Chapter 173: Nightmare Floor 15 (5)

Kanyuk turned around.

“There may not be enough time, so moving together would be risky. I trust you too, Hyeon. Let’s hurry and each collect 10 points.”

Kanyuk leaped high, stepping across the platforms as he rapidly disappeared into the distance.

I couldn’t stop him.

It felt like my head was about to burst. I stopped time.

'A tie...'

...Would Kanyuk really keep his word?

Wasn’t he planning to collect 10 points and then betray me at the very end?

Trusting Kanyuk was a separate matter from whether he was a good person.

If it was for the sake of protecting his own world, Kanyuk would be capable of anything too. He could deceive me as much as he wanted.

For that matter, what the hell was Kanyuk even trusting when he made a proposal like this?

What guarantee did he have that I wouldn’t betray him?

Could he really stake the fate of his entire world on nothing but blind trust?

- Why else? Because the bastard intends to betray thee.

The Demon King spoke.

- He is a Climber who has ascended Nightmare Difficulty all the way to Floor 15. Dost thou think such a thing would be possible if he were merely naive and honest? Get a grip.

I couldn’t deny it.

Understanding another person’s true intentions was harder than facing any overwhelmingly powerful monster.

Trust was this difficult.

- More importantly, both of thee passing by ending in a tie? Dost thou truly believe that is possible?

...I knew.

Even if Kanyuk really did keep his promise, then what?

There was no way the Tower would allow a trick like that. Absolutely no way.

- If thou understandest, then use Radiant Incarnation immediately. Wilt thou keep hesitating?

The Demon King urged me impatiently.

After agonizing over it, I released Time Stop.

[9:32]

...For now, I would collect 10 points first.

I decided to think about what to do after that.

Even if Kanyuk betrayed me or things went wrong, if I used Radiant Incarnation even at the last moment, I would somehow manage.

Just like the Demon King said, I didn’t want to immediately do something like kill Kanyuk. I couldn’t.

'Please be quiet for a while. I’ll handle this myself.'

Kanyuk had said we should place our hope in it.

I couldn’t deny that somewhere in my heart, I too held onto the faintest hope that maybe, just maybe, it would work.

Because I truly didn’t want either one of us to fail the floor.

- Damn bastard. Fine, do whatever thou wishest. When hast thou ever listened to Us anyway?

The Demon King grumbled and finally stopped talking.

I began moving.

Platforms stretched endlessly in every direction.

Using Air Walk, I passed over the platforms.

Toward the place where I had seen light flickering in the distance.

[0:1]

The score changed while I was moving.

It seemed Kanyuk had destroyed one of the golden balls.

Feeling needless impatience, I hurriedly scanned my surroundings.

'...There.'

Soon, I found one too.

A golden ball about the size of a baseball floated above one of the platforms, with a slight gap between itself and the surface.

SLASH!

I cut through the golden ball with the Sword of Heaven’s Gatekeeper wrapped in Aura Blade.

The ball split in half and scattered away like smoke.

[You have obtained 1 point.]

[1:1]

My score increased by 1 along with the message.

Without wasting a second, I immediately moved in search of another golden ball.

Once again, a faint light flashed far away.

Finding and destroying the golden balls itself wasn’t difficult.

The flashes of light revealed where new golden balls were being summoned, and there was nothing obstructing my vision in this space.

The only issue was that the balls appeared extremely far apart, so moving between them took time.

Still, at this pace, obtaining 10 points within the time limit wouldn’t be a problem.

[2:3]

[5:4]

[7:7]

Kanyuk’s score and mine rose at nearly the same pace, overtaking each other back and forth.

Maybe because we had initially moved in opposite directions, we still hadn’t run into each other.

And then...

[9:9]

After destroying another golden ball, I checked the score.

Both of us were only 1 point away from reaching 10.

Three minutes remained.

[9:10]

At that moment, the score immediately changed.

...Kanyuk had reached 10 points first.

I looked around with a stiff expression.

There were no flashes of light in sight.

For now, I moved in another direction.

WHOOOOSH!

While moving, I saw a figure approaching from far ahead.

It was Kanyuk.

Feeling my thoughts become complicated again, I watched him draw closer.

That was when it happened.

FLASH!

A brilliant burst of light erupted nearby.

A golden ball was summoned directly above one of the platforms on Kanyuk’s path.

Kanyuk and I both stopped at the same time.

I was still far away, while the golden ball was right in front of Kanyuk.

Naturally, our eyes met.

“...”

What was Kanyuk thinking right now?

Had he genuinely intended to keep his promise?

Strangely enough, that was what crossed my mind at this moment.

Even if Kanyuk suddenly changed his mind and destroyed the golden ball right now, I felt like I would understand.

I probably wouldn’t even feel particularly betrayed.

The thing I resented wasn’t him.

It was this situation itself.

I prepared myself.

If Kanyuk tried to destroy the golden ball, I would immediately use Radiant Incarnation.

The corner of Kanyuk’s mouth rose.

He lifted the glaive in his hand into the air...

CLANG-

And simply dropped it onto the ground.

Kanyuk plopped down right in front of the golden ball.

“What are you doing, Hyeon? Hurry over here and destroy it.”

...I let out a breath.

It wasn’t exactly a sigh of relief. There were too many complicated emotions mixed into it.

I climbed onto the platform where Kanyuk was sitting.

I brought the Sword of Heaven’s Gatekeeper down on the golden ball.

[You have obtained 1 point.]

[10:10]

We had both reached 10 points.

Still seated, Kanyuk looked up at me.

I stared back at him for a moment...

Then lowered my sword and sat down across from him.

Kanyuk spoke.

“Thank you, Hyeon. For listening to me.”

I shook my head.

I still hadn’t made up my mind.

“...Are you really going to do this?”

Was this really the right choice?

We had absolutely no idea what would happen if the score ended in a tie.

Considering the Tower’s malice, the chances that both of us would be allowed to pass seemed extremely slim.

If Round 3 simply repeated until a winner emerged, that would actually be one of the better outcomes.

In the worst case, it might rule that both of us had failed.

I didn’t know.

I really didn’t.

Thinking about it rationally, this was insane.

If my life were mine alone, I would gladly take the risk. Because I didn’t want to finish Kanyuk off.

But if I failed, Earth was finished.

There would be no one left capable of clearing Nightmare.

Did it make any sense to gamble the fate of my world on something this dangerous?

“We might both fail the round. Both of us could fail to clear Floor 15.”

“I know. That could happen.”

“And you still want to do this? Your world will be in danger too if you fail. You said there aren’t any other Nightmare Climbers as exceptional as you.”

I was almost speaking as though I were trying to convince Kanyuk otherwise.

The desire to place my hope in this gamble and the desire to refuse such an absurd risk existed chaotically together inside me.

“What else can I do?”

Kanyuk spoke.

“I don’t want to extend the lifespan of my own world by trampling another world underfoot.”

“...”

“My tribe wouldn’t want that either. So even if the result goes wrong, I intend to accept everything that follows.”

Kanyuk stared directly at me.

“But Hyeon, I can’t force you to do the same.”

“...”

“If you think differently from me, then do as you wish. Even then, I wouldn’t resent my friend in the slightest.”

The word friend lodged itself in my ears.

I tightly shut my eyes, then opened them again.

[0:29]

Less than thirty seconds remained.

“...You’re going to regret this.”

“I won’t regret it.”

“No. I mean I’m going to regret it.”

Kanyuk laughed, “Kyak-kya!”

“Thank you, my friend.”

I said nothing more and glared at the timer floating in the air.

...In the end, I didn’t have the courage to crush another world’s hope either.

The numbers fell one by one.

My heart pounded just as steadily.

Now, all I could do was pray that somehow, somehow things would work out.

[0:01]

Time ran out.

[Both challengers have obtained at least 10 points.]

[Both challengers have obtained the same score.]

The messages appeared.

But the message that followed wasn’t about both of us passing, both of us failing, or repeating the round.

It said something I had never expected.

[Since a result for Round 3 cannot be determined, the Hidden Round, ‘Annihilation War,’ will begin.]

[Both challengers will be transported to each other’s worlds.]

Kanyuk disappeared from in front of me.

The space around me changed.

I found myself in a dense forest bathed in sunlight.

“...!”

Startled, I shot to my feet.

More messages appeared.

[Kill every intelligent life-form in this world.]

[The challenger who destroys the opponent’s world first will win the Annihilation War.]

[You cannot enter the Tower until the Annihilation War has ended.]

[The winner of the Annihilation War will immediately clear Floor 15 and return to their original world.]

I stared blankly at the messages before me.

Wait...

What...

RUSTLE-

At that moment, the bushes around me shook, and something emerged.

A different race with the same... turquoise skin as Kanyuk.

They were much smaller than Kanyuk, young-looking Tunbalk who tilted their heads and stared at me curiously.

For a moment, it felt as though my breathing stopped.

Goosebumps crawled down my spine.

I stopped time.

'...Ah...'

I understood what was happening.

This was Kanyuk’s world.

When Round 3 failed to produce a result, the Tower had forced another contest upon us.

[Kill every intelligent life-form in this world.]

[The challenger who destroys the opponent’s world first will win the Annihilation War.]

We had to personally destroy each other’s worlds.

This fucking... insane fucking Tower.

Why the hell was it going this far?

The gamble had returned the worst possible result.

Through my panic, the Demon King’s voice reached me.

- Every bit of this was the result of thine own choice. Get a grip.

...I tried to pull myself together.

My thoughts barely worked, as though my brain were stuttering, but I forced myself to think.

'How...'

What was I supposed to do?

I had to personally destroy Kanyuk’s world?

Kanyuk had probably been sent to Earth and received the same message.

The situation had spiraled into the worst possible outcome, one that couldn’t be undone.

...I should have finished things in Round 3 after all.

I never should have expected anything from this fucking Tower.

I screamed inwardly.

The Demon King spoke.

- Use Radiant Incarnation and surrender thy body to Us.

“...”

- There is no other way. We shall erase every life in this world as swiftly as possible.

Even with time stopped, I felt like I was going to vomit.

How the hell was I supposed to do something like that?

I could feel the Demon King’s contempt for me.

I knew I was pathetic too.

- So, thou still canst not make a decision? Then thou shalt face an even worse outcome here.

...There was only one thing the Demon King could mean by an even worse outcome.

Humanity on Earth would never be able to withstand Kanyuk’s power.

Even if they somehow succeeded in stopping him, the devastation would be catastrophic enough to be indistinguishable from extinction.

Before that happened.

I had to act first.

No.

No matter how quickly I acted, I was already too late.

I had no idea how much damage Earth would suffer before I could destroy this world.

...My wrong decision had caused all of this.

The Demon King was right.

If I still couldn’t make a decision, only an even worse result remained.

There was no choice left except to struggle desperately for the lesser evil.

I had to protect my world.

Even if that meant destroying another.

I released Time Stop.

The young Tunbalk who had been watching me with curious eyes spoke to me in a language I couldn’t understand.

My breathing grew ragged.

Cold sweat poured from my entire body.

I had to...

I had to do it.

I couldn’t hesitate for even one second.

Before my family was put in danger.

Before Earth was destroyed.

Just as I was about to stop time again and use Radiant Incarnation...

A message appeared.

[One of the challengers has died.]

[You have successfully cleared Nightmare Difficulty Floor 15.]

“...”

For a moment, I couldn’t understand the message.

But then I realized what had happened.

If one of the two challengers died...

The remaining challenger would immediately clear Floor 15.

“...Ha...”

All the strength drained from my body.

I collapsed onto the ground.

Feeling worse than I ever had in my life, I closed my eyes.

[Absorbing the power of the Floor.]

[Your level has increased.]

[Your level has increased.]

[Your level has increased.]

.

.

.

[Your level has increased.]

[You are the first to successfully clear Nightmare Difficulty Floor 15.]

[Moving to the Reward Room.]