Chapter 47
I stared blankly at the window.
Then I snapped back to my senses and hurriedly collected the other cores too.
\[200P acquired.\]
\[200P acquired.\]
\[200P acquired.\]
.
.
.
A shop.
Tower defense… an upgrade system…
“…Haha.”
For fuck’s sake.
Only then did I finally realize the gimmick of Floor 4, and I couldn’t help laughing like I had lost my mind.
No wonder this had felt weird the whole time.
The level of the golems coming out was obviously impossible for the other Nightmare clearers.
Just like an actual game, there had been a hidden upgrade system.
You were supposed to clear the stages while steadily upgrading yourself, but I had just brute-forced my way this far with raw stats.
Ah…
I could feel myself getting pissed off…
The other golems had cores too.
But every time the next stage began, all the wreckage disappeared, so the points from the previous eleven stages had all been wasted.
Then how much had I lost just now?
‘Phew…’
My head felt dizzy, but at least I noticed it now.
I looked over the shop list again.
\[Shop\]
- Physical Damage +10% (100P)
- Magic Damage +10% (100P)
- Willpower +10% (100P)
- Damage Type Conversion (500P)
- Force Field (50P)
- Slow (50P)
- Stop (100P)
- Special Draw! (5,000P)
Points Owned: 4,000P
I understood damage increases and Willpower increases, but Damage Type Conversion…?
\[Damage Type Conversion (500P)\]
Converts physical damage into magic damage, and magic damage into physical damage.
Ah, I see.
It was meant to be used against the red and blue golems.
It was meaningless to me now, since I had already gotten past them.
\[Force Field (50P)\]
Installs a force field at a desired section of the path, blocking the golems’ advance. The force field lasts for 30 seconds.
\[Slow (50P)\]
Slows golems on the path by 50%. Slow lasts for 30 seconds.
\[Stop (100P)\]
Stops golems on the path. Stop lasts for 30 seconds.
These were for stopping the golems’ advance.
\[Special Draw! (5,000P)\]
Performs a special draw. The prize list is as follows. All probabilities are equal.
- Skill Effect 300% Scroll
- Ability Nullification Part
- Great Incineration Switch
And finally, the most expensive draw.
\[You have purchased “Magic Damage +10% (100P)”.\]
The points I currently had were 4,000P.
For now, I tried buying one magic damage increase.
\[Shop\]
- Physical Damage +10% (100P)
- Magic Damage +10% (200P)
- Willpower +10% (100P)
- Damage Type Conversion (500P)
- Force Field (50P)
- Slow (50P)
- Stop (100P)
- Special Draw! (5,000P)
Points Owned: 3,900P
After buying it, the price had gone up by 100.
So the cost increased each time you upgraded?
I wasn’t sure whether physical damage increase would apply to Pli too, so for now, I only bought magic damage.
- Green golems revive once even after being completely destroyeddd… Please take appropriate countermeasuresss…
The announcement played.
Stage 13 was about to begin.
Revives even after death?
So it had two lives?
Since there were only five of them, I didn’t use the remaining points yet.
I would test the waters first, then decide how to spend my points.
I had already lost a lot of points, so I needed to be careful with how I used them.
The entrance opened, and a green golem came out.
I placed Scorching Zone on the path at the entrance.
Fwoooosh!
The golem caught fire as it passed through the area.
I also launched Flame Strike and hit the golem.
Kwaaaaang!
The almost-destroyed golem came out of the Scorching Zone, and Pli finished it off.
The golem collapsed, shattered.
Soon, the broken wreckage floated up and merged back together.
Okay, so that’s how it works?
I left the revived one to Pli and handled the next golem.
As the stages progressed, the golems’ basic stats kept increasing, not just their traits, making them harder and harder to destroy.
Still, unlike the black golems, the green ones didn’t ignore damage below a certain threshold, so they were easier to destroy.
My damage had also increased by 10%.
Five of them weren’t difficult to destroy.
Since they revived once, it was basically like fighting ten golems.
\[250P acquired.\]
\[250P acquired.\]
\[250P acquired.\]
.
.
.
After collecting all the cores, I gained another 1,250P.
Did the amount increase by 50P each time the golem type changed?
I stopped time and mentally simulated the next stage.
‘If five are this much…’
Ten would somehow be manageable.
But the one after that might be a bit tough.
Twenty, effectively forty, would probably require more damage upgrades.
‘No, wait.’
\[Force Field (50P)\]
Installs a force field at a desired section of the path, blocking the golems’ advance. The force field lasts for 30 seconds.
Should I try using this?
If the force field perfectly blocked the golems’ advance for 30 seconds…
For me, who only needed to gather the golems into one course and click Destruction Ray, its efficiency would be ridiculously broken.
I should try this later during Stage 15, when twenty of them appear.
\[You have purchased “Magic Damage +10% (200P)”.\]
Stage 14 began.
I spent 200P and strengthened my damage by another 10%.
Ten green golems, effectively twenty, were cleared without crisis even without using Destruction Ray.
I collected all the fallen cores and gained 2,500P.
Next was Stage 15.
Twenty golems, effectively forty.
As planned, I decided to try using Force Field.
Upgrades grew more expensive the more I bought them, but Force Field was cheap despite being one-time use, so its efficiency was good.
If I created a force field at the end of Course 1 and blocked the golems there?
The force field lasted 30 seconds.
It took 30 seconds for the first golem to reach the end of Course 1, and a total of 2 minutes for all twenty golems to come out.
That meant I would need to use the force field three times, costing 150P.
After they revived, I would need to wait another 3 minutes for Destruction Ray’s cooldown, so that would cost an additional 300P.
By calculation, I could cleanly clear the stage with only 450P.
No, actually, if Pli and I also delayed the golems as much as possible, I could spend even less than that.
‘There’s definitely still a boss left…’
The presence of Special Draw in the shop list bothered me strangely.
Would there be a situation where I had to use it?
Rather than blindly dumping everything into upgrades, I felt like I should save as many points as possible.
Especially since I had already wasted so many…
Ugh, fuck.
The lights turned red, and Stage 15 began.
A green golem walked out.
Pli and I stopped the golems’ advance as much as possible, just like we had done against the black golems.
Then, when we gradually got pushed back and reached the end of Course 1…
\[You have purchased “Force Field (50P)”.\]
I used Force Field according to plan.
Just as I wanted, a translucent blue force field appeared at the end of Course 1.
Thud. Thud.
The golem repeatedly rammed its head into the force field, unable to advance.
Since the one at the front couldn’t move forward, the ones behind it were blocked too, crashing into each other.
As expected, the force field didn’t break and seemed to hold perfectly for 30 seconds.
Once the 30 seconds ended and the force field disappeared…
\[You have purchased “Force Field (50P)”.\]
Pli and I struggled again, then created another force field at the right timing.
Unlike damage increases, Force Field’s price didn’t increase from repeated purchases.
Like that, I used Force Field only twice, spending just 100P, and successfully gathered all the golems into Course 2.
Then I wiped them out with Destruction Ray.
Destruction Ray, empowered by the 20% damage boost, once again pierced through every golem perfectly.
Rumble…
The golems with holes blasted clean through their bodies collapsed all at once, then all revived at once.
After that, it was a repeat of what I had already done.
Hold out appropriately while using Force Field until Destruction Ray came off cooldown, then fire Destruction Ray again.
I cleanly cleared Stage 15 after spending only 200P.
I hurriedly picked up all the fallen cores.
\[Shop\]
- Physical Damage +10% (100P)
- Magic Damage +10% (300P)
- Willpower +10% (100P)
- Damage Type Conversion (500P)
- Force Field (50P)
- Slow (50P)
- Stop (100P)
- Special Draw! (5,000P)
Points Owned: 12,250P
12,250P.
I had gathered quite a lot.
During the break, I checked the draw list once more.
\[Special Draw! (5,000P)\]
Performs a special draw. The prize list is as follows. All probabilities are equal.
- Skill Effect 300% Scroll
- Ability Nullification Part
- Great Incineration Switch
Looking at the list more closely, individual descriptions appeared.
\[Skill Effect 300% Scroll\]
Select one skill of any type and increase its effect to 300%. Can be used by tearing the scroll. Stackable.
Increases one skill’s effect to 300%.
The effect was exactly as the name suggested.
\[Ability Nullification Part\]
Nullifies all abilities of one golem. Can be used by bringing the part into contact with the golem.
Ability nullification was also exactly as the name suggested.
It completely nullified one golem’s abilities.
\[Great Incineration Switch\]
Press the button and perform a Great Incineration. Powerful flames will destroy all golems. Of course, you too!
Finally, the Great Incineration Switch.
It said it would destroy all golems.
Including me.
“Of course, you too!” it said.
So it was a self-destruct button, but I had no idea why something like this existed.
- Yellow golems cannot be stoppeddd… Please take appropriate countermeasuresss…
As I was reading the descriptions, the announcement played.
The break was over.
…Cannot be stopped?
Wait a second.
Does that mean I can’t block their path?
Ding—
The lights turned red, and the entrance opened.
A yellow golem walked out.
Pli rushed in and slammed into it with his body, but…
Thooong!
The yellow golem didn’t get pushed back even a little and just kept walking.
Only Pli was bounced away.
I tried using Blade Gale too, but it had no effect at all.
Wait, does Force Field not work either?
\[You have purchased “Force Field (50P)”.\]
I created a force field right in front of the yellow golem.
The moment the force field touched the yellow golem, it shattered, and the golem proudly continued advancing.
‘This little…’
Slow and Stop obviously wouldn’t work either, right?
It seemed I had no choice but to destroy them with pure damage, without tricks.
I fired magic, and Pli climbed onto the golem and tore at it wildly.
Its defense itself was only a little higher than the green golems, so we dealt with it quickly.
We cleared all five without much difficulty, and Stage 16 ended.
\[300P acquired.\]
\[300P acquired.\]
\[300P acquired.\]
.
.
.
After collecting all the cores, I gained 1,500P.
I stopped time and thought.
Just when I thought things were getting a bit easier, another annoying golem had appeared, but…
Honestly, it wasn’t much of a problem.
Roughly estimating it, ten of them should be clearable without Destruction Ray if I upgraded damage one more time.
And if there were twenty, I could wipe out five with Destruction Ray, leaving effectively fifteen.
With twenty golems, it would take 2 minutes just for all of them to appear, so I could technically use Destruction Ray one more time…
But since I had no idea what might come in the next stage, I didn’t plan to use it twice.
My base specs were already so high that, even being generous, three more damage upgrades should be enough to handle Stage 18 with no problem.
Wow…
Was it okay for a Nightmare clear to go this smoothly?
The moment that thought crossed my mind, I slapped my own cheek.
‘Who told you to let your guard down, you crazy bastard?’
The boss hadn’t even appeared yet.
The core gimmick was infuriating, sure, but how should I put it?
I still hadn’t really felt that deep, signature Nightmare-level bullshit.
This was my instinct after clearing three whole floors of Nightmare, so it was reliable.
If you thought about it, I could probably call myself humanity’s greatest Nightmare sommelier.
So under no circumstances should I let my guard down until the end.
Ding—
Stage 17 began.
\[You have purchased “Magic Damage +10% (300P)”.\]
\[You have purchased “Magic Damage +10% (400P)”.\]
\[You have purchased “Magic Damage +10% (500P)”.\]
As planned, I spent a total of 1,200P to buy three more damage upgrades.
Kwaaaaang!
I easily dealt with ten yellow golems using my now stronger firepower.
The same went for the twenty golems in Stage 18.
I first blew away five of them in Course 1 with Destruction Ray, then dealt with the remaining fifteen.
\[Shop\]
- Physical Damage +10% (100P)
- Magic Damage +10% (600P)
- Willpower +10% (100P)
- Damage Type Conversion (500P)
- Force Field (50P)
- Slow (50P)
- Stop (100P)
- Special Draw! (5,000P)
Points Owned: 21,500P
After Stage 18 ended, my points had now exceeded 20,000.
But seriously…
How many stages were there?
Wasn’t it about time I started seeing the end?
That was when an announcement played.
- Our workshop’s masterpiece is malfunctioninggg… Employees are advised to respond with extreme, extreme cautionnn…
…Masterpiece?
‘The boss.’
Sensing that the boss had finally appeared, I turned my gaze toward the entrance.
The entrance opened, and footsteps far heavier than those of the previous golems rang out.
Thud. Thud. Thud…
A giant figure revealed itself.
The moment I saw it, I couldn’t help saying,
“…Oh, come on. Seriously?”
Its head was black.
Its left upper body was red, and its right upper body was blue.
Its left lower body was green, and its right lower body was yellow.
It was a golem that had gathered all the colors of every golem that had appeared so far into a single body.