Chapter 12: Helper
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 12: Helper
I woke up to news that ruined my mood before the day even began.
[US Fails to Clear Nightmare 2nd Floor? Challenger Presumed to be the Second Person to Clear Nightmare 1st Floor...]
"...Sigh."
So, they failed.
There hadn't been an official statement from the US government yet, but this wasn't fake news. You only had to check the Climber Communication Channel to see that one name had vanished from the list.
I felt a pang of pity. To be honest, I also felt a sense of disappointment. And, buried beneath it all, a sliver of guilt.
Deep down, I already knew. I was the one with the highest probability of clearing the 2nd floor.
My Time Stop ability had insane synergy with my other skills. Compared to the other Nightmare Clearers, my power was likely in a league of its own. And yet, I had been idling like this, unable to make up my mind...
"Why the hell is the world like this?"
I closed my eyes, blaming the world for no particular reason. No, but seriously, it is the world's fault. A tower suddenly sprouts in the middle of the ocean and threatens to kill everyone if we don't climb it every year—that's the definition of "messed up," isn't it?
"..."
But what can you do? You have to do what the extortionist says. That is, if you don't want to die.
Let's go in.
I couldn't just sit back and watch the rest of the Nightmare Clearers die off one by one. Man, since when did I become such a selfless guy? Ha.
Once I made the decision, my mind actually grew calm. When should I enter? The sooner, the better, I suppose. Whether I died now or lived another month only to die then, it was all the same. As the deadline approached, the world would only descend further into chaos.
Tomorrow? Sure. I’ll head in at dawn tomorrow.
I went out for a walk to clear my head. While taking in the fresh air and scrolling through the communication window, a whisper caught my eye.
[Chicken Sandwich: ...The skill stone I currently possess is a Common-grade skill called 'Leap.' It amplifies jumping power, so it might be helpful for climbing the 2nd floor. If you don't already have this skill, please, I beg you to reply.]
[Chicken Sandwich: If you don't want to meet in person, you can just pick a location. Name any place in the world, and I will leave the skill stone there for you to find.]
[Chicken Sandwich: I have zero interest in your identity. My only concern is the survival of the human race. You are our only hope. Please, let me contribute even a small amount of help.]
"This person..."
He had sent whispers before. And I knew exactly who he was.
The world's richest man and a famously eccentric businessman: Villon Must.
At first, I thought it was an impersonator, but it wasn't. He had even gone on a broadcast once, confirming that the 'Chicken Sandwich' who sent the whispers was really him and pleading for a reply. I'd seen it on the news a while ago. I recalled hearing that Villon Must wasn't a climber himself, but he kept a secretary who was.
He's at it again after being quiet for a while.
He was hard to forget because he practically begged me to take the skill stone, asking for absolutely nothing in return. The proposal was so absurd that it actually felt sincere. Normally, I would have ignored it, but I found myself staring at the message.
"Leap, huh..."
A skill that amplifies jumping power. The theme of the 2nd floor was a jump map. It was definitely a skill that would help.
Was this man really making this offer just because he wanted me to clear the 2nd floor? Well, it was almost silly to doubt his motives. With humanity's extinction just a month away, who wouldn't be desperate?
Now that I had actually decided to enter the 2nd floor, my heart wavered.
...What should I do?
Should I reply? Or not? I didn't expect to be agonizing over this, but I was tempted. Exposing my identity to someone else was an irreversible step... but was it right to be so picky when my life was on the line? I might regret it on my deathbed, thinking, I should have just taken it back then.
He said he didn't care about my identity. He even said I could just name a location.
Of course, I didn't blindly trust those words. Even if he said he'd just leave the item at a location, how could I know if there were people or cameras hidden nearby? However, I could feel that all this man wanted was for the 2nd floor to be cleared so that humanity wouldn't perish.
I paced the streets, lost in thought for a long time.
* * *
Villon Must wanted to go to Mars.
Some people claimed he was just a money-mad businessman pretending to be a revolutionary. But his dream had never strayed from its core since his childhood.
Go to Mars. Reach further into the universe. Make humanity a multi-planetary species.
But then, goddammit. One day, the world went to hell.
Humanity was handed a death sentence. They had to climb the Tower every year just to prolong their existence. He was forced to overhaul plans he had laid out decades into the future. Humanity had to survive first for there to even be a future in space.
He threw himself into building infrastructure for climbers. He provided facilities, sponsored the Association, and expanded his business into the mana stone industry, which was growing at a staggering rate.
In truth, it wasn't as if the Tower hadn't given humanity any carrots. The mana stones coming out of the Tower were truly dream-like substances. Villon Must saw the possibility of accelerating his dreams by decades using technology powered by mana stone energy.
Assuming, of course, that humanity remained to see that future.
Therefore, the top priority was always climbing the Tower. Specifically, climbing the Nightmare difficulty.
"Dammit, we're completely screwed."
Villon Must felt a sudden urge to launch a rocket straight at the headquarters of the Climbing Management Bureau. The conquest of Nightmare 2nd Floor, which they had staked everything on, had ended in a total disaster.
Jack Davis, the second person to clear Nightmare 1st Floor, had failed. From what he heard, the man had died within minutes of entering. The government had helped Jack obtain many of his skills, but Villon Must's contribution had been significant as well. He had poured in sponsorship funds without looking back.
In truth, Villon hadn't wanted to pour that support into Jack.
Villon had only ever been interested in the first person to clear the Nightmare difficulty. He had repeatedly reached out through whispers via his secretary, but since there was never a response, he had been forced to give up and choose an alternative.
Now that Plan B had crumbled, there was only one place left to turn.
Why won't you reply?! I'll give you everything I have! Just please, take the skill stone!
...Though, all he had left personally was a single Leap skill stone.
Skill stones were always scarce on the market. Most of them had been snatched up by the Bureau to spoon-feed Jack, so they were impossible to find for the time being. It wasn't something money could solve.
There was still one more Nightmare Clearer left in the US: Taylor. Normally, this skill stone should have gone to her, but no. He couldn't bring himself to pin his hopes there anymore.
In the end, there had only ever been one right answer.
The first Nightmare Clearer, who had conquered the 1st floor without any information—only that person was special. Only that person had the potential to clear the 2nd floor. Villon truly didn't care if they were a man or a woman, a child or an elder, a criminal or a terrorist.
If they already had the Leap skill, then fine, but if not, he wanted them to take this and have even a slightly better chance at the 2nd floor.
So please, just a reply...
"...Chairman! A reply has come!"
Villon bolted upright. "It... it came? Really?!"
"Yes! They said they'll accept the offer! They asked if we could come to where they live..."
Finally.
After ignoring him for so long, it seemed the first Nightmare Clearer had changed their mind. It made sense. How could anyone enter when they could be taking every possible precaution and skill available?
You couldn't afford to be like that. You are the hope of humanity, after all.
"Where is it! Tell them I'll leave for the North Pole right this second!"
"Yes, well, they say it's Korea."
Villon blinked. Korea? "...South, I assume?"
"That is correct."
"Understood. I must leave immediately."
He was a bit surprised. Was the first Nightmare Clearer Korean? Since it didn't matter what nationality they were, Villon planned his trip to Korea as quickly as possible.
The first Nightmare Clearer's condition was simple: the meeting must be a secret, and it must never be disclosed to anyone. Villon had no intention of doing so anyway. However, visiting a foreign country without any public business would draw attention, and it was impossible for someone of Villon's stature to go abroad in total secrecy.
So, he left the country under a public pretext. He happened to have a matter to discuss with the chairman of a Korean corporation, so he decided to move that meeting forward. Villon cleared his entire schedule for the day of arrival and acted covertly.
Surprisingly, the first Nightmare Clearer had requested to meet in person to receive the skill stone.
Villon headed to the meeting place, leaving all security personnel behind and accompanied only by his climber secretary, Ellen, who was like his right hand. Of course, he had asked for the other party's understanding and received permission.
"Is this the place?"
"...The navigation isn't working properly. I'm sorry."
Ellen struggled to find the way. They drove into a shabby alleyway and pulled over to the curb.
[Saram123: You're in the black car in front of the telephone pole, right?]
A moment later, a man approached and tapped on the rear window. Villon opened the door. A man wearing a hat and a mask climbed into the back seat. His face wasn't clearly visible, but Must got the impression that he was quite young.
"...Nice to meet you."
Villon offered a handshake. Ellen, in the driver's seat, stared tensely into the rearview mirror.
Villon was someone involved in the Climbing Management Bureau's Nightmare conquest project, and as his close associate, Ellen knew a fair amount of information—including what level the Nightmare 1st Floor Clearer was.
Level 10. To put it intuitively, he was a superhuman who could beat a bear to death with his bare hands. Ellen was a climber too, but she had only cleared one floor on Easy difficulty, making her little more than a strong ordinary person. If that man harbored ill intentions, she wouldn't be able to protect Villon.
Of course, Villon had come here fully aware of those risks. If it was just about handing over the item, he could have sent Ellen alone, but he had wanted to meet the first Nightmare Clearer in person at least once.
"Nice to meet you. Thank you for coming all this way," the man said in English.
"...Your English is excellent."
"I can manage a bit."
It wouldn't have mattered if they couldn't communicate verbally, since they had the communication window. The reason Villon was surprised wasn't the English, but because the man's voice sounded much younger than he had expected.
"Thank you for meeting me. I'll get straight to the point."
Villon cut to the chase. He pulled the skill stone out of a bag sitting beside him. The man took the skill stone and examined it.
"Thank you. May I learn it right here?"
"By all means."
The man used the skill stone immediately. A cluster of light spread out as the stone dissolved and vanished. The man stared into the air for a moment, as if looking at a status window, then nodded.
"I've successfully learned it. Thank you."
'Thank you' was what Villon wanted to say. After all, this man was a savior who had already saved humanity once before.
The first Nightmare Clearer was likely someone who went to extremes to avoid exposing his identity. Villon had originally intended to just deliver the skill stone and leave, fearing that idle chatter or questions would only breed resentment, but he couldn't resist the impulse to ask.
"When do you plan to challenge the 2nd floor?"
The man answered as if it were no big deal. "I plan to go in tomorrow."
"..."
"Ah, I just got a new skill, so I should probably practice a bit before I go. Maybe not tomorrow, but it'll be soon."
Villon swallowed hard. He delivered the one sentence he had desperately wanted to say.
"You are the hope of humanity. Please, clear the 2nd floor."
The man hesitated before replying. "...I'll do my best. I'm not exactly looking to die, either."
The man gave a final polite bow and stepped out of the car. Once he had completely disappeared into the alley, Villon signaled to start the car. He looked out the window, quietly reflecting on the bizarre encounter.
Ellen spoke first. "...He looked younger than I expected."
Villon nodded. His build wasn't that large, his behavior was perfectly normal—in short, he didn't fit anything Villon had imagined. Had such a young man really cleared Nightmare 1st Floor? He seemed so ordinary that it made him appear extraordinary.
Villon muttered to himself. "He said he'd challenge it very soon..."
There were still about 20 days left before the deadline. Why was he rushing this time, unlike before? Was it because of the US failure? Perhaps he wanted to challenge it before any more Nightmare Clearers died.
If even he failed, what would become of the world? The results would be known soon enough.
For the first time in a long while, Villon felt like seeking out every god he could think of.
Please, save humanity once more. Our savior.