Chapter 24
Chapter 24
Title: Is the Gallery Master gone? Gone?
Author: Anon
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Phew, it's hard to pretend like nothing happened.
How did someone from the 3rd floor manage to kill the King Kobold? It's something I've never experienced in my life.
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LOL, seriously.
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Why does this guy talk like that?
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Sword Qi-wielding Kobold, taken down!
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Ice Queen) Brrr, good job!
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Absolute Monarch) It's probably time for a level stagnation phase.
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Sword of Light) I suppose so. I just hope the stagnation phase comes after reaching level 20.
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Archmage) Why hope for that? It's something the Climber has to break through on their own anyway.
Han Yoo-seong had kindly answered Sword of Light's question about his stats before entering the 3rd Floor Stage.
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Ah, right. Stats don't increase much once two or more exceed 100, right? But why is this crazy guy only starting to experience that now? He's on the 3rd floor? I only experienced it in the middle of the Tower.
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Well, that's because you... no, we.
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Pioneer) I wonder what will come out this time.
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Elf) But why is the Climber the Gallery Master? Isn't the owner of the gallery the Gallery Master?
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That's because the gallery's topic revolves entirely around Climbers, so that's what we call them.
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Gallery Master, please post.
Forest of Bewitching Beasts.
The forest, which had a foul name just by looking at it, was indeed ominous.
As soon as I entered, I sliced a Demonic Beast that lunged at me with its fangs using the Great Enemy Sword Karnavalt.
The Demonic Beast was easily 2 meters tall.
It resembled a wolf.
Its dark red fur was easily visible even though darkness had fallen upon the world.
This was possible because their fur subtly emitted light.
Chaaaaak!
I killed two immediately upon entering.
I took out my Terminal.
I took pictures of the corpses of the two dead Demonic Beasts.
I went into the Transcendent Gallery and made a post.
Title: The 3rd Floor Stage is the Forest of Bewitching Beasts.
Author: Anon*
Attachment: 901903897.jpg
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But what kind of Monster is this?
Comments began to flood in.
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Forest of Bewitching Beasts? LOL.
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Seriously, you're screwed! You got the troublesome place!
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That one is called Malecanis, a Demonic Beast. But that's not what's important right now.
As I was about to ask what was important, a comment appeared.
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Archmage) In the Forest of Bewitching Beasts, you need to be more careful of the Demonic Energy spreading through the forest than the Demonic Beasts themselves.
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Archmage) Although that Demonic Energy is also emitted by the Demonic Beasts.
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Anon*) Demonic Energy?
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Archmage) If you lose your mind, you can be corrupted by the Demonic Energy and end up harming yourself.
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Is self-harm the problem?
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For those with weak mental fortitude, there's a high chance they'll turn on their allies and get stabbed to death.
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I'm on Normal Difficulty, and my first entry into the Forest of Bewitching Beasts was on the 35th floor. The 3rd floor?
That wasn't surprising anymore.
Damn Pandemonium.
More importantly, Demonic Energy.
Now I understood why the [Anti-Evil Bracelet] on my left arm was trembling slightly.
It seemed to be continuously exerting its effect.
[Skill 'Composure' level has increased. Lv.6]
[Skill 'Mental Barrier' level has increased. Lv.2]
'Mental Barrier' was a skill acquired yesterday when I faced the King Kobold, a passive skill that literally strengthened mental fortitude.
Two passive skills related to mental strength had leveled up simultaneously.
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Anon*) So, do I have to keep being exposed to this Demonic Energy?
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Absolute Monarch) Remove the cause.
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Pioneer) The Demonic Energy spreading through the Forest of Bewitching Beasts doesn't flow from the forest itself, but from powerful Demonic Beasts. That means there's a named Demonic Beast near you right now.
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Anon*) If I eliminate that one, the mental corruption will stop?
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Pioneer) That's right.
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Anon*) My quest is to rescue the stranded members along with a rescue party. Is it okay to kill that Demonic Beast first instead of going to meet the members?
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Anon) It doesn't matter. There's no guarantee you'll meet the rescue party today or tomorrow.
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Spear King) That's right. If you're late, it could take 7 or 8 days to make contact.
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Pioneer) My longest record was miraculously making contact after 20 days. I thought I was going crazy.
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Archmage) Anyway, the main point of quests like that is rescuing the members, not the rescue party. As long as you accomplish that, the process doesn't matter much.
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Archmage) As long as you achieve the main objective properly, it's surprisingly flexible.
Indeed, even on the 2nd Floor Stage. Although I didn't significantly participate in the defense, I cleared it by killing the Orc Shaman, the fundamental culprit.
Thinking of the 2nd Floor Stage brought to mind Riselinn, the leader of the Lucerna Mercenary Group, and Yunes, who served as both a guide and a magic shuttle.
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Anon*) Is the world I experienced on the 2nd floor unrelated to this place? Or is it the same world?
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Sword of Light) It's highly likely to be the same world. The world where the Ermine Empire you protected on the 2nd floor exists also has the Forest of Bewitching Beasts. The timeline should also be the same.
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Archmage) But you won't meet the people you encountered before this time. The continent where the Ermine Empire is located and the continent where the Forest of Bewitching Beasts is located are different.
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Ice Queen) Brrr! The continent with the Ermine Empire is Valtera! The continent with the Forest of Bewitching Beasts is Noxis!
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But is the forest vast? It doesn't seem a bit sparse.
I briefly took my eyes off the Terminal and slowly scanned the surrounding scenery.
It was far from sparse. It was incredibly dense. The pitch-black undergrowth was packed full.
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Anon*) The forest is very wide and dense.
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It seems like this is happening even later than when we proceeded. It's a bit disappointing to hear that the Forest of Bewitching Beasts was almost purified and then it's become like this again.
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Seriously, I purified it with sweat and tears alongside Dekan. Although, I did say before I purified it that it had grown again due to residual Demonic Beasts.
I see.
There was only one more thing I was curious about.
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Anon*) But how do I find the Demonic Beast emitting Demonic Energy nearby?
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Heavenly Demon) Go in the direction where the unpleasant memories continue.
What does that mean?
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Shrine Maiden) The Demonic Energy of intermediate or higher-level Demonic Beasts causes those exposed to it to recall painful memories, failures, or things they wanted to forget... scenes that are extremely agonizing for the target.
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Elf) The worst part is that it brings back memories of past injuries and pain.
I wondered why my right shoulder suddenly ached.
It was because of the Demonic Energy.
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Shrine Maiden) Even if you try not to think about it, it keeps coming back. It's meant to break down your mind and spirit. Ugh... If it weren't for the cooldown on interdimensional transactions, I could neutralize everything by just giving you my talismans... what a shame.
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Sword of Light) No, doesn't your mental skill level up? If you don't die, it's a great opportunity to strengthen your mental fortitude.
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Thinking only of growth even in this situation! Wow! You psycho!
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As expected, full of psychopathic tendencies.
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Dragon King) As expected! Friend of Beltui who only speaks the truth! Beep beep.
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Sword of Light) Die.
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Archmage) Anyway, even if trauma surfaces, don't let your thoughts spiral. That's when the Demonic Energy truly starts to corrupt you. Your stamina and mental strength will collapse in an instant. When you feel like you're getting close to a Demonic Beast, activate Mana Body Reinforcement and move.
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Jjuhdak) Intermediate or higher-level Demonic Beasts also hunt the Monsters within the forest. If you suddenly see many Monster corpses, that could also be a sign of a Demonic Energy-emitting Demonic Beast.
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Archmage) Don't get eaten by the past.
I had obtained all the information I needed.
I closed the gallery and started walking again.
The throbbing sensation in my right shoulder intensified.
It was a recurrence of the shoulder injury that played the biggest role in ending my baseball career.
A headache also crept in.
Voices, like hallucinations, seeped into my ears.
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That trivial ball game. Look, like that person, once you lose it, you lose everything, right?
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You should have studied from the beginning. Look at you, wasting all your time and then coming here to study.
They were unpleasant memories.
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Now what will you do? You have to eat something to live.
But these weren't enough to evoke fear in me.
The pitcher's mound.
Me, allowing a hit. Allowing a home run.
My teammates and the spectators looking at me.
Their faces and the baseball field itself, all seemed to tilt like a crescent moon.
Those were the times I was most afraid.
Yes, just like the memories playing in my head right now.
[Skill 'Mental Barrier' level has increased. Lv.3]
But now, even those memories are just memories.
They were fear only when I couldn't do my part.
Now, I don't have time to wallow in inferiority.
There were too many things I had to do to survive, to climb this damn Tower.
I don't have the luxury of dwelling on past emotions.
Crack-
I slowly rotated my right shoulder to relax it.
The heavy sensation completely disappeared.
Thump.
[Mana Body Reinforcement Lv.4 - Skill activated.]
I saw the corpses of Monsters that looked like Goblins.
Beyond them, I saw a one-eyed monster.
It had the lower body of a tiger-like quadruped. Its upper body was humanoid.
However, it was far from human, as its body and face were covered in red fur.
"Was it you? The one making me have strange thoughts."
"......"
The one-eyed creature didn't answer me.
My gaze shifted.
Next to the one-eyed monster, under a giant tree, I saw a Pointy-eared being tied up.
A Pointy-eared being with reddish-brown fur, hanging limply as if dead.
It wasn't an Elf. It looked like a beastfolk, perhaps Catfolk.
『One of the rescue targets has been encountered! Safely deliver the target to the rescue party!』
That's right.
It didn't say the rescue target was human.
Screeeech-
I gripped the Great Enemy Sword Karnavalt tighter.
I took a step towards the one-eyed creature.
Hard Difficulty 64th Floor.
Hard Difficulty Tower Numbering #35.
A woman with purple, long hair approached a man with blond hair sitting on a park bench reading a book.
"Union Leader."
Targon, the leader of the Strategy Alliance, looked up from his martial arts manual.
"There has been a casualty in our Tower's 10th Floor and below exchange event."
Targon furrowed his brow at the words of Belacia, the attack commander.
"Who?"
Belacia opened her mouth to answer.
"8th Floor, Earthling from the 21st century. Baek Jinyeong."
A report had come in through the mail system to residents of the 8th floor, like Baek Jinyeong.
Baek Jinyeong was dead.
The probability of a Hard Difficulty player dying during an exchange event is low.
This is because the difficulty experienced during an exchange event is slightly easier than the difficulty they usually climb.
And even more so in exchange events for floors 10 and below.
"Did they die alone? Weren't they in a party when they entered the exchange event?"
To prepare for being summoned to an exchange event, form a party of two or more within the same numbered Tower.
That was the directive issued by the Strategy Alliance Leader.
Belacia shook her head at Targon's question.
"They refused, saying they already had a promised party member on Normal Difficulty. So, we suspect they refused a party from the same numbered Tower to hide their PK. They were on the list of individuals to watch."
PK. Player Kill.
It meant murder between Tower players.
"If they didn't die by a Monster, they were either trying to PK or were killed by it."
"Yes."
Targon recalled the 2nd Floor ranking points.
The person who made him pay attention to the lower floors, which he had never cared about.
1st Place - Undisclosed: 1,532 points
2nd Place - Union Leader: 784 points
Someone above him.
Targon shook his head.
'However, even if the Undisclosed person is a Hard Difficulty player, the difference in level between the 2nd and 8th floors is too great.'
Targon didn't think for a moment that the Undisclosed person was a Pandemonium player.
However, if they took first place above him even on the 3rd Floor rankings, he intended to find out their identity by any means necessary.
Targon, having dismissed the name 'Undisclosed' from the list of suspects for Baek Jinyeong's murder, said indifferently,
"Have you secured the name of the Normal Difficulty player who was supposedly in a party with Baek Jinyeong?"
"Yes, though I don't know if they were telling the truth."
"Then post an official notice on the Climber Gallery. See if anyone knows anything. If it takes too much time, just let it go."
The Strategy Alliance Guild was formed with the mission to maintain the balance of all floors from the 1st floor of the Tower. However, they didn't have the time or reason to perfectly look after floors below the 30th, which couldn't even join the Climber Gallery.
The reason for continuously instilling the perception of moderate care was a design to maintain influence as the 1st place of the <Guild>, which could only be joined from the 30th floor onwards.
"Understood."
After Belacia left, Targon, alone again, opened his book and murmured,
"I am curious."
Whether you will take first place, surpassing me, even on the 3rd floor.
Targon's eyes gleamed sharply as he thought of 'Undisclosed'.