Chapter 33: 3F Hidden (1)

─ Once again, we extend our boundless gratitude and respect to Person123, the highest-ranked Climber on Nightmare difficulty, who has secured another year of survival for all humanity. Following the example set by his noble spirit of challenge, the United States will continue to spare no effort in supporting future attempts to climb Nightmare difficulty...

I ate breakfast while watching the U.S. President’s address on the morning news.

Two days had passed since I cleared the third floor.

I had stayed at a hotel on the day of the attempt, returned home the next day, and spent the rest of it recovering. So, technically, two days.

Having overcome another major hurdle, coming home afterward drove one truth home more than ever: nothing beat being at home.

For once, it actually felt as though I had gotten some proper rest.

─ ...While the clearing of Nightmare Floor 3 has brought joy to countless people, the Tower’s Three-Year Rule is now just around the corner. The First-wave Climbers, the very first people to receive the Tower’s call, have only a little over ten days remaining. It is estimated that at least 50,000 First-wave Climbers have yet to attempt Nightmare difficulty...

As the next news segment began, I checked the current status of Nightmare difficulty.

[Nightmare]

Personnel: 250,036

Time Limit: 1 year, 20 days, 9 minutes, 57 seconds

Highest Floor Reached: 4F

“...What the hell are these people supposed to do?”

The First-wave Climbers—the first group ever chosen by the Tower—included me.

How many of us had still been alive by the time Floor 1 was cleared?

Around seventy-five thousand, if I remembered correctly.

Either way, tens of thousands of people were now only weeks away from death.

I occasionally caught reports about training facilities being expanded or governments promising active support, but...

The other difficulties were one thing.

Nightmare was genuinely hopeless.

─ I’ve decided not to attempt it. I’ll simply accept whatever comes. I would rather die peacefully than enter the Tower and suffer a horrible death. I don’t believe I’m the only one who feels that way.

The next segment showed an interview with one of the First-wave Nightmare Climbers.

The man spoke with a composed expression and a calm smile.

A pang of sympathy ran through me, and I turned off the television.

‘A peaceful death, huh.’

Why did those words sound so unsettling?

The death promised by the Tower...

How exactly would it happen?

Would people suddenly collapse without warning, as though struck by a heart attack?

Or would death come instantly, too quickly for them to feel any pain?

If it were something that ordinary, perhaps the man was right.

Perhaps refusing to attempt the Tower at all really was the better choice.

It would certainly be better than being torn apart by Goblins somewhere with no one around to help.

On top of that, entering the Tower meant not even leaving a body behind.

“Thanks for the meal.”

I left the dishes soaking in the sink, returned to my room, and lay down on the bed.

Out of habit, I opened the Communication Channel.

A mountain of Whispers had accumulated.

Since I had announced the attempt in advance, messages had been pouring in nonstop even before I challenged the third floor.

Most of them were words of encouragement.

[Chicken Sandwich: You’ve worked hard, Mr. Kim. You truly are the only person capable of saving humanity. If there is anything you need from me, please do not hesitate to ask.]

I had also exchanged a few messages with Bilon after the clear.

Bilon was practically the only person with whom I could speak openly about my climbs.

Part of me wanted to tell him just how much hell I had gone through, but...

It would have sounded as though I were whining.

“You have no idea how awful it was. Seriously.”

So I decided against it.

There was no point in making him anxious for no reason.

[Lotus: Thank you. I’m cheering for you.]

I had also received a message from the Section Chief of the Tower Climbing Special Agency.

A long conversation still felt like too much, so I sent only a brief reply.

[Pringles: But y’know, Person123 only has to clear one more floor to reach 5F.]

[Yatmon: Think they’d really walk around the Common Zone? They’re still hiding their identity and everything.]

[Bamboo: They could walk right past you and you’d never know lol seriously]

[Hobby: They’ll probably just move around quietly on their own. Still, they’ll grab everything worth taking on 5F before heading to 6F.]

[Lubrublubru: I just want to know what country they’re from, seriously.]

[Iron Armor: Why are you all talking like 4F has already been cleared?]

[Wheat Field: Because we believe they’ll clear it~]

[Blue Marlin: You don’t trust Person123? I do.]

As I browsed the Communication Channel and read through their conversations, my thoughts drifted toward the fifth floor.

‘The Common Zone...’

The Tower’s fifth floor was known as the Common Zone.

Because it was, quite literally, a communal area.

The fifth floor did not need to be cleared.

It was a space where Climbers from every difficulty gathered together, something like a checkpoint and rest area.

Of course, no Nightmare Climber had ever reached the fifth floor.

If I managed to clear Floor 4, I would become the first Nightmare Climber to set foot in the Common Zone.

Not that it held any particular significance.

It was simply another floor I would have to pass through.

I browsed the Communication Channel for a little longer, then closed it.

“Guess I should get started today.”

I still needed to prepare an information post about the third floor, so there was no point in delaying it.

I would attempt the Hidden route today.

[Would you like to enter Nightmare Difficulty Floor 3?]

I gave my food a little time to digest, then entered the Tower immediately.

***

I had struggled like hell the first time because I had not understood it, but the key to the third floor was speed.

Reach the underground area and activate the Sun Emblem as quickly as possible, before more Undead could flood onto the surface.

Groooooo...

The moment I entered, I located the hatch leading to the underground passage.

‘Let’s see.’

One o’clock from the entry point.

Noted.

Gripping my mace, I charged straight ahead and crushed the skull of every Undead that swarmed toward me.

Having gained ten levels and reached Level 40, my body was naturally far stronger and faster than before.

KABOOOM!

I blasted open the floor with Flame Strike and dropped straight into the passage.

The entire sequence took around thirty seconds.

On the other difficulties, sunrise occurred after ten minutes.

Nightmare appeared to work in reverse, with ten minutes remaining until sunset.

At the very least, I needed to finish everything within those ten minutes.

Otherwise, the Undead would come pouring out like a swarm of locusts again.

I sprinted down the passage and reached the central chamber.

I took the left path first.

I picked up the gem lying on the floor and Teleported back.

Clear.

I returned to the central chamber, placed the gem into its socket, and headed right.

I ignored the cheap chain-fishing trap and retrieved the gem embedded in the wall above the entrance.

Clear.

Only about a minute had passed by the time I entered the passage directly ahead.

I picked up the cube, stared at it intently, and began solving it.

Click.

Click-click.

Was it even possible to solve a cube in under twenty seconds?

With enough dedicated practice, effort alone could probably get you there.

The catch was that you had to learn advanced algorithms rather than relying solely on the basic ones...

And, obviously, I had not practiced beforehand.

I could hardly postpone the Hidden-route attempt just to spend days grinding cube solutions until I could finish one in under twenty seconds.

The sand in the hourglass vanished quickly, and vibrations signaling the approaching Undead rumbled through the ground.

“Diul.”

Without taking my eyes off the cube, I called for Diul.

Diul activated Concealment, turning my body semi-transparent.

The Undead had charged all the way here, only to mill around aimlessly when they could find nothing.

I ignored them and finished solving the cube.

Even so, I was obviously much faster than during my first attempt.

I completed the cube, removed the gem, and returned to the central chamber.

Total time so far...

About three minutes!

FWOOOOOSH!

Light erupted from the Sun Emblem, melting the surrounding Undead.

Now I needed to return to the surface and see what kind of boss had appeared.

It had to be much weaker than the monster from before.

Anything else would make no sense.

Groooooo...

After climbing back to the surface, I saw the Undead dissolving beneath the sunlight.

Before long, the survivors began gathering together in one place.

But there were incomparably fewer of them than last time.

A hundred at most.

The mass they formed was only slightly larger than the Minotaur had been.

Grooooooooo...

The infrasonic hum was barely strong enough to make my ears itch.

I rubbed my ears a couple of times, then immediately fired Flame Strike and Light Bullet at the same time.

KABOOOOM!

Three fireballs and five Light Bullets converged on the mass.

It exploded on the spot.

“...”

Are you kidding me?

It was originally this weak?

What the hell kind of fight had I gone through last time...?

It was not completely dead yet.

I approached the shattered mass, whose core was now fully exposed, and brought my mace down on it.

“Just die already.”

Admittedly, I had become stronger after reaching Level 40.

But this was still easy enough that I could have handled it even at Level 30.

At this level of difficulty, other Nightmare Climbers might be able to defeat it too.

If they minimized the time spent before activating the Sun Emblem, the third floor might actually be easier than the second.

Granted, the others would have to face the boss at Level 20, but still.

Well, whatever.

The boss had been dealt with easily enough.

Now it was time to locate the Hidden route.

I looked across the endless plains stretching in every direction.

“Where the hell am I supposed to go?”

There were far too many possibilities.

I could head north, south, east, or west.

Just as I considered returning underground to search the passages first...

“...?”

I narrowed my eyes.

Far, far in the distance...

If I looked carefully, I could see something.

‘A pyramid?’

There was some kind of pointed structure that vaguely resembled a pyramid.

It shimmered like a mirage.

Leveling up and receiving physical enhancements naturally improved my eyesight as well.

By now, I could see extraordinarily far.

I might even be able to outdo a bird of prey in a vision contest.

Judging from the sense of depth, the structure was an enormous distance away.

But...

There was no way it had been made visible for no reason, was there?

It could not merely be part of the scenery, like a decorative object placed beyond the edge of a game map.

“Let’s check it out.”

I broke into a light sprint.

Every time my feet struck the ground, the earth cracked beneath me as my body shot forward.

The structure was far away, but I was no slouch when it came to speed.

It did not take long for me to reach my destination.

“Yep. That’s definitely a pyramid.”

Up close, it proved to be an enormous structure that looked remarkably similar to a pyramid.

Numerous pillars and smaller buildings surrounded it.

The place gave off the impression of...

A temple, perhaps?

Rumble...

The blazing sun overhead suddenly vanished.

For some reason, dark clouds began gathering in the sky.

First night, then sudden daylight, and now overcast skies.

The weather was certainly putting on quite a performance.

Still, the fact that something had changed probably meant I had come to the right place.

Remaining on guard, I entered the temple grounds.

As I walked through the area and carefully surveyed my surroundings, I heard a noise coming from somewhere nearby.

It sounded like a battle.

I ran straight toward it.

There were people there.

Three of them.

They wore armor and appeared to be knights.

“Sir Delrunt! Watch out!”

The knights had surrounded a large Undead and were fighting it together.

The creature looked reasonably powerful.

‘Should I help them?’

As I had learned on the second floor, not everything encountered on a Hidden route was necessarily an enemy that needed to be killed.

Since the knights were fighting an Undead, they were probably allies.

For now, I decided to help them.

“I’ll help youuuu!”

I shouted at the top of my lungs as I charged forward, just in case they mistook me for an enemy.

The knights noticed me and turned their heads.

The Undead had a humanoid shape but stood well over three meters tall, clutching what looked like an enormous rusted greatsword.

It was clearly far stronger than the Undead that had swarmed me during the main clear.

The knights were standing too close to the creature for me to use Flame Strike safely.

Instead, I fired Light Bullets while charging toward the Undead alongside them.

Pow-pow-pow!

I struck the arm holding its sword to prevent it from counterattacking, then launched myself toward its head.

My mace crashed into its skull.

Half of its head burst apart with a heavy crack.

GRAAAHHH...!

As the Undead staggered, the knights swiftly slashed at its legs, pressing the joint attack.

The creature toppled.

I swung my mace once more and shattered the rest of its head.

Done.

Nothing special.

I turned to the side and found the knights staring at me with wide, startled eyes.