Chapter 17
Saturday afternoon.
I fell asleep at dawn and didn't wake up until it was almost lunchtime.
"Did you go to bed late yesterday?" "Yes, I was doing something."
My family and I watched TV while eating lunch together in the living room.
- We have news that the Nightmare Difficulty 2nd Floor of the tower was cleared around 2 AM today. The identity of the clearer has not yet been revealed, and...
The things I had done were being broadcast on the lunchtime news.
"See, I told you someone would clear it, didn't I? The world will end if they don't do something about it, so imagine how thoroughly everyone must have prepared."
My father spoke as if to say “I told you so,” but then let out a dry cough at my Mother's glare.
Even though everyone knew it, hearing that the world was going to end wasn't pleasant.
My Younger Sibling was just blankly stuffing their face with all the ham side dishes.
Still, they have been in a bad mood lately, but they seem to be in good condition today.
From now on, would it be an everyday occurrence for everyone to live with the anxiety that the world might end every year?
At this rate, I wouldn't be surprised if everyone ended up with bipolar disorder.
I guess it's a good thing if we can keep living even with that anxiety. Rather than the world actually ending, that is.
- Along with the 2nd Floor of all difficulties being cleared, a total of 400,000 New Climbers flowed in just like last time, but there was also something different this time. A New Rule for the tower has been created.
- According to the rule, Climbers who are chosen and do not enter the tower even once within three years will die. This seems to apply to the First-Wave Climbers and Second-Wave Climbers who became Climbers earlier, based on the time they received the Tower's Call...
Anyway, that was also a problem.
The tower was trying to kill more people under the guise of a New Rule.
Having to enter the tower even once ultimately meant clearing the 1st Floor.
1st Floor Climbers who had never entered the tower would now die if they didn't challenge it.
Even First-Wave Climbers who received the call at the very beginning like me now only had a little over a year left.
\[I suppose the other difficulties are one thing...\]
Well, it's a relief if you get Easy or Normal.
But the people who got Nightmare really have no answer.
While watching the news, I asked my family.
"You didn't happen to become Climbers, did you?" "Oh, you. Of course not."
My Mother answered as if telling me not to worry.
My father also shook his head, and my Younger Sibling didn't even reply.
Right, there's no way they would be chosen.
Even when calculating the probability, how much is 400,000 out of a population of 8 billion?
It's about one in 20,000 people.
I saw somewhere that the probability of getting struck by lightning in your lifetime is about 1 in 15,000. It's even lower than that.
\[But why the hell did I get chosen?\]
Thinking about it again, it's ridiculous...
But then again, is the world still not ending because I was chosen?
Fuck, I can't even feel wronged about this.
Anyway, my being the only one struck by lightning was enough.
After finishing my meal, I rolled around on my bed and browsed the communication window.
I cleared the 2nd Floor, so I should upload the information.
I decided to do it later for now.
There were still many inaccurate parts here and there.
I wondered whether there were more Illusionary Platforms other than the ones I stepped on, exactly where the trap with the rising floor was, and whether the locations of the Trap Platforms changed every time you entered.
It would be better to post the information after organizing it by checking through a Repeat Clear.
Just in case people saw inaccurate information and went in to clear it.
"Let's do the Hidden Strategy first."
If I enter the 2nd Floor again anyway, I have to clear the Hidden Route first.
I confirmed last time that just leaving would deduct an opportunity.
---
\[You have entered Nightmare Difficulty, 2nd Floor.\]
*That night, I immediately entered the 2nd Floor.*
As soon as I entered, the heat of the lava inevitably washed over my skin.
I looked at the platforms in front of me.
This time, even if I fell into the lava, I could just exit right before, so there was no burden on my life.
Let's see, the Illusionary Platform was the fourth one.
\[Should I try jumping to the fifth platform at once?\]
With my Physical Ability strengthened from leveling up, plus the Leap and Teleportation Skills, reaching it seemed easy for me.
I made my decision and crouched down.
I roughly caught the direction and took a large leap toward my target.
I flew for a long time and used teleportation above the fifth platform.
I covered more than half the distance in one go.
I waited for the Skill Cooldown and jumped again.
With two Leaps, I arrived at the Main Platform, which was the midpoint.
Next was the Glowing Platform.
When I looked at it, the location hadn't changed from last time. Is it fixed?
After the area was lightly passed through, the path leading to the door appeared.
I slowly moved forward, one step at a time.
I think it was roughly around here?
Thud!
As I reached the middle of the Path, the floor inevitably shot up.
Okay, it's exactly this part. Confirmed.
I returned using Teleportation and waited until my depleted willpower refilled.
Still, my willpower was now 450, so I didn't have to bother refilling it for up to three uses of Teleportation.
After finishing the refill, I aimed at the door and unleashed Flame Strike.
As soon as I smashed the door, the lava started having a crazy fit, and I cheerfully ran to the staircase.
Still, as long as they know the information, I think the 2nd Floor would be more doable for other people than the 1st Floor.
Or not. Whatever.
I slipped out through the window and climbed up the outer wall of the tower.
Finally, the boss.
I didn't pick up a weapon and waited for the bastard to come out of the door.
CRASH!
The door shattered, and the Minotaur appeared.
As soon as it saw me, it charged straight at me.
I didn't use Flame Strike.
When I was Level 15, I still felt a sense of danger, but then I just had a feeling.
I could win even in hand-to-hand combat.
I dodged the charge and planted a straight punch into its torso.
CRACK!
The sensation of bones shattering traveled up my fist.
The Minotaur howled in pain and slammed its fist down at me.
I lightly dodged again. Its fist smashed the floor.
Dodge and hit, dodge and hit, we continued our brawl at close quarters.
The Minotaur's simple and ignorant attacks were hard for me to even get hit by, as I had become even more agile from leveling up.
On the other hand, every single punch I landed was steadily tenderizing the Minotaur's body into a lump of meat.
In addition, with my newly acquired Skill, Exaltation, activating, I soon completely overwhelmed the Minotaur.
BAM!
The battered Minotaur got hit in the head and staggered.
I leaped up and kicked it in the head one more time.
Finally, the Minotaur collapsed with a thud, its head smashed.
"Are you dead?"
Since there's no answer, it must be dead.
If it's dead, I should run.
I picked up a sword that had fallen on the floor and quickly ran toward the railing.
A moment later, a tremor surged in, and the floor completely collapsed.
I sat on the railing.
As the Exaltation Effect slowly deactivated, I felt the heat draining from my body.
This was just the warm-up.
Now it was time to look for the Hidden Route.
"Where should I go to find the hidden..."
As you can see, the tower had become a Lava Pool.
Then isn't going down the only answer for now?
I looked down at the dizzying drop below.
With a bit of exaggeration, it seemed to be about the height of the 63 Building.
I was slightly scared, but there was nothing to be scared of. I jumped straight down.
Swoosh...!
I had never even gone bungee jumping in my life, but I was experiencing it like this.
Of course, since it was a bungee without a cord, my body would be spectacularly smashed if I crashed straight into the ground.
Right before reaching the ground, I used Stop Time and Teleportation.
The falling Kinetic Energy dissipated, and I landed lightly on the ground.
"Phew."
The area around the tower was entirely a forest.
A pale blue moon in the night sky. The atmosphere was absolutely perfect.
Since I couldn't know what would pop out from here on, I raised my tension.
First, I looked around while circling the tower.
Lava was still pouring out like a waterfall from the window I had escaped through, piling up on the ground.
Soon, I found a huge gate that looked like the Entrance, and even there, the overflowing lava had become somewhere between solid and liquid, writhing around.
As expected, is entering the forest the right answer?
There was a path leading from the entrance of the castle into the forest.
"...This is creepy."
The darkness in the forest looked as if a monster was opening its maw wide. It was extremely creepy.
Seeing as this was the only path, it obviously seemed like it was telling me to go this way.
Having no other choice, I carefully moved forward along the path, with the sword in my hand slightly raised.
It was even darker once I entered the forest.
Still, the moonlight was bright, so it wasn't to the point where I couldn't see ahead.
The sound of leaves rustling in the wind, the sound of grass bugs, and such things could be heard intermittently...
The atmosphere felt like something could pop out at any moment.
When I looked down from the top of the tower earlier, the forest was incredibly vast, so I didn't know how far I had to travel.
I was moving forward with the thought of exiting immediately if I felt it was dangerous.
Rustle.
A faint sound came from behind.
The sound of leaves rustling.
At that sound, which sounded a bit too unnatural to be just swaying in the wind, I suddenly turned my head.
I saw a sword blade that came right under my nose.
Right before the blade pierced my neck, I used Time Stop.
This crazy...
I would have died if I had been even 0.1 seconds late.
With my heart pounding, I checked the entity that had ambushed me.
\[A woman?\]
She looked like a person, but she wasn't human.
Her skin was pale, she had horns, and she had... slit pupils like a reptile.
It was an appearance that naturally brought the word Demonkin to mind.
Anyway, she attacked me, so she was an enemy.
Is this Demonkin the boss of this Hidden Route?
It was already too late to dodge the attack, so I used Mental Concentration.
And at the same time as unfreezing time, I used Teleportation to the Demonkin's back.
Immediately, Time stops again.
This time, I prepared Flame Strike.
A pair of Fireballs flew in, aiming for the Demonkin's back.
In reality, it was like I fired the Fireballs almost simultaneously with Teleportation.
The Demonkin urgently looked back at me and tried to dodge.
"Kyaaah!"
She couldn't completely dodge it and was caught in the explosion, bouncing away to the other side.
Is she not dead?
I approached the Demonkin collapsed on the ground.
The Demonkin urgently tried to get up.
However, the damage must have been heavy, as she seemed unable to control her body. She was already severely burned.
"You Human...!"
I stopped at a distance.
I observed the Demonkin wriggling on the ground while staying on guard.
The Demonkin, glaring at me with eyes full of hostility, shouted as if resentful.
"Kugh... Kill me!"
I was planning to.
Once the Skill Cooldown refreshed.
Without approaching any closer, I safely waited 30 seconds and unleashed Flame Strike again.
BOOOOM!
"Phew."
The defeat was successful.
Isn't it a bit on the easy side this time?
Although I almost died.
\[You have failed the Nightmare Difficulty, 2nd Floor Hidden Strategy. (2/3)\]
\[You will be removed from the tower.\]
"Huh."
What.
Is this not it?
I was kicked out of the tower in a daze.