Ch. 46 Shaking the Cage (1)
by AfuhfuihgsChapter 46 – Shaking the Cage (1)
——————————————————————————————————————————
[Final Revision of the 151st Floor Strategy…]
[Reina’s standing has risen a lot.]
[Her ranking will shoot up soon lol.]
[Uploaded an edited version of the key moments from the 150th floor.]
[Reina made it to the integrated bests again! Not solo, though.]
[Is it true that the swordsmanship gallery folks are showing interest in Reina?]
[So, they still haven’t figured out who pulled those stunts?]
[Once we go back down and return, it’ll be time to tackle the 151st floor.]
.
.
.
——————————————————————————————————————————
After completing all my assigned tasks, I washed up, lounged comfortably on my bed, and browsed the forums.
It’s a very satisfying life. Of course, since I’m in the Tower, this leisure won’t last long, but that’s what makes it even sweeter.
‘Everyone’s excited.’
Lately, the fan gallery, which has been growing rapidly, is naturally lively and in high spirits.
It’s all because I showed a good performance in the recent battle and delivered results.
It was a result that satisfied not only those who demanded achievements from me but also those who wanted to see other aspects of me.
I couldn’t help but feel good seeing that. It meant I had repaid their trust.
——————————————————————————————————————————
[I made a MAD video of the key moments from the 150th floor.] 1
ㄴ“This might actually blow up. She overcame interference from the Constellations, after all.”
ㄴ“Why didn’t you include the scene where she smiles while telling everyone to follow her? That’s the highlight!”
——————————————————————————————————————————
There were also those who collected and edited videos.
Videos compiling the best moments of challengers are very popular on Fate Road.
They easily make it to the integrated bests, and as a result, new Constellations often flow into the fan galleries.
“Hmm…”
Of course, watching myself in such edited videos felt strange, so I couldn’t bring myself to watch them to the end.
I rarely remember exactly how I spoke or acted in those life-and-death situations.
Honestly, it’s downright embarrassing.
——————————————————————————————————————————
[Looking through the Sejin gallery, they seem genuinely upset about what happened this time.]
ㄴ“Isn’t that obvious? Who would openly plot something like that in a gallery? lol”
ㄴ“They probably met privately. Those lunatics. Secret rooms and cliques—if that gets exposed, they’ll get banned for sure.”
——————————————————————————————————————————
There were also community detectives trying to figure out who the Constellations were that tried to sabotage me.
But they were only building circumstantial evidence against suspects, not yet finding definitive proof.
Although there are some key differences, Fate Road, as I’ve observed, isn’t much different from any other internet community.
Unless the conspirators were stupid and careless enough to leak information, the chances of their secret room being exposed were slim.
——————————————————————————————————————————
ㄴ“Actually, it’s good. Like now, it’s an opportunity for Reina.”
——————————————————————————————————————————
Fortunately, unlike the initial chaos, the atmosphere has changed a lot. It’s all thanks to the trust I’ve built.
And the fact that it’s an opportunity for me is undeniably true.
They might think it’s just about my reputation rising as I overcome sabotage, but in reality, the interference from other Constellations is accumulating into tangible rewards.
——————————————————————————————————————————
[Jung Chan-soo mentioned Reina again. He’s always been like that, but it seems he’s growing fonder of her.]
ㄴ“Sigh…I’m kind of rooting for them.”
ㄴ“Well, at least their relationship doesn’t seem bad.”
ㄴ“What if Reina ends up siding with Jung Chan-soo?”
ㄴ“That’ll never happen.”
——————————————————————————————————————————
[From the Kim Ji-eun gallery: Kim Ji-eun is dying of embarrassment over her outfit lol.]
ㄴ“Lol, those gallery folks must be loving it.”
ㄴ“It’s hilarious how she hates the exposure.”
ㄴ“Good. Let her vent those feelings on Reina.”
ㄴ“Kim Ji-eun is the true wife.”
——————————————————————————————————————————
One notable change was the increase in mentions of people around me in the gallery.
Not just Kim Ji-eun and guild members, who were always close, but even mentions of Shadis and Jung Chan-soo’s faction have increased.
Since I’ve been interacting with them more, it’s inevitable that they come up in discussions about me, but even considering that, the mentions have grown.
It’s one sign that the forum has grown.
——————————————————————————————————————————
ㄴ“So, seriously, who do you think Reina will end up with?”
——————————————————————————————————————————
As a result, there were also those earnestly trying to pair me up with someone.
“These people…”
It’s kind of absurd when you think about it.
The person in question has no thoughts about it, but they’re arguing over who I’d be better with or who I’ve set up flags with.
Of course, many of them see me as nothing more than a game character or a fictional character, so such discussions are to be expected.
——————————————————————————————————————————
ㄴ“From collaborator to comrade, from comrade to object of worship. It’s definitely Kim Ji-eun.”
ㄴ“Even the admin ships Kim Ji-eun with Reina lol. Did you see her crying when she thought Reina was going to die? That’s true love.”
——————————————————————————————————————————
From what I’ve seen, Kim Ji-eun has the most support.
Knowing Kim Ji-eun’s hidden desires, they talk as if it’s a foregone conclusion that I’ll end up in some kind of relationship with her.
Even Serpina, the main admin, occasionally makes such comments.
I was quite shocked when I first found out.
——————————————————————————————————————————
ㄴ“Just saying, you’re free to have fun, but don’t cross the line by getting too immersed.”
——————————————————————————————————————————
Not just Kim Ji-eun, but Jung Chan-soo, other guild members, and even Sejin or Sylvia, whom I’ve only briefly met, have all become fun “bait” for their discussions.
The fact that this is possible is largely because Serpina, the admin, keeps things under control.
It’s fine to imagine and play around with me, but don’t get so immersed that you start serious fights.
‘Many have been reduced to toys for the Constellations to play with. They’re told to date whoever, kill whoever.’
Novices or relatively weaker challengers, who have no choice but to rely on the support of Contract Constellations, often get swept up in the gallery’s atmosphere.
Even the assassins who take contracts from the Assassination Gallery are, broadly speaking, part of this group.
Fortunately, Serpina has strictly separated the fan gallery from me and respects me, so I’ve never been caught up in such awkward situations.
Someone like Jung Chan-soo would probably ignore whatever his Constellation says if he doesn’t like it.
But there are always those who are in difficult situations and have weak wills.
Perhaps there’s even a challenger around me right now being manipulated by the Constellations in such a way.
“Master, I have urgent news. It’s about Shadis, the dark elf you’ve met on the lower floors.”
Mark, a guild member, brought this news just as I was about to finish my rest and start training to warm up.
“What’s going on?”
It’s quite rare for Mark, who’s in charge of gathering information through informants connected throughout the Tower, to come directly to me instead of Kim Ji-eun.
In other words, as his stiff expression suggests, it’s a pretty serious matter.
“If I relayed this news directly to the Vice-guildmaster, she’d probably flip out given her personality. More importantly, that dark elf is your personal connection, isn’t she?”
He answered without hesitation, as if it were obvious.
Hearing that, I couldn’t help but nod.
“While you two were raiding the 150th floor, Shadis was also climbing the Tower. Upon reaching the 40th floor, she finally managed to form a contract with a Constellation.”
“A Constellation…?”
“I don’t know much about this Shadis dark elf either. For someone who once lived a life of crime, this might seem trivial or insignificant. So, I’m just reporting the facts as they are.”
As I flinched at the mention of a Constellation, Mark calmly continued his report.
“She’s been frequenting brothels?”
And the news I heard after that was more shocking than I could have imagined.
“To be precise, it’s an underground fighting arena that also functions as a brothel.”
Mark quickly corrected the information as I looked shocked.
But my shock didn’t fade.
No matter how much the Tower is a melting pot of cultures and personalities from various worlds, the underworld is the underworld for a reason.
“I’m just worried that the dark elf, who’s known to have received your favor, might tarnish your reputation and standing by causing unnecessary gossip.”
Mark spoke somewhat coldly.
As he said, Shadis isn’t an official guild member; she only has a slight connection with me.
But even that alone could become a good tool for those who want to sabotage and attack me.
“I sowed the seeds, so I’ll take responsibility.”
I sighed and put away the weapon I had taken out for training.
It seems I’ll have to go down to the lower floors sooner than planned.
——————————————————————————————————————————
[Has anyone heard about Shadis?]
——————————————————————————————————————————
But before that, I logged into the forum to leverage the collective intelligence of those who know much more.
It’s just a hunch for now, but this situation doesn’t seem to be purely Shadis’s will.
And my hunches are usually pretty accurate.
——————————————————————————————————————————
ㄴ“Looks like she got tangled up with some scumbag.”
ㄴ“There are some crazy perverts out there. They hoard massive amounts of points and monopolize challengers to play with them as they please.”
——————————————————————————————————————————
The users’ thoughts weren’t far from my speculation.
If Shadis suddenly started doing things she never did before, it’s likely due to the will of the Constellation she recently contracted with.
——————————————————————————————————————————
ㄴ“So, what do we do?”
ㄴ“What do you mean? Just tell that pervert Constellation to screw off.”
——————————————————————————————————————————
The users didn’t think much of the issue.
After all, if a challenger ignores a Constellation, there’s not much the Constellation can do. Intervening in the system or hiring assassins from the Assassination Gallery requires a significant cost. In other words, it’s usually not worth it.
The problem is that the Constellations, who should know this, only contract with those who “can’t refuse” their offers.
‘I’ll have to hear her story.’
After logging off, I headed straight to the 40th floor.
It seems I won’t be able to figure out a solution without hearing the details.
Author Note
A/N (Author’s note):
Thank you for reading.
Translator Note
T/N (Translator’s note):
Let’s go save a damsel in distress!And break her too.
Placeholders
0 Comments