I Became a Gallery Newbie Beloved by Transcendents Chapter 43

I Became a Gallery Newbie Beloved by Transcendents

Chapter 43

 

Ophelia was aware that the current situation was a dream.

For a mage of the 6th rank or higher, that wasn’t particularly difficult to discern.

And she also knew exactly when this dream was taking place.

There weren’t many instances where Elena de Brinierre, the “Light’s Sword,” was as genuinely enraged as she was now.

Elena opened her mouth, her face and body smeared with blood and flesh.

There had been few times when her eyes had looked so hollow and sunken.

Ophelia was certain this dream was depicting the moment right after clearing the 66th floor on Hard difficulty.

“Was I wrong, Ophelia?”

The “Archmage.”

Ophelia shook her head.

Even back then, her answer would have been the same in any situation.

“You did your best, Elena.”

And she could predict Elena’s response would be the same as well.

“…It’s not a matter of whether I did my best or not, Ophelia.”

Ophelia thought, as she had back then, that few people were as chilling and terrifying as Elena in her prime.

“We lost. To the Tower, this counts as a loss.”

Hearing Elena’s words, Ophelia felt the same deep anger she had back then.

“From now on, we’ll make sure something like this never happens again… We’ll turn the Gallery into something so thorough it’s like a manual. We’ll write it in the Gallery so players beyond the 30th floor won’t have any doubts—just like the parts the Administrator has set up.”

It was the first time Ophelia had seen it that day.

“For floors with relatively lower difficulty, we’ll create an atmosphere where solo clears are encouraged over party play.”

Elena, meticulously working through her thoughts in her own way.

“And we’ll have to train those who survived the 66th floor a bit more. So they don’t get swept up in pointless deaths in the future.”

As soon as Elena finished speaking, Ophelia felt her consciousness abruptly fade.

And she, better than anyone, knew that sensation was the process of waking from a dream into reality.

What greeted Ophelia as she opened her eyes was something pure white.

“…UGH.”

Carefully, she gathered the white papers strewn over her head and placed them neatly on the desk.

She had been researching magic to give to Han Yuseong, the sole climber of the Transcender Gallery.

And it seemed she had dozed off in the process.

“Ahem, I must’ve stayed up too long. Probably pulled five all-nighters…”

Ophelia wiped the drool from the corner of her mouth.

Sometimes, when she focused for too long, she ended up staying awake far longer than she imagined.

“It’s been a while since I dreamed about my Tower-climbing days.”

Back when she was climbing the Tower, her habitual dreams were about ascending it.

But after clearing the 100th floor and returning to her original world, she hadn’t dreamed at all—until now, when she was confronted with a narrative from the distant past.

The reason for this dream wasn’t hard to guess.

Yesterday’s post in the Gallery declaring a climb of the 66th floor on Hard difficulty.

Ophelia figured that was the cause of this long-dormant dream resurfacing.

“There will always be those who break through.”

After all, the Hard difficulty only summons those with a chance to clear it.

“But… more of them will die than in our generation.”

The posts written by the “Light’s Sword” just before climber Han Yuseong entered the Transcender Gallery had been right.

The Hard-difficulty climbers of this generation lacked individual combat prowess.

Letting out a shallow sigh, Ophelia settled back into her seat and resumed her research on how to use magic solely through aura circuits.

***

SPLASH-SPLASH—

I poured a low-grade recovery potion over the abdomen of the man collapsed on the ground.

“Coming to your senses yet?”

The man glared at me.

“GUH… What do you plan to do with me?”

“Who knows.”

At least I’d kept him alive. Now, I needed to extract information.

“Do you know how many enemies there are?”

The man shook his head.

“I’m just a scout.”

He probably had a rough idea, though.

“Give me a rough estimate. If you talk, I’ll let you live.”

“I told you! I don’t know!”

At some point, the mercenary Lengel had approached my side. I glanced at him.

“Hey, if I pull this out, will he die?”

I pointed at the short spear embedded in the left side of the man’s abdomen with my right index finger.

Lengel furrowed his brows, observing for a moment, then slowly shook his head.

“He’ll bleed a lot, but if you treat it with bandages while pouring potions, it should be fine. Though we’d have to dump him at a healing center by today.”

According to Carmine Everhart, Lengel was a mercenary who had survived in the business for quite a long time.

He’d have knowledge about wounds like this, too.

“I see. So if I yank this out and handle it properly, this guy lives, he suffers, and I get my spear back in one piece—is that what you’re saying?”

At my words, Lengel’s lips twitched as if he were looking at a madman.

“…Yes, he won’t die.”

Without hesitation, I moved my hand and pulled out the spear.

“GYAAAAAAAH!”

A deafening scream erupted from the mouth of the man lying on the ground.

I’d realized that inflicting pain quickly was the fastest way to get answers, short of ripping out fingernails.

As I poured the low-grade potion over the wound and wrapped it with bandages, the man continued to groan and glare at me.

Lengel’s voice reached me again from beside me.

It seemed he’d pulled out a piece of paper from the small pouch the man had been carrying.

“Take a look.”

Lengel handed me the paper with both hands.

It was a map.

The map depicted the forest we were currently in, the city beyond it, and the paths leading from that city to the academy.

“With a map like this, how can I not doubt your words?”

I looked back at Lengel.

“Ever pulled out fingernails before?”

“Yes.”

“Yes?”

Huh? You’ve pulled out fingernails?

Lengel alternated his gaze between me and the man on the ground, his face expressionless.

“But nails and toenails don’t regenerate with recovery potions, as you know.”

No, I didn’t know that.

“It’s more efficient to dig into the flesh between the nails or toenails. Once all the nails are pulled, it’s over, but the flesh between them can be easily restored even with low-grade recovery potions.”

SWISH-SWISH—

Suddenly, Lengel began putting on gloves.

“Shall I begin the procedure now?”

Uh… this guy.

Is he a real expert?

Or just a really good actor?

I could see the man on the ground trembling.

Without hesitation, Lengel lifted the man’s right arm, pulled out a thick needle from the pouch he was holding, and—

“GYAAAAAH!”

—stabbed it in without a second thought.

Ah, I don’t wanna watch.

This Lengel guy is terrifying.

“A-alright, I’ll talk.”

The man gave in to the violence faster than I’d expected.

“The city of Intenes, just beyond this forest… From the entrance, the knights and mercenaries of Raphaelo Viscounty are stationed there.”

The man’s lips trembled as he added,

“They already know you killed a 5th-rank knight… I saw it from a distance and reported it. Even so, they’re determined to kill you. That Everhart girl is one thing, but Raphaelo Viscounty has no intention of letting any of you leave alive.”

Killing one 5th-rank knight and several others, yet they’re sending even more troops?

I stared at the man still sprawled on the ground.

“Lengel, keep an eye on this guy. Ah, what’s your name?”

The man looked at me like I was insane.

“…Bern.”

“Right, Bern. Stay quiet and lie still.”

I shifted my gaze to Lengel.

“Understood.”

Lengel nodded at me.

Of course, I wasn’t in a position to fully trust Lengel, so I didn’t take my eyes off him completely.

“Carmine, let’s talk.”

“Y-yes…!”

With a jerk of my chin, I moved away from Lengel and Bern.

At this point, I couldn’t help but suspect.

That Carmine Everhart was hiding something from me.

The level of force deployed was too excessive for mere retaliation over wanting a divorce.

“There’s more, isn’t there? The reason Raphaelo Viscounty is chasing you now. Beyond just the divorce.”

Carmine bowed her head deeply.

I continued,

“I killed a 5th-rank knight. That’s probably a core combatant for a viscounty. Yet they’re relentless in trying to capture and kill us. That’s strange. What do you know about Raphaelo Viscounty—or about Vitor Raphaelo?”

If only killing people could solve everything, life would be so simple.

But it seemed survival required using my head, too.

Damn this Tower.

Just as I was about to press her again, Carmine spoke.

“I found out that whenever I was asleep or away for long periods, Vitor would always go to the basement in his annex. I couldn’t help but wonder what was in that basement, what he was doing there.”

A basement.

Already reeking of something foul.

“What was in the basement?”

“He was conducting chimera experiments on living people. Probably… connected to dark mages, too. I don’t know if it was Vitor’s personal deviation or something Raphaelo Viscounty itself was involved in.”

I asked a few more questions.

“Did Vitor know you’d found out?”

“I’m not sure… But since that basement was used for chimera research, there must have been measures in place to detect intruders.”

Probably.

“Why didn’t you tell me this from the start?”

“…I didn’t think you’d believe me. And I didn’t fully trust you either, Yuseong-nim. I’m sorry.”

I rubbed my temples as I watched Carmine bow her head.

The scale of this had definitely grown.

And this information could be useful as leverage.

If I could just send this to the Ventura Academy, where Raphaelo Viscounty’s influence didn’t reach.

I took out my communication device and activated the “Veil of Secrecy” again.

Then, I pulled out my terminal and entered the Transcender Gallery.

Title: Is there a place in the city of Intenes to send a letter or something to the Ventura Academy?

Author: Anonymous*

Anonymous*)  Vitor, the eldest son of Raphaelo Viscounty, was conducting chimera experiments on people. If I report this, the Academy might actively intervene. Ah, and are all the mercenaries here skilled in torture? One of the mercenaries with me said pulling out nails is inefficient and that you should dig into the flesh between them—then proceeded to torture like a pro.

ㄴ That level of torture is basic. You should learn it too.

ㄴ The problem is there are times when you really need it.

ㄴ Our climber is still an innocent newbie . So cute 

Light’s Sword) Just shape your aura into a needle and stab the thigh a few times.

Sewer Sword Sage) Uh… that works. But if you mess up the control even slightly, you’ll end up killing them.

Ice Queen) Freeze them solid! They’ll talk if you flash-freeze their head and thaw it!

Anonymous*) Wow, that’d really make them talk.

  The confessions would just pour out 

 That’s terrifying 

 Archmage) For Intenes, go to the Belfetor General Store in a corner and say, “I’ve come to forge a bond with the strange night.” If the timeline aligns with our generation, it might work. Belfetor is an info guild front.*

 Archmage) Of course, the Belfetor General Store might not exist anymore, or it might no longer be connected to the info guild. The passphrase might be different, too.

 Anonymous*) Thanks, thanks. I’ll have to check it out. Or should I ask Carmine? Would she know?

Archmage) Probably not. It’s not info a baron’s daughter would have.

It’s probably still there. Info guilds don’t disappear easily. It’s likely only been a generation or so since our climbing era.

I’d have to ask, at least.

As expected, the Archmage senior had the useful info.

I had a destination now. Temporary, but still.