Chapter 102: 7th Floor Hidden Route (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 102: 7th Floor Hidden Route (1)
The Zone 3 Boss lay defeated.
Of course, since I had already claimed both the first-time and normal rewards, no message popped up for me.
Watching the joyous crowd, I thought to myself, ‘Did I hit it too hard?’
I had to step in because someone was in danger, but I think I might have failed to control my strength. I may have snatched away a significant portion of the contribution score for the boss fight.
Well, as long as no one died, I guess it’s fine.
‘By the way...’
I looked over at the man and woman.
I’d never seen their faces before, but watching them fight, I knew instinctively. They were the representative Nightmare Clearers for the United States and China.
I had thought the boss would be tricky to handle since it was a flying type. But the Chinese Nightmare Clearer had stepped up first, piercing its wings and dragging it to the ground.
By disabling its ability to fly from the get-go, he’d allowed the raid to proceed smoothly.
The American Nightmare Clearer’s performance was also incredible.
I figured the two of them had probably earned the highest contribution scores.
Well, in any case, it was a relief that it ended without anyone dying.
I moved to Zone 0.
* * *
“Are you alright?” Li Zeyan asked as he approached Ye Chenwei, who was standing there blankly.
Gazing at the boss’s corpse, Ye Chenwei muttered with a hint of regret, “I should have shown a more impressive performance...”
“Pardon?”
Because one idiot was acting up, he had been forced to step in.
“Don’t worry about me. Go tend to the injured first.”
“Ah, yes. Understood.”
As Ye Chenwei turned to look toward the Security Force, his eyes met Taylor’s.
He gave a slight smile and a nod, and she nodded back, though with a somewhat stiff expression.
“Hoo...”
Taylor let out a sigh of relief and looked around.
She tried to find Saram123, but he was nowhere to be seen. Had he already left?
Captain Alex was moving about, checking on his squad members to see if anyone was injured.
Vice-Captain Justin was chewing out Vince, who was sitting slumped on the ground.
“You crazy son of a bitch, you know you almost died, right?”
He had warned him so many times, yet he’d gone and caused trouble again. If Saram123 hadn’t stepped in to save him, he would have been hit directly by the breath attack and turned to ash.
“...I’m sorry. I thought I could do it.”
Vince’s eyes, however, were sparkling as he stared blankly at the boss’s corpse.
“But, Vice-Captain.”
“What?”
“That was insane. Did you see that? He knocked that monster down with a single punch...!” Vince exclaimed, his voice filled with excitement.
Justin clicked his tongue. This guy nearly died and still hasn’t learned his lesson.
“Good work. How many are injured?” Taylor asked, walking up to Alex.
“Two, but their injuries are minor,” Alex replied.
“That’s a relief. I’m glad it ended safely.”
“Did you receive your rewards?”
“Yes. What about the others?”
“It seems more people than I expected didn’t get anything.”
It was likely the effect of Saram123 stepping in, which had skewed the contribution scores heavily in his favor.
Taylor and Alex looked at the boss’s corpse.
Its body was covered in countless wounds, but the most noticeable was its deeply caved-in snout—the mark left by Saram123’s fist.
Alex muttered in awe, “At this point, I’m getting tired of being surprised.”
Taylor felt the same.
Of course, Saram123 already had a record of one-shotting the Zone 3 Boss. But that had been a skill. One could at least try to understand it by reasoning that, as the top-ranked Nightmare Clearer, he must have received an incredible skill as a reward.
But this... this was something else entirely.
He had half-shattered the monster’s head with a single punch—a head that hadn’t budged even when all the best Climbers had focused their attacks on it. And it didn’t even look like he had used a special skill.
Even his physical abilities were on another level.
Soon, the boss’s corpse vanished.
A thought struck Alex anew.
It felt like Saram123 was becoming a completely different kind of being, all on his own.
* * *
[Kaive: Is it true Saram123 killed the boss with one punch?]
[Mureh: Didn’t kill it, just knocked it out for a bit. Heard he stepped in because someone was about to die.]
[Chamsae: Just how strong is heㄷㄷ]
The Zone 3 boss fight had ended safely.
It was about time for me to enter and clear the 7th Floor Hidden Route.
The 7th Floor was... how to put it?
It was a floor that tested your raw abilities much more harshly than the others.
Especially the Body Left-Right Reversal.
I could handle it with my Time Stop ability, but others would have to rely solely on their own skills. The problem was, this wasn't something you could overcome just by knowing about it. It was a gimmick that was nearly impossible to adapt to on the fly.
It wasn't like you could practice it outside, either... Should they do some image training?
Even if they had the information, I was skeptical whether the other Nightmare Clearers could pull it off.
Still, I had to post the information.
I left my house, got a room at a motel, and entered the 7th Floor.
[You have entered the 7th Floor, Nightmare Difficulty.]
A cavern riddled with holes greeted me.
Boom! Boom!
I dodged the arrows that flew at me like missiles.
‘32, 33, 34...’
This time, I counted the arrows carefully.
I remembered all the questions the last statue had asked.
A total of 305 arrows.
After dodging the very last one, I moved on to the next gate.
The question at the second gate was the number of arrows in the final volley. I had guessed 25 last time and gotten it right.
Just in case, I stopped time and counted them again. It was indeed 25.
Next, the third gate.
Fwaaat.
A pattern glowed, and that damn left-right reversal activated.
I once again assumed my four-legged beast form, stopping time to dodge the arrows.
Ugh... this is seriously impossible.
If the other Nightmare Clearers want to clear this, their only chance is to perfectly memorize the arrow patterns.
Kwaang!
The number of arrows in the final volley.
I counted them. A total of 26.
Next, the fourth gate. Colored Arrows.
The question had been the color of the tenth arrow.
I parried the colored arrows with my swords, checking the color of the tenth one.
It was green.
—See. Did I not tell you it was green?
The Demon King remarked.
I was a little dumbfounded.
This guy still remembers that.
Anyway, I passed and moved on to the fifth gate.
A red point appeared on the statue.
I gave up on trying to hit it with an arrow and just shot them all into the air.
After I’d used up all my chances, the statue aimed its bow at me.
Just as I’d done before, I timed my Teleportation to the exact moment each arrow would hit me, letting them all pass through me.
The statue crumbled, and I moved on to the final boss room.
[What is the total number of arrows fired in the first gate?]
The question on the stone tablet.
Of course, it was the same as before.
“305.”
[O]
I answered the questions one by one.
A series of circles appeared, but no number materialized above the tablet.
Crack!
After the questions were finished, the tablet crumbled, and the boss revealed itself.
Because I had answered everything correctly, no arrows flew at me.
I immediately fired a Destruction Ray at the boss.
Struck directly, the boss was split into an upper and lower half and collapsed.
Since the timer on the tablet hadn't increased, it didn't have its invincibility buff either.
Boss defeated.
I looked around.
Now it was time to find the Hidden Route...
‘Where do I go?’
Aside from the path leading back to the previous gates, the cavern was sealed on all sides. There was no door leading to a next stage.
Rumble-rumble-rumble—
Just then, a tremor shook the cavern again.
A section of the cavern wall crumbled away, revealing an entrance.
...That must be it.
I waited for the cooldown on my Destruction Ray to finish.
Then, I moved toward the newly appeared entrance.
A long, straight corridor stretched before me.
Maintaining a slight sense of tension, I walked onward.
“...?”
Another vast cavern appeared.
And there were people. Three of them.
All three of them focused their attention on me.
“Another one has joined us,” a middle-aged man in brilliant golden armor said with his arms crossed.
“Welcome. You must have passed through the Sage’s Gate to get here, too, right?” said a mage-like woman in a red robe, holding a staff.
“Ha, why do people keep showing up? Three was already too many,” said a man in the free-spirited garb of a traveler, with a multitude of daggers hanging from his waist.
The three of them each said a word to me.
First of all... the setting here seems to be medieval fantasy.
‘Sage’s Gate?’
Looking around the cavern, I saw that including the entrance I had just come from, there was one entrance in each of the four cardinal directions.
Did these people also pass through a gate to get here?
And...
‘They’re strong.’
My sixth sense told me that all three of them were far from ordinary.
I didn’t know if they were friend or foe... but for now, they seemed only slightly wary, not hostile.
Figuring out the setting is my first priority.
I approached the three of them to start a conversation.
“Hello. Did you all pass through the arrow trap as well?”
The mage woman, who seemed the most approachable, answered.
“That’s right. We all ended up meeting here after passing through the gates.”
From the atmosphere, it seemed the three of them didn't know each other either. They were wary not just of me, but of one another.
The woman looked around and said, “Four passages, four people... I wonder if this is everyone? How about we introduce ourselves?”
Introductions sounded good to me.
But the traveler man retorted bluntly, “Introductions? Aren’t we all competitors right now? You all came here because you covet the Sage’s Treasure.”
The woman snorted.
“I’m not particularly interested in treasure, you know. I’m simply here to investigate this dungeon, which is said to have been built by the Sage.”
“Is that so? Still, if the legend is true, wouldn’t your eyes glaze over with greed?” the traveler man shouted, clenching his fists. “He who obtains the Sage’s Treasure shall know all the truths of the world!”
...Listening to them, I tried to piece together the background lore.
The keyword ‘Sage’ kept coming up. This place was a dungeon built by a Sage. And there was a Sage’s Treasure that could reveal all the truths of the world.
Is finding the Sage’s Treasure the objective here?
“It’s you mage-types who are crazy about the truth, isn’t it? So stop with the ridiculous pretense,” the traveler man said.
The woman’s brow furrowed in displeasure at his words, but she shot back with a sarcastic retort.
“On the contrary, the Sage’s Treasure doesn’t seem very useful for you. You seem quite far removed from someone who would seek worldly knowledge.”
The man grinned as if the jab hadn’t affected him at all.
“How’d you know? Of course I couldn’t care less about that stuff. I’ll just get the Sage’s Treasure and sell it for a high price to some rich bastard, whether it’s the emperor or whoever. That’s all that matters.”
The woman clicked her tongue as if he were pathetic, while the knight man remained silent, his arms still crossed.
Rumble-rumble-rumble—
Suddenly, a violent tremor shook the cavern.
The four entrances in the cardinal directions.
In an instant, the walls sealed themselves, and the entrances vanished without a trace.
KWAAANG!
The knight man immediately drew his sword and swung.
A massive wave of Sword Aura flew out and struck the sealed wall, but it didn't leave a scratch. He clicked his tongue.
“...How curious. It’s been sealed up completely, without a trace. What kind of magic is this?” the woman said, looking at the sealed entrance with interest.
“Is this really the time to be curious? All the exits are blocked. We’re trapped,” the traveler man said, walking up to the sealed entrance and feeling the wall.
At that moment, the gazes of all four of us, myself included, turned to the empty air.
Words had appeared in the space before us.
[Find the Sage hiding among the four of you.]