Chapter 47: Nightmare, 4th Floor (3)

I stood there in a daze, staring blankly at the window.

Then I snapped back to my senses and hurriedly gathered the remaining cores.

[200P acquired.]

[200P acquired.]

[200P acquired.]

.

.

.

A shop.

A tower-defense-style upgrade system.

“...Ha. Ha.”

Fucking hell.

Only then did I finally understand the gimmick of the fourth floor, and all I could do was laugh like a lunatic.

No wonder the whole challenge had felt wrong from the beginning.

The golems emerging from the entrance were far too powerful for any ordinary Nightmare challenger to handle.

There had been a hidden upgrade system all along, just like in an actual game.

The intended strategy was to strengthen yourself gradually while progressing through the stages.

Meanwhile, I had been forcing my way through them with nothing but my raw attributes.

Ugh...

I could feel my blood pressure rising.

Every one of the previous golems had possessed a core as well.

But the wreckage disappeared whenever a new stage began, which meant eleven stages’ worth of points had already vanished into thin air.

How many points had I lost?

‘Haah...’

My head was spinning.

Still, at least I had figured it out now. That alone was a relief.

I examined the shop list once more.

[Shop]

– Physical Damage +10% (100P)

– Magic Damage +10% (100P)

– Willpower +10% (100P)

– Attribute Conversion (500P)

– Force Field (50P)

– Slow (50P)

– Stop (100P)

– Special Gacha! (5,000P)

Points held: 4,000P

The damage and Willpower upgrades were self-explanatory.

But Attribute Conversion?

[Attribute Conversion (500P)]

Converts physical damage into magic damage and magic damage into physical damage.

Ah.

So this was meant to counter the red and blue golems.

It was useless to me now, since I had already passed those stages.

[Force Field (50P)]

Creates a force field at a selected point in the corridor, blocking the golems’ advance. The force field lasts for 30 seconds.

[Slow (50P)]

Reduces the movement speed of all golems in the corridor by 50%. The effect lasts for 30 seconds.

[Stop (100P)]

Completely halts all golems in the corridor. The effect lasts for 30 seconds.

So these items were designed to impede the golems’ progress.

[Special Gacha! (5,000P)]

Initiates a Special Gacha draw. The available prizes are listed below. All prizes have an equal probability of being drawn.

– Skill Effect 300% Scroll

– Ability Nullification Part

– Grand Incineration Switch

And finally, at the very bottom, was the most expensive item of all.

[Purchased ‘Magic Damage +10% (100P)’.]

Current points: 4,000P.

For now, I purchased a single magic-damage upgrade.

[Shop]

– Physical Damage +10% (100P)

– Magic Damage +10% (200P)

– Willpower +10% (100P)

– Attribute Conversion (500P)

– Force Field (50P)

– Slow (50P)

– Stop (100P)

– Special Gacha! (5,000P)

Points held: 3,900P

After a single purchase, the price had increased by 100P.

So each successive upgrade became more expensive.

I had no way of knowing whether the physical-damage upgrade would affect Plli as well, so I decided to invest only in magic damage for the time being.

– The Green Golem will revive once even after being completely destroyyyed... Please respond with cautiooon...

An announcement echoed through the workshop.

Stage 13 was about to begin.

It revived after being destroyed?

So each one effectively had two lives.

I chose not to spend any more points yet.

There would only be five golems in this stage, so I wanted to observe them first before deciding how to invest.

I had already lost an enormous number of points.

I needed to be careful with what remained.

The entrance opened, and a Green Golem stepped out.

I cast Scorching Zone across the corridor immediately in front of the entrance.

Whoosh! Crackle!

The golem was engulfed in flames, but it continued marching forward.

I followed up with Flame Strike.

BOOM!

The moment the heavily damaged golem emerged from Scorching Zone, Plli lunged in and finished it off.

The golem collapsed and shattered.

A moment later, however, the fragments began to rise.

The broken pieces pulled themselves together, reconstructing the golem’s body.

So that was how it worked.

I left the revived golem to Plli and turned my attention to the next one.

As the stages progressed, not only were the golems acquiring new special abilities, but their basic attributes were increasing as well.

Each new type was harder to destroy than the last.

Still, unlike the Black Golems, the Green Golems did not ignore attacks below a certain damage threshold.

That made them much easier to deal with.

On top of that, my magic damage had already increased by ten percent.

Clearing five of them presented no real difficulty.

Since each revived once, it was effectively the same as defeating ten.

[250P acquired.]

[250P acquired.]

[250P acquired.]

.

.

.

After collecting all five cores, I earned a total of 1,250P.

So the value of each core increased by 50P whenever the golem type changed.

I stopped time and began simulating the next stage in my head.

‘If five are this manageable...’

Then I should be able to handle ten somehow as well.

The stage after that might be more troublesome.

Twenty golems, each with two lives, would effectively mean forty enemies.

I would probably need additional damage upgrades.

‘No, wait.’

[Force Field (50P)]

Creates a force field at a selected point in the corridor, blocking the golems’ advance. The force field lasts for 30 seconds.

Should I test this?

If the force field could truly stop the golems completely for thirty seconds...

For someone like me, who could gather them all into a single corridor and erase them with Destruction Ray, its efficiency would be absurd.

I would test it during Stage 15, when twenty golems appeared.

[Purchased ‘Magic Damage +10% (200P)’.]

Stage 14 began.

I spent 200P to increase my magic damage by another ten percent.

Ten Green Golems—effectively twenty enemies—were eliminated without incident.

I did not even need to use Destruction Ray.

After collecting every core they dropped, I gained 2,500P.

The next stage, Stage 15, would contain twenty golems.

With their revivals included, that meant forty.

Just as I had planned, I decided to test the force field.

The permanent upgrades became more expensive with every purchase, but the force field was a cheap consumable.

Its cost-effectiveness was exceptional.

Suppose I placed a force field at the end of Corridor 1 and blocked the golems there.

The barrier lasted thirty seconds.

The first golem required thirty seconds to reach the end of Corridor 1, while it took two full minutes for all twenty golems to emerge.

That meant I would need three force fields.

A total cost of 150P.

Then I would need to wait another three minutes for the golems to revive and for Destruction Ray to come off cooldown.

That would require another 300P.

According to my calculations, I could clear the entire stage cleanly for only 450P.

Actually, no.

If Plli and I helped delay the golems between each use, the cost would be even lower.

‘There’s definitely still a boss waiting for me.’

The presence of Special Gacha in the shop continued to bother me.

Surely there would be a situation in which I was expected to use it.

Rather than pouring all my points into permanent upgrades, I should preserve as many as possible.

I had already lost an enormous amount.

Ugh.

Fuck.

The signal lights turned red.

Stage 15 began.

A Green Golem emerged from the entrance.

Plli and I intercepted it, delaying the golems’ advance as much as possible, just as we had done against the Black Golems.

Little by little, they forced us backward until we reached the far end of Corridor 1.

[Purchased ‘Force Field (50P)’.]

I activated the force field according to plan.

A translucent blue barrier formed exactly where I had intended, blocking the end of Corridor 1.

Thud. Thud.

The lead golem repeatedly slammed its head into the barrier, but it could not move forward.

Since the first golem was unable to advance, the ones behind it began piling up as well, colliding uselessly with one another.

As expected, the force field endured for the full thirty seconds without showing any sign of breaking.

When the duration ended, it vanished.

[Purchased ‘Force Field (50P)’.]

Plli and I struggled against the golems again for a short while, then created another barrier at the right moment.

Unlike the damage upgrades, the price of the force field did not increase with repeated purchases.

With only two force fields—a total expenditure of 100P—I successfully herded every golem into Corridor 2.

Then I annihilated them all with Destruction Ray.

Even with only a twenty-percent boost to my magic damage, Destruction Ray punched straight through every golem in the corridor.

Rumble...

The golems collapsed simultaneously, enormous holes bored through their bodies.

Then they all revived at once.

From that point onward, I merely had to repeat the same process.

I used force fields to hold them in place until Destruction Ray came off cooldown, then fired it again.

By spending only 200P, I cleared Stage 15 without difficulty.

I hurriedly collected the fallen cores.

[Shop]

– Physical Damage +10% (100P)

– Magic Damage +10% (300P)

– Willpower +10% (100P)

– Attribute Conversion (500P)

– Force Field (50P)

– Slow (50P)

– Stop (100P)

– Special Gacha! (5,000P)

Points held: 12,250P

12,250P.

That was a respectable stockpile.

During the break, I examined the gacha list once again.

[Special Gacha! (5,000P)]

Initiates a Special Gacha draw. The available prizes are listed below. All prizes have an equal probability of being drawn.

– Skill Effect 300% Scroll

– Ability Nullification Part

– Grand Incineration Switch

When I focused more carefully on the items, individual descriptions appeared.

[Skill Effect 300% Scroll]

Select any one skill and increase its effect to 300%. Tear the scroll to activate it. Stackable.

It increased the effect of a single skill to three hundred percent.

Exactly what its name implied.

[Ability Nullification Part]

Nullifies all abilities possessed by one golem. Must be brought into physical contact with the target golem to activate.

Ability nullification.

Again, exactly as advertised.

It completely erased the abilities of a single golem.

[Grand Incineration Switch]

Press the button to initiate Grand Incineration. A tremendous blaze will annihilate every golem.

Including you, of course!

The final prize was the Grand Incineration Switch.

It destroyed every golem.

And me along with them.

“‘Including you, of course!’”

How adorable.

So it was essentially a self-destruct button.

Why something like that even existed was beyond me.

– Yellow Golems cannot be impedeeed... Please respond with cautiooon...

While I was reading the descriptions, another announcement rang out.

The rest period had ended.

...Cannot be impeded?

Wait.

Did that mean their path could not be blocked?

Ding.

The signal lights turned red, and the entrance opened.

A Yellow Golem stepped out.

Plli launched himself at it and rammed it with his entire body.

Thunk!

But the Yellow Golem did not move even an inch.

It continued walking as though nothing had happened, while Plli was the one sent bouncing away.

I tried Blade Storm next.

It had absolutely no effect.

Don’t tell me the force field won’t work either.

[Purchased ‘Force Field (50P)’.]

I created a force field directly in front of the Yellow Golem.

The instant the barrier came into contact with it, the entire force field shattered.

The golem continued forward without the slightest hesitation.

‘You have got to be kidding me.’

Naturally, Slow and Stop would be useless as well.

It appeared there would be no shortcuts.

I would have to destroy them with raw damage alone.

I bombarded the golems with magic while Plli climbed onto their bodies and tore into them with his jaws.

Their actual durability was only slightly greater than that of the Green Golems, so they fell fairly quickly.

All five were eliminated without serious difficulty.

Stage 16 ended.

[300P acquired.]

[300P acquired.]

[300P acquired.]

.

.

.

After collecting all the cores, I gained another 1,500P.

I stopped time and considered the situation.

Just when I had begun to think things might become easier, another absurd golem type had appeared.

But honestly, it was not much of a problem.

Judging by my rough calculations, I should be able to eliminate ten Yellow Golems without Destruction Ray after purchasing only one more damage upgrade.

And if twenty appeared, I could eliminate the first five with Destruction Ray, effectively reducing the number to fifteen.

Since it took two minutes for all twenty golems to emerge, Destruction Ray could technically come off cooldown in time for another use.

However, because I had no idea what the following stage might contain, I intended to use it no more than twice.

My base attributes were already extremely high.

With three additional damage upgrades, I should be able to clear Stage 18 comfortably.

I had more than enough points.

Wow.

Was it really acceptable for a Nightmare floor to progress this smoothly?

The moment that thought crossed my mind, I slapped myself hard across the face.

‘Who told you that you could get cocky, you insane bastard?’

The boss had not even appeared yet.

The hidden core mechanic had infuriated me, but still...

How should I put it?

I had yet to experience that uniquely vicious, bone-deep brand of Nightmare-level bullshit.

My instincts had been sharpened by clearing three Nightmare floors.

They were worth trusting.

One could even argue that I was humanity’s foremost Nightmare sommelier.

There would be absolutely no lowering my guard until the very end.

Ding.

Stage 17 began.

[Purchased ‘Magic Damage +10% (300P)’.]

[Purchased ‘Magic Damage +10% (400P)’.]

[Purchased ‘Magic Damage +10% (500P)’.]

Just as planned, I spent a total of 1,200P on three additional magic-damage upgrades.

BOOM!

With my greatly increased firepower, I dispatched all ten Yellow Golems with ease.

Stage 18, which contained twenty, went just as smoothly.

I used Destruction Ray to eliminate the first five in Corridor 1, then dealt with the remaining fifteen normally.

[Shop]

– Physical Damage +10% (100P)

– Magic Damage +10% (600P)

– Willpower +10% (100P)

– Attribute Conversion (500P)

– Force Field (50P)

– Slow (50P)

– Stop (100P)

– Special Gacha! (5,000P)

Points held: 21,500P

After clearing Stage 18, my point total had exceeded twenty thousand.

But seriously...

How many stages were there?

Shouldn’t the end have been in sight by now?

At that moment, another announcement played.

– Our workshop’s greatest masterpiece is malfunctioningggg... All staff are advised to respond with great, great cautiooon...

...The workshop’s greatest masterpiece?

‘It’s the boss.’

Sensing that the boss had finally arrived, I turned toward the entrance.

The doors opened.

Heavy footsteps echoed from within, far weightier than those of any previous golem.

Thud.

Thud.

Thud...

A massive silhouette emerged.

The instant I saw it, the words escaped my mouth before I could stop them.

“...You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Its head was black.

The left side of its upper body was red.

The right side was blue.

The left side of its lower body was green.

The right side was yellow.

It was a single golem composed of every color possessed by every golem that had come before it.

All of them had been combined into one body.