Climbing the Tower with Time-Stop Ability - Chapter 89

Chapter 89: Cult (1)

TL: DDTL

I moved to the Reward Room.

I checked the rewards.

As expected, one item and one Skill Enhancement Stone.

‘No Skill Stone, huh.’

The Skill Enhancement Stone was purple, so it was Epic grade…

The only Epic-grade skill I had right now was Subspace.

If I enhanced it, would the storage capacity go up?

Right now, Subspace could store up to 100kg.

But it felt like a waste to burn a Skill Enhancement Stone on what was basically just an inventory skill, and the current capacity was already plenty, so I didn’t really feel any need to expand it…

For now, I decided to keep it.

If I got a better Epic-grade skill later, it’d be better to enhance that one instead.

Next, the item.

Hidden items usually had something to do with the Hidden story… so what was this?

I picked up the object that looked like an ID card.

[Item: Kalundi Empire 2nd Class Citizenship]

A 2nd Class Citizenship of the Kalundi Empire. As a subject of the Kalundi Empire, you acquire the right to imperial protection. Upon use, summons two Kalundi knights as escorts for 30 minutes. After one use, can be reused 24 hours later.

“…So it’s a citizenship, huh?”

Right, the prince had said he’d give it as a reward for winning the match.

The effect turned out to be a summoning-type ability.

Summon two Kalundi escort knights for 30 minutes.

I tried using it.

Pop!

With a faint flash of light, two Kalundi knights appeared on either side of me.

“Excuse me?”

I tried talking to them.

Whether they couldn’t or just wouldn’t, there was no reply.

I tried moving around.

The two knights trailed obediently after me.

“Stop.”

I tried giving various orders, but they didn’t listen at all.

They simply followed me around as if dutifully fulfilling their escort role, exactly as the item description said.

Would they react if I attacked them?

Whack!

I punched one, and the knight didn’t even defend himself, just took the hit and toppled over.

He got back up and walked over to my side.

Hmm… what kind of ability was this?

The knights were pretty strong, sure, but all they did was escort, and there was a 30-minute time limit too.

It didn’t seem all that useful.

I reverse-summoned the knights.

Anyway, the 6F Hidden clear was safely wrapped up.

[Difficulty: Nightmare]

[Floor: 7F]

[Level: 85]

[Willpower: 4,050]

[Skills: Destruction Ray (Epic+), Subspace (Epic), Sixth Sense (Rare+)(+2), Teleportation (Rare+), Rapid Regeneration (Rare+), Scorching Zone (Rare+), Fire-Type Low-Tier Mastery (Rare+), Sword of Light (Rare+), Cavalry Charge (Rare+), Flame Strike (Rare)(+5)…]

I headed outside.

I went back home, then entered 6F again.

It was time to post the 6F info guide.

I was hopping in and out of 6F, organizing the guide and writing it up in the Communication Channel.

– Why are you writing such drivel?

The Demon King asked.

“Because I’m the top record holder.”

– And?

“So I’m sharing information so other people can clear it more easily.”

– That’s what I’m asking. Why do that?

The Demon King spoke as if he couldn’t comprehend it.

– From the looks of it, if you can’t clear it, this world is finished, no?

“Pretty much.”

– Then thou shouldst reign as emperor, with the adoration of all under thy heel. What art thou doing? The fate of the world rests in thy hands. Use it to threaten the people and bring them to their knees.

There he goes again with the deranged nonsense.

“I’m not doing that.”

– Why not!

“…Because I’m a normal human being? Unlike you, Demon King.”

The Demon King really did say nothing but the most morally bankrupt things. Then again, he was a demon king, so I guess it came with the territory.

– A frustrating fool.

Ignoring the Demon King, I kept working on the info post.

A thought struck me and I asked,

“Demon King, what happened to your world? It ended up destroyed by the Tower’s Curse in the end, right?”

I wondered if the Demon King’s world had also turned into a hell, with everyone reduced to the Fallen.

The Demon King didn’t answer.

…Was that too flippant of me to ask? It was a story about someone else’s world being destroyed, after all.

I just went back to finishing the info post.

*

After Person123 cleared the Zone 4 boss.

People were now eagerly waiting for the Nightmare 6F clear guide to be posted.

This 6F clear had taken unusually long, so everyone was on the edge of their seats wondering what had come up.

[Person123: Here’s the 6F clear information.]

And just as he’d promised, before long the 6F info post went up.

[Person123: …The difference from other difficulties is that Nightmare has three lanes. The allied unit is one Goblin per spawn, while the enemy units are three Ogres per spawn…]

As always, the contents were shocking.

Three lanes, Ogres for enemy monsters, and on top of that a penalty where the monsters would keep doubling and Resistance would keep rising if the Nexuses weren’t destroyed in the right order.

There was even a trap: the very first Nexus that needed to be destroyed was the climbers’ own.

[Sushi: …Monsters double every time you get the order wrong? And there are three lanes too?]

[Dururu: Damn that’s genuinely awful]

[Gaiheun: I wonder how many times Person123 got it wrong before clearing? Tell us that too]

[Trojan Horse: I mean even he probably wouldn’t have pulled the insane move of cracking his own Nexus first thing, so wouldn’t he have gotten it wrong at least three times?]

[Venom Fang: Three wrong tries means 72 Ogres every 30 seconds, yikes]

[Pantba: The clear took two hours. Maybe he got it wrong even more than that…]

[Storm: No wonder Alejandro failed. How are you supposed to clear that on a first try?]

[Tarantula: Person123 did]

[Park Jae-woo: He’s a god, doesn’t count]

As always, people clicked their tongues at the horror of Nightmare difficulty and praised Person123, who had somehow managed to clear it once again.

“…So, for this 6F, it seems we only need to be cautious of the boss, much like 3F.”

The main conference room inside US Climbing Bureau headquarters.

The seated attendees nodded along to Max’s briefing, in which he’d analyzed and summarized Person123’s 6F clear post.

The greatest hurdle of this 6F would have been the order of Nexus destruction and the accompanying penalty, but Person123 had laid bare every mechanic involved.

The latecomers should be able to destroy the Nexuses in the correct order without much difficulty.

Even with three lanes, the turrets would be able to hold off three Ogres at a time while the Nexuses were being destroyed one after another.

The problem, however, was the boss.

According to the information Person123 had posted, the boss was a vastly larger Ogre.

It had no special abilities, but was characterized by monstrous strength and tenacious vitality. Perceived level: around 60.

For the latecomers at level 50, it was a fearsome opponent, but he had said its movements were sluggish, so they would have to work that angle.

He’d spoon-fed them this much. The rest was a burden the latecomers would have to bear themselves.

‘It really does feel like he’s moving into another realm entirely…’

The US Secretary of Defense, present at this meeting, thought with a grave expression.

Person123 consistently displayed an absurd strength that didn’t match his expected level.

Even back when he’d only cleared up to 4F, he had instakilled both Wang Kai, then Hard difficulty’s top record holder, and the Zone 3 boss. He must have grown significantly stronger again by clearing this 6F.

He was the world’s savior, and the idea of him turning against humanity was unthinkable. Still.

From the Secretary of Defense’s position, he had no choice but to run through the just-in-case simulations in his head.

How well would modern conventional firepower work against the strongest climber, and what strategy would have to be used to counter him.

But seeing that Person123 had also solo-cleared the Zone 4 boss, estimated to be at least level 80… at this point, even trying to predict his capabilities might be a meaningless exercise.

Magic Stones were continuing to fuel technological advancement, but Person123 also grew stronger with every floor he cleared.

No matter how fast technology advanced, it couldn’t keep pace with his growth, which would multiply exponentially year after year.

The Secretary of Defense felt a deep, renewed gratitude.

That the man holding humanity’s fate in his hands was a virtuous person like Person123.

If he’d had any inclination to do something to the world, who knew what kind of chaos things would be in by now.

The Secretary of Defense could only hope. That he would keep clearing Nightmare, and that he would remain, until the very end, humanity’s savior.

*

After posting the 6F guide.

I entered 5F.

I wanted to go check out the monsters in the newly-opened Zone 5.

Crossing the boundary of the Zone 4 snowfield, the environment of Zone 5 was, how to put it.

A bit like some uncharted forest?

“Eerie.”

It was blanketed in pure white mist, and visibility was poor enough that I couldn’t see more than an inch ahead.

Diul’s Dark Vision pierced through darkness, but it couldn’t cut through visibility blocked by mist like this.

I strode forward along the forest path.

The monsters here would be level 50 at most, and even if one ambushed me out of nowhere, I had Sixth Sense.

On top of that, I’d drunk the Frozen Hydra’s Blood, so my body was now practically unkillable under normal circumstances.

And even if I lost my bearings in the mist, I could warp back, so getting lost wasn’t a concern either…

The instant I thought that, Sixth Sense rang a faint alarm.

I stopped time as I caught sight of a monster bursting out of the mist beside me.

‘A skeleton?’

It wasn’t a living creature; it was just bones.

But not human. Shaped like a dinosaur.

I finished Mental Concentration and released time.

Schhhk!

I activated Sword of Light and lopped off the head of the Bone Dinosaur as it lunged in to bite mine off.

“No presence at all, this thing.”

Or maybe not?

It seemed more like the mist itself was masking the monsters’ presence.

In any case, Zone 5’s field itself was quite dangerous.

It was hard to detect monsters until they were practically on top of me.

Roaming around Zone 5’s forest, the monsters I came across were Bone Dinosaurs and Giant Inchworms.

All easy enough to handle, of course.

There were probably more monster types if I kept wandering, but I decided to call it for the day and warped back.

The mist made it a stifling field to just walk around in.

‘I should put up a warning.’

I posted Zone 5’s info on the Communication Channel right away.

For other climbers, just entering it looked extremely dangerous.

Given the nature of the field, hunting speed would probably be much slower than Zone 4 too…

Seeing the Zone 5 boss would likely have to wait until after I cleared 7F.

Just had to keep at it.

My daily routine didn’t change.

Enter 5F to hunt monsters, hop in and out of 6F to help the other Nightmare climbers prep for their clears.

Time passed like that.

– …According to the statistics, the domestic membership of the Person123 Church is estimated at over 3 million. Year after year, it continues to post even more remarkable growth…

I had finished lunch and was lounging on the couch watching TV.

My phone rang.

I checked who it was: Ju-won hyung. An older friend I’d been close with back in college.

“Hello? What’s up, hyung?”

I picked up, but the voice through the speakerphone sounded oddly somber.

– Seo-hyeon, hey… have you, by any chance, been in contact with Jiu recently?

“…Jiu noona? No? Why?”

Jiu noona was Ju-won hyung’s girlfriend.

The last time I’d seen that noona was back then.

Back when the Association was clashing with the US government and the Person123 Church believers were demonstrating in the streets… I’d spotted her in the middle of that protest.

We hadn’t really been in touch since.

– It’s nothing. Sorry for calling out of the blue.

“What is it? Did something happen?”

Ju-won hyung was trying to brush it off.

His voice sounded so off that I kept pressing him out of worry, and eventually hyung answered with a heavy sigh.

– Right now Jiu’s cut off contact with me and her family, all of us…

“What? What are you talking about?”

– Haah, it’s… I’m pretty sure Jiu’s gotten herself wrapped up in some weird cult.

****

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