episode_0024

In the Transcendent Gallery where Han Yoo-seong disappeared, stories about him were still flowing.

Title: Did you go to the gallery? Did you go?

Author: ㅇㅇ

– Oh, it’s hard to pretend like nothing happened.

How did a 3-story Tari kill a King Kobold? This is the first time in my life that I’ve experienced something like this.

N really lol

N Why is this new speech like this?

N Kobold with a black sword!

(Ice Queen) Frozen, that’s amazing!

(Absolute Monarch) I think we’re starting to reach a point where the level is stagnant.

n Sword of Light) That’s right. I just hope that it reaches level 20 and then reaches a plateau.

(N Archmage) What are you hoping for? After all, it’s something the climber has to overcome on his own.

Before entering the third floor staircase stage, Han Yoo-seong kindly answered the question of Light Sword about his stats.

Oh, that’s right. If you get two or more stats over 100, your level starts to go down really badly, right? But why is this crazy guy starting to experience this now? On the third floor? I only experienced it in the middle of the tower?

N Well, that’s you… no, us.

n Pioneer) What will come out this time?

(N Elf) But why is the climber the gallery owner? Isn’t the gallery owner the gallery owner?

ㄴ Well, I say that because the gallery’s themes are all centered around climbers.

N Post a post on the gallery.

***

The forest of demons.

Even at first glance, the forest with the foul name was actually ominous.

As soon as I entered, I cut down the demon that lunged at me with its teeth thrusting in, using my great sword Carnaval.

A demon that looks to be at least 2 meters tall.

Its appearance resembled a wolf.

The crimson fur stood out even in the darkness that had descended upon the world.

This was possible because their fur glowed subtly.

Choaaaak!

As soon as I entered, I killed two of them.

I took out the terminal.

I took pictures of the bodies of two dead demons.

I went into the Transcendent Gallery and wrote.

Title: The 3rd floor stage is the forest of demons.

Author: ㅇㅇ*

Attachment: 901903897.jpg

-But what kind of monster is this?

The comments started pouring in at a frightening rate.

N The forest of demons? Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

N Seriously, I lost! This is a headache!!

N That guy is a demon named Malekani. Yeah, but that’s not what’s important right now.

I was about to ask what was important, when a comment appeared.

(N Archmage) In the Forest of Demons, you have to be more careful of the magical energy spreading through the Forest of Demons than the demons themselves.

(N Archmage) Even that magic is ultimately emitted by the demon.

N yeah*) Magic?

(N Archmage) If you let your guard down, you may be consumed by magic and end up harming yourself.

n Is self-harm a problem?

n Those with poor mental strength have a high chance of getting stabbed to death by their comrades if they make enemies of them.

n I’m normal, and the first time I entered the Demon Forest was on the 35th floor, but it’s the 3rd floor?

That wasn’t surprising anymore.

Fucking pandemonium.

More than that, Magira.

I understand why the [Bracelet of Anti-Evil] on my left arm started to vibrate slightly.

It seemed like it was still working.

[The level of skill ‘Composure’ increases. Lv.6]

[The level of the skill ‘Mental Barrier’ increases. Lv.2]

‘Mental Barrier’ is a skill I acquired when I faced King Kobold yesterday, and it is a passive skill that literally strengthens my mental power.

Two passive skills related to mental power leveled up at the same time.

N ㅇㅇ*) So does this mean I have to keep being exposed to magic?

n Absolute monarch) Just remove the cause.

(Pioneer) The magic that spreads throughout the Forest of Demons does not flow from the forest itself, but is sent out by powerful demons. There is a named demon near you right now.

N ㅇㅇ*) If I remove that guy, the mental contamination will stop?

n Pioneer) That’s right.

ㄴ ㅇㅇ*) The quest I received is to go with the rescue team to rescue the stranded members. Can I kill that demon first without going to meet the members?

N Yeah, that doesn’t matter. I’m not even sure if I’ll be able to contact that rescue team today or tomorrow.

n Changwang) That’s right. If it’s late, it may take 7 or 8 days to contact you.

n Pioneer) My longest record was miraculously reached after 20 days. I thought I was going crazy.

(N Archmage) Anyway, the main issue in such quests is not the rescue team, but saving the members. If you can do that, it doesn’t matter if the process changes a bit.

(N Archmage) Assuming you properly execute the main points, you have more freedom than you think.

Well, even for the 2nd floor stage, I didn’t have much involvement in the battle against Mercury, but I cleared it by killing the Orc Shaman, who was the more fundamental culprit.

When I think of the second floor stage, I think of Liselin, the leader of the Lucerna mercenary group, and Younes, who was both a guide and a magic shuttle.

N ㅇㅇ*) Is the world I experienced on the 2nd floor unrelated to this world? Or is it the same world?

(Sword of Light) There’s a high probability that it’s the same world. The world where the Ermain Empire you protected on the second floor is located also has a forest of demons. The timeline is probably the same as well.

(N Archmage) But we won’t be meeting the guys we met before this time. The continent where the Ermain Empire is and the continent where the Forest of Demons is are different.

(N Ice Queen) Frozen! The continent where the Ermain Empire is is Valterra! The continent where the Forest of Demons is is Noxis!

N But is the forest vast? Doesn’t it seem a bit shabby?

I took my eyes off the terminal for a moment and carefully scanned the surrounding scenery.

It’s far from shabby. It’s extremely dense. It’s full of pitch-black bushes.

N ㅇㅇ*) The forest is very wide and dense.

n This time, it seems like it’ll be later than when we started. I almost purified the Demon Forest and went up, but it’s a shame to hear that it’s become that mess again.

N Seriously, I purified it while sweating blood together with Decan. Well, I did say that even back then, it had already been purified before I purified it, but it grew bigger again because of the remaining demons.

That’s right.

There’s just one more thing I’m curious about.

ㄴ ㅇㅇ*) But how do I find the demon that’s spewing magic energy nearby?

ㄴ Heavenly Demon) If you go in a direction where memories that make you feel dirty continue to continue.

What is this?

n) The magic of intermediate-level or higher demons causes those exposed to the magic to recall scenes in their heads that are quite painful to them, such as past failures or memories they wished to forget.

(N Elf) It’s like something that reminds me of the pain I felt when I was seriously injured in the past.

I was wondering why my right shoulder suddenly started feeling numb.

It was because of Magi.

(N Priestess) Even if you try not to think about it, it keeps coming to you. It’s meant to destroy your body and mind and break your spirit. Ugh… If it weren’t for the interdimensional transaction cooldown, everything would be rendered ineffective if you just gave yourself your talisman… It’s such a shame.

(Sword of Light) No, won’t your mental skills increase? If you don’t get killed by them, it’s a good opportunity to increase your mental power.

n Even in the midst of all this, I only think about growth! Wow! Again!

N As expected, he’s full of fighting spirit.

(N Dragon King) As expected! Beltui’s friend who only says the truth! Beep

(Sword of Light) Die.

(N Archmage) Anyway, even if trauma comes to mind, don’t dwell on it. Then, from that point on, magic will start to properly erode you. Then, your physical and mental strength will collapse in an instant. When you feel like you’re getting close to a demon, turn on magic body strengthening and go.

n) Intermediate-level or higher demons also hunt monsters in the forest. If you suddenly see a lot of monster corpses, that could be traces of a demon emitting magical energy.

(N Archmage) Don’t get eaten in the past.

I got all the information I needed.

I turned off the gallery and started walking again.

The tingling sensation in my right shoulder got worse.

The biggest factor in bringing an end to my baseball career was the recurrence of a shoulder injury.

My headache was getting worse.

A voice like an auditory hallucination seeped into my ears.

– That’s it, playing ball. Look, once you get a taste for it like that, you lose everything.

– You should have studied from the beginning. It looks like you came in and sat there studying after wasting all your time.

It was an unpleasant memory.

– What are you going to do now? You have to eat something to survive.

But for me, these weren’t emotions that could be called fear.

A mound where the pitcher stands.

Me, who allowed a hit. Me, who allowed a home run.

My colleagues and the audience looking at me like that.

When their faces and the baseball field itself appear to be tilted like a crescent moon.

That was when I was most scared.

Yeah, like the memory that’s playing in my head right now.

[The level of the skill ‘Mental Barrier’ increases. Lv.3]

However, now that memory is just a memory.

It was scary when I didn’t do my part.

Now is the time to wallow in feelings of inferiority.

There was so much I had to do to survive right now, to climb this damn tower.

I don’t have the luxury of being lost in past sentimentality.

Knock knock-

I slowly turned my right shoulder and relaxed.

All the heaviness disappeared.

Damn it.

[Magic Body Strengthening Lv.4 – Activates skill.]

The sight of dead monsters that looked like goblins caught my eye.

Beyond that, a one-eyed monster was visible.

It was a monster with the lower body of a four-legged beast like a tiger, and the upper body of a humanoid.

However, it was far from human, as both its body and face were covered in red fur.

“Is that you? The one who made me have strange thoughts.”

“… … .”

The one-eyed man gave me no answer.

The gaze shifted.

A dwarf was seen tied up under a giant tree next to the one-eyed monster.

A crimson furred, drooping eared creature that looks like it’s dead.

They weren’t elves. They looked like beastmen, perhaps of the Miao tribe.

“We’ve encountered one of the rescue targets! Please safely hand the target over to the rescue team!”

That’s right.

It wasn’t written that the object of rescue was a human.

Sling-

I fixed my grip on the great sword Carnaval.

I stepped towards the one-eyed man.

***

Hard difficulty, floor 64.

Hard Difficulty Top Numbering #35.

A woman with long purple hair approached a blond man who was sitting on a park bench reading a book.

“Union Leader.”

The leader of the conquest alliance, Targon, raised his head from reading the martial arts book.

“There was a casualty in the exchange meeting below the 10th floor of our tower.”

Targon frowned at the words of Raid Captain Bellasia.

“Who?”

Bella opened her mouth again to answer.

“8th floor, 21st century Earthling. Baek Jin-young.”

The report was sent to the 8th floor resident, Baek Jin-young, through the postal system.

Baek Jin-young died.

Hard difficulty players have a low chance of dying in a matchmaking session.

This is because the level of difficulty experienced at the exchange meeting is slightly easier than the level of difficulty experienced during regular climbing.

And this is especially true for exchange meetings below the 10th floor.

“Did you die alone? Didn’t you enter the exchange meeting in a party state?”

In case you are summoned to an exchange meeting, form a party of two or more people with the same number of top players.

That was the directive given by the leader of the conquest alliance.

Bellasia shook her head at Targon’s question.

“They said they refused because they already had a party member who was promised on the normal difficulty. So I wondered if they refused the same numbered top party to hide the fact that they were PKing, so they said they were on the watch list.”

PK. Player Kill.

It meant murder between top players.

“If you didn’t die to a monster, you died trying to PK.”

“Yeah.”

Targon recalled the second floor ranking scores.

The person who made the lower classes, who had not even paid attention to him, pay attention to him.

1st place – Private: 1,532 points

2nd Place – Union Leader: 784 points

A being above oneself.

Targon shook his head.

‘One, even if the private player is a hard difficulty player, the level difference between the 2nd and 8th floors is too big.’

Targon had no idea that Private might be a Pandemonium player.

However, if he could beat me and take first place in the 3rd floor rankings, he was determined to secure his new status by any means necessary.

Targon, who had erased the name of the person suspected of murdering Baek Jin-young, spoke calmly.

“Did you get the name of the normal difficulty player who partied with Baek Jin-young?”

“Yeah, I don’t know if you’re telling the truth.”

“Then post a notice to the climber gallery. See if there are any people who know something. If it seems like it will take too much time, just leave it alone.”

It will play a role in maintaining the balance of all the floors from the first floor of the tower.

That’s how the guild of the conquest alliance was launched. However, there was no time or reason to completely take care of the floors before the 30th floor, which were not even accessible to the climber’s gallery.

The reason why we continue to instill the perception that we will take care of you appropriately is because you can join the starting from the 30th floor.

It was just a design task to maintain the influence as the number one .

“Okay.”

With Bella gone, Targon, left alone again, muttered as he opened his book.

“I’m curious.”

I wonder if you’ll be able to beat me and come in first place on the third floor.

Targon’s eyes sparkled sharply as he thought of ‘privacy’.