Chapter 1
“Get out of the way...”
I couldn't even finish the sentence.
A lump of black iron as big as my body flashed as it reflected the light.
Faced with the giant golem's fist flying straight at me, I gritted my teeth and raised my guard.
A tremendous impact engulfed me. Pain battered my entire body, and before I knew it, I was flying through the air, unable to withstand the blow.
‘Damn it.’
I instinctively realized the armor covering my body had been completely shattered. It was the only S-rank item I had.
“Ugh.”
I bounced, rolled, and flew across the ground what felt like countless times before crashing down.
I must have suffered serious internal injuries. Against my will, my body curled up like a shrimp and trembled as I spat up blood.
Honestly, it was ridiculous to think I could withstand that insane blow when even professional tanks had been smashed by it.
“Lady Reina!”
My ears were ringing and my vision was blurry, but I felt someone rush over and grab me.
My companion, our guild's vice master, and a Korean hunter who was personally assisting me in this operation: Kim Ji-eun.
That muffled voice and blurry face could only belong to Kim Ji-eun.
“It's no use. We're wiped out! We have to get out of here... Aagh!”
The moment she tried to lift me, another huge explosion and shockwave rang out, sending us tumbling across the floor.
I couldn't even move a finger properly anymore, but I let myself sag into petite Kim Ji-eun's arms as she clutched my clothes and struggled desperately. I gasped for breath.
‘Another failure. Those insane golems keep appearing in groups, and they're only at gatekeeper level?’
A raid on the Tower's 150th floor, conducted by a coalition of numerous factions, including ours. This operation had already been attempted more than ten times...and today, too, it seemed destined to end in failure.
This wasn't the first time, but I felt it once again: just surviving was a stroke of incredible luck.
But with my armor destroyed, I couldn't be sure I'd be so lucky next time.
***
‘Still, did we make it out safely?’
At some point, I regained consciousness, but I had no idea how much time had passed.
Feeling something familiar, I slowly opened my eyes. Just as I'd expected, the scene before me was...
A hospital in the safe zone. A place anyone challenging the Tower had to visit sooner or later.
I could see IVs and potions flowing into my veins through needles stuck all over my body.
“Haa...”
I opened my eyes in the bed of a quiet private room, sighed, and let all the tension drain from my aching body.
The despair felt especially overwhelming today. Was it because I truly believed we'd done everything we could?
People had died, and I was starting to lose heart, wondering if the 150th-floor wall was truly insurmountable.
Come to think of it, ever since I transmigrated into ‘this world,’ the reason I'd tenaciously climbed the Tower and pursued strength and achievement was purely for my own satisfaction.
It was a world where I could accomplish what had been impossible in my past life, when I was utterly ordinary, just one cog among countless others in society.
No one had forced me to climb the Tower, and my body wouldn't suddenly explode if I didn't.
Of course, the price was the ample chest wavering in my field of vision right now, and having to fight powerful enemies amid dangers that threatened my life every day...but until now, I'd thought it was worth it.
“Fuck...should I retire?”
But after running into a real wall, my passion was beginning to fade.
Besides, after climbing this far, I didn't have to worry about making a living if I retired.
「Constellation Community Login」
“...Huh?”
But just as I covered my eyes with my arm and tried to fall asleep again...
Something inexplicable began happening before my eyes, though I had no idea when I'd fallen asleep.
There hadn't been the slightest hint of it. I hadn't expected it in the least.
「Rank 15, Moonlit Swordlight (月光劍輝) Reina Frontier Fan Gallery」
Letters shimmered before my eyes. And right there was a photograph of a radiant silver-haired woman, smiling brightly.
It was a picture of me. One I couldn't even remember having taken.
I read it and froze.
‘What the hell is this?’
Of course, I wondered if I was having some crazy dream, but it was unusually vivid and clear for a dream. More than anything, something about it felt instinctively real.
It was just like when I first possessed this body. Back then, too, I'd naturally denied reality, but it had all been real.
[Is the rumor that Reina's retiring for real?]
[If Reina retires, I'm seriously leaving the gallery lol]
[This time, give her a weapon instead of armor...I beg you, her patron Constellation]
[Lady Reina's thinking about retiring, what is Kim Ji-eun doing?]
[Reina-only 150th-floor raid tips (incomplete)]
[Why Reina had a low damage absorption rate in this battle
[What'll happen if Reina finds out about the fan gallery.txt]
[Which Constellation skills synergize well with Lady Reina?]
[Recommended exclusive equipment for the next raid]
[Screenshot of Reina looking pissed while fighting lol]
[Every time her armor breaks, the Constellations' wallets get cleaned out]
[Is that really why Kim Ji-eun follows Reina around?]
···
The moment I wondered what this was, another window appeared before my eyes.
Posts with all kinds of incomprehensible text were scrolling by, but I instantly got a very ‘familiar’ feeling.
Hadn't I seen this kind of thing many times before? It was the kind of internet community I'd regularly visited before I was possessed.
‘...’
The problem was that the core subject of this community was me.
That place, where I'd once only been a spectator, was now talking about all sorts of things as if I were some celebrity.
[Is the rumor that Reina's retiring for real?](+12)
While I stared blankly at the screen for a while, I suddenly twitched at the title of the post at the very top.
Since it was at the top, it was surely the most recent post. The problem was that comments were rapidly piling up.
·Reina Worshipper No. 1
-I heard she muttered that she was so pissed after the Tower raid earlier that she might retire... She's not really going to retire, is she? Without Lady Reina, those guys have no chance of clearing the 150th floor.
ㄴIf Reina retires, who's gonna deal damage for them? Everyone ranked 1 through 14 is a support or a tank.
ㄴHonestly, if Lady Reina retires, the 150th-floor raid is over.
ㄴHer saying she'll retire is just mood swings lol. Hasn't it been like that forever? She once said she'd keep fighting even if she lost an arm.
ㄴBut this time was genuinely dangerous. Her last remaining armor got destroyed.
···
After reading the post and comments, my mind went blank again.
It was true that I'd woken up in the hospital and muttered about retiring.
But at that moment, there hadn't been anyone around me.
There was no way anyone could secretly listen in on me at a strictly neutral hospital, one no faction could trespass into and where ranker-level personnel were always stationed.
And yet the users of this unidentified community knew every little private thing I'd said.
‘Who...are they?’
With my mind blank, I looked away from the post and scanned the screen.
Then I noticed a greeting post from a newbie who'd joined some time ago.
·Black Iron Saint
-Greetings. Now that I've seen the end of the Tower, I never expected to get an opportunity like this. I came to check it out because the young lady's face caught my fancy.
ㄴLmao, look at this guy, still hasn't gotten over it. You're not a ranker anymore, dumbass.
ㄴLeave him be, he'll get over it in a week lol. Anyway, welcome.
···
The post was a greeting, and most of the comments were people teasing the author and having fun.
ㄴActually, they didn't explain things in detail at the last moment, so tell me, what exactly is this place?
ㄴWe just hang out. We check out other Towers, and it's a gathering place for people hoping to become higher-ranked Constellations.
ㄴConstellations... That's right. I chose to remain in the Tower to become a Constellation.
ㄴYou got suckered lol. It takes forever just to stop being an apprentice Constellation. When you first clear the Tower, you feel like you have everything. Like you've literally reached the pinnacle of a world. But what can you do? Wherever you go, there are tons of people like that underfoot.
ㄴTh-That can't be... The Tower fairies said it was a great achievement...
As the conversation continued in the comments, the author's enormous shock was plain to see even in the post.
And I was just as shocked as that author.
‘Is this real?’
Those who had climbed the entire Tower. Beings beyond rankers—literally transcendent beings.
I knew that those called Constellations had once been people in the Tower. But even among Constellations, there were different ranks, and countless Constellations had already formed their own communities.
It was a huge shock to learn that there wasn't just one Tower to begin with.
The Tower I was struggling so hard to climb was already a place where people from various worlds had gathered together, and there were multiple Towers like it.
[Blocked User List: Reina Bootlicker]
·Main Admin
-Blocked for one month for repeatedly uploading excessively revealing photos, which violate the rules. Please check the rules before uploading fan photos and videos.
ㄴCome on, at least let us see her chest, admin.
Even so, I couldn't reveal my identity to the people posting pictures and videos of me from angles I couldn't even see myself, and ask them what was going on.
Ever since I came to this world, I'd learned that sometimes it was better not to dig too deeply into things I couldn't understand.
[Reina-only 150th-floor raid tips (incomplete)]
Instead, I looked at something else.
There were plenty of posts that made my head spin just by looking at them, but in between them were some that caught my eye.
·Setkkabi
-The party composition is wrong from the start. With the current setup, Reina would have to deal all the damage, tank everything, and do aerial somersaults to get past floor 150.
Even if they have to take lower-ranked members, they should recruit more mages and go all-in on magic, or Reina herself needs to get stronger. Otherwise, there's no way they'll break through the 150th-floor Black Iron Golems.
What are they going to do when the Gigantises pour out from inside after they smash all the Black Iron Golems?
···
Someone had written a guide to clearing the 150th floor. Astonishingly, they clearly knew what lay beyond it, something no one else yet knew.
They knew exactly how to clear it, what the weaknesses of the enemies that appeared there were, and even what to do in the situation I was in now.
‘Is this for real?’
I read every post as if entranced. The arguments in the comments, the vulgar insults that eventually erupted, and even the admins blocking people for them.
I was bewildered, and even now it was hard to believe...but reading it somehow made the tightness in my chest ease.