Chapter 33: 3rd Floor Hidden (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 33: 3rd Floor Hidden (1)
"We express our infinite gratitude and respect to Saram123, the top climber of Nightmare difficulty, who has once again allowed humanity to survive another year. Taking his noble spirit of challenge as an example, the United States will also continue to do its best for the ascent of Nightmare difficulty..."
I ate breakfast while watching the morning news, where the President of the United States was giving a speech.
Two days had passed since I cleared the 3rd floor.
I had stayed at a hotel on the day of the challenge and returned home the next day to rest. That made it two days in total.
After overcoming another major hurdle and returning home, I realized once again that there’s no place like it. I finally felt like I was getting some proper rest.
"...As the 3rd floor of Nightmare is cleared and many rejoice, the Tower's 3-Year Rule is fast approaching. The time remaining for the First-Generation Climbers, who were the very first to receive the Tower's call, is now only a dozen or so days. It is reported that the number of First-Generation Climbers who have yet to clear Nightmare difficulty is at least 50,000..."
As the next news segment played, I checked the status of the Nightmare ascent.
[Nightmare]
Participants: 250,038
Time Limit: 1 year, 20 days, 9 minutes, 56 seconds
Current Floor: 4th Floor
"...What are these people actually going to do?"
The First-Generation Climbers, myself included, were those who had been summoned at the very beginning.
I think there were about 75,000 of us left by the time the 1st floor was cleared. Regardless, tens of thousands of people were now facing the threat of death in just a few weeks.
I occasionally heard news about expanding training facilities or providing active support... but even if you set aside the other difficulties, there really was no answer for Nightmare.
"I'm not going to try; I'm just going to accept it. Rather than dying horribly inside the Tower, I'd rather just die peacefully. I think many others feel the same way."
An interview with a First-Generation Nightmare climber followed. The man looked serene, speaking with a calm smile.
I turned off the TV, feeling a slight pang of pity.
A peaceful death.
Why did those words feel so out of place?
The death predicted by the Tower—how exactly would it happen? Would people just collapse from a sudden heart attack while standing still? Or would it be an instantaneous death before they could even feel pain?
If it was such a mundane method, then just as that man said, it might be a better choice not to try at all. It was certainly better than being brutally killed by a goblin in a place where no one could see. Besides, if you died inside the Tower, you couldn't even leave a corpse behind.
"That was a good meal."
I put my dishes in the sink, returned to my room, and lay down on the bed. Out of habit, I opened the Communication Window.
Whispers were piled up in stacks. Perhaps because I had announced my challenge in advance this time, all sorts of messages had been coming in non-stop even before I tackled the 3rd floor, mostly sending words of encouragement.
[Chicken Sandwich: You've worked hard, Mr. Kim. You are truly the only one who can save humanity. Please let me know whenever you need my help.]
I also had a brief conversation with Villon after the clear. In truth, Villon was almost the only person I could talk to comfortably about my progress. I’d briefly considered telling him how much I had struggled... but I decided against it. I didn't want to sound like I was whining. There was no need to make people anxious for no reason.
[Lotus: Thank you. I am rooting for you.]
There was also a message from the manager at the Climbing Agency. Since I was still reluctant to have a long conversation, I only sent a short reply.
[Prangles: But Saram123 is only one floor away from the 5th floor now.]
[Yatmon: He probably has no intention of being active in the Common Area, right? He's hiding his identity even now.]
[Bamboo: You could probably walk right past him and never know. LOL.]
[Harvey: He'll probably just move around quietly on his own. Still, he'll get everything he needs from the 5th floor before challenging the 6th.]
[LuvLuvLuv: I seriously just want to know what nationality he is.]
[Steel Armor: Why are you guys talking like he's already cleared the 4th floor?]
[Wheat Field: Because we believe he'll clear it~]
[Blue Marlin: You don't trust Saram123? I do.]
While browsing the Communication Window and watching the conversations, I suddenly thought about the 5th floor.
The Common Area...
The 5th floor of the Tower is called the Common Area. It was exactly what the name implied. The 5th floor wasn't a stage you had to clear; it was a space where climbers of all difficulties gathered. It served as a rest-stop and checkpoint.
Of course, no climber had reached the 5th floor on Nightmare difficulty yet. If I succeeded in clearing the 4th floor, I would be the first Nightmare climber to set foot in the Common Area.
It didn't have much significance to me. It was just another floor I had to pass through.
I looked at the Communication Window a bit longer before turning it off.
"I should probably give it a try today."
Since I had to organize and post the information for the 3rd floor anyway, I decided to challenge the Hidden Route today without dragging my feet.
[Would you like to enter the 3rd floor of Nightmare difficulty?]
I waited just long enough for my food to digest before entering the Tower.
* * *
I had suffered immensely because I hadn't known the mechanics, but the core of the 3rd floor was speed: activating the Sun Emblem as quickly as possible by going underground before more undead swarmed the field.
Gueeeee—
As soon as I entered, I located the entrance to the underground passage.
'Let's see.'
It was at the 1 o'clock position from the entry point. Confirmed.
I gripped my mace and charged forward in a straight line, smashing the skulls of the swarming undead. My body, which had reached Level 40 after gaining 10 levels, was naturally much stronger and faster.
BOOM!
I unleashed a Flame Strike to shatter the floor and leaped inside. Up to this point, it had taken about 30 seconds.
For other difficulties, it took 10 minutes for the sun to rise. For Nightmare, it seemed to be 10 minutes until the sun set, so I had to finish within that window at the latest. Otherwise, they would swarm like a cloud of locusts again.
I sprinted through the passage and arrived at the central cavern. I immediately entered the path on the left, picked up the gem on the floor, and returned using Teleportation. Clear.
After coming out and slotting the gem, I headed straight for the right path. Ignoring the cheap chain trap, I grabbed the gem from the wall above the entrance. Clear.
About one minute had passed by the time I entered the final path straight ahead. I picked up the Cube and began to solve it with focused eyes.
Click. Clack.
Is it possible to solve a Cube in 20 seconds? With enough practice and effort, it was certainly possible. However, you had to learn advanced formulas rather than basic ones...
Naturally, I had come in without any separate practice. I couldn't just sit around not clearing the Hidden Route until I practiced enough to solve a Cube in 20 seconds.
The hourglass ran out quickly, and the vibrations of the swarming undead echoed through the walls.
"Diul."
I called Diul while still focusing on the Cube. Diul cast Stealth, and my body became translucent. Leaving behind the undead who had rushed all the way here only to wander around aimlessly, I finished the Cube. It was definitely faster than my first try.
After completing the Cube, I took out the gem and moved to the central cavern.
Up to this point... about 3 minutes!
WHOOSH!
Light erupted from the Sun Emblem, melting the surrounding undead. Now I had to go up and see what the boss was like. Surely it would be much weaker than that monster from before. That would be the normal progression.
Gueeeee...
When I returned to the surface, the undead were melting in the sunlight. Soon, the surviving undead began to cluster to one side. However, their numbers were incomparable to last time. At most, a hundred?
The size of the resulting undead clump was only slightly larger than a Minotaur.
Guuuuuuu—
The low-frequency sound was just enough to make my ears itch slightly. I tapped my ears and immediately unleashed a Flame Strike and Light Bullets simultaneously.
BOOOOOOM!
The mass, bombarded by three fireballs and five Light Bullets, exploded instantly.
"..."
This is ridiculous. Was it originally this weak? Just what kind of fight did I put myself through before...
It wasn't completely dead yet. I approached the creature, whose body had been blown apart to reveal its core, and crushed it with my mace.
"Just die, you bastard."
Of course, I had become stronger by reaching Level 40, but this was at a level where I could have easily won even at Level 30. At this rate, other Nightmare clearers should be able to handle it too. If they can just minimize the time, it might actually be easier than the 2nd floor.
Of course, others would have to face the boss at Level 20. Well, whatever.
Since I had easily defeated the boss, it was now time to find the Hidden Route. I looked around the plains that stretched endlessly in all directions.
"Which way am I supposed to go?"
There were too many choices. Just as I was considering going back into the underground passage to investigate instead of staying on the surface, I narrowed my eyes.
"...?"
Far, far away... looking closely, there was something there.
'A pyramid?'
A pointed structure that looked somewhat like a pyramid was shimmering like a mirage. As your level rises and your physical abilities improve, your eyesight naturally gets better as well. Because of that, I could see things at an incredible distance. If compared to a bird of prey, I might even win a narrow victory.
Based on the sense of perspective I felt now, that building was incredibly far from here. But well... it wouldn't be visible for no reason, right? It wouldn't be just for decoration like background graphics outside a game map.
"Shall I go?"
I began to sprint lightly. Every time I kicked off the ground, the surface cracked, and my body propelled forward. It was far, but I was also incredibly fast. It didn't take very long to reach the destination.
"It really is a pyramid."
As I got closer, I saw it was a truly massive structure that looked very similar to a pyramid. There were many pillars and small structures around it. It felt a bit like... a temple?
Rumble—
The bright sunlight in the sky suddenly vanished, and for some reason, dark clouds began to gather. It went from night to morning, and now it was turning overcast. The weather was truly spectacular.
Seeing that there was some kind of change, it seemed I had found the right place. I entered the temple grounds, staying alert. As I walked around, looking here and there, I heard a sound from somewhere. It sounded like a fight, so I immediately ran toward it.
There were people. Three of them. Wearing armor, they looked like knights.
"Sir Delant! Watch out!"
The knights were fighting a large undead they had surrounded, and the creature looked quite strong.
'Should I help?'
As I had experienced on the 2nd floor, the Hidden Route didn't only feature enemies that had to be defeated. Seeing them fighting an undead, weren't they allies? I decided to help the knights for now.
"I'll help you!"
I shouted at the top of my lungs as I ran, just in case I was mistaken for an enemy. The knights noticed me and looked back.
The undead was humanoid but massive, over 3 meters tall, and held something like a rusted greatsword in its hand. It looked much stronger than the ones that swarmed during the basic clear.
Since the knights were close to the undead, I couldn't use Flame Strike. Instead, I fired Light Bullets as I charged toward the creature.
Pop, pop, pop!
I aimed for the arm holding the sword so it couldn't counterattack, then leaped toward the undead's head. As I struck its head with my mace, half of its skull exploded with a sickening thud.
Gueeeee—!
The knights quickly coordinated, slashing at the staggering undead's legs with their swords. I finished it off by swinging my mace once more, completely shattering the head of the falling undead.
It wasn't that big of a deal.
When I looked to the side, the knights were staring at me with wide, surprised eyes.