Climbing the Mythic Tower as a Cheating Administrator - Chapter 19

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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 Mythic Rank Tower (19)
Twenty-nine years had passed since the Tower rose.
From those who Awakened in those early days to those Awakened most recently.
Memories of Floor 4 could scarcely vary among them.
The danger of losing your way and wandering in the fog.
The danger of running out of time.
The danger of accident—choosing the wrong path and plummeting off a cliff.
Or even the danger of ambush by monsters.
A layer beset by every conceivable hazard, the true beginning of Tower Climbing in earnest.
Being a lower-tier floor with information scattered across the internet, and now that the Dungeon is revealed, eight hours or so is known as the standard Climbing time.
Two hours and twenty-seven minutes in such a place?
[No matter what, surely the monsters’ ambushes would have prevented that.]
Giant mosquitoes. Assassin bugs.
And then there are wild boars.
Cannibalistic stags, no less?
Wa Shu drifted beside Mu Saeng as he climbed the mountain effortlessly, and posed the question.
Mu Saeng produced no answer, instead drawing a small spray bottle from his pack.
[What is that?]
“Monster Repellent.”
[……What?]
“Mixed it myself. Works pretty well.”
Spray, spray.
Mu Saeng explained casually as he misted the repellent over his own body.
Wa Shu darted forward, quickly adjusting the Black Horned Glasses on his face.
[R-repellent? You made it? How?]
“How? Well.”
[Don’t answer like that—explain it properly.]
“Werewolf blood. Mixed in some cinnamon.”
[……What made you think of that?]
Wa Shu’s eyes gleamed.
But Mu Saeng did not meet that gaze.
He simply paused, ran his hand along the trees, the earth, and then—whoosh—swept his palm through the fog.
“The Boss of the 3rd Dungeon is a werewolf. Wolves have a decent image, right? Thick fur. I thought maybe things like mosquitoes wouldn’t like it. That sort of thinking.”
Then he changed direction and resumed walking.
The mountain was shrouded in fog.
There were no signposts, no hiking trails—just a mountain, plain and simple.
“Wild boars and cannibalistic stags seem to keep their distance because of it too……. After that, it’s just a matter of not treading into their territory. No matter how much I spray this stuff, they’ll flip out and charge if you invade their space.”
Yet he changed direction without hesitation and kept climbing.
It meant he knew it all.
The existence of natural landmarks to serve as waypoints, of course.
His own stride length, the speed at which he traveled, how much he’d climbed before entering danger zones.
[It was a structure I designed as well. We use things from lower floors in the upper ones. I set it up so that works at least up to Floor 10.]
“Hm? You designed it, Wa Shu?”
[Yeah! Damn it, it’s all because of the Dungeon! Damn bastards manage it so haphazardly!]
Wa Shu thrashed about, sputtering.
Sudden talk of managers, of dungeons?
But Mu Saeng quickly understood.
“Ah.”
The Tower fundamentally produces no Items.
But that doesn’t mean you leave empty-handed.
You kill the werewolf, the Boss of Floor 3, and extract its blood, then proceed to Floor 4.
The blood won’t disappear.
The problem is time.
‘Kill the werewolf and you gain a Skill. Even for those Awakened Abilities that branch across multiple attributes, you wouldn’t think to extract blood from the corpse or manage it or whatever. For those with single-attribute awakening who gain Automatic Skill Acquisition, you’d just have to choose: proceed to the next floor or leave.’
Your entire mind absorbed by the Skill and other new elements.
Who would spare a thought for collecting blood from a Boss Monster you’d already killed?
In other words, the reason Mu Saeng could take the time to make repellent and such now?
Because he’d cleared the 3rd Dungeon, the 4th Dungeon, countless times.
A point reachable only by Sherpas guiding Dungeons, not the Tower itself!
“Hmph, but I can’t credit the Dungeon for it. Other Sherpas haven’t gone this far——”
[I know. Damn it, and that’s exactly why I’m furious.]
“-So you’re angry because of that? Why?”
[I don’t need to explain! Just keep climbing!]
Wa Shu let out a sharp, piercing cry.
He couldn’t help his frustration. There was nothing left for him to do on Floor 3 or Floor 4.
Mu Saeng.
The man he’d thought utterly primitive and unrefined.
Had achieved the Hidden Condition through sheer force of his own strength alone.
He hated the idea of relying entirely on himself.
But he hated even more the feeling of being unable to help at all!
There was no way Mu Saeng in his current state could possibly understand that conflicted emotion.
……And so, roughly an hour passed.
[But why didn’t you climb Floor 4, Mu Saeng?]
Only when they neared the summit did Wa Shu ask.
Mu Saeng remained silent for a long time.
And only when his foot touched the peak did he answer.
“Well, I can still climb it starting now, can’t I?”
No matter how capable one might be in a Dungeon.
There was always the fear, the unease that it might not translate to the Tower.
“Ha—I made it! The summit!”
Even if he didn’t rely on anyone, even if he couldn’t use an administrator’s authority.
Simply having someone there beside him had become a source of strength enough……
[What? That’s not what I was asking at all?]
Just as there was no way Wa Shu in his current state could understand Mu Saeng’s heart.
[You have reached the summit.]
[Time Remaining: 08:36:44]
[Congratulations!]
[You have achieved the Clear Condition.]
[Stat Points +5]
There was one thing he could feel most tangibly: a concrete difference.
The reason he’d managed to shave his previous record of two hours and twenty-seven minutes down to one hour and twenty-four minutes.
“Haa…… that feels good, really good.”
With Solo Play Clears through Floors 1 to 3, and with a body strengthened by the Strong Bone Skill, he was incomparably more capable than the Mu Saeng of days past…….
[You have achieved the Hidden Condition.]
[The Slower the Rush, the Faster the Victory]
[Additional rewards are granted.]
[Stat Points +4 (All Categories)]
[Movement Speed +5%]
He grew stronger as he climbed higher.
And climbed higher as he grew stronger.
A virtuous cycle of growth that could be felt with each floor of the Tower.
Mu Saeng smiled broadly as he felt again that familiar thrill of stat rewards accumulating.
“Wa Shu, so there wasn’t an additional condition for Floor 4? Something like arriving within five hours?”
[…… Ha. Primitive as you are, you’re just as greedy. Don’t worry—Floor 5 has one.]
Wa Shu pressed down on his Black Horned Glasses and shook his head firmly.
Yet the slight smile playing at the corner of his beak was something Mu Saeng couldn’t possibly have noticed.
“Bring it on!”
Light flashed brilliantly.
* * *
[Floor 5]
[Ruins of Magic, Golem’s Hill]
[Collect 5 or more Golem Cores.]
[Cores Collected: 0/5]
[Time Remaining: 24:00:00]
What unfolded before Mu Saeng’s eyes was a desolate hillside.
Scattered across the barren landscape, where trees were almost nowhere to be found, lay heaps of stone.
Upon approach, these formations took the shape of massive stone Golems that attacked Awakened Ones; the quest for this Floor 5 was to destroy these creatures and collect their cores.
Mu Saeng walked toward the nearest pile of rubble, clenching his fists tight.
“So poison won’t work on these things either…….”
On this floor especially, Slayken’s Poison Fang wouldn’t be of any use.
[Crack-shatter. It’s a completely different concept from simply killing a monster.]
Collecting Golem Cores wasn’t so simple a task.
First, the core’s location differed from one glowing, thrashing stone golem to the next.
If there existed someone with a Skill capable of pinpointing it, that would be one thing—but lacking that, one had no choice but to systematically destroy every part until discovering where it lay.
And the regeneration speed was formidable.
Unless you could deliver damage potent enough to cripple the core in a single blow, consecutive attacks were essential.
In the end, the orthodox strategy for Floor 5 at present amounted to a recommendation for Party Play with at least three members.
Rumble-rumble-rumble-rumble…
The boulders shook briefly, then launched skyward, beginning to coalesce into an enormous form.
It was like fighting heavy machinery—a dump truck and all—with your bare hands.
“Rooooaaar!”
The stone golem, swift despite its massive frame, roared.
And Mu Saeng’s eyes flashed.
Fists clenched tight. The left leg of the stone golem, its rough surface laid bare.
Targeting its ankle.
“Enough noise. Quiet, already.”
Straight punch.
Boom-boom-boom———!
With a deafening crack, the stone golem’s left ankle exploded.
More precisely, it shattered and scattered as though detonating.
“Guh—grraaagh!”
“The stone golem’s panicking too? But Wa Shu, these things aren’t even alive, are they?”
For ordinary Awakened Ones, Party Play was recommended when clearing Floor 5.
To attempt Solo Play, one needed to possess an Awakened Ability of exceptional Grade and the Skills that came with it.
That was the general case.
[Well… it’s an artificial life form, sure, but it can still be startled. When it meets a savage like you.]
Mu Saeng, whose total Stats had been comparable to Park Do Hyun, a Floor 37 climber.
Clearing Floor 4 had caused those numbers to surge upward once more, as if launching.
Poison doesn’t work on stone golems?
So what.
“Hah!”
Mu Saeng charged straight in and threw another punch.
With feet planted, his body’s axis locked firmly in place.
Channeling all his rotational power through his fist.
“I’ve seen and heard plenty in my time!”
Amplified by the Grip Strength Enhancement Gloves (C), a devastating blow!
Boom-boom-boom-boom———!
Once more, the stone golem’s left leg shattered with a thunderous crash.
Mu Saeng wasn’t ignorant of the structural weaknesses of massive creatures.
The moment those supporting legs lost their balance, they had no choice but to fall.
Even if they regenerated quickly?
“Grraaagh!”
The stone golem swung its fist.
The distance closed in an instant; getting struck by the boulder filling his vision meant more than a simple fracture.
But there was no need to foolishly throw a punch to meet it head-on.
The reason Mu Saeng had room to spare was singular.
“This isn’t Seoraksan, and I’m not about to get hit by a rocking stone!”
Whoosh…!
“Huh?”
Mu Saeng vaulted.
Toward the upper body of the stone golem, over three meters tall, despite his stance having crumbled.
Cheetah Boots (B)
Powerful impact springs from powerful speed. Shoes that increase overall leg power—running velocity, jumping force, everything. Designed by METAL RHINE
One of the Artifacts plundered from the employees of Korea One-Way Group had made this possible.
From a height above the stone golem’s head, Mu Saeng clenched his fists and grinned.
“Really, those rich Awakened bastards sure know how to live it up—”
Whoooosh… and then, adding to the falling speed, he brought down his entire weight upon the stone golem’s upper half.
“—climbing this tower!”
———————…!!!
Crushed it.
Along with overwhelming grip strength that had shattered not only the creature’s head but part of its thorax, what revealed itself to Mu Saeng was a small, gleaming sphere.
A Golem Core.
Grrrrr—. The stone golem scrambled to repair itself, but the effort was futile.
“Hah!”
With each wild punch—bang, bang, bang—gravel tumbled loose, stone shards scattered, fragments of rock crumbled.
“Ghhhhh…….”
Its movements ceased within seconds.
The sphere’s light extinguished.
[Cores Collected: 1/5]
[Time Remaining: 23:54:11]
“So…… Wa Shu, what’s the condition I need to complete this time? Do I have to finish it in a few minutes?”
Five minutes and forty-nine seconds—that was all it had taken to collect one stone golem’s core.
Mu Saeng asked with a slight laugh.
Wa Shu pressed the Black Horned Glasses firmly onto his face and answered.
[If you’re taking five minutes to deal with a mere stone golem, achieving this Hidden Condition might prove rather difficult.]
“……What?”
At the rather pessimistic assessment, Mu Saeng tilted his head.
Even if they did a three-person Party Play, taking one down in five minutes was impossible, wasn’t it?
What on earth was this Hidden Condition?
Wa Shu spoke.
[Collect two more Golem Cores. Then we meet the Guardian.]
“Guardian?”
That sounded familiar somehow.
Wa Shu brought the hazy memory into sharp focus.
[The one who created these stone golems—the last Guardian Maia left behind on Floor 5.]
“Maia……. Maia!? The Sorceress Maia?”
Why was Wa Shu’s voice so grave?
Why did he seem somewhat tense?
This was only Floor 5, after all.
[Yes. After finishing matters here, she was moved. That’s the Sorceress who appears as the Boss on Floor 55.]
Yet achieving this Hidden Condition would not come easily.

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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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