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Chapter 72 - Desperate Struggle
Chapter 72: Desperate Struggle
TL: Enuma Novel
A private gathering inside US Climbing Bureau headquarters.
Taylor, fully prepared to challenge Floor 4, was running her final physical check.
The new Climbing Bureau Director Liam, Max, and other Bureau staff watched her.
Е ṅ üm̊ a . іd
Originally, the US had always been first to follow in Person123’s wake on the Nightmare runs, but this year the order had shifted.
China, for whatever reason, had challenged and cleared Floor 4 with startling speed.
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Perhaps it was meant to put pressure on their side, but no one here was going to be rattled by something like that. Taylor wasn’t being rushed by the clock; she had finished her preparations thoroughly, exactly according to plan.
Even so, Climbing Bureau Director Liam couldn’t help feeling more anxious than usual.
He trusted Taylor’s abilities, demonstrated by clearing three Nightmare floors so far, but Floor 4 wasn’t a floor decided by ability alone.
‘How long can we keep chasing him?’
Е̄ nü m̄а̃
Whether it was the US or China, how long would it be possible for other Nightmare clearers to keep following at that man’s heels?
No matter how diligently he posted strategy guides for them.
At first, it had been “the US will stand at the forefront of the Nightmare,” then it became “let’s just keep up with Person123″…
Now even that was starting to feel hollow to Liam, if he was being honest.
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The events on Floor 5 had made it abundantly clear just how vast the gap between Person123 and the rest of the climbers really was.
There was a saying in Korea, where the man was supposed to be living. Something about a sparrow trying to keep up with a stork tearing its legs apart. [TL: Korean idiom meaning that overreaching beyond your station leads to ruin.]
En̂ um̃ а̄
If Floor 4 was already like this, what were the remaining floors going to look like…
If Person123 had openly revealed himself, the US at least would have poured every resource it had into him and pinned all its hopes on him. But Person123 never revealed his identity.
Even on Floor 5, he’d only stepped into the light once, unavoidably, during the clash between the Security Corps and the Black Star Society.
It was an event that showed his noble character, revealing the identity he had kept hidden for so long just to save people’s lives, but the fact that he hadn’t shown so much as a shadow since defeating the Zone 3 boss was a real shame.
Of course, even if they did get a chance to contact Person123 again on Floor 5, there wasn’t really any way to support him from their end. The mechanism for bringing items in and out on Floor 5 was extremely strict.
Items brought in from outside the Tower could only be taken back out by the same person who brought them in, when they exited. In short, handing off an outside item to another person was impossible.
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So even if they did manage to meet Person123, delivering a Skill Stone or anything else to him on Floor 5 simply couldn’t be done. Unless they met him directly in the real world.
…At any rate, this was not the kind of mindset a Climbing Bureau Director should be carrying around.
Right now, Taylor, America’s climber, was preparing to attempt her fourth challenge with her life on the line.
Liam silently apologized to her. Looking at her as some sort of stand-in for Person123 was deeply rude.
“I wish you good fortune, Taylor. America will not forget your dedication.”
After receiving everyone’s salute, Taylor took one final deep breath and stepped into the Tower.
Е̊ nŭ ṁ а̄
Mercifully, the count on the Nightmare Communication Channel did not decrease that day.
After China, the United States too had successfully cleared Nightmare Floor 4.
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*
Time really does slip away before you know it.
The Time Limit on the Nightmare runs had broken through the sixty-day mark, and now less than two months remained.
That meant I had about a month left until my own challenge.
Е n̆ uṁ ã . і̀ d̊
I’d been spending most of my time hunting in Zone 4.
I’d given up on taking down the Zone 4 boss before entering Floor 6.
I’d already crunched the numbers while hunting, and based on my current progress, it just wasn’t going to happen.
The Zone 4 boss was something I’d have to deal with after clearing Floor 6.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
A bit of a shame, sure, but a boss twenty levels above me was a coin flip at best, and one wrong move could get me killed.
I hadn’t forgotten to keep building affinity with Diul, and I was still doing my Floor 2 night walks regularly.
Еn̈ u m а
And of course, beyond ducking in and out of the Tower, I wasn’t neglecting my regular life either.
If I asked myself whether I’d had a fulfilling year… sort of?
I was at least always trying to.
As time passed, all sorts of things big and small had been happening out in the world, and a lot was changing fast.
Among the recent hot issues: they’d succeeded in developing a pollution-free cooling device using byproducts harvested from the Floor 4 monsters, the Ice Spirits.
The negotiations between Japan and the allied nations over the Mana Vein had also wrapped up successfully, and I’d gone in and reactivated the Sendai Mana Vein.
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Then there was the news that, after China, the US had also cleared Nightmare Floor 4, and a new Spanish Nightmare climber was being hailed as a super rookie this year for blazing through three floors back-to-back, with a Floor 4 challenge already on the horizon…
And then there was the news I was watching right now.
– We have just received word that Universe Z’s first crewed Mars exploration vessel, after roughly three months of flight, has successfully landed on the surface of Mars. Human history has officially extended beyond Earth and is now being written on Martian soil…
A grainy clip of the rocket touching down on the Martian surface was playing across the news screen.
Universe Z. Bilon’s globally renowned private space company.
There had been plenty of news in the past about ongoing research into spacecraft improvements using magic stone energy, about how some major breakthrough or another had been achieved…
W̊ еb̄ n̆ o v́ è l̀ En.ǔm̈а̂
And now, at last, the announcement: a successful crewed mission to Mars. Genuinely something worth celebrating.
[Person123: Saw the news. Congratulations.]
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
I shot Bilon a message through the Communication Channel.
A reply came back almost immediately.
[Chicken Sandwich: Thank you. More than anything, Mr. Kim’s help was the decisive factor. Thanks to the Supreme Magic Stones you provided, we were able to push our research forward much more aggressively. If anything, I’m the one who should be thanking you.]
[Chicken Sandwich: Without the power of the magic stones, reaching Mars would have taken at least another six months. We were able to cut that down dramatically. To explain the principle in a bit more detail…]
Еṅum ӓ . і̊ d
If I’d actually been useful, that was great to hear.
Bilon must have been in high spirits, because he launched into a chain of explanations involving principles I wouldn’t have understood even if he’d diagrammed them.
I wasn’t strictly a humanities guy, but there was no chance I was going to follow any of that. I just made polite, agreeable noises.
[Person123: By the way, didn’t you say the Supreme Magic Stones I gave you couldn’t be discovered by the government?]
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
[Chicken Sandwich: The research was conducted privately. And the magic stones used in the actual spacecraft were officially purchased by the company, of course, so there’s nothing to worry about.]
…Privately, huh. Did he set up some secret lab on a remote island somewhere?
Ẅ eb ń о v̊ e ľ Ė n ǔm а̌
He was the richest man on the planet. It didn’t really seem out of the question.
I’d just been worried Bilon might land in some kind of trouble, but if he said it was fine, then fine.
After a bit more back and forth, Bilon said:
[Chicken Sandwich: I’ll be coming to Korea soon. What do you say to seeing each other face to face after all this time?]
A proposal to meet in person.
When I’d been receiving Skill Stones, I’d only met Bilon directly the first few times. After that, it was always one of his agents handling the deliveries, so it really had been a few years.
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[Person123: Sounds good.]
I didn’t see any reason to turn it down.
By now, Bilon was a partner I could trust without reservation.
We’d always communicated solely through the Channel, and I wanted to actually sit down across from him for once.
[Chicken Sandwich: Then shall we meet the way we used to? I’d like to treat Mr. Kim to a proper meal at a proper venue, but… that’s a bit much to ask, I imagine.]
I thought it over and answered:
W̌ е̄ b n̊ov̂е l Е ǹũm̈а̇
[Person123: That would actually be fine? Pick a place, and I’ll come to you.]
I had Concealment now, and I had Warp Teleportation.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
I’d picked up quite the bag of tricks at this point.
Slipping into wherever Bilon was without a single soul noticing? Easy.
*
On the day of the meeting, I left the house to go see Bilon.
Ẇ ebn о̂ ṽ е l̈ Е̊ nū mа
He’d booked the suite of some famous five-star hotel as our meeting place.
A bit much for my taste, but I was the one coming to him.
After arriving near the hotel, I went inside under Concealment.
Following Bilon’s directions, I found the room, then used Teleportation right at the door.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
“…!”
The instant I teleported inside, my Concealment dropped.
Еn̈û m̊ а .і d̃
The two men in the room flinched at the sight of me. I’d told them in advance not to be startled when I suddenly appeared.
It was Bilon and his secretary, Ellen.
“Mr. Kim!”
Bilon broke into a wide smile and came toward me with his arms thrown wide. An enthusiastic welcome.
After a quick hug, I exchanged a smiling handshake with Ellen as well.
“Allow me to introduce myself properly. I’m Ellen, Mr. Bilon’s secretary.”
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
He was also the one who’d been faithfully relaying Bilon’s words through the Communication Channel every time Bilon and I talked.
On one side of the room, which was less a room and more a vast indoor expanse, a lavish spread of food was already laid out.
This wasn’t a hotel suite, this was the living room of a private estate.
I took off my coat, washed my hands, and sat down across from Bilon.
“You must be hungry. Please, help yourself.”
“Yes, then… I’ll dig in.”
W̄ѐb̆n̂ õv̊ ê ľ Ën um̌ ā
I hadn’t eaten dinner before coming, so I really was hungry.
The table was a feast worthy of an emperor. Cuisines from every nation on earth, more or less.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
I’d told them I ate pretty much anything, so apparently they’d taken that to its logical conclusion.
I started with the more familiar dishes before venturing into the unfamiliar ones, just digging in.
“Is it to your liking?”
“Melts in the mouth.”
Ẃ е b̀ n о̆v е l̆ Еn ú m а
We chatted as we ate.
Bilon went into more detail about the Mars expedition, and I shared various updates from my own end.
“…I’ve been hunting Zone 4 hard, but it doesn’t look like I’ll be able to top off the gauge before going into Floor 6.”
“I see. Please don’t overextend yourself.”
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
I had a few sips of the rare wine Bilon had set out.
As we talked, the slightly heavy atmosphere from earlier eased away.
Е ǹũ m а̌
“So, in another month, you’ll be taking on Floor 6.”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
“Something I’ve always wondered, Mr. Kim. What was going through your head when you first stepped into Floor 1?”
The question came out of nowhere.
I thought for a moment before answering.
“Just… grasping at straws, really. Only a few hours were left, no one had cleared it, and the world was about to end.”
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“Even so, the average person wouldn’t have been able to attempt it. They’d just be hoping someone, anyone, would pull it off in those last few hours.”
Yeah. Honestly, I’d thought that way too at first.
So why had I ended up going in?
Looking back now, I couldn’t quite remember what had been in my head at the time. Maybe I’d just sensed, on some gut level, that no one else was going to succeed.
Whatever the reason, in hindsight it had turned out to be the best decision I’d ever made… and it had upended both the world and my own life.
I was living a genuinely strange life now. The thought struck me again, fresh.
Е̃ n ū ḿȧ
“Mr. Kim, you are truly an extraordinary person. Humanity, myself included, owes you a debt. A debt that could never be repaid.”
He didn’t have to lay it on that thick.
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“It was something somebody had to do anyway. It just happened to be me.”
Bilon smiled and pressed on.
“What is your dream, Mr. Kim?”
“…My dream?”
E n ù m а
There was only one.
“Climbing the Nightmare all the way to the top floor.”
Whether doing that would erase the Tower’s Time Limit entirely, I had no way of knowing.
But for now, I had no choice but to believe that was the only path that would keep the world standing.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Bilon said:
“My dream is the multiplanetary expansion of human civilization. Pushing beyond Earth, extending our domain into space, widening the survival odds for the human species. And that beginning will be Mars.
Е̂nü ṁ а.і̆d̂.
Now, with this enormous threat of the Tower, one more crucial reason has been added to the list. If humanity does escape Earth, will the Tower’s curse reach Mars too? Or will that Tower in the Pacific simply sprout another one on Mars, chasing humanity wherever it goes?”
…Yeah. How would it actually play out, I wonder.
Would a Tower wielding what was effectively omnipotent power really just let humanity walk away?
But Bilon’s idea was absolutely worth pursuing. Whatever it took, we had to thrash and fight, however we could.
“Once the crewed Mars expedition ends safely, we plan to throw everything we have into executing the Mars migration project. While Mr. Kim is out saving humanity, I want to do what little I can on my end as well.
Against this vicious Tower, surely humanity has to fight back tooth and nail too, by any means necessary.”
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Bilon had just put my own thought into words, and I couldn’t help laughing.
“Got to fight back. All the way to the end.”
Because nobody wanted to die.
And nobody wanted to live in a world where ninety-nine percent of humanity had been turned into monsters either.
Bilon and I smiled at each other and clinked our glasses.
****
É n̊ u mа̀
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