I Became a Gallery Newbie Beloved by Transcendents
Chapter 53: Floor 10

I checked the item I received as the first-place reward for the Exchange Event.

It was a pair of gauntlets.

[Hands of the Ascender]

Type – Armor (Gauntlets)

Defense +45

Attack +65

Effects:

1. The One Who Ascends – When mana is infused, the user’s sense for grabbing onto dungeon or field terrain to climb is heightened to the extreme.

2. The One Who Breaks – When mana is infused, the gauntlets transform into a form optimized for destroying terrain features.

Grade: A+

At a glance, it was a highly efficient and clearly useful item.

Satisfied, I stored the item in my inventory and opened my status window.

<Player Status>

Name: Han Yuseong

Race: Human

Lv. 41

Strength: 275

Agility: 277

Stamina: 282

Mana: 249

Skills:

Pain Suppression Lv.11

Composure Lv.10

Concealment Lv.8

Danger Sense Lv.9

Field Vision Expansion Lv.11

Focus Enhancement Lv.11

Combat Movement Lv.10

Mana-Enhanced Body Lv.10

Doombringer Lv.7

Mental Barrier Lv.9

Trajectory Insight Lv.8

Dark Attribute Resistance Lv.4

A few days passed.

April 1st.

The first of the month, when mailboxes on each Tower become active.

Hard Mode Tower Numbering #35.

Hard Mode – Floor 67 Stairwell Waiting Room.

Targon, Guildmaster of the Strategy Union, looked at Attack Leader Bellasia, who had approached him.

"What is it?"

At this point, there were so few guild members left that the title of Attack Leader was almost meaningless.

Out of the 50 Strategy Union members who entered this Hard Mode batch, only five survived.

And only two of them had recovered their sanity.

Targon knew Bellasia, who stood before him, hadn’t fully recovered.

She was just maintaining her composure through sheer will.

Bellasia opened her mouth.

"Info suspected to be about ‘the Unlisted’ came in through the Hard Mode Tower Mailbox of Tower #21. It was passed along by a Strategy Union member residing on Floor 32."

Targon gave a slight nod of his chin—urging her to continue.

Before entering the stage on Floor 66, he hadn’t given ‘the Unlisted’ much thought.

No matter what achievements someone flailing around on the lower floors managed, to someone who had reached Floor 66, it all seemed laughably insignificant.

Every player in the Climber Gallery had their eyes on the Strategy Union.

All manner of constellations were watching him.

So there was no reason to care about some player who hadn’t even reached the double-digit floors yet.

But after the utter disaster on Floor 66, his thinking changed.

If this guy had consistently ranked first on every floor since Floor 2, maybe he knew something Targon didn’t.

Maybe he had some kind of power that Targon lacked.

"Any intel on how strong he is?"

Bellasia read from a paper she had prepared in advance.

"Male. Wore a red mask. Was seen conversing with a Korean player, so presumed Korean. He hasn’t revealed any personal info like name or age."

Targon frowned at that.

"Useless information, all of it."

Knowing he was Korean was utterly meaningless to Targon.

In Targon’s eyes, 21st-century Earthlings were all weaklings.

Regardless of nationality.

Then Bellasia spoke ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) again.

"There’s one thing. It’s somewhat useful."

Targon listened as she continued.

"They say he uses sword energy."

He uses sword energy—

In other words, he wields aura.

Minimum Level 20.

Targon’s brow twitched.

"Any estimation of his rank?"

Bellasia smiled faintly at his sudden interest.

"They said they couldn’t tell. They just recognized it was sword energy, but couldn't gauge his rank. That’s normal. Only those at Third Rank can make such estimates. And no one like that would've been in a Floor 10 Exchange Event."

She went on.

"He just seemed... very strong. That’s all the informant said."

"If he’s using sword energy, then Third Rank is a given. The real question is whether he’s beyond that."

Targon was currently Seventh Rank.

In his opinion, he was on the verge of reaching Eighth Rank.

Back before Floor 10, he was already at Fourth Rank.

He had been summoned to the Tower while hailed as a genius in his home world, Marellent—called a supernova even before arriving.

Overwhelming talent.

That’s what Targon possessed.

"But that guy came from 21st-century Earth—widely considered to have the least talent of all those summoned. It’s unlikely he’s Fourth Rank. Third Rank is more probable."

Of course, he wasn’t certain.

The fact that this guy had held the top spot on every floor through Floor 8 already placed him outside the bounds of Targon’s expectations.

"Has it spread to the Climber Gallery?"

To this, Bellasia shook her head.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

"The intel came through the Strategy Union chatroom, not publicly. But since one of the ten players who attended the Exchange Event died and the other nine survived, word will spread soon enough. Every tower has a mailbox, after all."

And just as Bellasia predicted—

Before April 1st was over, the Climber Gallery was flooded with posts about ‘the Unlisted.’

<Climber Gallery>

Title: A 21st-century Earthling using sword energy before Floor 10??

Posted by: SaveMePlease

— Aren’t 21st-century Earthlings supposed to have as much talent as a dried-up conscience?

Even the ones who cleared past Floor 30 are barely crawling.

An Earthling with talent is unheard of. But I guess you’d have to be at that level to keep stomping the Union Leader’s scores in Hard Mode.

Is he Third Rank? Or Fourth Rank? No way it’s Fourth, right?

Nationality: Korea.

If you're planning to challenge him in a guild war right after he hits Floor 30, better think twice. He might be stronger than expected.

ㄴ The fact that he wears a red mask shows he knows he’s an outlier.

ㄴ No way he’s Fourth Rank, right? Gotta be Third.

ㄴ But doesn’t this guy always exceed expectations? That’s his whole thing, right?

ㄴ Alderalmin) SharpSpear, if you’re not scared of the Unlisted, get your ass back here and show some fighting spirit.

ㄴ SharpSpear) Scared? The hell? I’m a Hard Mode Floor 50 breaker, okay?

Why would I be scared of some rookie who hasn’t even hit Floor 10 yet?

ㄴ SharpSpear) By the time that bastard hits Floor 30, I’ll have cleared 66. I’ll be waiting for that guild war, no worries. ㅇㅇ

ㄴ Saying it confidently but shaking like a leaf—SharpSpear, you get the MVP for acting tough.

ㄴ SharpSpear) Ugh, Easy and Normal guys, don’t even try to reply. Just stay in your lane.

ㄴ StillAlive) And what's with that “was the strongest” line, lol. You used to worship the Union Leader, but now you're treating him like some washed-up relic the moment he slips once.

ㄴ Alderalmin) That’s just how this place is. Why are you surprised?

ㄴ StillAlive) Right now, we should all be worried about how we’re gonna beat Floor 66.

ㄴ StillAlive) I believe in the Union Leader~ He’ll get it together and keep climbing~

ㄴ DualBladeRomance) What are you talking about, Floor 66? Bad luck and you're toast on the next floor.

ㄴ BlackHand) TRUTH. Everyone assumes they’ll reach 66 just because the Union Leader did. Idiots, the corpses piled up on the way make up mountains and rivers.

ㄴ Wow, so that “Unlisted” is really a 21st-century Earthling like me...

I totally thought he’d be some Otherworlder or martial artist who joined late.

ㄴ Can’t believe he’s even from my hometown. Damn.

ㄴ FistMonk) I get it though. Easy and Normal have cleared Floor 30 a few times, but Hard? Not even once. Never seen people with less talent in martial arts.

ㄴ Easy and Normal cleared it, sure, but they’re nowhere near the level of martial artists or Otherworlders.

ㄴ To be honest... both 21st-century Earthlings and Easy/Normal Mode players are just pathetic bugs in my eyes...

ㄴ LOL you’re a 21st-century Earthling, aren’t you? Which mode—Normal? Easy?

ㄴ Damn, you lash out like that over one comment? You really got nothing better to do, huh?

ㄴ LMAO what’s with that tone? There’s a new voice every day in here.

ㄴ Anyway, once you’re done charging your dopamine, get back to climbing.

ㄴ SharpSpear) Get to Floor 30 fast, Unlisted. I’ll be waiting with that guild war, guaranteed.

***

—The Unlisted.

Han Yuseong had entered the 9th floor stage.

[‘The Giant Who Swallowed the Moon’ is endlessly amazed by your movements.]

[‘Sword Ghost of the Black Typhoon’ is silently reflecting on the final strike you unleashed.]

[‘Blood Demon’ is fixated on your feet.]

‘Why’s he staring at my feet like that? Freak.’

He cleared the 9th floor stage in just two days.

The 9th floor was a straightforward dungeon type.

The monsters that appeared were reptilian, bipedal creatures called Kizandur—

and the aggressive black ostriches they used as mounts, Gornil.

According to the seniors in the Transcendent Gallery, Kizandur resembled lizardmen and had similar combat abilities.

The beast they rode, Gornil, was no pushover either, known for its terrifying charge speed.

Fortunately, it was a clean, honest dungeon with no major variables, so he was able to clear it in two days.

Han Yuseong had activated constellation blocking again at the start,

which meant he was able to take on a constellation quest in exchange for lifting the block later.

Upon clearing the dungeon, he received a rather useful consumable item as a quest reward.

After stepping into the 10th floor stairwell waiting room, he checked the item.

It resembled a modern syringe.

[Breath of the Extreme]

Type – Drug (Stimulant)

Effect:

The user becomes incapable of feeling pain for 40 seconds,

enabling superhuman strength and reflexes while ignoring physical strain.

During this time, movement speed, reflexes, and strength increase significantly.

However, once the effect ends, the user suffers intense pain, muscular damage, and severe stamina drain.

Description:

Inject it into your side.

Quantity: 10

It was basically a consumable version of the skill Doombringer.

If stacked with Doombringer, he could briefly push his physical power far beyond its limits.

The problem, of course, was if he wasn’t prepared, the aftershock would hit him twice as hard.

Han Yuseong pulled out his terminal.

Title: Gonna rest today and then hit the 10th floor stage.

Author: ㅇㅇ*

Finally hit the 10th floor.

Feeling a bit unsettled.

Been almost two months since I got summoned to the Tower now.

ㄴ ...What the fuck, it’s only been two months?

ㄴ LMAOOOO hearing it out loud makes it sound even more ridiculous

ㄴ Pandemonium. Two months. Fourth Rank from scratch. Unreal.

ㄴ Sword of Light: Your early climbing speed is about the same as mine. But the achievements you’ve made in that time are unreal. I’m proud of you.

ㄴ ㅇㅇ:* Thanks, thanks. Honestly, one big reason I’m still alive is because of my teacher.

ㄴ Heavenly Demon: Hrmm, hrmm. Ahem.

ㄴ ㅇㅇ:* Heavenly Demon-sunbae, you definitely played your part too.

‘For now, it’s still the smallest share.’

But if he kept delving deeper into the martial arts the Heavenly Demon had given him,

that share might grow much larger.

Especially since it started leading into advanced forms like Flexible Wave Breaking and beyond.

ㄴ Shrine Maiden: Hawawawa! Hawawa? Hawawawat?

ㄴ ㅇㅇ:* Gotta say, Shrine Maiden-sunbae saved my life at least twice for sure.

ㄴ Shrine Maiden: Hawawa! Hawawaaat! So proud-hawawa~!

They were all clearly desperate for acknowledgment.

Still, to Han Yuseong, they were undeniably the people who’d saved his life.

ㄴ Admin: Don’t die. Stay alive.

ㄴ​​​​​​​ ㅇㅇ:* Of course.

Han Yuseong opened the coin shop.

He planned to get some food, do a bit of training, and then get some rest.

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