Stepping Stone (1)
'They've already bestowed their blessing, so they probably won't push any further from here.'
Villainous as they were, those guys weren't idiots. I swallowed my regret, judging that they wouldn't throw money at barren ground like fools without any chance of success. If they did pull off that idiocy, it would actually help me even more right now.
"Even so, shouldn't we slow down a bit?!"
"You never know. We have to hurry!"
The others tried to stop me, but I kept charging forward. Bestowing the blessing must have cost Serpina and the fan gallery users no small amount of points. Now that the expense had already been sunk, I had to squeeze out every last bit of profit.
25 Enemies Defeated
My sword, empowered not just by my own strength but by the blessing as well, cleaved a Black Iron Wraith charging with a massive axe clean in half. Metal shards exploded outward from the powerful impact, grazing my body shrouded in radiant light. Thanks to that, my original goal of sweeping up as many rewards as possible was proceeding steadily.
"That one's definitely the boss! Who would've thought the boss was down here instead of on the surface!?"
"There could be two or more boss-level entities."
We'd raced here so quickly that we arrived before the boss of the underground route, the Legion Experiment Subject Daraz, in one go. Something bound head to toe in chains roared while clad in full-body armor. Fortunately, the blessing hadn't faded even after reaching this point. I hadn't thought we'd lose in the first place, but now victory felt even more certain.
"Fight like it's the last battle."
Beating Daraz would essentially clear this route anyway. Once Jeong Chan-su finished the surface route, the 150th floor that had blocked us for so long would finally be breached. How grueling the many remaining floors ahead might be didn't matter to us right now. Climbing at the forefront of the tower meant confronting limits at every moment and being forced to surpass them.
"W-We don't even know what that thing is. Isn't there some other way..."
"There's only one way."
I raised my sword in response to Karom's tense words, born of ignorance about Daraz. Even with the blessing, I couldn't do it alone. According to the user strategy guide, I'd need support from others, including Kim Ji-eun.
"Follow behind me."
But in the end, the core of every raid was me. It was made solely for me, after all.
My slashing strike surged toward the enemy roaring as it snapped its chains, slamming into it head-on. The enemy's roar, brimming with mana, shattered against my blow, and the real battle began. Compared to the minion-level Black Iron Wraiths, its surging mana was powerful, but having already faced the might of constellations once before, Daraz's pressure didn't feel all that intense to me.
Black mana chains erupted from Kim Ji-eun's magic circle, wrapping around Daraz's body just as it had broken free and begun moving in earnest. The other squad members added their firepower to shatter its mana barrier, and Reina's successive slashing strikes finally carved a massive wound into its body. From then on, the excited gallery reactions watching began shifting to an atmosphere of relief.
The fan gallery users had every reason to get hyped. They were immersed in Reina, sure, but it was also because their aid let her dramatically survive and then slice the enemy apart in one go.
Reina's actions alone sparked intense interest and pleasure in them, but shattering the intentions of enemies who'd tried to smear her first—and making them suffer losses to boot—gave them a thrilling catharsis. With the 150th floor clear heading toward successful completion, the gallery's festive mood was only natural.
Legion Experiment Subject, Daraz Defeated
And finally, Reina's sword plunged into the enemy's throat as she leaped into the air, triggering the boss defeat notification.
It was the reward that Reina herself, and most fan gallery users, desperately hoped for. The multiplier stamp, which boosted stats across the board in one go, was given only to the two who showed the greatest achievements in the first clear of the 150th floor. Reina's chances were high.
She'd peeked at the gallery raid and acted accordingly, plus she'd unintentionally received the blessing, making it far easier to meet the conditions.
S-rank Multiplier Stamp Applied
'Got it. The multiplier stamp.'
Reina, catching her breath beside Daraz's collapsing corpse, watched the blessing's light slowly fade as her status floated before her eyes. She faintly lifted the corner of her mouth. Having secured one of the dungeon's greatest rewards, she let out a deep breath and finally stored her sword in her inventory.
The challengers cheered having overcome the great ordeal at last, and the gallery users basked in their own reasons for joy watching it unfold. But unlike them, one person couldn't just celebrate blindly and was still busily working even now: the gallery manager, Serpina.
The more active the boards, the better—but the risk of incidents rose too. Preventing them ahead of time came down to the manager's skill, which was why users tended to avoid managers. Even paid ones.
"How's the situation elsewhere?"
Because of that, Serpina, who could scarcely spare attention anywhere else, had split tasks with Perbas to check other areas.
"Similar no matter the gallery size. They can't help but celebrate the 150th floor clear."
Perbas, who loved scouting around other places anyway, zipped through the major galleries in an instant and reported back.
"One multiplier stamp. Jeong Chan-su got that."
"As expected."
"But the other went not to Jeong Chan-su's faction, but Reina. Lee Se-jin's gallery is in chaos right now. They all thought she'd get it."
Perbas chuckled in chat, clearly delighted at the mess. Indeed, most users had assumed Jeong Chan-su's faction would snag both stamps the moment he split the routes. Reina going underground per the guide gave her a shot if followed perfectly, but no one truly believed she'd stick to the user-made plan.
"They're dying of injustice? Might try to nitpick us giving Reina the blessing too."
"If they're that butt-hurt, they should track down whoever tried to smear Reina and dox them. We were just defending ourselves."
Serpina snorted.
Reina had steamrolled the Daraz route with the blessing, true—but Serpina had a solid justification. Video proof existed of Reina being ambushed by constellation-instigated monsters.
"No grounds for backlash at all. We've got this locked down."
On Fate Road, over-empowering a challenger with fandom support was prime hater bait. It made them look like mere puppets of the constellations, not climbing on pure skill. As Reina's fandom grew, such vulnerabilities would multiply. Serpina, as her first contract constellation and main manager, was taking maximum precautions.
"What do you think, though? Did Lee Se-jin's fandom really pull that crap?"
"Obviously, but no traces left in their gallery. Probably scheming in some private channel among the plotters."
"Worst case...?"
A separate faction formed by a few, with the execution power to intervene massively in the tower via points? Serpina let out a hollow laugh. As a manager, it was an incredibly thorny issue.
"Can't crush them till they show their hand, but whatever—who cares now? Reina won. What does that mean? We can swarm and stomp them openly."
Perbas grinned with satisfaction, watching Lee Se-jin's gallery get invaded live. No need to spend points. No reason to touch Lee Se-jin directly in the tower. Just Reina outperforming her gave Reina's fandom a powerful pretext. Swarming to terrorize rivals with that excuse was standard Fate Road culture. As Perbas claimed, it was 'fair and square' fandom rivalry.
"...Sigh."
Hearing that, Serpina paused messaging and let out a small sigh. She too burned with rage when Reina was trashed and trolls swarmed from all sides, losing reason and savoring the sweet thrill of counterattacking in those moments. But whether this rotten-to-the-core Fate Road fandom culture was truly right... that was hard to answer.