I Became a Gallery Newbie Beloved by Transcendents Chapter 19

I Became a Gallery Newbie Beloved by Transcendents

Chapter 19

 

 I killed two kobolds and then killed three more kobolds.

But even so, I didn’t level up.

‘The Kobold King.’

According to the seniors of the Transcender Gallery, the only monster among the kobold species that could be a threat to me.

Would that one be inside this dungeon or not?

If it were here, I thought I’d like to meet it.

Had my mind gone strange after being in a Pandemonium difficulty tower for nearly a month?

Except for Laura, the 9th floor resident, there was no one who felt particularly outstanding in combat sense.

At least the Chinese Sun Haoran showed no hesitation.

The reason I could move more nimbly than them was thanks to the excellence of the Dragon Slayer Sword itself and the training golem mk.2.

I suppose the Orc Commander who drove me back and the Orc Sorcerer who gave me quite a hard time also played a part.

6 hours and 32 minutes had passed since entering the dungeon.

The reason I know the exact time is because the current time is precisely recorded at the far right top of my field of vision.

Current time 6:41.

All seven of us, including myself, were squatting down taking a rest.

Because I thoroughly positioned myself at the very back for six hours, there were only two people who recognized me as strong for a 3rd floor resident.

Misaki and the Chinese woman beside her, Zhu Xian. Just the two of them.

At first, I couldn’t understand people who were taking rest sprawled out without any tension.

A square golden border surrounded the people.

‘They said it was a safe zone.’

Misaki explained, scratching her head, that it was a completely invulnerable safe area that occasionally exists in Easy difficulty towers.

The only impression I felt during the exchange meeting was a sense of dissonance.

Indeed, would I ever see this safe zone while climbing Pandemonium?

04 : 23 : 54

Above the safe zone, the time was floating.

04 : 23 : 53

The time gradually decreased.

It started at five hours. In 4 hours and 23 minutes from now, the safe zone being used by the party would disappear.

While Laura, the German woman, was the militant leader, Baek Jin-young could be called the leader in terms of leading communication.

“It’s too early to go to sleep, but wouldn’t it be better to sleep for about 4 hours now and then finish the dungeon altogether?”

Laura nodded.

“Yeah, that sounds good.”

Everyone agreed with Baek Jin-young’s words.

Misaki approached me as I sat quietly.

“Sleeping bag, you don’t have one, right?”

“No.”

“They don’t sell them in the 3rd floor waiting room.”

Misaki handed me a sleeping bag.

“Use this!”

I appreciate it if she gives it to me, but…

“Then won’t you be without a sleeping bag, Misaki?”

Misaki shook her head side to side.

“I have one! I have a habit of not throwing away things I’ve put in my inventory once… Oh, don’t worry! That’s a new sleeping bag! I’ll use the used one.”

If I were to tell her to use the new one instead, saying I prefer the used one, I’d look crazy in a different way.

“Thank you.”

I quietly accepted the sleeping bag and spread it out.

“Which difficulty tower are you in, Misaki?”

Misaki answered my question immediately.

“Easy difficulty.”

I looked at the person next to Misaki.

“What about you, Zhu Xian?”

Zhu Xian said quietly.

“Easy. You noticed, didn’t you, that she and I are in a party.”

How could I not notice? The two of them were openly taking care of each other.

Zhu Xian pointed with her chin at Sun Haoran, who was also Chinese.

“Sun Haoran, that person is Normal.”

Baek Jin-young was also Normal difficulty.

Now Laura was the only one whose difficulty I didn’t know.

I approached Laura.

As I approached, Laura opened her mouth looking above my head, not at me.

“What is it, 3rd floor?”

“What difficulty are you in?”

Laura snickered as if she found it ridiculous that I was openly asking about difficulty.

“Try and guess which difficulty I’m in.”

She seemed more talented in combat than Baek Jin-young or Sun Haoran who were Normal.

However, she was less skilled than the level I had imagined for a Hard difficulty climber.

“Hard?”

“Yes.”

Laura clicked her tongue.

“Damn Hard.”

It must be quite tough.

I didn’t feel like offering any consolation. My life seems a bit tougher, you know.

There were plenty of questions to ask.

“What kind of monster appears on the 8th floor of Hard difficulty?”

At my words, Laura suddenly shuddered, then slowly opened her mouth.

“The Orc Great Warrior.”

Oh.

“Did you kill it?”     
Laura frowned at my words.

Not just a frown, but she became like a grimacing goblin.

“Kill it… how could I kill that thing? I just ran away as much as possible. Since all I had to do was endure until the time ran out.”

Very disappointing.

“Before the Orc Great Warrior, what kind of orc-type monster appeared?”

Laura didn’t seem to mind my continuous questions about her and answered readily.

“5th floor, Orc Commander.”

The pioneer from the Transcender Gallery also said it appeared on the 5th floor.

The cases of the Light’s Sword or Archmage where it appeared on the 2nd floor seemed to be rare.

“Did you kill the Legion Commander?”

At my words, Laura slowly shook her head.

“That one too, I just needed to defend until the knights arrived, so I focused on enduring.”

If she were full of pride, she might have answered that at least she killed the Legion Commander.

Seeing how she talks about enduring as if it’s natural, it seemed like other Hard difficulty players in Laura’s circle thought the same way and made the same choices.

“There was one guy among those who cleared the floors with me who suggested killing it, but his opinion was naturally ignored.”

That guy whose opinion was ignored was right.

In the end, the possibility of growth opens when you push against strong monsters and somehow kill them. That was the direction of this tower that I learned during the process of just the 2nd floor.

“How many people usually attempt to clear it?”

Laura answered dryly.

“For 5th floor and above, obviously usually 6 or more people.”

So with 6 or more people, not even thinking about killing it is the standard theory.

I’d heard that difficulty increases progressively as party members increase, but from my perspective, it still seemed too cautious.

Since she said she had never even killed a Legion Commander, I lost interest in the Hard difficulty climber before me.

I got up and went back to the sleeping bag I received from Misaki.

The others must have been worn out physically and mentally, as they all fell into deep sleep in their respective sleeping bags.

Seeing how peacefully they all slept, it seemed they had all experienced a safe zone at least once.

I recalled something the Light’s Sword  had written in the appendix of the Dragon Slayer Sword.

-It’s also necessary to practice sleeping in a way that you can wake up at any time.

-With training, almost nothing is impossible.

I thought it was nonsense.

But now I see it’s used for times like this.

That training, I could try it now, couldn’t I?

Thinking this, I closed my eyes.

“…”

As if it would work.

I’ll have to ask for detailed instructions later.

It was essentially meditation.

I needed to organize my thoughts.

After entering the exchange meeting, there was a topic that kept circling in my mind.

Thanks to the adequate time given, I could completely reach a conclusion about that topic.

***

The head of Misaki, who was sleeping soundly in the sleeping bag next to mine, rose very slowly.

“…Ah, did you sleep well?”

Misaki spoke quietly while fixing her disheveled hair.

“Yes.”

I hadn’t slept at all, but I didn’t want to make her feel awkward.

I ate beef jerky and nuts.

It was food I had purchased with coins.

After finishing the exchange meeting and returning to the floor waiting room, I should have a good meal.

00 : 25 : 34

There were still 25 minutes left on the safe zone timer.

All seven of us, including myself, had finished preparations to depart.

Though it wasn’t a long sleep, everyone seemed to be in better condition than before.

The group moved.

Like yesterday, Jake and Sun Haoran at the very front.

Then Laura and Baek Jin-young behind them.

Misaki and Zhu Xian were in front of me, who was at the very back.

Like yesterday, no major variables occurred.

They weren’t particularly strong, but they were people without any special weaknesses.

The kobolds died off smoothly.

If there was anything not smooth, it was probably my level, still stuck at level 12 even after killing four more kobolds.

A place like a dead end of a maze, made up of three walls, stopped our group.

“Huh?”

Jake’s voice was heard. In Jake’s right hand, which he had lowered and then raised, was a map.

The map showed the dungeon layout.

It wasn’t a map depicting the overall dungeon structure.

It was a map showing the existence of the boss room and the room behind it.

Jake’s voice contained a questioning emotion.

“It says there’s a hidden boss room? Are we going to enter it?”     
   A moment of silence fell.

The German Laura strode toward Jake, and roughly snatched the map.

“The difficulty level is important.”

Laura checked the number of stars written below the hidden boss room.

【 ★★★★★ 】

“Tsk.”

Laura clicked her tongue after seeing the difficulty level.

“…I’ll just go up to the regular boss room and then leave the exchange meeting.”

I knew there was a hidden boss room in the exchange meeting dungeon from the advice of senior members on the Transcender Gallery.

Also that unlike the regular boss room, it reveals the difficulty level in advance and lets you choose whether to challenge it or not.

Five stars meant that the possibility of clearing it in the 10th floor exchange meeting was extremely low.

Baek Jin-young approached Laura.

“Oh, may I see it too?”

The rest of the members gathered around to look at the map.

Baek Jin-young scratched his head.

“Hmm… five stars means it’s really tough.”

I thought that I should try to enter the hidden boss room alone if possible.

Anyway, what we’re facing right now is the boss room.

“Let’s prepare briefly before entering.”

Following Laura’s order, everyone checked their weapons.

BOOM-!

And Jake flung open the door to the boss room.

[BOSS MONSTER]

[Kobold champion]

Kobold champion.

Indeed, it looked like the largest of all the furry lizards we’d killed so far.