Climbing the Tower with Time-Stop Ability - Chapter 83

Chapter 83: Bug (1)

TL: DDTL

“You’ve really done well. Section Chief Shin was the first one to step forward and stop the auction, I hear?”

“I didn’t stop it. Person123 was the one who stopped it.”

“Heh, even so, just by you acting the way you did, the international standing of our country has gone up another notch, hasn’t it? I’m truly proud.”

After the Masked Auction.

While the public lavished praise on Person123, Shin Su-jin also caught a share of the spotlight.

The one who had been first among the auction invitees to step up and, without hesitation, remove her mask in an attempt to stop the bidding.

Her efforts to prevent the deaths of countless ordinary civilians were also impressive and worthy of respect. People spared no praise for her.

It wasn’t that Shin Su-jin disliked the compliments, but they were a nuisance too.

Even before all this, Shin Su-jin had been a public figure within Korea.

The country’s top Normal difficulty record holder, and with looks to match, the media was never going to leave her alone.

Climbers affiliated with Korea’s Tower Climbing Special Agency, despite their status as public servants, received special treatment that allowed them a certain amount of commercial activity.

Call it the government’s desperate flailing to draw in even a few more climbers who absolutely refused to work as public officials.

So broadcasting offers and advertising proposals were not unusual for her even on ordinary days.

But after word of the Masked Auction spread, five offers had already come in today alone. Turning them down one by one was tedious in itself.

And not just externally, internally too…

“By the way, Section Chief Shin actually spoke with Person123 in person, I hear?”

The Tower Climbing Special Agency director asked, voice carrying a quiet edge of curiosity.

Shin Su-jin said,

“I only thanked him for stopping the auction. We didn’t speak about anything in particular.”

“Hmm, even so… could you share anything, no matter how small? Ah, were you not able to confirm whether Person123 is definitely Korean?”

Shin Su-jin sighed inwardly.

Ever since it had become more or less established fact that Person123 was Korean, the government had been quietly continuing its investigation into him. From things picked up here and there in conversation with the director, Shin Su-jin had a rough sense of the situation.

His very existence was a matter of national importance, so the government was straining to gather even a scrap more information.

Though Shin Su-jin worked for the country, she had no intention of telling them what she knew.

It wasn’t as if Shin Su-jin actually knew Person123’s identity, nor was any of it some grand secret, but anything to do with Person123, whatever it was, would never leave her lips.

She had promised Person123 she would keep his secrets, and that naturally took priority.

Whether publicly or privately, it was a promise made to someone who, for her, was a savior.

Shin Su-jin gave a vague response and excused herself from the director’s office.

Before heading back to work on Floor 5, she stopped by the break room to refuel on caffeine.

Sipping her coffee, Shin Su-jin let her thoughts drift back to the Masked Auction.

…if it hadn’t been for him, the auction would have ended in a horrific massacre.

When Number 41’s incitement had set off a bidding free-for-all and the place had descended into chaos, she had been unable to do a thing. She had just been stuck in panic,

Even when she’d thought there was no turning back, Person123 had found a way at once.

Without a flicker of hesitation, he had cut down Number 41 and resolved the situation flawlessly.

He had been truly incredible. Was it the kind of person he was that let him keep tackling Nightmare difficulty?

After that, she had even had the chance to speak with him at the banquet…

Honestly, she regretted not getting to have a proper conversation.

Whether during the Seo Dong-woo incident or the Seoul Arts Center Fallen incident, she had wanted to thank him personally for all the help he had given her, but with so many ears around, she couldn’t bring up such private matters.

And when the chance to actually speak with him did come, she’d been a little nervous.

Deputy Commander Justin had been happily chattering away the whole time, while Shin Su-jin had basically just listened beside him. She should have said more herself.

“Haa…”

Had he thought she was a dull person…?

She really wasn’t usually like that.

She found herself hoping another chance would come around someday.

*

After the Masked Auction.

I took a day off, then got started on what needed doing.

Namely, Zone 4 hunting.

[Zone 4 (89.5%)]

I decided to put off the Floor 6 hidden a little while and tackle the Zone 4 boss first.

There wasn’t much of the gauge left anyway.

If I had to choose, it made more sense to claim the Zone 4 boss reward first before going for the hidden.

Boss attempts had no set limit, but the hidden was capped at three.

In terms of order, the boss came first.

The downside was that posting the Floor 6 info would be delayed too…

[Person123: I’ll be posting the Floor 6 info after clearing the Zone 4 boss.]

That part I gave advance notice about on the Communication Channel.

Of course, I could have just posted what I currently knew.

But then if any of the other Nightmare clearers asked me to verify something, I wouldn’t be able to help them. The moment I stepped into Floor 6, my hidden attempts would start ticking down.

The cleanest move was to finish the hidden first, then post the Floor 6 info.

Slash!

The Sword of Light took the Yeti’s head clean off.

The headless body tipped sideways and crumpled.

I pushed through the blizzard in search of the next monster.

To build proficiency with the new skill, I was currently hunting Zone 4 monsters primarily with the Sword of Light.

My physical capabilities at level 80, combined with the cutting power of the Sword of Light, basically a lightsaber, meant monsters in the 40-level range had no chance.

Every swing sliced through them like a knife through pudding, clean cuts straight across.

Vrrrrrn!

I spotted a Giant Hornet flying overhead.

I hurled the Sword of Light at it.

Spinning through the air, the sword cleaved the hornet clean through the waist.

The hornet plummeted in two pieces, and I stretched out my hand.

At that, the airborne Sword of Light came back like a boomerang. I snatched it cleanly as it returned.

The skill description hadn’t mentioned it, so I hadn’t known.

But it had a return feature like this too. Not a bad function at all.

I wandered a while longer and this time spotted some White Wolves.

They were natural pack hunters, and sure enough, I could see a whole bunch of them clustered together in the distance…

I hurled the Sword of Light their way.

“Detonate.”

Boom!

A dazzling flash exploded outward and swept through the White Wolf pack.

The Sword of Light’s blast power was a notch stronger than even a power-buffed Flame Strike.

Well, it was a rare+ grade skill with much higher willpower cost and a longer cooldown, so that was only natural.

In any case, I was finding the Sword of Light skill pretty satisfying to use.

I kept on hunting.

Filling the last 10% of the gauge would take two months at most.

Time to make a quick run at the Zone 4 boss.

*

There was always something people waited for whenever Person123 cleared a new floor. The info post.

This time attention had been drawn toward the Masked Auction, but…

Many were still eager to see what Nightmare Floor 6 had been like.

And then.

[Person123: I’ll be posting the Floor 6 info after clearing the Zone 4 boss.]

A short while after the Masked Auction ended, the post from Person123 went up.

The Zone 4 gauge currently had very little left.

Which meant Person123 was about to attempt the Zone 4 boss, and people sent up cheers and concerns.

[Anchor: How long till Zone 4 fills up?]

[Card: Maybe a month or so]

[Recess: He’s gonna solo the Zone 4 boss too? Is that gonna be okay…?]

[PumpkinSoup: He knows what he’s doing. He one-shot the Zone 3 boss]

[Leben: He even cleared Floor 6 and leveled up 20 levels. Pretty sure we don’t need to worry?]

[Zebra: How are we not supposed to worry; if something goes wrong the world’s f***ed]

Meanwhile, the Security Corps was also hard at work continuing its Zone 4 hunts.

Zone 4, where monsters far stronger and far more troublesome than those in Zone 3 appeared.

Even within the Security Corps, only the most elite climbers could manage to hunt here.

“Ice Hornet! Watch out!”

Security Corps Chief Alex warned his men the moment he spotted an Ice Hornet incoming.

A flying type with venom on top of that, the most troublesome monster in Zone 4.

Taylor stepped forward.

Slash!

She used her Quick Step skill to dodge the incoming stinger, then in one motion swung her Aura Blade-wreathed sword and severed the hornet at its vulnerable waist.

The clean execution drew gasps of admiration from the squad.

Alex, who had deliberately stayed out of it and only watched, nodded as well.

‘Definitely…’

A Nightmare clearer really was on another level.

Taylor, having recently cleared Nightmare Floor 4 and entered Floor 5, was now occasionally joining the Security Corps’s hunts.

Including Alex and Taylor, a handful of the Security Corps’s top elite climbers were currently devoting themselves entirely to Zone 4 hunting…

The purpose, of course, was to help Person123.

To fill the Zone 4 gauge even a little faster, to spare humanity’s savior even a little of his precious time.

And in fact, Taylor had volunteered for this.

She was a precious Nightmare clearer America had poured every kind of support into. Why would they welcome her hunting in Zone 4 when one slip could ruin everything?

Yet Taylor had stepped forward saying she wanted to help Person123, and so here she was, moving with Alex’s team.

But watching her in action, there really wasn’t much to worry about.

Taylor wasn’t simply level 40 on paper. Her combat sense and skill execution were both exceptional. Honestly, Alex thought she fought better than he did at the same level.

Alex’s team continued moving in search of monsters.

“I see White Wolf tracks.”

Taylor spotted the trail.

White Wolves were the only Zone 4 monsters that traveled in packs.

Each one individually wasn’t particularly strong, but they could swarm in groups dozens deep, which made them dangerous. Their intelligence was relatively high too.

From the look of the tracks, the numbers seemed sizeable.

But when they followed the trail, what they found instead was…

The aftermath of a massive explosion, and the corpses of White Wolves blown apart so thoroughly they were unrecognizable.

Alex looked around the scene, expression tightening.

The Black Star Society… couldn’t be. The byproducts hadn’t been collected. No, in this state, they couldn’t have been collected.

“…Could this have been Person123’s hunt?”

One of the squad members ventured.

Taylor and Alex were thinking the same thing. In a Zone 4 this vast, even crossing paths was a coincidence.

But what kind of skill did it take to leave a trace like this? It looked like the wolves had all been blown to pieces in a single shot.

Judging by the explosion patterns, it didn’t seem like he’d used that black ray either…

It was Person123, though, so there was nothing surprising about it.

Maybe there really was no need to worry about the Zone 4 boss either, was the thought that came naturally to Alex and his squad.

*

A month or so passed of diligent Zone 4 hunting.

[Zone 4 (99.9%)]

It was right around the corner now.

The appearance of the Zone 4 boss.

I’d finished all my preparations.

Just how strong would the Zone 4 boss be?

It would be at least level 80, and I was level 80 too, so honestly I figured this might go down as easily as the Zone 3 boss…

It’d be nice if a Destruction Ray click did the trick this time too.

Either way, complacency was off the table, so I tightened my focus.

I’d given advance notice to both the Security Corps and the Black Star Society through the Communication Channel.

If anyone was thinking of helping with the boss fight, don’t.

I hadn’t really stopped them during the Zone 3 boss, but this was the Zone 4 boss, far stronger than Zone 3. At least level 80 territory.

The other climbers, even Security Corps Chief Alex at the top level, absolutely couldn’t handle it.

Going off to look for the boss to help me would only put them in danger, so I’d told them outright to not even come near the area.

The method would be the same as the Zone 3 boss fight.

Activate the Warp Device beforehand, then start fighting the boss.

If it looked hopeless, warp out; if it looked manageable, keep fighting.

I roamed in search of monsters to fill the last 0.1%.

Soon enough I found an Ice Hornet.

The instant I dropped it with a Flame Strike…

A message appeared.

[Zone 4 (100%)]

[The Zone 4 boss appears.]