Chapter 113
During the 6th Floor.
The Tower itself had tried to block my challenge in exchange for the Ark.
But this time, the penalty was…
[Penalty: While 'Person123' is attempting the First Clear of the 8th Floor, one of their possessed items will randomly be usage prohibited.]
Usage prohibited One random item.
It was just this.
What was it trying to do?
The Tower was making a completely unbalanced proposal.
Did this guy go crazy because of the Sage while fixing bugs… There’s no way.
“Hmm…”
I crossed my arms and leaned back in my chair.
I buried the silly thoughts and started to think seriously.
I knew it.
There was definitely some ulterior motive.
Because there was no way the Tower would make a proposal like this for my benefit.
But even so, the reason I had so many thoughts was…
“The conditions are too good.”
It was just one.
One of the many items I possessed.
Even if the Tower rigged it so it wasn’t random, and prohibited an item of its own choosing…
What was my most important item? Diul?
Anyway, whatever got prohibited, it wouldn’t be enough to significantly impact my combat power.
But what I could get in return.
An Ark with a whopping 10km radius.
The last bastion where Humanity could survive even a little, even if I failed now or in the future.
It said an activated Ark would last forever, so even if I died, the Ark would be maintained.
I couldn’t help but be tempted.
Yeah, it was obviously a trick. It was obvious, but…
I succeeded on the 4th Floor too, didn’t I?
It was an even weaker penalty compared to the 4th Floor.
- Do not accept it.
Demon Lord then said.
- Taking this Monster’s temptation seriously is already playing into its hands. Do you not understand?
Demon Lord strongly insisted on kicking the proposal away.
Come to think of it, Demon Lord had said something like that before.
That he didn’t have memories of when his World was destroyed, but the Tower had definitely proposed something.
Had Demon Lord been burned badly by the Tower’s proposal before?
“But I accepted the proposal on the 4th Floor and succeeded. Wouldn’t it be a gamble worth trying this time too?”
Demon Lord sneered.
- Then accept it. I won’t stop you.
I laughed too.
Demon Lord already knew which way my heart was leaning.
Since it was a global announcement this time too, the communication window and the news were noisy.
It was a mess with people arguing back and forth about whether I should accept the proposal or not, but…
I had already made my decision anyway.
[Nightmare]
Participants: 476,805
Time Limit: 20 days, 1 minute, 1 second
Reached floor: 8th Floor
A day passed.
I calmed my mind and finished my preparations.
I ignored the proposal window and stood in the middle of the hotel room.
“Shall we go.”
I would not accept the proposal.
I was definitely tempted.
But it was also true that it smelled fishier than that.
I also wondered if there was an item among the ones I had that was absolutely necessary for this 8th Floor clear.
It was like that during the masked auction too.
This was rather a belief in the Tower.
The belief that this guy, utterly malicious, would never do anything advantageous for me.
So I wouldn’t be swayed.
I completely shook off my lingering attachments.
[Would you like to enter the nightmare difficulty 8th Floor?]
Taking one last deep breath…
“Enter.”
My vision changed.
* * *
The Field of the 8th Floor was a Desert.
The theme was nothing special.
Defeat or avoid the sandworms popping out through the Ground, and arrive at the destination to clear it.
Of course, that was the story for other difficulties.
I would have to see what spicy twists would be added for Nightmare.
[You have entered the nightmare difficulty 8th Floor.]
[The Tower’s proposal has been invalidated.]
As soon as I entered, I used stop Time.
I Hwak-in the information coming into my vision.
The middle of the Desert.
Sand stretched endlessly in all directions.
It was the same scenery no matter where I looked, north, south, east, or west.
I used Time release again.
“They said 10 minutes.”
The sandworms would attack soon.
If I held out while dealing with the sandworms, it would appear in 10 minutes.
The destination I had to reach, the oasis.
I waited quietly under the scorching sun.
But it really is quite hot.
At my level, if it feels like this, it seems like a temperature where a normal person would burn to death.
Gugu…
Then, a vibration rang out from under my feet.
It was from the left.
With my Sixth Sense sharpened even further, I leisurely prepared for the attack.
Kwaaaaa!
The Desert surged up, casting a shadow. Sand dust scattered like a Pokpung.
A terrifyingly massive caterpillar Monster.
A sandworm that popped out onto The surface Sugu as if looking down at me.
Its cylindrical head was studded with tiny, disgusting teeth.
Hmm… It’s freaking huge?
Did they say the sandworms on Hard Difficulty were about the size of a 5th Floor building?
This was practically a skyscraper.
Of course, this much was well within my expected range.
Kuuuuu…!
Soon, the sandworm lowered its massive body and lunged toward me.
I used Time Stop.
I used Mental Concentration and unleashed Flame strike.
Kwaaaaang!
The Fireballs that flew in a vertical line struck the sandworm’s body evenly.
Kkeeeeeek-!
An ear-piercing cry.
Without needing to attack further, the sandworm’s body completely burst apart in one hit.
The guy twisted its body, pouring out green bodily fluids like a waterfall.
I dodged backward to avoid the scattering fluids.
It seemed to be toxic, as I saw the sand melting where the fluids fell.
Kuuuung!
Soon, the sandworm collapsed.
I looked at the corpse.
'It’s nothing special…'
It was just freaking huge.
It might be different for other Nightmare Clearers, but to me, it was just a mob-level Monster. It was ordinary.
Of course, I didn’t let my guard down in the slightest.
Because it was only just the Start.
Gugu.
The vibration rang out again.
Other sandworms popped out again.
This time, there were two.
I attacked one with Flame strike again, and the other with Shockwave and other magic.
I didn’t bother fighting up close and just fired magic. Because the fluids would splatter.
Since I didn’t know what else might suddenly pop out, I saved Line of Destruction and Hellfire Eruption without using them.
Even after taking care of the two, sandworms continued to pop out.
I ran around on the Desert, taking them out one by one with magic.
After killing over ten of them…
Had 10 minutes passed?
Before I knew it, the oasis had appeared in the distance.
“Is that it.”
I moved toward the oasis.
If I arrive there, it’s a success… There’s no way that’s it, right?
It wasn’t even at the level of a warm-up yet.
Something else would start when I arrived, or something would pop out on the way.
As I ran while keeping my senses sharp.
The sand overturned again, and sandworms popped out.
The numbers had increased compared to before.
It wasn’t a problem at all.
Even if I just ignored them and ran, they wouldn’t be able to catch up to my speed.
Thinking they might become a hindrance if I didn’t take care of them, I deliberately took out all the sandworms as I continued straight toward the oasis.
The oasis quickly got closer.
It was far away, but it was only a few minutes away by running, with my physical ability.
Right around when I had almost arrived.
“…!”
My Sixth Sense rang a faint alarm.
I immediately kicked off the ground and leaped high into the void.
Kwaaaaaa!
The sand in a wide area suddenly caved in…
At the last moment, a massive swarm of sandworms poured out.
“Ha.”
While staying in the void, I bombarded magic downwards.
Kwagwagwagwagwang!
Being clustered together only made them easier to deal with.
The sandworms refreshingly burst apart.
Falling back to the ground, I cast Blade Storm among the remaining sandworms.
“Demon Lord.”
And I handed my body over to Demon Lord.
He flew and escaped outside the caved-in area.
After that, we finished off the few surviving ones, and that was it.
A trap like this…
It was embarrassing to even call it a trap. For a Nightmare, that is.
I brushed off the dirt and dust, and advanced toward the oasis, which was now only a short distance away.
But…
“…?”
At a distance of less than 100 meters.
The oasis suddenly disappeared. Like a divine skill.
I didn’t panic.
Because I had never thought it would end this simply anyway.
“…A skeleton?”
The spot where the oasis had disappeared.
A human skeleton was lying there, leaning its back against a benevolent person.
It’s not an Undead Monster, right?
I approached cautiously. My Sixth Sense didn’t react.
It was a skeleton dressed like a traveler…
Something was clutched in its hand.
A notebook, and a Ricky.
I first Hwak-in the notebook.
When I opened it, it was all torn, leaving only one page.
A passage was written in red letters.
[No matter how much I walk, it never gets closer. Have I gone mad? Or is this Desert cursed? I should never have set foot in this place. I should never have set foot…]
…What is this?
Looking at the contents, it seemed this person had died while wandering the Desert.
I should never have set foot in this place, huh.
I’ve already entered to clear it, so what am I supposed to do.
Is it letting me kindly know that I’m f*cked?
I pocketed it for now.
I Hwak-in the Ricky too.
[1]
When I touched the Ricky, a number suddenly appeared.
'…1?'
What did this mean?
I tilted my head and examined the Ricky.
The Ricky needle was pointing in one direction.
I raised my head and looked in that direction… Hmm?
The oasis had appeared again in the distance.
I searched through the skeleton’s clothes some more.
Other than the notebook and Ricky, there were no other items.
“Hmm…”
I stared at the oasis again.
I guess I have no choice but to head that way for now?
Kwaaaaa!
While moving, sandworms popped out again.
I lightly dealt with them and sprinted across the Desert.
As I advanced toward the oasis like that…
“…?”
I noticed something strange.
The distance… doesn’t seem to be getting closer?
After running a bit more, I soon became Hwaksin.
As expected, it wasn’t getting closer at all.
…Was this what it meant by “no matter how much I walk, it never gets closer”?
I Hwak-in the Ricky. But.
[2]
The number on the Ricky had increased to 2.
“Ah.”
It increased to 4 again.
I kept staring at the numbers, and after a moment, I realized the Rule.
The number on the Ricky seemed to be doubling every 2 minutes.
[8]
…What is it? What Suggestion is it making?
It was quite annoying.
Because the number getting bigger didn’t seem like it would be a good thing for me. It was like that on the 7th Floor too.
I pulled out the warp device.
Let’s try using warp to the maximum distance for now.
My Willpower was fully charged since I always kept it topped up beforehand.
After waiting 10 minutes, I used warp toward the direction of the oasis.
And…
“…F*ck.”
Looking at the oasis, which was still in the same position, I muttered a curse.
It hadn’t gotten closer at all.
Even though I had moved a whopping 10,000km.
Is it really not a matter of physical distance?
I tried going in the completely opposite direction of the oasis, and even sideways.
But no matter which direction I went in the Desert, the same scenery just repeated.
The oasis neither got further away nor closer to me.
In the midst of this, the sandworms kept popping out and attacking annoyingly…
Kwaaaaang!
[512]
After taking care of the sandworms, I used Time Stop.
Let’s organize the situation.
The oasis isn’t getting closer.
The Ricky number of unknown meaning keeps getting bigger.
…Is finding a way to arrive at that oasis the clear condition for this 8th Floor?
But what kind of gimmick is this anyway.
“Demon Lord, do you have any thoughts?”
I asked Demon Lord for his opinion.
- No.
“…Then think about it with me.”
Anyway, there’s no answer like this.
I had to find some other way out.
I fell into thought.
Come to think of it… isn’t it similar to the 2nd Floor?
The infinite Staircase where I just went around in circles in the same spot.
It wasn’t much different now.
Back then, I broke the gimmick by escaping into a completely different space through the Window…
Here, it was an endless Desert in all directions.
There was nothing that could be called a different space.
'…'
No.
Is that really true?
At a sudden thought, I looked at the dead sandworm in front of me.
The Sand Pit an endless Desert in all directions. There was nothing that could be called a different space. '…' No. Is that really true? At a sudden thought, I looked at the dead sandworm in front of me. The Sand Pit the guy had popped out of. the guy had popped out of.