Climbing the Mythic Tower as a Cheating Administrator - Chapter 82
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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 Mythic Tower (82)
Hildegard blinked, her eyes wide and unblinking.
She had cleared not just Dungeon 67, but Floor 67 of the Tower itself.
She knew well enough that Metal Rhine was already managing Dungeon 67 back in Germany.
Beyond Underwater Breathing, there were deep-sea mechanics to contend with, water pressure to account for, impact resistance to prepare against—far too many variables—and yet…….
‘Kim Moo-saeng has no special defensive Artifacts, just that one Underwater Breathing Capsule—is this—? Is this really the Administrator’s power!? It can’t just be the kind of temperature resistance I saw in Dungeon 58, it must be!’
Moo-saeng moved through the depths as leisurely as if he were swimming in a creek.
More than that, the personnel from Geum-sung, including Moo-saeng himself, were…….
“You weren’t able to get the cave location from Steve King, then?”
“They said it was random, right? Even if he told us the information from when he cleared it, it wouldn’t be any use. And you know Steve King—with that personality of his, there’s no way he’d spell everything out kindly from one to a hundred.”
“Hmm……. That’s true enough. Very well. We’ll take the lead, then. If you have any information on the monster ecology, Moo-saeng, please share it with us.”
“Sure thing. Let’s go.”
They were having a conversation right in front of Hildegard’s nose!
Geum Soo-ah’s tone of voice, Yoon Pyo’s expression, the bewilderment and cautious trust that Geum-sung Strategy Headquarters Division 1 showed toward Moo-saeng—all of it laid bare for her to see…….
And yet, watching all of it unfold, not a single one of them was paying Hildegard any attention!?
The reason, naturally, was that they were inside a dungeon.
[Cackle-cackle-cackle! Why so shocked? This is on an entirely different level from that pathetic camouflage tent you rigged up, isn’t it?]
In a place where Wash could execute his 〈Administrator Authority〉, hiding their presence was no problem whatsoever.
“Your voice doesn’t matter either, then, Wash?”
Hildegard had made her own preparations.
Which was precisely why she’d brought along the Invisibility Cloak, Metal Rhine’s latest creation and her own handiwork.
But it only concealed appearance—the moment she made a sound, she’d be exposed at once…….
Was the Tower’s Administrator truly in a different league altogether?
Wash ruffled his feathers smugly.
[Obviously, you fool? The visual layer is different here. Different layer. Though really, explaining it to a primitive creature like you is probably a waste—.]
“Surely not! You can alter the layers within a dungeon? Then—doesn’t that mean this current layer could be synchronized with somewhere else entirely? No, wait—can the Tower do things like this too?”
[…….]
“But if the layers are different—ah, even so, if there are just multiple layers contained within one file, the fundamental concept remains the same, so it shouldn’t matter, right? So if only the visual layer is different, what about sound? Right now my voice is being heard perfectly by Kim Moo-saeng, isn’t it? Kim Moo-saeng! If you can hear me, respond with your fingers! Hold up two on your right hand. Wow! This time four! Incredible!”
[…….]
And with that, Wash fell silent before her in an instant.
Not merely grasping the concept, but applying and adapting it on the fly.
Wash pushed his Black-framed Glasses firmly into place and made a grinding sound.
[Anyway. Get ready, female. Our presence won’t be visible even to the left eye from here on out.]
“Ah, yes! Everything’s already prepared! Once the Geum-sung team starts using more skills……. I’ll begin right away. Kim Moo-saeng, you heard all that? The Clairvoyance can’t see me or Wash! According to Wash, the boss is in the eleven o’clock direction from your vantage point, so…….”
Moo-saeng pointed toward the five o’clock direction and spoke.
Even without Hildegard finishing her thought, Moo-saeng understood what needed to be done.
“Strangely enough, there seems to be a cave over there……. Should we take a look?”
Toward where the monsters were thick.
Toward where they’d have no choice but to burn through their skills.
Draw the Geum-sung personnel in that direction.
Geum Soo-ah’s brow flinched slightly.
“……Our calculations suggest the probability of the boss being in the opposite direction is quite high.”
“Oh come now—are you unaware that my opinion isn’t merely the ramblings of some dungeon guide? It’s the result of analyzing the hints Steve King gave me, however vague. What will you do, Division Commander Yoon?”
But Moo-saeng was not one to back down.
Not after saying it like that.
“I’m not dismissing the deputy commander, but……. You’re well aware that Steve King’s information takes absolute priority in this operation plan. Let’s follow Kim Moo-saeng’s lead on the route.”
Moo-saeng understood perfectly that Yoon Pyo, commander of the Geum-sung Strategy Headquarters, had no choice but to concede.
“……Understood. All personnel, adjust your alert formation! Don’t forget to watch above and below, not just left and right!”
Thanks to this, the personnel of Geum-sung Strategy Headquarters Division 1 would have to conduct extensive combat training against the countless monsters of Dungeon 67 that they could have otherwise avoided.
* * *
―Since we can follow along while doing it, have Kim Moo-saeng lead the Geum-sung people around and get them to use as many skills as possible!
Wash had already informed Hildegard through their connection of exactly where the boss was and which zones would spawn monsters en masse.
All that remained was for Moo-saeng to guide them naturally—proceeding straight toward the five o’clock direction, then making a wide detour depending on progress to circle back toward the eleven o’clock position. The route would work perfectly.
‘It’s fortunate we’re underwater, I suppose. With no landmarks, terrain, or features to orient by, hardly anyone would notice my deliberate detour.’
Moving naturally was all that mattered.
What kinds of monsters inhabited this place.
What their attack patterns and weaknesses were.
“Watch out for the sea urchins rolling across the floor! They’ll explode and send spines flying in all directions when you touch them—think of them like mines! Don’t get close!”
Moo-saeng relayed the information quickly.
Rolling across the seafloor were what looked like a few spiny rocks? Explosive sea urchins.
One wrong move, and it’s all over.
Yet the members of Geum-sung Strategy Headquarters Division 1 were frowning, their eyes fixed downward.
“Ugh, nobody goes down there willingly! What in the world are these octopuses—.”
“Behind! Behind!”
Barely visible, yet not quite.
Transparent tentacles lashing out from directions no one could predict.
“Phantom octopuses are weak to light, so if Geum Soo-ah cranks the luminosity to maximum and fires, that should do it! For now, just think of it as a reconnaissance phase!”
In an environment where weapon use was severely limited underwater, the massive phantom octopus’s limbs and suckers posed a devastatingly lethal threat.
Geum Soo-ah pressed her palms together, gathering her strength.
With a sharp intake of breath, a wave of energy boiled away the seawater itself, unleashing a torrent of power.
The phantom octopus’s skull shattered in an instant, and it began to sink slowly toward the sea floor—but then.
“The jellyfish are coming, drawn to the light!”
“Poison countermeasures! Everyone prepare your Antidote Potions—.”
“Sea snakes that were feeding on jellyfish are coming too!”
This place was a space based on deep-sea ecology.
It wasn’t simply inhabited by isolated monsters—the entire food chain structure of that ecosystem was intact.
Each skill the Awakeners deployed altered the environment around them, which disturbed the creatures.
Drawn by the gathering swarms, still more monsters approached.
“Watch out for those ribbonfish-like things! Even brushing against their scales requires the sharpness of a first-rate blade or better!”
And when they finally dispatched those, still other monsters were drawn by the corpses, hungry for the feast.
“E-everyone, watch the bottom! Be careful of those shrimp-like things! One punch from this bastard, just one—it’s powerful enough to shatter my Absolute Shield—.”
Boom-crack-crash———————!
A vicious cycle was unfolding relentlessly.
Each creature possessed overwhelming size, and with their proportions came equally devastating power.
‘…Geum-sung really is Geum-sung.’
And there were the Awakeners of Geum-sung Strategy Headquarters Division 1, suppressing and eliminating these hellish creatures one by one.
It was undeniably a restrictive environment.
Not only did wielding weapons become nearly impossible—simply maintaining balance and stability underwater was a constant struggle.
‘Especially for close-combat and physical-type Awakeners. It must feel like poison to them.’
Yet they were managing.
When one couldn’t handle it alone, two stepped in. When two struggled, three.
Wind-element Awakeners would forcefully push their close-combat allies, generating momentum?
Fire and explosion-type Awakeners couldn’t use their skills effectively in water—power would diminish, or the skill wouldn’t activate at all—so instead….
“Use it now!”
Whoooosh————!
‘They’re clearing the water away from just the spot where they need to cast the skill? Hah. Incredible.’
For a brief moment, a space devoid of seawater materialized.
Of course, the ocean rushed back in instantly—but in that split second.
In less than a heartbeat, explosive and flame-type skills tore through the monsters’ bodies as if nothing could stop them!
Kim Moo-saeng understood full well: this kind of synchronization wasn’t something that came from just a day or two of practice.
‘Even though I only told them the weaknesses. Shrimp like those—I just mentioned that the joints in the carapace are vulnerable….’
The gap between the body plates of that massive crustacean?
With a circumference exceeding five meters, they knew exactly which point to target and how to strike it.
With no time for detailed discussion in such urgent circumstances, yet they cleared the seawater from precisely the right spot and landed their follow-up skills with flawless accuracy.
This wasn’t observation followed by reaction.
Not even coordination developed through pre-arranged signals could account for such timing.
‘Comrades who crossed the line together…. Only those who are true brothers-in-arms could achieve such a rhythm.’
A kind of intuitive bond that only came from conquering dozens of floors side by side.
Moo-saeng found himself nodding with a satisfied expression on his face.
Or perhaps—perhaps this entire battle was only possible because of one person.
“Director! The school of sardines—the fish charge—.”
“Don’t concern yourselves.”
Yoon Pyo drew in a deep breath and stretched both arms wide.
Hundreds upon hundreds of small car-sized fish plunged forward—and froze solid in mid-charge.
‘That’s pure cheating. Cheating, that’s what it is. If I’d awakened to an ability like that, I’d be….’
Watching the cascading chunks of ice fall, Moo-saeng felt oddly like he was back in his early twenties, those days when he worked as a dungeon Sherpa.
The unofficial videos uploaded online showed elite Awakeners wielding their powers and skills with such grace.
For someone like Moo-saeng, who could only dream while watching those clips, this battle was like being inside a 4D cinema in the middle of the action.
Of course, even now—was he envious of the Absolute Zero Awakening ability?
[Download Rate: 75.2%]
―Certainly, with just a makeshift device, the efficiency drops. Still―. Ah? Yes? Kim, Kim Moo-saeng! You’re saying Wash is showing changes right now? Really? That’s right, isn’t it?
That couldn’t be.
The Download Rate rose 0.1% in fifteen minutes.
Much slower than the progress she’d made in Hildegard’s secret space, but…….
‘Good. We’re moving forward.’
It was climbing steadily.
Moo-saeng drew an OK sign with his left hand, placing it behind his back.
―Okay! That’s more than enough! Compared to the signal frequency the Geum-sung personnel’s skills are emitting right now, ours―well, I mean Wash’s signal is barely visible! Like this……. But it’s still awfully slow, even so. Should we try accelerating a bit more? Wash’s signal would grow stronger, but still―.
Moo-saeng shook his left hand side to side as he listened to Hildegard’s voice.
A gesture meaning there was no need.
30 minutes brought 0.2%.
One hour brought 0.4%.
In two hours and thirty minutes, wouldn’t that mean a 1% increase?
‘There was a tremendous shift between 73% and 75%. So then…….’
What Moo-saeng wanted was exactly 1%.
Download Rate of 76%.
And since it had reached 75.2%, it would take precisely two hours more to get the remaining 0.8%.
Slow but certain―he liked that.
He didn’t want to risk being discovered for no reason.
[Download Rate 75.6%]
Another hour passed.
‘It’s working……. It’s happening. For certain.’
There were no problems.
Moo-saeng had to fight to steady his rapidly quickening heartbeat.
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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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