Chapter 11
Interest and rumors about the Nightmare Challenger were always rampant in the Climber Communication Channel and other communities.
What their level might be, what 1st Floor Reward they received, and what grade of magic stone would drop in Nightmare Difficulty.
Rumors circulated that the Nightmare Clear Teams formed by various nations were receiving consultation from them, that they were a woman rather than a man, or that the Nightmare Challenger was actually someone specific from somewhere...
*Meanwhile, some people analyzed every single word of the posts they wrote to figure out which country the Nightmare Challenger was from.*
The Tower's communication channel translated all languages to suit each individual, but didn't every country have its own unique nuances and proper nouns?
They thought that if they could find those points that couldn't be hidden even by translation, they would be able to figure out their nationality, and some people even claimed to have figured it out.
All sorts of countries were brought up, but no one knew the truth.
However, there was just one thing.
The fact that they were an Unregistered Climber who didn't reveal their identity was now considered almost an established fact.
\[Polaris: When do you think the Nightmare Challenger will challenge the 2nd Floor?\] \[Philip: Probably around when the deadline is almost up.\] \[Pumpkin Soup: The 2nd Floor will be even more of a hell. I wonder if they can succeed...\]
People could only confirm their survival through the (1) indicator still floating in the Nightmare Communication Channel.
\[Nightmare (2)\]
\[Theomax: The number changed!\] \[Taeyang: Crazy, it really did.\] \[Sturgeon Egg: Wow, has the second one finally appeared?\]
Then, one day, when that number suddenly changed to 2.
People's attention focused on the finally emerged second Nightmare Challenger.
It was exactly 92 days after the First Clear of the Nightmare 1st Floor.
Their identity was from the United States. Of course, the Challenger's Personal Information was not disclosed, but the US Government did not deny the fact itself.
And as if that had opened the floodgates, subsequent Challengers continued to appear.
\[Nightmare (6)\]
With one month left until the Nightmare Deadline.
The number of Challengers for the Nightmare 1st Floor had now reached a whopping six.
No, I couldn't really call it a whopping number.
Considering that over ten thousand people in Nightmare Difficulty had disappeared over the course of nearly a year, there were only six of them.
They were the survivors of Hell who had returned after breaking through a 0.05% survival rate.
Two were from the United States, one was from China, one was from India, and the remaining one was presumed to be from Russia.
\[Cloud: But who's going to clear the 2nd Floor now?\] \[Ragpy: Aren't they all just playing mind games to see who goes first?\]
\[Easy\] Personnel: 180,645 Deadline: 21 years 29 days 17 hours 54 minutes 31 seconds Reached Floor: 23rd Floor
\[Normal\] Personnel: 172,783 Deadline: 14 years 29 days 17 hours 54 minutes 31 seconds Reached Floor: 16th Floor
\[Hard\] Personnel: 166,219 Deadline: 8 years 29 days 17 hours 54 minutes 31 seconds Reached Floor: 10th Floor
\[Nightmare\] Personnel: 163,489 Deadline: 29 days 17 hours 54 minutes 31 seconds Reached Floor: 2nd Floor
Time continued to flow.
Someone had to challenge the 2nd Floor.
---
Kieeeek—!
A Knight Goblin charged at me.
I dodged its mace and struck the Knight Goblin's torso with my fist.
BANG!
Its armor dented slightly as the bastard was pushed back.
Coughing as if in pain, it grew even more agitated and started to run wild.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
I deliberately didn't counterattack and just dodged the mace this way and that.
After rampaging for a while, the Knight Goblin tired out before I did and gasped for breath.
"Are you tired?"
Now it wouldn't even serve as proper sparring practice.
At Level 15, it had been a long time since I became capable of overwhelming a Knight Goblin barehanded.
Thinking I should end it here, I cast Flame Strike.
Two fireballs that appeared in mid-air flew in different directions.
One blew up the Knight Goblin, and the other blew up a Crossbow Goblin that was just about to pop out.
\[Nightmare Difficulty, 1st Floor Clear is complete.\]
\[Moving to the Reward Room.\]
When a Repeat Clear was performed, a magic stone would drop about once every ten times.
So, Highest Grade Magic Stones were scattered all over my Reward Room. They were all magic stones that had come out as rewards so far.
After realizing they would stay here even if I didn't bother taking them out into reality, I was just piling them up here.
\[Would you like to exit the Tower?\]
"Exit."
I returned to my room.
As soon as I returned, the door burst open.
"...Jesus, you startled me!" "Why are you so surprised?"
It was my younger sibling.
I calmed my startled heart.
"Why are you home so early? What about school?" "I left early because my head hurt." "You're coming in without knocking? You wanna die?" "Whatever. Since when did we ever do that?"
Should I kill him?
My Younger Sibling looked me up and down, then gave me a questioning look.
"Why are you wearing shoes in your room? Are you crazy?" "Mind your own business. So, what do you want?" "Mom said we should order lunch for the two of us. I want to eat chicken." "...If you have the appetite to stuff your face with chicken, you're not even sick, are you? Why did you leave early?"
I waved my hand dismissively.
"Forget it. Order whatever you want and get out of my sight."
The kid scrunched up his face and left.
Phew, fuck, that startled me.
This was why I could never let my guard down.
I always timed my visits in and out of the Tower for the early hours of the morning when my family were all asleep, or when they weren't home.
It was because entering the Tower from outside the house was bound to be a bit anxiety-inducing. Well, when I first entered, I wasn't in a situation to be picky about things like that, but still, it was.
- The Nightmare Deadline has broken the 30-day mark. With the number of people who have cleared Nightmare Difficulty 1st Floor currently at six...
I watched TV while eating chicken in the living room.
Just then, news that ruined my appetite was playing.
My younger sibling picked at the chicken silently and quickly went back into his room.
I turned off the TV and finished eating the chicken.
"...I wonder who will challenge it?"
If someone challenges it, I really hope they succeed.
As the Nightmare Deadline decreased, my agony has also deepened lately.
Over the past year or so, the number of Nightmare Challengers has increased to six, including me.
It was a good thing, but now the real problem was right in front of us.
The 2nd Floor.
What if, in the end, no one succeeds again, just like the 1st Floor?
I still hadn't made up my mind.
If I had to do it, that would be when.
Should I watch everyone else die off and only enter at the very end?
The Nightmare Deadline with only a month left is here.
I think I made my own preparations during that time.
I steadily did Repeat Clears to maintain my senses.
I also raised my Skill proficiency by using Flame Strike and Teleportation a lot.
I looked up information on the 2nd Floor and came up with my own customized training to do.
Yeah, I did do all that.
But entering a new floor was still terrifying.
If you weren't afraid, you were a crazy bastard.
Just because you risked your life once didn't mean it was easy to risk it a second time.
It was true that, for now, I still wanted to pin my hopes on other people.
Returning to my room, I lay down on my bed.
I turned on the communication channel and lurked as usual.
Then I also checked the Nightmare Communication Channel...
"Huh?"
Originally, there was nothing in the Nightmare Communication Channel other than the information post I had written a long time ago.
It wasn't like we had anything in particular to say to each other, but no one had ever initiated a conversation until now.
But there was a conversation posted in the Nightmare Communication Channel.
\[Jackal: Person123, are you watching?\] \[Jackal: I am the Second Clearer. I will soon challenge the 2nd Floor.\] \[Jackal: Before that, I wanted to say this to you.\] \[Jackal: If I had become a Nightmare Challenger earlier, I would have been the one to achieve the First Clear of the 1st Floor as well.\] \[Jackal: I'll prove it soon. I will be the one to give you the information on the 2nd Floor.\]
"What is this?"
The person calling themselves the Second Clearer was talking to me.
It was somewhat provocative, but I didn't really feel offended.
Because what this person was saying was exactly what I wanted.
Normally I ignored all of this, but.
Since they were someone about to challenge the 2nd Floor, I felt it was only polite to offer at least a word of encouragement.
I typed a reply.
\[Person123: I will pray for your success.\]
Please succeed.
I don't want to challenge the 2nd Floor either.
---
The Nightmare Communication Channel was originally famous for being a Room of Silence.
Even though the personnel had grown from just one person to six, still no one conversed.
It was only natural that people's attention was focused on the conversation that popped up out of nowhere one day.
\[Jackal: Person123, are you watching?\] \[Jackal: I am the Second Clearer. I will soon challenge the 2nd Floor.\] \[Jackal: Before that, I wanted to say this to you.\] \[Jackal: If I had become a Nightmare Challenger earlier, I would have been the one to achieve the First Clear of the 1st Floor as well.\] \[Jackal: I will prove it soon. I will be the one to give you the information on the 2nd Floor.\]
The Second Clearer mentioned the First Conqueror.
And with somewhat provocative content at that.
People anticipated the First Conqueror's reaction.
\[Person123: I will pray for your success.\]
But the conversation ended anticlimactically with just that.
A certain Training Facility of the US Climbing Management Bureau.
Visiting the facility for the first time in a while, Max exchanged greetings with the managers and looked around at the numerous structures spread out around him.
Towering pillars and uniquely shaped drones were floating in mid-air.
It was a facility specially modified from one of the Training Centers used for the 2nd Floor Hard Difficulty.
There were a man and a woman leaping around in mid-air, using the pillars and drones as stepping stones.
As Max watched them, the manager spoke to him.
"Compared to Hard Difficulty, we've increased the distance between platforms by more than double, and reduced the width of the platforms to under 50%." "I see. Are those drones perhaps implementing the Moving Platforms?" "Yes, we added them recently, because Nightmare is all about not knowing what will appear."
This place was a facility solely for the clearing of the Nightmare 2nd Floor.
Max was still doing his best to foster 1st Floor Clearers, and the two who had already passed the 1st Floor were preparing for their next trial here.
A long while later, the man came down from the facility, wiping his sweat, and approached Max.
"What brings a busy man like you here?" "How is your condition lately, Jack?"
He was none other than the Second Clearer of the Nightmare 1st Floor.
This was a legend of Delta Force, and also the person Max had anticipated the most from the very beginning.
"I am always in top shape, to the point where it wouldn't matter if I entered the 2nd Floor right this second." "That's a relief. But I saw that you had written a post in the communication channel."
Jack casually tossed the towel he used to wipe his sweat.
"Is that why you came?" "He is someone who has given us a lot of help. Did you really have to provoke him?"
Max was also well aware of Jack's competitive spirit.
He was someone who always craved to be the best, and because of that, he was aiming for the First Clear of the 2nd Floor.
"It wasn't really a provocation. I just said what I wanted to say." "That's exactly what a provocation is, Jack."
Taylor also approached their side.
She was the Fifth Clearer of the Nightmare 1st Floor. Max exchanged a light nod of greeting with her.
The ratio of male climbers is overwhelmingly higher than female climbers.
Once levels rise, gender becomes meaningless, but the 1st Floor of the Tower is strictly the Realm of ordinary people.
Since it was a floor that those who hadn't yet gained any abilities had to pass solely with their own capabilities, it was natural that the difference in innate Physical Ability played a huge role.
Because of that, Max had never even imagined that a Nightmare Challenger would emerge from among women.
Of course, Taylor wasn't an ordinary person either. She was from the military and originally an Agent belonging to the CIA SAC.
"That person is a Helper, not someone to direct completely unnecessary competitive spirit towards."
Jack retorted to Taylor's words.
"Competitiveness is the very driving force that moves humans forward. It's the catalyst that makes us surpass our limits. Ah, is this something you can't relate to?" "It's a story that doesn't fit the situation. Do you not consider that your trivial words and actions could ruin our relationship with an important figure?"
Jack chuckled.
"He's not the type to flare up over every trivial thing like that. He told me he'd pray for my success, didn't you see?"
The First Nightmare Clearer, Person123.
Although the number of Nightmare Challengers has increased now, the achievement of being the first was still unrivaled.
That was why Jack wanted to prove it: that he was superior.
Jack believed that if he had been a First-Wave Climber, he too would have cleared the Nightmare 1st Floor without any information.
This was a conclusion he reached after experiencing the 1st Floor himself, and he possessed enough skill that it couldn't simply be dismissed as arrogance.
Making provocative remarks in the communication channel was a light greeting.
Because he wanted to try to draw out a reaction from the guy who had never replied a single word unless it was related to the 1st Floor Clear.
Jack was somewhat satisfied just by the fact that he wasn't ignored and a reply came back.
Max shook his head and spoke.
"Anyway, manage your condition well. Approval will be granted for the date you requested. I came to let you know that." "Yeah? That's great." "Are you sure you'll be okay, even if you enter with a bit more time to spare?" "My preparations have been finished for a long time. In the end, you can only know by going in yourself."
Someone had to go in first anyway, but no one particularly wanted Jack to volunteer for it.
The higher-ups' opinion was to wait and see a little longer, but Jack's will was firm.
"I will clear the 2nd Floor. As desired, I will establish this Nation as the Front Runner of Nightmare Difficulty."
Time passed, and D-Day arrived.
\[Nightmare\] \[Personnel: 163,367\] \[Floor: 2nd Floor\] \[Deadline: 22 days 14 hours 28 minutes 6 seconds\]
A Closed-door Session within the Climbing Management Bureau Headquarters.
With several people gathered, Jack did a final check of his body.
\[Difficulty: Nightmare\] \[Floor: 2nd Floor\] \[Level: 10\] \[Willpower: 150\] \[Skill: Feather Walk (Rare) (+1), Hunting Time (Rare), Skin Hardening (Rare), Charge (Normal+), Leap (Normal) (+1), Repel (Normal), Fortitude (Normal)...\]
A Status Window list that didn't seem like it belonged to someone who had merely cleared the 1st Floor.
The 2nd Floor was a different situation from the 1st Floor.
A Climber who had awakened their Status Window could receive as much Skill and item support as they wanted, and Jack had practically received every investment possible.
Many Skill Stones and Skill Enhancement Stones, plus an item that raised Willpower by 50.
In particular, Feather Walk, a Rare Grade Passive Skill that lightened the body, and the Leap Skill, which momentarily amplified jumping power, were Skills that the Nation had somehow procured for him, considering the theme of the 2nd Floor.
Of the two Nightmare 1st Floor Clearers possessed by the United States, it had essentially invested all its resources into the one it judged to have higher potential.
It could be said to be a better choice than dividing them half-heartedly. Now it was time to check the results.
"I wish you good luck, Sergeant First Class Jack Davis."
Receiving a final salute, Jack returned the salute and stared into mid-air.
\[Would you like to enter Nightmare Difficulty, 2nd Floor?\]
Soon, Jack's figure disappeared.
The people maintained their silence in tension.
Had about a minute passed?
Taylor, who was checking the communication channel, let out a gasp with a pale face.
"Ah..."
Looking at her, Max asked in confusion.
"Taylor? Are you alright?"
Soon, sensing an ominous feeling, he too checked the communication channel.
And he, too, couldn't help but make a devastated face.
\[Nightmare (5)\]
The Nightmare personnel had decreased by one.