Chapter 135: Joint Battle (1)

After Floor 8 of Nightmare difficulty was cleared, Person123 began moving like an absolute whirlwind.

He rescued every last person trapped in the Isolation Zones, then cleared Floor 9 only a few days later.

And most recently, he killed the Zone 5 boss.

[Matthew: How the hell did Person123 even pull that off? I mean the Zone 5 gauge.]

[Icarus: I heard he filled the entire 15% gauge in only ten minutes?]

[Dawn: But are we sure it was actually Person123?]

[Baguette: Circumstantially, yeah. Who else could it have been]

[SelfDefense: I’m not a Floor 5 climber so I don’t really get it, is that such a big deal?]

[Wallaby: it’s not a “big deal”, it just straight-up makes no sense;]

[EndOfTheWorld: We’re talking about hunting at least several thousand monsters solo. In ten minutes!]

[Kyrie: And Zone 5, no less. Hardly anyone’s even set foot in there, but those who know, know. With that fog, killing even one monster takes forever.]

[Oxygen: According to a Security Corps member who was out hunting, there was a flash of light, lightning came crashing down, and then the monsters were just dead]

[Spring: what even is that lmaooo is this a myth or something?]

[Luwob: is Person123 seriously turning into a god...]

Taking on all nine penalties during the Isolation Zones had already been absurd enough.

But Person123 kept accomplishing feats that strayed further and further beyond the bounds of common sense.

He had always been extraordinary, but lately it was becoming downright extreme.

“Recently, for the first time ever, the Nightmare Time Limit was extended to two years.”

“That’s right. Thanks to Person123 clearing Floors 8 and 9 back to back. A truly joyous occasion for humanity.”

The broadcast media barely had time to breathe either.

Anything involving Person123 was already a guaranteed ratings cheat code, no matter how shamelessly they milked it.

And lately, fresh stories had been pouring in one after another.

The moment they tried to put together one special, another bombshell would drop. They were so busy they could barely keep up.

“Now, moving on to our main topic. Person123 declared that he would be clearing Nightmare at a much faster pace from here on out, correct?”

“Yes. But Floor 9 was fast. Far too fast. Who could possibly have imagined it?”

The podcast show, The Jude Noise.

Today’s guest was the renowned psychologist Richard.

It was a special episode devoted to analyzing Person123’s psychology in light of his recent actions.

They went all the way back to the beginning, tracing the changes in Person123’s state of mind from his very first challenge on Floor 1.

“Everyone knows perfectly well that Person123 is an extraordinarily altruistic and self-sacrificing individual.”

“A great man the likes of whom history may never see again.”

“Indeed. But personally, I don’t believe those traits were especially pronounced at the beginning.”

“I see. What exactly do you mean by that?”

“Let’s think back to Floor 1. Person123 only succeeded in clearing Floor 1 when there were mere hours left on the Nightmare Time Limit, with the end of the world practically upon us.

“The remaining Nightmare Climbers must have been in terrible anguish. Should they attempt the floor themselves? Should they wait and hope someone else succeeded before time ran out? Or, since the world was ending anyway, should they simply remain where they were and die rather than face some horrific death inside the Tower...

“Given how late the clear came, Person123 was likely no different. There’s a strong chance that, mentally speaking, he too was closer to an ordinary person than some born superhuman.”

Richard raised two fingers.

“Next, what about Floor 2? Jackal, the second Nightmare clearer, declared in the Communication Channel that he would challenge it first, effectively provoking Person123.

“Person123 didn’t stop him. In fact, he encouraged him. My guess is that, up until that point, Person123 still held onto the hope that someone else might clear Nightmare in his place.”

“I see. So Person123 was afraid of clearing Nightmare too?”

“Who wouldn’t be? Fear of the unknown is one of humanity’s most primal terrors.

“These days, Person123 freely publishes every detail about Nightmare, so people tend to forget this, but a first clear means throwing yourself naked against the unknown again and again. Unless something is seriously wrong with a person’s brain, there is no way they could feel no fear.”

Richard lightly waved the two raised fingers.

“I believe Floor 2 was the point when Person123’s resolve finally hardened.”

“His resolve, meaning...?”

“What happened before Floor 3 was cleared?”

Jude thought for a moment before answering.

“Person123 officially declared that he would clear it within twenty days, didn’t he?”

“Correct. With the death of the second Nightmare clearer, and with Person123 clearing Nightmare once again—Floor 2 immediately after Floor 1—I suspect he arrived at a certain conviction.

“That no one but him could clear Nightmare difficulty.”

Jude nodded.

“Which, as it turns out, was true.”

“Yes. And I believe that was the moment Person123’s identity as humanity’s savior truly awakened. He had come to understand that he alone was capable of saving mankind.”

Richard rested his clasped hands on one knee.

“From then on, his actions were nothing short of extraordinary. Heroic, even.

“On Floor 4, he willingly took on a lethal penalty for the sake of a small number of people. He cleared every last Sub-Tower scattered across the world. And at the Masked Auction, he gave up all the rewards and stopped the climbers’ rampage for the sake of ordinary people.

“The public was ecstatic. They sang his praises. And yet, I felt a certain sadness for him—for Person123. Because, as I said, if you look back at his early days, up through Floor 2...”

“Because Person123 was originally just an ordinary person, no different from the rest of us... Is that what you mean?”

“Exactly. A human being who feared the Tower just as much as anyone else, who wanted to climb it no more than anyone else, and yet chose to shoulder everything for humanity’s sake.”

Richard gave a faint smile.

“Though saying things like this does make me slightly nervous about the Person123 Church.”

“Haha, speak freely. That’s the whole point of this show.”

“Precisely because Person123 is not a god but an ordinary human being, I found him all the more sublime. The human being called Person123, who endures all that fear and pain and still continues down that path...”

Halfway through the sentence, Richard gave a short, rueful laugh and shook his head.

“Yes. That’s what I used to think. Until quite recently.”

“Hm? Are you saying you no longer think so?”

“It’s less that I no longer think so and more that... I simply don’t know anymore. Not after seeing his recent behavior.”

Richard’s expression grew slightly tense.

“How did Person123 confront a boss of his own level after losing almost all of his Climber power? And how in the world did he wipe out thousands of Zone 5 monsters in only a few dozen minutes?”

“Well...”

“And why was Floor 9 cleared so quickly? Yes, he nearly ran out of time on Floor 8, but still... only a matter of days?”

Richard let out a quiet sigh.

“Does clearing Nightmare even frighten him anymore? All this time, I believed I understood the human being known as Person123, at least to some degree. But now, I can no longer presume to fathom him.

“Perhaps Person123 really has become some kind of transcendent being... To be perfectly frank, lately even that thought has crossed my mind.”

Jude sighed as well and nodded.

“It’s true that Person123’s current pace could almost be called a rampage. He did say he intended to speed up his Nightmare clears, but surely he won’t clear Floor 10 within a few days as well...”

Just then, a staff member hurried over.

“We just received word that Nightmare Floor 10 has been cleared!”

“...”

Both men fell silent.

After several seconds of stunned silence, Richard closed his eyes and murmured,

“Dear God.”

Floor 10, cleared.

Yet another Nightmare clear within only a matter of days.

The world was turned upside down once again.

[Pablo: ??? what even is this]

[BlackHole: insane, ANOTHER clear?]

[Angel: no way... wow...]

[RedDragon: Person123! Person123! Person123! Person123! Person123! Person123! Person123! Person123! Person123! Person123!]

[KimchiFriedRice: God exists, and He resides in the Republic of Korea]

The Nightmare Time Limit had been extended to three years!

Floor 10 was cleared before people had even finished celebrating Floor 9.

At this point, everyone was simply dumbfounded.

[Comet: Is he planning to keep clearing at this pace?]

[Penicillin: dude... this might actually, for real...]

Until now, every time the Time Limit dwindled, humanity had been locked in a desperate struggle just to gain one more year.

Because of that, no one had ever seriously entertained the idea of an ‘end’.

But if Person123 continued tearing through Nightmare at this breakneck pace...

Could he really clear the Tower all the way to the top?

Some people began to hope.

Others worried that Person123 was pushing himself too hard.

But there was one thing no one knew.

The real reason he was rushing through Nightmare at such a frantic pace.

The world simply rejoiced that the Nightmare Time Limit had once again been extended—this time to three years.

***

Until the Floor 10 rule, the Joint Battle, began, I used Pankera’s Crown to explore the Mental World a little more.

“Ngh.”

Focusing hard, I tried to reshape the space into a city.

But the buildings and streets materialized like some low-resolution image, nowhere near as detailed as reality.

“This isn’t easy.”

The Mental World was essentially like being inside a dream, so I could manipulate it however I wanted.

But that didn’t mean everything would turn out exactly the way I pictured it.

Simple things, like conjuring basic objects or changing the color of the surroundings, were easy enough...

But reproducing an entire real-world environment around me was another matter entirely.

The crude city I’d created suddenly transformed into a kingdom buried beneath a raging blizzard.

The Demon King’s doing.

I sat on the roof of the palace and looked down at the people living and moving throughout the city below.

The world the Demon King had manifested was as detailed as reality itself.

There was simply no comparison between his creation and mine.

“How do you do this, Demon King? I can barely make proper buildings, let alone people.”

The Demon King, standing beside me, puffed himself up proudly.

“Such is the difference in our caliber.”

Well, the difference really was enormous...

Maybe I’d be able to do something similar if I practiced enough?

I jumped down from the roof.

Immediately, knights patrolling the palace spotted me and came charging.

“Intruder! Seize him!”

Oh, come on.

It didn’t have to be this realistic.

Laughing in disbelief, I vaulted over the palace wall and fled into the city streets.

‘Wait. What happens if I stop time in here?’

The thought suddenly occurred to me as I ran through the crowd.

So I tried stopping time.

“...”

But the people around me kept moving as if nothing had happened.

Hm.

So time stop didn’t work here.

The Mental World was technically inside my own mind, and my mind continued functioning even while time was stopped, so...

Wait.

Huh?

‘Then what happened outside?’