I Possessed a Game Where I Die If I Don’t Clear the Tower - Chapter 80
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Chapter 80. A Gamer’s Management Strategy
[The Unstable Seal Chamber (6th Floor) opens.]
Krrrrrr.
The door swings open with a heavy groan.
Unlike the halls that greeted them from Floor 1 through Floor 5, there was no such entrance here.
No torches either.
What lay within the wide-open Seal Chamber was a Stalactite Cave of unknowable depth.
In the center of the cave sat a small lake and an Altar, upon which coiled an enormous two-headed serpent.
Peculiarly, the serpent’s heads bore what appeared to be gemstones, and at a glance, one could sense it was no ordinary creature.
“I… I’ve never seen anything like this before…”
Nashu, who had expected to face another Discarded Homunculus, swallowed hard, visibly flustered.
Though his companions tensed, Camilia paid no mind and strode boldly into the Seal Chamber.
As they all followed her inside, the door slammed shut behind them as if it had been waiting.
Immediately after, sunlight streamed through an opening in the Stalactite Cave’s ceiling like a lamp being switched on, illuminating the Altar.
Both heads of the two-headed serpent opened their eyes and lifted.
Ssssshhhhh.
The beast flicked its tongue and trembled its scales, releasing a low, resonant psychic wave.
[I smell it… that vile stench from the soul of the schemer who bound me in chains…!]
Had this been before opening the Farm, I might have grumbled, “Are they really spouting game dialogue at a possessed being? Isn’t this a bug?” But that was then.
Before the serpent that loomed larger than expected, Camilia distracted herself with random thoughts to keep her composure and stepped forward.
“True Dragon Calamariare, wicked spirit who made offspring your sacrifice. You have two choices. One is…”
[There you are…! Die!]
Before she could finish, True Dragon Calamariare roared and lashed its tail against the Stalactite wall.
With a rumbling sound, stalactites fell, and stones struck by the tail hurtled toward Camilia.
Rohengreen Ashen moved without hesitation, positioning himself in front of Camilia.
“Shumel, get the Lord behind you!”
“H-huh! Yes!”
As Nashu frantically shielded Camilia and pulled back, Rohengreen Ashen deflected the stones with his shield.
“So attacking mid-conversation—I see this serpent, True Dragon or whatever, has no manners whatsoever.”
In the meantime, Netanel Fragma, muttering his complaint, cast Blessing of Protection, encasing Camilia in a small sphere of light.
Calamariare jerked at the chains binding its heads irritably and lashed its tail again.
[Die! I said die!]
“How dare you…!”
Rohengreen Ashen, visibly angered, furrowed his brow and stepped forward, then clenched his teeth and stopped. He called out to Camilia.
“Lord, your orders…!”
Camilia opened her mouth.
“Calamariare cannot leave the Altar. Keep that in mind as you move.”
It was an unusually vague instruction, unlike her usual style.
Nashu’s eyes widened as he looked back at her.
Having trusted that she would direct them from start to finish as always, his face was plastered with the question: “That’s it? What’s next? What do I do?”
‘Shusu, even if you’re startled, you shouldn’t look at me during combat.’
I chuckled inwardly before speaking again.
“From now on, you’ll face unfamiliar entities endlessly in the Seal Chamber. There will be times when you must fight with no information whatsoever.”
I posed the question in the same tone I used when teaching information about the Tower and quizzing them on their comprehension.
“Think carefully. How can you defeat evil?”
Dark Tower was a game of extreme difficulty.
Recruiting allies, managing territories, combat, leveling—everything was brutally hard.
Boss battles, the Tower’s core content, were naturally even more punishing.
True to the lore of ancient evils sealed away, the bosses that emerged possessed bizarre and deranged patterns beyond comprehension.
The community forums overflowed with dozens, hundreds of complaints asking whether these bosses were even meant to be cleared.
Yet Camilia never once found such infamous boss monsters unreasonable, even as they battered her mind.
Dark Tower was a CRPG, and the essence of CRPGs was understanding numbers.
If you learned an opponent’s patterns precisely and devised the optimal strategy, you could always clear it.
In boss battles, one thing mattered above all.
Knowledge or ignorance.
A mechanic you must endure if ignorant becomes one you can dodge if informed.
Attacks don’t land except on weak points? Then you learn the weak points.
‘But I can’t always be the one explaining.’
This wasn’t turn-based combat—how could I give timely instructions in real-time battles every single time?
For the same reason, I wanted to avoid forcing them to memorize every boss pattern.
Even with preparation, accidents happen, and rote information can sometimes create problems when they do.
The ideal outcome was for all party members to master improvisation.
What to do when facing an unknown enemy.
How to respond once you recognize an enemy’s patterns.
How to use your own skills to support your allies.
Only by understanding all of this and fighting together could they safely navigate boss battles in the Upper Floors beyond the middle levels.
I never overestimated myself, nor did I underestimate my allies.
The knight duo alone possessed superior stamina compared to me, and while their intellect was questionable, their perceptiveness was sharp.
These two should be able to devise a strategy to defeat Calamariare on their own.
No—they absolutely would.
I questioned Nashu again as he floundered against the increasingly fierce attacks of the two-headed serpent.
“Nashu, answer me. How would you defeat that dragon?”
“Eh? Y-yes? I’m s-sorry, Lord Camilia. I… I’m not sure…”
“Rohengreen, what of you?”
He pondered briefly before answering.
“Since it’s bound to the Altar, if we approach close enough to prevent it from swinging its tail and target its head, that should work. But to do that, both Shumel and I would need to leave your side…”
“You’re still worried about me even now? Netanel will handle it, so don’t concern yourself.”
At my words, Netanel beside me grumbled about why a priest had to play shield when there were two knights, but I ignored him.
‘They’ll grow stronger, and that’ll make things easier for you too, Netanel.’
I watched Nashu, still unable to grasp the situation and at a loss, and asked him again.
“Nashu, when combat begins inside the Seal Chamber, what did I say your job would be?”
Nashu answered immediately, reciting what she’d been taught.
“To, to make the enemy roll on the ground, ma’am.”
“Good, you remember. Then that’s what you’ll do.”
‘But Lord Camilia, how am I supposed to handle such a massive serpent?’
Nashu wanted to say those words aloud, but she couldn’t bring herself to speak them. Even though the colossal snake terrified her, disappointing Lord Camilia frightened her far more.
She gripped her mace tightly.
‘Lord Camilia is right. I have to immobilize that snake.’
Her role was that of a tank.
To disrupt and obstruct enemies, buying time for her allies to attack.
And what she did best was shattering an opponent’s knees or head to send them sprawling across the ground.
‘But, this thing has no legs and its head is way too high up….’
Restless though she was, Nashu thought desperately.
Should she strike the tail instead of legs? Or climb up its body to hit its head?
Neither option filled her with confidence.
The tail moved too quickly—she’d be struck before she could even get close. The head was the same.
Those chains thrashing about wildly meant that getting too near would result in being smashed by them….
In that moment, Nashu cried out as if struck by lightning.
“T, the chains!”
The serpent was bound by chains.
Which meant if she pulled the chains down, the head would come down with them.
‘Then I can hit it!’
If she could hit it, she could knock it unconscious. And if it was unconscious, then… well….
‘Lord Camilia and the Captain will handle the rest somehow!’
Though she’d gotten stuck for a moment, Nashu had found her answer.
And it was she—not anyone else—who’d made this brilliant discovery.
Overjoyed by this realization, Nashu spun her shield and slung it across her back as she shouted.
“Y, yes, Lord Camilia, I think I can do this! No, I will do this! P, Priest! Give me that! The strength blessing!”
For some reason, Netanel answered with a face struggling to suppress laughter.
“Ah, certainly. For a brilliant girl who’s found the answer so magnificently, I shall bestow a blessing of exceptional weight and quality—a very expensive one at that.”
After receiving the blessing of strength, Nashu glanced at Lord Camilia’s face.
Seeing her nod in approval, Nashu’s courage surged even stronger.
Nashu stepped forward with determination.
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————