Chapter 33
- I express my infinite gratitude and respect to the Top Climber of Nightmare Difficulty, Person123, who has once again allowed humanity to live for another year. Taking his noble spirit of challenge as a model, the United States will also continue to do its utmost for climbing Nightmare Difficulty...
I ate breakfast while watching the US President's speech on the morning news.
Two days had passed since I cleared the 3rd Floor.
I slept at a hotel on the day of the challenge, came home the next day and rested for a day, so that made two days.
Having overcome another huge hurdle and returned home, I felt that home was indeed the best. It felt like I was getting some proper rest.
- ...While many people are rejoicing as the Nightmare 3rd Floor has been cleared, the Tower's 3-Year Rule is right around the corner. The time remaining for the first-wave climbers who first received the Tower's call is now just over ten days, and the number of First-Wave climbers who have yet to climb Nightmare Difficulty is estimated to be at least 50,000...
Seeing the next piece of news come on, I checked the Nightmare climb status.
\[Nightmare\]
Personnel: 350,036
Time Limit: 1 year 20 days 9 minutes 57 seconds
Floor Reached: 4th Floor
“...What are these people really going to do?”
The First-Wave Climbers, including me, who became Climbers at the very beginning.
Was it around 75,000 people who were left by the time the 1st Floor was cleared?
Anyway, tens of thousands of people were in danger of dying in a few weeks.
Watching the news from time to time, I heard things like they would expand the training facility or provide active support...
Even if that worked for other difficulties, Nightmare truly had no answer.
- I'm not going to challenge it. I'll just accept it. Rather than entering the Tower and dying horribly, I just want to die peacefully. I think many other people besides me feel the same way.
Following that, a video interview with a Nightmare first-wave climber was shown.
A man with an aloof expression said that, smiling calmly.
I turned off the TV, feeling a bit of pity.
“A peaceful death.”
Why did those words somehow feel out of place?
The death foretold by the Tower: how exactly would it happen?
Would they just be sitting still and suddenly collapse like they had a heart attack?
Or would it be instant death without even time to feel pain?
If it were an ordinary method like that, then not challenging it might actually be the better choice, just as that person said.
That is, rather than dying horribly by a Goblin in a place with no one around.
Besides, if you enter the Tower, you can't even leave a corpse behind.
“Thanks for the meal.”
I left the dishes in the sink, returned to my room, and lay down on the bed.
Out of habit, I turned on the communication window.
A pile of whispers had accumulated.
Perhaps because I had announced my challenge in advance this time, all sorts of whispers had been coming in non-stop even before I challenged the 3rd Floor, mostly conveying messages of support.
\[Chicken Sandwich: You've worked hard, Mr. Kim. You are indeed the only one who can save Humanity. If you ever need my help, please let me know anytime.\]
After clearing it, I also had a short conversation with Billon.
In fact, Billon was almost the only person I could comfortably talk to about my clears.
So I kind of wanted to tell him a little about how much I had suffered...
But it felt like I'd just be whining, saying “So much happened, it”s really hard,' so I decided against it. There was no need to make people needlessly anxious.
\[Lotus: Thank you. I am cheering for you.\]
And I also received a message from the section chief at the Climber Bureau.
I was still reluctant to have a long conversation, so I just gave a short reply.
\[Frangles: But Person123 is only one floor away from the 5th Floor now.\]
\[Yatmon: He wouldn't be thinking of being active in the Common Zone, right? He's still hiding his identity even now.\]
\[Bamboo: We probably wouldn't even know if he brushed right past us fr lol\]
\[Hobby: He'll probably just go around quietly by himself. Still, he'll get everything he can from the 5th Floor before challenging the 6th Floor.\]
\[Rubrubru: I really just want to know what country he's from at least.\]
\[Steel Armor: But why are you guys talking like he's already cleared the 4th Floor?\]
\[Wheat Field: We just believe he'll clear it for us\~\]
\[Marlin: You don't believe in Person123? I do.\]
While browsing the communication window, I saw their conversation and suddenly thought about the 5th Floor.
“Common Zone...”
The 5th Floor of the Tower is called the Common Zone.
Because it was literally a common zone.
The 5th Floor wasn't something that needed to be cleared; it was a space where Climbers of all difficulties gathered. It was kind of like a resting checkpoint.
Of course, for Nightmare Difficulty, there were no Climbers who had reached the 5th Floor yet.
If I succeeded in clearing the 4th Floor, I would be the first Nightmare Climber to set foot in the Common Zone.
It didn't have any huge meaning. It was just one of the passing floors.
I browsed the communication window a bit more before turning it off.
“I should start challenging it slowly today.”
Since I also needed to organize and post the information for the 3rd Floor, I was going to challenge the hidden route without dragging it out.
\[Would you like to enter the Nightmare Difficulty 3rd Floor?\]
I just let my food digest a bit and immediately entered the Tower.
---
I suffered immensely because I didn't know, but the core of the 3rd Floor was speed.
Before more undead could swarm out onto the field, I had to go underground as quickly as possible and activate the Sun Emblem.
Guh-uh-uh-
As soon as I entered, I first looked for the location of the underground passage floor.
‘Let's see.’
It was in the 1 o'clock direction based on the entry point. Confirmed.
I grabbed my mace and advanced in a straight line, smashing the skulls of the swarming Undead.
My body, which had reached level 40 after gaining 10 levels, naturally became much stronger and faster.
KWA-BOOM!
I fired a Flame Strike to smash the floor and lightly jumped inside.
Did it take about 30 seconds up to here?
For other difficulties, it took 10 minutes for the sun to rise. Nightmare seemed to be the opposite, taking 10 minutes for the sun to set, so I had to clear Nightmare in at least 10 minutes. Otherwise, enemies would swarm in like a plague of locusts again.
I sprinted through the passage and arrived at the Central Cavern.
I immediately entered the Left Path first.
Picking up the gem placed on the floor and returning with teleportation is how to clear it.
I came out, inserted the gem, and immediately headed for the Right Path.
Ignore the cheap chain trap and immediately grab the gem on the wall above the entrance. The path is clear.
About 1 minute had passed by the time I finally entered the Front Path.
I picked up the cube and started solving it with my eyes wide open.
Click. Click-clack.
Was it possible to solve the cube in 20 seconds?
As long as you practiced hard, it was entirely possible through effort alone.
However, you had to learn a more difficult advanced formula rather than the basic one...
I, of course, had come in without practicing separately.
I couldn't just hold off on the hidden clear while practicing to get a 20-second clear for the cube, right?
The hourglass quickly ran out, and the vibration of the swarming Undead rang out.
“Diul.”
I called Diul while still focusing on the cube.
Diul cast stealth on me, and my body became translucent.
I finished solving the cube, leaving the Undead that had run all the way here only to stupidly pace around.
Still, it was naturally faster than my first try.
After solving the cube, I took out the gem and moved to the Central Cavern.
It took... about 3 minutes up to here!
FWOOSH!
Light burst forth from the Sun Emblem, melting the surrounding Undead.
Now I had to go up and check what the boss would be like.
Naturally, it would be much weaker than that monster. That would be normal.
Guh-uh-uh...
Going up to the surface, the Undead were melting in the sunlight.
Soon, the surviving Undead began to swarm to one side.
That number was incomparably smaller than last time. Was it at most about a hundred?
The size of the Undead meatball formed like that was also only slightly larger than that of a minotaur.
Gu-woo-woo-woo-
The low-frequency voice was also just enough to tickle my ears a bit.
I tapped my ears and immediately fired a Flame Strike and a Mana Bullet at the same time.
KWA-BOOM!
The mass, heavily bombarded by three fireballs and five Mana Bullets, exploded and died on the spot.
“...”
This is ridiculous, isn't it?
It was this weak originally?
Just what kind of fight had I been fighting...
It wasn't completely dead yet.
I approached the guy whose body had completely burst open, clearly exposing its core, and smashed it with my mace.
“Die, you punk.”
Of course, part of it was because I had gotten stronger upon reaching level 40, but at this level, it was something I could have easily beaten even when I was level 30.
At this level, it would be doable for the other Nightmare challengers too, wouldn't it?
If they just shortened the time as much as possible, it might actually be easier than the 2nd Floor.
Of course, the other people would have to face the boss while at level 20.
Well, anyway.
Since I had easily taken care of the boss, it was now time to find the hidden route.
I looked around the plains that stretched endlessly in all directions.
“Where am I supposed to go for this?”
There are too many choices.
I could go anywhere—north, south, east, or west.
I was just thinking about going back into the Underground Passage instead of The Surface to take a look.
“...?”
I narrowed my eyes.
Way, way over there in the distance... looking closely, there was something.
“A Pyramid?”
A pointy structure that looked somewhat like a pyramid.
It was shimmering like a mirage.
When your level goes up and your physical ability increases, your eyesight naturally improves as well.
So my eyes could see even places that were incredibly far away. Even when compared to a bird of prey, I might easily win one round.
Based on the sense of perspective I felt right now, that building was incredibly far away from here.
But well... it wouldn't be visible without a reason, right?
It wouldn't just be for decoration like the background graphics outside a game map.
“Shall I go take a look?”
I started to sprint lightly.
Every time I kicked off the ground, the earth shattered and my body shot forward.
It was far, but I was also formidably fast.
It didn't take too long to arrive at the destination.
“This really is a pyramid.”
I saw a truly massive architectural structure that looked very much like a pyramid, when I had almost arrived.
And there were also many pillars and smaller structures around it.
It also gave off a bit of a... temple vibe?
Rumble-
The blazing sunlight in the sky suddenly disappeared, and for some reason, dark clouds began to gather.
It was night, then suddenly became morning, and now it was getting cloudy.
The weather was truly quite spectacular.
Seeing that there was some kind of change, I felt like I had definitely come to the right place.
I entered the territory of the temple while keeping my guard up.
As I was walking and looking around, I heard a sound from somewhere.
It sounded like fighting, so I immediately ran in that direction.
There were people.
Three of them, wearing armor, looked like knights.
“Sir Dellent! Be careful!”
The Knights were surrounding and fighting a large Undead, and the Undead looked quite strong.
“Should I help?”
As I had experienced on the 2nd Floor, the hidden route didn't only feature enemies that had to be defeated unconditionally.
Since they are fighting the Undead, wouldn't they be allies?
I decided to help the Knights for now.
“I'll help youuu!”
Fearing I might be misunderstood as an enemy, I ran over while shouting loudly.
At that, the Knights also spotted me and looked back.
The Undead was humanoid but massive, over 3 meters tall, and was holding something like a rusted greatsword in its hand.
It looked much stronger than the ones that swarmed during the basic clear.
Because the Knights were stuck close to the Undead, I couldn't fire a Flame Strike.
Instead, I fired a Mana Bullet and ran toward the Undead along with them.
B-B-BOOM!
I landed a hit on the arm holding the sword so the Undead couldn't counterattack, and I leaped at the Undead's head.
When I struck its head with my mace, half of its head burst open with a thud.
Guh-uh-uh-!
The Knights quickly joined the attack, slashing the staggering Undead's legs with their swords.
I finished off the falling Undead by swinging my mace once more and completely smashing its head.
It wasn't much of a guy.
When I looked to the side, the Knights were staring at me with surprised eyes.