Chapter 97: Nightmare 7th Floor (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 97: Nightmare 7th Floor (4)
I stepped inside, my heart pounding. The first thing that caught my eye was a massive stone monument.
A pentagram was inscribed on the floor, and the monument stood at its very center.
Kuuung—!
The door slammed shut behind me.
I immediately stopped time to check for any other traps or abnormalities. Finding nothing, I released the flow of time and approached the monument.
Sssss.
“...?”
As I stood before it, letters began to materialize on the stone’s surface, glowing with a sinister crimson light.
[What was the total number of arrows fired during the first trial?]
I read the words and frowned.
What… is this?
I stopped time again.
‘A quiz?’
Of all the things I expected, a quiz wasn't one of them. Worse, I didn’t know the answer.
The number of arrows fired in the first trial? How was I supposed to remember that?
‘I had a bad feeling about this…’
I’d suspected it wouldn’t be as simple as just killing a boss. As I thought, there was a catch. Whatever it was, it was obvious that failing to answer correctly would lead to something disastrous.
I tried to dredge up the memory. But it wasn’t like I’d been counting them one by one while dodging for my life; there was no way I’d remember the exact number.
How the fuck am I supposed to know this? This question is just a cheap shot.
‘Demon King.’
—I do not know.
The useless Demon King replied the instant I called.
…There was nothing I could do. This was a question I’d never solve, no matter how much I racked my brain. I had no choice but to guess.
‘Hard Difficulty had 300…’
I had a vague feeling the first stage had been somewhere around that number. Could it be the same as the Hard Difficulty?
I released the time stop and spoke my answer.
“…Three hundred?”
Was just saying it out loud enough?
The letters on the monument vanished, replaced by a new symbol.
[X]
An X. It was the wrong answer.
Immediately, the red light flowed down from the monument, filling one of the five points of the pentagram on the floor.
[100]
A number appeared at the top of the monument. 100? I didn’t know what it meant, but I was certain it wasn’t anything good.
New letters appeared on the stone.
[What was the number of arrows fired in the final volley of the second trial?]
It was another question in the same vein. It seemed this wasn't over yet. Since I had passed through five trials, would there be five questions? One for each?
The second trial was the dark stage where the torches went out. At the very end, a rain of arrows had poured down from the ceiling. It was asking me to guess the exact count.
‘Ha…’
Seriously, this is disgusting.
There was no way I could remember this accurately either. I had to rely on my gut again.
“Twenty-five.”
I suppressed the urge to scream, ‘Fuck if I know, you bastard!’ and gave my answer.
[O]
A circle appeared on the monument.
…Wait, what? Did I actually get it right?
‘I got it right.’
It seemed I’d gotten lucky with my guess. This time, the red light didn’t fill a point on the pentagram, and the number remained the same.
[What was the number of arrows fired in the final volley of the third trial?]
The next question followed the same pattern.
“Twenty-five.”
I guessed the same answer.
[X]
Luck wasn’t on my side twice. An X appeared, and the red light filled another point of the pentagram.
[200]
The number on the monument changed as well. Another 100 had been added, bringing the total to 200.
[What was the color of the tenth colored arrow fired in the fourth trial?]
The fourth question was a little better, at least. I tried to recall the order of the colored arrows. I was sure the sequence was blue, purple, red, orange, green…
I remembered clearly up to the seventh, but it got hazy after that.
‘Orange? Blue?’
Ah, damn it, what was it? I was fairly certain the tenth one was one of those two.
—Hmph, was it not green?
The Demon King chimed in, only making me more confused. I ignored him and mulled it over before choosing an answer.
“Orange.”
[X]
Fuck.
—See? I told you it was green.
‘…Shut up.’
The red light filled a third point of the pentagram, and the number on the monument ticked up to 300.
[What was the sequence of body parts targeted by the statue in the fifth trial?]
The fifth question. This was likely the last one.
This one… I can actually answer!
“Right arm, left arm, right leg, left leg, heart, head.”
As soon as I answered…
[O]
A circle appeared, and the text on the statue vanished. No new question appeared.
[300]
I stared at the pentagram, three of its points now glowing with red light, and then at the number on the monument. I managed to get two questions right, but… what now? And what did that number mean?
Jjeojeojeok—!
Just then, the monument began to crack with a heavy vibration. The pentagram on the floor began to emit a brilliant, blinding light.
[299]
I backed away, my sixth sense screaming a warning. An arrow was about to fly in from my left.
“…?!”
I tried to move, but the moment I felt a sense of dissonance, I immediately stopped time.
‘Again?’
The Left-Right Control Reversal debuff from the third stage was active again.
The instant I released the time stop, I planted both hands on the ground and leaped forward in a somersault to dodge the arrow.
The next arrow flew in.
‘Huh?’
…Ah, for fuck’s sake.
The moment I saw the arrow, I stopped time again. It was a blue arrow.
Don’t tell me… are the themes of the trials I failed all being applied at once?
‘I’m so fucked.’
How am I supposed to deflect colored arrows when my controls are reversed?
I decided to try anyway. I carefully calculated the trajectory I’d need to swing my sword, figuring out exactly how to move. After focusing my mind, I pulled the blue sword from my subspace and deflected the arrow.
Kaaang!
…A narrow success!
At that moment, a loud crash echoed through the room. I turned my head and saw that the cracking monument had completely crumbled.
“…!”
There was something inside the collapsed monument. It was a humanoid monster, pitch-black from head to toe, with a pair of horns on its forehead. Its appearance immediately brought the word ‘demon’ to mind.
‘It’s the boss.’
I knew it instantly. The boss, which had been as still as a statue, opened its eyes.
But wait, hold on a fucking second… My controls are reversed, and there are colored arrows flying everywhere. You want me to fight a boss on top of all this bullshit?
A red glint flashed in the boss’s eyes.
I stopped time. It was obvious what I had to do first. I’d hit it with my ultimate before it could even move. I finished focusing my mind and fired a fully charged Destruction Ray at the boss.
However…
“…?!”
Even after taking a direct hit from the Destruction Ray, the boss didn’t die. Far from dying, it was completely unharmed. It didn’t look like it had taken even a scratch.
I stopped time again.
‘It had no effect at all?’
There was no way its level was high enough to withstand a Destruction Ray with pure durability. The Destruction Ray worked just fine on the Zone 4 Boss, which was at least level 80. It made no sense for a boss on the 7th Floor to be a much higher level than that.
There had to be a gimmick… or maybe some kind of invincibility buff. It could be like that invincible monster I fought when I cleared the Branch Tower.
[291]
I checked the number. Even though the monument had crumbled, the number remained suspended in the air. The number that had been 300 had dropped to 291.
It was a timer.
‘…Ah.’
Everything clicked. I finally understood the structure of this 7th Floor boss fight.
‘So I just have to survive.’
I had to dodge the normal arrows, deflect the colored arrows, and survive for 300 seconds against an invincible boss. The boss’s invincibility would likely wear off once that counter hit zero.
If I had answered more questions correctly, the conditions would have been much better, but…
‘Shit.’
Is this even possible? I doubted I could last 300 seconds under such hellish conditions. But I had to. If I didn’t, I would die.
I released the time stop.
Kwaang!
Simultaneously, the boss charged toward me at high speed. I leaped away on all fours again, putting distance between us. An arrow flew in from above. I stopped time.
Because of this damn control reversal, I had to stop time for every single action to keep my body from getting twisted up.
The boss was slower than me. It seemed that while it had an invincibility buff, its actual level wasn’t that high—at most, around level 60 or 70.
Kwagwagwagwang!
However, the boss also used ranged attacks, firing something like black thorns. Having to deal with the boss on top of the arrows was an absolute nightmare.
‘…This isn’t working.’
It was impossible to deflect the colored arrows while fighting the boss. I summoned Diul and used Pitch-Black Fog.
Saaaaaaah!
The boss, caught in the fog’s range, lost its balance and fell to the floor. I kept the Pitch-Black Fog contained in the smallest possible area to trap the boss.
I stepped out of the fog and continued to dodge the arrows. Dodge, stop time, deflect, stop time. I also used skills to block the arrows. Flame Strike was too slow, so I used Fierce Lightning and Blade Gale to knock them away.
The problem was that the interval between the arrows was getting shorter and shorter. Perhaps because it was a boss fight, the rate at which the interval decreased was even more intense than in the previous stages. At some point, multiple arrows even started flying in at once.
What is this? Hell? This would have been so much more manageable if it weren’t for either the control reversal or the colored arrows.
“…!”
Eventually, I reached my limit. I missed one of the colored arrows. The Slow debuff activated, and I could feel my body grow even more sluggish.
To make matters worse, Diul’s power was at its limit. The Pitch-Black Fog holding the boss was about to dissipate.
I stopped time.
[151]
There were still 150 seconds left. Only half the time had passed. If the boss started moving again now… I wasn’t confident I could last any longer. The colored arrow stacks would pile up in an instant. Once my body became too slow to dodge, it would be over.
‘This is driving me crazy.’
I was completely cornered. What should I do? For now, I could summon the Kalundi Knight and Phli and have them stall the boss as much as possible…
—Hand it over.
Just then, I heard the Demon King’s voice.
—You cannot possibly intend to be stubborn, not when things have come to this. Hand it over.
I asked.
‘…Is there anything you can do?’
I didn’t know exactly what kind of abilities the Demon King could use. The Demon King just let out a laugh, as if the question was absurd. He was the guy who claimed to have climbed past the 20th Floor of Nightmare, so he had to be strong, but… the problem was that if I gave him my body, control would pass to him.
‘If I give it to you, you won’t give it back.’
The Demon King spoke, sounding annoyed.
—I will return it, so hand it over.
‘…Really?’
What was this? He wasn’t lying. Why the sudden change of heart from the guy who was always demanding my body?
—Even if I used this as a pretext to take your body, you would just stop time and raise hell again, would you not?
‘Well, that’s true.’
He was trying to act nonchalant, but it seemed he was also worried I’d push myself too far and die. After all, if I died, he would die with me. If the Demon King could really get me out of this crisis… there was no reason for me to take any more risks.
‘Then…’
It had been almost a year. I relinquished control of my body to the Demon King.
—Release the time stop.
I released it.
The boss, freed from the Pitch-Black Fog, rushed toward me, and arrows rained down. In that instant…
Saaaaaaaaaaaaah—!
An immense cold spread out in all directions, freezing everything. The boss, the arrows—all of it.
‘…!’
Even though I had released the time stop, the scene looked as if time had frozen again.
[Willpower: 0/4050]
My Willpower plummeted to zero in a single moment.
“Freeze,” the Demon King said, white frost puffing from his lips.
I stopped time again.
…So the Demon King used my Willpower to use his powers? Well, of course.
The Demon King spoke.
—Replenish it yourself whenever it runs out.
‘Yep.’
The Demon King naturally knew that I could recover my Willpower by stopping time. I fully recovered my Willpower and released the time stop again.
The boss was frozen solid, unable to move an inch. The arrows, however, continued to fly. This time, the Demon King conjured a barrier around us and filled the air with countless ice blades.
Kwagwagwagwagwa!
The ice blades raged like a storm, deflecting and shattering every incoming arrow. In just a few seconds, my Willpower was depleted again, and I had to stop time.
It was a constant cycle. As time went on, the number of arrows increased exponentially. But the number of ice blades was even more overwhelming, destroying every single arrow.
Watching him, it seemed the Demon King was spamming magic without any cooldowns. Since his Willpower would never run out thanks to my time stop, he could truly spam his spells indefinitely. The arrows never had a chance to reach me.
He didn’t even need to deflect the colored arrows with a sword. It didn’t matter if the Slow stacks piled up, since he was just standing in place and casting magic anyway.
There was just one thing. My body was gradually freezing over. It started to crack, and then an arm just fell off. Huh?
‘…Demon King?’ I asked, flustered.
The Demon King answered nonchalantly.
—Your vessel is so pathetic it cannot withstand my power.
‘Ah, I see.’
Isn’t that a problem? I didn’t care about the arm, but if my head fell off, I’d die.
[5]
There were only 5 seconds left. The number soon dropped to 0. I saw the red haze that had been covering the boss disappear. Its invincibility was gone.
The cold that the Demon King emanated enveloped the boss.
Kwaaaaaaaah!
The boss, hit directly, turned into particles of ice and scattered into the air.
Jjeok!
At the same time, my waist split, and my upper and lower body separated. The Demon King clicked his tongue.
—Tsk, to think it cannot even endure such Lower-Grade magic.
[You have successfully cleared the Nightmare Difficulty 7th Floor.]
A message appeared before my eyes. In any case, I had killed the boss, so the clear was a success. I stared at the message, slightly dazed.
What was that? It felt like I had just gotten an amazing carry.
[Absorbing the power of the floor.]
[Level has increased.]
[Level has increased.]
[Level has increased.]
.
.
.
[Level has increased.]
[You are the first to successfully clear the Nightmare Difficulty 7th Floor.]
[The 7th Floor Hidden Route will be unlocked.]
[Moving to the Reward Room.]