Chapter 98: Nightmare 7th Floor (5)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 98: Nightmare 7th Floor (5)
[The 7th Floor has been cleared on all difficulties.]
[The Tower is summoning new participants.]
I was transported to the Reward Room.
My body, which had been frozen and shattered, began to mend. The frost melted away. My severed upper and lower halves snapped back together as if time were reversing, regenerating in an instant.
The Demon King sat up.
I spoke in admiration.
‘...Demon King, you’re pretty amazing, aren’t you?’
Even so, I never thought he’d be able to clear it this easily.
The Demon King snorted.
“Making such a fuss over a trifle like this. I could not use even a speck of my true power.”
Right, of course. Anyway, I got totally hard-carried by the Demon King.
‘Demon King.’
“...”
‘You should give it back now, though.’
“Tch.”
The Demon King seemed quite reluctant to hand my body back so obediently. Still, he didn't stubbornly hold onto it. Soon, control of my body returned to me.
Even when the Demon King took over, it wasn't like I couldn't feel my body, but there was a strange sensation of floating untethered.
I checked the rewards. I saw a purple Skill Stone. It was Epic Grade. Now that I was around the 7th Floor, it seemed Epic Grade items started dropping even without clearing a Hidden Route.
I read the skill description.
[Skill: Hellfire Eruption (Epic)]
Erupts a powerful pillar of hellfire within a 20-meter range. Requires 30 to 150 seconds of Mental Focus to cast. The longer the Mental Focus, the greater the skill's power and area of effect.
Category: Magic-Type
Willpower Consumption: 700
Cooldown: 2 minutes
“Oh.”
A Magic-Type skill dropped. Fortunately, it was fire-attributed. Thanks to the Zone 3 Boss bracelet and my fire-type passive, fire magic yielded the maximum efficiency for me. The power output was massively amplified.
And looking at the description... it was a charging skill similar to Destruction Ray.
[You have acquired 'Skill: Hellfire Eruption (Epic)'.]
With a name like 'Hellfire,' I was looking forward to its power. It would probably be weaker than Destruction Ray, but I had essentially gained another extreme nuke skill.
Perhaps because an Epic Grade skill dropped, there were no other rewards, but I was satisfied since I got such a good skill.
[Difficulty: Nightmare]
[Floor: 8th Floor]
[Level: 95]
[Willpower: 5,000/5,000]
[Skills: Destruction Ray (Epic+), Subspace (Epic), Hellfire Eruption (Epic), Sixth Sense (Rare+) (+3), Teleportation (Rare+), Rapid Regeneration (Rare+), Scorching Zone (Rare+), Lesser Flame Formula Refinement (Rare+)...]
[Nightmare]
Participants: 575,084
Time Limit: 1 year, 20 days, 15 hours, 4 minutes, 14 seconds
Floors Reached: 8th Floor
I checked my Status Window and confirmed the time limit had increased. Feeling the relief of overcoming yet another hurdle, I let out a deep breath.
Clearing the 7th Floor had been rough. If the Demon King hadn't helped me at the end, I really might have failed.
‘...But is it really okay to clear it like this?’
It felt like I’d used a cheat code to beat it. Going by how The Tower expressed it before, the Demon King was like an error. Wasn't that why it tried to eliminate the Demon King, claiming it was correcting an error?
Though it seemed it failed because I managed to stop time. I openly used the Demon King's power to clear the floor, yet why was it so quiet now...? Or was it unable to interfere anymore?
Thinking about it wouldn't give me answers, so I gave up. Well, I cleared it, so whatever. All's well that ends well.
“Anyway, thank you, Demon King.”
- If you are thankful...
“Ugh, I'm exhausted. I should just head out and rest.”
I had a lot of things I wanted to ask the Demon King about the power he had just shown, but I was tired. I'd been through a lot, so I was going to get some rest first...
*
In the 21st century—or perhaps in all of humanity's remaining history—the 20th could now be considered the most symbolic date.
Every year, when the 20th—officially designated by the UN as 'Doomsday'—rolled around, people everywhere would pray desperately for the success of one man.
[FireAnt: You guys are all praying hard, right?]
[Shane: I'm shaking, I'm so nervous. Please, we're begging you again this time! Saram123!]
[Kalguksu: He's going to succeed no matter what, so why are you nervous? I don't even flinch when the 20th comes around anymore. In fact, it just makes me smile lol]
[Emperor: Cut the bullshit and just pray quietly, old man.]
[Rexidr: Just believe, you nonbelievers. There is no failure on the path of salvation He walks.]
[Firepower: But is The Tower not making an offer this time? The global announcement isn't popping up.]
It wasn't just the news media; various talk shows would also be bustling around this time of year.
“Then, Mr. Arlo, how do you think things will play out for the Nightmare 7th Floor this time?”
The podcast show, The Jude Noise.
The host, Jude, smiled as he asked the man sitting opposite him. The man was Arlo, making his third appearance as a regular guest. He was a doomsday prepper who used to argue that Saram123 would fail and the world would ultimately meet its end.
Despite facing all sorts of mockery and public humiliation, he had always steadfastly maintained his pessimistic views... until now.
“He will succeed,” Arlo answered with absolute certainty.
His old views were a thing of the past. It had been a long time since he started shifting his stance, beginning around the time the Nightmare 4th Floor was cleared.
“Oho, how surprising. Have you changed your mind now as well, Mr. Arlo?”
“Don't tease me, Jude. Though I suppose that's exactly why you've invited me here for the third time.”
Jude burst into laughter. “You're right. My mind has completely changed now.”
“What was it that made you change your mind, Mr. Arlo?”
“I remember saying this when I came on this show in the past: 'Nightmare is a die with sixty sides, and I don't want to hold onto the hope that the die will roll a sixty every single time.'”
Jude nodded. “You did say that. I remember.”
“And how many times has that '60' been rolled by now?”
“Currently, Nightmare has been cleared up to the 6th Floor... so we have to assume it's been rolled five times.”
“Exactly. Can we still call this a coincidence?” Arlo smiled and shook his head. “Now, everyone has no choice but to acknowledge it. Saram123's brilliance. It’s not some mere coincidence or luck, but a result solely born of how extraordinary he is. I used to say that miracles don't happen multiple times, but I was mistaken. The clearing of each Nightmare floor wasn't the miracle; his very existence is a miracle to humanity.”
“Your stance really has taken a complete 180, hasn't it?”
“Isn't it all being proven through his results? Saram123 clears the Nightmare year after year for all to see. It is a feat only he can achieve. Even Alejandro from Spain, who gathered so much expectation for speed-clearing Nightmare, couldn't overcome the wall of being the first.”
Arlo spoke with growing fervor.
“Ever since Saram123 set the time limit to 20 days, the world—which was once complete chaos—has been stabilizing at a surprising rate every year. Crime rates have plummeted, and so many societal issues have been resolved. I'm sure we all feel that atmosphere. Now, even as the Nightmare time limit approaches, there are far more people holding onto hope than those falling into despair. Isn't that truly magnificent?”
Of course, doomsday preppers still existed. There were people who thought Saram123 would eventually fail one day, and there were religions that viewed The Tower as divine judgment, worshipping it as a god.
However, compared to the early days when The Tower first appeared, they were merely a minority. Now, a far greater number of people harbored the hope that they would be able to continue living their lives. It was all because Saram123 had given people faith through his overwhelming abilities and his selfless actions dedicated solely to the peace of the world.
“It truly is an incredible thing. I completely agree with your words.” Jude pointed at the rosary-like bracelet Arlo was wearing. “Come to think of it, Mr. Arlo, I've been wondering for a while now... isn't the crest on that bracelet from the Church of Saram123?”
Arlo smiled somewhat awkwardly and held up his wrist. “That's right. I ended up joining as well.”
“Haha, so you've even become a devout believer now.”
“Well, it's not a group with heavy religious overtones. Honestly, I sometimes think... shouldn't anyone who's a part of humanity join it?”
After the Cheonin Cult scandal in South Korea, there was a brief period where religious organizations related to Saram123 faltered, but those were nothing more than shady cults. The Church of Salvation, the root of the Church of Saram123, was still actively expanding even now, growing more massive by the day.
“I believe that the miracle of humanity will once again gift us another year of life. It will undoubtedly be the same this year.”
Meanwhile, at Times Square in New York City.
With only 15 hours left until the 20-day Nightmare time limit, a massive crowd had already gathered. People who had stepped out casually to wish for his success, followers of the Church of Saram123 praying with utmost solemnity, and reporters roaming around to interview them...
As time passed and the crowd continued to swell, a few people suddenly shouted.
“...It's a success!”
“The 7th Floor has been cleared! Waaah!”
The cries of the Climbers who saw the announcement first acted as a signal flare. The people packed in the plaza erupted into a massive roar. Everyone rejoiced, hugging each other and throwing their arms over one another's shoulders.
It was cleared much earlier than the previous floors. Because of that, people didn't even have time to be anxious this year.
[Score: We live another year! I believed in you, goddammit!]
[Hedgehog: Ah... Thank you for saving humanity again this year.]
[Dayyoung: Honestly, it feels like a foregone conclusion now lol]
[Snowman: See, I told you. You just have to believe and wait.]
[Gugu: Truly, one single person is holding up the entire world.]
With this, the 7th Floor was done. There was no failure for Saram123. As each floor of the Nightmare was cleared, the people's faith only grew stronger.
But as to how long this moment of joy would continue year after year... that was something no one could know.
*
- Saram123 has saved humanity once again this year. We have breaking news that the Nightmare Difficulty 7th Floor was cleared around 5 AM today...
Kim Seo-ah, who woke up late in the morning, was stunned when she saw the news. Apparently, the Nightmare 7th Floor had been cleared at dawn while she was sleeping.
He had challenged the 6th Floor during the daytime last time and cleared it earlier than the previous floors, but this 7th Floor was an early clear as well.
“Haa...”
So the world wasn't ending this year, either. Feeling her heart pounding, Kim Seo-ah let out a sigh of relief.
Click.
A bedroom door opened, and Kim Seo-hyun came out into the living room.
Kim Seo-ah spoke excitedly. “They said the 7th Floor was successfully cleared!”
“Yeah, I saw.”
“We passed this year too,” Kim Seo-hyun muttered as he glanced at the TV screen. Then he went to the kitchen, drank some water, and went right back into his room.
It was a consistently indifferent reaction, just like always. Kim Seo-ah had never once seen Kim Seo-hyun look happy after hearing the news that the Nightmare had been cleared.
“...”
Come to think of it, they hadn't managed to do it again after all. She had been planning to make sure Kim Seo-hyun wasn't left out this year, and that the whole family would pray for the Nightmare to be cleared together in the living room.
Yet strangely enough, every single time the Nightmare was cleared, Kim Seo-hyun was either out of the house or it was at dawn when he was sleeping.
Of course, it was just a coincidence. It had to be a coincidence, but...
Kim Seo-ah stared blankly at Kim Seo-hyun's bedroom door.