I Became a Gallery Newbie Beloved by Transcendents-Chapter 42: Escort (6)

Title: Looks like these guys are finally about to head out?

Posted by: Room Conspiracy Theorist

— Hard Difficulty, Floor 66. Confirmed.

ㄴ Just a month ago, this was the hottest topic ever. Now no one even cares anymore—massive like.

ㄴ fr lol ever since the climbers showed up, nobody gives a damn about the Hard folks anymore lmao

ㄴ Still curious though. Wonder how many will actually survive.

ㄴ But how hard is Floor 66 really? If a bunch of people can enter, can’t they just brute-force it with numbers?

ㄴ Elf Guy) The entry cap for Floor 66 is fifty. Even if more joined, the results wouldn’t change much. Only a tiny fraction ever make it out.

ㄴ How hard is it, seriously? Tell us, Elf.

ㄴ Elf Guy) Kinda hard to explain in words. You just have to experience it.

ㄴ Gutter Swordsman) Think of it like the difficulty suddenly jumping ten levels instead of one.

ㄴ Room Conspiracy Theorist) Feels more like a twenty-level jump tbh—this whole world’s a giant locked room.

ㄴ Spear King) Sounds like they’re all about to get minced.

ㄴ But y’all survived Floor 66, didn’t you? Aren’t you underestimating this batch of climbers?

ㄴ Suwang) This batch seriously lacks solo combat experience. They’re not gonna make it.

ㄴ Shrine Maiden) Hawawawa, the current batch of Hard climbers have grown way too complacent, yes they have~

ㄴ Sword of Light) Cooperation was never the point of the tower.

ㄴ Sword of Light) It’s individual power that matters most.

ㄴ Ice Queen) True! Frozen! Frozen!

***

Targon, Guildmaster of the <Strategy Union>, looked out over the players gathered before him.

Players summoned from countless different worlds.

Some had come from his own world.

Others hailed from the realm of Murim.

Their races were equally diverse.

Targon trusted those who had gathered under the name of the <Strategy Union>.

He stood atop a raised platform in the center of the Floor 66 waiting room.

"I believe in all of you. We will conquer Floor 66."

He scanned the crowd as he continued.

"Floor 66—where there has never been a run without casualties. We will break through that floor of despair with the least losses possible."

As he finished speaking, voices rose from the crowd.

"You’re stating the obvious again, Union Leader."

Targon smiled.

The speaker was Namgung Hyun—one of the Strategy Union’s core members.

"The previous batch was just weak. We’ll ascend with zero casualties."

The woman standing beside Namgung Hyun chuckled.

"Save that kind of talk for after we’ve cleared the floor. Only then does it count."

It was Moyong Hwayeon, a woman with her black hair tied back tightly.

"We don’t lose. Never."

She spoke with absolute certainty.

Step, step—

Descending from the platform, Targon drew the greatsword strapped to his back.

"Move out."

The players who had reached Floor 66 on Hard Difficulty readied their weapons and began stretching their bodies in preparation.

***

The benefits of leveling up were undeniable.

My barely-holding-on consciousness immediately snapped into focus.

After loading Karmin—the top-priority escort target—into the carriage, I scoured the corpses lying cold and dead across the ground.

But there was nothing useful.

Even among the lower grunts and on the body of the Fifth-Rank Knight Kailas, there wasn’t a single item worth taking.

"Tch."

The sword Kailas had used was ground to bits.

It must have been damaged during my earlier deployment of Fourth-Rank techniques.

In the end, I grabbed whatever vaguely useful gear and a few potions and stuffed them into my inventory.

I ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) mounted my horse and gently stroked its mane.

Clop-clop, clop-clop—

Whenever Rengel’s horse slowed down a bit, the carriage curtain would part, and I could feel Karmin’s gaze on me.

Before, her expression had been more like mild gratitude—

but after I killed a Fifth-Rank Knight, it shifted.

Now it brimmed with curiosity.

I had a strong feeling it wasn’t over yet.

Karmin Everhart’s clear destination—Ventura Academy.

Just like Rengel had said, there was no way the Raphael Count family wouldn’t anticipate it.

There would definitely be someone waiting to block her before she passed through Ventura’s main gates.

That would probably be the final barrier.

I activated the “Veil of Secrets” embedded in the back of the Talisman of Union gifted by the Shrine Maiden.

So the constellations couldn’t observe my gallery activity.

Title: Ended up killing a Fifth-Rank Knight after all.

Posted by: anon*

— Second-biggest crisis after the Floor 4 Golem. But this guy was a little off. He kept grinning even up to the moment he died.

Oh, and I hit Fourth-Rank.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

In terms of raw strength, the Fifth-Rank Knight Kailas was obviously more dangerous than the Golem.

But that first encounter with the Golem, with no death prompt or forewarning before the gallery appeared, had just been too intense to forget.

As soon as the post went up, the comments poured in.

ㄴ LOLLLLL what the hell—kills a Fifth-Rank on Floor 5, reaches Fourth-Rank on Floor 5... what even is this guy?

ㄴ The fact that a Fifth-Rank even appears on Floor 5 in Pandemonium Mode is insane by itself.

ㄴ Ah, it feels good to drink again after a while~~~ don’t die, climber~~

ㄴ What’re you having with it?

ㄴ Orc.

ㄴ You’re a goddamn lunatic...

ㄴ Why, the ears are a delicacy.

ㄴ Uweeeeeeegh!

ㄴ What’s so weird about a Fifth-Rank Knight acting off... most of them aren’t right in the head anyway.

ㄴ Gutter Swordsman) Just assume every Fifth-Rank and above Knight is missing a few screws.

ㄴ Archmage) Same goes for mages. Especially from Sixth-Rank up, never judge by appearances.

ㄴ Archmage) Even with a calm face, you never know what sick crap they’re into.

ㄴ Sage) True words.

ㄴ The mages objectively admitting they're all kinda broken is wild lol

ㄴ Spear King) So he really killed a Fifth-Rank... on Floor 5? That’s terrifying growth speed.

ㄴ Heavenly Demon) Rapid growth like that tends to breed arrogance. That worries me a bit.

ㄴ anon*) Hard to get arrogant in this kind of environment. Wouldn’t have been weird if I died just a few minutes ago.

ㄴ Sword of Light) Heavenly Demon’s right. Your growth’s way faster than even I expected. You’ve done well. Was it a good fight?

ㄴ anon*) Nah. Got wrecked until Doombringer activated. Barely scraped by using Fourth-Rank swordsmanship to kill him.

ㄴ Sword of Light) You did well.

ㄴ How the hell does someone use a Fourth-Rank technique right after hitting Fourth-Rank lmao

ㄴ That near-death buff multiplier is wild, huh?

It had been close.

This time, too.

ㄴ anon*) But judging from other posts, looks like the Hard team’s entering Floor 66.

ㄴ Yeah, someone posted in the Climber Gallery. Sounds like they’re already in and running it.

ㄴ Suwang) Those guys are probably suffering real hard right now, constantly flirting with death. You take the easy route while you can.

ㄴ This guy’s also constantly brushing up against death though.

ㄴ Suwang) Hmm! But still—he just took out a Fifth-Rank. Surely there won’t be another one that strong coming so soon, right?

ㄴ Pretty sure another Fifth-Rank is gonna pop just because of this bastard, tbh.

ㄴ anon*) So, Ventura Academy—can anyone just get in if they want to?

ㄴ The Headmaster probably changed by now.

ㄴ If not, then he’d let you in if you were desperate enough.

ㄴ anon*) Desperate?

ㄴ Shrine Maiden) Hawawawa~ He’s the kind who helps those in truly desperate situations~

ㄴ He pathologically enjoys rescuing people in pain.

ㄴ Shrine Maiden) What was it again, the nickname people gave the headmaster back in the Climber Gallery?

ㄴ Oh right... something like a “salvation-fixated lunatic.”

ㄴ Archmage) Yeah, that’s it. Salvation-fixated lunatic. Just face some trouble near Ventura’s gate—he might come running.

ㄴ Archmage) If it’s still the same guy, his name’s Mandels. He’s a mage.

...Judging by that alone, sounds like some absolute lunatic is sitting in the Academy Headmaster’s chair.

ㄴ anon*) If I’m just now getting out of the forest, odds are more enemies are waiting ahead. Sword of Light-sunbae, in the sword manual you wrote that line about aura perception (kigak) in, like, one sentence. Can you explain how to properly activate it?

ㄴ ? You seriously only wrote one line? How half-assed was that?

ㄴ anon*) What was it again... something like “use mana and spread it outward along the ground”? That kind of vibe.

ㄴ That’s criminally vague.

ㄴ You’d need to be at least Heaven’s Martial Physique level to understand that explanation, lol.

ㄴ Heavenly Demon) Someone with Heaven’s Martial Physique could probably pull it off with just that.

ㄴ Hmm... well if the climber isn’t Heaven’s Martial Physique level, that’s its own kind of weird.

ㄴ anon*) Yeah, no. Not me.

ㄴ Sword of Light) Yeah, that was a little half-assed, I admit. Think I was half-asleep when I wrote that.

ㄴ Half-asleep LMAO. Weirdly honest.

ㄴ Gutter Swordsman) Don’t try to spread it just along the ground. Spread it outward in every direction.

ㄴ Heavenly Demon) Just flood it. Like a wave.

ㄴ Spear King) It’s like spreading killing intent. Only difference is, it doesn’t lock onto a specific target.

That explanation hit home.

I started to get the hang of it.

Just as I was about to write a goodbye comment and close the gallery—

ㄴ Admin) What are the constellations saying?

ㄴ anon*) Pretty much gasping in shock at every little thing.

ㄴ Yeah, how could they not freak out? Constellation or not, they’d be losing their minds.

ㄴ Any of them have cute reactions?

ㄴ Suwang) Yeah, I’m curious about that too.

ㄴ anon*) ...Honestly, I didn’t have time to watch their reactions. I dropped the alerts mid-fight.

I didn’t exactly have the luxury to sit back and enjoy how “cute” those reactions were.

ㄴ anon*) I’m heading out.

ㄴ Don’t die. freeweɓnovel.cøm

ㄴ If you die, the gallery won’t be fun anymore.

ㄴ Ice Queen) Frozen! You must survive!

I closed the gallery and put the device back into my inventory.

The dense forest still stretched on.

Riding my horse, I extended my aura perception.

Shhhhhh—

A stream of gray current, visible only to me, spread out through the forest.

The current carried my intent—

to see through the entire forest and drape it in my gaze.

A shiver crept up my shoulder.

Movement.

A scout?

I looked into the distance.

Atop a tall tree, hunched like a spider, a shadow was crouched.

I nearly passed it by, mistaking it for a patch of shade.

A breeze passed.

I could feel a gaze piercing downward.

Our eyes met.

The figure twisted its crouched body in an instant and tried to flee.

I had only one chance.

Now.

My right arm snapped forward like lightning.

SSWWEEEHH!

I threw the black spear.

Target: the scout.

If he died, so be it—but that wasn’t my intent.

I didn’t hear a scream.

BOOOM!

But I did hear something crash into the ground.

I jumped down from my horse and sprinted toward where I’d thrown the spear.

"Grgh... grkk..."

A man in black writhed like an insect on the ground.

The black spear was embedded in his left side, just above the waist.

How much does this guy know?

First, I’d try interrogation.