Chapter 3
Surviving for 5 minutes was the quest for Floor 1. In other words, if I survived for just 5 minutes, I could ascend to Floor 2. Naturally, I would receive a reward befitting the challenge.
But….
‘For it to be set at a mere 5 minutes, it must be that difficult.’
The guys in the Gallery said the early floors, Floor 1 in particular, were the hardest.
They told me to just enjoy the early theme on my own, so I hadn’t gotten any proper information, but there was one thing I knew for sure.
Ian is a crazy bitch.
Ian is strong.
So, if I could just avoid Ian, I could clear the first floor. If I couldn’t avoid her, I would die. Also, I shouldn’t talk to her.
Yeah, that was definitely what I heard.
“Oppa, what’s your name?”
Even though I had spoken to her, Ian didn’t kill me. As if she were interested in me.
“Lee Soo-ho.”
“Aha, I’m… Here! Look here!”
Ian showed me the necklace hanging around her neck.
[Forest Keeper Ian]
“I’m Ian!”
“I see.”
“Oppa, wait a second.”
Swish-! Swish-!
Several goblins popped out of the peaceful forest. The world that had been blazing with sunlight quickly darkened, and two moons hung in the sky.
…It really is a strange world.
A world where day turned to night in a mere 5 minutes, and two moons floated side by side.
The fragrant scent of flowers became the stench of blood.
The moonlight was red.
The howl of wolves echoed out.
Goblins and orcs revealed themselves as if they had been waiting. …Shit, nobody told me it would be this hard. They said it was an interesting theme.
‘Ah, right.’
These Gallery guys were all people who could use magic or swords in their own dimensions.
I opened the Gallery.
I skimmed through a few posts. There were warnings to be careful of Ian, and advice to feel mana and focus it on one part of my body.
Feel mana? How?
I instinctively steadied my breath and examined the inside of my body. They had definitely said a mana circuit had formed….
‘…Is this it?’
Whenever I exerted strength, I felt something alien writhing together with my muscles. This seemed to be mana. I focused on its flow and pulled it into my right hand.
Fwaaah-!!
The feeling of a thin membrane wrapping around my hand. Having roughly grasped mana manipulation, I focused mana into both legs. I had to run away in this situation.
Yeah, I raised my head to run. But….
Shwick-!!
A refined line split the wind.
That line connected as if flowing. The sword path that permeated like a breath seemed to cut the red moonlight.
When I came to my senses after blankly watching that sight.
“Hah-!”
All the monsters were collapsed in the flower field, bleeding.
“Hehe, Oppa. You okay?”
Ian asked, looking at me as she flicked the blood off her sword.
I felt like I had to say I was okay even if I wasn’t.
“…What about you? Are you okay?”
“…Wow. Were you worried about me? Hee~, Oppa is the best!”
The corners of Ian’s lips rose excessively. It was an expression that perfectly fit the saying “grinning from ear to ear.”
Her eyes curved like crescent moons.
She was already pretty, but her charm doubled when she smiled. I could finally understand the hearts of newbies who had died trying to flirt with her.
‘She’s not going to suddenly slit my throat like this, right?’
She wouldn’t. I wanted to believe in the purity of people. No, I had to believe it now. If I tried to run from someone this strong, I’d be caught immediately.
“Oppa, I’m hungry.”
“…Hungry?”
“Yeah, hungry.”
Ian said she was hungry out of nowhere. I felt like I might die the moment I pretended not to know what she meant in this situation.
When I didn’t know what to do, I had to get help from the Gallery.
[Title: Help Me Out]
[Author: Lee Soo-ho]
- Monsters suddenly appeared and Ian protected me, but she says she’s hungry. What should I do about this?
[Comments]
Anon (112.33): Bullshit.
Anon (232.21): Stop bullshitting.
Anon (133.32): Fuck, at least make your lies believable.
WhyDidGodBearMe: Soo-ho, I favor you. I, on the 90th floor, favor you. Me, on the 90th floor that that pathetic Heavenly Demon bitch couldn’t reach! But… do you really have to tell such a fucking boring lie?
Cheonsalseong: …This newbie is laying it on too thick.
Why don’t they believe me.
I turned on the stream.
The moment I turned on the stream, the scene the Gallery guys would see was probably Ian smiling at me.
“Handsome Oppa! I said I’m hungry!”
- …It’s real?
- No, fuck, why?
- I’ve never seen Ian smile so brightly. Ah, she’s fucking pretty. I want to pick her up. I want to date her. I want to marry her.
- Crazy bastard.
- …But why is she so nice only to the newbie? She’s officially a crazy bitch certified by the Tower.
- Newbie, turn the camera around.
Tap.
I turned the screen around.
- …He’s handsome.
- Fucking son of a bitch.
(WhyDidGodBearMe): …Why did God bear me, and why did God bear Lee Soo-ho.
‘No, stop joking around and please tell me how to handle this.’
(Cheonsalseong): We don’t know either. Everyone has fought or run from Ian, but no one has spoken with her. Originally, Ian is an NPC who glares at anyone she sees as if to kill them, and kills them the moment she sees an opening.
- …Just give her something for now.
- Yeah, don’t provoke Ian for no reason and just give her something.
- But newbie, I just recommend throwing her something and running away. It’s impossible to get close to Ian in the first place. It’s simply impossible to get on Ian’s good side.
- Newbie, I get that you’re something special, but Ian is impossible. Just fucking accept that it’s impossible and run!
- I’m telling you it’s impossible to get along with Ian, so make a run for it….
Ha, they’re no help.
I rummaged roughly through my pocket and found a piece of candy.
“Want to eat this at least?”
“Wow, thanks! Oppa is the best!”
Ian hugged me tightly.
- Envious bastard.
- …Gives me chills, honestly.
Ian, rolling the candy around in her mouth, smiled again. Saying it was delicious, she hugged me tightly once more, and at that moment.
I cleared the 5-minute survival quest.
[Floor 1 quest cleared!]
[Reward: Random Weapon Box!]
[Reward: Gallery Perk!]
[Gallery Perk - Exchange]
- Exchange: You can exchange items with stranded survivors in the Gallery.
[Floor 2 quest arrived!]
[Floor 2 Quest - Form a Hero Party]
- Details: Gather heroes to save the world. You must recruit at least 1 and at most 3 people.
‘….’
I can leave now, right? Since I cleared it, I can leave this forest, right?
Thinking so, I slowly stepped back.
“Ian, it was fun. See you again next time.”
I forced a smile and waved my hand.
Fwhish-!!
The wind blew.
My hair fluttered wildly, and Ian poked her face right in front of me.
In her hand was a dagger that appeared out of nowhere, and that dagger was aimed at my neck.
“Oppa, where are you going?”
- Wow, he’s fucked.
- Newbie… I saw potential in you, but are you going to die just like this?
(Cheonsalseong): Hoo, I was about to pass down my secret demonic arts, yet.
(WhyDidGodBearMe): …Soo-ho, you have a dagger left from killing goblins, right? Send me an exchange request with that. You have to survive first. I still want to hear your story. You can’t die after saying you’ll tell me later, you bastard….
Transcendents with rough words but concern for me.
I did as they said and sent an exchange.
[S-Rank Item, Dragon Scale Armor]
- Yonglin: Greatly reduces physical damage, deflects weak attacks, and forcibly reduces critical hit chance.
Armor like an in-game item arrived in my hands. When I blinked, light armor was equipped over my clothes.
“…Oppa has so many amazing abilities. Still, it’ll be hard to run away from me. I can kill Oppa. I can pierce this armor.”
Ian’s voice lowered.
“Run away? What are you talking about?”
“Oppa gave me a gift. I saved Oppa’s life. We’re friends. Friends shouldn’t run away from each other. They shouldn’t betray each other. Right?”
“…I guess, yeah.”
I had actually thought that too. Because I believed loyalty was the foremost element that determined one’s humanity.
“So, Oppa has to stay with me. I like Oppa. Oppa likes Ian too, right?”
Goodness, she’s referring to herself in the third person.
“…Yeah, I like you.”
“Then, let’s form a party.”
“Huh?”
- Huh?
- No, fuck, what kind of development is this?
- We don’t know a strategy for this kind of development either….
- Did this bastard just discover a hidden route?
- This is crazy, what the hell are you?
- …Who’s the bastard that said it’s impossible for a newbie to get close to Ian? It’s fucking easy.
I somehow cleared all the way to Floor 2. And I did it by forming a party with Ian, an NPC who might be counted among the Tower’s greatest experts.
- I was curious about Ian’s story; maybe we can learn about Ian’s past through the newbie. I’m a bit excited….
- Then WhyDidGodBearMe took a loss giving that bastard a legendary item for nothing, hahaha.
(WhyDidGodBearMe): I humbly beg thee, Soo-ho. You can’t give it back, can you.
(Cheonsalseong): Ack hahahahaha, dumbass hahahahaha, you’re so fucking pathetic hahahahaha, suddenly you like the newbie.
I formed a party with Ian and obtained an S-rank item that saved my life once. Not only that, but there was now a possibility that the Heavenly Demon favored me.
…Climbing the Tower suddenly seems worthwhile.
[Floor 2 quest cleared!]
[Acquired High-Grade Random Box as reward!]
[Floor 3 quest arrived!]
[Floor 3 Quest - Find Out Ian’s Past]
Details: Hear Ian’s past directly.
- …This is a quest I’ve never seen before. You’re supposed to get the village subjugation quest, aren’t you?
- Isn’t this weird? A new quest arrived just because he’s entangled with Ian?
- This newbie bastard really discovered a hidden route….
Receiving the attention of the Transcendent gallery users all at once, a newbie who discovered a hidden route for the first time in Tower-climbing Gallery history.
That became me.
“Hehe, Oppa. Let’s go for a walk!”