Chapter 128: Nightmare, 10th Floor (1) |
[Item: Mist Beast King’s Pearl]
A pearl imbued with the power of the Mist Beast King. On use, it spreads mist over a 100-meter radius for 3 minutes. Within the range of the mist, the user can teleport freely. Once used, it can be used again after 24 hours.
The item first.
It was a piece of gear that held the teleportation ability of the Zone 5 boss.
Spreads mist over a 100-meter radius for three minutes, and lets you teleport, huh.
So does that mean I get unlimited teleportation inside the mist for three whole minutes?
Seemed like a decent enough ability.
[Skill: Mirror Barrier (Epic)]
Creates a mirror barrier within a 3-meter radius. The barrier reflects the opponent’s attacks, and consumes additional willpower equal to the reflected power. Attacks whose power exceeds your willpower cannot be reflected, and the barrier is destroyed. Casting requires 3 minutes of Mental Concentration.
Willpower cost: 50 per second
Cooldown: 5 minutes after destruction
Next, the Epic-grade Skill Stone.
It came out as Magic Type.
The first defensive magic skill I’d ever gotten, and…
‘A reflection ability?’
[‘Skill: Mirror Barrier (Epic)’ has been acquired.]
I acquired it right away and gave it a try.
When I cast the skill, a hexagonal barrier formed in midair.
The barrier was a bit larger than my own body.
Reading the description, it said willpower was consumed in proportion to the reflected power, but…
So if I take a single attack that exceeds my maximum willpower, it gets destroyed?
And the cooldown was five minutes after destruction.
Which meant that as long as it wasn’t destroyed, I could keep summoning and dismissing it, just like the Sword of Light.
It was a flat barrier rather than something that covered my whole body, but it seemed like it would come in quite handy.
Lastly, the Enhancement Stone.
[Rare+ Skill Enhancement Stone]
On use, you can enhance one Rare+ grade skill.
“Oh.”
Checking the info, it was Rare+ grade.
As it happened, my Sixth Sense was at +4, so it only needed one more enhancement.
Without a second thought, I went ahead and enhanced Sixth Sense.
[‘Rare+ Skill Enhancement Stone’ has been used on ‘Skill: Sixth Sense (Rare+)’.]
[‘Skill: Sixth Sense (Rare+)’ has been enhanced, further strengthening its danger-detection ability.]
[‘Skill: Sixth Sense (Rare+)’ has reached its maximum enhancement level.]
[‘Skill: Weakness Insight (Epic)’ has been acquired.]
Sixth Sense hit +5, and I acquired the higher-tier Epic-grade skill.
[Skill: Weakness Insight (Epic)]
Sees through the opponent’s weak points.
Classification: Physical Type (Passive)
Willpower cost: None
Cooldown: None
A simple description.
Just as the name suggested, it was a passive skill with the effect of revealing an opponent’s weak points.
Hmm, so that’s what came out.
I left the Reward Room.
And immediately headed to Zone 6, which should have just opened up.
Zone 6 was a desert region, like Floor 8.
I wandered around looking for monsters.
Since it was a desert, I figured something like a sandworm might show up, but…
“…The hell is that?”
A big robot shaped like a bacteriophage.
An unexpected mechanical monster popped out.
I looked the thing over.
The moment I thought I should check its weak point…
‘Oh.’
A faint red haze shimmered beneath the monster’s head.
So this is how it looks.
Zziiing-
Just then, the Bacteriophage spotted me too, and light flared from its head.
At the same time, something like a blue energy ball came flying toward me.
I tried out the Mirror Barrier I’d just gotten.
The incoming energy ball struck the barrier and bounced off, flying right back the way it had come.
Kwaaang!
The Bacteriophage’s head burst apart, hit by its own attack.
It collapsed and stopped moving.
I pulled an Enhancement Stone out of my subspace.
The Epic-grade Enhancement Stone I’d received as a Floor 8 clear reward, the one I’d thought about using on Hellfire Eruption but had held onto until now.
[‘Epic Skill Enhancement Stone’ has been used on ‘Skill: Weakness Insight (Epic)’.]
[‘Skill: Weakness Insight (Epic)’ has been enhanced, making the opponent’s weak points even easier to see.]
I enhanced Weakness Insight right away.
Rather than Hellfire Eruption, boosting a utility skill like this would obviously be more useful.
Damage wasn’t anything I was lacking, not as I was now.
I wandered around some more, looking for another monster.
I ran into another Bacteriophage.
I checked to see what the one-level enhancement to Weakness Insight had changed, and…
Unlike before, when the red haze had appeared in a vague blur, it was now more detailed.
On top of that, faint red had begun to show in other parts of its body as well.
The color was dimmer than the weak point at the head.
My guess was that the weak point around the head was the most fatal, and it also showed me the next-weakest spots after that.
So this is how it enhances.
Once I’d confirmed the effects of the new skills, I left the Tower soon after.
In any case, I’d collected all the Zone 5 boss rewards.
And I’d confirmed that Radiant Incarnation could fill the Zone Gauge extremely fast.
[Special Item: Hourglass of Acceleration]
Select one of the following effects to apply permanently. Once chosen, the effect cannot be changed.
1. Reduce the cooldown of all owned skills by 70%
2. Fix the cooldown of one random skill at 0 seconds
‘If I use the Hourglass, I could cut Radiant Incarnation’s cooldown down to a single day, but…’
…that one-skill zero-cooldown option is just too good to pass up.
Even if it doesn’t land on Radiant Incarnation, if it lands on one of my main magic skills, that would be far better.
For now, let me hold onto it a little longer.
Worst case, I can always use it in the moment I need it, mid-floor.
I thought about clearing the Zone 6 boss before challenging Floor 10, but…
I decided to prioritize the Floor 10 challenge.
The farther out the Zone, the slower the Gauge fills.
I couldn’t just keep pouring all my time into taking down Zone bosses.
The time I had was limited, and I didn’t even know how many floors the Tower had.
It felt hopeless, but I had to keep running.
Trusting in myself that I would reach the top of the Tower, no matter what.
*
While Radiant Incarnation’s cooldown ran down.
I spent as much time as I could with my family.
There was no telling when this precarious tightrope walk would come to an end.
“Mr. Kim.”
I met once more with Bilon, who had rushed to Korea after hearing about my lifespan.
I’d decided to just tell Bilon the plain truth.
That I’d used an item called the Scales of Life, and that as a result I had only about 300 days of lifespan left.
“…Still, if I keep climbing the Tower, I might find some way to restore my lifespan. It’s not settled yet.”
Bilon nodded.
“So from now on, you’ll need to clear floors quickly.”
“Right. I haven’t fixed it exactly, but I’m planning to clear at least one floor a week.”
“Understood. I’ll prepare as thoroughly as I can, just as you’ve asked.”
By preparation, I meant preparation for what came after, if I failed and died.
The odds of anyone succeeding me in clearing Nightmare difficulty were essentially zero.
A world where 99 percent of humanity had turned into monsters.
I used to think that even in the one-in-a-million chance my family landed among the 1 percent of survivors, there’d be no way to live in a hell like that anyway.
But now my thinking had changed.
Even if it was pathetic, shouldn’t I at least give it everything I had, right to the very end?
So I made a request of Bilon.
That if the destruction of the world became all but certain, he look after my family.
Bilon would evacuate them to his private bomb shelter.
If heaven smiled on them and any of my family survived against that 1 percent chance.
Then maybe they could go on living, even in a ruined world.
Of course, my family wouldn’t want that, and it was nothing but my own selfishness, but I decided to do it anyway.
“I wish you the best of luck, Mr. Kim. I have always firmly believed that you will overcome any hardship.”
Bilon said this with a grave gaze, one that still held his trust.
It was this strange sense of trust that had brought me and this man together in the first place.
I wanted to live up to that faith, too.
Once Radiant Incarnation’s cooldown had fully cycled.
I began, little by little, to prepare to enter Floor 10.
“Floor 10, huh…”
The number itself didn’t mean much.
But thinking that I’d already reached Floor 10, I couldn’t help feeling that I’d somehow made it all this way.
– Come to think of it, Floor 10 was a little different.
I was steeling myself when the Demon King’s voice came to me.
“…Different, you say? How so?”
– Or perhaps not. The floor’s contents differ between you and I, so it may be meaningless.
The Demon King said something odd.
I pressed him on what exactly was different and how, but he said it was complicated to explain and told me to see for myself.
Either way, once all my preparations were done…
I ate a hearty last lunch, and then my family saw me off in the living room.
“Be careful, Seo-hyeon. All right…?”
My parents looked at me with eyes full of worry as they spoke.
I smiled and nodded.
“Yeah, I’ll be careful. I’ll clear it easily and come right back this time too.”
Don’t worry too much even if it takes a while like Floor 8 did, and even if the number on the Nightmare Communication Channel drops, it might not be me, so don’t rush to think the worst…
I said all the same things I had before entering Floor 9, so they wouldn’t worry too much.
Of course, I knew that no matter what I said, my family had no choice but to tremble with worry.
A thought suddenly came to me.
I took the Celestial Music Box out of my subspace.
“Do you all want to give this a listen?”
♫ ♪
When I set it going, a beautiful melody flowed out.
The Celestial Music Box, with its effect of calming the mind and body.
I knew from using it plenty myself just how remarkable that effect was.
I’d never actually checked whether it worked on people other than me, but…
Judging by my family’s reaction, it seemed to work just fine.
“Mmm, that’s lovely music. What is this?”
“It’s an item that has a calming effect on the mind and body.”
I could see my parents’ and my sister’s faces grow noticeably more at ease.
I even considered just leaving the music box here running for my family, but…
There might be a time during the climb when I’d need it, so no, that wouldn’t do.
“I’ll be off, then.”
After letting the music box play for a good long while.
I exchanged my final goodbyes with my family.
[Will you enter Nightmare difficulty Floor 10?]
The Demon King’s words about Floor 10 being somehow different nagged at me a little.
Well, I’d find out from here on by seeing for myself.
I entered Floor 10.
My vision flipped.
*
[You have entered Nightmare difficulty Floor 10.]
As always, the moment I entered, Time Stop.
“…?”
Huh?
I let time flow again.
Flustered, I looked around.
Because…
The place I was standing in was a living room.
Right in the middle of the living room of a house with the exact same layout as ours, the one I’d been in just moments ago.
My family wasn’t there, of course.
I had definitely entered Floor 10.
[Kill ‘me’.]
Just then, a new message appeared.
…Kill me?
‘What the hell is this crap now?’
Unable to make heads or tails of it, I looked around the house.
It was, for certain, a house with the same interior layout as ours.
The décor was different, though, and the place was thick with dust and in complete disarray…
I moved to the window.
I drew back the curtain and looked outside.
“…”
A dark city, the sun long set.
I could see the Han River.
It was the familiar view of downtown Seoul.
What in the world… was this?
Above all, off to one side of the city, I could see something glowing softly with a golden light.
It was a massive dome-shaped veil.
Just like the veil that had appeared during the Quarantine Zone Incident. But slightly different.
Still bewildered, I flew out the window.
Stepping along Air Walk, I rose high up and looked down at the city below.
This was without a doubt Seoul.
Except that the city had the feel of a ruin.
As I looked around below, I soon spotted a person.
‘…A person?’
There were people here?
Two men were walking down an alley, glancing warily around them.
I hesitated over what to do, then went down for the moment.
I approached them from behind and carefully spoke up.
“Excuse me…”
The men flinched and spun around.
“Wh-what the hell!”
Both of them were filthy, dressed like beggars.
And their eyes had a dangerous look to them.
They eyed me as if on guard, and then one of them casually drew a knife.
“Where’d you crawl out from? What are you, huh?”
“…There’s something I’d like to ask you.”
I really couldn’t make sense of any of this.
For now, it seemed I’d have to squeeze some information out of these people.
“The fuck are you babbling about, asshole.”
“Hey, if you don’t wanna die, empty your pockets. All of it.”
But the men weren’t friendly in the slightest.
I stared blankly at the knife the man had thrust toward me, and then.
“You deaf? I said empty your pockets-”
I grabbed the blade with my hand and snapped it clean off.
“…Huh?”
The man let out a dumbfounded sound.
The two men, faces gone pale, this time suddenly dropped to their knees.
“I-I-I’m sorry! I didn’t know you were a Climber…!”
I frowned and crouched down in front of them.
“Hey.”
“P-please, spare us. Please…!”
“No, I’m not going to kill you, so just answer my questions. Raise your heads.”
The men lifted their heads, trembling.
I asked first.
“This is Seoul, in South Korea, right?”
“…Huh? Y-yes, that’s right.”
“What’s that? That golden veil.”
When I pointed at the enormous veil covering one part of the city.
The man answered haltingly, as though hearing a strange question.
“Th-that’s… the Ark… isn’t it?”
…What?
A word I never expected suddenly came out.
‘The Ark?’
The Ark, he said?
The one the Tower had always offered me as a price?
“You mean the Ark that Person123 received as a reward from the Tower?”
“Y-yes, yeah…”
The man nodded.
I gazed blankly at the golden veil.
…What is this world?
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