Climbing the Mythic Tower as a Cheating Administrator - Chapter 61

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

The Admin Who Cheats: Climbing the Mythic Tower (61)
Wash adjusted his black-framed glasses quickly and spoke.
[Kim Moo-saeng, do you understand what you just said?]
“That’s what I want to ask you. Why ask something like that after hearing everything I said?”
Moo-saeng shrugged, watching Wash’s flustered expression.
Wash circled around Moo-saeng and asked again.
[Y-you—this savage! Don’t you know what the Contract of the Abyss is!?]
“I know. You told me. That thing we used when we made our contract.”
That pitch-black contract.
When he’d casually asked what its name was, Wash had casually answered it was the Contract of the Abyss. That was that.
There had been no mention of the Contract of the Abyss since then.
So of course an information gap existed between them.
Wash tried to stop him urgently.
[But you just suggested using it!? If that Murometsu bastard happens to have one by any chance—]
“He does. By chance. I’ve managed to get one copy.”
Murometsu spoke.
With a despairing squawk, Wash tried to say something, but Murometsu was faster.
“Human Kim Moo-saeng. Do you clearly understand what the contract terms you proposed are?”
Murometsu asked.
Wash was clicking his beak together anxiously.
‘This Kim Moo-saeng, and Murometsu…. What that bastard wants isn’t simply revenge the way I want it. If Kim Moo-saeng, who doesn’t even understand the tower’s structure, carelessly accepts Murometsu’s proposal, he won’t be able to handle it!’
The reason Wash had thrown that first question at Moo-saeng was clear.
Wash’s target for revenge ≠ Murometsu’s target for revenge.
On top of that, Wash himself might even be included in Murometsu’s target for revenge?!
If that happened, there’d be no way out.
Moo-saeng would have to break one of the contracts.
He’d die in that moment.
Not Moo-saeng alone, but along with the being he held most dear.
No—not death. Annihilation.
He would vanish, stripped even of the concept of existence….
“Well, yes, I do understand it clearly…. Still, it does seem a bit hasty to make the contract right away.
While Wash harbored such worries, Moo-saeng spoke.
[What?]
“Hm?”
An attitude that flustered both Wash and Murometsu at once.
Perhaps it was only natural.
Live by the contract, die by the contract. That phrase captured it exactly.
It meant a contract of that magnitude of importance.
But it also meant he’d made countless contracts to that degree.
“I’ve only got Suspended Execution, not complete acquittal, and…I have quite a lot I need to do. Besides, once a contract is sealed, it’s not like it automatically has force, right? We should examine the terms carefully, don’t you think?”
Moo-saeng knew.
That at this point, he was no longer just a condemned man waiting for execution.
Murometsu had shown interest in the contract.
And the moment Wash’s fussing had caused him to let slip, somewhat carelessly, that he happened to have one copy of the Contract of the Abyss—
“We should weigh what value each of us can give and receive, so that both of us feel it’s equal, or at least feels equal to each other.”
That he was no longer a Moo-saeng who would preserve the old superior-inferior relationship as it was!
Moo-saeng smiled his business smile and spoke with confidence, his shoulders relaxed.
Murometsu, watching him, laughed as well.
Not the wild cackle from a moment ago.
“Truly amusing. Human Kim Moo-saeng. You are indeed human, as Wash would have chosen.”
His mouth corners rose in a sly grin….
“Thank you for the praise. So then, how shall we proceed? Should I come up to your floor, or would you come down here? The discussion might take a little while—”
“Then we shall see. Whether you are merely a silver tongue. Whether your mind alone is quick.”
He spoke.
He had not yet shifted the superior-inferior balance.
[Trial Proceedings are renewed.]
[Suspended Execution petition has been received.]
[Contract Qualification Trial begins.]
[Subject for proof: Kim Moo-saeng]
[Murometsu’s Shadow materializes.]
───────────……!!!!
“What?”
A wind swept through the vast Arena, or so everyone felt in that moment.
Every giant in the Arena began to roar.
“Waaaaaaa-!”
“The, the Great Lord’s Shadow! The King’s Shadow!”
The boss monster of Floor 77.
A portion of Murometsu’s power materialized before Kim Moo-saeng.
* * *
It stood roughly two meters tall, slightly larger than Moo-saeng himself.
Black smoke coalesced into a muscular, solidly built form.
Whoooooosh—!
There was no time for closer observation.
“Whoa!?”
A fist rocketed forward, closing the distance in an instant.
The moment Moo-saeng felt himself dodge, Wash’s voice cracked out.
[Duck, Kim Moo-saeng!]
“I dodged—. Damn!?”
The fist had transformed into a lance.
The reach had extended!?
Moo-saeng furrowed his brow and twisted his body.
“Hgh……!”
Still, the impact came through unmistakably.
The sensation of something raking across his lower back—the Grade A Artifact he’d obtained from Metal Rhine had torn like paper, and the weapon had reached his bare flesh!
Bouncing across the floor, Moo-saeng sprang to his feet.
He drew Dok-Sa immediately.
Yet even gripping the SR-ranked dagger, Moo-saeng’s expression remained grim.
“Wash, this won’t work, will it!?”
One: even a fragment of Murometsu’s power was likely SR-ranked or higher, making it ineffective.
Two: judging by the term “Shadow” and its form, physical attacks might not connect at all.
Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom-!
Though the question applied to both possibilities, there was no time to wait for Wash’s answer.
Murometsu’s Shadow charged from the ground, and as it swung its blade this time, Moo-saeng evaded and thrust Dok-Sa forward.
The Concentrated Slayken Poison passed uselessly through the Shadow’s body.
The poison did not take effect.
‘It’s not just the poison. The sensation itself—.’
What was even more dire: physical attacks weren’t connecting at all.
If one were to strike at mist, it might feel something like this.
[It’s changing! Kim Moo-saeng, it’s coming!]
Now both its hands had transformed into elongated blades.
Just before Murometsu’s Shadow rushed him, Moo-saeng put on Maia’s Goggles.
“Analysis, whatever it takes, weaknesses, cores, anything—show me something!”
If the goggles operated through verbal instruction—
Could they perhaps reveal the weaknesses of Murometsu’s Shadow?
“Hup!”
─────────────!
Moo-saeng leaped back hard.
Then he examined the analytical data materializing in the goggles.
Weaknesses?
[Murometsu’s Shadow]
[Currently utilizing 0.7% of Murometsu’s Power]
“Ah.”
The result only drained his strength.
What little comfort there was: he had a far superior ally than Maia’s Goggles here.
[That Shadow possesses no core, Kim Moo-saeng.]
Wash said it plainly.
“……No, that just makes it worse—. Ugh!?”
Murometsu’s Shadow charged again.
Its arms still transformed into blades—thrusting, slashing, diagonal cuts, vertical slashes, horizontal sweeps, thrusting again…….
“How am I supposed to handle something I can’t even parry? Damn it all.”
Kim Moo-saeng dodged the onslaught frantically, swinging the Dok-Sa, but it was useless.
The structure was identical to when the blade had merely grazed his body.
Murometsu’s shadow was undoubtedly attacking him with an edge-like effect.
Yet when Kim Moo-saeng’s Dok-Sa met it, all he felt was the sensation of cutting through empty air.
He couldn’t parry it.
Was he supposed to do nothing but dodge?
But that alone wouldn’t settle this, would it?
‘There’s no time limit. Murometsu maintains his strength… or rather, he won’t run out of power and have his shadow dissipate.’
The overwhelming force that crushed Kim Moo-saeng was merely 0.7% of Murometsu’s full power.
Stalling to exhaust the shadow’s endurance?
That was the worst of worst strategies—and he’d likely be killed before it came to that.
Even if he somehow managed to make the shadow vanish that way, it would be meaningless.
‘That’s not what Murometsu wants to see in the first place. The demand to prove I’m not just a loudmouth means he wants to witness combat ability—raw, physical strength.’
A deep rumble, and this time both arms merged into a single, elongated spear.
As Murometsu’s shadow came tearing through the air, Kim Moo-saeng’s brow furrowed.
“Hah!”
He barely twisted his axis to evade.
And then—
“But I can’t just take a hit and die!”
He brought the Dok-Sa down in a heavy strike.
Murometsu’s shadow, now in the form of a spear shaft—its thinnest part yet.
Still, it merely passed through with a soft whistle.
“Huh?”
But in that instant, Kim Moo-saeng saw something clearly.
[Why are you reacting like that, Kim Moo-saeng!? Did you figure something out?]
There wasn’t anything particularly special about it.
Even Wash was startled enough to ask, wondering what had prompted his reaction.
Kim Moo-saeng didn’t answer for several seconds.
Thought. Analysis. Then conclusion.
“Okay… so no matter what, the only way out is to put on a less shameful show.”
[What?]
“I have to commit myself. Whew… I didn’t expect this to be easy from the start anyway.”
[What—what are you talking about, Kim Moo-saeng?! Explain—.]
Kim Moo-saeng cut off Wash’s words with a sharp breath.
He steeled his resolve.
‘Berserk.’
[Select which stats to increase.]
[You may increase up to five abilities based on your current profile.]
‘Strength, Agility, Stamina, Accuracy, and… Luck.’
The Berserk skill’s effects had grown stronger along with his increased stat pool.
The greater the power he unleashed, the greater the recoil would be.
Nevertheless.
[Select the multiplier and duration.]
[The range available depends on your current abilities.]
[5%~400%]
‘400%. Thirty minutes.’
Kim Moo-saeng didn’t hesitate.
[Berserk is activating.]
“Haaaaaah.”
He had to show it.
Unmistakably.
“Here I go.”
──────────……!!!!
The ground split beneath him, and Kim Moo-saeng’s body vanished.
At least, that was how it appeared to Park Hyun-gu and the others in the spectator seats.
* * *
“If it becomes critical, shouldn’t we help—.”
“That’ll only make things worse! The system messages show that Chairman Kim’s situation is unfolding as intended, so please, just wait quietly!”
With the shadow and Kim Moo-saeng’s battle underway, his party members fell back into excitement and confusion.
It was inevitable—Murometsu’s arrival had imposed a kind of mental debuff on all of them from the outset.
“How can you just sit there watching that? Murometsu’s Shadow? It’s clearly visible! Kim Moo-saeng’s attacks aren’t even connecting—. Wha—!?”
───────────……!!!!
It was the most effective detonation to silence the uproar.
“What—what was that? What just happened?”
“……It disappeared? No, it didn’t disappear, it…….”
Park Hyun-gu murmured.
Because he kept his eyes fixed solely on Moo-saeng, ignoring the others, he could perceive it.
A subtle shift in expression. An abrupt change in circumstances.
“Moo-saeng is doing something.”
Kim Moo-saeng was engaged in some action.
Only, it was difficult to see it properly.
No one’s vision, including Park Hyun-gu’s, could capture Moo-saeng’s form clearly.
All they could do was infer from Murometsu’s Shadow’s reactions and the sight of the Arena floor cracking in places—’he’s attacking the Shadow at tremendous speed’—nothing more.
“The representative’s poison skill doesn’t seem to be working, but I wonder what will happen…….”
Two minutes. Three minutes. Four minutes.
“But seeing that something changed, don’t you think he found some way?”
“The attack isn’t landing, so what way could there be…….”
Five minutes. Seven minutes…….
By then, Park Hyun-gu and the others could finally see it.
“Hey, doesn’t that Shadow look a bit smaller?”
“Wasn’t it always that size? I can’t tell well from here.”
“No, no, it got smaller. It definitely got smaller.”
“That—what does that mean? How could it get smaller?”
Murometsu’s Shadow was certainly larger than Moo-saeng.
Tall, with a robust, taut physique.
But now?
───────────……!!!!
Moo-saeng threw a punch at Murometsu’s Shadow.
The direction of that fist was toward the spectator stands where Park Hyun-gu and his people were seated.
Whiiiiissssh…….
Park Hyun-gu’s bangs fluttered.
In that moment, Park Hyun-gu’s eyes widened.
“……He’s blowing it away.”
“Sorry?”
“Wind……wind!”
At last he, and they, understood.
What Moo-saeng had been doing all this time.
What he had been engaged in for the past seven minutes—no, was still doing!
“With his fists—with the pressure of his strikes he’s dispersing that mist! This madman, he can do that!?”

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