I Became a Gallery Newbie Beloved by Transcendents-Chapter 18: Tower Exchange Meeting (3)

I looked around.

This place seemed to be a waiting area in front of the dungeon entrance. The walls were a dull yellow, giving it a familiar look.

It reminded me of the first-floor stage.

This time, the Exchange Meeting’s theme was a dungeon.

There were a total of three themes for the Exchange Meeting:

Dungeon, Mission, and Duel.

Unlike Duels, in both the Dungeon and Mission themes, player-killing was allowed.

In other words, my list of threats didn’t just include the monsters inside the dungeon.

I had to be wary of the six other players around me as well.

7th-floor Chinese player, Sun Haoran.

The next person to approach me introduced himself in Korean.

"I'm Baek Jin-young."

The number 8 floated above his head as he smiled.

I gave the name I had prepared in advance for situations like this.

"I'm Jung Woo-hyun."

There was no point in hiding that I was Korean.

Anyone who talked to me for long enough would figure it out.

But it was still safer to use a fake name.

Unlike the modern world I came from, there were no CCTVs here.

And since only climbers below the 10th floor were gathered,

there wouldn’t be anyone taking photos with a terminal either.

Even if someone saw my face, spreading that information clearly wouldn’t be easy.

"If anything unpredictable happens, handle it as thoroughly as possible."

The next person to approach me had brown hair and a bright smile.

"I'm Jake! Nice to meet you!"

Jake immediately reached out for a handshake and introduced himself as an American.

I shook his hand.

The number 6 hovered over Jake’s head.

Just then, Baek Jin-young, who had been standing back, scratched the back of his head and stepped closer.

"Man, it's nice to see another Korean. The last Exchange Meeting I attended was all Chinese and Japanese climbers—it caught me off guard."

Baek Jin-young was trying to keep a conversation going with me, using our shared nationality as a reason.

It didn’t feel suspicious or anything.

Feeling relieved to meet someone from the same country was a natural reaction.

Even without any ulterior motives, it was a reasonable way to behave.

"This is your first Exchange Meeting, right?"

"Yeah."

"The Tower looks like it’s constantly trying to kill players, but that’s not entirely true.

As long as everyone works together, the Exchange Meeting can actually be easier than normal tower floors."

That was exactly what Pioneer had told me.

Unless I got thrown into some underground sewer hellhole,

this should be easier than Pandemonium.

"By the way... which Tower difficulty are you from?"

So, he’s trying to get my full background, huh.

I casually stated the difficulty level I had already prepared.

"Normal Mode."

Baek Jin-young’s eyes widened.

"Oh! I'm Normal Mode too! My Tower Numbering is 121."

When I first entered the second floor, I had seen a system message.

It had listed Pandemonium’s Tower Numbering as 01.

According to the Transcendent Gallery seniors, Towers were created as needed,

depending on how many people required them.

For Normal Mode, at least 121 Towers had been created—

so many climbers that the system had to keep generating more.

Meanwhile, Pandemonium had only one.

Because one was enough.

How difficult would my path be?

It felt like an impossible climb.

Baek Jin-young seemed like he wanted to say more.

But just then, a system message appeared in front of the dungeon entrance.

[You have been given 10 minutes to prepare.]

[Enter the dungeon after preparation.]

[10:00]

Beep.

[09:59]

A time limit to enter?

I absentmindedly ran my fingers over the hilt of my sword.

It wasn’t due to nervousness.

"Are you okay...?"

A Japanese woman looked at me, as if she thought I was tense.

"I'm fine."

"I'm Misaki."

Misaki. 8th floor.

I took a mental note of the group members.

Baek Jin-young and me. Two Koreans.Jake. American. 6th floor.Misaki. Japanese. 8th floor.Misaki stood next to another Chinese woman from the 8th floor.

And, of course, there was Sun Haoran. 7th floor.

That made two Chinese climbers.

Finally, a blonde woman in the corner yawned before speaking.

"Germany. Laura."

One German.

That made seven.

Laura had the number 9 over her head.

She stretched and stood up.

"Is there really anything to prepare?

Whoever has a shield should take the front.

Everyone else just backs them up and does their part.

It’s not that complicated."

Was that confidence from her strength?

Or was it just the arrogance of someone from the 9th floor?

I couldn’t tell.

I’d find out soon enough when the dungeon started.

For now, my goal was simple.

Do just enough to blend in.

Nothing more and nothing less.

Just act like an average climber.

But more than anything, I wanted to watch how the others fought.

"I have a shield."

Jake raised his shield.

Laura gestured with her chin—toward Sun Haoran.

"You take the front with Jake. I'll stay in the center. The rest, figure it out yourselves."

"Got it."

Sun Haoran accepted without hesitation.

It was clear that Misaki and the other Chinese woman were a party.

As for the others? No idea.

Laura, clad in leather armor, looked at me and grinned.

"Make sure you watch out for yourself.

Nobody’s going to save you here."

Ah. Yes. Of course.

I simply nodded.

Taking the weak role wasn't a bad thing.

In fact, it gave me the perfect excuse to sit back and observe everyone’s movements.

Clang—

Jake pushed open the massive doors before us.

[You have entered the dungeon – ‘Kobold’s Cradle.’]

...Kobolds?

I remembered what I had read on the gallery last night.

Archmage): "Kobolds are stronger than goblins but weaker than orcs."

Archmage’s Exchange Meeting dungeon predictions had been spot on.

Which meant...

The enemies here were actually weaker than the ones I fought on the second floor.

Jake muttered under his breath.

"Hmph... Kobolds. They're not to be taken lightly...!"

...?

Wait.

Was that true?

Were kobolds really supposed to be difficult?

At this point, I had no idea what kind of cushy fights these people were used to.

Some important things had been mentioned in the gallery.

ㄴ Dragon King): Beltui! Like all creatures, the Kings of any species are far stronger than the rest!

ㄴ ??): Wait, even by your standards?

ㄴ Dragon King): I’m just lowering the bar for our dear climber’s education! Beltui is very empathetic.

So basically—watch out for the Kobold King.

Dim light filtered through the darkness.

Torches lined the dungeon walls.

As soon as we stepped inside, moisture and dampness filled the air.

Whoosh!

From between two massive rock formations, a pair of chains lashed out.

I focused on Jake’s reaction.

Jake raised his round shield with force.

Clang!

The chains clashed against his shield and recoiled.

Shing!

Behind him, Laura drew her longsword.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

She flowed like water, dashing toward the kobold lurking behind the rocks.

Her sword pierced into its shoulder.

Kraaaagh!

The kobold let out a screech.

Laura didn’t finish it in one hit.

She stabbed it three times before ending its life.

Her technique wasn’t fancy.

Just simple slashes and thrusts.

But her combat sense wasn’t bad.

Thud!

Suddenly, rocks collapsed to the right.

What I thought was a narrow wall turned out to be a trap.

Spears shot out from the rubble—

One of them headed straight for my throat.

Clang!

I deflected its trajectory with my sword.

Thud!

And in the next motion, I thrust my blade into the kobold’s heart.

I felt eyes on me.

It was Misaki.

She was staring at me—her expression filled with doubt.

Why was a third-floor newbie reacting like this?

I jerked my chin.

"You too. Watch out."

"H-Hai?"

...Why didn’t the automatic translation work for that?

From the same direction the spears came from, a mace was now flying—

Straight toward Misaki’s skull.

I grabbed her shoulder and yanked her back.

At the same time, I drove my sword under the kobold’s jaw.

And then pulled it out.

"I told you to watch out."

"S-sorry...."

Misaki backed away and stuck closer to the Chinese woman she was teamed up with.

I heard the woman’s calm voice.

"...You're quite skilled. Third-floor."

Perfect.

That was exactly the impression I wanted.

For this Exchange Meeting, my goal was to °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° observe.

***

Transcendent Gallery.

Han Yuseong wasn’t in the gallery.

But the topic of discussion was still focused on him.

Title: Nothing’s gonna happen, right?

Foll𝑜w current novℯls on ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm.

Author: Archmage

- "The monsters should be weaker than what he fought in Pandemonium’s second floor.

But in the end, the biggest variable is always people."

ㄴ "Eh, I doubt anything’ll happen. ㅇㅇ"

ㄴ "No way there’s some level 20+ dude throwing out sword aura in a tenth-floor Exchange Meeting."

ㄴ Admin): "So far, our climber hasn’t been the type to trust people just because he met them after a long time."

ㄴ Ice Queen): "Frozen! Agreed!"

ㄴ Sword of Light): "I gave him enough advice. He’ll listen."

ㄴ Dragon King): "Beltui! Give him some midnight snack advice too!"

ㄴ Sword of Light): "Die."

ㄴ "Honestly, a variable would make things more fun."

ㄴ Pioneer): "True."

ㄴ Room Conspiracy Theorist): "He gets it."

ㄴ Archmage): "You guys are just dopamine junkies."