Chapter 170: Nightmare Floor 15 (2)

The Demon King, the Sage, and Seri.

I had already met plenty of Nightmare Climbers from other worlds.

So meeting yet another new Nightmare Climber wasn’t surprising at all.

The shocking part was something else.

[Current Participants: 2/2]

The person in front of me was a Climber who had entered Floor 15 to clear it, just like me.

Probably someone who had entered Floor 15 before I did and had been waiting here.

They were different from the Demon King, the Sage, and Seri.

This person’s world hadn’t already been destroyed by the Tower. They were someone who was still actively climbing it right now.

‘So the Tower exists in multiple worlds at the same time...?’

I had assumed that once the Tower devoured one world, it moved on to another, something like that...

Apparently, that wasn’t necessarily the case.

At this very moment, the Tower wasn’t only driving Earth toward destruction. It was doing the same thing to other worlds as well.

...No, was that really true?

Maybe this was just Floor 15’s concept too? The Tower trying to trick me...

- That is unlikely.

The Demon King’s voice rang out.

I stopped time and asked him.

‘You knew it worked like this, didn’t you? You met another Nightmare Climber on Floor 15 too, right?’

- I did.

‘...What was the clear objective?’

- It is obvious that yours will differ from mine, so what meaning would there be in telling thee? Well, if there is anything worth mentioning as I watch, I shall tell thee.

Couldn’t he just tell me anyway?

After organizing my thoughts, I released Time Stop again.

“Hey, can you not understand me? Or can you not speak?”

The other race in front of me kept talking to me.

“No, I understand you.”

“Ooh! You weren’t saying anything, so I thought we couldn’t communicate!”

“I was just a little surprised. You’re also a Nightmare Climber who entered Floor 15, right?”

The nonhuman burst out laughing, “Kyak-kya!” It was an unusual laugh.

“That’s right. I am Kanyuk of Tunbalk. What’s your name?”

“...I’m Hyeon.”

I gave him my name too. Just shortened appropriately.

“Hyeon! But Hyeon, what race are you? I’ve only ever lived in my tribe’s homeland, so I don’t know much about other races. Babat? Huwel? Or the Desagoltan tribe?”

Judging from what he was saying, this nonhuman named Kanyuk didn’t seem to realize that we were beings from completely different worlds either.

“My world and your world are probably entirely different worlds.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I mean...”

After I gave him a rough explanation, Kanyuk nodded.

“So that’s how it is? I see!”

He didn’t seem particularly surprised or impressed.

I sized him up once again.

He was at least a head taller than me, his weapon was a spear, and at a glance, he looked more like a close-combat fighter than a magic user.

And most importantly...

‘He’s stronger than me.’

The strength I sensed through Sixth Sense.

He was clearly stronger than I was.

If Kanyuk was a Nightmare Climber who had climbed all the way to Floor 15 while obtaining every hidden reward, he could be as much as 40 levels higher than me.

I had been locked out of hidden rewards starting from Floor 7 and hadn’t been able to obtain them.

‘Or maybe he was just strong to begin with.’

It was also possible that he hadn’t become strong through the Tower’s power and had simply been powerful from the start. Like the Demon King and Seri.

Of course, Kanyuk’s strength was nowhere near comparable to either of them, but I could still clearly feel that he was stronger than me.

Unlike me, who continued to stay wary, Kanyuk kept chatting away cheerfully.

“Hyeon, do you know how long I’ve been waiting here for another challenger? A full year! There wasn’t a damn thing here either. I thought I was going to lose my mind from boredom.”

“...A-a year?”

“There were exactly three days left until the floor would automatically clear. And then you entered.”

[Two challengers are required to begin clearing Floor 15.]

[If no other challenger enters for one year, Floor 15 will automatically be cleared.]

If no other challenger entered for one year, the floor would automatically clear...

I couldn’t help feeling a little flustered by what Kanyuk said.

According to him, he had waited almost an entire year and was just about to clear Floor 15, only for me to enter and ruin it.

...I actually felt pretty bad about this.

“I-I’m sorry.”

When I apologized, Kanyuk laughed.

“Kyak-kya! It’s fine. I wanted to meet another Nightmare Climber besides myself at least once too. If I’d just cleared it and left like °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° that, I probably would’ve regretted never getting the chance.”

He did seem like a pretty good person.

‘...Come to think of it, I nearly got screwed too, didn’t I?’

Looking at it the other way around, I had gotten lucky.

What if I had entered Floor 15 just a few days later, after Kanyuk was already gone?

I might have ended up completely trapped here myself, forced to wait an entire year. Until my lifespan ran out.

Feeling grateful to Kanyuk inwardly, I looked around.

The place we were standing on was flat ground.

It looked to be roughly a hundred meters in radius. There were sheer drops on every side.

There was a rock in the center, with water pooled inside a hollow in it, and black dumpling-like things placed around it.

“What’s that?”

“That? Food.”

Kanyuk answered.

“It’s the only food on Floor 15. If you eat it all, more appears on its own. I survived here by eating that.”

“I see.”

So they did at least provide food while you waited.

Though that didn’t look remotely edible.

“If you’re curious, try one. It tastes better than clay, at least.”

“...I’m good.”

[6:10]

I checked the timer. About six minutes remained.

Once the time ran out, the Floor 15 clear would begin.

Kanyuk spoke.

“Let’s do our best, Hyeon. Clearing it should be easier with two people than alone, shouldn’t it? Kyak-kya!”

“Haha...”

...I wasn’t so sure about that.

The problem was what the clear condition would be.

There was no rule saying it would be a mission where we joined forces and cleared it together.

‘Cooperation or competition...’

Which one would it be?

Naturally, I hoped it would be the former, but considering how malicious the Tower was, cooperation seemed unlikely.

The problem was that the other person was stronger than me. Considerably stronger.

If it came down to a one-on-one fight, I had no idea how likely I was to win.

Of course, I had trump cards too. Radiant Incarnation and the Demon King’s power.

Kanyuk was strong, but he didn’t feel anywhere near as strong as Seri.

If I used everything I had, I would probably overwhelm him. Though I hoped there would be no reason to fight...

Kanyuk still looked completely unconcerned.

Had he already sized up my full strength too?

Maybe his relaxed attitude came from deciding that I was weaker than he was.

His personality seemed simple from our brief conversation, but there was no way the mind of a Nightmare Climber who had reached Floor 15 could be completely straightforward.

Without dropping my tension or vigilance, I mentally prepared myself.

[0:01]

The timer ran out.

A message appeared.

[The two challengers will simultaneously proceed through a total of three rounds.]

[Clear all three rounds to successfully clear Floor 15.]

[If you fail to clear a round, you will fail to clear Floor 15, and no retry will be permitted.]

[If one of the challengers dies, the remaining challenger will immediately clear Floor 15.]

I stopped time and read the contents.

‘...As expected.’

I groaned inwardly.

Just from the last line alone, the Floor 15 clear seemed very far removed from cooperation.

Three rounds.

Fail even one round, and the Floor 15 clear failed as well. Naturally, there would be no retry either.

The conditions for success were either passing every round to the end, or having the other person die.

...Then what if both of us survived and cleared all three rounds?

Could both of us clear the floor without either one failing?

The moment I released Time Stop, I looked at Kanyuk.

He seemed to have finished reading the explanation quickly as well and met my gaze.

“...”

I couldn’t read his expression.

Then the messages continued.

[The first round begins.]

[Eliminate all summoned monsters.]

[The monsters’ levels are proportional to the level of the two challengers.]

Flashes of light began blinking into existence one after another in every direction.

Monsters started being summoned.

Humanoid creatures with blood-red skin and disgusting black veins bulging across their bodies.

They looked like demons that had crawled up from hell.

The strength I sensed through Sixth Sense was no joke either.

I gripped the Sword of Heaven’s Gatekeeper and the Sword of Light in each hand.

Kanyuk also spun the spear in his hands with a whooshing motion, as though warming up.

At the same time, demons charged from every direction.

I focused my mind.

When I activated Weakness Insight, the demons’ weak points weren’t particularly different from a human’s.

I swung the Sword of Heaven’s Gatekeeper, wrapped in Heavenly Aura Blade, and aimed for one demon’s head first.

SLASH!

Its head came clean off, but the resistance I felt through my hands was quite strong.

If it took that much even with Heavenly Aura Blade, I decided the Sword of Light would be useless.

I immediately dismissed the Sword of Light and gripped the Sword of Heaven’s Gatekeeper with both hands.

At that moment, Sixth Sense sounded an alarm behind me.

I twisted my body and dodged.

A sharp strike barely skimmed past my body. It was terrifyingly fast.

‘Fast...!’

The demon, which had transformed part of its arm into a blade, thrust at my head again.

I tilted my head back and cut its arm off.

Sixth Sense rang out frantically in every direction.

These demons were strong.

Even the slightest lapse in concentration could be dangerous.

I cast Elemental Arrow Barrage and sent it flying in every direction.

It held them back for a moment, but attacks at the level of Elemental Arrow Barrage didn’t seem to deal much damage.

After killing another demon, I quickly glanced toward Kanyuk.

Under circumstances where one challenger’s death would cause the other to immediately clear the floor.

The demons were dangerous enough, but I couldn’t afford not to keep an eye on him too.

“Kyak-kya-kya-kyak!”

Kanyuk was rampaging wildly.

His weapon was a spear—or more accurately, something shaped closer to a glaive...

Every time he swung the blade, which emitted a vermilion aura, the demons were effortlessly torn apart and burst open.

As expected, he was far stronger than me. In terms of pure physical ability.

I deliberately widened the distance between Kanyuk and myself.

It was easier to prepare for an unexpected ambush from farther away than up close.

Naturally, the space became divided in two, with each of us fighting separately.

I continued fighting the demons while keeping part of my attention focused on Kanyuk.

The demons were fundamentally humanoid, but they could freely transform their bodies.

They stretched their arms and legs out and swung them like whips, or suddenly sprouted spikes from their bodies.

On top of that, ordinary attacks could barely inflict any proper damage.

Heavenly Aura Blade, and among my magic, probably only Destruction Ray and Hellfire Eruption would work properly.

I stepped on the air with Air Walk and rose upward.

The demons immediately formed wings on their backs and chased after me.

I fought by using Flame Strike and Elemental Arrow Barrage to hold back the demons swarming toward me, then killing them one at a time in between.

[Skill: Life Devour (Epic)]

Creates a barrier within a 10-meter radius. Absorbs the life force of targets that die within the barrier. Requires 3 minutes of Mental Concentration to activate.

Classification: Magic

Willpower Cost: 60 per second

Cooldown: 1 minute

I activated Life Devour.

With Enhancement also activated to its maximum effect, I continued struggling against them.

More and more demons were being summoned.

Their abilities became increasingly diverse as well. Some didn’t just transform their bodies, but fired lasers from their eyes or made blood explode.

It was getting fairly difficult.

But it still wasn’t too much for me to endure, so with Kanyuk watching, I hid my major skills and item effects as much as possible.

I continuously dodged and blocked the demons’ relentless attacks...

Then, just as I was about to cut off another demon’s head, my sword sliced through empty air.

The demon suddenly vanished.

Sixth Sense urgently rang an alarm behind me.

“...!”

Teleportation?

I made the immediate judgment and was just about to dodge with Phantom Shift.

BOOM!

A spear shot in like a beam of light and blew apart the body of the demon that had been aiming for my back.

Kanyuk’s voice rang out.

“Watch yourself! Kyak-kya!”