I looked around.
This place seed to be a waiting area in front of the dungeon entrance. The walls were a dull yellow, giving it a familiar look.
It reminded of the first-floor stage.
This ti, the Exchange eting’s the was a dungeon.
There were a total of three thes for the Exchange eting:
Dungeon, Mission, and Duel.
Unlike Duels, in both the Dungeon and Mission thes, 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 as well.
7th-floor Chinese player, Sun Haoran.
The next person to approach introduced himself in Korean.
"I'm Baek Jin-young."
The number 8 floated above his head as he smiled.
I gave the na 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 for long enough would figure it out.
But it was still safer to use a fake na.
Unlike the modern world I ca 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 soone 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 had brown hair and a bright smile.
"I'm Jake! Nice to et you!"
Jake imdiately reached out for a handshake and introduced himself as an Arican.
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 eting I attended was all Chinese and Japanese climbers—it caught off guard."
Baek Jin-young was trying to keep a conversation going with , using our shared nationality as a reason.
It didn’t feel suspicious or anything.
Feeling relieved to et soone from the sa country was a natural reaction.
Even without any ulterior motives, it was a reasonable way to behave.
"This is your first Exchange eting, 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 eting can actually be easier than normal tower floors."
That was exactly what Pioneer had told .
Unless I got thrown into so 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 ssage.
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.
anwhile, Pandemonium had only one.
Because one was enough.
How difficult would my path be?
It felt like an impossible climb.
Baek Jin-young seed like he wanted to say more.
But just then, a system ssage 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 ti 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 , as if she thought I was tense.
"I'm fine."
"I'm Misaki."
Misaki. 8th floor.
I took a ntal note of the group mbers.
Baek Jin-young and . Two Koreans.Jake. Arican. 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 soone 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 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 the perfect excuse to sit back and observe everyone’s movents.
Clang—
Jake pushed open the massive doors before us.
[You have entered the dungeon – ‘Kobold’s Cradle.’]
...Kobolds?
I rembered what I had read on the gallery last night.
Archmage): "Kobolds are stronger than goblins but weaker than orcs."
Archmage’s Exchange eting dungeon predictions had been spot on.
Which ant...
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.
So important things had been ntioned 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 tis 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 .
It was Misaki.
She was staring at —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 sa direction the spears ca from, a mace was now flying—
Straight toward Misaki’s skull.
I grabbed her shoulder and yanked her back.
At the sa ti, 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 tead 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 eting, 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?
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 so level 20 dude throwing out sword aura in a tenth-floor Exchange eting."
ㄴ Admin): "So far, our climber hasn’t been the type to trust people just because he t them after a long ti."
ㄴ Ice Queen): "Frozen! Agreed!"
ㄴ Sword of Light): "I gave him enough advice. He’ll listen."
ㄴ Dragon King): "Beltui! Give him so 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."
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