Chapter 19
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: The Fact That I Don't Die - 6
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· 387th Cycle, 112th Floor
All the hard work from climbing the tower together with everyone felt like such a waste now.
Climbing with just the Sword Saint made the process feel incomparably simple.
To a regressor, the tower was like a chessboard.
You just had to bash your head against it until you figured out the method, then move the so-called adventurers like pieces to produce the result called conquest.
The alliance adventurers were like pawns—numerous, but just pawns.
Of course, pawns had potential.
A knight, rook, bishop, or even a queen could come from a pawn.
But with a queen like the Sword Saint already on the board, there was no reason to wait for all those pawns to promote.
By the time they shuffled one square at a time to reach the end, we had already passed the 100th floor.
"Is there something you need to check?"
"It's not important. I just needed to know how far they'd come."
After conquering the 112th floor, old familiar faces suddenly came to mind, so I decided to head back down.
The Sword Saint questioned pausing the climb, saying I wasn't even worth keeping an eye on, but thanks to the trust we'd built, he didn't object much.
The adventurers were just conquering the 48th floor.
Back when we'd formed the alliance with them, we should've been past the 70th floor by now.
The direct reason was, naturally, my absence.
The time spent on conquests had skyrocketed, and with quite a few deaths, even the faces I remembered were nowhere to be seen.
The indirect reason was a shift in the adventurers' mindset.
Unlike before, when brute-forcing deaths and retries made the climb look easy on the surface, the pace of conquests had slowed considerably.
Not in the massive alliance formation of over 30 from the same batch moving together, but split into guild structures.
The idea of waiting for the next batch—who only emerged at the 101st floor—to join had already been put into action here.
It was a bit slower, but it created a system for scouting new talent and filling gaps.
They didn't remember the cycles where I'd failed.
Thanks to that, many floors resolved exactly as planned on the first try, so from their perspective, it must've been a string of easy successes without needing to devise strategies.
This time, since I'd chosen the Sword Saint and left them to their own devices, they'd probably struggled through every hardship to clear even a single floor.
That meant their perception of the effort needed per conquest was completely different.
Maybe my trait had shortcutted the experiences they needed to go through.
Maybe I'd instilled a wrong understanding of conquests.
Even though they were clearing floors faster than before, it felt like something was missing.
Useless regrets bubbled up.
· 521st Cycle, 207th Floor
A problem arose.
For the first time since teaming up with the Sword Saint, our opinions clashed so badly that we became hostile toward each other.
I trusted the Sword Saint's martial prowess.
The Sword Saint trusted my information.
It was a relationship where we each took only what we needed.
We tacitly avoided each other's absolute domains.
The conquest condition on the 207th floor inevitably invaded the Sword Saint's domain.
"We can't do this with just the two of us. It's not about being strong or not."
"So you're saying we should drag other adventurers up here?"
"The more participants, the better—"
"I don't team up with the unskilled."
The 207th floor was a siege defense, and the condition was to protect the walls.
The problem: four walls total, spread across east, west, south, and north.
By now, I'd grown nearly as strong as the Sword Saint on the way up.
Even if Ryu Jae-hyun and I each soloed one direction, it'd be fine.
"We need the forces from other adventurer guilds."
"While we've reached here, those guild idiots are barely at the 80th floor with all their numbers."
"That's why we need to bring them up."
"How do you know without even trying properly? It's better to hone my swordsmanship than rely on weaklings."
But no matter how strong we were, two people couldn't cover four directions.
Perfectly sealing our assigned sides wouldn't matter if another broke through—the castle would fall either way.
Even pulling up the core members lingering around the 80th floor wouldn't match our combat power, but bringing the guilds themselves could cover the remaining two directions.
The Sword Saint didn't like my idea, though.
He spouted nonsense like each taking two directions, quickly clearing one, then rushing to the remaining before monsters reached the walls.
It was absurd.
The 207th floor featured periodic monster waves.
No matter how fast you cleared, there was no time to alternate between two directions.
To solve this, we'd need long-range teleport magic, not sword training.
Neither the Sword Saint nor I had magic talent.
No solution.
I couldn't help the guilds without his permission, either.
He claimed stake in our climb to the 207th floor and saw sharing it as betrayal, sticking to his firm stance.
· 541st Cycle, 207th Floor
Should I have prepared more people leisurely from the start?
Sua.
Yeah, I should've brought Sua.
One competent mage would've solved everything.
Do I have to do this again?
Stab my throat another 200 times and climb the tower with a revised plan?
No, what if another problem crops up later even after repeating this?
Even climbing with three meant things to consider.
Splitting growth elements we'd shared between two now among three reduced each person's share.
The tower's structure demanded splitting conquest teams, cooperation between vanguard and rear guard.
Achieve max growth with minimal numbers, then pull up the laggards and newbies to slot them properly.
Otherwise, it was designed unbreakable.
· 723rd Cycle, 25th Floor
This time, I decided to stay as inconspicuous as possible within the alliance.
Interfere minimally in conquests, only helping from behind when someone was on the brink of death.
Instill the awareness that they won't die, but could.
Spark competition.
Split the alliance into as many fragments as possible.
Activate guild structures, focus on nurturing juniors.
Catching up to my time with the Sword Saint would take incomparable time, but growth efficiency soared.
· ???th Cycle, 379th Floor
This isn't it either.
· ???th Cycle, 540th Floor
Thinking about it, why did I even enter the tower?
Why did I want to see the end?
Wasn't my home well-off?
Did I have family?
No dreams?
What kind of person was I?
· ???th Cycle, 714th Floor
I can't do this anymore.
I've done enough up to here.
When the hell does this crazy tower end?
I just don't have the confidence to repeat this anymore.
· ???th Cycle, 1st Floor
"Is everyone ready?"
Finally down to the very bottom.
[2nd Floor Gate]
Will you challenge the 2nd floor?
· Requirement - Adventurer's Proof (0/1)
It's been a while.
Back then, no worries, just excitement for the adventures ahead.
"If we go to the 2nd floor, maybe I'll meet Jae-hyun again."
"Even if you're confident, running off alone without discussion? Come on."
The leading adventurers—faces I barely remembered—were receiving their proofs from the tutorial village chief.
The chief moved step by step, politely handing the proofs with both hands.
When he reached me,
"Adventurer?"
I just stared blankly at his wrinkled hand.
"I already got mine. Looks like you got mixed up, Chief."
"Ah, you've already received it. Getting old, memory's no good..."
His trust in adventurers was so deep he didn't even consider doubting me.
One proof left over from the prepared count, and he just tilted his head, unable to figure why.
"Did I make you mad? Your face..."
"Pardon?"
"Sorry. Was the joke too much?"
Beside me, Sua from the formal speech days was apologizing.
Something about not pranking with slimes anymore.
No idea what that means.
"Alright! Let's really go now!"
The adventurers who got their proofs were crossing the 2nd floor gate one by one.
"What are you doing? We gotta go."
"......"
"Jeez, still upset?"
"No."
Sua grabbed my wrist and dragged me to the gate.
"If you're that worried... I'll help you out on the 2nd floor."
Help with what?
Exactly what help?
"What's with that distrustful look?"
"......"
"I haven't told anyone, but I have a unique trait. Believe me now?"
Sua left words to follow and crossed the gate.
I was the last adventurer left.
- Shing!
In the peaceful 1st floor, devoid of even a single monster, I drew my sword.
From a time before entering the tower, when memories had mostly faded.
This one thing, I hadn't forgotten.
[1st Floor Gate]
Will you challenge the 1st floor?
Definitely the 1st floor gate.
The gate to the tower had the exact same message.
Trait - Endless Challenger《LEGENDARY》
If I die once more here, maybe I'd return to the point of challenging the tower?
Then I could take back my foolish decision?
If the trait doesn't work as thought, that wouldn't be so bad either.
- Stab!
I ended my life in a familiar pose.
⋮
When I opened my eyes again, the damn ceiling was the 1st floor's.
[1st Floor Infirmary]
- Fully healed.
You don't die in the tutorial.
Whether it's the tower's consideration for adventurers or imprisonment blocking the only escape.
I was the first adventurer to discover this fact.