Chapter 57: Branch Tower (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 57: Branch Tower (3)
After China conquered the first Branch Tower and a second one appeared in Mongolia, the communication window was buzzing around the clock.
[World Tree: China << Have these guys seriously lost their humanity?]
[Flying Squirrel: Millions of lives are on the line, and they won't share a single piece of info...]
[MeatMeat: Do they even have hearts?]
[Ballpoint Pen: How can they be so selfish?]
[No. 39: I saw the news. They’re telling Mongolia to hand over all their resources in exchange for help.]
[Lethe: Do they really want to go that far? Did they feel nothing after seeing what Saram123 did?]
The majority of users were busy bashing China for withholding information about the Branch Tower while pressuring Mongolia.
[Black Tiger: Wang Kai risked his life to be the first to clear it. Do you people have any right to tell him what to do with his info?]
[Rocky Mountain: You should realize that being selfish is demanding information someone else worked hard for—for free.]
[Wildflower: What "millions of lives"? There’s a whole week. They can just evacuate the city.]
[Lower Stream: Why only blame Wang Kai? Is there any other high-floor climber sharing information right now?]
[Zhang Wei: If you're so upset, go whine to Saram123 and ask him to clear it, lol.]
Naturally, Chinese climbers rose to his defense.
[Flower Wind: Mongolia should be thanking us. Without Wang Kai, how could they even handle that tower themselves?]
[DoDoDo: If you don't want to negotiate, then deal with it yourselves~ You don't like this, you don't like that, what do you want us to do?~]
[Shooting Star: Shut up, you crazy Chinese bastards, before I crack your heads open.]
[MeatMeat: Look at them, thick-skinned as hell, blabbering amongst themselves.]
[Hada: Whoa, calm down, Mongolian friends. Did everyone manage to escape Ulaanbaatar?]
The chat was a chaotic mess of insults and arguments.
[Battery: I wonder if Saram123 would actually clear it...?]
[Cyclone: You mean, all the way in Mongolia?]
[Radiwe: Why not? For all we know, Saram123 might be Mongolian.]
[Tsetseg: I'm Mongolian. Saram123, please help... Mongolia is on the verge of ruin right now!]
[Takoyaki: But is it even certain Saram123 can clear it? Isn't he only Level 40?]
[Tree: Who knows, since Wang Kai is keeping his mouth shut. If the difficulty requires Level 50, it might be too much for Saram123 too.]
[Amazon: Stop talking nonsense. Why would Saram123 clear a Branch Tower?]
[Salad: If something happens to him, it’s the end of humanity. He shouldn't take the risk.]
As the arguments went back and forth, the world watched with bated breath to see what would happen to Mongolia. The Mongolians themselves were paralyzed with anxiety.
[Time remaining for the second Branch Tower: 5 days, 8 hours, 9 minutes, 17 seconds]
[The second Branch Tower has been cleared to the final floor.]
[Time remaining until the third Branch Tower appears: 5 days, 8 hours, 9 minutes, 16 seconds]
Suddenly, a system message appeared, announcing that the Mongolian Branch Tower had been conquered.
[Triangle: ?]
[Life’s Ordeal: Wait, what?]
[Lake: Did Wang Kai clear it?]
[Requiem: Nothing’s come up on the news. Did Mongolia cave to China’s demands?]
[Oliver: Doesn't look like it. It seems even Mongolia and China have no idea what happened.]
Mongolia quickly released an official statement: they had no idea who had cleared the Branch Tower.
If a climber from another nation had cleared it, word should have gotten out, but the world was hearing about it for the first time through the system logs.
The tower was cleared, yet no one was claiming credit.
Because of that, people couldn't help but realize who the culprit was.
[Lion King: Ah... is it you again?]
[Cherry Pie: It’s him, lol. Who else could it be?]
[Railroad: Saram123! Saram123! Saram123! Saram123! Saram123!]
[Top Grade: If you cleared it, please say something in the communication window, Saram123...]
[Scales of Judgment: Truly the greatest pacifist in human history. GOAT.]
[Iron Chain: He’s on a completely different level than someone like Wang Kai.]
[Terrace: Don't even compare them; it's an insult to Saram123.]
[Berry Berry: The Chinese guys just became the dog that chased the chicken only to see it fly over the roof, lol. Man, that feels good.]
[Litman: They got greedy and ended up with nothing, hahaha.]
[Hero: Hey, but wait... could Saram123 actually be Mongolian?]
[Whistle: He probably just went to Mongolia himself. If he were Mongolian, wouldn't he have cleared it sooner?]
As usual, the world showered him with praise while China became the laughingstock of the international community.
Clang!
Inside a luxurious mansion.
Wang Kai hurled his whiskey glass. Shattered crystal and amber liquid sprayed across the marble floor.
Li Wei, a member of the Party's Central Committee sitting opposite him, flinched before regaining his composure. He asked in a low, questioning tone.
"What happened? Didn't you say the difficulty was definitely beyond what Saram123 could handle?"
"...So it seems. This is absurd," Wang Kai muttered, his face twisted with irritation and rage. "Isn't that bastard Level 40? That tower required at least Level 50 to clear."
Was there a difference in difficulty between the Branch Towers, or was Saram123 much stronger than expected?
Boiling with rage at the mockery directed at him in the communication window, Wang Kai closed the interface and spoke to Li Wei commandingly.
"Fine. I'm definitely clearing the next Branch Tower. As soon as the third one appears, have everything ready so I can move there as fast as possible."
"Ahem... I'll have to speak with the higher-ups first."
"Speak with who? Do you not want the Mana Vein? I'm handing it to you on a silver platter, so just make sure you guys support me properly."
You arrogant prick. Li Wei cursed inwardly but nodded.
Saram123 had suddenly intervened, causing them to lose the big fish they had already caught in Mongolia. But as Wang Kai said, China had to secure all subsequent Branch Towers.
Now that a troublesome meddler had started moving, there was no time to waste on long negotiations. Given Saram123's tendencies, there was a high probability he would try to clear the next towers as well. Wang Kai had to be faster.
The conqueror receives the activation rights for the Mana Vein as a reward. As long as they held that, China could negotiate for a share of the Mana Vein from a position of absolute superiority, regardless of which country the Branch Tower appeared in.
"Dammit, acting like some pathetic savior..."
Wang Kai intended to clear the third Branch Tower first and show the world the true difference in their levels.
Five days passed as the world waited for the third Branch Tower to appear.
[The third Branch Tower is appearing.]
Surprisingly, the country where the third Branch Tower appeared was Japan.
Following China and Mongolia, it was the third consecutive appearance in Northeast Asia. It was a staggering coincidence.
Regardless, it was a lucky break for China. Since the distance was short, they could reach the tower's radius quickly.
Wang Kai, who had been waiting at the airport, moved under the guidance of his attendants the moment the message appeared.
Reservations? Customs? None of that mattered when the Party exerted its power. He immediately secured a seat on the fastest flight to Sendai, Japan, and boarded the plane.
Since they couldn't predict which country the Branch Tower would appear in, this was faster than using a private jet that required prior flight authorization.
[The third Branch Tower has been cleared to the final floor.]
"...??"
It happened just as he sat down in his first-class seat.
Wang Kai took off his sunglasses, staring at the incomprehensible message floating before his eyes.
"What the fuck?"
It had been barely twenty minutes since the third Branch Tower appeared.
And it was already cleared?
Unless someone was already within the radius the moment the tower appeared, this speed was physically impossible.
Wang Kai sat there with his mouth agape, completely stunned, before muttering in disbelief.
"Saram123, this bastard..."
Was he actually Japanese?
* * *
The third Branch Tower appeared in Sendai, Japan.
The Japanese government didn't even have time to declare a state of emergency.
[The third Branch Tower has been cleared to the final floor.]
This was because it was cleared less than half an hour after it appeared.
The communication window exploded once again.
It was obvious that Saram123 had cleared it this time as well, which wasn't surprising, but what ignited the controversy was the sheer speed of the clear.
[Reynold: Cleared in less than 30 minutes?]
[Sug: That speed is impossible unless he was already in Japan...?]
[Firefly: Wait a minute, could Saram123 actually be Japanese?!]
People buzzed with speculation that Saram123's nationality was Japanese. Otherwise, the speed made no sense.
It had taken two days to clear the Mongolian tower, but Japan took only twenty minutes. Of course, he could have coincidentally been traveling in Japan and happened to be within the tower's radius, but statistically, the chances were slim.
The communication window was on fire, and the atmosphere quickly shifted toward treating Saram123's Japanese nationality as an established fact.
The Japanese people were the most excited.
[Start: Saram123 is Japanese? Is this for real?]
[Takamura: Based on the circumstances, the probability is very high...!]
[Monsoon: So a Japanese person has been saving humanity all this time?]
[Ramen: Quite surprising (laughs)]
[Sword Demon: I knew something was off... It made no sense that Japan didn't have a single Nightmare Clearer until now.]
[Human Passing: It’s not that we didn't have one; he was one of our own from the start.]
[Rhythm: So proud! Saram123!]
The record holder for Nightmare difficulty and the savior of humanity, Saram123, was actually Japanese?
For the Japanese people, who, like the Koreans, had yet to produce a single Nightmare Clearer, this was a lethal dose of national pride. News outlets around the world also quickly reported this as breaking news.
The world was in an uproar over the "fact" of Saram123's Japanese nationality.
* * *
Some time had passed since I returned home after clearing the second Branch Tower.
Absurdly enough, the country where the third Branch Tower appeared was Japan.
What is this? Is Northeast Asia cursed or something?
Anyway, as soon as the tower appeared, I prepared to fly to Japan.
The distance to Sendai was about 1,300 km. Required Willpower: 130,000.
Charging time: approximately 6,000 minutes, or 100 hours.
In the five days since clearing the Mongolian Branch Tower, I had charged about 85 hours' worth of Willpower in my spare time, excluding sleep. This time, I only needed to charge for 15 more hours to be ready.
Though I’d have to start from scratch for the return trip.
I finished charging the Warp Device and immediately moved to Japan.
[You have successfully cleared the 1st floor.]
[You have successfully cleared the 2nd floor.]
[You have successfully cleared the 3rd floor.]
...
The monsters on the early floors were the same as before. But things started to change from the 5th floor up.
The Minotaur was replaced by a monster that looked like a Triceratops. The swarm of bats was replaced by a swarm of insects nearly the size of birds. Only the monsters were different; the difficulty itself was similar.
I cleared my way up and reached the 10th floor, where the boss was Dracula.
"Oh...?!"
When I attacked with Flame Strike, his body turned into blood, scattered, and then reformed.
Whoa... that looks like a pretty good ability.
His physical abilities were lower than the Black Knight, the boss of the second Branch Tower. However, the annoying ability to liquefy seemed to make him a tricky opponent for most.
Sshhhhh...
Of course, everyone is equal before the Destruction Ray.
Upon taking a direct hit, he was annihilated without leaving even a drop of blood behind.
[The third Branch Tower has been cleared to the final floor.]
[You have acquired ownership of the third Branch Tower.]
I cleared the third Branch Tower with ease.
"Sigh..."
The reason I was sighing was that charging the Warp Device to go back was more of a torture than clearing the tower itself.
I exited the tower. In a forest somewhere in Japan, I stopped time to recharge the Warp Device and then returned home.
When I got back, my younger sibling was lying on the sofa watching TV.
"...?"
I was about to go into my room when a ridiculous news report on the TV screen caught my eye.
— The Branch Tower in Japan was cleared in less than 30 minutes. It is presumed that Saram123 cleared this one as well, and controversy is currently brewing over whether Saram123 is Japanese...
What is this nonsense?
"Saram123 is Japanese...?" my sibling muttered in surprise while watching. "Did you see? They say Saram123 is Japanese!"
"Uh... yeah. Right."
How surprising.
I immediately understood why such an absurd report was coming out. It was because I cleared it too quickly. Since I crossed over to Japan almost as soon as the Branch Tower appeared... well, thinking about it, it was a misunderstanding that could easily happen.
I checked the communication window, and as expected, it was in chaos. I turned it off again.
Ugh... charging the Warp Device is seriously exhausting.
I went into my room without giving it much thought. It was a misunderstanding that would be cleared up as soon as I conquered the next Branch Tower anyway.
I’ll just let them enjoy their fantasy for now.