.
Then I checked the status at the top.
[Giantification (00:01:03)]
One minute remained.
Within that time.
‘I’ll finish this.’
Before the heat of Giantification faded.
Verderaum moved first.
Boom!
The moment its massive body, over ten meters tall, stepped forward with its right foot, dozens of roots extending below its knee tore through the ground and spread out.
Its right arm rose next.
Five fingers as large as my body spread open, and its enormous palm covered the space over my head.
I jumped forward, not backward.
Boom!
The massive palm slammed down where I had been standing moments ago.
The ground caved in.
Crash!
With the shockwave, clumps of dirt, rocks, and severed Ent trunks shot into the air in every direction.
Then a boulder as large as a human torso rose before me.
I stepped onto it.
Boom!
The instant I stepped on it, the boulder exploded into fragments.
The recoil launched my body upward.
Below me, Verderaum’s hand was still embedded in the ground.
I landed directly on the back of its hand.
Crack!
Bark split beneath my feet.
Then I ran.
From the back of its hand to its wrist.
From its wrist to its forearm.
Verderaum’s right arm, planted against the ground, was a massive slope to me.
Rumble!
It belatedly raised its arm.
The ground beneath my feet tilted like a mountainside.
But I did not stop.
Instead, I ran even faster along the rising arm.
Boom, boom!
With every step, the thick bark dented deeply.
Only a few steps remained to its shoulder.
Rumble!
Then its left hand came flying toward me.
There was limited room to dodge.
‘Up!’
I stepped on a protruding branch from its right arm.
Crack!
My body shot straight upward.
Its huge left hand passed beneath my feet and struck its own right shoulder.
Boom!
Verderaum’s upper body staggered.
I turned half a rotation in the air.
Below me, I saw its right shoulder.
As I fell, I drove down my greatsword.
Riiip!
The blade cut deeply into the gap where its shoulder and neck met.
Dark green sap burst forth.
「Grrrrrooooaaar!」
It shook its head wildly.
Its entire shoulder swayed.
I pulled out my embedded greatsword and leaped to the side.
I landed on a thick trunk rising like its collarbone.
It was only wide enough for me to place both feet side by side.
Far below was the ground.
Ahead were Verderaum’s neck and face.
And right beside me.
Flash!
Its green eyes stared directly at me.
Whoosh!
Three black vines shot out from different parts of its body at once.
The first.
I lowered my upper body.
Whoosh!
It passed over my head.
The second.
I knocked it aside with the Black-Iron Shield.
Boom!
The impact shoved my left arm away.
I accepted the force and let it fling me to the right.
While suspended in the air, I placed my foot on the third vine.
Boom!
The vine bent downward.
Using that recoil, I launched myself upward again.
Whoosh!
This time, I soared high above Verderaum’s head.
The forest floor stretched twenty meters below.
Its crown resembled the stump of a giant old tree.
Thick growth rings and deep grooves converged at the center.
I flipped my body.
My head faced downward.
Grip!
I seized my greatsword with both hands.
I added my falling speed to the blade’s tip.
Boom!
The greatsword plunged into the center of its crown.
Crack-crack-crack!
A fissure began at the center of its head, passed over its forehead, and stretched all the way down its face.
Verderaum threw its body back.
Even amid its struggles and the impact, I did not release the greatsword’s hilt.
Instead.
Crunch, crunch!
I planted both feet in its forehead.
Then I slid down.
Rrrrrip!
With my greatsword embedded in its body, I rode down its face.
From the crown, to the forehead, between the eyes, through the crack that served as its mouth, and down its neck.
As my body fell, the blade tore a vertical line through its body.
Boom!
Green sap and wood fragments exploded to either side.
The sword mark grew longer as I descended.
At last, I reached its chest.
Boom!
Both feet braced against Verderaum’s chest.
Right before me, green light pulsed inside the split bark.
Thump, thump!
A beat like a heart.
‘Found it.’
A giant monster like this always had something like a core, a vital point.
I was able to find its weakness at once thanks to what I had learned while climbing to the 70th floor.
However.
Hummm!
At that moment, Verderaum brought both arms together.
Two palms like castle walls approached at the same time from the left and right.
I pulled out my greatsword.
I leaned back.
Then I kicked its chest as hard as I could.
Boom!
The recoil sent me flying backward.
The very next moment.
Boom!
Its two palms collided in front of the chest where I had been.
The impact shook its body.
Crack!
The bark covering its chest cracked even deeper.
Whoosh.
I spun once in midair.
My gaze remained fixed on its chest.
Below me, a giant tree that had been broken by Verderaum’s earlier strike rose at an angle.
I stepped on its tip.
Boom!
Using the recoil, I flew upward again, toward Verderaum’s chest.
[Giantification: 00:00:19]
Nineteen seconds remained.
Enough.
「Grrrr!」
Seemingly sensing the danger, it crossed its arms before its chest.
Two thick arms covered the green core.
There was no gap I could force my way through.
Then... I would make one.
I removed the shield from my left arm.
I twisted my waist.
Then I threw it.
Whoooooosh!
The Black-Iron Shield spun through the air like a black disc.
Rrrrrip!
The shield embedded itself in its forearm without stopping its rotation.
Its edge ground through the bark as it dug sideways, forcing the resisting left arm outward.
Whoosh!
Its crossed defense parted for an instant.
A handspan.
That was enough.
Whoosh!
I slipped through the gap.
Boom!
My right foot sank into its chest.
My left foot caught on the vertical sword mark I had made earlier.
My entire body was hanging almost vertically.
The green core was right before me.
Beyond the bark, close enough to reach if I stretched out my hand.
Grrrk!
I pulled my greatsword back.
Bracing my foot against its chest, I twisted my waist.
All the power that had run through my body until now gathered at one point.
“...It’s over!”
Then I thrust all that power straight ahead.
Craaaack!
The blade pierced through the split bark.
The heartwood burst apart.
One layer, two layers, then.
Crack.
The sword tip touched the green core.
「Hummmmmm!」
Verderaum’s eyes flashed wide.
At that moment, I grabbed the greatsword’s hilt and twisted it.
Crunch, crunch!
Cracks spread across the core.
Then I pushed the greatsword in with both hands.
Crack-crack-crack!
The fractures spread in an instant.
Its entire chest was dyed green.
Then.
Boom!
The core exploded.
The burst of green light ripped apart Verderaum’s chest from within.
The fractures spread across its entire body.
From its chest to its neck, from its neck to its shoulders, through its thick arms and waist, all the way to the tips of roots embedded in the ground.
‘It’s collapsing.’
I pulled out my greatsword and kicked its chest with all my strength.
Boom!
One last leap.
The ground lay far below.
But it was fine.
As its body shattered, enormous pieces of bark and debris were scattered around it.
I stepped on one.
Boom!
The fragment shattered beneath my feet.
The recoil carried my body sideways.
Right below me.
Verderaum’s right shoulder was collapsing.
A huge sheet of bark fell from its split shoulder.
I stepped on that too.
Crack!
Another step.
Next was a thick branch breaking off as it fell.
Boom!
Below that, a massive chunk of heartwood that had made up its chest was collapsing forward.
I set my foot on it.
Boom.
Every time the fragments beneath my feet broke, my body descended little by little.
I was not falling.
I was slowly making my way down the collapsing giant as though it were a staircase.
Finally, I stepped on the armor plating of its falling forearm.
Crack!
The moment my foothold broke, I let my body flow forward.
One turn.
The sword tip drew a long arc through the air.
Then.
Boom.
Both feet touched the ground.
[The duration of Giantification has ended.]
My body began returning to its original size.
Then, the very next moment.
Rumbleeeee.
Verderaum’s collapse reached the ground.
Its shoulders broke, its chest sank, and its massive arms crashed into the forest.
Together with its throne, the king of the forest collapsed completely.
Rumble!
Its body, over twenty meters tall, crashed down over the forest, making the earth lurch violently.
The roots that formed the throne burst apart, and thousands of leaves filled the air like a torrential downpour.
Swish.
With that sound behind me, I shook off my greatsword.
Green sap scattered from the blade’s tip.
Then.
[You have defeated the hidden Guardian of the 26th floor, “Ent Lord Verderaum.”]
[You have completed the hidden trial.]
Then.
[You have gained sufficient experience.]
[Level increases from 40 → 42.]
[You have gained 10 Status Points.]
“...Two levels?”
I had only defeated one guardian, yet I had gained two whole levels.
With the threefold bonus for a solo clear added on, the experience one guardian gave was greater than what I would gain from clearing most entire floors.
I had been Level 34 when I entered the 26th floor.
Now I was Level 42.
I had gained eight levels on just one floor.
‘So this is why the disasters insisted on going solo.’
And that was not all.
Hummmmmm.
Green letters appeared above the collapsed throne.
[The throne of the 26th floor acknowledges a new owner.]
[Guardian Authority is transferred.]
[Guardian of the 26th Floor: America, Kang Seong-un]
Familiar messages followed.
[You have acquired the Guardian Authority, Throne Toll.]
[When a Raid Party belonging to another country passes through the 26th floor, a portion of the clear rewards is granted to the guardian.]
[You have acquired the Guardian Authority, Throne Approval.]
[The current guardian’s approval is required to challenge the hidden guardian, Ent Lord Verderaum.]
I had claimed the throne of the 26th floor as well.
Then, finally.
[Calculating the clear party size bonus.]
Rewards received for defeating the guardian.
But unlike the 25th floor, this had been a solo kill.
Therefore.
[You have met the clear condition of four or fewer participants.]
[Reward “Vacant Chest” is granted.]
A light fell from the air, and a large chest rimmed with green metal appeared.
But that was not the end.
[You have met the clear condition of three or fewer participants.]
[Reward “Adverse Chest” is granted.]
Beside the first chest, another one descended, this time tinged with a dark blue glow.
“...No way?”
[You have met the clear condition of two or fewer participants.]
[Reward “Extreme Chest” is granted.]
A third.
It was even larger and more ornate than the first two.
Silver patterns writhed over its black metal surface, and a faint red jewel was embedded in the center of its lock.
But it still was not over.
Hummmmmm.
This time, even the vibration was different.
Green particles scattered around the area were drawn into one spot.
Above the throne, space slowly split apart.
[You have met the condition for a solo clear.]
The letters turned gold.
[You have achieved a maximum-risk clear.]
[A solo-clear-exclusive reward not granted through the standard reward system has been unlocked.]
[Reward “Lonely Conqueror’s Royal Chest” is granted.]
Boom!
A pillar of golden light pierced through the throne.
Within it, the fourth chest slowly descended.
It was on a different level from the previous three.
A massive chest reaching a person’s waist.
Golden root patterns moved across its pitch-black body, and the number “26” was engraved in the center like a crown.
Boom!
The final chest settled on the ground.
The vibration traveled all the way to my feet.
“...”
Four chests.
I silently looked at the rewards.
I knew the rewards grew greater as the number of party members decreased.
But I had never heard that each reduction in party members would grant a separate reward...
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