Climbing the Tower with Time-Stop Ability Chapter 63: Floor 5 (1)

Wang Kai had just finished discussing Floor 5 matters with Secretary Zhao Degang, the chairman’s closest aide, and as he stepped out he clicked his tongue irritably.

“The hell does he know, blathering on like that… Old fart’s one good shove from kicking the bucket.”

In truth it had been the sa conversation as always, but Wang Kai, still on edge from the Sub-Tower business, found everything grating.

It wasn’t as though there were voices within the Party openly blaming him.

Whoever cleared every Sub-Tower in re tens of minutes no matter where in the world it appeared, that Person123, was the freak of nature. How was anyone supposed to clear them first against that?

If you really wanted to nitpick, there’d been a chance with Mongolia, but from the third Sub-Tower on, nothing anyone could have done would have made a difference.

Given equal entry, he’d absolutely have cleared it faster than that bastard… that was all Wang Kai could think about.

He didn’t know whether the guy actually used so kind of long-range teleport or what, but the thought that it had all been snatched away by so cheap trick made the bile rise in his throat and refuse to settle.

‘Floor 5…’

So far there had been no news, no rumor of Person123 appearing on Floor 5.

Of course not. A guy who’d been hiding his identity like a rat all this ti, why would Floor 5 be any different?

If by so chance they did cross paths, Wang Kai swore to himself, he’d grind the bastard into the dirt.

Killing him was off the table, so he’d just rough him up to the brink of death. Make him understand the gap in their levels.

Lost in such thoughts as he walked the corridor, he saw two figures approaching from the opposite direction.

Wang Kai’s expression soured.

A clean-cut man with slicked-back hair. Beside him, the Party central committee mber Xiao Lin.

The man offered a faint smile and a slight bow of the head. Wang Kai pointedly ignored the greeting and brushed past.

The man watched Wang Kai’s retreating back, then said,

“He doesn’t seem to be in a good mood.”

The man’s identity was none other than Ye Tianwei, the Nightmare Floor 4 climber and China’s top Nightmare-difficulty climber.

Xiao Lin replied,

“His pride must have taken a hit over the Sub-Tower business. Person123 served him a proper humbling.”

Ye Tianwei chuckled.

“Quite amusing.”

“Hm? What is…?”

“That Mr. Wang Kai is so conscious of him. It’s amusing to watch.”

Not knowing his place at all.

Whether he genuinely believed himself to be on a level worthy of comparison with that person, it was nothing short of laughable.

On the other hand, perhaps it couldn’t be helped.

No matter how kindly Person123 posted his strategy guides, no one could truly grasp them.

What Nightmare difficulty was, what kind of hell it was, what an utterly impossible thing he was accomplishing.

Unless one had personally tasted Nightmare in an attempt to follow in his footsteps, the printed word alone could not convey it.

At most, only he himself and the Arican Floor 4 climber could understand even a sliver of it.

If Person123 hadn’t cleared the fifth Sub-Tower first, Wang Kai would have died there. The man was extraordinarily lucky.

Though with arrogance like his piercing the heavens, who knew how long that luck would hold.

“Pity. It would have been a chance to clear away an eyesore from the picture.”

Ye Tianwei’s tone was offhand, and Xiao Lin answered just as casually.

“It won’t disrupt the larger plan. The dragon is finished; we need only wait for the ti to dot in the eyes.” [TL: reference to the Chinese idiom 畫龍點睛 (hwaryongjeomjeong), painting a dragon and dotting in its eyes, aning the final crucial touch that brings a great work to life.]

That was the end of their slightly weighted exchange. The two of them, too, left the corridor.

*

Floor 5 Common Zone.

True to its na, it was the shared area where climbers of every difficulty gathered.

According to Floor 5 climbers, it was essentially a world all its own, separate from Earth.

I had at least the basics down.

Floor 5 was a daily topic on the Communication Channel and various community boards, and a regularly ntioned topic in the news. Climbers from this country clashed with climbers from that country, and so on.

Entering Floor 5 was sothing I’d been a little reluctant about.

But I was probably worrying for nothing.

Looking up the statistics, the total number of climbers above Floor 5 was around seven thousand or so.

Less than one percent of all climbers, but still, a fair number.

A place where thousands of people ca and went; who was going to pay attention to one of ?

And in the off chance my identity got exposed… well, couldn’t I just slap on Concealnt and bolt?

Nobody could photograph or film my face anyway.

Electronic devices and any moderately complex machinery couldn’t be brought into the Tower. Floor 5 was no exception.

There wasn’t much to worry about.

Either way, I had to enter Floor 5 at least once.

It wasn’t a floor that needed clearing per se, and I could have moved straight on to Floor 6, but Floor 5 had rewards of its own.

I couldn’t very well challenge Floor 6 without picking those up.

[Will you enter Floor 5?]

“Enter.”

I went straight from my room into Floor 5.

[You have entered Floor 5.]

The scenery transford.

I was standing on a floor that pulsed with a soft glow.

I looked around.

A wide grassland stretched in every direction. People, and buildings scattered here and there.

I was currently standing on the Portal.

Entry into and exit from the Floor 5 Common Zone was apparently done entirely through this Portal.

Unlike other floors, even leaving the Tower altogether could only be done from within the Portal’s range.

In a word, it was no different from a portal in a video ga.

From what people said, the Floor 5 Common Zone itself really did feel like the open field of an MMORPG.

I watched the people appearing and disappearing on the Portal for a mont, then stepped out of its range.

‘Now then…’

I’d co in, so all that was left was to quietly handle my business.

Still, why not look around a bit first?

I’d done my reading before coming to Floor 5, so I made my way toward the cluster of people and buildings.

[Drake’s Restaurant]

A large two-story wooden building.

I checked the sign and went inside.

The interior had the feel of a dieval inn. There were quite a lot of people, and the place was loud and lively.

“Zone 1 Boss expedition’s coming up soon.”

“Ha, I hope the rewards roll well this ti.”

“Wait, when did Zone 3’s boss gauge get this high? It’s over ninety percent.”

I made my way deeper into the hall, eyeing the food people were eating.

There was one thing everyone said had to be done first upon entering Floor 5 for the first ti. Pay a visit to this Drake’s Restaurant.

Floor 5 was only accessible to climbers who had cleared at least Floor 4.

There were no native inhabitants of this world, so naturally, every person here was a climber from Floor 5 or above.

Then who ran the restaurant?

A climber, of course.

Mr. Drake, a British climber, had apparently been serving free als to people here on Floor 5 since the very early days.

What would a Floor 5 climber lack that he’d take up such work? Apparently, he just genuinely loved cooking.

That was why Drake’s Restaurant was the signature landmark of Floor 5 and the main gathering spot for climbers.

When I approached the kitchen area, a bushy-bearded Western man was vigorously working a frying pan over a stove.

That had to be Drake.

I went up close and called out.

“Um…”

Drake glanced at , then bellowed,

“Horned Deer steak’s sold out!”

“Pardon?”

“You were about to order Horned Deer steak just now, weren’t you?”

I had been.

When I stood there a little dumbfounded, Drake let out a booming laugh.

“Easy to spot. First ti on Floor 5, eh?”

“…Yes.”

“Everyone who cos in for the first ti orders that one. Word’s gotten out it tastes like heaven, all that.”

Drake’s Restaurant brought in so ingredients from outside, but it also used monsters that lived on Floor 5 as ingredients for its dishes.

Among them, the most famous was the Horned Deer steak.

According to so, the rich, savory aroma of the at was on a level Earth’s beef couldn’t even compete with.

I’d co to try it myself, but it looked like that wasn’t happening. A pity.

“Save the Horned Deer steak for next ti. How about goblin thigh at, grilled? Don’t let the word goblin throw you, the flavor’s the real thing.”

“Ah, no. That’s…”

“Tch, but it really is good…”

I’d heard the rumors, but apparently they really did sell goblin at too.

Drake set down the frying pan and poured a glass of sothing.

A dark red liquid that slled sweetly of fruit.

“Wine made from raspberries that grow on Floor 5. First-visit gift, drink up.”

“Ah, thank you.”

“nu’s right there, take a seat and pick sothing. I’m not joking, the goblin at is genuinely delicious. One bite and you’ll be shocked.”

Such fine at… muttering to himself, Drake went back to working the frying pan.

I took a seat at the bar-style counter directly in front of the kitchen.

The nu was in English when I opened it. Not too hard to read.

‘But the language really does co through naturally.’

Like the Communication Channel’s translation feature, I’d heard that on Floor 5 there was real-ti interpretation when people spoke.

Drake’s words just now had flowed naturally into Korean as I heard them. Written text, apparently, didn’t get the sa treatnt.

For reference, just like on other floors, the Communication Channel didn’t work on Floor 5 either. Apparently use of the Communication Channel was blocked unconditionally inside the Tower.

“Drake, hit with the wine and a Horned Deer steak.”

I was picking through the nu, skipping the goblin at, when soone took the seat next to mine.

A massive Westerner. Drake yelled,

“Out of stock! Eat sothing else.”

“What? Then just give whatever.”

“How about goblin at?”

“Serve that and I’ll take it as a duel challenge.”

The man, who clearly had an easy back-and-forth with Drake, glanced over at .

When I gave a small nod in greeting, he grinned and asked,

“First ti on Floor 5? I don’t think I’ve seen your face around.”

“Yes. First ti.”

“Welco! I’m Alex, the Security Corps chief here on Floor 5.”

Wait… this guy?

I was a little surprised inwardly.

Alex, Arica’s top Hard difficulty record holder. And the man said to be Security Corps chief of the Floor 5 Common Zone.

Floor 5 had sothing called the Security Corps, an organization that, true to its na, kept order on Floor 5.

Just barely the bare minimum of order, from what I’d heard.

This was, after all, a place where climbers from all over the world gathered. From what I’d heard, the Chinese-aligned climbers basically did their own thing entirely.

“Not surprised?”

Alex gave a slightly puzzled look.

“Climbers usually look surprised when they hear my na for the first ti. Not to brag, but I am pretty famous, you know.”

“…No, I was surprised.”

“Doesn’t look like a surprised face to .”

“My expressions don’t change much, that’s all.”

Alex laughed boisterously.

“So, you going to tell your na?”

Just in case, I altered my na slightly.

“I’m Hyeon.”

After we shook hands, Alex pressed on.

“Hyeon, are you Korean by any chance? The na sounds like one from over there.”

“Yes.”

“Hahaha! I knew it. My daughter loves Korea, you see. She’s been begging we have to take a trip there this year… ah, you’re not from North Korea or anything, are you?”

“Pardon?”

“Ah, don’t take it the wrong way. North Koreans actually do walk around here too, that’s why I asked. From your reaction I take it you’re not. My apologies.”

I supposed that made sense.

In any case, Alex kept up the chatter to a frankly oppressive degree.

Please ease up on the buddy-buddy routine, mister… it’s a lot…

“…You’re not Person123, by any chance?”

I nearly spat out the wine I was drinking.

When I shot Alex an incredulous look, Drake, who happened to co over with a dish, clicked his tongue.

“You go and pull this on every newcor who walks in, don’t you?”

“Well… it’s fun!”

Whether it had been a joke or not, Alex burst into laughter.

I let out an awkward laugh of my own, ahaha.

“Joking, joking. There’s no way Person123 would be such a young fellow. Ah, that reminds , what difficulty are you?”

“…Easy.”

For all his bulk, Alex really was quite the chatterbox.

“…So, by chance, would you be interested in joining the Security Corps? There are quite a few perks if you do. The work isn’t really work at all…”

“Chief!”

Just then soone ca hurrying over, calling his na.

So urgent matter must have co up. Alex frowned and drank his wine in one go.

“Damn, and I haven’t even eaten yet… anyway, good to et you, Hyeon! Catch you again soti!”

Alex swept away like a storm.

I felt strangely drained, even though I hadn’t done anything.

“Here, the Kangaroo Rabbit sandwich you ordered. Enjoy.”

My food arrived shortly.

Planning to eat fast and get out, I took a big bite of the hefty sandwich.

…Not really my taste.

I forced the whole thing down and rinsed my mouth with the wine.

*

To put the Floor 5 Common Zone in video ga terms, it was an MMORPG.

Monsters in the field, a respawn once they were hunted, even boss monsters.

Killing monsters didn’t yield Magic Stones or anything like that, but climbers had several reasons to be active on Floor 5.

The first was monster byproducts.

Unlike on other floors, where only the rewards from the Reward Room could be carried out of the Tower, on Floor 5 monsters could be hunted and their byproducts taken back outside.

Such monster byproducts were said to trade at prices comparable to, or even higher than, Magic Stones. They were materials that didn’t exist on Earth, after all.

For reference, the shoes I’d recently purchased were also made from the hide of a lizard monster that lived in Floor 5 Zone 2.

A new pair developed by an overseas company for high-level climbers; the price ran into the tens of millions of won, but they were ridiculously durable.

Now that I couldn’t wear ordinary shoes anymore, even I was pretty satisfied wearing them.

The next reason ca down to national interests.

In a sense, Floor 5 was like a remote planet.

It wouldn’t do to let any other country claim ownerless land for itself, so climbers stayed continuously active there, keeping each other in check. From what I’d heard, the current setup was effectively the Arican camp versus the Chinese camp.

The last reason was the rewards from killing bosses.

That was exactly why I had co to Floor 5.

The zone divisions on Floor 5 could be pictured like a target, with circles growing outward from the center.

The innermost circle, where I currently stood, was Zone 0.

Zone 0 was a sort of safe zone where no monsters appeared.

Right at the center of Zone 0 was the Portal I had co in through, and the entire range of Zone 0 was apparently about a one-kiloter radius.

From the next ring out, Zone 1, monsters started appearing.

Zone 1, Zone 2, Zone 3… the further out one went, the stronger the monsters that appeared.

And each zone had a boss monster.

The boss monster appeared once a certain quota of regular monsters in that zone had been hunted.

[Zone 1(99.9%)]

[Zone 2(10.3%)]

[Zone 3(90.8%)]

These had been visible in my field of view from the mont I entered Floor 5, the Boss Spawn Gauges.

The Zone 1 boss was just about to appear.

I’d actually co to Floor 5 today specifically because I’d seen on the Communication Channel that a Zone 1 boss was about to spawn.

Miss this chance and it was apparently at least a month’s wait until the next.

The reward for killing the boss.

Like clearing a floor, this was also a one-ti first-clear reward.

The Zone 1 boss reward, even with the best roll, topped out at around a Common grade Skill Stone.

Hey, better than nothing.

More skills was always better, so naturally I planned to grab one too.

I went over to the Weapon Rental Station in Zone 0 and borrowed a sword and shield.

On Floor 5, weapons apparently spawned randomly all over the place, and the Weapon Rental Station was where they’d been collected.

It was a building managed by the Security Corps, and renting was free, of course.

[Zone 1(100%)]

I’d just finished borrowing my weapons and was waiting when Zone 1’s boss gauge filled.

[The Zone 1 Boss appears.]

The ssage popped up.

“All right, gather over here! We’re moving out to take down the Zone 1 Boss!”

I could see people starting to assemble at one side of Zone 0.

Apparently when the gauge filled, an Expedition Party was thrown together right then and there to go take down the boss.

I drifted over and joined the gathering crowd.

The strength of the Zone 1 boss was supposedly around level 20 or so…

There was a reason I wasn’t just heading off alone to kill the boss and was joining in here instead.

To get the reward, a climber had to contribute a certain amount to the boss kill.

If I went and pulled sothing like that, the others wouldn’t get their rewards and would have to wait again until the gauge refilled. It would just be flat-out obnoxious, a total nuisance.

Well, I’d just blend in with the rest and fight only enough to scrape together the reward.

“Nervous?”

I was zoning out when soone beside struck up a conversation.

A brown-haired Western woman. She smiled and said,

“I’m nervous too. It’s my first ti fighting alongside other people, so my heart’s actually pounding a bit.”

“Ah… right.”

“Let’s both do our best together! Fighting!”

“Fighting.”

What an energetic person, I thought, and matched her tone.