Chapter 5
I picked up the <Transcendent Gallery> terminal.
What was there to do in my thoroughly ruined situation?
First, faced with this unprecedented difficulty called ‘Pandemonium,’ I should at least take a selfie.
I only meant to take a picture of the damn lettering, but there was no better way to let them know my current situation than a selfie.
As expected, there was one. A selfie function.
I adjusted the angle so that my face and the lettering reading ‘Pandemonium’ were clearly visible.
The screen flashed.
Kimchi.
Wow, what a refreshing selfie.
Ah, now that I think about it. Am I never going to eat kimchi again for the rest of my life?
…Before that, I might not even have a rest of my life.
I should take one with Queen Ansranthrop too, then head up to Floor 2.
Once I reached the top of the stairs, there was a massive door. I flung it open.
A fairly spacious area opened up before me. It seemed about as large as my high school auditorium.
This must be the waiting room.
The instant I stepped onto the white line, notification windows filled my field of vision.
[Pandemonium Tower #01]
[Welcome to Floor 2.]
[Status - ‘Mana’ has been added.]
[The ‘Mana’ stat has been set to 10.]
[System - You are now eligible to use the ‘Coin Shop’.]
[300 coins have been awarded for clearing Floor 1.]
[System - ‘Inventory’ has been activated.]
[A weapon has been awarded as a reward for clearing Floor 1 of Pandemonium. Check your ‘Inventory’.]
[Armor has been awarded as a reward for clearing Floor 1 of Pandemonium. Check your ‘Inventory’.]
There were no chairs or desks.
The one bit of good news was that there was a sleeping bag.
There was a clock on the central wall.
Beside the round analog clock was a square, rectangular panel.
It was shaped like an electronic signboard.
February 4.
Time remaining until the Tower Exchange: 21 days.
Tower Exchange date and time: February 25, 12:00
I could ask my gallery friends what the exchange was.
“Status Window.”
<Player Status>
Name : Han Yoo-seong
Species : Human
Lv.3
Strength : 20
Agility : 21
Vitality : 18
Mana : 10
Skills : Pain Suppression Lv.2 Composure Lv.2 Cover Lv.1 Danger Detection Lv.1
Expanded Vision Lv.1 Focus Enhancement Lv.1
If these stats were this high because I was a Pandemonium climber, I wondered how quickly the twenty-first-century Earthlings in Easy, Normal, and Hard rose.
Maybe the Coin Shop would pop up just by saying it aloud, too.
“Coin Shop.”
It popped up.
[Floor 2 Coin Shop]
1. Food 2. Beverages
“…What kind of shop only sells food?”
But unlike my mouth, my stomach was honest. It immediately let out a rumble.
When I pressed <Food>, a list appeared in a flurry.
1. Ramen, a small serving of kimchi - 10 coins
2. Pork gukbap - 10 coins
3. Chaofan - 10 coins
4. Cream bacon pasta - 10 coins
5. Sandwich - 8 coins
6. Nuts (peanuts, walnuts) - 6 coins
7. Jerky - 6 coins
They have kimchi.
It was ridiculous on multiple levels.
I had 300 coins.
Assuming I ate one meal a day, that would last 30 days.
What bastard set these coin prices?
I pressed <Beverages>.
1. Water (1L) - 5 coins
2. Black coffee - 8 coins
3. Cider - 9 coins
Cider was the most expensive.
It wasn't as if I intended to buy anything but water anyway.
I vaguely remembered seeing somewhere that if you were in good health, you could survive for up to eight weeks on water alone.
“If I start thinking about holding out, I'm doomed anyway.”
I couldn't help being frightened by the difficulty called Pandemonium, but subsisting on the minimum amount of food and freeloading in the waiting room was the worst possible choice.
In the end, once I'd prepared as much as possible, I would have to move forward, no matter what the difficulty was called.
The last thing left to check was the weapon and armor that had supposedly been awarded to my inventory.
“Inventory.”
<Inventory>
A semitransparent window appeared.
Two slots contained items.
I pressed the slot at the front.
[Nameless Knight's Longsword]
Category - Weapon (Sword)
Attack Power +30
Usable Level: Level 3 or higher
Grade: C+
[Nameless Knight's Armor Set]
Category - Armor
Defense +35
Usable Level: Level 3 or higher
Grade: C+
At a glance, it looked better than the sword I'd used on Floor 1.
Now that I'd checked everything, it was time to tell the Transcendent Gallery about the harsh reality I'd encountered.
I took out the terminal and accessed the Transcendent Gallery.
Most of the posts in the gallery were from people wondering whether I'd survived.
-ㅇㅇ) If you're alive, come out. Hurry ㅠㅠㅠ
-Shaman) Hawawa, didn't I say Brother Climber had a long life expectancy? All his limbs should still be attached.
-Pioneer) Um, if you're crying because it's Hard difficulty, you can come out. Still, there's a chance you can clear it, right?
-Closed-Room Theorist) Maybe you're hiding because you're embarrassed to admit it's Easy difficulty.
-Saint) I'm praying so that Brother Climber won't lose his way.
Saint.
There was someone I hadn't seen before, too.
-That climber bastard can't be in Easy mode. Just look at the monsters that appeared.
-Heavenly Demon) I've been making a beginner's martial arts manual for the first time in ages. Get in here and write a post.
Right.
I'll do that.
I wrote a post and published it.
Title : LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Author : ㅇㅇ*
-I feel like I'm going to lose it. Look.
Attachment : 238409122.jpg
[Han Yoo-seong standing beside a massive door with 【Pandemonium】 written precisely on it.]
Silence.
It was a longer silence than I'd expected.
└ ?
Comments were finally starting to appear.
That single question mark seemed to speak for everyone's feelings.
I felt the same way when I first saw it.
After that, perhaps the ice had broken, and comments began appearing endlessly.
└ N e?
└ ???
└ No, fuck
└ Great Mage) What the hell. This isn't a composite, right? Pandemonium???
└ Closed-Room Theorist) Mm-
└ LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, holy shitㅋㅋㅋ, hey, is that a memorial selfie?
└ Ice Queen) …Frozen solid. Keep your spirits up.
└ As if that could cheer him upㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└ Panㅋㅋdemoㅋㅋniㅋㅋumㅋㅋㅋumㅋㅋㅋum…um.
└ Yeah, I read your will thoroughly. You've got good prose. A fine writer.
└ Fuck, even after rubbing my eyes and looking again, it's the sameㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Why is that showing up?
└ Wow, our Brother Climber was one hell of a guy. He survived Floor 1 of Pandemonium. Sorry I didn't recognize your greatness, bro.
└ Whoa, he looks handsome?? But why does the background in the photo look black-and-white? Uh…uh? Breathe, breathe, Climber! Climber!! C-call a doctor!!!
I expected that level of mockery.
It had only been a day. Until just one day ago, I was someone whose community activity took up most of his life.
I'd already come up with self-deprecating jokes at that level myself.
It was simply amusing.
└ Head Mod) …What the hell. Is the fact that you obtained the Transcendent Gallery in the first place somehow related to the difficulty? I have no idea….
└ GREAT! CONFUSION!!!!
Hmm.
The Head Mod was posting disjointed comments, but I understood what he was trying to say.
A zero-percent survival rate.
Me, trapped in the hopeless difficulty of Pandemonium.
And then, as it happened, I found a terminal on Floor 1 that could access the <Transcendent Gallery>.
He was probably asking whether the Tower had intentionally created this situation or not. Well, how would I know?
└ Great Mage) Well, I don't know. I'm somewhat skeptical. Even if we assume the Transcendent Gallery users help him, it's still Pandemonium difficulty. A difficulty even we haven't experienced, right? No matter what help we give him, he'll always have to risk his life. His chances of clearing it… Ha, I don't know.
└ Absolute Sovereign) Great Mage, didn't you say something yourself just recently? That every being summoned to Pandemonium must have possessed even the tiniest possibility of clearing it. Even if they died. Are you retracting that statement?
└ Great Mage) Retract it? Of course not. Since the climber was summoned to Pandemonium, I believe that bastard has that possibility. It's just damn difficult, that's all.
└ For realㅋㅋㅋㅋ The mage always used to subtly put the climber down, but now that the climber has turned out to be in Pandemonium, he's got nothing to sayㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└ Great Mage) What are you talking about?
└ Triggered?
└ Great Mage) Whatever. What's the point of talking more with a lowly bastard? I'm done with the gallery for today.
└ Triggered?
└ Whoaㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Is this really Pandemonium? For real?
└ R.I.P
└ Saint) Neither Easy, Normal, nor Hard, but Pandemonium… This is a rare sight. I shall pray.
└ Absolute Sovereign) Climber, even if you feel despair, don't resort to anything drastic.
└ ㅇㅇ*) Hey, I won't do that. Don't worry ㅇㅇ
Why would I die?
That'd be so undignified.
└ Heavenly Demon) Yes, what a fine spirit! I support you as well.
└ Look at him suddenly popping up to write a few words after staying silent, now that the climber seems saner than expected. Are you really a demon head (魔頭)?
└ Heavenly Demon) Do you live on the same Martial World Earth as I do? Where do you live?
└ Light's Sword) Check the Transcendent Gallery terminal. See if another app has appeared.
An app?
I pushed the <Transcendent Gallery> screen aside for a moment.
I went to the terminal's home page.
Hmm, there was something that hadn't been there before.
I pressed something that had appeared beneath the camera app. It was an app with a blue star logo.
『The ‘Dimensional Exchange’ affiliated with the Transcendent Gallery has been activated!』
『Welcome! New customer!』
└ ㅇㅇ*) Oh, there is one. Dimensional Exchange?
└ Head Mod) Looks like it activates on Floor 2.
└ Light's Sword) Eat a hearty meal and come back in.
└ ㅇㅇ*) Huh?
└ Light's Sword) What weapon are you using now?
└ ㅇㅇ*) They gave me a sword when I came up to Floor 2.
└ Light's Sword) A sword, huh. Good. That'll help keep you alive.
└ ㅇㅇ*) How?
└ How elseㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ He probably means you should train like hell.
└ Light's Sword) I suppose I should take the position of your first master.
The sword parrot suddenly started coming on strong.
What was up with him?
These guys seemed to have gotten more lively after I told them I was in ‘Pandemonium’ difficulty.