Chapter 168: Sacrificial Lamb

After getting some rest, I re-entered Floor 14 to organize the information.

This time, I went to the opposite pole.

And what was there?

Instead of a spaceship, there was some huge machine shaped like an ATM.

There was only a single button on it, so I pressed it, and a black screen turned on.

[Enter all the numbers that belong in the blank spaces within the time limit.]

[0:59]

Numbers appeared on a grid-patterned board on the screen.

‘This is...’

Sudoku.

The time limit was one minute.

I counted the given numbers, and there were seventeen.

Jesus... this fucking bastard.

I couldn’t help but laugh the moment I saw it.

I’d gone through a phase where I was into Sudoku myself, so I knew a bit about it, and seventeen was the minimum number of clues required for a Sudoku puzzle.

In other words, this was an absurdly difficult one.

And they were giving me just one minute to solve this shit.

Unless you got extremely lucky, solving this in under a minute with a human brain was practically impossible.

But who am I?

This kind of bullshit doesn’t work on me.

I stopped time and tried solving the Sudoku.

It was hard. It took quite a while, but I eventually filled in every blank.

[Correct]

Along with the correct-answer message, a three-digit number appeared on the screen.

[392]

So this really was where you got the passcode.

I continued the rest of the clear exactly as before.

I boarded the spaceship and once again made it through the asteroid field with some godlike driving.

This time, I entered the correct passcode and safely reached the destination without the spaceship exploding.

After finishing the clear and coming back out, I organized the information and posted it in the Communication Channel.

[Person123: This is the information for clearing Nightmare Floor 14.]

That took care of everything I needed to do.

Now all that remained was to wait for this new rule, Sacrificial Lamb, to begin.

“What kind of fucked-up shit are they going to pull this time...”

[‘Sacrificial Lamb’ will begin in 24 hours.]

[When the time comes, all Climbers on Floor 2 or higher will participate in a vote.]

[Time Remaining: 16 hours 11 minutes 54 seconds]

I had a bad feeling about this.

The very words Sacrificial Lamb sounded ominous.

The Qualification incident, Joint Battle, Treasure Hunt... and now this rule.

As I continued clearing Nightmare, the Tower’s rules kept throwing the world into chaos without giving it a moment to breathe.

But there was nothing I could do.

I had far too little time left. I couldn’t slow down my climbing pace.

Was enduring whatever came really the only thing I could do from now on?

...All I could do was hope that this one would end safely without anyone dying.

***

Nightmare Floors 13 and 14 had been cleared.

Person123’s relentless advance showed no sign of stopping.

[Lily: Damn, Floor 15 already?]

[BlackWolf: Straight from Floor 8 to clearing Floor 14 in less than two months. This is actually insane.]

[Leaf: At this rate Nightmare’s gonna catch up to Hard soon;]

[ScrapMetal: Feels like just yesterday we were holding our breath and praying for a clear every year... How many years has Nightmare’s Time Limit stacked up to now?]

[Pioneer: But it literally was just yesterday lolololol]

[Hoho: Person123 is a god! Person123 is a god! Person123 is a god! Person123 is a god! Person123 is a god!]

As always, people reacted with amazement and praise.

At the same time, there was also an atmosphere of concern about the Floor 14 rule.

After all, it had only been a week since Treasure Hunt caused massive casualties.

[Destruction: The Time Limit’s comfortable now, but these rules are the problem. Doesn’t it feel like the Tower’s malice keeps getting worse?]

[Daniel: It only ended with this much damage because it happened in America. Even the military probably couldn’t have killed a Stage 7 Fallen if there hadn’t been a Nightmare Floor 10 Climber.]

[Mosquito: The name Sacrificial Lamb alone is making me fucking nervous;]

[Croissant: Every day sure is eventful. What the hell are we voting on this time?]

[StarCluster: Everyone, please have at least some human conscience! Are rewards really that tempting?]

[Curd: We heard about the bomb during Treasure Hunt, remember? Just because you’re Climbers doesn’t mean you’re automatically safe. Whatever this is, ignoring it is the best choice.]

[Ball: If some bastard ignores Person123 again, I swear I’ll kill them myself.]

[Douglas: And who the hell are you? lol I should really fuck things up properly during this rule.]

[Bulldog: Douglas? Anyone know who this guy is? Guess I should report him to the Association, Security Corps, and Black Star Society all at once.]

[Pierrot: Douglas, I just whispered what you said to Person123. If someone knocks on your front door, just accept that your time has come.]

[Python: That idiot’s been trolling for a while and just rage-quit after getting scared lolol]

Time passed.

Just as before Treasure Hunt began, governments around the world and even the Association issued statements urging Climbers to remain united. Famous high-floor Climbers also stepped forward and posted messages in the Communication Channel.

[Time Remaining: 1 second]

And then the time ran out.

With the entire world watching, messages appeared before the Climbers’ eyes.

[‘Sacrificial Lamb’ has begun.]

[The highest-floor Climbers of each difficulty have been selected as ‘Sacrificial Lambs’ who will receive a penalty.]

[All Climbers on Floor 2 or higher may vote to determine the treatment of the Sacrificial Lamb for their corresponding difficulty.]

[The penalties each difficulty’s Sacrificial Lamb will receive are as follows.]

[Easy: Permanent decrease of 2 levels]

[Normal: Permanent decrease of 4 levels]

[Hard: Permanent decrease of 8 levels]

[Nightmare: Permanent decrease of 20 levels]

[Voting will begin with Easy Difficulty.]

[You may vote either ‘Approve’ or ‘Reject’.]

[If more people vote ‘Approve,’ the Sacrificial Lamb will receive the penalty.]

[If more people vote ‘Reject,’ the Sacrificial Lamb will not receive the penalty and will instead receive a level advantage equal to half the penalty.]

[However, if ‘Reject’ is chosen, all Climbers on Floor 2 or higher of that difficulty will receive half the penalty in place of the Sacrificial Lamb.]

[If you do not vote within the time limit, your vote will automatically be cast as ‘Approve’.]

[‘Climber’ has been selected as the Sacrificial Lamb of Easy Difficulty.]

[Easy Difficulty is currently voting.]

[Voting Time Remaining: 29 minutes 50 seconds]

.

.

.

An Approve-or-Reject vote had suddenly begun.

Just like during the Qualification incident, the highest-floor Climbers of each difficulty had once again been placed on the stage.

This time, however, they weren’t the ones being given a choice.

The Sacrificial Lambs referred to the highest-floor Climbers themselves.

[Mask: Holy shit, what the hell is this now?]

[SunWukong: So if we approve, the highest-floor Climber gets the penalty, and if we reject, everyone else gets the penalty...?]

[KimPark: That’s exactly two floors’ worth of levels.]

[Mallyu: So for Easy Difficulty, we’re choosing between the highest-floor Climber losing 2 levels, or every other Easy Climber losing 1 level?]

[SantaClaus: It says if we reject, the highest-floor Climber [N O V E L I G H T] actually gets an advantage instead, so I guess that means they gain 1 level.]

The rules were simple.

Either the highest-floor Climber alone received the penalty.

Or every other Climber received a penalty instead, while the highest-floor Climber actually received an advantage.

And every Climber on Floor 2 or higher had the right to vote.

- We’re being told that Easy Difficulty is currently voting. Bivan, India’s highest-floor Easy Difficulty Climber, has been selected as the Sacrificial Lamb, and if Easy Climbers choose Approve, he will receive a 2-level reduction penalty...

The news outlets hurriedly reported breaking news as well.

The Easy Communication Channel erupted into chaos.

[Bull: Are you fucking kidding me? Obviously you press Approve.]

[Tempamin: Every single Climber taking the penalty instead is insanely unbalanced, fuck lolol]

[Cell: All right, everyone, let’s vote Approve~]

[Aphrodite: Weren’t there three people tied for the highest floor in Easy? Sucks that he was the one who got picked.]

[Picasso: Just think of it as giving back the 2-level benefit you got thanks to Person123.]

Naturally.

The overwhelming majority intended to choose Approve.

Every other Climber receiving a penalty because of one highest-floor Climber?

Who in their right mind would choose something like that?

It was simply an absurd option.

The voting time was only thirty minutes, which wasn’t particularly long.

[Voting Time Remaining: 1 second]

The time passed quickly.

And the result for Easy Difficulty came out.

[Easy Difficulty voting has ended.]

[Voting Results]

Approve: 325,589 votes

Reject: 6 votes

[The Sacrificial Lamb of Easy Difficulty will receive the penalty.]

It was the obvious result.

And just like that, the highest-floor Easy Difficulty Climber was forced to take a level penalty like a bolt from the blue.

Next came Normal Difficulty.

[‘Freedom’ has been selected as the Sacrificial Lamb of Normal Difficulty.]

[Normal Difficulty is currently voting.]

The highest-floor Normal Difficulty Climber was the same person as during the Qualification incident. Gabriel from America.

[LeftHanded: Wow, Gabriel got picked.]

[Hwangdo: Karma from the Qualification incident hitting him properly now lol]

[Quattro: An 4-level reduction would be pretty damn brutal. Poor guy.]

Since he had already earned himself a bad reputation during the Qualification incident, hardly anyone sympathized with him.

[Normal Difficulty voting has ended.]

[Voting Results]

Approve: 141,963 votes

Reject: 2 votes

[The Sacrificial Lamb of Normal Difficulty will receive the penalty.]

Another completely unsurprising result.

Then came Hard Difficulty.

[‘Strength’ has been selected as the Sacrificial Lamb of Hard Difficulty.]

[Hard Difficulty is currently voting.]

The highest-floor Hard Difficulty Climber was also the same as during the Qualification incident. Dmitri from Russia.

The voting result was no different.

[Hard Difficulty voting has ended.]

[Voting Results]

Approve: 32,917 votes

Reject: 1 vote

[The Sacrificial Lamb of Hard Difficulty will receive the penalty.]

And so Hard Difficulty also ended with the highest-floor Climber receiving the penalty.

[‘Person123’ has been selected as the Sacrificial Lamb of Nightmare Difficulty.]

[Nightmare Difficulty is currently voting.]

Finally, it was Nightmare’s turn.

Naturally, Nightmare was what people were most interested in.

The Communication Channel stirred.

The other difficulties were one thing, but Nightmare...

[Dew: Hey, this... what are the Nightmare Climbers supposed to do?]

[MapleLeaf: Nightmare has to vote Reject; you can’t let Person123 take the penalty.]

[Salt: Isn’t a 20-level penalty way too fucking far?]

[QuickBelief: But if they vote Reject, every other Nightmare Climber loses 10 levels.]

[Orange: If a Nightmare Climber loses 10 levels, isn’t that basically a death sentence? They wouldn’t be able to challenge another floor.]

[Shield: What choice do they have? Are they supposed to let Person123 take the penalty?]

[NorthSouthEastWest: Even if everyone else has to sacrifice themselves, wouldn’t giving Person123 a 10-level advantage be the right choice?]

[DesertedIsland: Doesn’t matter what we say. The Nightmare Climbers are the ones choosing.]

[SteelWarrior: Still, won’t Approve probably get more votes?]

[Peacock: Fuck, I’m nervous... Why do I feel like Reject is gonna win?]

[BlueWhiteStonePillar: Person123, say something! Why aren’t you saying anything!]

[Soul: I genuinely have no idea how this is gonna turn out.]

The entire world buzzed as the final Nightmare vote approached.

[Voting Time Remaining: 15 minutes 26 seconds]

Time passed.

***

[‘Sacrificial Lamb’ has begun.]

[The highest-floor Climbers of each difficulty have been selected as ‘Sacrificial Lambs’ who will receive a penalty.]

.

.

The messages appeared when the time came.

“Huh.”

...So this was what it was.

After reading through the entire explanation, I let out a sigh.

Thankfully, this time it wasn’t a rule that would get people killed.

Instead, the highest-floor Climbers would receive level penalties.

Now they were just throwing penalties at us out of nowhere? What the hell.

It was absurdly unfair.

I sat on the edge of my bed and watched how things unfolded.

The voting began with Easy Difficulty.

Naturally, the result was an overwhelming Approve.

Either one highest-floor Climber took the penalty, or every other Climber except them took the penalty instead.

No sane person was going to choose the latter.

Normal and Hard ended the same way.

All three highest-floor Climbers ended up receiving level penalties equivalent to two floors.

[‘Person123’ has been selected as the Sacrificial Lamb of Nightmare Difficulty.]

[Nightmare Difficulty is currently voting.]

[Vote either Approve or Reject.]

And finally, it was my turn.

I sighed.

A 20-level reduction penalty.

It would hurt quite a bit, but it wasn’t enough to call it fatal.

I had levels I’d gained from hidden rewards too.

But the situation was completely different for the other Nightmare Climbers.

Except for Taylor and Ye Cheon-wi, all of them were on Floor 4 or lower.

For them, a permanent 10-level reduction was practically the same as being forced to give up climbing entirely.

They would have to challenge Floor 2 while being no different from ordinary people, Floor 3 at Level 10, and Floor 4 at Level 20...

The existing Nightmare Climbers would no longer be able to continue challenging the Tower.

Even for Ye Cheon-wi and Taylor, who had reached around Level 90, it would probably be devastating.

...I honestly didn’t know.

Which choice was right.

No, logically, I knew.

Coldly speaking, rather than me taking a 20-level penalty, it made more sense for the other Nightmare Climbers, whose chances of ever reaching as high as me were practically zero anyway, to make the sacrifice.

But they must have had their own goals and convictions too.

That was why they had been willing to throw their lives into Nightmare Difficulty despite its survival rate being practically zero.

There was absolutely no obligation for every one of them to sacrifice themselves for me.

[Nightmare (26)]

Twenty-six Nightmare Climbers in total.

I didn’t check the Communication Channel.

I decided to do nothing and simply wait.

I honestly had no idea whether Approve or Reject would receive more votes.

Whatever the result was, I would accept the choice they made.

And then...

[Voting Time Remaining: 1 second]

[You did not vote within the time limit, so your vote was automatically cast as ‘Approve’.]

[Nightmare Difficulty voting has ended.]

“...”

When I saw the result.

I was left completely speechless.

[Voting Results]

Approve: 1 vote

Reject: 25 votes

[The Sacrificial Lamb of Nightmare Difficulty will receive a level advantage.]

[The Climbers of that difficulty will receive half the penalty in place of the Sacrificial Lamb.]

[Your level has increased.]

[Your level has increased.]

[Your level has increased.]

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