Warning

A message stating that the Hidden Clear had resulted in Invalidation due to an error.

I checked my status window.

[Difficulty: Nightmare]

[Floor: 7th Floor]

[Level: 95]

[Willpower: 5,000/5,000]

[Skill: Line of Destruction (Epic+), Subspace (Epic), Hellfire Eruption (Epic), Sixth Sense (Rare+)(+2), Teleportation (Rare+), Rapid Regeneration (Rare+), Scorching Zone (Rare+), Flame-style Lesser Arrangement (Rare+)...]

My level hadn't gone up either.

There were no other rewards received.

Meaning, I hadn't obtained anything as a 7th Floor Hidden Reward.

"No..."

What kind of bullshit situation was this.

Is it my fault that an error occurred?

How could they just invalidate the reward too?

[Due to an error, the Nightmare Difficulty Hidden Route closed.]

[Cannot Proceed with Hidden Route until all errors are corrected.]

It even said the Hidden Route was closed.

So this means... it's not just the 7th Floor that's blocked, right?

Because the Nightmare Difficulty Hidden Route was blocked, it seemed to mean all other floors were included too.

Does this mean I can't do a Hidden Clear from now on? until the errors are corrected

I glared at the message in disbelief.

...Right, first, the other reward.

Separate from the Tower's reward, there was something the Sage had given me.

I stared intently at my right palm.

‘...What the hell did he give me?’

He said it was the one most needed thing for me.

But I didn't know what had changed.

Something like a white jewel had melted into my hand.

But there wasn't anything particularly displayed on the status window either.

"Demon Lord."

I called out to Ma-Wang.

"What did the Sage do to me? Do you know?"

- I do not know.

Ma-Wang seemed somewhat displeased.

- I told you to choose the book. You got no reward and nothing at all. It serves you right.

Is he acting like this because I didn't choose the Book of Omniscience?

I protested.

"...I told you. The Sage failed too, so even if I chose the Book of Omniscience, it wouldn't be any different for me..."

I said that.

Honestly, I am regretting it a little bit right now.

Should I have chosen the Book of Omniscience after all?

I couldn't take back what I had already chosen.

"Haaap!"

I recklessly thrust my palm out into the Void.

Of course, nothing came out.

- Tsk, tsk.

I awkwardly lowered my hand.

Phew, I don't know...

I flopped down on the bed and cooled my head.

My mind was a jumbled mess.

More than that, what exactly was the Sage?

‘...He said it was the end of Failed Worlds.’

Does a World destroyed by the Tower become a Tower Floor?

If I fail, will Earth end up like that too?

It's not just Humanity dying from the Tower's Curse and people turning into Monsters, but it's that.

"...Demon Lord."

- What.

"How was your World destroyed?"

I had asked once before, but hadn't received an answer.

I felt like I now understood a little bit why Ma-Wang had been buried on the 5th Floor.

Wasn't Ma-Wang also swallowed by the Tower and in a similar situation to the Sage?

"We're in a Cooperative Relationship now. Please share some information."

After a brief silence.

- Once, I ruled over a land far vaster than this planet called Earth.

Ma-Wang began to speak.

- All creation in the world enjoyed a long peace under my reign. until the Tower appeared.

...Ma-Wang, but peace?

It was a statement that made me tilt my head, but I listened for now.

- My World was also no different from this World. There were four difficulties, and it was foretold that the World would end when the time limit was up. And no one but me could clear Nightmare Difficulty.

- However, that was not a problem. Even Nightmare Difficulty dared not block my path. Even as I climbed past the 20th Floor, I faced no particular difficulties.

"...Then what happened?"

How did such a strong Ma-Wang end up failing?

Ma-Wang remained silent for a long time, then spoke.

- I do not know.

"Pardon?"

- For some reason, I have no memory of the final moments, of what kind of end my World met.

He had no memory.

- I'm certain the Tower made some kind of proposal, though...

I asked, as if realizing something.

"Is that why you told me to get the Book of Omniscience?"

No wonder Ma-Wang's attitude had been strangely proactive.

Did he want to regain his lost memories through the Book of Omniscience?

- It was killing two birds with one stone. But you made a stupid choice, did you not?

"...Then anyway, you don't know what the Tower's Identity is either, Demon Lord."

I wanted to know exactly how the Tower brought an end to the World.

Since Ma-Wang also said he had no memory, it seemed unlikely I'd get an answer.

Well, it's not like knowing would change anything.

I looked at my palm once more and got up.

The Hidden Route was supposedly blocked, and I had no idea what the Sage had given me.

My head was still complicated, but...

One way or another, I had to do what I had to do.

I left the motel and returned home.

[You have entered Nightmare Difficulty 7th Floor.]

And I immediately re-entered the 7th Floor.

The entry went through normally.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Since the Hidden Clear was over, I had to write the 7th Floor Strategy Guide now...

This one seemed like it would take quite a lot of time.

Because I had to check all the hundreds of Arrows per Gate.

‘Will they be able to clear this?’

What continued to bother me was.

The question of whether the other Nightmare Challengers would actually be able to clear the 7th Floor remains.

The second Gate of Darkness.

For this, they just needed a type of Skill that could secure vision even in the darkness.

Or they could just fire off Fire-elemental Magic to relight the Torches. I had confirmed that was possible.

The fourth Colored Arrow Gate.

This one would be quite tough, but I didn't think it was to the point of being impossible.

If they just memorized the Arrow Pattern perfectly, it would work out somehow.

The fifth Statue Gate could also be passed just by practicing archery and hitting the dot.

But even putting everything else aside, the third Gate, the Body Left-Right Reversal, was just too tough.

It wasn't something that could be resolved just by knowing it in your head...

I breezed through the Gates and reached the Boss Room.

Fwoooosh!

After lightly cutting down the boss with the Hellfire Eruption Skill, the player advanced.

[Successfully Cleared Nightmare Difficulty 7th Floor.]

[Moving to the Reward Room.]

I was moved to the Reward Room along with the normal messages.

I looked around the Reward Room.

I wondered if there might be some kind of 7th Floor Hidden Reward by any chance, but... there wasn't.

Was it really completely subjected to invalidation?

"So cheap, seriously."

Let's just organize the Strategy Guide.

I exited.

I figured I should do a Repeat Clear and organize the Arrow Pattern for each Gate into notes.

"...Jeez."

That startled me.

When I returned to my room, my Younger Sibling was sitting at my desk, using the computer.

"What are you doing?"

"I have something I need to print."

"What about your laptop?"

"It's broken. I have to take it in for repairs anyway."

Glancing back at me, she asked.

"But it took you a long time?"

"...Huh?"

"It takes a long time to clear and come out. I've been using the computer for over 30 minutes now. I thought you weren't home."

I was momentarily speechless before answering.

"That's because I'm doing a Repeat Clear."

There was no reason for it to take several minutes to hunt a single Goblin on the Easy Difficulty 1st Floor.

But it was possible to immediately re-clear from the Reward Room without exiting the Tower.

So even if I stayed inside the Tower for a long time, there was nothing particularly strange about it.

"I see. But what about the magic stones?"

"They're in the Reward Room. Why do you keep asking?"

"Just curious. Can't I even ask?"

My Younger Sibling grumbled and turned her gaze back to the computer screen.

I tilted my head.

Why was she suddenly asking when she hadn't shown any interest until now?

‘...Is she suspicious?’

Hmm, no way.

My Younger Sibling finished using the computer and left.

I stopped paying attention to it and entered the 7th Floor again.

Anyway, I was really worried about the other Nightmare Challengers for this 7th Floor...

I recalled the two people I had seen during the Zone 3 Boss Battle.

The United States and China would still challenge it, right?

Actually, at this point in time, there was no longer any reason for Nations to actively challenge Nightmare.

I was already preventing the End of Humanity, and excluding that reason, it was a challenge with too great Return vs. Risk.

Even so, the United States and China's continuing to challenge Nightmare was, well... probably their own competition: that they couldn't fall behind the other.

The Representative Nightmare Challenger from the United States side.

I had also heard things about her indirectly from Billon and Mr. Rhinoceros.

Even though nations were investing in Nightmare Challengers for their own national interests.

I heard she was definitely someone who challenged Nightmare for the greater good.

Especially the identity of the people filling the gauge in Zone 5 besides me.

I had also heard about this indirectly from Mr. Rhinoceros.

Separate from the US Climbing Bureau, she was taking unilateral action to help out over here.

I didn't know what kind of person the Representative Nightmare Challenger from the China side was well.

But I had heard from Billon that he was the one who caused the coup in China, and that he was likely the Shadow Power Broker of the current Communist Party.

I didn't know why such a person was challenging Nightmare, but...

If he was challenging it himself rather than fostering other Nightmare Challengers, wasn't it because he had a greater cause to work for Humanity?

Anyway, if those two who were following me more diligently than anyone else were to fail and die.

I felt like I wouldn't feel very good about it either.

And this 7th Floor was especially difficult. It was far too difficult.

Honestly, I wished no one would challenge it.

But I had no right to stop the challenges of other Climbers.

Instead, I decided to definitely leave a warning in this Strategy Guide.

If they still wanted to challenge it, it couldn't be helped, but it was hoped that they preferably wouldn't.

* * *

After the Nightmare 7th Floor clear ended, the Zone 3 Boss Battle ended right after.

People were now expecting Person123 to post the 7th Floor Strategy Guide.

[Person123: This is the Nightmare 7th Floor Strategy Guide.]

And a post went up on the communication window.

[Person123: ...The 7th Floor consists of a total of six Gates. For the First Gate, you must evade a total of 305 Arrows flying in from all directions. Using the Entrance to the next Gate as 12 o'clock, the first Arrow is from the Ceiling at 1 o'clock, the second Arrow is from the front at 6 o'clock, the third Arrow is...]

A Strategy Guide of immense length, far longer than for other floors.

It was because he had written down the trajectory of every single Arrow one by one.

Above all, there was one thing that stood out in this Strategy Guide.

[Person123: ...This 7th Floor is truly dangerous. I would prefer if the two Nightmare Challengers from the United States and China did not challenge it, but if you still intend to, please be careful.]

Person123 added his personal opinion at the end.

The communication window was in an uproar.

[Jorangmal: If the Arrows are over 3 meters long, aren't they just Missiles?]

[Orchestra: It's Nightmare, so that much isn't even surprising. When I look at it, the Arrow Size isn't the problem.]

[Flame Sword: The themes of the Gates are ridiculously difficult, though...]

[Shushu: What the hell is Body Left-Right Reversal? How did Person123 clear that?]

[Watson: That's why he's saying that it's truly dangerous.]

[Eye of the Typhoon: Wow, isn't this the first time Person123 has warned like that?]

[Destructive Power: The United States and China Nightmare Challengers even got a shoutout from Person123, damn.]

The US Climbing Bureau was also in an uproar.

It was unprecedented for Person123 to leave such a special warning.

Experts analyzed the Strategy Guide posted by Person123, and an Emergency Meeting was held.