I Became a Gallery Newbie Beloved by Transcendents

While I was standing there dazed, another window overlapped the 2nd floor score window.

[You will be automatically moved to the ‘3rd Floor Waiting Room’ in 3 minutes.]

3 minutes.
Ignoring the gazes of the three people staring at me blankly, I bent down towards the Orc Shaman.
The only thought filling my mind was that I needed to quickly gather whatever I could.

I tried to take the staff the shaman had used, but the description window that appeared in my view made me let go of the staff.

[Orc Shaman’s Unique Staff]
Cannot be used by non-orc races

…Is there nothing else?
Among the ornaments dangling from its neck, one necklace caught my eye, exuding a distinct presence.

[Navy Blue Necklace of Swiftness]
Category – Accessory
Effect: After wearing, pressing the center of the gem temporarily increases the player’s movement speed.
Effect activation limit: 4
Usable level: 10 or higher
Grade: C+

It seemed somewhat useful, so I put it in my inventory.

After standing up, I looked back.
Ricelin, the mercenary commander who met my eyes, pointed down the mountain with her index finger and said,

“Yuseong, we should go down the mountain, right? It looks like the sun will rise soon.”

The mercenary Rohan was shaking the blood off his sword.
The mage Younes was continuously wiping off the blood and flesh stuck to her leather clothes.
NPCs.
No matter how you look at it, they just seem like people.

According to the seniors in the Transcendent Gallery, among all these people, it seemed highly likely that I would meet Ricelin, the mercenary commander, again.

Anyway, if I just disappear like this, it would obviously be awkward when we meet next time, no matter what I say. Still, I felt the need to at least say a word of farewell.

“Uh, see you next time.”
“Pardon?”

Puzzlement appeared on the faces of all three looking at me.
The 3 minutes felt both long and short.
I felt a strange floating sensation as if my body was lifting into the air.

For a moment, everything went black before my eyes.

[Welcome to the 3rd floor.]

And when it returned to normal, I saw a place with a landscape not much different from the 2nd floor waiting room.

[You are awarded 600 coins as a reward for clearing the 2nd floor.]

[An item has been awarded as a reward for clearing Pandemonium 2nd floor. Check your ‘Inventory’.]

The clock hanging on the central wall was the same too.
February 23rd.
2 days left until the Tower Exchange Meeting.
Tower Exchange Meeting date and time: February 25th 12:00

There was more time left than I thought.
But it wasn’t enough time to consider challenging the 3rd floor stage.

Two days would pass in an instant if spent training.

Just as I was about to open the inventory to check the 2nd floor clear reward item, a notification window popped up.

《 2nd Floor – Score Ranking 》

1st – Alliance Leader : 784 points
2nd – Tracking : 412 points
3rd – Sinclair : 399 points
4th – Argule : 382 points
5th – Rosetta : 379 points
⋮
⋮

[Han Yuseong : 1,532 points]

[Registering score.]
[Please enter the name to be registered in the score ranking.]

[Name: ]

The blank next to “Name” was blinking. As if urging me to quickly register a name.
There was no option to keep the ranking score private.

I didn’t mind it being publicly displayed.
The probability of tower climbers knowing it was me was almost zero.
‘Pandemonium’, where perhaps only I alone reside.

Apart from meeting at the exchange meeting, there was almost no chance of encountering other players.

‘LightSword was hoping for this.’

Hitting the top of the score rankings.
Thereby causing an unexpected situation and confusion for the current top rankers in the tower.
LightSword was hoping I would achieve such results.

LightSword wrote this both in the gallery board and in the Dragon Slaying Sword appendix he gave me.

The other transcendent seniors in the post comments were the same.
Still, I didn’t want to use my real name.
What would be a good nickname?
After some consideration, I wrote briefly.

[Score registration complete.]

Hard difficulty 63rd floor.
Hard difficulty Tower Numbering #35
The 63rd floor waiting room had a vast landscape. That scenery was far from the name “waiting room” and should be considered a city.

A man with blonde hair wearing silver armor seemed to be lost in thought with his head bowed.

“Alliance Leader.”

Alliance Leader.
Someone called out to the leader of the Strategy Alliance, currently the most famous and highest-ranking person in the Climber Gallery.

Alliance Leader Targon raised his head at the words of Attack Captain Bellasia.

“What is it, Bella?”

Bellasia spoke urgently.

“Open the ranking window. Something strange has happened.”
“Something strange?”

Targon’s brow furrowed.
The open floor ranking window was, of course, sorted by the most recent floors.

“I don’t see anything different.”

From the 50th to the 62nd floor.
His nickname was marked in 1st place for all of them, and the names listed from 2nd to 5th place were all nicknames of his colleagues belonging to the Strategy Alliance.

Bellasia slowly shook her head.

“Not by recent floors. Sort it by order.”

Targon’s hand moved.
And he immediately understood why Bellasia was making such a fuss, uncharacteristic of her.
The score for the 2nd floor stage, the very first floor where scores are tallied.
That’s where the reason lay.

《 2nd Floor – Score Ranking 》

1st – Private : 1,532 points NEW!

2nd – Alliance Leader : 784 points
3rd – Tracking : 412 points
4th – Sinclair : 399 points
5th – Argule : 382 points
⋮
⋮

The new 1st place, alone surrounded by a golden border.
He thought he might have to give up 1st place someday. And he didn’t really care about the score for the 2nd floor stage anyway.

But the problem was the score difference between himself and this new entry.

‘…1532?’

First of all, the unit was different. In the thousands.
Almost twice his own score.

How could such a score come out on the 2nd floor?

Bellasia’s low voice flowed into his ear.

“Could it be an error?”

Targon immediately added his words.

“It won’t be.”

Targon’s words were filled with certainty.

“Don’t you know that the tower doesn’t cause errors like this?”

Bellasia wiped off the sweat that had formed on her forehead and purple hair from running.

“That’s true, but… is it possible? Such a score?”

Bellasia thought deeply.

“Surely, it can’t be a Pandemonium player…?”

This time too, Targon refuted Bellasia’s words.

“If it were Pandemonium, they would have been struggling just to complete the mission. I suspect such a score comes from either clearing the floor in a very short time or killing a lot of monsters. Both are difficult in Pandemonium.”

Targon expected ‘Private’ to be an Easy or Normal difficulty player.
He was certain it was Easy or Normal, whether it was a quick clear or killing many monsters.

He thought it was impossible for Hard since he couldn’t do it himself.
And he considered there was no possibility for Pandemonium.
After organizing his thoughts, Targon opened his mouth.

“When March 1st comes, send mail to the floors below the 30th floor. Tell them to report if they see anyone who might be this private player.”
“Okay, got it.”

Bellasia, who answered, hurried her steps.

Mail.
Mailboxes exist from the 5th floor and there’s one on each floor of the tower.
Once a month, on the 1st of every month. A mailbox that only works for one letter.
Players considered this a device that provides minimal information for survival before reaching the 30th floor and gaining access to the Climber Gallery.

Bellasia, now far from Alliance Leader Targon, opened the .

As expected, the Climber Gallery was also in uproar.
About the same topic she and Targon had discussed.

Title: What’s with the 2nd floor ranking score?
Author: SaveMe

– Did you all see this??
1st – Private : 1,532 points
What is this?

ㄴ lololololololololololol For real, what is this.
ㄴ Is some monster coming up from the 2nd floor??

ㄴ What monster could there be on the 2nd floor? It’s probably just someone on Easy mode who luckily encountered a bunch of goblins or something.
ㄴ Stop talking nonsense. Even if you kill all the goblins that appeared like that, would you get a four-digit score? There must be something else

ㄴ It’s just the 2nd floor anyway ㅇㅇ It’s probably a newbie who doesn’t even know this post exists even if we talk about it in the gallery. Why are we sitting here worrying about it?
ㄴ That’s because the score is too overwhelming compared to Alliance Leader in 2nd place. It’s almost double?
ㄴ They’ll come up soon. If it’s not just luck but real potential.
ㄴ Everyone’s dismissing it because it’s the 2nd floor, forgetting their own scores lololololol It is really strange though

Bellasia closed the Climber Gallery with an expressionless face.
It was too bizarre to just ignore. But still, it was just the 2nd floor. That thought didn’t leave either.

Hard difficulty 63rd floor. Having reached here, she had experienced all kinds of human patterns.
She had seen countless people who were brave at first but had now lost that sharpness.

‘…That point is interesting.’

If it’s someone currently on the 2nd floor, there’s a high chance they’re from ’21st century Earth’. But to show such prominence…

‘They were all weak, with no magic or martial arts.’

After thinking a bit more deeply, Bellasia shook her head left and right to clear her thoughts.

After confirming that I occupied the top of the 2nd floor score ranking, I opened the .
I clicked on the most recent post with the most comments.

Title: lololololol Wow, how did you get a four-digit score lololololol
Author: Pioneer

-But why did you choose that nickname? What’s with ‘Private’ lololololol Anyway, somehow I feel proud ㅇㅇ Let’s hit 1st place on the 3rd floor too

ㄴ 1,532 I can’t believe my eyes I can’t believe my eyes.
ㄴ 2nd place 784, overwhelming gap lololololol Crazy

ㄴ Why are you feeling proud?? If we’re looking for someone who should feel proud here, is there anyone besides LightSword?
ㄴ Well, we all threw in some tips in our own way. I feel somewhat proud too.

ㄴ Of course we feel proud, you bastard who can’t even empathize ㅇㅇ It’s a successful ‘intervention’. After just lurking in the Climber Gallery, our climber hit 1st place, so it feels like I’ve shown some presence ㅇㅇ

ㄴ HeavenlyDemon) Ahem, I want to give my martial arts manual at the next inter-dimensional trade.
ㄴ Priestess) I’ve completed the talisman. 15322222

ㄴ IceQueen) Freeze freeze freeze!! Come out! Climber!
ㄴ ㅇㅇ*) ㅇㅇ I’m here

After a moment of silence, comments flooded in.

ㄴ IceQueen) Ice, ding-!
ㄴ Kyaaaaaaa He’s here, the King of the 2nd floor
ㄴ The Overlord of the 2nd floor ㄷㄷㄷ

King of the 2nd floor sounds kind of lame.

ㄴ AbsoluteMonarch) Impressive. It reminds me of when I hit 1st place.
ㄴ ??? When did you ever hit 1st place, Monarch hyung?

ㄴ ArchMage) Good job. You have 2 days left until the exchange meeting, right?
ㄴ LightSword) Well done. It’s a bit disappointing that you went with ‘Private’, though.
ㄴ Yeah, kid. You should have properly written your name Han Yuseong.
ㄴ LightSword) For example, something like ‘Heir of the Dragon Slaying Sword’.

ㄴ Hmm, that’s a bit…
ㄴ The genius of the Transcendent Gallery go go
ㄴ ArchMage) Too cheesy

I thought I made the right choice going with ‘Private’ after all.