Chapter 43 – Stepping Stone (1)

Ｒｅâ&d; oɴ &K;ât&R;ead&i;n​&g;Ｃafè

‘Now that I’ve received the blessing, they probably won’t be able to interfere further.’

Even if they’re malicious, they’re not fools.

I swallowed my disappointment, reasoning that they wouldn’t waste points on a lost cause.

If they were foolish enough to do so, it would only help me further.

“Can’t we slow down a bit?!”

“We can’t be sure. We need to hurry!”

Despite the others’ protests, I kept running forward.

Serpina and the fan gallery users must have spent a significant amount of points to grant me the blessing.

Since the cost had already been incurred, I needed to maximize the benefits.

「25 enemies defeated」

A Black Iron Specter wielding a large axe charged at me, only to be split in half by my sword, now imbued with the blessing. The metallic fragments scattered, grazing my radiant body.

Thanks to this, my original goal of securing as many rewards as possible was progressing steadily.

“That thing must be the boss! Who would’ve thought the boss was here, not above ground?!”

“There could be more than one boss-level entity.”

We quickly reached the boss of the underground route, the experimental subject Daraz.

A chained creature, clad in armor, was roaring in fury.

Fortunately, the blessing hadn’t faded by the time we arrived.

I never thought I’d lose, but now I was even more confident.

“Fight like this is the last battle.”

After all, defeating Daraz would essentially mark the end of this route.

Once Jung Chan-soo’s above-ground route is completed, the 150th floor, which had been blocking us, would finally be conquered. The challenges of the many floors ahead didn’t matter to us now. Climbing the Tower at the forefront means constantly facing and overcoming your limits.

“W-We don’t even know what that thing is capable of. Is there some strategy…?”

“There’s only one strategy.”

I raised my sword in response to Karom, who was nervous because he didn’t know what Daraz was capable of.

Even with the blessing, I couldn’t do it alone. According to the fan gallery’s strategy, I needed the help of others, including Kim Ji-eun.

“Follow my lead.”

But ultimately, I was the core of this strategy. It was a strategy made specifically for me.

As the enemy broke free from its chains and roared, the slash from my sword engulfed it. The enemy’s magic-infused roar shattered against my slash, and the real battle began.

Compared to the Black Iron Specters, Daraz’s magic was far more potent, but having already experienced the pressure of the Constellations, Daraz didn’t feel as overwhelming.

——————————————————————————————————————————

[Did they make it through…?]
[The blessing still has plenty of time left. They’ll have enough to take down Daraz.]
[When that beastkin messed up and Reina almost died, my heart dropped.]
[Who are these guys? Are they really Constellations?]
[Newcomers on day 5 should head straight to the main gallery.]
.

.

.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Black chains of magic erupted from the magic circle Kim Ji-eun had created, wrapping around Daraz’s body as it broke free from its chains and began to move.

As the other team members added their firepower to break through Daraz’s magic barrier, Reina’s consecutive slashes finally left a deep wound on its body. Around that time, the excited gallery reactions began to shift toward relief.

——————————————————————————————————————————

ㄴ“That was close. If the support had been a little late, who knows what would’ve happened.”
ㄴ“But thanks to that, we got an epic moment. Even if it was staged, the timing couldn’t have been better lol.”

——————————————————————————————————————————

The fan gallery users couldn’t help but be excited.

Not only were they deeply invested in Reina, but seeing her survive dramatically and swiftly cut down the enemy with their help was thrilling.

——————————————————————————————————————————

ㄴ“Is interfering like that much more expensive than a blessing?”
ㄴ“This is the 150th floor, lol. 100% more expensive. Those guys must’ve taken a huge loss.”

——————————————————————————————————————————

Reina’s actions alone were enough to captivate them, but the fact that she had thwarted the malicious intentions of her enemies and even caused them losses added a sweet sense of catharsis.

With the 150th-floor raid nearing a successful conclusion, the gallery’s celebratory atmosphere was only natural.

「Legion Experiment Subject, Daraz defeated」

Finally, as Reina’s sword plunged into the enemy’s neck, a notification appeared announcing the boss’s defeat.

——————————————————————————————————————————

ㄴ“Is it confirmed? S-grade Amplification Engraving?! Holy crap ㄷ.ㄷ”

——————————————————————————————————————————

This was the reward Reina and many fan gallery users had been eagerly anticipating.

The Amplification Engraving, which increased stat multipliers and provided a significant boost to overall abilities, was a reward given only to the two individuals who achieved the greatest feats during the first clear of the 150th floor.

Reina had a high chance of receiving it.

After all, she had followed the gallery’s strategy to the letter and, thanks to the unexpected blessing, had met the conditions with ease.

「S-grade Amplification Engraving applied」

[Strength: 2136, Stamina: 1680, Perception: 1200, Durability: 720, Magic: 2580, Agility: 1176, Resistance: 672, Insight: 2100, Spirit: 1320]

‘I got it. The Amplification Engraving.’

As Reina caught her breath beside Daraz’s fallen body, she faintly smiled at the sight of her stats, which had appeared before her eyes as the blessing’s light faded.

Having secured one of the greatest rewards from this dungeon, Reina finally sheathed her sword and stored it in her inventory.

——————————————————————————————————————————

[I’m seriously warning you.]

• Main Administrator

-“Don’t go spreading baseless speculation about what just happened. We don’t have any evidence yet, okay?”

——————————————————————————————————————————

While the challengers cheered, having overcome a great ordeal, and the gallery users enjoyed the moment for their own reasons, there was one person who couldn’t simply rejoice: Serpina, the gallery’s admin.

The more active the forum, the higher the chance of trouble.

Preventing that was ultimately the admin’s responsibility, which was why users avoided the role, even though it was paid.

“What’s the situation elsewhere?”

Unable to divert her attention, Serpina had tasked Perbas with checking on other galleries.

“Big or small, they’re all pretty much the same. They’re just happy about the 150th-floor raid success.”

Perbas, who enjoyed visiting other galleries, quickly reported back after touring the major ones.

“The Amplification Engraving went to Jung Chan-soo.”

“As expected.”

“But the other one went to Reina, not Jung Chan-soo’s faction. The Sejin Gallery is in chaos right now. They thought Sejin would get the reward.”

Perbas chuckled gleefully as he typed.

Most users had assumed Jung Chan-soo’s faction would secure both engravings when he split the routes.

Even though following the strategy strictly gave Reina a clear chance, no one had believed she would actually follow the gallery’s plan.

“They’re furious. They might even try to nitpick about us giving Reina the blessing.”

“If they’re so upset, they should find out who tried to sabotage Reina and expose them. We were just defending ourselves.”

Serpina scoffed.

While it was true that Reina had stormed through the Daraz route with the blessing, Serpina had a clear “justification”.

There was undeniable footage of Reina being ambushed by monsters sent by the Constellations.

“There’s no room for criticism. We’re in the clear this time.”

In Fate Road, fans giving too much support to a challenger could also be criticized.

The argument was that the challenger wasn’t climbing the Tower through pure skill but was merely a puppet of the Constellations.

As Reina’s fanbase grew, she was bound to face such criticism.

Serpina, aware of this, was being extra cautious as the First Contract Constellation and main admin.

“But what do you think? Could it really have been Sejin’s fanbase?”

“Obviously, but there’s no trace of it in their gallery. They probably have a private channel where they conspired.”

“That’s the worst…”

A group of individuals gathering in secret, pooling massive amounts of points to interfere with the Tower?

Serpina let out a hollow laugh. As a gallery admin, this was an extremely uncomfortable situation.

“We can’t kill them until they slip up, but it doesn’t matter now. Reina won. You know what that means? We can march over and crush them.”

Perbas grinned smugly as he watched the Sejin Gallery being raided in real-time.

There was no need to spend points. There was no reason to directly target Sejin in the Tower.

The fact that Reina had achieved a great feat and defeated Sejin gave her fanbase a powerful justification.

Using that justification to swarm and terrorize the opposing fanbase was a common practice in Fate Road. As Perbas claimed, their actions were a “legitimate” fanbase rivalry.

“…Sigh.”

Hearing this, Serpina paused her messages and let out a small sigh.

While Serpina herself felt intense anger when Reina was belittled and swarmed by trolls, and even enjoyed the sweet satisfaction of counterattacking, she found it hard to say whether the toxic fanbase culture of Fate Road was truly right.

Author Note

A/N (Author’s note):
Thank you for reading.

Translator Note

T/N (Translator’s note):
Oh so they DID hide everything.

Good for them I suppose, but that’s an idiotic plot smh…

Placeholders