kscans

Chapter 82 - The Spiral Crimson Tower

One hour has passed since I triumphantly set foot into the [Spiral Crimson Tower]. I'd like to share my results from the start of the challenge until now.

Number of deaths: 100
Average survival time: about 5 seconds
Number of enemies defeated: 0

“This game is bullshit.”

Spitting out the words, I threw my body onto the floor. My cheek scraped against the rough, unforgiving rock as I embodied pure emptiness.

I honestly wasn't underestimating it—I wasn't mentally complacent or anything. In fact, it's no exaggeration to say I went in with the same resolve I had when facing off against calamitous beings like the ‘White Throne’ or the ‘Scion of Dust.’

But the sheer absurdity that this “absurdly brutal” dungeon, as my informant called it, threw at me went beyond my expectations, blasting through them and flying into another dimension entirely. It left me speechless.

There are some high-difficulty games out there, whether intentionally or due to a miscalculation in difficulty adjustment, that make you think, “They don’t want you to clear this,” or that get hyped up for both good and bad reasons. After my first attempt, which was like a death-speedrun where I got obliterated two seconds after stepping through the entrance, I felt the same way.

There’s no way they expect anyone to clear this legit.

“But still… even with this garbage difficulty, there seems to be a way, which just fuels my desire to conquer it. That’s the quality of a god-tier game, I guess.”

After a few dozen seconds of sulking, I bid farewell to my pouty pose and sprang back up with a nimbleness that would make a fish flopping on land look clumsy.

My post-respec stats feel great. The beefed-up STR seems to be working wonders, adding a sense of stability to my initial acceleration and braking. So, in terms of my avatar's condition, it’s undoubtedly the best it’s ever been.

The reason I've racked up a laughable number of game overs is simply because the design of this [Spiral Crimson Tower] is insane.

Still, to be crushed so thoroughly in my area of expertise on the very first day of my official field debut… those damn rabbits. They’ve definitely poured all their status points into agility, just like some AGI-freak I know.

Based on my initial observation, where I could just barely see them, their simple speed, without even considering skill-based acceleration, probably surpassed my own previous top speed.

That means their estimated AGI is over 500. Haha, maybe they should consider balancing their stats a little better?

“But still…”

I understood what Kagura-san meant. This dungeon is indeed an ideal training ground that will “be beneficial for me” in terms of mastering avatar control.

It requires speed, but sloppy speed won't get you through. For someone like me, who has developed a somewhat rough avatar control style, this might be a good opportunity to correct my habits.

“Bring it on. I’ll tackle this with the intent to clear it…!”

Even as I spat out insults like “bullshit game,” a true gamer doesn’t just feel anger and emptiness in the face of absurdity; they harbor a rebellious spirit.

Brutal difficulty be damned, from this moment on, I shall commence the death march of hellish grinding!

“……………I'm talking to myself more and more, huh.”

Is it because I’ve gotten so used to clearing things with Sora that I feel lonely when I’m solo? A guy who gets lonely is a total niche demand, so please refrain.

Swallowing the creepy smile that escaped as I pondered such useless things—I dove headfirst back into the infinite loop of game overs, as relentless as ever.

—And for two days, I continued to die.

Over fifteen hours in real time, which translates to almost a full twenty-four hours in Arcadia time. I repeated my attacks without pause, undeterred by the repeated game overs. The total number of deaths? I lost count early on, so I don't know.

Also, “undeterred” was an exaggeration. The truth is my spirit was broken long ago, and I was just ignoring it, on the verge of madness, making banzai charges.

And then, on the morning of the third day of the challenge—after overcoming countless deaths, I had an awakening.

—I can see them.

It’s not a matter of up, down, left, right, front, or back. From every conceivable direction, the crimson bullets assault me. The same projectiles that blew through my avatar before I could even perceive them on my first try, my eyes can now just barely track.

—I can dodge.

I’m not dodging the bullets themselves, but the lines of fire from which they are shot.

It’s less like an action game and more like a memorization game, but my body is in overdrive, on the verge of shattering.

It’s like playing a super-hard rhythm game where you can’t even see the notes properly, while simultaneously winning endless battles against a god-tier fighting game CPU with just your feet, all without taking a single hit.

Incidentally, I am terrible at both rhythm games and fighting games.

“—Hh, ………hk………………”

I no longer have the luxury of talking to myself—no, I’ve cast aside everything unnecessary, concentrating all my resources into the relentless, high-speed thinking required to move my avatar.

I’m no longer even tracking the flying crimson bullets with my eyes. I simply retrace the memories accumulated through my deaths, dashing through at top speed—

The dungeon known as the [Spiral Crimson Tower] was designed with an incredibly simple theme, honed to the sharpest possible point.

There were no gimmicks, and the terrain was just a continuous spiral staircase to climb.

All that was required of the player was to keep running without stopping until they reached the goal at the top.

And the enemies placed to obstruct that one goal were of a single type.

[Ruby Bullet Rabbit]—this great rabbit with its crimson-glowing fur was everything in the [Spiral Crimson Tower], the absolute gatekeeper that had thwarted all players for three long years.

This monster has two characteristics. One is an abnormal agility stat that easily surpasses the legs of someone like me, who prides himself on excessive AGI. And the other is their sheer, overwhelming numbers.

This Spiral Crimson Tower is, in other words, not an anthill, but a rabbit-hill. It is truly their home, and we players who set foot inside are nothing more than invaders violating their dwelling.

Of course they’d attack in a bullet hell barrage.

Their name is a cut above the other non-boss monsters I’ve encountered so far. As the name suggests, the [Ruby Bullet Rabbit]'s attack method is a single, direct charge that makes full use of its agility.

And when they “charge at full speed” with their agility, it’s nothing short of a ‘bullet’… add to that the fact that a single crimson horn, the same size as their body, sits on their head, and you don’t even need to think about what happens to those who become prey to their body slams.

It’s not on the level of just getting a hole punched through you. If even the tip of your body is grazed, the insane impact will take off entire limbs.

If you take a direct hit to the torso, you literally explode into five pieces—Sora would probably cry if she saw it.

The sight of these malicious warheads, comparable to anti-materiel rifles or even tank shells, flying ceaselessly from countless nests in the tower's inner walls is truly a bullet hell game.

I prided myself on being pretty good at analog bullet hell shooters, but it’s a different story when you’re told to do it with your own body (avatar) in first-person.

On top of that, each and every bullet in the barrage moves at a speed that’s difficult to even see and has a massive hitbox. It’s beyond a bullshit game and into the realm of a comedy game.

I repeat, I can't imagine this was designed with a normal clear in mind—so, there’s no need to clear it normally.

I run on the spiral staircase as a matter of course, but not just that. I also run on the walls and the underside of the stairs above my head, constantly leaping between the three surfaces.

The tricky part is that there are only these three surfaces to choose from. If I misjudge my jump angle, I’ll fly out into the open shaft where there are no handrails.

The tower's diameter is about thirty-something meters. If I wanted to, it wouldn't be impossible to force my way across the open shaft and try to shortcut to the stairs above.

But if I were to attempt a long-range jump defenselessly, I'd be taken out by an anti-air guaranteed-hit, one-shot kill, making it a simple suicide mission.

Against the infinitely attacking rabbit warheads, the only action I can take is to evade relentlessly. And what barely keeps me alive, despite being clearly outmatched in agility, is the sword and shield of the avatar known as [Haru], which has now become as natural as my own limbs here.

《Blink Switch》—I summon [Prologue: Wedge Fragment Singing of Eternity (Angalta)] into the path of a direct hit that comes every few moments due to my forced evasion. Its extraordinary weight and indestructibility as a special weapon deflect the lethal rabbit bullets.

Or rather than deflecting, they collide with it at their own excessive speed and explode into pieces. At this point, it’s a complete suicide attack. I can’t help but feel a sense of dread, wondering what kind of ecosystem these rodents have.

…Wait, are rabbits rodents?

“Ngh, close one!”

A completely irrelevant thought suddenly intruded upon my extreme concentration, nearly tripping me up. I dodged, dodged, dodged, a Doppler effect of curses spilling from my lips—!!

I’ve already traversed over eighty percent of the spiral staircase, and the goal is right in front of me. However, this far is already a familiar route, a path I’ve already broken through countless times. This is no place to get one-shotted.

Time and time again, I’ve seen what I thought was the goal, only to be blown apart at the last second for the past two days—this run, which I’ve decided will be my final one, will be the one where I close the gap on that remaining one percent!

I trace the memories etched into my mind, my thoughts blazing hot, swallowing a war cry—I just keep running, through the storm of crimson rain.