The Abandoned Tank is a Disaster-class Awakener - Chapter 26

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: DereKimchi

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ The Abandoned Tank is a Disaster-class Awakener ◈

Chapter 26

──────

『The 28th Floor』

The first thing I felt the moment I entered was cold.

In fact, cold was not enough to describe it.

“Haah.”

When I exhaled, pale ice dust scattered from my mouth instead of breath.

Whoooosh!

A blizzard swallowed everything around me.

“...”

I raised my head.

The sky was bright.

Yet there was no sun.

It was neither night nor day. Only the endless pale glow of a white night spread overhead, while the wind raged wildly.

Tap. Tap.

Not snow, but finely ground chunks of ice struck my face.

I could barely see.

A brutally cold environment where I could not even make out what was directly ahead.

But that was not merely the background of this floor.

[An extreme low-temperature environment has been applied.]

[You currently have no Warmth.]

[If you fail to obtain Warmth within 3 minutes, the “Freezing” status will begin to accumulate.]

[When the Freezing level reaches its limit, bodily functions will rapidly decline, and you will eventually freeze.]

The 28th floor was not a floor where you simply killed monsters and moved on.

It was a place where survival depended on managing Freezing and Warmth.

If you made a mistake and failed to manage Freezing, you would freeze to death.

Crunch.

I walked forward through the blizzard.

After taking several steps, something appeared beyond the pale curtain.

It was a massive block of ice.

About two meters tall, its surface covered in white frost.

I approached it.

When I lightly tapped its surface with my hand.

Crack.

Spiderweb-like fractures spread from where I touched it.

“...”

Despite its appearance, this remarkably fragile ice block was the key to the 28th floor.

It was the only way to obtain the Warmth mentioned in the system message earlier.

Then why not just break every block of ice?

There was a reason you could not see inside them.

The ice blocks contained Warmth, but they also held monsters.

Occasionally, they even contained buffs, usually taking the form of stat boosts bestowed by power someone had left behind.

The problem was that there was over a 50 percent chance of a monster appearing.

Randomness.

That one word turned this floor into hell.

You needed Warmth, so you could not simply avoid the ice and run ahead.

But you could not break every block you saw, either.

If monsters appeared, they would cost you time.

Most contained monsters.

If you were lucky, Warmth.

And rarely, buffs.

You had to repeat that process while escaping this endless icefield beneath the white night.

‘I had a hard time here, too.’

And it was not only me.

Most Awakeners had bad memories of the 28th floor.

Of course.

‘Things are different now.’

I looked around.

I could not see through the fierce blizzard.

But with this body and its absurdly high stats, it was not difficult to sense the countless ice blocks embedded throughout the pale curtain beyond the wind and snow.

Was there any reason to search for them one at a time?

No.

『Giantification』

Hummmmm!

My view suddenly rose.

My body grew through Giantification, and the Black-Iron Armament grew with it.

Hooooo...

I exhaled.

Instead of hot breath, the blizzard was pushed back.

I slowly raised my right foot.

Then I lowered my center of gravity.

I aligned the axis of force running from my waist and hips through my knees to my ankles.

I gathered the power generated throughout my entire body at one point and drove it deep into the ground.

Boooom!

The impact made the world buckle once.

The ground collapsed.

The snowfield sank beneath my enormous black-iron boot, and the shock exploded outward in a circle.

Craaaack!

The snowfield split apart.

Not white cracks, but black lines stretched toward the horizon.

Then.

Whoooom!

The shockwave erupted a moment later.

A circular shockwave spread outward from where I had driven my foot into the ground, raising the accumulated snow like walls.

The blizzard was driven away.

For an instant, my vision, which had not extended even an inch ahead, opened up.

“...”

Only then could I see them.

The ice blocks embedded everywhere.

Hundreds of ice blocks filling the area around me.

Crack.

They began to fracture from the shockwave I had created.

Crack. Crack.

The ones beside them did too.

Crackcrackcrack!

Even the ones farther away.

As if an invisible hand had gripped and twisted the entire icefield, cracks spread through hundreds of ice blocks at once.

Then, for a moment.

“...”

The world stood still.

Craaaash!

The ice blocks exploded all at once.

Ice fragments shot into the sky.

White, blue, and silver shards poured down from every direction, glittering brilliantly beneath the light of the white night.

Then system messages began to appear like mad.

[You have obtained Warmth.]

[The duration of Warmth has increased.]

...

Warm energy seeped into the cold air surrounding my body.

And that was not all.

[You have obtained a temporary enhancement effect.]

[Strength +10%]

[Agility +10%]

[Stamina +10%]

[Movement Speed +15%]

[Attack Speed +10%]

[Cold Resistance +20%]

...

My body felt even lighter.

Dozens of buffs stacked on top of the stats that Giantification had already greatly increased.

That much was good.

The problem was that the ice blocks did not contain only Warmth and buffs.

Crash!

Something rose in the distance, pushing aside broken ice fragments.

A massive snow yeti covered in pure white fur.

An Ice-Armored Wolf crawling out beside it on all fours.

A Snowfield Lizard with ice crystals protruding from its back like a spine.

An Ice Spirit with half its body made of ice.

And.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Giants clad in ice armor.

Massive ice golems formed from crystalline ice raised their heads one by one.

An enormous number of monsters woke from their sleep.

At the same time.

Rumble, rumble, rumble!

The snowfield began to shake.

The monsters freed from the ice were charging toward me all at once.

A number that I would never have encountered simultaneously if I had cleared the floor normally.

Every monster in the icefield had been released at once.

I slowly turned my head.

I looked at the horde of monsters rushing through the blizzard.

“Right. Let's not waste time.”

I stepped forward.

Boom.

The icefield shook once more.

What remained was simple.

Before Giantification ended, and before these buffs disappeared, kill every moth foolish enough to fly toward death.

* * *

Rumble!

A massive shadow appeared, its presence echoing across the snowfield.

An ice golem that looked well over five meters tall.

Its entire body was covered in thick ice armor, while the ice layered over its shoulders and forearms resembled castle walls.

Thump!

Every time it took a step, the snow beneath its feet caved in, and a heavy vibration traveled up to my calves.

Hummm!

With a vibrating sound rather than an ordinary roar, it raised its enormous fist.

The next moment.

Whoooosh!

A fist that seemed capable of crushing an entire mountain descended toward the top of my head.

But.

Bang!

I angled my shield and received the blow head-on.

More precisely, I did not block it.

I redirected it.

I slid it aside and knocked it away.

The tremendous force twisted along the shield and flowed off to the side.

Crack.

As the golem's elbow and shoulder twisted slightly, its massive body lost balance for the briefest moment.

Bang!

The snowfield beneath my feet exploded.

I drew all the recoil from deflecting its strike into my legs and leaped.

My view shot upward in an instant.

I rose past the golem's chest and neck to its head in one movement.

The blue light in its eye sockets flickered violently.

But it was too late.

Grip.

I seized the Black-Iron Greatsword with both hands.

Then.

Craaaash!

I brought the greatsword down in a straight line from the crown of its head through its face, neck, chest, and waist.

The sturdy ice armor screamed as though resisting, but that was all it could do.

Crackcrackcrack!

It cracked.

Then split apart.

Crack!

The massive ice golem's body parted in two down the middle.

Rumble!

Its divided body collapsed onto the snowfield.

The mountain-like mass fell, kicking up a blizzard of snow as shattered ice fragments scattered in every direction.

At the same time.

[You have gained sufficient experience.]

[Level has increased from 55 → 56.]

[You have received 5 Status Points.]

“Finally...!”

I had killed hundreds of them.

Yet only after defeating the final enemy had I gained a single level.

That was because I had devoured experience points like mad on the 27th floor, causing the experience required for the next level to rise accordingly.

Even after grinding through hundreds of monsters, I had only gained one level.

The stronger I became, the farther away the next level became. That was only natural.

Clink.

Only after dealing with every monster did I rest the Black-Iron Greatsword on my shoulder.

[You have fulfilled the Trial completion conditions.]

[You have survived the 28th floor, “White Night Icefield.”]

Once the ice blocks, the floor's trick, had all disappeared, system messages appeared.

[Clear Time: 3 minutes 27 seconds]

Three minutes and twenty-seven seconds.

Since the monsters had rushed me all at once, I was able to complete the 28th-floor Trial relatively quickly.

Of course, that was not the end.

[All bound structures within the White Night Icefield have been destroyed.]

[All sealed beings have been released.]

[All released beings have died.]

[The balance of the white night is collapsing.]

“...”

It seemed that had been the condition for this Guardian's appearance.

[A hidden condition has been fulfilled.]

[The Guardian of the 28th floor detects an anomaly.]

[The power sustaining the White Night Icefield is being withdrawn.]

[The Guardian of the 28th floor intervenes directly.]

Wheeeeeee!

At the same time, the blizzard raging in every direction suddenly began to change course.

“...?!”

The swirling snowflakes were drawn toward one place.

The blizzard covering the sky began winding into a massive spiral.

The winds blowing from all directions were sucked toward a single center.

Whoooooosh!

A vortex of snow rose hundreds of meters into the air.

Ice dust, the cold of the snowfield, the frost covering the white night, even the cold air lingering around me, were all drawn inside.

The more the cold concentrated, the quieter the world became.

The violently howling wind weakened.

My vision, which had not extended even an inch ahead, slowly cleared.

Beyond the pale curtain, I saw the horizon for the first time.

“...”

The brutal cold that had turned this icefield into a land of death just moments ago, its source was now gathering in one place.

Hummmmm!

The massive vortex of snow gradually compressed.

Snow gathered.

Ice was carved away.

It was as though an invisible sculptor were creating a shape in midair.

Crack!

Ice rising from the ground layered itself into a massive backrest and armrests, while blue frost spread across the surface like a crown.

At last, a throne appeared.

A massive throne fashioned from transparent ice.

At the center of its backrest, a distinct number seemed frozen into place.

『28』

But that was not all.

Shhhh...

A snowflake bloomed at the center of the throne.

Then that snowflake slowly began to form a figure.

Silver-white hair cascading below her waist.

A dress layered with frost and ice crystals.

The hem of her skirt shimmered blue and silver whenever it caught the light.

A crown woven from icy thorns rested atop her head. Her skin was white as snow, and her eyes were a pale blue like a winter lake.

She was beautiful.

But lifeless.

Rather than the beauty of a living person, she resembled a statue made of ice that would never melt.

And the moment she fully appeared, the blizzard stopped.

The Snow Queen slowly opened her eyes and looked at me.

“You shattered my snow.”

“...”

“You woke those sleeping in my winter.”

Her gaze swept over the surrounding wreckage.

“And at last, you left not a single one behind.”

Her cold gaze returned to me.

“Most walk while avoiding the cold. They beg for Warmth, hoping nothing awakens.”

But.

“You are different.”

The hem of her pure-white dress slowly stirred despite the absence of wind.

“You did not avoid them, nor did you wake them selectively. You destroyed my entire winter.”

The Snow Queen slowly raised her right hand.

Shhhhhh.

Frost bloomed from her fingertips.

At the same time, the temperature around us began to drop again.

“Whether that courage.”

Shhhh...

Ice crystals bloomed in the air behind her.

Dozens, then hundreds, surrounded the queen like constellations.

“Comes from the strength to endure winter.”

Then.

“Or.”

Her blue eyes glinted coldly.

“Comes from foolishness, I will see for myself.”

Boom.

The entire icefield resounded.

“I was here before the first snow fell, and I will remain after the last snow melts. I am Eira, the breath of the white night, mistress of the frozen, and guardian of the Throne of Winter.”

Then system messages appeared before me.

[The authority of the Guardian of the 28th floor has been activated.]

[Throne Law: White Night Freezing]

[“Freezing” stacks on any being that comes within a certain distance of Guardian Eira.]

[Movement Speed and Attack Speed decrease according to the number of stacks.]

[When the Freezing level reaches 100, the target enters a state of complete freezing.]

I looked at Eira, standing before the throne.

Shhhhh.

A pale cold aura spread around her in a circle.

That was her domain.

The moment I stepped inside, stacks would begin to accumulate.

Once one hundred stacks built up, I would enter a state of complete freezing and become one of the ice blocks I had shattered earlier.

My mind raced.

Managing those stacks was probably the key to this clear.

But.

‘There is no need to overthink it.’

In the past, I would have racked my brain until it hurt, trying to force out a way to clear this.

But now that I possessed overwhelming strength, there was no need.

Shing.

I raised the Black-Iron Greatsword.

Then.

Whoosh.

I entered Eira's domain without hesitation.

[The bitter cold seeps into your body.]

[White Night Freezing: 1]

Frost formed on my skin.

Then.

[White Night Freezing: 2]

As time passed, Freezing stacks began to build.

My legs felt a little heavier.

Eira's blue eyes looked at me.

As I met the gaze that seemed to rebuke my arrogance.

Bang!

I kicked off the icefield.

I closed the distance in an instant.

But.

Whoosh!

Three ice spears formed in the air and rained down toward the path I would take.

I turned my head and let one pass.

Crash!

I shattered the second with my shield.

As for the third.

Slash!

I split it with my greatsword.

Then I pushed straight through the ice fragments.

[White Night Freezing: 6]

Eira swept her hand.

Crackcrack!

Ice spikes erupted from beneath my feet.

But I did not stop.

Bang!

I stepped on them and shattered them.

I closed the distance by another step.

[White Night Freezing: 10]

When the stacks reached ten, I could feel my arms growing slightly sluggish.

But I was still fine.

Even with ten stacks, I had decisively closed the distance to Eira.

At that moment.

Swish.

I twisted my waist.

Whoooosh!

The greatsword swung in a wide arc.

Crackcrack!

Eira raised a wall of ice.

Booom!

The blade collided with the wall.

The thick ice wall cracked apart in an instant.

Then.

Crash!

It shattered.

Beyond it.

“...!”

For the first time, Eira's emotionless eyes widened.

I drove straight through the broken ice.

Slash!

The greatsword cut through the hem of her dress.

Shhh...

Eira slid backward like a ghost.

Spurt.

Faint blue blood scattered through the air.

But I took another step and pursued her.

[White Night Freezing: 15]

Whoosh!

While staying on her, I swung the Black-Iron Shield.

Eira twisted her body.

But that was a feint.

Whip!

The greatsword surged upward from below.

Clang!

A sword made of ice blocked its path.

Strength collided with strength.

The result was obvious.

Crack.

Eira's sword cracked.

“Hup!”

I put more force into it.

Crash!

The ice sword shattered into pieces.

Then I drove my shoulder into her.

Bang!

Her light body slid a long distance across the snowfield.

[White Night Freezing: 21]

Twenty stacks were different.

I had definitely slowed down.

But.

‘Not yet.’

Thanks to all the buffs layered on me, my Agility had exceeded 500.

Even reduced by the Freezing debuff, it was still an absurd stat.

Tap, tap.

I ran again.

Eira seemed to understand me at last.

It was not that I had no intention of leaving her domain.

I had no intention of giving myself time to leave in the first place.

I intended to finish this before I completely froze.

“How arrogant!”

Eira spread both arms.

Hummmmm!

In that instant, the entire icefield trembled as though crying out.

“...?”

Wheee...

The wind moved.

Far more violently than before, and much colder.

Wheeeeeee!

The snow all around us rose into the sky.

The snowflakes that had been falling gently until now were swept upward.

Countless pieces of snow and ice formed a massive whirlwind, gathering around Eira.

[White Night Freezing: 25]

The Freezing stacks began to accumulate more quickly.

Shhhhh...

Frost spread to my elbows.

My movements became noticeably heavier.

However.

‘The same goes for her.’

Eira could not move, either.

Perhaps because it was a concentration-based skill, she remained at the center with her hands raised.

While summoning this storm, she was completely defenseless.

Then I would make use of that chance.

Rather than avoiding it, I entered the snowstorm's domain.

Rat-a-tat!

Inside it, ice chunks the size of human heads spun by the dozens, then hundreds.

Then they all poured toward me.

[White Night Freezing: 31]

I raised the Black-Iron Shield.

Bang!

I knocked them away.

Whoosh!

I struck the second with my greatsword.

Every time I took a step, dozens of pointed chunks of ice rushed at me.

It could not be helped.

This was no different from a magnificent snowstorm created by nature itself.

Right now, I was challenging nature itself.

Crunch! Bang!

Whenever my shield flashed, ice chunks flew into the air, and whenever the Black-Iron Greatsword drew its path, snow and ice split apart together.

Yet not a single one... touched my body.

[White Night Freezing: 38]

I continued forward.

Forward.

Boomboomboom!

At the center of the snowstorm, ice exploded one after another around a single human clad in black armor.

It was as if the storm was not swallowing me, but I was carving through the storm as I walked.

[White Night Freezing: 44]

Eira's eyes widened.

Even she, whose emotions had frozen over, seemed unable to help being surprised at this moment.

“How...?”

She had created winter.

The snow covering the icefield.

The wind that tore at flesh.

The bitter cold that froze people to death.

All of it had raged to stop a single human.

And yet, it could not stop me.

My body burst through the storm.

Eira urgently moved her hands, but the opening created while sustaining the snowstorm was already too great.

Shing...

I raised the greatsword in midair.

Then.

Whoosh!

I brought it down.

Craaaash!

The hastily formed wall of ice shattered.

And Eira behind it was cut diagonally as well.

At that moment.

Shhhhk!

The raging snowstorm stopped.

Tap. Tap!

The ice chunks filling the air lost their strength and fell.

Crash...

Eira's body also shattered into countless pieces of ice.

[The Hidden Trial of the 28th floor has been completed.]

[Challenger Kang Seong-un, who overcame the Hidden Trial, inherits the throne of the 28th floor.]

At last, the frost clinging to my body began to melt.

Then.

Thump!

Four chests fell onto the snow-covered icefield.

『Vacant Chest』

『Adverse Chest』

『Extreme Chest』

And the final one.

『Conqueror's Solitary King Chest』

Having succeeded in another solo clear, I could claim all these rewards for myself.

However.

‘This time, my objective is a little different.’

It was not certain, but if the rewards inside the chests were random, there was surely a chance that item would appear.

I approached the nearest Vacant Chest.

Just as I reached out my hand.

“Oh!”

A familiar voice rang beside my ear.

“This land is thick with cold yin energy.”

Shhhk.

Something small suddenly appeared behind my shoulder.

A large dark-green mushroom cap.

Herb pouches.

A small medicine box slung across its back.

It was the Herb Spirit.

I narrowed my eyes.

“You're only coming out now?”

The moment we entered the 28th floor.

“Are you trying to freeze this old spirit to death? Call me after the fight is over.”

After leaving only those words behind, it had slipped away somewhere.

The Herb Spirit calmly stroked its beard.

“What could a frail spirit like me do in the middle of a sword fight?”

“...”

It was no longer interested in what I had to say.

After sniffing around, it jumped down onto the snowfield.

Plop.

Its small feet sank deep into the snow.

The Herb Spirit's eyes narrowed.

“Oh. You entered such dangerous terrain alone.”

“...Dangerous terrain?”

That word caught my attention.

Then I immediately recalled the spirit's information.

『Trait (1): When entering a dangerous region, the chance of gathering rare herbs increases significantly.』

Dangerous region.

When I first saw it, I had thought it simply meant a high floor or dangerous terrain.

But.

‘Maybe that is not it?’

I was alone.

I had entered the 28th floor without a party.

Then.

‘Maybe a dangerous region does not refer to the floor's difficulty.’

It could be a judgment attached to the current clear itself.

A place entered with far fewer people than the normal party size.

As I considered that, the Herb Spirit's eyes lit up.

It crouched down and grabbed a handful of snow.

After rubbing it between its fingers, it brought the tiniest bit to its tongue.

“Tsk.”

“...Why are you eating snow?”

“What a foolish thing to say. I did not eat the snow. I examined the energy soaked into it.”

The spirit shook its hand clean.

“A cold vein has flowed through this land for countless years. Cold energy has seeped deep into the earth and changed even the medicinal properties of the plants.”

I looked around.

Snow.

Ice.

An endless white icefield.

To me, it was simply cold land.

But it seemed different to the spirit.

“This is certainly a special medicinal land.”

“A special medicinal land?”

“Yes.”

Its eyes narrowed beneath its mushroom cap.

“Ordinary grass cannot even take root in a place like this. But that is why it is all the more precious.”

The spirit drove the small branch it had been holding like a staff into the snow.

“Spirit herbs grown by feeding on cold yin energy have entirely different medicinal properties. They suppress heat toxins, regulate inner heat, and some can even restore frozen energy channels.”

“...”

The snowfield suddenly looked a little different.

The spirit turned around.

Then, as though it were walking through the main room of its own home, it began striding forward.

“Follow me.”

“Where are you going?”

Without looking back, it answered.

“Where else would I go? We are going to gather herbs.”

Then another remark flew back at me.

“To think you were going to open chests first with such an extreme cold yin land before your eyes. You still have a long way to go.”

“...”

The small mushroom cap moved farther away.