Chapter 70: Floor 5 (8)

A private chamber within Zhongnanhai, China.

“Are you truly determined to attempt it?”

Xiao Lin, a member of the Central Committee soon to be elevated to the Politburo Standing Committee in recognition of his distinguished service during the coup, stared anxiously at the man before him.

Surrounded by medical specialists conducting a final series of examinations, Ye Tianwei answered with perfect composure.

“Of course.”

But why?

The seizure of power within the Party had concluded as flawlessly as anyone could have hoped. Ye Tianwei now stood at the summit, with nothing left to do but enjoy the immense authority he had secured.

There seemed to be no reason for him to continue challenging Nightmare difficulty.

Xiao Lin had watched over Ye Tianwei and served him since their youth, yet even after all those years, the man’s thoughts remained nearly impossible to fathom.

“Floor 4 is a trial where even the most capable challenger requires the favor of heaven. I cannot help but worry. And I fail to understand why you must attempt it so soon...”

According to Person123’s information post on Floor 4, no amount of preparation could guarantee success. If the lottery turned against you, it was over.

China’s finest minds had pooled their knowledge to devise a meticulous strategy for clearing the floor. Even so, regardless of Ye Tianwei’s personal abilities, the probability of failure remained fixed.

Given more time, he could have acquired additional Skill Stones and other resources.

So why the haste?

Was it a desire to succeed before America?

Xiao Lin knew better than anyone that Ye Tianwei had little interest in such petty competition.

“Because Zone 3’s Boss Gauge will soon be full.”

“......”

“I need to reach Floor 5 as quickly as possible. With a little luck, I may even have the chance to witness it.”

Xiao Lin had long suspected that Ye Tianwei harbored a peculiar admiration for Person123.

But he had never imagined it ran this deep.

Ye Tianwei smiled.

“Life and death are decreed by fate. If I am meant to die, then I will die. If I am meant to live, then I will live. Should I perish here, it will simply mean this was as far as my path was destined to go. There would be nothing anyone could do about it.”

Xiao Lin could not, for the life of him, understand how deliberately throwing oneself into a death trap qualified as something that could not be helped.

Still, he said nothing more and merely nodded.

There was no stopping Ye Tianwei now.

If Ye Tianwei died, control of the Party would pass into Haoran’s hands, exactly as appearances suggested it already had.

All Xiao Lin could do was pray for Ye Tianwei’s safe return as he watched what might prove to be the man’s final moments.

Soon, Ye Tianwei completed his preparations and vanished from sight.

— China Successfully Clears Nightmare Difficulty Floor 4.

The breaking news spread the very next day.

***

“You’ve already recovered completely? You look perfectly fine.”

“At my level, an injury like that doesn’t take long to heal.”

The moment his wounds had healed, Security Corps Chief Alex returned to Floor 5.

Recently, the atmosphere there had been unusually quiet.

The Black Star Society had kept its head down and withdrawn from sight, while the Security Corps had made no attempt to provoke them.

As for the incident in Zone 3, Person123 had refused to support either side. With casualties on both sides, the two factions had eventually agreed to let the matter rest rather than continue their endless dispute.

A great many things had happened in a remarkably short span of time.

Wang Kai’s death.

The coup in China.

The public revelation of Person123’s nationality.

China’s successful clear of Nightmare Floor 4.

Alex was not technically a government-affiliated climber. However, as America’s highest-ranked Hard difficulty climber, he maintained close ties with the US Climbing Bureau.

Because of that, he possessed a rough understanding of the intelligence surrounding both China and the Black Star Society.

Following Wang Kai’s death, leadership of the Black Star Society on Floor 5 had officially passed to Li Zeyan, a Chinese climber who had reached Floor 14 on Hard difficulty.

That, at least, was the official story.

Alex knew who truly stood behind him.

‘Ye Tianwei...’

China’s foremost Nightmare difficulty climber.

And the mastermind behind the recent coup.

Now, he had also cleared Nightmare Floor 4 ahead of America’s Taylor.

Information concerning Ye Tianwei was classified at the highest level, but since Alex regularly dealt with the Black Star Society on Floor 5, the US government had shared some of its intelligence with him.

Even from the limited facts available, Ye Tianwei was an exceedingly difficult man to understand.

Why would someone who had seized such enormous political power through a coup willingly return to Nightmare difficulty?

Whatever his reasons, one thing was certain.

He was no ordinary man.

Wang Kai might be dead, but that did not mean matters would become any easier from now on.

“Anyway... what are we going to do about the boss?”

At his lieutenant’s question, Alex let out a low groan. His expression was just as troubled.

[Zone 3: 98.9%]

Only a little more than one percent remained before the Zone 3 Boss Gauge was full.

Person123 was most likely hunting somewhere in Zone 3 at that very moment.

The dilemma weighing on the Security Corps was simple.

What should they do once the Zone 3 boss appeared?

It was not a question of who deserved the first-clear reward. Naturally, that reward should belong to Person123.

They were simply concerned for his safety.

No one knew the true extent of Person123’s strength. He had killed Wang Kai in the blink of an eye, but the power of the Zone 3 boss remained equally unknown.

From the way things looked, Person123 intended to challenge it alone.

It was impossible not to worry that something might go wrong. The US government had expressed serious concern as well.

The Security Corps had even sent him a whisper offering their assistance.

[Person123: I’m fine.]

His reply had been brief and impassive.

Their help was unnecessary.

“I still don’t know whether this is all right,” someone muttered. “Letting Person123 face the boss alone...”

Shin Su-jin, who had been listening quietly, spoke up.

“When the boss is about to appear... why don’t we prepare ourselves and enter Zone 3?”

“Didn’t Person123 say he didn’t need our help?”

“He never said we weren’t allowed to enter Zone 3. If we find the boss first, we can keep our distance. And if Person123 is already fighting it, we can simply observe the situation.”

Shin Su-jin was every bit as concerned for Person123’s safety as the others.

He was an extraordinary man, but even extraordinary people could encounter something beyond their ability to handle.

This seemed like the best the Security Corps could do without interfering with him.

Alex considered her suggestion for a moment, then nodded.

“Very well. We’ll do that. Send word to every hunting team operating in Zone 3.”

***

It had taken roughly a week of hunting to fill the remainder of Zone 3’s gauge.

KABOOOOOOM!

The two pterosaurs diving toward me were blown apart by my Flame Strike and plummeted side by side toward the ground.

I checked the gauge.

[Zone 3: 99.9%]

All right...

Only 0.1 percent remained.

The Zone 3 boss raid would begin soon.

Honestly, I wasn’t particularly nervous.

The Zone 3 boss was probably somewhere around level 60. At the absolute most, it might reach the level 70 range.

This wasn’t a Nightmare floor I had to clear in order to escape.

Even if I found myself thinking, Well, shit, there’s no way I can beat this, I was confident I could still get away.

[Mountain Range: Person123, would it be all right if the Security Corps joined you for the Zone 3 boss raid? We would like to help ensure that you obtain the reward for the first clear.]

A whisper had arrived through the Communication Channel earlier.

The Security Corps wanted to assist me during the raid.

[Cheonji: Person123, if there is anything you require from the Black Star Society for the Zone 3 boss raid, please do not hesitate to ask.]

Even the Black Star Society had contacted me.

But to be honest, I didn’t particularly want anyone’s help.

There were several reasons.

First of all, fighting alongside other people was stressful.

I intended to unleash one spell after another. If other climbers were swarming around the boss in close combat, they would only get in my way.

Besides, if the boss was powerful enough that I couldn’t defeat it alone, the other climbers probably wouldn’t be of much help anyway.

More likely, a great many of them would die.

So I replied to both groups and told them I was fine.

That said, I wasn’t exactly in a position to order everyone else to stay away while I handled the boss alone.

Even if they gave up on the main first-clear reward, plenty of climbers would still want the Zone 3 Boss First-Time Clear Reward.

Not that many of them were likely to be strong enough to meet the required Contribution threshold.

Either way, I had no right to stop them.

My approach was simple.

Everyone could do whatever they wanted.

I spotted a Lava Giant lumbering through the distance and brought it down with another Flame Strike.

After killing a few more monsters—

[Zone 3: 100%]

[The Zone 3 boss has appeared.]

The message finally appeared.

“Let’s go, Plli.”

Now I had to find where the boss had spawned.

I pulled my hood over my head, took a mask from Subspace, and put it on.

That completed my preparations in case I encountered other people.

I summoned Plli, climbed onto her back, and took to the air.

My plan was to search Zone 3 clockwise, beginning near the innermost section and gradually working my way toward the perimeter.

If I swept through the region like that, I was bound to find the boss eventually.

After racing across the landscape for quite some time—

“......!”

I finally spotted something and came to a halt.

Far in the distance, a massive shape lay sprawled atop a low, rocky outcrop.

It had wings.

Wings so enormous that comparing them to those of a pterosaur seemed almost absurd.

A dragon?

A wyvern?

Those were the first words that came to mind.

The creature’s entire body was covered in deep crimson scales.

Keeping my eyes fixed on the wyvern, I pulled the pre-charged Warp Device from Subspace and activated it.

[9:59]

This was merely a precaution.

If the boss proved far stronger than expected, I would retreat.

Once the activation was cancelled, the countdown would reset to ten minutes. That meant I couldn’t simply activate it in the middle of the fight and warp away the instant I felt threatened.

I needed to start the countdown before the battle began.

I decided I would engage once roughly three minutes remained.

Three minutes would be more than enough to determine whether the fight was winnable.

If I believed I could defeat it, I would cancel the activation.

If not, I would hold out until the three minutes elapsed, use the Warp Device, and escape.

But first...

I glanced around.

I wasn’t alone.

People were visible in the distance, both to my left and to my right.

The group on the right belonged to the Security Corps. I could make out Alex standing at the front.

And the group on the left...

That appeared to be the Black Star Society.

I had told them I didn’t need help, yet they had come anyway.

Or perhaps we had all simply discovered the boss at roughly the same time.

Either way, there was no reason to concern myself with them.

I only needed to do what I had come here to do.

[3:30]

Just over three minutes remained on the Warp Device.

Everything was ready.

I sprinted toward the boss.

Once I drew close enough, the creature reacted.

It rose from the summit of the rocky outcrop and unfurled its enormous wings.

Flames spiraled outward as a scorching gust roared across the distance and slammed into me.

“Ngh...!”

Hot.

According to my Sixth Sense, the boss was indeed formidable.

But I felt no warning that engaging it would be a fatal mistake.

So it really was somewhere around level 60.

It seemed manageable.

GROOOAAAAR!

The boss released a tremendous roar and launched itself into the air with a powerful beat of its wings.

By then, I was almost directly beneath it.

My strategy was simple.

First, fire the Destruction Ray.

Then follow it with every other spell I had.

‘The real question is how much damage the Destruction Ray will inflict.’

Could I kill it in a single strike?

Hard to say.

Zone Bosses were supposed to possess an absurd degree of vitality.

I intended to close the distance as much as possible and fire the Destruction Ray directly into its head.

“Jump!”

The boss hovered high above us.

Plli leapt into the air, and I pushed off from her back, launching myself even higher.

At that moment, the boss opened its enormous jaws.

Was it about to fire something?

I stopped time.

After completing three hundred seconds of Mental Concentration, I allowed time to resume.

The instant it did, the boss unleashed a colossal torrent of flame from its mouth.

At the same moment, I cast a Fully Charged Destruction Ray.

KABOOOOOOOOM!

The pitch-black beam erased the flames in an instant.

Then it continued forward and tore straight through the boss’s head.

And that was all.

I began preparing my remaining spells for an immediate follow-up attack—

Then stopped.

The boss’s head was gone.

Only its long neck remained.

Its wings twitched in a final series of postmortem spasms before its enormous body plunged toward the ground.

...Huh?

THOOOOOM!

[The Zone 3 boss has been defeated.]

[You have obtained the Zone 3 boss kill reward.]

[You have obtained the Zone 3 boss first-time kill reward.]

The messages floated before my eyes as I landed.

I stared at the boss’s corpse and let out a brief exclamation.

“Whoa.”

It really died in one hit?

Even though I already knew how powerful the skill was, it still managed to amaze me every single time.

The Destruction Ray...

Was just way too overpowereeeeed!

***

[The Zone 3 boss has appeared.]

The Security Corps had entered Zone 3 as the Boss Gauge neared its limit.

The instant the message announcing the boss’s appearance appeared, they rushed to locate it.

Fortunately, they found it before long.

A winged monster rested atop a rocky outcrop in the distance.

“...It’s the boss!”

Its size was beyond comparison with the pterosaurs that roamed Zone 3 as ordinary monsters.

“What the hell is that...?”

“It’s nothing like the Zone 2 boss.”

The members of the Security Corps stood frozen for a moment, overwhelmed by the sight of the creature.

Then they noticed something charging directly toward it.

A pitch-black beast.

And a figure riding upon its back.

Shin Su-jin shouted.

“It’s Person123!”

Every member of the Security Corps turned toward him.

Person123 clearly intended to confront the boss head-on. He was already rapidly closing the distance between them.

“Sh-shouldn’t we move too?”

“...Run! For now, just run!”

Suddenly thrown into a panic, the Security Corps charged toward the boss.

At that moment, the creature rose from the rocky summit and launched itself into the air.

The Security Corps was still far away, but Person123 had already entered its attack range.

He leapt into the sky.

The boss opened its jaws and spewed a torrent of flame directly toward him.

For one dreadful instant, it seemed certain that Person123 would be swallowed by the inferno.

The members of the Security Corps watched in horror.

Then a pitch-black beam erupted from Person123.

It was the same skill that had vaporized Wang Kai.

The black beam consumed the boss’s breath without leaving so much as a trace.

Then it tore through the creature’s head and surged upward as though it meant to pierce the heavens themselves.

Only after reaching high into the sky did it gradually fade away.

[The Zone 3 boss has been defeated.]

“......”

The Security Corps stopped running.

Mouths hanging open, they stared blankly as the enormous body of the boss plummeted to the ground.