I Became a Gallery Newbie Beloved by Transcendents

My eyes were fixed on the limp corpse of the Orc Army Commander.

The problem was that my body was far from normal too. I started to feel as if my body was shattered into pieces.
My consciousness was fading away.
But suddenly, it surged back.

[Your level has increased!]

[Lv.6 → Lv.8]

[‘Strength’ value increases by 11.]
[‘Agility’ value increases by 11.]
[‘Vitality’ value increases by 12.]
[‘Mana’ value increases by 8.]

A 2-level increase.
This didn’t even happen when I killed the ‘Queen Anstrotrope’, the boss of the 1st floor stage.
Considering that I leveled up 2 levels after killing an Army Commander who wasn’t even a boss, it seems I would have definitely died if I hadn’t acquired the ‘Doombringer’ skill.

It seemed I hadn’t yet encountered the plateau in stat increase.

I didn’t think about opening the status window.
Because I felt gazes on me.

Gazes that looked at me like a monster, regardless of whether they were orcs or humans.

Puuu-uuuu!

The sound of a horn echoed in my ears.
The orcs began to retreat like an ebb tide. I killed two with the remaining javelins for throwing. My pursuit ended after killing one more with my straight sword.

Because the orcs fled riding giant boars they had hidden in their camp. Perhaps because their leader, the Army Commander, had disappeared.
The orcs fled even faster than I expected.

Why doesn’t the 2nd floor stage end even after killing an Army Commander-level monster?
Pandemonium.
This cursed difficulty.

I examined the corpse of the Orc Army Commander in front of me.
After all that trouble, there didn’t seem to be anything particularly worth taking from this guy.

The axe this guy used was clearly too big for me to handle.
To the point of being unsatisfactory.

My gaze shifted to the Army Commander’s waist.
Oh.
I saw something that seemed usable. There was a one-handed axe that I could probably use well enough. I immediately detached it from the waist and put it in my inventory.

And since I confirmed that NPCs couldn’t see the terminal, I couldn’t miss taking a proof photo after killing the Orc Army Commander.

I took a photo of the Army Commander’s corpse and put away the terminal.

I sensed a presence.

“Yuseong.”

The person who approached calling my name was Ricelin.
Ricelin carefully scanned my body from top to bottom. I seemed to be struggling during the fight, but now that the battle was over and I looked fine, she probably felt it was strange.

“…Are you not injured?”

Yes.
I definitely was injured.
But it disappeared without a trace.

“Well, as you said, after killing the Army Commander, the orcs are retreating. Let’s go inside the castle for now.”
“Understood.”

As we entered the castle walls, I could feel people’s gazes focusing on me.
No, these gazes had been on me continuously since I killed the Orc Army Commander.

I looked at the text that had settled in the right corner of my vision.

5 days left until the Exchange Meeting.
There was still plenty of time left, but in a few more days, I would be pressed for time.

It didn’t seem like any more orcs or other monsters would appear today.
It should end within 3 days at the latest.

Only then did I look at Ricelin, who was putting down her weapons.

“By the way, what was the name of the previous Lucerna Mercenary Group commander?”
“…Suddenly?”

Ricelin opened her eyes wide.
Yeah, it might feel strange. Asking about this. I thought it was worth asking after making some contribution.
At least I had proven I wasn’t a weird guy.

“Yes, the Lucerna Mercenary Group. I feel like I’ve heard of it somewhere.”

I decided to add a bit of context to avoid being treated as a complete weirdo.

“The name of the previous mercenary commander is Delisa. She’s my mother. We’re a somewhat famous mercenary group. Though it’s all thanks to the honor built up in the past. Now she’s living comfortably in her hometown.”

One of the Lucerna Mercenary Group members standing nearby smiled bitterly after hearing Ricelin’s words.

“If we compare ourselves to the previous generation, of course we’ll end up feeling miserable. It was the era when the great hero Helion fought alongside us.”

The member with a well-groomed mustache suddenly bowed his head to Ricelin after speaking.

“I’m sorry. That was out of line.”

Although he looked clearly older than Ricelin, he seemed to respect her position as the commander of the mercenary group.
I didn’t have time to wonder why those words were considered out of line.

“It’s okay. It’s not like my father’s death was recent. It happened when I was ten.”

Helion.
I engraved that name in my mind.
To tell the gallery hyungs.

There was one thing I forgot to ask.

“Is Ed alright?”

At my words, Ricelin let out a soft sigh and then nodded.

“He’s being treated now. He saved his life thanks to you.”

I scratched the back of my head.

“I thought I might have pushed him too hard.”

Ricelin slowly shook her head.

“If you hadn’t pushed him that hard, he might have died. Ed is grateful too.”

Ricelin pointed to one of the tents on the left.
When I slightly lifted it, I saw the Lucerna Mercenary Group Attack Captain Ed sleeping.
Seeing the bandages wrapped around his upper body, I couldn’t bring myself to disturb him.

I was given a personal tent on top of the castle wall. It seemed they gave me this place out of deep impression from killing the Army Commander.

I lay down in the sleeping bag.
The level-up effect had perfectly healed my body’s wounds, but that recovery didn’t include mental fatigue.
Well, it would be stranger if my mood suddenly improved along an upward curve just because I leveled up when I was feeling miserable.

I was about to open the gallery, but I remembered something I needed to check first.
It was the status window.

Strength: 47
Agility: 45
Vitality: 46
Mana: 26

Skills: Pain Suppression Lv.3 Composure Lv.3 Cover Lv.1 Crisis Detection Lv.2
Visual Field Expansion Lv.1 Concentration Enhancement Lv.2 Fighter’s Movement Lv.3
Mana Body Enhancement Lv.2 Doombringer Lv.1

Considering that my level was 3 right after entering the 2nd floor stage, this was a frighteningly fast growth rate.
I wasn’t sure if this rapid growth was because of the Pandemonium difficulty or not, but I thought I should ask the gallery about it.

I took out the terminal and opened the Transcendent Gallery.

Title: Guys, I killed an Orc Army Commander. But does this guy normally appear on the 2nd floor?
Author: ㅇㅇ*
-I almost died horribly. Barely killed it. But what’s more surprising is that the Army Commander isn’t a boss monster. Even after killing it, the stage doesn’t end. lololololol

As soon as I posted, comments started pouring in like rain.

ㄴ ?
ㄴ ??
ㄴ No way
ㄴ ???? What?
ㄴ Why would an Orc Army Commander appear on the 2nd floor lololololol
ㄴ Why? Because it’s Pan-de-mo-ni-um lolololol
ㄴ The world is basically telling you to just die, but you managed to survive somehow lolololol

ㄴ Pioneer) Hmm, it really is Pandemonium. I only saw an Army Commander on the 5th floor.
ㄴ LightSword) Even on Hard difficulty, there were cases where it appeared on the 2nd floor. I should have written it in the appendix. Hmm, you didn’t look carefully.

Ah.
I vaguely remember seeing it. It was a list of monsters likely to appear on the 2nd floor, right? But at that time, I was too busy getting beaten up by the Sparring Golem mk.2 you sent.
Maybe I should get a list of appearing monsters from the gallery guys from the 3rd floor onwards.

ㄴ Even Hard difficulty is crazy. I’m on Normal, and the Orc Army Commander appeared on the 12th floor. I was scared even then.

ㄴ You met that guy on the 2nd floor? And you killed it? lololololol This climber is out of his mind.
ㄴ This guy is a natural talent. For a 21st century Earthling.
ㄴ ArchMage) I told you, only those with the possibility of clearing are summoned.

I’m not so sure. This time I really almost died, so ArchMage’s words didn’t really resonate with me.

ㄴ LightSword) Well done.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ*) I would’ve died without your advice. If I hadn’t acquired Doombringer, my body would’ve been cut in half immediately.
ㄴ LightSword) Oh ho, so you acquired the Doombringer skill. As expected, my eye for people hasn’t rusted.

ㄴ You acquired the Doombringer skill?? On the 2nd floor? Damn… You really are talented.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ*) Isn’t Doombringer just a skill you get as a linked skill when Fighter’s Movement reaches level 3?

ㄴ Nope~~ On Easy and Normal difficulties, Fighter’s Movement itself rarely appears. A tiny minority of top-tier players acquire Fighter’s Movement, but not a single one of them got Doombringer just by reaching skill level 3~~
ㄴ Pioneer) Even on Hard difficulty, many acquire Fighter’s Movement, but it’s rare for someone to acquire Doombringer just by reaching level 3.

What?
So the ‘Doombringer’ skill wasn’t just automatically linked when ‘Fighter’s Movement’ skill reached level 3?

ㄴ ㅇㅇ*) You don’t have it either?
ㄴ Pioneer) That’s right, I acquired Fighter’s Movement and reached level 10 with it, but I still didn’t get Doombringer.
ㄴ ArchMage) We can’t say for certain about skills that can be definitively acquired within the Tower. Players are beings who gain different things even when experiencing the same thing.

As my mind cleared up a bit, I realized that I had the answer to the hottest topic currently in the Transcendent Gallery.

Title: Found out the name of Ricelin’s mercenary commander father.
Author: ㅇㅇ*
-They say it’s Helion? Do you know who that is?

After a moment of silence, comments started pouring in.

ㄴ lololololololol Commoner! Bingo!
ㄴ Hey, at least he’s not just an average knight lolololol He’s one of the Seven Heroes
ㄴ Yeah~~ But he’s still a commoner. Monarch <<<<<<<<< Great Commoner

ㄴ AbsoluteMonarch) …It is done. Helion is a worthy person to bless.
ㄴ Damn lololololol You’d think he was a heroine who overcame hardships together, not a father sending off his daughter to marriage lolololololol
ㄴ But wait, it’s not just the Monarch who got owned, Easy Normal Hard all got owned together, so why are you all reacting like cheerful cool guys?
ㄴ For real, some are talking like they weren’t robbed lololololol

ㄴ SpearKing) It’s not that we were robbed… This is the flow of life, the fate of living. It’s just an inevitable meeting and parting.
ㄴ Stop talking nonsense

ㄴ SewerSwordSaint) Are Helion and Delisa living well?
ㄴ Sewer hyung… Let’s stop, it’s too ugly and sad ㅠㅠㅠㅠ
ㄴ SewerSwordSaint) No, I’m just asking.
ㄴ lololololol This isn’t ugly, it’s creepy, isn’t it? lololololol

ㄴ ㅇㅇ*) Delisa seems to be living well in her hometown… but Helion is dead? When Ricelin was 10.
ㄴ Huh
ㄴ What? Um…
ㄴ Tsk, he dies after all that hardship.
ㄴ Isn’t it the norm for the Seven Heroes to die young? Why are you surprised?
ㄴ Tower scenario special, good guys die early ㅇㅇ
ㄴ Priestess) Hawawa, Helion… I once killed demons with him. I hope he found peace in the face of fate.

ㄴ Sewer hyung, you weren’t asking if they were doing well, but asking about their life and death? I was the amateur. Sorry lololololololololololol
ㄴ SewerSwordSaint) No. The former is correct.
ㄴ AbsoluteMonarch) I see… So Helion is dead. Delisa must be lonely.

ㄴ Damn it, hyungs just take your hands off the keyboard!!!!! My perception of you hyungs is getting more and more distorted.

I quite sympathized with the last comment.

ㄴ ㅇㅇ*) So is it rare for Hard difficulty hyungs to encounter an Army Commander on the 2nd floor?
ㄴ AbsoluteMonarch) Well, I didn’t encounter one.
ㄴ ArchMage) I did, but it was a boss.
ㄴ LightSword) That guy was a boss monster. When I killed it, the 2nd floor ended.
ㄴ DragonKing) Beltu-i also encountered an Army Commander on the 2nd floor. But for Beltu-i too, that guy was a boss monster.

So even on Hard difficulty 2nd floor, there have been cases where an Army Commander appeared, but in all those cases, the Army Commander was the boss monster.
This damn Pandemonium.

But there was one nickname I hadn’t seen before.
DragonKing?

ㄴ ㅇㅇ*) Who are you?
ㄴ DragonKing) Beltu-i is a dragon who woke up from hibernation. Nice to meet you Beltu-i, nice to meet you Pandemonium.

At least I could tell this was a weird guy.

ㄴ ㅇㅇ*) Anyway, what kind of monster do you think will be the boss on the 2nd floor? What’s above an Orc Army Commander?
ㄴ ArchMage) Orc Great Warrior, Orc Shaman. There’s also an Orc King, but I doubt the Orc King will appear.
ㄴ LightSword) If it’s a Great Warrior, you’ll have to fight and kill it the same way you killed the Army Commander.

ㄴ ArchMage) If a Shaman appears, it would be a bit easier to kill if there was a mage. But NPC mages at that floor level don’t have that knowledge. They would do it if you tell them. At least a 3rd-rank mage.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ*) Oh, tell me for now.

ArchMage told me a method I could use assuming there was a mage beside me.

ㄴ ㅇㅇ*) But aren’t ArchMages usually stubborn? What if they don’t believe me?
ㄴ ArchMage) What else? You beat them up a few times and take control of the situation.

Very resolute.
Why does it seem like you have a hatred for fellow mages, even with the name ArchMage?

ㄴ ArchMage) If you can’t think of logic to persuade for anything, you should persuade with force.

It seemed to just be his personality.