The scenery shifted.
I looked around.
Endless grassland stretched out in every direction.
When I checked the GPS, my current location turned out to be the steppe east of Ulaanbaatar.
Ah… missed by more than I thought.
Looked like I’d need to go about another 100 kiloters west to enter the Sub-Tower’s range.
I stopped ti and recharged the Warp Device.
Then I warped again, this ti toward Ulaanbaatar.
[Do you wish to enter the second Sub-Tower?]
Apparently I’d finally crossed into the Sub-Tower’s range, because the ssage popped up.
Ti to go, then.
“Enter.”
I went straight in without wasting another second.
The scenery shifted again.
[You have entered the second Sub-Tower, 1st Floor.]
Out of habit, I stopped ti and checked my surroundings first.
A fairly spacious, moderately dim chamber.
On the floor in front of lay an assortnt of weapons: swords, spears, maces, and the like.
And across from was… a single goblin.
Sword and shield in hand.
‘…?’
That was it.
Not another monster in sight.
‘A trap?’
For now, I let ti resu.
Kieee.
The goblin spotted and ca forward with an unpleasant shriek.
It had been a while since I’d done a 1st Floor… how long since I’d last seen a goblin?
But seriously, that was the whole thing?
I couldn’t drop my guard, so I sent off a single Light Bullet from a distance.
It might be the kind of trap that detonated on contact. Like the self-destructing undead on the 3rd Floor.
Pwoom!
The Light Bullet streaked through the air on a tail of light and shattered the goblin’s head into pieces.
Headless, the goblin keeled over.
I tilted my head.
[1st Floor cleared successfully.]
[Proceed to the 2nd Floor when ready.]
“…Hm.”
Was I overthinking this?
Then again, it wasn’t like I was tackling Nightmare difficulty right now.
I knew it intellectually, but I keep second-guessing out of sheer habit.
Well, it’s still just the 1st Floor.
[Proceed to the 2nd Floor?]
The ssage appeared the mont I decided to head up.
I pressed on without delay.
The scenery was identical to before.
A spacious, moderately dim chamber. Weapons strewn across the floor.
The only difference was that the enemy in front of had switched from a goblin to a different monster.
‘…An orc?’
It was a monster I’d never seen before, but it looked exactly like an orc.
Sa green skin as a goblin, only much bulkier. About the size of the knight goblins on the 1st Floor.
A mace in its hand.
Tssssh.
The orc snorted roughly through its nose and strode toward .
I fired off another Light Bullet.
Three Light Bullets streaked in and burst the orc’s head with a pop.
[2nd Floor cleared successfully.]
[Proceed to the 3rd Floor when ready.]
Mm… I think I get the gist.
I really had been overthinking this.
Gimmicks or traps? Apparently none.
Just defeat the enemy in front of to clear the floor.
Of course, the enemies would get stronger as the floors went up, but for now…
“Easy.”
After clearing nothing but Nightmare for so long, this kind of standard run actually felt a little weird.
I moved straight to the 3rd Floor.
[You have entered the 3rd Floor.]
The 3rd Floor enemy was a lizardman.
A human-sized bipedal lizard, holding a spear.
Pwooom!
I fired a Light Bullet and blew its head apart, sa as before. Done.
[You have entered the 4th Floor.]
The 4th Floor enemy was a werewolf.
A bit bulkier than the lizardman.
Grraaah!
The mont I entered, the werewolf lunged at , and I drove my fist into its head.
Its head burst on contact. Done.
[You have entered the 5th Floor.]
By the 5th Floor, a familiar monster appeared.
A minotaur. The 2nd Floor boss in our Nightmare run.
Mooooo!
It ca charging at with a roaring bellow, and I welcod it with a fist of my own.
Crash!
The minotaur’s head shattered into fragnts and its body went flying into the wall, slamming hard.
‘If the 5th Floor’s a minotaur…’
Putting a minotaur at, what, around level 20 or so.
That’d put the final boss on the 10th Floor at maybe level 40 or 50?
Running through rough estimates, I moved on to the 6th Floor.
[You have entered the 6th Floor.]
The 6th Floor monster was… what was that?
A troll? An ogre?
Either way, it was green-skinned, but much bulkier than a goblin or an orc.
Grooo.
I started with a Light Bullet.
I aid for the head and burst it, drawing a pained roar from the troll.
Its head wasn’t actually blown off, though.
Instead, the wound bubbled and visibly began regenerating.
Aha. A troll, then, not an ogre.
Next, I cast Fla Strike.
Boooom!
Five fireballs streaked toward the troll and blew it apart in one go.
Reduced to ash beyond recognition, its body had no more regeneration left in it.
[You have entered the 7th Floor.]
The 7th Floor enemy wasn’t a single monster.
Fwap-fwap-fwap-fwap-fwap!
Dozens… hundreds of huge bats ca swooping at , eyes burning red.
With those protruding fangs, I had a feeling they might be vampire bats.
I deployed Scorching Zone.
Whoooosh!
The bats that flew into the Scorching Zone burned up like moths plunging into a bonfire.
Hundreds of them were turned to ash in an instant.
“Whoa.”
It was the first ti I’d really gotten to enjoy the rush of Scorching Zone, and a small whistle of admiration slipped out of .
When fighting enemies that ca at in sheer numbers, no skill compared to this one.
[You have entered the 8th Floor.]
Next, the 8th Floor.
‘Hm?’
The field had changed.
Sa chamber as before, but the water was now chest-high.
The monster that appeared was… a rmaid?
No, more like a snake?
In any case, so grotesque human-faced fish-snake creature was gliding beneath the surface, parting the water as it swam.
Sssss.
It suddenly thrust its head up and opened its mouth in my direction.
A flash of light gathered at its jaws.
Looked like it was charging so kind of technique, so I cast first.
Sorry to interrupt while it was busy prepping its attack, but mine was instant cast.
Boooom!
Fla Strike tore the human-faced serpent’s body to shreds.
[You have entered the 9th Floor.]
Next, the 9th Floor.
The 9th Floor’s layout was a bit different.
I was in the middle, with three black-robed figures surrounding from three sides.
Each of them held what looked like a crystal orb.
‘Human?’
Their skin was too pale for that, and their nails were long, like a witch’s.
Monster or human, either way, they were enemies.
Whooosh.
The figures muttered sothing, and their orbs began to glow.
An obvious attack signal, so once again I gave them no opening and cast Fla Strike.
I split the five fireballs, one, one, three, sending them at one figure each.
Boooom!
The one that took three fireballs was blown to bits.
But the ones hit by a single fireball each were untouched.
So kind of barrier had appeared around the other two.
‘They held up?’
I had zero intention of giving the enemies any ti to do anything.
The instant my attack was blocked, I went all out.
Destruction Ray on one, every remaining magic skill instant-cast on the other, and I summoned Plli on top of that.
‘Tear it apart.’
The one struck by Destruction Ray was naturally annihilated, while cracks spread across the other’s barrier.
Plli charged in, smashed the barrier with a crash, and chomped the figure’s body to pieces.
[9th Floor cleared successfully.]
Only the final 10th Floor remained.
I refilled my Willpower and waited out my skill cooldowns.
Then I entered the last floor.
[You have entered the 10th Floor.]
I looked at the enemy standing before .
About my build, clad in pitch-black armor: a Black Knight.
For a mont, the Black Knight from the 2nd Floor’s hidden route flashed through my head, but…
obviously this one wasn’t on that level.
Sixth Sense was telling as much.
Not stronger than , but pretty strong nonetheless?
I cast Fla Strike right away.
Five fireballs streaked toward the Black Knight, but…
Boooom!
The Black Knight dodged every fireball with nimble movents and charged straight at .
Plli stepped in first and bodychecked the charging Black Knight aside.
Khaaaooo!
I watched as the Black Knight squared off with Pli.
About on par with a Stage 5 Fallen?
Maybe sowhere in the mid-50s in level, by the feel of it.
They traded blows evenly for a mont, and then the Black Knight drove its sword into Pli’s neck.
That was the mont I cut in and ambushed it.
I punched the Black Knight, sent it flying, then stretched out my hand toward the airborne body.
‘Done.’
A fully-charged Destruction Ray slamd into the Black Knight head-on.
The Black Knight vanished without a trace.
[10th Floor cleared successfully.]
The ssage popped up.
I laughed, a little let down.
I an, the 10th Floor boss itself had been pretty strong, but apparently this was about all a Sub-Tower amounted to.
A straightforward, fair-and-square contest against an enemy with no sches or trickery in play.
Ah, I wished every climb could be like this.
[The second Sub-Tower has been cleared up to its final floor.]
[You have achieved the first clear of the second Sub-Tower.]
[You have acquired ownership of the second Sub-Tower.]
The ssages kept coming.
Tower ownership? What was this?
[Acquiring ownership of a Sub-Tower allows you to activate/deactivate that Sub-Tower’s Mana Vein.]
I tilted my head.
So… whoever cleared the Sub-Tower could turn its Mana Vein on and off at will?
‘Forget this, just give a Skill Stone instead.’
So there had been a reward for the first clear after all. Not that it was much use.
Still, this was ridiculous.
It ant China had been hiding even this and trying to squeeze more out of Mongolia on top of everything else.
The clearer effectively beca the owner of the Mana Vein, and even that wasn’t enough for them.
“Okay.”
You guys can just sit on your hands.
I am going to clear all the other Sub-Towers too.
*
“…That concludes our governnt’s non-negotiable demands.”
Listening to the interpreter, Mongolia’s Pri Minister Orgil could no longer keep his expression in check.
Throughout the interpreter’s speech, the Chinese ambassador idly toyed with his fingernails, as though this was simply a notification and the other side was rely required to hear it out. His attitude was the height of arrogance.
The Sub-Tower that had appeared in the capital, Ulaanbaatar.
Resolving it required China’s help as an absolute necessity, and China had co back with utterly outrageous demands.
The sale of equity stakes in several major Mongolian mines, including Tavan Tolgoi, along with guaranteed monopolies on extraction rights; infrastructure operating rights and export priority; a share of the Mana Vein once the Sub-Tower was cleared; and the Inner Mongolia issue, which was nothing short of a sore spot… and on it went.
Conditions that should never have made it onto the table under normal circumstances were being put forward in dead earnest.
“It’s ti to make your decision, Pri Minister.”
“You think we can possibly accept demands as absurd as these?”
At the pri minister’s words, a faint sneer flickered at the corners of the Chinese ambassador’s lips.
“I should think you’ll have to.”
“…”
“Our climber will be risking his life to clear the Sub-Tower, Your Excellency. The world’s top climber, no less. I would ask that you give due consideration to the level of risk China is taking on as well.
And once the Sub-Tower is cleared and a Mana Vein forms, won’t Mongolia stand to gain enormously? Rather than dismissing our terms as unreasonable, I urge you to do the math carefully.”
The Chinese ambassador went on.
“There isn’t much ti left. You can’t possibly let Ulaanbaatar beco a land of the dead, can you?”
It was Mongolia who was desperate. With less than a week left on the Sub-Tower’s Ti Limit, ti was in critically short supply, and any negotiation was bound to be lopsided in one direction.
If they refused the demands all the way to the end and China genuinely walked away, Ulaanbaatar would beco a land of the dead. This was no figure of speech.
No human would ever set foot there again, and every piece of infrastructure concentrated in the capital, the servers, communications, energy, and administrative networks, would all be wiped out.
And then there were the countless evacuees still being moved out of the capital. Anyone who failed to escape the radius in ti would all beco Fallen. They would die from the Tower’s Curse, after all.
A blow that would paralyze the entire nation. At a minimum, Mongolia’s national strength would be set back by a century.
China was facing its share of international criticism and outrage, but at the end of the day, every other nation was nothing more than a bystander. Was anyone stepping up to actually resolve the Sub-Tower in their place?
Orgil suppressed his anger and judged the situation rationally. That was what the office of pri minister demanded of him.
“…Give one more day. By then, I’ll have my deci…”
At that mont, the pri minister’s secretary burst urgently through the door of the eting room. He leaned in to Orgil’s ear and whispered sothing to him.
“What on…”
The Chinese ambassador frowned at the rude interruption.
As he listened to the whispered words, Orgil’s eyes went wide and he exclaid,
“…Are you serious?!”
“Yes, sir. The ssage just appeared.”
A mont later, an aide on the Chinese side rushed in as well and whispered sothing to the ambassador.
“What…?!”
Both the pri minister and the ambassador stared at each other, dumbstruck.
The composure from just monts earlier had vanished without a trace, and the slack-jawed look on the ambassador’s face was so funny that Pri Minister Orgil could no longer hold it in.
“Pfft… bwahahaha!”
As Orgil slapped his knee, roaring with laughter, the ambassador could only stare back at him with a face that looked as though it were rotting from the inside.
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