Chapter 3
Chapter 3
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 003
Chapter Title: Clone Art
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Build a gallery inside the tower!
Before tackling this tricky challenge,
I had to hug the grimoire and rack my brain first.
"Whoa, how the hell did I even read this back in the cave?"
This starter grimoire.
Upon closer inspection, it's more like a general-purpose learner's guide.
Boosts your stats or anything?
Nope.
It's really more like, "Out of all this, there should be at least one spell that fits your aptitude."
That's why the pages are packed with dense text.
Come to think of it, I couldn't even remember the last time I'd cracked open a book.
No way I could focus in a situation like this.
After much agonizing, I resorted to a desperate measure.
Focus like a maniac.
Even the college entrance exam wouldn't demand risking your life for concentration like this.
I flipped through the grimoire like a madman.
'Luckily, the burned parts were in the elemental magic section.'
It wasn't on purpose.
Normally, I'd have saved this section instead.
I was freezing and miserable, so I tore out pages in a rush, grabbing whatever came to hand.
Still, it was a blessing in disguise.
'Curses and hexes are in the back—another stroke of luck.'
That's exactly what I was looking for.
Two reasons.
One: I plan to use it to create the gallery.
And the other: My other [Deficiency].
[Noble Body, Baseborn Role].
"I don't know much, but it feels pretty shady."
Rebellion Against Heaven.
Something like defying the heavens, right?
'Noble Body probably means something like "godly" or whatever.'
I was the fool for thinking that.
My middle school humanities knowledge was too much for me, so it took a while to catch on.
I'd heard it back when I was learning meat processing.
This is that thing.
'Wasn't it a term from the Joseon Dynasty?'
Noble Body.
Your 'status' is 'commoner.'
Baseborn Role.
Your 'role' (job) is 'lowborn.'
Together: Noble Body, Baseborn Role (身良役賤).
Status is commoner, but actions are lowborn.
Roughly like, "Everyone gets one vote, but one's a professor and another's a butcher? Lol."
Hmm.
Alright, I've made up my mind.
'I'll track down and beat the crap out of whoever built this tower.'
Now even inanimate objects are screwing me over.
But I'm used to it, honestly.
The history of discrimination butchers face is long.
It's gotten better lately, but when I first started learning the trade, it was still heavily looked down on.
Anyway, that's why, I guess.
This [Noble Body, Baseborn Role] felt just like my [Deficiency].
■ Held Deficiencies:
[Noble Body, Baseborn Role]
◇ Can only use shady arts.
Yeah, yeah, bro stays away from the spotlight.
Years of gallery lurking in my gaming life—spotlight? No thanks.
'That's why my Flame Arrow suddenly wouldn't work mid-fight.'
Flame magic can't be a shady art.
Probably around then that my [Deficiency] awakened.
Thanks to it, I beat that polar bear senior.
So.
What exactly does "can only use shady arts" mean?
Just check my skill tree.
■ Held Skills:
◇ [Butchery]
◇ [Stealing]
◇ [Decapitation]
Whoa! Lowborn three-piece set!
The skills say it all.
Damn it, fine.
Whatever with the rest.
How the hell did I end up with Stealing?
'Did I pickpocket the polar bear senior's house or something?'
What did I do so wrong?
Is burning down a single mom's house, killing the mom, and chasing the kid out into the winter wilderness considered burglary?
"………………."
Let's just make the gallery.
I quietly turned the pages.
But I didn't just get a conscience pang for nothing.
The bigger the restriction, the bigger the reward.
[Deficiencies] work the same way.
Can only use shady skills.
That means all my talent is hyper-focused on specific skill lines.
In other words.
'My talent in those areas is at least doubled.'
Specialized characters beat jacks-of-all-trades.
[Popular Post Addiction] and [Noble Body, Baseborn Role].
A combo that channels boosted talent into specific fields.
I knew it instinctively.
This will work.
'Curses and hexes should be usable for me.'
I rummaged for beginner curses that were simple and quick to learn.
I didn't need anything fancy.
I just wanted the superficial look of a gallery.
'Anyway, as long as I get upvotes, right?'
Is the gallery important?
My popular posts are.
So skip all the minor details.
Imagine only the ultimate leaderboard gallery.
A curse that forces everyone around me into 'gallery addiction.'
Build that.
Shhhhhh…
It happens sometimes.
When you're truly immersed, you even forget you're focusing.
But this was different from normal flow states.
Even in immersion, I could freely allocate my focus.
Okay, focus here.
Think that, and my brain naturally shifted awareness.
'Got it!'
A sensation like gaseous skin expanding outward.
Vision, touch, smell, hearing.
A mage's full sensory detection organ.
That's why, perhaps.
I could peek at the mana flowing through this 0th layer.
'What a sight.'
The red tower rising from the snowfield.
The chill overflowing from its 10th-floor boss room.
Far above, something immeasurably higher.
Tentacles? Roots? Stretching out, ignoring space.
That's all I could see.
I couldn't distinguish people or other creatures.
Their energy was too faint.
'So how massive a mana clump are that chill and those roots?'
The chill makes sense.
It seemed like a tower effect.
But what are those roots?
No way they're wrapping the whole tower.
'Some kind of World Tree?'
I stopped thinking about it.
Whatever.
It doesn't concern me, who's living moment to moment.
Better focus on the magic.
No matter how vast, it's still my skin.
Moving it as I wished wasn't hard.
No time to marvel at the out-of-body experience; I poured this detection inward.
-Squish squish.
Sediment pooled inside, not flowing.
Mana.
Seeping out like bloodwater.
So, don't extract too much.
I scooped out just enough not to harm my body.
What if I pull it outside?
"It works."
Invisible to the eye, but I felt it.
Mana sat in my palm right now.
Forgetting my predicament, my heart raced.
Come on, magic's fun, right? As fun as physical labor.
Wonder if I can manipulate it?
I tried shaping it into an upvote button and failed miserably.
'Tch.'
Form control must be advanced technique.
Makes sense—shaping stars in dalgona is tough too.
Just try what's in the book first.
Infuse color into widely spread mana.
Like with Flame Arrow.
'Not easy.'
As if mocking me for going to the back pages, it was tough to control.
Spreading mana wide.
Infusing color.
Doing both at once felt like my brain was cramping.
Flame Arrow was easy.
Just shoot it fast—no further control needed.
But digging a new gallery is different.
Color the mana and spread it wide.
Then maintain it…?
'How?'
Damn it, seriously.
Eyes closed, cold sweat pouring.
Doesn't need to cover the whole layer.
This village is tiny for a city anyway.
Just visible to residents and climbers here!
But the mana scattered, mocking me.
A rotten blood smell wafted—like spoiled meat juice.
Sensory illusion, but I got the message.
Proof my mana escaped control.
'Why won't it work?'
Realistically,
A newbie stuck on floor 0 spreading mana over a whole town defies common sense.
If this were fire magic?
The town would burn wholesale.
Though the firepower would be weaker than a hand warmer.
But I didn't think that far.
I'd allocated 0% focus to reflection.
Focus control has downsides too.
"Screwed up."
Even barely coloring the mana brought no joy.
Despite putting a whole city in my spell range.
Just thinking about maintaining it made my vision blur.
'Wrong approach?'
Game over.
This way, I'd waste away focusing solely on this spell forever.
No upvotes that way!
Ah, no—I mean, no lifespan extension.
I'd die before 18 hours anyway.
'Can't maintain long-term. Need a server.'
But how?
Mid-pondering, the answer flashed.
Instinct?
Or my honed talent at its limit?
I turned my gaze to the roots enveloping the world.
Vast energy source roots.
And.
'Mana clumps with form.'
What if I use this guy as a server?
I gripped the thickest visible root tight.
And opened my eyes in satisfaction.
Success.
After mulling over the aftereffects and satisfaction of digging the new gallery,
I wiped the sweat from under my chin.
"Holy shit."
I checked the time first and was shocked.
Already 7 hours since I sat down with the book?
Less than half a day (12 hours) left now.
My hands moved on autopilot.
Typing: check.
UI: check.
Just test posting now.
'It's makeshift, so who knows when it'll vanish.'
Server borrowed from the root's capacity.
No clue on durability.
So, the 'first post' I'm uploading now is crucial above all.
I don't know how much longer my life lasts,
but stable popular posts in the Tower Climbing Gallery guarantee today's survival.
But don't drop the notice right away.
Reason's ridiculous.
'It's… boring.'
No, seriously, it's important.
Explain what a gallery is first?
Or post the notice upfront?
'Boring and pretentious.'
People never read dumped info they don't care about.
Pique interest first.
Preach necessity later.
In short, chaos now.
What even is a gallery?
How'd they make it?
Bait them to wonder and fight among themselves.
Then.
'Step in and sort it out as the "King of the Leaderboards"!'
That'd be me.
Slander like "eraser of hate pics" is unfair.
Between average gallery masters and me lies the absolute hierarchy of "server ownership."
Intricate plan? Nope.
I know myself.
No talent for outsmarting others.
But even I can do something.
That is…
(Black guy melon bar-sucking troll character GIF)
(Black guy troll character GIF kissing the screen)
Leaderboard-speed first replies!
Perfect.
A very promising sign.
With this post, I've posed the question.
To my precious lifeline.
The Tower Climbing Gallery users.
'Since when did these gallery masters think they run the place?'
Gallery basics: floaters and clone arts.
Popular post gold! Popular post gold!