WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: DereKimchi
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Abandoned Tank is a Disaster-class Awakener ◈
Chapter 31
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While the world put intense pressure on America, what we did was surprisingly simple.
We climbed the Tower.
That was all.
Double standards.
Monopolizing thrones.
Return the tolls.
New articles poured out every day, and statements from various countries followed, but we consistently ignored them.
Miller and the Association wanted to respond, but I stopped them.
I thoroughly explained what was about to happen and quickly worked with the government to prepare countermeasures.
Policy was not my responsibility.
So I put it out of mind and conquered the 29th floor.
I defeated the Guardian and opened four chests.
I was not the only one climbing the Tower.
Hye-won also cleared the 2nd and 3rd floors in succession, claiming their thrones and opening eight chests.
Not long ago, people had doubted whether she could even be used in combat. Now, she was hunting down low-floor Guardians alone and collecting thrones.
But that was not particularly surprising.
Evolutionary Awakening.
The Snow Queen's Staff.
Eira's Medal.
And growth support specialized in cold.
The lower floors could no longer test Hye-won.
Rather, her ascent had become a process of finding out just how far she could climb alone.
And eventually.
[An Abyss caused by failure penalties has appeared.]
An Abyss appeared.
The entire world was shocked, but at least America and I knew.
Abysses had existed before my return.
They were special disasters that appeared when Tower-clear failures had accumulated to a certain number or more.
The problem was the timing.
In the original timeline, it had happened later.
But now, it was much earlier.
Of course, I had anticipated that as well.
Because I, a variable, existed at this point in time.
As I claimed Guardians one after another and gained approval authority over thrones, the methods countries used to clear the Tower changed entirely.
More countries pressed ahead with reckless clear attempts so they would not fall behind.
The number of failures rose as they pushed through floors without adequate preparation.
Small changes kept piling up.
In the end, Tower-clear failures accumulated faster than before my return.
That was why I prepared.
Even while the world cursed America.
Even while countries pressured us to surrender our authority over the thrones, I focused on climbing the Tower to increase my combat power.
And now.
"...I've gathered quite a lot."
I was checking the spoils I had accumulated.
Of course, I had not taken everything from the twelve chests.
The division was clear.
Hye-won took anything related to mana or cold.
In contrast, I kept relics and medals specialized in physical abilities such as strength and stamina.
There was no reason to force each other to hold on to things that were useless to us.
Enhancement Tickets, however, were a little different.
Hye-won's strength was already enough to sweep through the lower floors.
But I was different.
The 30th floor.
I was approaching the point where the Tower's difficulty would truly rise.
And there was the Abyss as well.
For now, raising my strength came first.
After sorting everything out, what ended up in my hands was:
【Skill Enhancement Ticket × 4】
【Relic Enhancement Ticket × 5】
And.
【Karzan's Medal】
Rank :
Type : Possession Relic
Bound to : Kang Seong-un
Effect : Activates Wild Instinct
A medal obtained by defeating Karzan, the Beast King and Guardian of the 29th floor.
And this ability called Wild Instinct was:
【Wild Instinct: Your senses for detecting danger become extremely sharp.
You instinctively detect attacks from outside your field of vision, ambushes, killing intent, and an enemy's intentions.
Your speed of recognizing danger in unpredictable situations greatly increases.】
It was a kind of killing-intent detection.
A systemized form of what people called a sixth sense.
The process of seeing with your eyes, judging with your mind, and moving your body.
It meant I could skip much of the first two steps through instinct.
More than anything, obtaining it before the Abyss appeared was a huge gain.
The Abyss was a completely different domain from the Tower.
Since it limited entrants to ten people, unexpected variables could arise, making an ability that detected danger extremely useful.
I looked away from the medal.
Four Skill Enhancement Tickets and five Relic Enhancement Tickets.
Nine Enhancement Tickets in total.
I had already decided where to use them.
First, I picked up a Skill Enhancement Ticket.
[You have designated a skill for enhancement.]
[Target: +1 Transcendent Body]
Naturally, the skill I enhanced was Transcendent Body.
This unique skill that could be called the foundation of my strength.
[Skill enhancement successful.]
[Skill enhancement successful.]
[Skill enhancement successful.]
[Skill enhancement successful.]
I enhanced it to +5.
Then.
[The +5 enhancement special effect has been unlocked.]
[Special Effect: Complete Adaptation]
Like relics, skills gained a special enhancement effect at +5.
But unlike relics, which received random enhancement effects, skills received predetermined effects.
Namely.
【Complete Adaptation: All stat effects increased by relics are amplified by an additional 5%.】
It was a stat-increase effect related to skills.
The first enhancement effect was Complete Adaptation, which increased the stat gains provided by relics.
A large part of my stats came from Black Iron equipment and medals, so even 5% was an enormous help.
Next.
This time, it was a Relic Enhancement Ticket.
The relic that had already been enhanced to +5 was Verderaum's Medal.
The relic I would enhance with the five tickets I had gathered was Arvelia's Medal.
When I first obtained it, I honestly thought it was somewhat underwhelming.
It did not raise combat ability or stats. It only allowed one contract with a spirit.
But.
'The Herb Spirit has been more useful than I expected.'
I thought gathering materials would simply be an added bonus, but that was not the case.
From pharmacology to potion-making, I could gain a variety of knowledge humanity did not currently possess.
It might not have the effects of a normal enhancement, but what if reaching +5 allowed me to make one more spirit contract?
There was no need to explain how useful that would be.
Of course, there was no guarantee I would find another helpful spirit like the Herb Spirit.
'Now that an Abyss has appeared, if I can gain one more spirit capable of gathering resources...'
Humanity did not know it yet, but the Abyss was not simply a dangerous region.
High risk, high return.
The Tower promised greater rewards in proportion to its danger.
Both the clear rewards and the resources scattered around it were on an entirely different level from ordinary Tower floors. To widen that gap even further with this opportunity, I needed another spirit.
So.
[Enhancement successful.]
[Arvelia's Medal → +1 Arvelia's Medal]
[+1 Arvelia's Medal → +2 Arvelia's Medal]
[+2 Arvelia's Medal → +3 Arvelia's Medal]
[+3 Arvelia's Medal → +4 Arvelia's Medal]
[+4 Arvelia's Medal → +5 Arvelia's Medal]
[The +5 enhancement special effect has been unlocked.]
I finished enhancing Arvelia's Medal.
【Arvelia's Medal】
Rank :
Classification : Possession Relic
Bound to : Kang Seong-un
Possession Effect : Make 2 (+1) contracts with spirits
Just as I expected, it had increased by one, allowing me to contract another spirit.
But that was not the end.
[Determining the special enhancement effect.]
Along with the system message, the system window before me stretched out at once.
Fwoosh!
Unlike skills, whose effects were fixed, relics received random special effects.
Of course, they varied slightly depending on the relic.
[Spirit buff effects increased by 5%]
[Spirit unique effects increased by 5%]
Since it was a relic that dealt with spirits, auxiliary summons, most of the effects increased the spirits' unique abilities.
I had not expected much beyond the additional spirit contract.
[Rare resource gathering effect increased by 5%.]
"...Oh!"
An unexpectedly decent effect appeared.
Rare resources referred to special materials such as Ice Crystal Fruit and spirit herbs.
It would not help in combat, but spirits existed to gather resources or provide support anyway. Increasing the chance of gathering rare resources could not have been a better effect.
'Then.'
Now it was time to make the contract.
Swoooosh.
Once again, I entered a space like the primordial universe.
Flash! Flash!
What I could see in the darkness were lights of many colors. Spirits.
But I had no idea what kind of spirits they were.
That was why.
"..."
I chose a deep gray light in the distance.
Just as with the Herb Spirit before, I had the feeling that it was staring directly at me.
The gray light touched my fingertips.
[The spirit has accepted the contract.]
[A contract with the Ore Spirit has been established.]
Then.
Slide.
The darkness cleared away, and the remaining light gathered before me, taking on a small form.
Flutter.
The first thing to unfurl was a parasol.
A purple parasol edged with black lace.
Beneath it appeared silver-gray hair and a pale face.
The spirit wore a dark purple dress layered with lace, and black gloves covered her slender wrists.
「...」
The palm-sized spirit looking at me slightly lifted the hem of her dress.
「...It's a pleasure to meet you, My Lord.」
There was not the slightest disorder in her movements as she bowed.
【Ore Spirit】
Rank : Arcane
Type : Contract Spirit
Contractor : Kang Seong-un
Primary Ability : Ore Mining
Effect : Climbs the Tower with the contractor and independently attempts mining activities on every floor.
Through mining tools summoned with mana, it can discover and acquire various ores and gems present on the floor.
Trait (1) : The quality of gathered resources varies depending on the summoned magical tools.
It was an appearance that did not suit an Ore Spirit at all.
And perhaps she noticed my reaction.
The bowing Ore Spirit lightly turned the handle of her parasol.
Click.
A purple magic circle spread out behind her.
Then, within it, a pickaxe, hammer, chisel, awl, and drill made of light appeared one by one.
More than a dozen mining tools floated in a circle around her.
Yet she did not hold a single one.
She merely rested the parasol against her shoulder and moved her fingertips slightly.
Hummm.
The tools all turned at once.
「You do not need to dirty your hands to mine a vein.」
She smiled faintly.
「You only need to read the vein and take what is needed.」
A pickaxe of light flashed once through the air.
"...Haha."
I laughed softly as I watched.
It seemed there was one more thing I needed to check in this Abyss.
* * *
The road stretched straight ahead.
The streetlights and gas stations along the roadside were intact.
But everything that touched the black boundary farther ahead was cut off.
Buildings.
People.
Even the river that ran through the city.
A vast darkness had taken its place.
The Abyss.
A domain that had swallowed an entire small American town.
Swoooosh.
Its surface rippled like mist, but it did not scatter in the wind.
Beneath the black curtain, traces of something crawling along it appeared and disappeared.
Whenever a red glow spread through it, shapes within were revealed.
Inverted spires.
Huge twisted pillars.
Structures that looked as though they had been built from woven bones.
When I blinked, their positions changed.
The longer I stared, the more my sense of distance blurred.
It was difficult to tell whether they were hundreds of meters away or right before my eyes.
Dangerous.
Do not approach.
Wild Instinct warned me again and again.
But I did not look away.
"This is Briar Creek."
An Association employee forming the perimeter approached and held out a tablet.
"It was a small town where most residents commuted to nearby cities."
Red circles had been drawn over residential areas, schools, and stores in the aerial photographs.
"The affected area is approximately twelve square kilometers. It includes the town center and part of the residential area on the outskirts."
"How many people are missing?"
"Four thousand, two hundred and eighty-six so far."
The employee swiped through the screen.
"That is a preliminary count excluding residents who are outside the area. We are still confirming visitors."
Four thousand, two hundred and eighty-six people.
I read the number again.
The employee pointed to a spot on the map.
"This is an elementary school. Classes were in session when it happened."
It was inside the black boundary.
"All students and staff remain unreachable."
"...Make sure not a single person is left out."
"Yes."
I handed back the tablet and looked at the darkness.
The residents had been swallowed along with the town before they had a chance to flee.
Local broadcasts called them missing.
For now, that was accurate.
'Because they aren't dead.'
People swallowed by the Abyss were trapped in another domain within it.
A place where time did not pass.
A person falling never reached the ground, and a breath being drawn in never ended.
Without even having time to realize what had happened to them, they were held in that moment.
Before my return, some of those who were rescued could not believe that days had passed outside.
To them, the darkness before their eyes had simply fallen and then lifted again.
Clearing the Abyss was what released that frozen time.
Defeat enemies.
Go deeper.
The more the domain collapsed, the more trapped residents returned to reality.
Of course, to save all of them, we had to achieve a 100% clear.
Step.
Remembering that, I headed toward the perimeter.
"Civilian vehicles have been rerouted."
"Clear the entry road. The Raid Party is arriving."
Association employees moved at the radio calls.
Beyond the portable barriers blocking the road, ambulances and temporary medical stations lined up.
Medical staff checked their equipment, while identity-verification personnel waited with resident lists in hand.
'As expected.'
Miller had not taken the information I gave him lightly.
Preparations had been made to receive those who returned.
"Mr. Kang!"
An official at the perimeter spotted me.
He raised his radio.
"Open the entry road."
Rumble.
The temporary barriers forming the perimeter slid aside.
Together with the Raid Party, I walked down the newly opened path.
At its end.
Whoooom.
The black curtain slowly swelled.
As if swallowing an entire city had not been enough, a dense shadow stretched all the way to our feet.
Tick.
『718:30:19』
"Headquarters, this is the field control center."
A radio report began behind me.
As I listened to it.
Step.
The Abyss Raid Party, including me, stepped across the black boundary.
"America's Abyss Raid Party has entered the Abyss."
The employee took a short breath.
"As of this moment, the world's first Abyss raid begins."
Darkness covered my vision.
"The returnee reception team will remain in position."
Then, after a brief silence.
"...We will wait for the entire Raid Party to return safely."
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