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Chapter 119 - Proof of Qualification (2)
Chapter 119: Proof of Qualification (2)
TL: Enuma Novel
The time the Tower had foretold was almost up.
I’d been hunting in Zone 5, and I came back out.
Arms folded, I sat down in a chair and stared into space.
W ӗ b́ n ov̈ e l Еǹu.m̊ a
Proof of Qualification.
From what had been announced beforehand, it seemed the Tower would only be doing something to the top-floor climbers, but.
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For some reason, I had a bad feeling.
Because back during the Masked Auction, something I never could have imagined had happened.
Back then, who on earth would have predicted they’d run an auction with people’s lives?
What was going to happen this time…
W е b̂ n̄о̊ v́е̂l̂_ Е ñu mă
[Time Remaining: 1 second]
[‘Proof of Qualification’ has begun.]
A message appeared.
[The Top-Floor Climbers of each difficulty have been selected.]
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[A total of nine ‘Isolation Zones’, each with a 50-kilometer radius, have been established.]
.
Е ñ.ūmа̊
.
.
[You have been selected as the top-floor climber of the Nightmare difficulty.]
[The Easy difficulty top-floor climber ‘Warrior’ is currently selecting an Isolation Zone.]
[Selection Time Remaining: 58 minutes 51 seconds]
I read through the messages as they popped up one after another.
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The more I read, the more my expression slowly hardened.
What the hell is this…
Once I’d read the whole explanation through, I opened the Communication Channel.
I was scanning the frantic chatter of people in an uproar when,
[Taegeuk: fuck, looks like Seoul got hit too? we’re screwed;]
I pulled back the window curtain and looked outside.
Ẅѐ b.nо.vе l̈ Ė nu̇ m̌ а̊
In the sky hung something like a bluish veil.
And a giant number ‘1’, floating like a hologram.
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“Ha.”
I let out a short sigh.
The Tower was pulling another piece of jaw-dropping bullshit.
*
Ӗn ūm a . і̃d
Nine Isolation Zones had appeared across the world.
Just as the explanation said, the Isolation Zones completely cut off all passage between inside and outside.
In a word, the citizens within were trapped with no way out.
[Sodium: I’m Canadian and I think I’m inside an Isolation Zone… what do I do?]
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[Anaconda: You’re trapped. No way out]
[Diamond: shit the veil came down right next to my house; survived by a hair]
Е̊ǹúmа..і̆ḋ.
[Pond: so… the top-floor climbers have to take on the Penalty and clear the boss for the people inside the Isolation Zones to live? otherwise everyone dies? am I getting this right?]
[Jonathan: Yeah, you got it right. Everyone trapped is screwed]
Only yesterday the world had been in turmoil as the Floor 8 clear dragged on and on.
And now the world had been turned upside down all over again.
If the top-floor climbers didn’t choose the Penalty, everyone trapped in the Isolation Zones would die.
That much, at least, people grasped quickly.
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In South Korea’s case, an Isolation Zone had appeared that took in Seoul, Incheon, and part of the metropolitan area, stretching as far as Kaesong in North Korea.
It was no different for other countries, where Isolation Zones had appeared over capitals and major cities.
What’s more, above the veil of each Isolation Zone floated a colossal number, from 1 to 9.
South Korea was Isolation Zone 1, with the number 1 hanging above it.
The nations caught in Isolation Zones went on emergency alert.
News outlets ran urgent bulletins. Countless live broadcasts went up.
Е ñ ũmа.i d
– I’m here on the streets of Central Park in Songdo, Incheon. As you can see, the veil has sealed everything off, and all movement in or out is now impossible…
Inside the Isolation Zone.
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The broadcast showed people gathered right in front of the veil, faces frozen with fear.
“Get us out! Let us out of here…!”
Some, gripped by panic, pounded on the veil and screamed.
But for the moment there was nothing the government could do…
Wе́ b ň ǒ vе l Е n̊ u m ӑ
[The Easy difficulty top-floor climber ‘Warrior’ is currently selecting an Isolation Zone.]
[Selection Time Remaining: 20 minutes 39 seconds]
The Easy difficulty top-floor climber was first in line to choose an Isolation Zone.
[Easy]
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Population: 718,956
Time Limit: 39 years 6 days 6 hours 15 minutes 1 second
Е n ů ḿ ā
Reached Floor: 46
[Normal]
Population: 655,174
Time Limit: 25 years 6 days 6 hours 15 minutes 1 second
Reached Floor: 32
[Hard]
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Population: 681,549
Time Limit: 11 years 6 days 6 hours 15 minutes 1 second
Reached Floor: 18
[Nightmare]
Population: 673,620
Time Limit: 1 year 6 days 6 hours 15 minutes 1 second
En u mа
Reached Floor: 9
China’s Zhang Tao, top record holder of Easy difficulty Floor 46, Communication Channel nickname Warrior.
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The time given to him to choose, without even enough room to deliberate properly, was a mere one hour.
[Uru: He’ll pick at least one, right?]
[Cauliflower: Who knows. This Penalty’s pretty brutal.]
[Wei: Zhang Tao! Please, pick China’s Isolation Zone! You have to save your own countrymen!]
Е n.úm̃а̃.і̄d
The situation was unfolding with the utmost urgency.
With one minute left on the timer, a message appeared.
[The Easy difficulty top-floor climber ‘Warrior’ has selected Isolation Zone 5.]
Zone 5 was the number of the Isolation Zone that had appeared in China.
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Zhang Tao had chosen one Isolation Zone in his own country.
[Upon selecting 1]
Е̌n̊ u m̂á
– Physical ability and Willpower reduced by 30%
And so Zhang Tao, shouldering one Penalty, was carried off to the Proof Room.
[Yellow Dragon: He chose China!]
[Chicken 5 Pieces: He only picked one? Guess he’s just saving his own country]
[Black Pine: Only one? Look at the Penalty, you idiot. Even picking one is fatal]
[Windmill: Is this even possible? I’ve got a bad feeling…]
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The citizens trapped in China’s Isolation Zone waited in desperate hope for news of his success.
And then…
[The Easy difficulty top-floor climber ‘Warrior’ has died.]
Not even a few minutes had passed.
The news of Zhang Tao’s death rang out as an announcement.
[Drawing a new top-floor climber for the Easy difficulty.]
Е̃ ǹ um̈ а̀
[The Easy difficulty top-floor climber ‘Clock’ is currently selecting an Isolation Zone.]
If a climber died without slaying the boss, a new climber would be drawn, over and over, until someone succeeded.
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By the rules, the next one chosen was Henry, an Australian Easy difficulty Floor 45 climber.
There were several Easy Floor 45 climbers around the world, and he was the one who came up.
At Zhang Tao’s hollow, pointless failure, people, especially the citizens trapped in China’s Isolation Zone, fell into despair.
[Radiation: What? Zhang Tao’s dead?]
Webn о v̌ е̇ l Еñ ûm̌ ā
[Bull: See? I told you the Penalty was insane…]
Physical ability and willpower reduced by 30%.
That was no different from saying one’s level had dropped by 30%.
Taking on a same-level boss monster while being the only one with their level cut by 30 percent?
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Forget several, even a single Penalty was, by any reasonable measure, out of the question.
Henry, the next up, also couldn’t make a choice until the hour was nearly gone, and then,
W̃é b̆ṅ_о vе̊ l Еň úmӓ.
[The Easy difficulty top-floor climber ‘Clock’ has not selected an Isolation Zone.]
in the end he chose no Isolation Zone at all.
After all, unlike Zhang Tao, it wasn’t even his own country that had been caught.
But…
[The Easy difficulty top-floor climber ‘Clock’ has died.]
Even Henry, who had taken no Penalty whatsoever, failed not long after.
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[Drawing a new top-floor climber for the Easy difficulty.]
[The Easy difficulty top-floor climber ‘Ascent’ is currently selecting an Isolation Zone.]
Third up, Logan, an American Easy difficulty Floor 45 climber.
[The Easy difficulty top-floor climber ‘Ascent’ has not selected an Isolation Zone.]
Logan, too, chose no Isolation Zone.
And then.
Е n̄ ûm а̃
[The Easy difficulty top-floor climber ‘Ascent’ has slain the boss monster.]
Only on the third climber did a message of success finally appear.
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The instant Logan succeeded and stepped out of the Proof Room, he released the details.
[Ascent: The place was a cavern much like Floor 1 of the Tower, and the boss monster was a giant Golem. Structurally, it’s basically the same as clearing a floor. Once you bring the boss down, you move to the Reward Room and your injuries are healed.]
Logan even laid out in detail how he had brought the boss down, but.
Whether his information would actually help was anyone’s guess.
Е̌ǹ ů m̊ а .і d̊
Because the boss’s level was bound to differ from one difficulty to the next, and it seemed unlikely the same boss would appear.
[The Normal difficulty top-floor climber ‘Freedom’ is currently selecting an Isolation Zone.]
[Deactivated Isolation Zones: 0]
The turn had now passed to the next difficulty.
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The Normal top record holder was America’s Gabriel.
He was also a public figure, serving as a director of the International Climber Association.
W̆ е b n о vel̀ Ē n ǔ ḿа
[Flamethrower: …Gabriel’ll pick at least one, won’t he?]
[Buffalo Wings: Dunno. The US didn’t even get hit with an Isolation Zone]
[Honeybee: if he’s gonna pick one, pick Canada please…! the US and us are basically brother nations!]
The people trapped in the Isolation Zones were desperate, truly desperate.
Because death had been pronounced on them out of a clear blue sky.
If the Proof of Qualification ended like this, with all four difficulties having chosen nothing.
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every citizen in the Isolation Zones would die.
Even by the roughest count, that was at least tens of millions.
Since communication with the outside still worked, they listened to the bulletins coming in real time, praying that the top-floor climbers would, please, take on the Penalty and make the attempt.
People had hoped that maybe the Normal difficulty climber would pick at least one, but…
[The Normal difficulty top-floor climber ‘Freedom’ has not selected an Isolation Zone.]
[The Normal difficulty top-floor climber ‘Freedom’ has slain the boss monster.]
Е ñûm ӑ
[Deactivated Isolation Zones: 0]
Gabriel, too, killed the boss and came out having chosen nothing.
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“I am sorry. I could not make a choice.”
The moment he emerged, he was swarmed by reporters and held an impromptu press conference.
“It is a truly tragic thing, but I do not have the power to save them. No one does. It was only three hours ago that China’s Zhang Tao died. Australia’s Henry failed even without choosing a Penalty.
I, too, nearly died. A beast-type boss appeared, completely unlike the one in Easy difficulty. It was extraordinarily strong. Had I taken even a single Penalty, I would surely have died.
Wе́ b̂ n о̄vе̂l Еnů m̊_å
A 30 percent reduction in physical ability and willpower is, in effect, the same as a 30 percent reduction in level. Do you truly believe it is possible to shoulder such an outrageous Penalty and face a boss monster of equal level?”
It wasn’t a wrong thing to say, but.
What it came down to was that he had no intention of sacrificing himself to save anyone.
There wasn’t even time to curse him for it.
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Now the turn had passed on to Hard.
[The Hard difficulty top-floor climber ‘Strength’ is currently selecting an Isolation Zone.]
E n u m a
Russia’s Dmitri, a Hard difficulty Floor 18 climber.
A few months back he had cleared Floor 17, putting him level with America’s Alex as co-holder of the Hard difficulty top record.
And right now, he was regretting it.
“…Had I known it would come to this, I should have made my attempt a little later.”
Dmitri did not want to die.
Facing a same-level boss with one’s stats weakened by 30 percent.
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If there were information on the boss mob and time to work out a strategy against it, it might not be entirely impossible.
But right now there was no such information, none at all.
Still, perhaps if people kept making attempts until someone finally cleared it, then someday, by sheer luck, a successful climber might emerge.
But that was a story that could only hold if his own sacrifice, as the first one up, came first.
And Dmitri, once again, did not want to die.
If anything, precisely because he was a top-floor climber, he could read the odds all the more clearly. That to shoulder the Penalty was to throw his life away for nothing.
Wе.b n ov̈ e l̈ Еñum å
There would be heavy public criticism once it was all over, and his own conscience wasn’t exactly at ease either, but what could he do? His life mattered more.
The one consolation was that the Isolation Zone in Russia wasn’t over any major urban center.
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Dmitri made up his mind to value his own life.
Because the will of the Russian government, which had just reached him, was clear as well.
They would sooner write off one small city than have Dmitri, Russia’s finest climber, take a gamble he was certain to lose.
[The Hard difficulty top-floor climber ‘Strength’ has not selected an Isolation Zone.]
Е́nu mа. і̀d
[The Hard difficulty top-floor climber ‘Strength’ has slain the boss monster.]
[Deactivated Isolation Zones: 0]
In the end.
Hard, too, selected not a single Isolation Zone.
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The citizens inside the Isolation Zones, watching it all unfold in real time, despaired.
“H-how can this be happening…”
Е ňùm а̇
“You sons of bitches! Are you even human?!”
“Are we really all going to die just like this…?”
Just as Person123 had chosen a Penalty back on Floor 4.
In a corner of their hearts, people had clung to the hope that at least one climber would show that kind of heroism, but.
It had been a futile hope.
Apart from Zhang Tao choosing his own country’s Isolation Zone at the very start, not one of them chose even a single Isolation Zone.
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[Pig: and those pieces of shit are supposed to be top-floor climbers ha…lol]
[Shooting Star: how does not one of them even think about giving it a try?]
[Mask: but the Penalty is pretty damn harsh tho… is saving even one zone actually doable?]
[Bard: only Nightmare left now]
In what little time there was, governments too tried everything they could.
They struck the Isolation Zone’s veil with military weapons, they dug tunnels, but of course none of it could work. The veil sheathed everything perfectly, even underground.
Е̇n̄ um а . ì d
“Every citizen inside the Isolation Zone is going to become one of the Fallen…!”
Once the entire Proof of Qualification process was over, the Tower’s Curse would come down on the citizens inside the Isolation Zones.
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To die from the Tower’s Curse meant to become one of the Fallen.
All those countless citizens, every last one, turning into monsters?
It was a catastrophe too vast even to picture.
[Remaining Isolation Zones will be maintained forever.]
Е n̄ ú m̀ȧ
The one small mercy was the part saying the Isolation Zones would be maintained forever.
The nations where the Isolation Zones had appeared would suffer a blow so horrific it would shake them to their foundations, true.
But even so, the Isolation Zones holding firm was the lesser evil.
Because the Fallen, too, wouldn’t be able to slip out beyond the zone.
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Yet there was always the slimmest chance.
The world’s leaders hastily convened an emergency video conference.
Ẃ е bn̄ о̆ṽ е̄ l Еnum̆ a
Bracing even for the possibility that the veil might vanish once the Proof of Qualification ended, they urgently discussed even the option of a nuclear strike.
Meanwhile.
[The Nightmare difficulty top-floor climber ‘Person123′ is currently selecting an Isolation Zone.]
The turn had come at last to the final difficulty, Nightmare.
[Swan: will Person123 choose a Penalty…?]
[Poseidon: at the very least he’ll pick South Korea, right]
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[Davis: but is choosing it even something we should be hoping for?]
[Icicle: he can’t push too hard… even for Person123, this is…]
Given Person123’s character.
At the very least, people figured, there was no chance he would choose no Isolation Zone at all.
But that meant Person123 would have to fight the boss while bearing a lethal Penalty…
And his death would mean the end of the world.
Е́n̂uma
Of course, even so, the citizens trapped in the Isolation Zones prayed that Person123 would, please, choose the Penalty.
Doom of the world or not, they were the ones facing death this very instant.
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“B-but Person123 will pick South Korea, won’t he?”
“We’ll make it out alive… please…”
The citizens inside South Korea’s Isolation Zone 1 clung to their last hope.
Conversely, the citizens in other countries’ Isolation Zones found it hard to hold on to any hope at all.
En ů m̃ а .і̄ d́
Even Person123 was no all-powerful god.
However far his ability soared beyond that of other climbers, the Penalty was simply too absurd.
There was bound to be a limit to what he could choose.
In the end, a great many people were going to die.
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– All that remains now is Person123’s final choice. What decision the savior of humanity will make…
News broadcasts across the world were showing the people inside the Isolation Zones.
W̌ е̊b ňóv е̄l̊ Е̂ñ u m̊ã
People in despair, people beating on the veil and begging to be saved, people clasping their hands in prayer, people with their eyes shut as if bracing themselves…
Everyone waited for Person123’s choice.
And then…
A message rose into view.
[The Nightmare difficulty top-floor climber ‘Person123’ has selected Isolation Zones 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9.]
****
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