Chapter 17: 2F Hidden (1)

Saturday afternoon.

I had fallen asleep in the early hours of the morning and didn’t wake until nearly lunchtime.

“Were you up late last night?”

“Yeah. I had something to take care of.”

The entire family sat together in the living room, eating lunch as we watched television.

─ Breaking news. Nightmare difficulty on the Tower’s 2nd floor was cleared at approximately 2:00 a.m. this morning. The identity of the person responsible has yet to be revealed...

My handiwork was being reported on the midday news.

“See? I told you someone would clear it. The world ends if no one does, so obviously people were preparing like crazy.”

Dad spoke with a smug, told-you-so expression, only to clear his throat with an exaggerated ahem when Mom shot him a sharp look.

Everyone already knew the situation, but hearing that the world might end was hardly pleasant.

My younger sibling sat there with a completely vacant expression, steadily devouring all the ham.

They had been in a slump for some time, but at least today they seemed to be doing relatively well.

Was this going to become the new normal?

Would everyone now spend every year living beneath the constant threat of the world ending?

At this rate, it wouldn’t surprise me if the entire population eventually developed some kind of mood disorder.

Then again, perhaps we should be grateful that we could continue living at all, even with that anxiety hanging over us.

It was still better than the world actually ending.

─ As on the previous occasion, the clearing of every difficulty on the 2nd floor was accompanied by the selection of 400,000 new Climbers. This time, however, there has been an additional development. The Tower has introduced a new rule.

─ According to this rule, any Climber who fails to enter the Tower at least once within three years of being selected will die. The rule reportedly applies retroactively to both First-wave and Second-wave Climbers, with the deadline calculated from the date on which each individual originally received the Tower’s summons...

That was another problem.

The Tower had introduced a new rule designed to kill even more people.

Entering the Tower at least once essentially meant attempting to clear the 1st floor.

Those who had never set foot inside the Tower would now die unless they made an attempt.

Worse still, First-wave Climbers like me, who had been summoned at the very beginning, had only a little over a year remaining.

‘The other difficulties aside...’

Anyone assigned Easy or Normal would at least have a reasonable chance.

But those stuck with Nightmare?

They were completely screwed.

I looked away from the television and turned to my family.

“None of you were selected as Climbers, right?”

“Oh, please. Of course not.”

Mom answered as though the possibility wasn’t even worth considering.

Dad shook his head as well, while my sibling didn’t bother responding at all.

Right.

What were the chances, anyway?

Four hundred thousand people out of a population of eight billion.

What did that come to?

One in twenty thousand.

I had once read that the lifetime odds of being struck by lightning were roughly one in fifteen thousand.

Being selected as a Climber was even less likely.

‘Then why the hell was I chosen?’

Now that I thought about it, it was absurd.

Then again, the world had not ended precisely because I had been chosen.

Damn it.

I couldn’t even complain properly.

In any case, one person in this family getting struck by lightning was more than enough.

After finishing lunch, I collapsed onto my bed and began scrolling through the Communication Channel.

I had cleared the 2nd floor, which meant I needed to post information about it.

For now, however, I decided to put it off.

There were still too many uncertainties and too many details I had yet to confirm.

Were there other Illusion Platforms besides the one I had stepped on?

Where exactly was the trap that caused the floor to shoot upward?

Did the positions of the trapped platforms change with every entry?

It would be better to verify everything through Repeat Clearings before compiling the information and posting it.

The last thing I wanted was for someone to attempt the floor based on incomplete or inaccurate information.

“Let’s clear the Hidden Route first.”

Returning to the 2nd floor meant attempting the Hidden Route anyway.

The last time, I had already confirmed that leaving without trying it would still consume one of my chances.

***

[You have entered Nightmare difficulty, Floor 2.]

That night, I entered the 2nd floor without delay.

The instant I arrived, the searing heat of the lava washed over my skin, just as expected.

I surveyed the platforms ahead.

This time, even if I fell into the lava, I could simply Exit a moment before impact.

There was no real danger to my life.

Let’s see.

The Illusion Platform was the fourth one.

‘What if I jump directly to the fifth platform?’

With the physical enhancements I had gained from leveling up, combined with Leap and Teleportation, it seemed entirely possible.

I made my decision and lowered myself into a crouch.

Taking aim in roughly the right direction, I launched myself forward with a powerful Leap.

After soaring through the air, I Teleported onto the fifth platform.

I had covered more than half the distance in a single move.

I waited for the skill’s Cooldown to end, then jumped again.

With only two leaps, I reached the large platform at the midpoint.

Next came the glowing platform.

Judging by its position, nothing had changed since the previous attempt.

So the platforms were fixed.

After passing through it without difficulty, the path leading to the door appeared.

I advanced slowly, one careful step at a time.

It had been around here, hadn’t it?

Thud!

Sure enough, the moment I reached approximately the middle of the passage, the floor shot upward.

Good.

So this was the exact location.

Confirmed.

I Teleported back and waited for my depleted Willpower to recover.

At least now, with 450 Willpower, I could use Teleportation up to three times without having to stop and recharge between every use.

Once my Willpower had fully recovered, I launched Flame Strike at the door.

The instant the door shattered, the lava erupted into a violent frenzy, and I cheerfully sprinted toward the staircase.

With the proper information, the 2nd floor actually seemed more manageable for other people than the 1st.

Or perhaps not.

Never mind.

I climbed out through the window and began scaling the Tower’s outer wall.

Only the boss remained.

I didn’t bother picking up a weapon.

Instead, I simply stood beside the door and waited for it to emerge.

CRASH!

The door exploded outward, and the Minotaur burst through.

The instant it saw me, it charged.

I didn’t use Flame Strike.

At Level 15, fighting it had still carried a genuine sense of danger.

Now, however, I simply knew.

I could beat it with my bare hands.

I stepped aside from its charge and drove a straight punch into its torso.

CRUNCH!

The sensation of bones shattering traveled through my fist and up my arm.

The Minotaur howled in agony and brought its fist crashing down toward me.

I evaded the blow with ease.

Its fist struck the floor and pulverized the stone.

Dodge and strike.

Dodge and strike.

We exchanged blows at point-blank range.

After my latest increase in Level, I had become far too agile for the Minotaur’s crude, mindless attacks to have much chance of hitting me.

My own punches, meanwhile, steadily reduced its body to pulp with every impact.

Then Exaltation activated.

Before long, I was completely overwhelming it.

WHAM!

The battered Minotaur took a direct blow to the head and staggered.

I leapt upward and smashed my fist into its skull once more.

Its head finally caved in, and the Minotaur collapsed to the ground with a tremendous thud.

“Dead?”

There was no response.

I decided to take that as a yes.

If it was dead, then it was time to move.

I snatched up a sword that had fallen nearby and sprinted toward the railing.

Moments later, violent tremors tore through the floor as the structure began to collapse.

I balanced myself atop the railing.

As the effects of Exaltation gradually faded, I felt the heat drain from my body.

That had only been the warm-up.

Now it was time to find the Hidden Route.

“Where could it be...?”

The interior of the Tower had become a lake of lava.

That much was obvious.

Which meant the only remaining option was to go down.

Right?

I leaned over the edge and stared into the dizzying drop below.

With only slight exaggeration, it looked about as high as the 63 Building.

[TL: The 63 Building is a famous 250-meter skyscraper in Seoul and a common Korean point of comparison for extreme height.]

It was somewhat nerve-racking, but there was no reason to be afraid.

I jumped.

Whoooosh...!

I had never gone bungee jumping in my life, yet somehow this was how I ended up experiencing it.

Of course, this was bungee jumping without a cord.

If I hit the ground at this speed, I would be reduced to a spectacular smear.

Just before reaching the surface, I stopped time and used Teleportation.

The kinetic energy from the fall vanished, and I landed lightly on the ground.

“Whew.”

The area surrounding the Tower was covered entirely in forest.

A pale blue moon hung in the night sky.

The atmosphere was almost too perfect.

From this point onward, there was no telling what might leap out at me, so I heightened my awareness as much as possible.

First, I circled the Tower to inspect its surroundings.

Lava continued to pour from the window through which I had escaped, cascading down the wall like a waterfall and pooling below.

Before long, I found what appeared to be the main entrance—a massive gate.

There too, the overflowing lava had settled into an unnatural state halfway between liquid and solid, writhing and pulsing as though alive.

So the forest really was the only way forward.

A narrow path extended from the castle entrance into the depths of the trees.

“...Creepy.”

The darkness between the trees seemed to gape open like the jaws of some enormous beast.

It was deeply unsettling.

Considering it was the only actual path, the intended direction could not have been more obvious.

With no other option, I followed the trail cautiously, holding the sword slightly raised before me.

The forest grew even darker once I stepped beneath the trees.

Even so, the moonlight was bright enough for me to see the path without too much difficulty.

Leaves rustled in the wind.

Insects chirped intermittently in the distance.

The atmosphere made it feel as though something might spring from the darkness at any moment.

From the top of the Tower, the forest had looked enormous.

I had no idea how far I would need to travel.

I continued forward, prepared to Exit the instant I sensed genuine danger.

Rustle.

A faint sound came from behind me.

The soft crunch of leaves beneath a foot.

It was just different enough from the sound of the wind to make me turn sharply.

A blade hovered inches from my face.

I stopped time just before the sword pierced my throat.

What the hell...?

Half a second later, and I would have been dead.

My heart hammered as I examined the creature that had ambushed me.

‘A woman?’

It looked human.

But it wasn’t.

Pale skin.

Horns.

And pupils that ran vertically like those of a reptile.

The word Demon came naturally to mind.

Whatever it was, it had attacked me.

That made it an enemy.

Was this Demon the boss of the Hidden Route?

It was already too late to evade the attack normally, so I focused on Mental Concentration.

The instant I released the time stop, I Teleported behind the Demon.

Then I stopped time again.

This time, I prepared Flame Strike.

Two fireballs hurtled toward the Demon’s exposed back.

From its perspective, the flames had been launched at almost the exact same moment I Teleported.

The Demon spun around desperately and attempted to evade them.

“KYAAAH!”

It failed to escape the blast completely.

The explosion caught it and hurled it through the air.

Not dead?

I approached the spot where the Demon had collapsed.

It was struggling to rise.

The damage must have been severe, however, because it seemed unable to control its body properly.

Its flesh was already badly burned.

“You human scum...!”

I stopped at a safe distance.

Remaining cautious, I watched as the Demon writhed on the ground.

It glared at me with eyes overflowing with hatred and cried out in bitter resentment.

“Ugh... Kill me!”

That was the plan.

As soon as my skill’s Cooldown ended.

Rather than approaching, I waited the full thirty seconds from a safe distance and then fired Flame Strike again.

KABOOM!

“Phew.”

Target eliminated.

Still...

Hadn’t that been a little too easy?

I had nearly died, certainly, but even so.

[You have failed to clear the Nightmare difficulty Floor 2 Hidden Route. (2/3)]

[You will be Exited from the Tower.]

“Huh?”

What?

That wasn’t it?

Still utterly bewildered, I was expelled from the Tower.