Chapter 234: Sixty-Second Floor, Chamber of Agony (2)

[Escape the Chamber of Agony. Time remaining: 14 minutes 28 seconds.]

I remained seated at the base of the wall for a while, dazed. It wasn’t that I was disheartened or had given up, but I needed time to think.

Hmmm.

I considered various possibilities in my head, but nothing seemed quite right.

Maybe I should get up now?

Shifting to lift myself caused the sand and dust that had accumulated on my shoulders to trickle down.

“Damn it.”

How powerful was the rebound?

The force behind the impact had come from my attack, but the iron door had somehow stored it before unleashing it back at me. I turned my head to look back at the earthen wall.

An imprint that perfectly outlined my figure was deeply embedded in it. The tower definitely didn’t want anyone to attack the iron door if it was trapped like this.

Well, I handled the impact, at least.

I twisted my neck side to side, shaking off my stiffness. Debris that had caught in my hair was now trickling inside my shirt along my neckline.

Bleh. This scratchy feeling is quite uncomfortable.

Lifting my hand, I dusted off my clothes before walking towards the iron door.

Fourteen minutes and three seconds left. I guess I have enough time to start from scratch.

Much like I had tried before, I pushed on the door, then sent Master of Shadows into anything that looked like a crack or crevice. Wondering if it was a sliding door, I tried to shift it every which way, but as expected, nothing changed.

If I attack the door, it will rebound just like before. Best not to test that again.

Considering that the wall hadn’t launched me when I hit it, it didn’t seem to have the same ability, though.

I stepped aside and imbued my axe with Aura, then struck the earthen wall forcefully.

Bang!

The wall slightly crumbled, but unlike the iron door, it didn’t repel the attack.

Hitting the walls seems safe, for now.

Feeling reassured, I began tapping more aggressively along the wall with my axe from the bottom up.

Awareness didn’t catch anything, but there could still be something hidden that could evade my skill’s detection, like in Kyuntriachae fortress.

[Escape the Chamber of Agony. Time remaining: 13 minutes 38 seconds.]

Time was running out, so I used Flash Strike.

Tap, tap—

Starting to the left of the door, I slowly circled the room again, meticulously investigating every square inch with my more thorough approach.

Only twelve minutes left now.

The second scan only reinforced my opinion that there weren’t any hidden spaces behind the wall. It was just dirt. I didn’t sense anything break or activate, either.

I then spend another forty seconds banging lightly against the floor and ceiling.

Hoping that hidden writings or questions would appear if the light went out, I covered the magic stone on the ceiling with shadows.

Of course, nothing happened.

Ah, fuck.

A deep, uncontrollable sigh emanated from deep within me.

I only had twelve minutes left now. Although Flash Strike would extend how much I could process in that time, that would only matter if I could find any more clues.

The only item left in this room that I hadn’t thoroughly examined or tried to hit was the lightbulb-like magic stone on the ceiling.

My only source of light.

Personally, I didn’t think it would contain anything, and I didn’t really want to eliminate my only light source.

Even after checking it with mana and turning it around, it didn’t change.

However, breaking it started seeming like my only option. I felt skeptical, but one could never know until they tried. I took a step forward.

Alright, I am just going to smash it.

Quickly launching a blade of Aura, I split the magic stone embedded in the ceiling.

Crack—

Everything went pitch black, and the slight clattering of fragments falling to the floor was all I could hear.

Silence settled over the room.

Maybe...?

Although nothing had appeared when I covered the light with congealed shadows, I wondered if this time would be different. I hastily looked around the room.

However, as had been the case so far, everything remained the same. It was dark all around, and I was the only thing moving.

Wait a minute.

The space where the magic stone was! Is there something there?

Conjuring lightning as an impromptu flashlight, I found a fist-sized cavity in the ceiling. Nothing was inside, though.

I leaped up, using my shoes to keep myself afloat, before pressing here and there, hitting the cavity with my gauntlet, and infusing mana into the cavity.

Nothing. Always nothing.

I quietly descended to the floor.

“

Hmm.

”

The constant failures were beginning to weigh on me, and I felt myself growing irritated and anxious, but not all was lost. Ha Hee-Jeong had shared a couple more tips that I could use, and I could draw on my previous experiences in the tower.

One floor that came to mind was the eighth. Though it had seemed like it was simply pitting climbers against each other, in reality, breaking the illusion was what the climbers needed to do. Killing the Skill Thief Gremlin had been one of the solutions

This situation could be the same.

Although Awareness hadn’t alerted me of any living presences, enemies at this point in the tower could have specialized and unique skills. It wasn’t impossible for something to evade my detection.

I stood in the center of the room and shot lightning in all directions. The dark room lit up instantly.

Crackle—

Just like the eighth floor, but to a much more terrifying degree, lightning bolts tore throughout the room.

Bang!

Other than an explosion caused by the iron door repelling a bolt, I didn’t sense any difference.

There goes that hypothesis.

Next, I thought of Rotace’s Hospital. Similar to the gremlin, it had utilized illusions to misdirect climbers. Although I had Illusion Resistance, it wasn’t a high enough level for me to feel confident in it.

Perhaps I could have failed to detect an illusion.

Detecting illusions is straightforward but challenging.

I had to completely trust my instincts. Without recognizing even the slightest discrepancy, unraveling an illusion was impossible.

In this aspect, well-crafted illusions were notably deceptive. Even Ha Hee-Jeong had failed to discern the illusion Rotace had created.

Well, this area doesn’t really seem like an illusion, but...

I shut my eyes and amplified my sensory perception to its limit, casting mana across the room. Focusing intensely, I attentively monitored every shift and surge of mana. Identifying even a single anomaly could allow me to shatter the illusion.

Ugh.

However, I sensed nothing. I could have overlooked something, but this room most likely wasn’t an illusion.

Once again stuck, I decided to scrutinize the door again. A vivid arc of lightning provided me more than enough light to do this.

The sturdy and steadfast iron door.

Suddenly, an intriguing idea occurred to me.

There aren’t any clues or apparent solutions. Will it just open if I knock on it?

It seemed improbable, but no other solutions had presented themselves. The door's rebounding ability could be a hint toward this.

Avoid attacking; approach it purely.

I had concocted this idea myself, yet it still seemed somewhat unbelievable.

If this really works, I am a genius.

Of course, my intuition in this case was inexplicable.

Feeling unreasonably confident, I approached the looming iron door. I cautiously raised my gauntlet and made a mental note to myself.

I am not attempting to destroy this door. I am merely knocking on it to alert the individual on the other side.

Just in case, I deactivated Flash Strike.

Thunk thunk—

My knocks resounded dully, but the iron door didn’t retaliate.

Is this truly the solution?

Expectation grew within me. There was no immediate reaction, but I waited briefly.

[Escape the Chamber of Agony. Time remaining: 10 minutes 31 seconds.]

Even after waiting ten seconds, nothing changed. Yet it still felt correct.

I knocked on the iron door once more.

Thunk—Thunk—

𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

[Escape the Chamber of Agony. Time remaining: 10 minutes 13 seconds.]

Again, the door didn’t react.

I feel like such an idiot. As if merely knocking on the door would open it. Why did I feel so certain about it, though? Did I start spacing out from the lack of progress?

I exhaled softly and stepped back.

[Escape the Chamber of Agony. Time remaining: 10 minutes 0 seconds.]

Now that it had come to it, I prepared myself to begin excavating through the wall. After buying a shovel on Ha Hee-Jeong’s suggestion before the treasure chest floor, I kept it in my mimic in case of an emergency.

Thankfully, even if digging through the wall would take a long time, Flash Strike would speed up my progress significantly.

I tapped on Mung-chi. Luckily, my mimic wasn’t asleep or unable to communicate, unlike Ryun. “Mung-chi, the shovel.”

As the shovel appeared at my waistline, another brilliant idea struck me.

Can Mung-chi just consume the iron door?

It seemed far-fetched, but not completely out of the question. “Mung-chi, care to try eating that iron door?”

“Keeit!?”

“That iron door right in front of you. Can you swallow it?”

Mung-chi, showing only its face, vigorously shook its head, signifying impossibility.

“Keeit! Keeit!”

I refused to let it off without an attempt, so I pressed it, “Who knows? Let’s just try.”

It stared silently at me before letting out a reluctant,

“Keeit!”

Mung-chi couldn’t deny my request. Despite its objections, a pitch-black shadow approached the iron door.

Thud—!

Recoiled forcefully, Mung-chi’s collection of shadow wobbled backward. Then, it pitifully cried out, “

Keeit! Keeit!

”

“Oh, um. Sorry.”

Well, I had anticipated this to some extent. I decided to let the matter drop, and raised the shovel.

Yes, just dig through.

Unfortunately, the moment I inserted the shovel into the wall—

[Digging through the earthen wall is prohibited. Repeated actions will lead to a trial failure.]

Even though I had known that breaking through the wall wouldn’t be the intended solution, defiance welled up within me.

It should have specified that from the start! Jerk. Also, where are the clues? Why can’t they just provide clues?

The timer had already passed the halfway point.

Even still, my instincts hadn’t hinted toward anything substantial. They usually only alerted me to incoming danger, but they had sometimes alerted me to hidden secrets.

Damn it.

I collapsed onto the floor.

Obviously, I hadn't surrendered. If I were the type to give up over such trivial matters, I wouldn't have reached the sixty-second floor.

Having consumed half of the allotted time, I kept Flash Strike active as I attempted to clear my mind.

I had probably wandered down the wrong path, entrenched in the idea that there had to be a clue.

“Hmm.”

Whether it was because I was seated or because it was dark, a sense of ease enveloped me.

Or maybe one of my skills is activating?

Both Clarity of Mind and Scientist Do’s Composure would help me avoid becoming overly flustered, but they could also have additional effects.

I should try and think outside of the box.

Well, what should I start with?

Since the sixty-first floor was the latest thing I had experienced, it was the first thing that came to mind.

Natalie had invited me to visit, but it hadn’t been long since we parted, so I hadn’t planned to visit her yet. Although I had grown fond of Natalie, we had only met the one time.

Maybe our friendship would grow later on, but definitely not now. I didn’t feel the urge to make time for her just yet.

Time was usually a scarce resource for climbers, and other than a couple of waiting rooms, any downtime should be spent training.

Come to think of it, I was able to find a hidden mission on the last floor thanks to its title.

The eighth floor had been similar, along with too many other examples. Not this time, unfortunately.

Wait...

Feeling foolish, I couldn’t help but chuckle.

“

Haha

.”

Fucking hell. I feel so dumb. I misinterpreted the floor’s name!