Climbing the Mythic Tower as a Cheating Administrator - Chapter 83

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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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The Administrator’s Cheat: Climbing the Mythic Tower (83)
The download proceeded smoothly and without incident.
Yet even Wash, wreathed in pale luminescence, showed no sign of relief.
[Female, are you still measuring the skill wave?]
Perhaps the exposure time to danger had grown longer than the download progress rate warranted.
That was why continuous monitoring had become necessary.
Hildegard nodded in reply, her expression balanced between half excitement and half tension.
“Yes! Thanks to how well Kim Moo-saeng is guiding it, the signal relative to other skill signatures is still holding at around thirty percent. At this level, I’d think—. Surely it wouldn’t be detected, right?”
The tower’s administrator.
The other administrators at the very top of the tower.
Whether they could catch Wash’s signal at thirty percent compared to an ordinary awakener’s skill wave.
[……They could, certainly. If I weren’t here, at least.]
Wash clicked, a sharp sound.
If they set their minds to it, there was nothing they couldn’t do.
They had the capability.
‘If the dungeon’s existence—if a fragment of the tower had broken away and fragmented, and they’ve left it neglected…….’
But they would not do so.
Or perhaps they couldn’t, given the circumstances.
Even if Wash couldn’t know precisely what the mood or state of that place was at this moment, she could make an educated guess.
‘These creatures manage it so poorly, and now they come for me……. Hmm. Was it really a type of crawling that detected me back then? But for that to be the case, I would have to…….’
What was happening there now?
What were they doing?
Wash frowned and removed her black-framed glasses.
As she polished the lenses with a wing, scrub, scrub, Hildegard quietly interjected.
“But if another administrator comes to the dungeon……. Can’t you handle them?”
[Click-click? A foolish question. Have you forgotten what you’re doing right now, female?]
“No, no, I do know! You’re restoring your main body to perfect condition, right? But still……. I was thinking that ‘administrator’ might not be a purely horizontal system. Look at just our company! I’m an administrator, but the development executive is also an administrator. The factory director who actually manufactures artifacts is also an administrator. Even the team lead managing the actual operational line for that factory is an administrator.”
Ranks existed among administrators, did they not?
And by that standard, Wash held a rather high rank, did she not?
That was the inference.
Hildegard, as the CEO of Metal Rhine, the world’s largest artifact manufacturer, had read into the fact that Kim Moo-saeng had caught wind of the conversation between Wash and Murometz and deduced.
Wash quickly suppressed her look of surprise and closed her mouth.
Hildegard swam toward her and wheedled affectionately.
“Just one thing! What percentage chance would be okay?! If Wash’s signal were detected and someone came from over there!”
The percentage of those Wash at her current seventy-five percent state could defend against?
[Hmph. It’s too early for you to know such things yet.]
Wash was not one to divulge such information.
Hildegard’s emerald eyes sparkled as though she’d expected exactly that.
“Too early…… Then you’re saying someday you will tell me?”
[Click-click-! Quiet! You talk even more than Kim Moo-saeng! If you ever learn that, it will be-.]
Wash spoke.
She had no intention of keeping it hidden forever.
The banished administrator of the tower understood well enough that it could not remain so.
[-After Kim Moo-saeng. Learn it from his mouth, female.]
Good faith.
For smoother fulfillment of their contractual obligations, Wash had resolved to reveal many truths to Kim Moo-saeng eventually—perhaps even soon.
Hildegard seemed satisfied with that answer alone and nodded.
[Download Rate: 75.8%]
The download rate climbed again.
Kim Moo-saeng watched as thirty minutes remained before reaching 76%.
* * *
“Phew……. Ten minutes rest! Account for underwater breathing capsules and antitoxin supplies! Perform defense artifact performance checks!”
Geum Seong’s voice rang out strong and clear.
Yoon Pyo gave a light nod and glided through the water to assess the condition of the other guild members.
One hour and thirty minutes had passed since they’d entered Floor 67 Dungeon and engaged in serious combat.
Physical fatigue was no trivial matter, and mental exhaustion from sustained tension had accumulated considerably.
“Kim Moo-saeng.”
“Yes?”
“……That’s right, isn’t it?”
Because of that very concern, Geum Seong had no choice but to ask Kim Moo-saeng again for confirmation.
Is the direction we’re heading in correct?
Are we making proper progress?
Kim Moo-saeng answered with a bright smile.
“Ayu, how could I be certain? I’ve never been here before myself…… But the thing is, when there are so many monsters, it’s because the Boss is nearby! That’s basically the law, isn’t it?”
“In some floors that’s true, but in layers where defeating the Boss is the main objective, there are actually more cases where monsters don’t gather near the Boss. I’d think you’d know that well.”
Geum Seong spoke firmly, unswayed by Moo-saeng’s claim.
The Tower didn’t operate by a single rule alone—surely Geum Seong knew that, and so did Moo-saeng, who came from a dungeon Sherpa background.
It was a mild rebuke of sorts, but Moo-saeng merely shrugged.
“Of course, that’s right. But this is an underwater space too, you know…… And anyway, caves! Even if it’s not exactly cave-shaped, there are deep-sea pits that drop further down over there. There’s every chance something could spring out from a place like that, don’t you think?”
It wasn’t that he felt no remorse.
But just a little longer…….
Once thirty minutes passed, he could turn their course straight toward where the Boss waited.
Not because he meant to deceive Geum Seong. Because he was sincere.
“Phew, I understand. We did manage to come this far thanks to the information you got from Steve King, after all. I shouldn’t have reacted so sharply. Of course I’m grateful…… Please keep working with us going forward.”
Geum Seong offered a light apology to Moo-saeng, bowing her head slightly.
Moo-saeng grinned and replied.
“You’re leading Strategy Headquarters’ First Unit, so it makes sense to feel the pressure. I understand, so don’t worry. And, well, if things get a little awkward this time…… we could take down the Boss and run the dungeon again for the next attempt, right? Until we’ve mastered it. Any number of times.”
It was a proposal slipped in so smoothly.
Geum Seong would claim not only the glory of First Clear but also Dungeon Management Rights.
So couldn’t they run Floor 67 Dungeon several more times in the future?
And if Moo-saeng went along with them each time…….
“Haha, you’re planning to run it with us every time?”
He could advance Wash’s Download Rate.
If Geum Seong’s team continuously provided cover with their Skills.
‘One percent per run. If we just went four more times together…….’
He could even aim for an 80% Download Rate!
“If you need it, of course. I trust you’ll work out the compensation on your end.”
Even speaking unpaid, Moo-saeng made a point of mentioning money was his reason, lest there be any misunderstanding.
Geum Seong laughed aloud at his skillful way with words.
“Break’s over. Resuming the attempt.”
And with that, Yoon Pyo spoke.
The Geum Seong Guild members, who had been sprawled out completely in the water, began moving briskly as if they’d never stopped.
[Download Rate: 75.9%]
After advancing about five more minutes, they’d reached 75.9%.
Now only about fifteen minutes remained until Moo-saeng’s initial target…….
“Hm? Why is the light suddenly disappearing…….”
“It’s getting dark—!?”
Darkness fell.
Every member of Geum Seong who had been receiving light from a sort of flare that Geum Seong had been launching looked up.
It was too massive.
Something so massive they hadn’t even registered it as a monster squeezed itself between the light and the guild members.
“……Like some kind of manta ray…….”
“It’s bigger than a dragon.”
It was a manta ray of staggering size.
A ray gliding slowly through the water, larger than any dragon.
Unlike a typical manta ray, this one was jet black on both back and belly as it swam with lazy grace.
“Everyone, guard positions.”
“It doesn’t seem to be attacking us, but…….”
“Let’s not get careless.”
The saving grace was that it didn’t appear to be an aggressive first-strike type monster.
The Geum Seong team kept their guard up despite being captivated by the wondrous sight.
And then, at last, the enormous ray blocked out all the flares.
The seabed, nearly starved of light.
────────────…….
Then green light bloomed in the darkness.
A Defense-type awakened ability user breathed out a shaky breath and spoke.
“Thank you, Deputy Commander.”
“It’s not my light!”
Geum Seong cried out.
Her urgent voice dredged something up from the depths of every Geum Seong member’s mind.
It was Kim Moo-saeng’s single comment.
Ah, the Boss is a conger eel? A creature that shoots light, something like a conger eel—that’s what Steve King told me, so…….
Shwoooooosh————————!
In an instant, that green light radiated outward in all directions.
“Watch out-……. Huh?”
“What……is that?”
The Geum Seong Guild’s Strategy Headquarters had rushed into defensive positions, thinking it was an attack.
Everyone fell silent.
At the source of the spreading light was unmistakably a monster.
A conger eel? Could you really call that a “conger eel”?
A marine creature thick and long as several times a bullet train.
But that wasn’t the problem.
A conger eel with teeth each larger than a person—the Boss of Floor 67…….
“Seven…… of them?”
Not one.
Seven, no less.
Seven massive conger eel heads had somehow emerged from the deep seabed, now glaring down at the members of the Geum Seong Guild’s Strategy Headquarters.
“Moo-saeng?!”
Something that shouldn’t have happened.
The impossible had occurred.
Moo-saeng instinctively grasped the reason.
‘……Wash?’
The download was causing some kind of problem.
Shuuuuaaaaaack————————!
At tremendous speed, the water split apart as a conger eel head shot forward.
“Run, run! Get out of here!”
“Scatter! Spread out!”
“Just 〈Solar-……〉. No, the light won’t come out? Huh?”
Geum Seong tried to deploy her skill with all her strength, but immediately found herself panicking.
Luminous wouldn’t activate.
The light that should have extended from her fingertips dissolved into the seawater, scattering away.
“The green light! Vice-Commander, the Boss’s green light might be something that controls other light! Since Steve King doesn’t deal with light himself, he probably didn’t pick up on that detail, did he, Kim Moo-saeng?!”
Yoon Pyo tried to interpret the problem quickly.
He was wrong.
Which made Moo-saeng even more alarmed.
‘No. That’s not it. Wash never said anything like that. She said it does lure with light, but fundamentally it only attacks through physical force, she said. That uncouth female wouldn’t find it so difficult to kill some crude serpent head, she said.’
It was what Wash herself had told them, knowing Yoon Pyo and Geum Seong’s capabilities.
But now the light was being sealed?
“Don’t panic. Let’s stay in contact and respond together!”
Moo-saeng too called out, swimming swiftly.
He was speaking to Hildegard Schmidt and to Wash.
What kind of situation was this? What had gone wrong?
Respond.
[Download Rate 76.0%]
[Administrator Log Partially Recovered]
[Detection Target: CX-Ω Series Administrator Residual Log]
Meanwhile, the Download Rate continued to rise: 76%.
But Moo-saeng felt no relief.
‘No response. From either of them.’
Hildegard Schmidt said nothing.
She would clearly be seeing the Boss multiplied sevenfold.
Wash would have said something.
Wash wasn’t responding with Execute with Administrator Authority either.
If a critical problem had emerged, she would fix it using her own power.
If not that, she would have given some signal.
Both remained silent.
That meant only one thing.
‘……Something’s happened.’
A crisis had erupted.

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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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