Climbing the Mythic Tower as a Cheating Administrator - Chapter 103

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Cheating Administrator Climbing the Legendary Tower (103)
[Floor 28]
[Quiet Hillside, Misty City]
[Eliminate zombies.]
[Zombies eliminated: 0/250]
[Time remaining: 47:11:53]
[Multi-person Climb Modifier applied.]
[Contribution Calculation initiated.]
A place overlooking a city shrouded in mist.
Kim Moo-saeng had found a flat stretch on the hillside untouched by fog and was in the middle of pitching a tent.
The zombies would activate the moment anyone set foot at the village entrance, so the intention was to get a good night’s sleep up here.
Clang, clang, clang.
“But what about the Rosal Kingdom Capital? Is it really okay?”
“Right…… What happens to the people left behind? Can we really just abandon them like that?”
With Kim Moo-saeng still working off the aftereffects of Rampage, his party members huddled near a fire he’d lit like they were gathered around a campfire, murmuring amongst themselves.
Wash, floating near Kim Moo-saeng, shot straight toward them and spoke up.
[Kyakkyakkyak! People left behind? Why would they stay? The moment you exit, that place ceases to exist. That’s the end of it.]
Of course, only Kim Moo-saeng could hear that brazen laughter and voice.
Kim Moo-saeng stifled a snort and answered in his stead.
“It’s fine. It just ends. It’s an Instance, after all.”
That answer alone resolved nothing.
Shin Hyun-dong was no different.
“It ends? This Instance concept…… so we’ve already left, right? But the world there? Should we call it a world? Don’t the people there just keep living their lives?”
It wasn’t a matter of trusting Kim Moo-saeng or not.
Was it perhaps only natural that worry and concern lingered?
Of course, the real problem was that Wash’s outfit was on the verge of bursting.
[That’s not it! Stop and reset! Don’t you people understand what an Instance is?]
“I don’t think they do. I’m not entirely sure myself, but each Awakener challenges a floor individually, right? If you and Shin Hyun-dong weren’t in a party and challenged Floor 28 separately—the one you’re on and the one here—it’d be like Floor 28 became two different ones. Completely separate worlds, I think that’s how it works.”
Kim Moo-saeng quickly offered an explanation before Wash could transform from a yellow rubber duck into a red one.
Shin Hyun-dong protested as though he didn’t get it.
“I—I do understand that! I get what you’re saying, Kim, I’m not confused about that, but…… I mean, aside from the Awakeners splitting up. What about the floors we’ve already cleared? What happens to those—”
[Kraaaaack! These bastards aren’t understanding anything! And they’re saying they understand when they don’t! It’s so infuriating, Kim Moo-saeng! I almost just used Execute Administrator Authority!]
Kim Moo-saeng had to struggle to suppress the laughter bubbling up.
His party members not grasping it clearly? It didn’t really matter.
After all, it wasn’t an event that affected their tower climb.
What’s more, the work done on that floor didn’t disappear.
Even as an Instance, the fact that Quests continued meant that what Kim Moo-saeng had done remained in the memories of the important figures of the Rosal Kingdom.
“It should be fine. If you’re still worried, let’s clear this quickly, climb into the 30s, and go back to check. See what happened to the Rosal Kingdom Capital. Then we’ll have our answer.”
In the end, it would all be resolved by going there in person.
Kim Moo-saeng understood that offering them an environment they could witness directly with their own eyes was better than providing a clear, logical explanation.
Not just Shin Hyun-dong but several other party members who’d been silent nodded vigorously.
“Ah, that’s true. That method would be better.”
“No matter how much we call them NPCs out here, they’re real people…… we can have actual conversations with them, so it’s strange that the worry doesn’t go away.”
“Yeah, that’s right. At least we have a floor we can check. That’s a relief.”
As Kim Moo-saeng watched his party members slowly recovering their smiles, he found himself caught in a peculiar feeling.
‘I see. Awakeners from the lower floors and those from the higher ones really do perceive the tower differently. Should I call it softheartedness, or just being human?’
Kim Moo-saeng remembered the statistics and papers he’d read during his time as a Dungeon Sherpa.
Particularly, the data showed that the lower an Awakener’s floor of stopping point, the more absorbed they became in the tower’s worldview.
Hadn’t there been survey results showing that many of them regarded those beings as real humans and that place as a real world?
Some had called such thinking foolish.
Kim Moo-saeng?
‘Even so, I don’t hate it. These good people…… even with my calculations underneath, they’ll probably end up cooperating with my monopolizing the Contribution Rate.’
Instead, he was feeling warmth.
Perhaps it was only natural.
‘If Wash hadn’t explained it to me, I wouldn’t have been able to make that choice either. I too—. Ah, so am I calling myself kind? That’s a bit embarrassing.’
After all, Kim Moo-saeng himself was a climber from the lowest of the lower floors, one who had only climbed as far as the floors called the tutorial.
Though he was achieving an incredible pace and growth right now, he was acutely aware that his fundamental nature hadn’t changed.
“Oh right, Kim Moo-saeng. Do we have enough water? We should have bought some more on Floor 27, but with suddenly coming up here—”
“Don’t worry about water.”
At Park Hyun-gu’s sudden question, Kim Moo-saeng stopped his tent-pitching and quickly moved.
From the large backpack he’d carried since his Dungeon Sherpa days, he drew out foldable plastic cups—eleven of them, each in a different bright color, arranged in a neat row across the ground.
“Whoosh.”
Moo-saeng swept his arm in a graceful arc.
Water cascaded down in a thin, continuous stream.
And above each cup, water poured forth as though from a teapot.
“M-Moo-saeng? What is this? How are you—”
This was one of the other reasons Moo-saeng had prolonged his conversation with the Ancient Blue Dragon Lapis.
“Water Hose. You know what this is, don’t you? How much we longed for this back when we were Sherpas. Ah, don’t worry, everyone—please, have some. It’s drinking water, and—oh yes, I can adjust the temperature too. Up to ninety-nine degrees if you like it hot. If anyone prefers it that way, just let me know. I’ll pour another cup for you.”
[Kim Moo-saeng: Choose one of Four Elemental Magics (Tier 3)]
Rewards in the form of skills must be selected on that very floor.
Most skills split into different Skill Trees, but elemental magics in particular branch into six or seven specialized variations at the third tier.
Moo-saeng’s options numbered twenty-six in total, and among the candidates for powerful offensive magic—fire-type spells, wind-type, and the like—he had chosen…
“The most practical one for everyday life.”
A smile crossed Moo-saeng’s face.
A skill that allowed him to control not just the pressure and spray range of water—as though from a rubber hose—but even its temperature with precision.
“To go to such lengths for our ‘bus’… I’m genuinely moved, Representative Kim.”
A skill that, by any measure, had nothing whatsoever to do with combat.
Moo-saeng simply grinned.
* * *
[Time Remaining: 38:56:31]
After a good sleep and waking refreshed, it was time to prepare for the serious assault on Floor 28.
Yet even within the tower, one must maintain basic hygiene!
“Puh-huh-puh-huh-puh-huh.”
“…Brother, I’ve said it a thousand times. Why do you have to wash your face so loud? What’s with all that splashing and slapping? Why make all that noise while you’re at it?”
Watching Park Hyun-gu wash his face like a middle-aged man, Moo-saeng could only shake his head with a wry smile.
Pouring lukewarm water from the Water Hose in thin streams while watching Hyun-gu wash—this was the kind of morning they now had.
“Wait until you get older. That sound is what makes it feel refreshing. That’s how you know you’re really washing.”
“How much older than me are you supposed to be? Besides, isn’t Jin-won two years older than you?”
“Watching you wash, Hyun-gu, you’re exactly like my father.”
“Come now, Ha-eun. I live young, don’t I—”
“So that means Dad lives old?”
“N-no, that’s not what I meant. Ahem.”
Kim Woo-min and Lee Jin-won chuckled as they listened to the exchange between Lee Ha-eun and Park Hyun-gu.
If you looked at it purely from the atmosphere, you might think they’d all come on a camping trip.
“Representative Kim, then what about today—”
Of course, that camping atmosphere extended only to this spot.
Down the hillside, within the city shrouded in thick mist, was nothing short of a hellscape.
Looking down at it, Shin Hyun-dong asked with a worried expression.
“Ah, yes. Just stay here, all of you. I’ll handle it and be back.”
Moo-saeng smiled warmly as he answered.
After all, due to the Contribution Rate, there was nothing they could do to help him.
As Moo-saeng began striding down the hillside, Park Hyun-gu raised his voice.
“You’re just going like that? No special preparations or anything?”
Shouldn’t one at least steel their resolve, fortify their spirit before acting?
Right after answering Shin Hyun-dong, he’s just shuffling down?
Those light, easy steps seemed utterly at odds with conquering a tower floor, and yet…
“Preparations are more of a problem. I can’t die too quickly.”
Moo-saeng answered without concern.
Park Hyun-gu tilted his head in confusion.
“Huh? What did you say? Die too quickly? What do you mean?”
Without so much as glancing back, Moo-saeng waved his hand.
The general quest on Floor 28 was already known to him.
The sprawling layout of the city, its structure and arrangement…
The mist was thick, but he had it all memorized.
As a Dungeon Sherpa, he’d been through Floor 28 roughly sixty times.
‘Two hundred and fifty is far too few, honestly. Eight hundred would’ve been more comfortable.’
That was Moo-saeng’s concern.
He couldn’t achieve only the basic conditions.
[Kyakkyakkyakkyak! Think you can reach the Temple at the center without killing two hundred and fifty, Kim Moo-saeng? Can you take down the Priest before you’ve killed two hundred and fifty?]
The additional condition was to find and eliminate the Priest—the source of the zombie outbreak, the one who’d caused this calamity.
To do that, he had to reach the Temple in the center of the city.
A place he’d reflexively avoided during his Dungeon Sherpa days because “too many zombies spawned there”—and now he had to get there without killing 250 of them.
“Grrraaaahhhhh…….”
“Gwuht, gwuh-.”
“Guh-kyu-kyu-kyu-kyu…….”
“And with the fifteen-person modifier, that’s twenty-two at the entrance……. Tsk, normally only three spawn at the city gates.”
How was he supposed to push through a place that greeted him with twenty-two zombies the moment he stepped past the entrance?
How could he reach the Temple while killing as few zombies as possible?
All this information he’d heard from Wash before entering the Tower.
And Kim Moo-saeng had already prepared for it accordingly.
“Let’s see what we’ve got here~!”
Whoooooosh———————……!
A new technique had emerged.
“Grit, ghwuh-?”
“Guh-kuh-kuh-.”
“Kyu-kyu, kyu-kyu-kyu-kyu!”
At that moment, Kim Moo-saeng was certain of it.
The additional condition would be met. Without any trouble at all.
His figure at the city entrance could be seen from the party members gathered on the hillside.
What was Kim Moo-saeng doing?
“What’s Representative Kim up to?”
“Is he……spraying water?”
“Water Hose? Huh? Moo-saeng should know better than that. Scalding water or cold—it wouldn’t do anything to a zombie anyway.”
He was spraying water. At zombies.
Why? Hot water? Cold water?
What could that possibly do to a corpse shambling about?
Park Hyun-gu was right.
Kim Moo-saeng would never not know that.
But he knew. Certainly.
What lay in Kim Moo-saeng’s hand was a small object with a faint blue glow.
Something he’d already used once before.
The very thing whose performance he’d verified in Dungeon 67.
His hand clad in Black Rubber Gloves…….
〈Blue Lightning (SR)〉
An electrical shock device crafted from the blood and scales of a Blue Dragon. The dragon’s lightning is sufficient to disrupt the nervous system of its target, inducing paralysis. However, please be advised that some variation may occur depending on the usage environment and the size and structure of the living being in question. Designed by METAL RHINE.
Click.
———————————……!!!!
Soaked zombie. Soaked ground. Soaked zombie. Soaked ground…….
The twenty-two zombies, thoroughly drenched by the Water Hose, collapsed in a chain reaction.
Wash pushed up his black horn-rimmed glasses and muttered.
[……Why’d this bastard learn such a useless skill when he could’ve taken Explosion or Cyclone-.]
“There’s no such thing as a useless skill. Even the Administrator can be clever. It all comes down to how you use it. Heheheh, let’s go, let’s go.”
[Zombies Defeated: 0/250]
The count didn’t rise by a single point.
Kim Moo-saeng pressed forward with a satisfied expression.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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