The Monster Has Arrived
In the New Continent, the middle floors—record storage room.
At first glance, the space resembled a library. Shelves and desks overflowed with countless books, scrolls, and sheets of blank paper.
One massive stone slab stood against the far wall of the reading room. Names and glorious deeds of legendary explorers were carved there, and fresh entries were being added right now.
The librarians assigned to the storage room were the ones who transcribed every line of text onto proper documents.
“LV.3, Lorent Emblem, defeated a colossal sandworm in the Belmort Desert on the 21st floor, rescued countless wandering tribesmen. The tower noted the absence of casualties and recognized his achievements. No other feats recorded. Never appeared on the Hall of Fame. Explorer rank: Gold.”
Even the upper-tier adventurers had such records, but they were updated far less often.
As one rose higher, the trials grew harder. Explorers were too busy barely staying alive.
That was why most fresh entries being added now came from new arrivals crossing into the middle floors.
Once those records were documented, some loudmouth would inevitably spread them, and soon the news would reach the outer continents.
Headlines like “Year’s Hottest Newcomer Special!” or “Must-Read Rookie Report” would appear everywhere.
The storage room and the magazines profited handsomely. Explorer guilds, upon reading the stories, would scramble to recruit those promising talents.
From the middle floors onward, a single exceptionally gifted individual could completely upend the entire hierarchy—unlike the vague talent pool below.
“Of course, such new arrivals are rare.”
A librarian named Rodang, now middle-aged and serving for ten straight years, smiled and shook his head.
Even if a decent newcomer appeared, the difference at first was negligible.
Everyone was still LV.2 or 3, and the strongest monster you could claim to have slain was just a troll.
That might have counted as an achievement down on the lower floors, but not here.
Just one step’s difference.
Of course, that tiny gap mattered hugely on the lower levels, yet from above it looked identical.
In practice, no true genius capable of shattering the entire ranking system had appeared for quite some time.
Once there had been a dragon descendant, an ice witch, or any number of awe-inspiring newcomers…
“They’ve gone quiet now.”
Rodang, graying at the temples, sighed with genuine regret as old memories surfaced.
He had become a specialist just to witness the birth of heroes.
But lately, even the competent types were nowhere to be seen.
Not the vague talents, but true great explorers.
“Back when I was young, it was insane.”
Having experienced something truly legendary in his youth, Rodang found today’s records and librarian life painfully inadequate.
That thought had been nagging at him for a while.
…I’ve saved up plenty of money. Should I just retire?
Just as Rodang rested his chin on his hand, looking bored, a brand-new entry suddenly appeared on the enormous stone slab.
The first librarian to glance over it merely scribbled without much thought.
The newcomer’s name was Liz Undertaker.
Female.
Level…
“Huh?”
Assistant librarian Rodang suddenly froze, eyes wide, staring at the inscription.
At first he assumed it was a typo.
Then he rubbed his temples.
The name was unfamiliar, so it should have been a brand-new arrival.
Yet the level was… four?
‘What did I miss here?’
Of course, it had to be an old explorer whose name had slipped his memory.
That meant the person had achieved something new on the upper tier.
Rodang let out a small chuckle at his own mistaken assumption.
He was eager to see the rest of the feats being written.
…Huh? Mmm?
His eyes widened even more as he realized the inscription was still going.
With his pen trembling in his grip, he stared at the stone for a full ten minutes.
Only when the text finally stopped did he bolt upright, shouting at the top of his lungs.
“EUREKA!”
The other librarians stared at him in shock.
Rodang didn’t care.
He was too busy basking in pure joy to pay them any mind.
The monster had finally appeared.
Meanwhile, at the exact same moment, aboard a merchant ship cruising the New Continent’s trade routes, a familiar event unfolded.
The so-called pirate ambush.
“Oh no, pirates! Pirates have arrived!”
“Insane lunatics!”
“We’re going to die! We’re completely screwed!”
The captain scanned the deck.
Good news: none of the crew were trembling with fear.
These ships were built specifically to carry explorers across the New Continent.
They were operated by the adventurers themselves.
Although some passengers were local residents, the captain and most of the crew were former explorers.
“Hmm, first mate. Are my eyes playing tricks? Only three warships in sight.
Did the pirates go completely mad?”
“My head’s spinning. If we’re going to fight explorers, they should at least bring ten warships!”
Everyone was battle-crazy and half-mad.
Cowardly weaklings had all been eliminated long ago on the lower floors.
Even those who survived the lower trials had been torn to shreds by the endless ordeals.
Natural selection had left only the mentally unstable at the middle floors.
“Prepare for battle!”
“Those crazy Vikings! I’ll show you the true taste of my spear!”
“Kill them all!”
The moment the captain declared war, every single adventurer aboard raised their weapons and declared their readiness for combat.
Crew members loaded cannonballs.
Adventurers drew mana or gripped their blades.
“What the hell? The second I stepped on this ship, it’s war?”
Not everyone was a raging battle maniac.
The newbies who had just boarded in the middle floors had no idea what was happening.
They had only been told the ship was sailing to another continent.
Now it was suddenly battle?
Past trials had at least followed some pattern.
This felt completely unreasonable.
Like being dumped into the wilderness with no warning.
BOOM! BOOM! KWAAANG! KWAAANG!
Cannon fire erupted across the deck.
It really felt like they had dropped into a battlefield.
“Hold on tight! We’re about to ram them!”
The newbies watching the oncoming pirate warships finally realized they had been tossed into a ruthless ecosystem.
KWAAAAAANG!
The impact rattled their bodies.
After the ships collided, the adventurers on deck tumbled wildly.
Only rookies and support staff were affected.
Those with some experience kept their balance.
“FORWARD!”
Every single one charged ahead as if they were heroes.
Many were experienced fighters, but not all were fearless death machines.
If this had been a one-sided slaughter, fine, but pirates had bases to defend.
Why would they charge so willingly?
Some shouted in excitement and joined the fray.
Others, knowing their opponents were also adventurers, trembled with fear.
At least they were trying to survive.
That was all the sense and passion most middle-floor explorers possessed.
They weren’t truly insane.
They were simply running toward the battlefield to prove their own and their comrades’ courage.
“You bastards!”
“Die!”
By the middle floors, these were superhuman beings who could split boulders and slay monsters with their bare hands.
The warships they sailed on were made of the finest alloys—tough as hell.
The two massive ships slammed together, but neither side sank.
Instead, the adventurers and pirates jumped across decks and began brutal hand-to-hand combat.
Arms were severed by sharp blades.
Heads were crushed by iron hammers.
On the open sea, where escape was impossible, a desperate battle of blood and brains erupted.
“Hmph, not bad.”
Even in the chaos of this small-scale war, LV.3 intermediate mage Evise shrugged and rose from the spot where she had fallen during the first collision.
She had simply been caught off guard at the beginning, but her magical prowess was extraordinary.
Watching Evise sweat and swing her weapons in a wild, frustrated display of martial fury, the adventurers around her looked utterly drained.
Yes! If I support them from behind, the tide of battle will turn in an instant!
Just as mage Evise pumped her fist, the lead ship of the adventurer convoy suddenly erupted in a massive explosion and caught fire.
…Huh? That wasn’t me.
She sensed something was wrong and instinctively took a step back.
Before she could finish that motion, a single shout shattered the hesitation.
“Damn it! There’s a mage over there!”
“At least six circles!”
Evise swallowed hard.
She had only just reached LV.3 and was still at the edge of the fourth circle.
The enemy mage… at least a veteran who had been LV.4 for several months.
“We’re screwed.”
This was a lost battle.
She immediately thought of the nearest land and changed her plan.
She would escape to the ship, beach it, and land on the mainland.
‘I can reach it before my mana runs out, right?’
Evise was the type who would keep pushing until she died.
She finished off the remaining mana potions, kept fighting, and if it came to it, she would swim to safety.
With her survival instinct at full strength, Evise slipped away from the fighting deck and headed to the opposite side.
There, she found someone.
Whistling cheerfully, she munched on popcorn straight from the bag.
“Eh?”
“…Hmm?”
Evise narrowed her eyes.
She had just met her first new arrival in the middle of all this chaos.