Chapter 1
Chapter 1
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Constellation Gallery
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Reincarnation came suddenly.
A feeble body, shallow breaths wheezing softly.
Returning to a child's form, it was only natural to feel disoriented.
'My second life?'
Adapting was quicker than expected.
Something experienced once before felt familiar upon revisiting it.
But there was one part that refused to adapt...
"Aww, our little princess is awake?"
"Time for num-nums, num-nums."
"Wahhh?"
The fact that my gender differed from my previous life.
Truth be told, half the world was women—wouldn't it be stranger to be reborn male again?
If I had to mentally justify it that way.
My second life was affluent.
This world resembled modern Korea in some ways yet differed in others. My father was a doctor, my mother a lawyer—an exceedingly prosperous family.
A restaurant where a single meal cost over 200,000 won per person? That was my first experience with dining out.
With an elite household came high expectations, but as a reincarnator, it wasn't particularly challenging for me.
I was still far too young to suffer under intense academic pressure anyway.
Good grades, decent looks.
I didn't mingle much with friends, but that wasn't my concern.
My mental age simply didn't match theirs.
Such uneventful days passed until my tenth birthday.
That was when the world underwent a cataclysm.
"...Did I get isekai'd into a hunter story or something?"
Monsters began pouring out.
Creatures of all shapes burst through rifts in the air, turning the world into chaos.
Of course, humanity's arsenal—firearms, cannons, mortars—could hold them back to some extent.
But not all monsters were vulnerable to guns.
There were abominations impervious to bullets, surpassing the speed of sound, shredding people in an instant, and evading missiles the moment they launched. Against those transcendent beings, we were helpless.
Humanity crumbled in the blink of an eye.
We lost control of the seas we'd dominated for so long, skies were blocked by flying monsters, and on this small peninsula called Korea, beasts swarmed from all directions.
For reference, North Korea had long fallen, becoming monster territory.
"Or is this an apocalypse tale?"
Just as I wondered if this world's genre was even more horrific than anticipated,
Beings appeared to end the despair before humanity collapsed entirely.
Climbers.
Superhumans who returned from a place called the Tower began slaughtering the monsters one after another.
They surpassed the speed of sound, wielding swords, bows, or magic to battle the despair we'd been unable to overcome.
Even true monsters they couldn't defeat existed, but they weren't worried.
"Greater ones will come."
Their optimism proved well-founded. Returning climbers grew stronger with each wave, transcending human limits.
In extreme cases, they flicked a finger and burst monsters apart in one hit.
Rumor had it the Tower had varying difficulties, and those who climbed harder ones returned with far greater power.
They couldn't eradicate every monster, but it was enough to maintain and rebuild society.
And so, the world didn't end.
"I don't expect anything from you. Just grow up healthy."
My parents' ambitions to mold me into a doctor, prosecutor, judge, or lawyer—those elite professions—vanished without a trace.
Watching the world nearly crumble made such pursuits seem futile.
Besides, climbers now wielded wealth, fame, and power.
With monsters somewhat contained, Tower intel began leaking out.
Difficulties: Easy, Normal, Hard, Hell—with drastic gaps between them.
Most returning climbers had cleared Easy. Top hunters admitted to Normal clears.
No Hard or Hell clears yet, but their existence was known thanks to climber communities.
Tower tales included rumors and legends, but core facts spread widely:
1. Only adults could enter.
Standards varied by country, but generally nineteen and up.
2. Difficulty was random.
Easy was doable. Normal required risking life. Hard and Hell escalated exponentially, beyond endurance.
Hard and above? Consider yourself dead.
3. Entry couldn't be refused.
Once selected, you awoke on Floor 0.
Kidnapped, plain and simple.
"No need to worry for now."
The disaster hit at ten; by the time it stabilized, I was fourteen.
Far too young for Tower conscription.
Sure, it might happen someday... but with only about a hundred pulled monthly, what were the odds?
I didn't think my luck was that bad.
Or so I thought.
I went to bed, and upon waking, rough weeds prickled my back. Glancing around in confusion, this wasn't my room—it was an unfamiliar place.
"...Where is this?"
As I muttered, I recalled climber testimonies from broadcasts, schools, streets.
The scratchy weeds on my back, the refreshed body upon waking, the dread of an alien environment.
Lifting my head, a colossal Tower loomed in the distance.
This dreamlike space felt surreal.
I rubbed my eyes a few times.
No change.
"Only adults get pulled, right?!"
My indignant shout scattered into the void.
Spreading my hand, I saw the slender arm and fingers of a fourteen-year-old girl.
Even Easy would be grueling like this, I thought...
"No way the difficulty is..."
There was no guarantee of Easy.
Could be Normal or Hard.
I refused to consider Hell.
No piling on in this already worst-case scenario.
I clung to faint hope.
And it shattered mercilessly.
...For real?
Rubbing my eyes changed nothing.
Turning my head yielded the same.
Pinching my cheek to check if it was a dream? No difference.
Not just Hard, but Hell...
Hell difficulty's trait: periodic Tower entry or perish. No holing up strategy possible.
Was this how my second life ended?
Despair washed over me, but attachment was surprisingly minimal.
Regret? Only for leaving my second-life parents.
Before I could dwell on how absurdly short this life had been,
Another screen appeared.
Title: New Hell Difficulty Climber Dropped!!!
Author: Chaos Incarnate of the 999th Life
Title: Something's Off? Why's a 14-Year-Old Entering the Tower?
Author: Space Wikier
"..."
Something felt off about the content.
What were these posts, and what was this place?
It didn't match the climber communities I knew.
This seemed more... ruler-like.
I didn't show it.
They could apparently observe me.
Title: So What Do We Do? It's a Kid—Shouldn't We Send Her Back?
Author: Anonymous
No way.
New newbies are always the best.
"..."
It felt familiar like any community, yet eerie since the topic was me.
Other posts were all about me too.
Title: Newbie's Super Cute
Author: Chaos Incarnate of the 999th Life
You're gonna get banned.
So what now, call the mod?
Title: There's a Way.
Author: Causality Team Intern
So what's the way? You've been teasing.
Title: Me First
Author: Chaos Incarnate of the 999th Life
You hold back on Hard Floor 40+ climbers but go all-in here?
"..."
As they said, a blue screen hovered before me.
"Uh, um... thank you?"
Skills had ranks; C was top for Normal clearers, I'd heard.
Yet I got C-Rank with one click?
Title: F***, Gacha Failed
Author: Chaos Incarnate of the 999th Life
LOLOL dumbass buffalo kid.
And then...
Blue windows began cascading down one after another.