After Han Yuseong ended Elysian Gallery and hurried away, the topic of conversation in [Elysian Gallery] still revolved around him.
Title: But even if we somehow help that guy, will there be any benefit for us?
Author: Locked Room Theorist
– There is indeed some satisfaction in alleviating boredom, but I wonder if there’s anything else.
n: Isn’t it enough to have fun?
n: When did the demon uncle start thinking about something so meaningful and start looking for gain? hahaha
n: Lord Brick) I feel like there could be some gain.
n: ?? Gain?
n: Sorceress) Lord Brick! Please explain further!!
n: Lord Brick) We can definitely trade among ourselves, and it seems we can also trade items with the Climber.
In [Elysian Gallery], interdimensional trading is possible.
n: Locked Room Theorist) We have a lot to offer him, but… wait, there is something we could get from him.
n: Oh my gosh, this is ridiculous hahahahaha
n: Pioneer) Hmm, if it’s feasible, there could be a lot to gain even without going to the higher floors, say by just passing the 30th floor. Things like the Phantom Tree or the Wraith Assembly Rune would surely be useful to someone…
n: Pioneer) And even without reaching the 30th floor, upon reaching the 2nd floor, the climber coin shop for adventurers opens. We might also be able to get food there.
n: Pioneer) I don’t remember anything else from the tower, but I still miss the Earth Martial Realm food. Every time I tried to make Mapo Tofu, it just didn’t taste right.
n: I’m from the Martial Realm, and I sometimes miss the red wall noodles… pasta. It was almost a ritual to eat a bowl every time we climbed a floor. I don’t know why food seems to disappear in interdimensional trades.
n: Lord Brick) That’s true. Things bought directly from the coin shop are in a special storage, so they likely won’t disappear.
n: Heaven’s Devil) Alright then, Lord Brick. Have you attempted interdimensional trade with this climber?
n: Lord Brick) Yeah, I have tried but it says the subject does not meet the requirements so interdimensional trading is currently disabled. However, there is a chance it could activate. We might reach activation simply by reaching the second floor.
n: Light Sword) Maybe I could give him some sword manuals.
n: Archer) After practicing in the forest, such an amazing event took place. If the trade works, we could also possibly give weapons, right?
n: But wouldn’t weapons likely be level-restricted?
n: Archer) Hmm, that’s true…
n: Sorceress) Hahaha, this young girl will give talismans.
n: Pioneer) Young? Girl?
n: Sorceress) Be quiet, old man.
n: Absolute Monarch) Sword manuals, eh? Light Sword, it seems like you have the intention to teach the climber like a disciple. You seem to give the most advice. I’m curious about your reasons.
n: Light Sword) No special reasons. It’s just fun.
n: Light Sword) Starting from the second floor when the scoring begins, if the climber I helped makes it into the top rankings across all difficulties—Easy, Normal, and Hard—it would be very entertaining.
n: Light Sword) The current top rankers don’t appeal to me. I want to scare them a little.
n: Light Sword) And in a few days, during the once-a-month Tower Exchange Meeting, we will face other players. Even if he’s alone for now, that picture is intriguing.
n: Archmage) Does he seem like he will perform that well?
n: If what Light Sword says comes true, it would be extremely entertaining. But it’s terrifying to consider the probability that he might already be dead while we’re talking this way.
n: Ice Queen) Mr. Climber! I’ve made an iceberg to pray for your safety! Don’t say such things! Freeze freeze!
n: Lord Brick) Ah, right. I haven’t even asked the climber’s name yet. If he survives, I’ll ask then.
n: Lord Brick is setting a death flag with those lines! hahahahaha
n: The death flag was set by the climber first. “Let’s see if you survive.” Let’s see if you survive, hmm? Hmm, will he fail?
n: Lord Brick) You’re blocked until the climber survives.
n: Ah.
CRACK!
The spear snapped. Just ahead of me, there was a greenish creature with blood dripping from both hands.
Its appearance led me to believe it was probably a goblin.
A situation where I had blocked a goblin’s axe swing with the spear by placing it horizontally.
I rolled on the floor and grabbed the remaining spear blade.
PUHUUUUU!
Immediately standing up, I drove the spear blade, used like a dagger, through the goblin’s neck.
KREEEEHHHH!
A thin moan erupted from the goblin’s lips, so close to me, as blood sprayed from its neck.
The goblin’s body fell forward.
[Level increased!]
[Lv.1 -> Lv.2]
[‘Strength’ increased by 4.]
[‘Agility’ increased by 5.]
[‘Health’ increased by 3.]
There looked to be many more notification screens about leveling up and other things but my gaze was currently drawn elsewhere.
Right in front of me, someone was dying.
A woman lay sprawled on the ground face down, her thin armor smeared with blood.
I knew why this woman had such injuries. I’d just witnessed in real-time the goblin using its sharp talons, which were practically swords, to rake and shred through her abdomen.
The screams echoing around from the floors were still vivid in my memory.
However, when I faced that situation, it was too far away to possibly reach even after sprinting several dozen steps.
A mouthful of blood gushed out, and the woman’s head lolled down limp.
The barely twitching woman’s body immediately stopped.
Above the woman, who just turned from a living human into a corpse, some text still floated there:
[NPC – Fled Mercenary]
Right now, in this moment, anger overtook any fear.
Why must I keep seeing these corpses? If you’re going to deliberately place NPCs in front of my eyes, you should at least give me a proper chance to save them.
Even if it’s just an illusion, it’s better to save someone rather than watch them die.
More frustratingly, I was currently picking through the fled mercenary’s belongings.
To survive.
SLURSH-
In place of the broken spear, I took up the sword that the mercenary had used. And I tore off the greaves around the mercenary’s ankles, wrapping them around my own.
Even from the pouch tied around the mercenary’s waist, there were things I could take.
Two potion bottles identical to the third-grade Restorative Potion* that the [Fled Citizen] had carried were present. There were also real bandages, not the makeshift cloth substitutes.
I closed the wide-open eyes of the mercenary. It wasn’t hypocrisy. I just met her eyes, and that unsettled me. So I had only closed them to stop feeling awkward.
“Status panel.”
[Player Status]
Name: Han Yuseong
Race: Human
Level 2
Strength: 16
Agility: 18
Health: 14
…The Easy difficulty guys said that climbing only brought a 1 point stat increase. They said the Normal difficulty only increased one point overall and sometimes only a single stat like Strength, Agility, or Health went up by 2.
Strength goes up by 4, Agility by 5, and Health by 3.
This is close to what the Hard difficulty Fixed Nicknames predicted.
-Light Sword) If you’re on Hard difficulty, your stats will soar in the early stages. In my world, the knights, or in the Martial Earth, the warriors, who were already physically powerful, hardly saw any significant stat growth even on Hard difficulty. But since you’re from 21st-century Earth, you’ll grow well.
-Master Brick) The gap between the life you normally lived and surviving on Hard difficulty is a factor. My report suggests that people surviving Hard difficulty have a reward mechanism for their hardship.
-Master Brick) To begin with, most of the people summoned for Hard difficulty aren’t ordinary, so they don’t notice this. But if you’re Hard mode, you might feel it.
I stretched out my hands then clenched my fists.
I feel it very clearly.
Even after retiring from high school baseball, I continued a moderate exercise routine, but eventually, I just stuck to the gym.
A sensation of strength and flexibility blending into the muscles reached from my shoulders through my arms and down to my hands.
So does that confirm this as Hard difficulty?
A wistful feeling lingered in my mouth.
I untied the bandage wrapped around my shoulder.
As Light Sword had explained, it seems one of the effects of leveling up was “complete restoration of health.”
I’ve come halfway through the first floor.
The scenery unfolded thus.
What appeared were long legs. Long legs bridging the ground, where a fall would mean an abyss below.
Guardrails on either side made from steel plating.
This was one of the structures ‘Absolute Monarch’ had told me about.
Absolute Monarch) For arrows flying from the left, hide behind the left plating. If they’re headed somewhere you can’t hide, block or swat them away with your shield or weapon. I had a rectangular shield, so it was easy to block, but you won’t have one.
Absolute Monarch dashed ruthlessly against my hopes for alternative methods.
Absolute Monarch) You’ll just have to figure out how to survive.
Absolute Monarch) Trust your instincts.
Damn.
I took a step forward.
I stood at the bridge’s entrance, brushing off the uneasy feelings after failing to save the NPC.
SQUEAK!
I stepped onto the bridge.
A wind came from the right.
SCREEEEEEEEEE!
Three metal arrows rushed from the right.
I swiftly moved to the right.
I had to take maximum cover behind the steel plating.
CRUNCH!
One arrow bounced off the steel plating.
And one…
KAANG!
I swung my sword and batted it away.
Is this even possible? There was no time to think. I just had to do it.
SPLURT!
I got hit.
Just like when I took a hit from the three-headed Anthranslope before, an unreal pain coursed through me.
The arrow was embedded in my thigh, and it felt like my entire leg would tear off.
Once more, I had no choice but to resort to that old self-hypnosis.
This is a baseball diamond.
Here.
Breathe deeply.
A place I’ve never collapsed in tens or hundreds of times of tension.
A place where despite endless failures, I don’t ever give up.
GLUG!
I swigged down the remaining half of the potion, pulled the arrow out, and poured the third-grade potion from the [Lv.2 Fled Mercenary]’s pouch onto the wound. Then I bandaged it.
[Skill ‘Pain Suppression’ has leveled up! Lv.2]
SSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHH—
Wind now came from the left.
That was the same as an announcement that metal arrows were coming from the left.
I moved my body.
I avoided what I could avoid.
KAANG!
I swatted away with my sword what I couldn’t avoid.
PUHUUUUU!
Got hit in the shoulder this time?
[Skill ‘Calm Heart’ has leveled up! Lv.2]
Avoid what you can. Block what you must. Take the hits.
This process was repeated.
[Skill ‘Danger Awareness’ Lv.1 – Acquired]
To withstand countless arrows, I swatted away descending iron chains from above.
[Skill ‘Extended Vision’ Lv.1 – Acquired]
How many minutes passed?
[Skill ‘Concentration Enhancement’ Lv.1 – Acquired]
Finally.
Finally, through the mist, the end of the long bridge could be faintly seen.
KA-GA-GA-GA-GA-CHK—KA-GA-CHK!!
And a chilling sound could be heard.
It was like the sound of someone industriously sawing something with a saw.
As the mist slowly cleared, an Anthranslope standing as tall as an adult male came into view.
It was industriously cutting a massive stake it was supporting with its two feet.
That bastard.
A crest could be seen above its head.
[BOSS MONSTER]
Boss Monster.
[Queen Anthranthrope]
Queen Anthranthrope.
She’s a she, huh?
I pulled the arrow embedded in my shoulder and swallowed a potion. The overwhelming pain pressing against my brain was suppressed by adrenaline.
My body moved on its own.
I’ll kill her.
[Skill ‘Concentration Enhancement’ Lv.1 – Activated.]
I read the trajectory of the four iron arrows rushing from the right.
KA-CHK! KAANG!
I deflected two and dodged two.
Meanwhile, Queen Anthranthrope was diligently sawing with her two legs.
KA-GA-GA-GA-CHK—!!
The moment I leaped off the end of the bridge, the long bridge plummeted into the abyss below.
KYE-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-EK!!
Unlike the Anthranslopes I’d seen before, the queen was named for good reason—she had a single massive head.
It looked as though it had an incredibly tough shell.
Even though pain flared up violently throughout my body, my mind had never been clearer.
SCRRRRREEEAAAAA!!
Dodging the left leg swinging down and twisting my body to the right, I drove my sword down vertically.
One of its six legs.
KE-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-EK!!
Methodically avoiding all of her attacks with calm focus.
PUUUH-WA-A-A-AK!!
In the middle of it, I ate a slash to the abdomen but gritted my teeth through it. I cut off the remaining five legs one by one.
KE-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-EK!!
KUHNG—!
I drove my sword into her head again. And again.
KA-HNG!
I drove it in with all the force I could muster, so strong it felt like my arms would snap.
KA-HNG!
CHEE-JE-JE-JE-JE—!
It sounded like a cracked egg.
The fragments of the queen’s crushed skull dug into my knuckles, but I paid it no mind.
Inside, a purple brain could be seen.
It was pulsing oddly, like a heart.
I drove my sword into that brain.
Eventually, notification windows flooded my vision.
[Defeated Boss Monster!]
[Level increased!]
[Lv.2 -> Lv.3]
[‘Strength’ increased by 4.]
[‘Agility’ increased by 3.]
[‘Health’ increased by 4.]
[Cleared the 1st floor.]
[Proceed to the 2nd floor.]
The thick mist ahead gradually disappeared.
GRR-R-R-R-R-NGHH!
What I thought was a wall turned out to be a door. Inside that open door, a long staircase could be seen.
There was an arrow and a number on the door.
I remember Master Brick mentioning that the difficulty would be written next to the number.
There was definitely writing next to it.
And that writing had the malevolent power to snatch away the sense of relief after defeating the boss monster and surviving.
No matter how much I rubbed my eyes and double-checked, it remained the same.
…
The font didn’t change.
[Pandemonium]
Pandemonium.
It was supposed to be only Hard difficulty.
Before crossing the bridge, seeing the stats quickly rising led me to accept that it was Hard difficulty.
But this tower I’ve been summoned into isn’t just Hard difficulty.
-Master Brick) There’s no known completer for Pandemonium yet.
-Master Wizard) The clear rate is 0%.
Damn.
Totally screwed.
