Chapter 98: Nightmare, 7th Floor (5)

[Floor 7 has been cleared on every difficulty.]

[The Tower is calling for new participants.]

I was transported to the Reward Room.

My frozen, shattered body immediately began to heal.

The frost melted away, and the severed halves of my body drew themselves back together as though time were being reversed. Flesh fused, bones rejoined, and everything regenerated in an instant.

The Demon King rose to his feet.

I spoke in genuine admiration.

‘...You’re pretty impressive, Demon King.’

Even so, I hadn’t expected him to clear the floor so effortlessly.

The Demon King scoffed.

“Such a commotion over something so trivial. I did not use even a fraction of my true power.”

Right.

Whatever he said, the Demon King had carried me through that fight.

‘Demon King.’

“...”

‘You have to give my body back now.’

“Tch.”

He looked thoroughly reluctant to relinquish control so obediently.

Still, he didn’t stubbornly refuse.

A moment later, control of my body returned to me.

It wasn’t as though I lost all sensation while the Demon King was in control, but the experience came with a strange feeling of weightlessness, as though I had been cut loose from my own body.

I turned my attention to the reward.

A violet skill stone rested before me.

Epic grade.

It seemed that around Floor 7, epic-grade rewards began appearing even without clearing a hidden route.

I examined the skill description.

[Skill: Hellfire Eruption (Epic)]

Erupts a powerful pillar of hellfire within a 20-meter radius. Requires 30 to 150 seconds of Mental Concentration before activation. The longer the concentration period, the greater the skill’s power and range.

Type: Magic

Willpower Cost: 700

Cooldown: 2 minutes

“Oh.”

A magic-type skill.

Better yet, it was fire-based.

Thanks to the Zone 3 boss bracelet and my fire-type passive, fire magic was by far the most efficient option whenever I had a choice.

Its power received an enormous boost.

And judging from the description...

Was this another charge-type skill, similar to Destruction Ray?

[You have acquired ‘Skill: Hellfire Eruption (Epic).’]

With “hellfire” in the name, I had high expectations for its destructive power.

It would undoubtedly be weaker than Destruction Ray, but I had still gained another high-powered, nuke-type skill.

Perhaps because the reward was an epic-grade skill, there was nothing else.

Still, the skill itself was excellent, so I was satisfied.

[Difficulty: Nightmare]

[Floor: 8]

[Level: 95]

[Willpower: 5,000/5,000]

[Skills: Destruction Ray (Epic+), Subspace (Epic), Hellfire Eruption (Epic), Sixth Sense (Rare+) (+3), Teleportation (Rare+), Rapid Regeneration (Rare+), Scorching Zone (Rare+), Fire-Type Low-Tier Mastery (Rare+)...]

[Nightmare]

Participants: 575,092

Time Limit: 1 year, 20 days, 15 hours, 4 minutes, 16 seconds

Highest Floor Reached: 8

I checked my status window and confirmed that the time limit had been extended.

Relief washed over me at the knowledge that I had overcome yet another hurdle, and I let out a long breath.

Clearing Floor 7 had been brutal too.

If the Demon King hadn’t stepped in at the end, I truly might have failed.

‘...But is it really all right to clear it like this?’

It felt as though I had cheated.

According to the Tower’s own earlier message, the Demon King was some kind of error.

That was why it had attempted to eliminate him under the pretext of correcting that error.

The attempt seemed to have failed because I had stopped time.

Then why was the Tower remaining silent now, even after I had so blatantly cleared the floor using the Demon King’s power?

Or had it simply lost the ability to interfere?

There was no way to reach an answer just by thinking about it, so I let the matter drop.

Whatever.

I cleared the floor.

That was all that mattered.

All’s well that ends well.

“Anyway, thank you, Demon King.”

– If you are truly grateful, then—

“Ugh, I’m exhausted. I should leave and get some rest.”

There was plenty I wanted to ask him about the power he had displayed.

But I was tired.

I had worked hard enough.

For now, I was going to rest.

***

As humanity entered the twenty-first century—or perhaps for however much of human history still remained—the number twenty became the most symbolic number of all.

On the twentieth day of every year, officially designated by the United Nations as the ‘Day of Destiny’, people across the world prayed with all their hearts.

They prayed for one man to succeed.

[FireAnt: Everyone praying properly?]

[Shane: I’m shaking. I’m seriously shaking. Please, please, just one more time! Person123!]

[Kalguksu: He’s obviously going to succeed, so what’s there to be nervous about? I don’t even flinch when the twentieth comes around anymore. Honestly, it almost makes me laugh lol]

[Emperor: Shut up and pray quietly, old man.]

[Lexidre: Just believe, you unbelievers. Failure does not exist upon the path of salvation He walks.]

[Firepower: But isn’t the Tower making an offer this time? There hasn’t been any global notification.]

It wasn’t only the news channels.

Countless talk shows also became especially lively during this period each year.

“So, Arlo, what do you think will happen with Nightmare Floor 7?”

The podcast was called ‘The Jude Noise’.

Its host, Jude, asked the man seated across from him with a smile.

The guest was Arlo, now making his third regular appearance.

He was a Doomist who had once insisted that Person123 would eventually fail and that the world would come to an end.

Despite enduring every variety of ridicule and public humiliation, he had always maintained his pessimistic position without wavering.

“It will succeed.”

Arlo answered with absolute certainty.

But that unwavering pessimism now belonged to the past.

Ever since the clear of Nightmare Floor 4, his position had slowly begun to change.

“Oh? What a surprise. So even you’ve changed your mind, Arlo?”

“Don’t tease me, Jude. Though I suppose that is precisely why you’ve invited me back for a third time.”

Jude burst into laughter.

“You’re right.”

“My thinking has completely changed.”

“What caused such a dramatic change of heart?”

“I remember appearing on this program some time ago and saying something along these lines: Nightmare is like a sixty-sided die, and I do not wish to keep expecting it to land on sixty again and again.”

Jude nodded.

“You did say that. I remember.”

“And how many times has it landed on sixty now?”

“Nightmare has been cleared through Floor 6, so... five times, I suppose.”

“Exactly. Can we still call that coincidence?”

Arlo chuckled and shook his head.

“At this point, everyone has no choice but to acknowledge how extraordinary Person123 is. He is not a product of coincidence or good fortune. He is a singular, exceptional outcome.

“I once said that miracles could not occur again and again. But I was mistaken. The miracle is not that each floor of Nightmare is cleared.

“The miracle is that he exists at all.

“His very existence is a miracle granted to humanity.”

“Your position truly has reversed completely.”

“Hasn’t the evidence been laid bare before us? Year after year, Person123 conquers Nightmare. He is the only one capable of doing so. Even Spain’s Alejandro, who attracted worldwide attention by clearing Nightmare at record speed, was unable to overcome the barrier of achieving the first clear.”

Arlo grew increasingly impassioned as he spoke.

“Ever since Person123 established that deadline on the twentieth day, the world—once consumed by chaos—has stabilized to an astonishing degree with every passing year. Crime rates have plummeted, and countless social problems have been resolved.

“All of us can feel the change in the atmosphere. Now, even as the Nightmare deadline approaches, those who cling to hope vastly outnumber those who surrender to despair.

“Is that not extraordinary?”

Doomists still existed, of course.

Some believed Person123 would inevitably fail one day.

There were even religious groups that regarded the Tower as God’s judgment and worshipped the Tower itself as a deity.

But compared to the early days after the Tower first appeared, such people had become a small minority.

Far more people now held on to the hope that they would continue living.

It was all because Person123, through his overwhelming abilities and selfless actions devoted entirely to preserving world peace, had given humanity something to believe in.

“It truly is extraordinary. I agree with you completely.”

Jude pointed toward the rosary-like bracelet around Arlo’s wrist.

“Come to think of it, Arlo, there’s something I’ve been wondering for a while now. Isn’t that bracelet the symbol of the Person123 Church?”

Arlo raised his wrist with a slightly embarrassed smile.

“That’s right. I joined as well.”

“Haha. So you’ve become a devout believer now.”

“Well, it isn’t an organization with much of a traditional religious character. To be honest, I sometimes find myself wondering whether every human being ought to join.”

Following the scandal surrounding the Religion of the Heavenly One in Korea, religious organizations associated with Person123 had briefly suffered a decline in credibility.

However, those organizations had been underground cults through and through.

The Salvation Faith, from which the Person123 Church had originated, continued to expand even now.

Its following grew larger by the day.

“I believe in him. I believe that humanity’s miracle will grant us another year of life. This year will be no different.”

Meanwhile, in Times Square, New York City.

With only fifteen hours remaining until Nightmare’s twentieth-day deadline, a vast crowd had already gathered.

Some had come with light hearts simply to pray for success.

Members of the Person123 Church prayed with solemn devotion.

Reporters moved through the crowd, filming interviews and capturing the atmosphere.

As the square grew more crowded with every passing hour, several people suddenly shouted.

“...He did it!”

“Floor 7 has been cleared! Whooooo!”

The cries of the climbers who had seen the notification first acted like the firing of a starting pistol.

The crowd packed into the square erupted in a deafening roar.

People cheered, embraced one another, and threw their arms around the shoulders of complete strangers.

The floor had been cleared much earlier than the previous ones.

This year, people had barely even had time to grow anxious.

[Jeomsu: We get to live another year! I knew it! Dammiiiit!]

[Hedgehog: Ahh... thank you for saving humanity again this year.]

[Dayoung: Honestly, it feels like a foregone conclusion now lol]

[Snowman: That’s what I’ve been saying. You just believe and wait. That’s all.]

[Gugu: One person is literally holding up the entire world.]

Seven floors.

Person123 did not know failure.

With every new Nightmare floor he conquered, people’s faith in him grew stronger.

But for how many more years would this moment of joy continue to return?

No one knew.

***

– Once again this year, Person123 has saved humanity. Reports indicate that Floor 7 of Nightmare difficulty was cleared at approximately five o’clock this morning...

Kim Seo-a, who had woken late that morning, stared at the news in surprise.

While she had been asleep, Nightmare Floor 7 had been cleared during the early hours.

The previous attempt on Floor 6 had taken place during the daytime and had been completed earlier than the floors before it.

Floor 7 had also been cleared unusually early.

“Haah...”

So the world wouldn’t end this year either.

Her heart still pounding, Kim Seo-a let out a deep sigh of relief.

Click.

The door opened, and Kim Seo-hyeon emerged into the living room.

Kim Seo-a spoke excitedly.

“Floor 7 was cleared!”

“Yeah. I saw.”

Made it through another year.

Kim Seo-hyeon muttered the words while glancing toward the television screen.

Then he walked into the kitchen, drank a glass of water, and immediately returned to his room.

His reaction was as flat and indifferent as ever.

Kim Seo-a had never once seen Kim Seo-hyeon look happy upon hearing that Nightmare had been cleared.

“...”

Come to think of it, they had missed the moment again.

This year, she had planned for the entire family—including Kim Seo-hyeon, with no one left out—to gather in the living room and pray together for the Nightmare clear.

But somehow, whenever Nightmare was cleared, Kim Seo-hyeon was always either out of the house or asleep in the early hours of the morning.

Surely it was only a coincidence.

It had to be.

And yet...

Kim Seo-a stared intently at the closed door of Kim Seo-hyeon’s room.