I Became a Gallery Newbie Beloved by Transcendents
Chapter 52: The Second Exchange Meeting (6)

Han Yuseong was still standing at the rear.

It didn’t matter to him—he could move to the front line anytime a battle broke out.

From the diagonal direction, a murmuring voice could be heard.

Josephine’s gaze flicked between Han Yuseong and the American from Hard Mode, Matthew Bennett.

"Seems like there’s quite a gap even among Hard Mode players."

Josephine Bernard, a Normal Mode player from France, was naturally assuming that Han Yuseong was a Hard Mode climber.

Matthew bristled, his right hand gripping the axe twitching.

But then, after glancing over at Han Yuseong, he quietly lowered his arm.

"A-ah, I didn’t do anything, alright? You saw that, yeah? Mm-hmm."

The intimidation Han Yuseong had instilled on the first day was still in effect.

Matthew spoke again.

"...Isn’t it the same for you Normals too? Huh?"

Josephine nodded. She shifted her gaze back to Han Yuseong.

"That’s true. But I think it just feels that way because that guy stands out so much."

Kim Joo-eun’s voice rang out.

"Kyaaaaaa!"

It was a scream at a piercingly high pitch.

There were no clearly visible enemies ahead. Han Yuseong moved closer to Kim Joo-eun and immediately saw the reason for her outburst.

Spiderwebs.

Tightly woven spiderwebs spread out from the area directly in front of where Kim Joo-eun was standing.

"You actually noticed this, huh."

When Han Yuseong said this while looking at her, Kim Joo-eun hurriedly replied.

"Right?! If I hadn’t seen it and just walked forward, it would've been really bad, right? Right?!"

"Yeah."

Still wearing his gloves, he lightly touched the web.

'If Kim Joo-eun had touched this directly, she would’ve either been bound up completely or cut to pieces.'

Ssssshhh!

Han Yuseong summoned sword energy into Mundum Exstinguit.

He struck downward in a clean vertical slash.

The webbing that had been spread thickly enough to block the view ahead dropped to the ground in an instant.

The presence of webs like this meant that a Kabarax or a Cocooning Shaman was nearby.

There was also a chance other monsters could appear.

"Everyone, prepare for battle."

Twenty knights and soldiers handpicked by Gerado.

And the players all readied their weapons without complaint at Han Yuseong’s command.

As expected, monsters appeared.

The more eager players managed to take down a mantis-type monster, Sikeron, one of the weaker creatures controlled by the Cocooning Shaman.

To hone his spear technique, Han Yuseong stayed toward the back, jabbing and killing bugs with precise thrusts to help with the hunt.

After five Sikerons, two giant spider monsters—Kabarax—appeared.

Unlike with the Sikerons, the players didn’t step up to fight them.

They simply had no confidence in breaking through those shells.

Han Yuseong didn’t bother sharing the strategy for dealing with Kabarax that he had learned from Sword of Light.

He didn’t see anyone among the players who could actually pull it off even if he told them.

So, for the sake of experience points, Han Yuseong once again took on four Kabarax by himself.

The fourth and final one.

Kreeeek...

A grotesque screech from the Kabarax seeped into his ears.

Boom!

With its heart pierced, Han Yuseong exploded sword energy from within.

The Kabarax’s body ruptured.

[Your level has increased!]

[Lv.38 → Lv.39]

Han Yuseong brushed the blue blood off his sword with a bitter smile.

‘Finally leveled up.’

Now convinced the Cocooning Shaman was nearby, he pushed forward relentlessly.

And when he encountered a patch of fog—denser than anything before—

the scent of blood began to tickle the party’s noses.

On the ground, a narrow trail of blood stretched out ahead.

Han Yuseong immediately recognized it.

This was the kind of cue that preceded the Cocooning Shaman’s appearance.

As he stepped through the mist and advanced, Han Yuseong saw a tall man, easily over two meters.

The man was dressed in deep green, and strands of web extended from both his hands.

[NPC – Cocooning Shaman Nephier]

As the shaman moved his hands, a grotesque noise rang out from above.

The sound of a living creature being twisted under pressure.

A scream of pure distress burst out beside Han Yuseong.

"Th-there! She’s tied up!"

Han Yuseong saw it too—

a woman dangling high in the air, nestled against a tree so massive it was practically a wall.

She was bound head to toe in thick spiderwebs.

"Looks like the bugs have come to rescue one of their own."

Even though there was no noticeable shift in the atmosphere, the bugs lined up beside the Cocooning Shaman exuded a suffocating sense of doom.

"Judging by the way you’ve all swarmed here, this woman must be precious to you. That just makes me all the more unwilling to let her go."

As soon as the shaman’s sentence ended, a system message appeared before Han Yuseong’s eyes.

[A new emergency mission has occurred!]

[Emergency Mission – Rescue the Player in Mortal Danger!]

[Bonus EXP will be awarded for a successful rescue!]

[EXP distribution will vary based on your contribution to the mission!]

‘I was planning to take my time with the Cocooning Shaman...’

Until just now, Han Yuseong had intended to cooperate with the other players at a reasonable level.

After all, he’d already given up on hitting level 40 during this event.

But now they were offering bonus EXP.

Han Yuseong changed his mind and gripped Mundum Exstinguit again.

"Ex-extra experience...?"

"Get ready, we’re going in."

Voices of Okada Yuuji and Matthew followed one after another.

Naturally, the emergency mission was assigned ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) to all eight players—excluding the target of the mission, Nora Brooks.

Han Yuseong quickly scanned his surroundings.

"I’m taking that emergency mission. You all take care of the bugs on either side of the shaman."

He had no intention of letting even a sliver of that guaranteed EXP go to anyone else.

‘I’ll take it all.’

Han Yuseong pushed off with full force.

Boom!

With a burst of light, his figure elongated sharply.

Third form of Dragonslayer Swordsmanship footwork.

Micatus.

He reached the Cocooning Shaman’s face in an instant.

Shock was visible on Nephier’s face.

‘...He’s completely different.’

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

He’d assumed they were the same level as the ones he toyed with two days ago.

But among them, one stood out—a level apart from the rest.

The very one now standing right before him.

There was no time for further thought.

Because a streak of light came crashing in.

—Ssshkrrkk!

Han Yuseong, having slashed diagonally, stared at Nephier lying sprawled on the ground.

Killed in a single strike.

The Cocooning Shaman was dead—but the battle wasn’t over yet.

Screeeech!

The shaman’s underlings, as if to avenge their fallen master, charged at Han Yuseong.

He reformed his sword energy, then unleashed a horizontal slash—Thursahogg.

Blue blood sprayed out in a wide circular pattern.

A spider-type monster the size of a grown man, Zrakin, was cleaved in two.

The head of another Sikeron, which had appeared several times earlier, rolled across the ground.

The spiderweb that had bound the American woman, Nora Brooks, like a display suddenly sagged and unraveled.

Han Yuseong caught her.

Nora Brooks rubbed her neck, checking that it was still intact.

“Kh...koff! Haaah, haaah!”

And then, gasping for air, she slowly regained her breath.

Han Yuseong placed a low-grade healing potion beside her.

“Calm down. Apply this if you’re injured.”

“Hoo... hoo... thanks.”

Even though she was still dazed from nearly dying, Nora Brooks realized clearly that it was Han Yuseong who had saved her.

A flood of system messages appeared in front of him.

[You have cleared the emergency mission.]

[You have earned bonus EXP.]

[You have cleared Primary Mission ‘Defeat Kabarax’.]

[You have cleared Secondary Mission ‘Defeat the Master of Kabarax’.]

[‘Tower Exchange Event’ mission has ended successfully!]

[Your level has increased!]

[Lv.39 → Lv.41]

[‘Strength’ stat increased by 16.]

[‘Agility’ stat increased by 10.]

[‘Stamina’ stat increased by 13.]

[‘Mana’ stat increased by 12.]

It was a possible leap, considering he had already been just short of reaching level 40 before facing the Cocooning Shaman.

[Calculating your contribution score for the ‘Tower Exchange Event’ mission.]

[You are ranked 1st.]

[You have received 1,000 coins as a reward for 1st place.]

[You have received an item as a reward for 1st place.]

Han Yuseong planned to check what the 1st place reward item was later in the 9th Floor Stairwell Waiting Room.

Too many eyes were on him.

Their gazes had changed from what they were before the Cocooning Shaman fight.

‘I did go all-out for a bit.’

If he hadn’t killed the Cocooning Shaman instantly, Nora Brooks’s survival would’ve been uncertain.

So he had unleashed most of his true power.

Even though it had only lasted a moment.

Because of that brief battle, the eyes of a few players who had previously looked at him with awe were now slightly different.

Half awe.

Half fear.

Not the kind of fear brought by the threat of death—but fear evoked by something overwhelmingly alien.

‘No one’s going to try sending me a friend request now.’

Just as Han Yuseong had expected.

Players like Matthew, Lena, Kim Joo-eun, and Okada Yuuji, who had all considered sending him another friend request after being declined yesterday—

All gave up on the idea.

They now vaguely understood why he had rejected them.

And just like that, the exchange event came to an end.

"I’m heading out! Thanks, everyone! Especially you, Masked One! Extra thanks! Don’t die, everyone! Live long!"

Kim Joo-eun cheerfully waved her right hand as she said goodbye.

The "Masked One"—Han Yuseong—also waved his right hand back at her.

Matthew Bennett bowed deeply toward Han Yuseong, though it was a bit awkward.

"Red Mask... I was totally out of line. I’m really sorry. I’ll reflect on it. Next time we meet, I’ll yield without question."

"Yeah, sure. Take care."

The knights and soldiers just stood there, mouths agape, watching as the players vanished into the circular portals of light on the ground.

When half of the players had returned to their respective towers—

[Would you like to leave the exchange event and return to the Stairwell?]

[Yes / No]

Han Yuseong selected return.

He had already confirmed with the Transcendent Gallery veterans that unlike dungeon-type missions, this event didn’t feature hidden bosses.

[You are entering the 9th Floor Stairwell Waiting Room.]

He hadn’t just stood around while the others returned.

He had taken the ring from the Cocooning Shaman’s corpse and stashed it in his inventory.

It was a deep green ring.

[Mist Ring]

Type – Accessory (Ring)

Effect: Nullifies the detection ability of insect-type monsters. May not be effective against higher-tier variants.

Grade: B+

It was an excellent item, especially useful in the frequently appearing forest environments.

Han Yuseong pulled out his device and logged into the Transcendent Gallery.

Title: Return

Author: ㅇㅇ*

Anyway, I hogged all the EXP at the end and went up three levels.

Was just taking it easy, but had to pull out some real strength to solo the EXP at the end, and yeah, people were clearly shocked.

Doesn’t matter since I had the mask on.

Got 1st place too.

— Of course they were shocked, lololol

— They were already looking at you like you were a monster, even when you were slacking off lmao

— It’s like that monster suddenly evolved into something ten times worse ㅇㅇ

— Getting 1st place is just natural now.

ㄴ It’s fate.

ㄴ Admin) If those players who were in the mission with you report it to higher-floor climbers, Climber Gallery’s going to go nuts again for a while.

ㄴ Room Conspiracy Theorist) But no one knows who you are, right? Still not considering Pandemonium, I bet. – This world is one giant locked room.

ㄴ Archmage) The smarter ones will probably start getting suspicious.

ㄴShrine Maiden) Safe return! Seems today’s fortune reading was spot on, huzzah!

ㄴ Tell me my marriage fortune.

ㄴ Shrine Maiden) Hmm... a lonely death!

ㄴ ?????? What the hell.

ㄴ Sword of Light) Nice work.

ㄴ Ice Queen) You did great! Frozen! Frozen!

Han Yuseong scrolled through the Transcendent Gallery, organizing his thoughts.