I Possessed a Game Where I Die If I Don’t Clear the Tower - Chapter 10

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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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Chapter 10. First Conquest (2)
‘…All right. Entering poses no problem.’
With Rohengreen and Zehar keeping watch over their surroundings, I unfolded the map with relative ease of mind.
Upon entering the Gate, we’d be scattered to random locations, but fortunately we landed quite close to the Boss Room.
‘If we run, we should arrive in about twenty or thirty minutes.’
I marked the map as I spoke.
“The seal is quite near. Let’s move quickly.”
Netanel immediately scattered a blessing that increased movement speed.
Rohengreen loosely secured his shield across his back.
Unlike the others, Zehar examined not himself but me first.
“My Lord, are you truly certain you’re all right? Wouldn’t it be better to rest a bit before moving?”
It was hard to tell him not to worry when my stamina was already depleted.
Even with healing and blessings layered on, my HP recovery rate was sluggish—there was no solution.
But there was no law saying I had to walk on my own two feet, was there?
“No problem. One of you can carry me and run.”
Unlike the outside, Floor 1 of The Tower had almost no monsters. One person could afford to step back as support.
So if someone carried me and ran, problem solved!
Zehar, brightening at the clear solution, answered eagerly.
“Then I shall—”
“A mage can’t afford to have their hands tied.”
A dealer who couldn’t attack when needed was useless.
And naturally, the tank was out of the question.
I turned to Netanel and opened my arms.
“Netanel, carry me.”
“With pleasure.”
Netanel smiled brightly and wrapped his arm around my waist, lifting me effortlessly onto one arm.
Zehar’s gaze toward him turned instantly glacial.
Though he must have felt that stare, Netanel pretended not to notice, spouting something like “Employer, you’re so light,” and I did the same.
“Then let’s move immediately. Zehar, provide light.”
“…Yes, my Lord.”
Zehar answered docilely as if he’d never glared at Netanel, then conjured magical flames in the air.
“Rohengreen, proceed carefully. There may be traps, so don’t push the pace too hard.”
“Yes, my Lord.”
Our movement, begun with light caution, proceeded smoothly.
The occasional goblin or two would emerge, but Rohengreen and Zehar dealt with them swiftly.
‘Good. This is going well…’
At this rate, we’d arrive soon.
It was precisely as I thought this that it happened.
Clank.
The sound of chains echoed from somewhere.
The sound of a heavy chain dragging and clattering echoed through the darkness.
I’d heard it so often in the game that the noise had become ingrained in my memory, and I reacted instantly.
“Run! As fast as you can!”
None of my party members questioned the command—they bolted forward with all their strength.
I twisted my body to glance behind us.
In the distance, I could see something dark and writhing in the shadows.
‘Damn it all, why did that loading screen tip feel so ominously foreboding?’
The metallic clanging grew steadily closer.
The owner of that unsettling chain sound was the Grim Reaper.
A level-20 roaming boss that spawned with low probability when over 90% of monsters in The Tower disappeared.
Normally the spawn rate increased hourly, reaching 100% at the 24-hour mark, so the chance of encountering it upon entry was less than 0.1%.
Yet somehow I’d managed to break through that infuriating probability!
‘I should have just joined another Infiltration Squad instead.’
The Infiltration Squad could simply flee outside The Tower, but I couldn’t do that.
If I delayed the seal while evading the Grim Reaper, the monsters would respawn, and if they poured outside The Tower, my Territory would be destroyed.
But fighting a level-20 monster head-on was utterly absurd.
True to its purpose of hindering farming and leveling in the lower floors, the Grim Reaper was designed with vicious malice.
As a dual-class rogue and mage, it excelled in both ranged and melee combat, with resistance stats that were absolutely insane.
If it caught up to us, the game would truly be over.
‘Don’t be ridiculous. Who’s going to just accept that?’
I tapped Netanel on the shoulder.
“Netanel, declare a Sanctuary!”
Her eyes widened as if to say ‘Here? Now?’ but her lips were already reciting the prayer.
Soon a brilliant golden light bloomed, and a semicircular Sanctuary unfolded before us.
Netanel gasped heavily afterward.
A Sanctuary was the highest-tier miracle, expelling and suppressing all evil within its domain.
Even a High Priestess would struggle if forced to cast it suddenly.
Knowing this, I still gave another command.
“One more time!”
Netanel cast the Sanctuary again, almost screaming in protest.
“I don’t know why, but I can’t cast it any further! Pulling the Sanctuary of the Scales down to the mortal realm requires not just divine power but an enormous amount of offerings….”
“I’ll pay for it, so keep going!”
Netanel looked exasperated but ultimately recited the prayer once more.
Golden circles appeared in perfect sequence, without a single deviation.
When the third and fourth Sanctuaries unfolded,
the dark shadow began creeping forward with the sound of clattering chains.
The darkness was blocked by the first Sanctuary and couldn’t advance further, but the chain sounds continued relentlessly.
Soon a humanoid monster clad in a dark robe appeared, wielding a scythe with chains attached to both hands.
“Tsk… Netanel!”
“What on earth is that thing, burning through a hundred platinum coins?!”
Even as Nethanel half-screamed, she unfurled her Sanctuary.
It was a miracle that drove away nearly all evil-aligned monsters, yet the Grim Reaper merely hesitated briefly before passing through unobstructed.
As it drew closer, its speed accelerated, and the clanking of chains suddenly transformed into a sharp, piercing sound like clashing blades.
Fortunately, before it could fully catch them, a massive door adorned with golden ornaments appeared.
It was the Boss Room.
“Inside!”
The moment Camilia shouted, Lohengrin rammed the door with his shield.
The great door creaked open halfway with a grinding sound.
Inside was an enormous hall.
Torches on the walls ignited of their own accord as if welcoming visitors, and a mass of flesh that had been crouching in the center of the hall stirred and rose to its feet.
It was the Floor 1 boss: the Discarded Homunculus.
[Hehe, my poor sister has come… Let me tell you the truth…]
The boss monster greeted them with meaningful words, but Camilia didn’t even glance at it as she shouted.
“Lohengrin! Grab that thing in front of us and throw it outside!”
[Huh?]
“Yes!”
While the boss monster failed to react to the unexpected situation, Lohengrin moved.
He even abandoned his shield as he lifted the boss monster and hurled it outside with all his might.
[What? What are you doing…!]
The moment the Homunculus crashed down and began to rise, the Grim Reaper finally caught up with the party.
It paid no attention to the boss monster and lunged directly at the group.
Seeing this, murderous intent flashed in the Homunculus’s eyes.
[You… don’t interrupt my conversation with my sister!]
The mass of flesh spread and clung to the Grim Reaper.
It was the Discarded Homunculus’s first pattern: Flesh Wall.
A skill deployed when another character stands beside the lord, granting invincibility and immobilizing the target for three turns.
Given the level difference, it normally wouldn’t have landed, but…
‘That Sanctuary stung quite a bit, didn’t it?’
Now, having torn through a supreme-tier miracle, its resistance was shattered to pieces.
Tzzzzzt!
An unpleasant sound rang out as the Grim Reaper froze in place.
Camilia leaped from Nethanel’s arms and commanded.
“Zehar, bind that mass of flesh!”
Mana wedges immediately embedded themselves into the Discarded Homunculus’s body as it lunged toward Camilia.
[Aaaaah! Zehar, how dare you do this to me…!]
The Homunculus thrashed violently, but Zehar didn’t even blink as he fired two more binding wedges.
Each wedge’s effect was one turn of stun.
‘That makes three turns.’
Was it three minutes in reality?
It felt dreadfully long in the game, but far too short in reality.
There was no time to hesitate.
I strode toward the Grim Reaper.
“My Lord…!”
“Stay back!”
I shouted sharply.
The Grim Reaper possessed a fear aura. Merely approaching drained mental resistance.
I had the Mirror of Truth, granting complete immunity to fear, but the others could only resist—and resistance was finite.
Resistance wasn’t invulnerability. No matter how high it climbed, once depleted it became worthless, and if it dropped into negatives, they’d suffer additional damage instead.
‘You’re no exception either, Grim Reaper.’
I raised my hand toward the Grim Reaper, writhing against the flesh wall that held it.
Rohengreen’s swordplay and Zehar’s magic couldn’t pierce through its regeneration.
Nethaniel’s miracles were no different.
But mental magic was another matter. It could control the opponent and bend them to my will.
‘Domination’ had exhausted its uses, but I still had ‘Enchantment’ left.
I placed my hand on the Grim Reaper’s head as it convulsed and spewed mist, activating the skill.
[‘Camilia the Lord’ uses Enchantment on ‘Cursed One: Drakan’.]
Success: 20
The resistance value had gone negative, and thanks to the Mind Sorcerer’s trait—which ignored the target’s mental resistance rolls for psychic magic—the result was workable.
Of course, that was only on the surface.
[Demigod] reduced it by -20
[Curse of Immortality] reduced it by -15
With the Grim Reaper’s insane traits added in, even boosting the dice roll further was useless.
Result: 5/20
[Failed!]
I didn’t hesitate and cast Enchantment a second time.
Result: 6/18
[Failed!]
Casting the same magic again further reduced the resistance value, lowering the success threshold.
But it still fell short of overcoming the opponent’s trait values.
The Grim Reaper’s eyes, streaming crimson flames from beneath its hood, curved into an arc.
‘Laughing?’
I bared my teeth and grinned savagely back.
‘Don’t get cocky, you clueless bastard.’
‘Dark Tower’ was a game impossible to clear by relying on luck and winging it.
Only paranoid obsessives who believed that anything with a non-zero probability could happen—and prepared accordingly—could reach the true ending.
I was the player who had seen the most true endings of anyone.
I’d prepared countermeasures against the Grim Reaper long ago.
‘System window!’
I opened the traits window and displayed my final third trait.
[Goddess’s Fortune]
(Active)
Add one additional die.
The added die grants a guaranteed +12 points.
※Usable once every 3 days.
‘The class may be ruined, but the trait certainly isn’t!’
Let me show you a taste of the most overpowered trait from the Dark Tower—a skill that borders on outright cheating.
Camilia activated her trait the moment she cast the enchantment.
‘Roll!’
Whirrrrrr!
The die spun with dazzling light, its sound reaching only her ears.
[Mind Sorcerer] bonus: Add 1 twelve-sided die.
[Mind Sorcerer] bonus: Ignore the opponent’s mental magic resistance roll.
[Mind Sorcerer]: +6
[Level Difference]: -4
[Demigod]: -20
[Curse of Immortality]: -15
[Goddess’s Fortune]: +12
[Heroic Action]: +2
[Spell Chain]: ….
Ding! Ding! Ding!
Negatives and positives danced as the judgment began.
The Grim Reaper, sensing something amiss, thrashed violently.
As the time limit of the flesh wall drew to an end, its convulsions grew increasingly desperate.
But Camilia refused to yield.
“Stop squirming….”
Instead, she pressed her palm down against the Grim Reaper’s body as if driving it deeper.
“Kneel!”
A cheerful alarm chimed in response to her command.
Result: 16/16
[Success!]
[Ohhh… Ohhhhh…!]
The Grim Reaper, freed from the flesh wall, began trembling as if struck by lightning.
As it reflexively tried to rise, it realized Camilia’s hand was pressing down on its head and lowered itself onto its knees of its own accord.
There was no time to savor the satisfaction of executing the plan flawlessly.
The boss monster had also broken free from the stun.
[Get away from my sister…!]
The Discarded Homunculus snarled and lunged at the Grim Reaper.
Camilia pushed away the Grim Reaper as it tried to kiss her foot, forcing it to face the Homunculus, and whispered.
“If you want to be favored, you should hunt instead of acting cute.”
She even offered the Homunculus a bright smile and a word of encouragement.
“I trust you wouldn’t presume to call yourself my sister if you lack the strength to even catch a single dog under my command.”
Do you understand?
From now on, kill each other.
The gazes of the two monsters intersected. And in the blink of an eye, they collided.
Zehar caught my body as it bounced backward.
The moment he rushed into the Boss Room, Lohengrin slammed the door shut.
Beyond the door came the sound of terrible screams and something crashing.
“My Lord, are you alright!?”
“I’ll cast a blessing, so just stay still…!”
Even as golden blessings poured down, cold sweat streamed relentlessly.
My vision flickered between white and black.
I’d released my tension with perfect composure, yet here I was in this state.
But there was still work to be done.
I gritted my teeth and gripped Zehar’s wrist firmly.
“The seal…hurry…!”
Zehar’s face twisted as if he might weep.
But unable to dare defy my words, he hastily carried me toward the center of the hall.
There lay a bizarre stone platform covered haphazardly with red lines identical to those on the Reincarnation Altar.
One of the ninety-nine seals that comprised The Tower—a sight I would grow tediously familiar with.
With Zehar’s help, I placed my hand upon the seal.
As if it had been waiting, the seal trembled and began to emit light.
Reflexively, I shut my eyes tight.
Then a phantom vision rose across the thin shadow between my eyelids and eyes.
In the vision, the Lord was conversing with a ‘collaborator’ whose face was hidden beneath a robe’s hood.
[I will construct The Tower. Then, even if only temporarily, I can postpone destruction.]
[If you wish it, I shall follow. I am always on your side….]
‘Ugh, I don’t need cinematics! I’ve already seen this event! Just skip it and activate the seal already!’
I was dizzy enough to die, and now visions too—this was truly unbearable.
Cursing inwardly, I pressed down on the seal with all my strength when I heard a thunderous pounding from behind.
“The monster is trying to break through the door!”
“Hold it back! We just need to endure until the Lord completes the seal!”
The panicked voices of my party members reached my ears.
Had the charm already worn off?
It should last at least fifteen turns no matter how short.
As I pondered this, the door finally gave way with a sound like a cannon exploding.
I opened my eyes urgently.
The light was too intense to see anything, but I could tell the Grim Reaper was charging toward me.
‘Sorry, but you’re too late.’
[The seal of Floor 1 is being restored.]
Along with the System Message, a dazzling light emanating from the seal spread throughout the entire hall.
[…!]
The Grim Reaper swept up in the light vanished with an almost anticlimactic ease.
Likely, every other monster within The Tower had dissolved in the same manner.
Once the seal recovered, that floor would temporarily become safe.
Which meant I had finally cleared Floor 1.
‘Why does this cursed game have to be so brutal….’
A hollow laugh escaped her as she attempted to rise, but her legs tangled beneath her and she slumped sideways.
‘What…?’
“My lord!”
“My lady…!”
The two men rushed toward her in panic, and I could hear Netanel calling upon healing miracles.
Collapsing after clearing just Floor 1?
Is it you again, Vitality stat?
Camilia felt her consciousness gradually slipping away as she pondered this.
This cursed character really is hopeless….

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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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