Chapter 13: Nightmare Floor 2 (1) |
I glanced around for no particular reason on my way back home.
“Phew…”
I’d actually gone and met with him.
Bilon Must had offered to simply drop off the Skill Stone at any location I chose, but I figured if he was planning something underhanded, the method of delivery wouldn’t matter either way. So I just met him face to face.
Seeing someone in person that I’d only ever seen on the internet was surreal.
He’s not going to dig into my background, is he? Was I followed on the way back?
With someone as powerful as Bilon Must on the other end, every paranoid thought imaginable crept in.
Forget it.
What’s done is done. I decided to let the chips fall where they may.
His words had felt sincere, but…
I couldn’t help wondering why he was going this far for me.
I wasn’t the only Nightmare Climber anymore.
It would’ve been far easier for Bilon Must to invest in one of the American Climbers if he wanted to.
Did he figure the first person to clear the floor had the best shot at clearing the second one too?
Come to think of it, he’d probably already invested in all of them and was just covering me as well. Diversification is the foundation of investing, after all.
I stopped wasting brainpower on things that didn’t matter.
[Skill: Leap (Normal)]
Momentarily amplifies jumping power.
Classification: Physical Type
Willpower cost: 10
Cooldown: 15 seconds
I examined the newly acquired skill.
The Willpower cost was only 10, and the cooldown was fairly short.
‘Look at that dirt-cheap cost.’
No weird Mental Concentration requirement either.
Compared to Magic Type skills, this was an absolute steal.
Well, it was Normal-grade, so that probably had something to do with it.
I decided to test the skill right away.
[You have entered Nightmare difficulty Floor 1.]
I entered the Tower and tried out the Leap skill.
A standing vertical jump with everything I had.
My body rocketed upward as if the stone floor had turned into a trampoline.
“Whoa…!”
I nearly smashed my head into the ceiling of the chamber.
When I landed, both legs rang with the impact.
That had to have been close to twenty meters.
I hadn’t expected much from a Normal-grade skill, but the boost to jumping power was far greater than I’d imagined. Had it doubled, at least?
Kerr… kek-
I dispatched the Goblins emerging from the corridors and kept testing the skill.
I tried standing broad jumps, sprinting from one end of the chamber to the other and leaping.
It’s not a difficult skill to use.
It just needed time to get used to the distances, same as with Teleportation.
‘A few days of practice should do the trick.’
I decided to hold off on entering Floor 2 until after that.
I’d gotten a new skill, so the least I could do was build up some proficiency before heading in.
*
Jackal, the second Nightmare Climber to appear on the Communication Channel.
His provocation aimed at Person123, the first Nightmare Climber, had been the talk of the town for a while.
[Satan: He must really think he can clear Floor 2, huh? What kind of reward did he get from Floor 1?]
[Yukaru: More than that, his whole country’s probably dumping all their support on him. And it’s the US, no less]
[BananaPeel: Rumor has it the Nightmare Climbers are level 10.]
[Unicorn: Level 10? Isn’t that 2.5 times Hard? Is the gap really that big?]
[Elevator: Easy Floor 10 = Nightmare Floor 1 lolololol]
[Meteorite: That guy has no manners. He benefited from Person123’s intel and then talks like that]
[Kandrik: What are you saying, man? He’s offering to go first and share Floor 2 intel]
[Cheeseburger: Instead of trash-talking, we should be cheering him on. Those six people are the only thing standing between us and the end of the world]
And when, a few days later, the number of Nightmare Climbers on the Communication Channel dropped by one, the channel erupted all over again.
[Missile: Talked big and got himself killed, just like I figured lololol]
[HakShow: You think this is funny? The odds of the world ending just went up]
[MachineBrain: Anyone else stepping up to try?]
[TunaSushi: Is everyone still just sitting around waiting to see what happens?]
[MagicBombardment]: Hahaha, damn it all. Another Day of Destruction creeping closer]
Just like a year ago, as the Time Limit ticked down, an atmosphere of dread had spread everywhere.
U.S. Tower Climbing Management Bureau.
After Jack’s failure, the Bureau felt like a house in mourning.
For them, an entire year’s worth of effort had gone up in smoke in a single instant.
One person still remained.
Though it was far from a hopeful situation.
“Taylor, let’s push the date back.”
Taylor, who had been devoting herself to Floor 2 preparation training as always, let out a sigh at the news Max had brought.
“Does that really matter?”
“Probably not. The higher-ups want to watch how things develop a bit longer.”
“…Watch how things develop. Everyone’s thinking the same thing, aren’t they? Just waiting to see who goes in first.”
It was a game of chicken.
None of the remaining Nightmare Climbers wanted to be the first to attempt Floor 2. Even less so now that one of them had already failed.
Had any nation announced a challenge? Not one.
China, India, Russia, all silent.
With only twenty days until extinction, everyone was still calculating costs and benefits.
At this rate, they’d end up doing exactly what they did last time: amicably praying together on the final day.
“Jack, that man may have been reckless, but I also think he was headed in the right direction. His courage deserved respect.”
A project born to serve humanity, to put this great nation at the forefront of the Nightmare difficulty.
They both knew. If they kept playing it safe like this, the project had been doomed from the start.
“So proceed as originally scheduled. Even without authorization, I’m going in.”
A conflicted expression crossed Max’s face.
How could he not understand? Someone had to step forward.
But what lay ahead was so obviously hell.
Jack, who had prepared meticulously and received every possible resource, had died within a minute.
What kind of nightmarish trial could possibly be waiting on Floor 2? He couldn’t even imagine.
“I’m sorry, Taylor.”
On top of everything, she would be entering without even the proper support from the Bureau.
The decision to funnel all resources to Jack had partly reflected the recommendation of Max, the Floor 1 training instructor, which made it all the harder for him to face her.
Taylor understood what his apology meant and gave a bitter smile.
“It was the obvious call. You have nothing to apologize for.”
Concentrating resources on the one more likely to succeed was a perfectly rational choice. Everything else was hindsight.
Taylor found herself reflecting on why she had chosen to climb the Nightmare difficulty in the first place.
As a former agent of the CIA’s Special Activities Center, Taylor had done many things for the country where she was born and raised.
The division she’d belonged to didn’t officially exist. She had taken part in numerous black operations, killed and tortured enemies, watched close colleagues die.
Growing disillusionment had been building when she was selected as a Nightmare difficulty Climber.
Driven by a sense of duty, she’d thought she had come too far down a road with no turning back, but then a new path opened up.
This way, she could serve her country without having to watch anyone else die, enemy or ally. It wasn’t just about this nation, either. The fate of all humanity was at stake. Nothing could be more important.
So she quit everything and volunteered.
Having made that choice, she owed it to herself to see it through to the end.
Taylor looked down at her trembling hands, then clenched them into fists.
Hoping against hope that even a sliver of a chance remained.
*
After a few days of practice, I was fully comfortable with the Leap skill.
I began making preparations to enter Floor 2.
Dear Father, Mother, little brother… I wrote a will and tucked it into my desk drawer.
I prayed once again that this will would never need to be opened.
“Thanks for the meal. It was delicious.”
I was clearing my bowl after dinner when my mother spoke up.
“Seo-hyeon, is something going on with you lately?”
“Hm? No.”
Wait, was it that obvious?
My father, still sitting at the table, glanced over at me too.
I thought I’d been acting like my usual self, but my parents were far too perceptive.
“I’m just a little preoccupied, I guess. That’s all.”
“…Don’t worry. The world doesn’t end that easily.”
My father said it as if to reassure me.
“It was the same last time, and this time too, someone will pull through. What’s his name, the first Climber to clear it? I heard the Russian government’s backing him, helping him prepare.”
He must think it’s the Nightmare Time Limit that’s been weighing on me.
But since when have I been getting help from Russia? That’s fake news, Dad.
“Really? That’s a bit of a relief, then.”
“Yeah. Trust me.”
I put on a smile and went back to my room.
I sat quietly at my desk and steadied my nerves.
Even after steeling my resolve, putting my life on the line was never easy.
Honestly, I was more hesitant than last time.
Last time, it had been a nothing-to-lose situation. Now, with plenty of time still left on the clock, the stakes felt different.
Does it really have to be me? If I just wait a little longer, won’t someone else pull it off…
I shook off every last one of those stray thoughts.
Time passed, and the clock crept past midnight
After confirming that everyone in the house was asleep, I quietly closed my door.
I changed clothes, put on my shoes, and stood in the center of my room.
[Would you like to enter Nightmare difficulty Floor 2?]
“Enter.”
All right. Let’s go.
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