Chapter 1
“I finally hit number one!”
I was an amateur gamer.
Though I was an amateur, I was a top-ranked player.
That day was a momentous one—I had successfully immortalized my username at the very top of the rankings.
Me, number one.
I was so excited I could barely contain myself.
I immediately opened the community and wrote a post.
______
Title: All Current Pros Get Rekt!!!!!
Author: ShieldWasNotBought
{Screenshot of achieving rank 1}
I shall stand above the heavens.
Pros? GOATs? MVPs?
All of you, stand at attention.
_____
I shouldn't have done that.
It's not like being number one in solo queue was anything all that impressive.
My inferiority complex toward the pros had finally burst out.
“I should've been the one saying ‘stand at attention’...”
If the price for acting cocky had only been internet flame and nasty comments, how wonderful would that have been.
I received an excessive punishment.
“What? Where am I?”
“Huh?”
“Why does my voice sound like this...”
A pitch-black sealed room.
When I woke up in such a place, I found myself with nothing below the waist.
‘Please let this be a dream...’
But should I say I was lucky?
In exchange for losing what was below, I gained something new above.
Two mounds.
...I had become a woman.
I grasped the hair falling to my waist and swept it down with my hand.
Silver hair.
The clothes I wore were the opposite: all black.
They were ornate clothes covered in decorations.
‘She looks like a menhera psycho...’
Was this what they called gothic lolita fashion?
I had possessed the body of a woman wearing such clothes.
And more than anything, what was strange was... the edged weapon this woman was holding.
A massive black scythe.
“Hup...”
I almost dropped it because it scared me.
It was as tall as this menhera woman's height.
Could this appearance mean I wasn't cosplaying, but had actually become the Grim Reaper?
‘Where is this...?’
I looked around.
‘It's huge...’
It was a vast room with no windows at all.
A vast open hall.
There was an enormous amount of empty space.
I couldn't for the life of me figure out what this place was for.
A chandelier emitting blue light hung from the ceiling, illuminating the room just enough for me to see.
I began exploring the place, taking my time.
I walked in one direction, following the wall, and found something.
“A door?”
It was a gigantic double door with an antique design.
It looked to be about five meters tall.
...Though my estimate might be inaccurate since I'd become shorter.
“Nngh...”
I tried pulling on the doorknob, but it wouldn't open.
All that came out was a cute voice I couldn't believe had come from my own mouth.
‘I'm trapped.’
That was the conclusion I reached.
It was at that moment.
A hologram appeared before my eyes.
It was a familiar interface.
[Demon King's Army Gallery]
“What is this...?”
No matter how I looked at it, it was that site.
The community site where I'd posted.
It was the screen for entering a particular gallery.
Why had a gallery appeared as a hologram in this situation?
At the very top was a guide post.
Title: [Read First] Newbie Guide
I clicked it with my finger, and the post opened.
______
Title: [Read First] Newbie Guide
Author: (Mod)TriedBeingLegionCommander-Dismissed
You are currently possessing the body of a soldier belonging to the Demon King's Army.
This is inside the Demon King's Tower.
The Demon King's Tower consists of a total of one thousand floors.
His Majesty the Demon King has stationed exactly one soldier on each floor.
To check your floor, write your first post.
Your floor number will be displayed next to your username.
Your basic mission is to eliminate intruders—the heroes—who climb up from the lower floors.
______
I was dumbfounded.
I had become part of the Demon King's Army?
The Demon King's Tower?
‘It must be a dream...’
I couldn't deny it, not with the weapon I was holding.
How was I supposed to process this?
“What about the others...”
I scrolled down to check the comments on the notice.
[Comments]
ㅇㅇ(345F) : “‘His Majesty the Demon King,’ my ass lol”
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(145F) : “For real, this mod's ego is fucking ridiculous”
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(487F) : “What, why's he talking so respectfully all of a sudden? Did he suddenly develop some respect?”
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(752F) : “No, he's bragging that he made it all the way to legion commander. He's trying to show off that he personally served the Demon King.”
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(341F) : “Mod gets full marks lmao”
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(302F) : “LMAOOOOOOOOOOOO”
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(375F) : “But didn't he say he'd never even seen the Demon King's face?”
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(452F) : “That's what makes it so fucking pathetic, yeah.”
…
..
.
______
I wasn't entirely sure, but they were making fun of the moderator.
Every gallery is different, but an atmosphere like this wasn't uncommon.
Seeing this, I realized that this situation wasn't a joke.
It felt exactly like the real community—far too real.
‘Are these people really... all trapped here?’
Confused, I checked the list of posts on the gallery's front page.
Title: I'm So Fucking Bored Aaaaah
Title: Is This Gallery Seriously Dead...?
‘...Why is everyone so damn relaxed?’
It was peaceful.
More precisely, they seemed to be steeped in ennui.
Maybe this wasn't such a dangerous place.
I immediately wrote a post.
______
Title: Hello, I'm a Newbie. Please Explain.
Author:Gatekeeper
I just woke up and I'm a total newbie trying to figure out what's going on...
I checked the basic guide, but I have a question.
How do I get out of here...?
______
Post.
Since I had just been punished and had politeness forcibly instilled in me, my tone was respectful.
Of course, I only had one question.
It concerned how to escape.
Neither the guide nor anywhere else contained anything about how to escape.
Why?
If everyone had been trapped here, then naturally the posts should have been dominated by discussions of how to escape.
Just as I was thinking that, the first comment appeared.
ㅇㅇ(339F) : “Hmm, yeah, yeah. This is 5149's newbie-cosplay ragebait, huh.”
‘Newbie cosplay? No...’
They seemed to think my post was bait.
They seemed convinced there was no way I could be a newbie.
Was that how rare newbies were?
I replied to the comment.
ㄴ(작성자)게이트키퍼: I'm really a newbie. How can I prove it?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(339F) : “How can a registered user be a newbie...”
“Huh.”
“Registered username?”
Me? A registered user?
It was true.
Both my post and comment displayed the username “Gatekeeper.”
Strange.
I had never set such a username when I wrote the post.
Another comment appeared immediately.
ㅇㅇ(248F) : “Oh, for fuck's sake, has dementia set in? What the hell is some old-timer who's eaten his fill of gallery life doing? Fuck.”
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(339F) : “For real, look at this senile bastard coming back to comment again. What a fucking eyesore.”
They thought I was a veteran.
It seemed to be because I had a username attached to me, too.
Did only veterans have usernames?
‘What the hell am I supposed to do...’
What was I supposed to do about this misunderstanding?
Just as I was wondering how to explain myself,
another comment appeared.
ㅇㅇ(574F) : “Aren't you the ones with dementia? Isn't this your first time seeing a registered user named Gatekeeper?”
It was a comment taking my side.
ㄴㅇㅇ(248F) : “? Then you're really a newbie?”
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(339F) : “Why does a newbie have a registered username?”
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(574F) : “Who knows? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯”
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(451F) : “He's not a newbie. He's some old gallery user, you idiots.”
ㄴ ㅇㅇ (574F) : “I've been on this gallery for over forty years, though?”
ㄴ ㅇㅇ (451F) : “Forty years trapped here and you're still a pathetic 500-floor loser, lmao.”
For some reason, they were arguing among themselves.
Over whether I was a newbie or not.
The mention of forty years sent a chill down my spine.
‘You mean they've been trapped here for that long...?’
I quietly joined in and asked a question.
ㄴ 게이트키퍼(작성자) : What does “registered username” mean here?
ㄴ 애옹이: It means a fixed username, nya.
ㄴ 게이트키퍼(작성자) : I know that, but...
ㄴ ㅇㅇ (451F) : “I always say this, but there's no way this fucking cat is really above Floor 800.”
Someone gave a proper explanation in a new comment.
ㄴ 펜리르 : Registered usernames are only given to named monsters above Floor 800. To people like me and that cat.
Then was I born as a named monster?
A named monster.
It looked like a good thing at a glance.
Judging by the atmosphere, it also seemed like having a higher floor number came with some kind of advantage.
ㄴ 펜리르 : But are you really a newbie? I've never seen anyone start above Floor 800, so I can't believe it either. Every registered user climbed from somewhere in the 700s up to Floor 800 and became a registered user.
ㄴ 게이트키퍼(작성자) : I really am a newbie.
ㄴ 게이트키퍼(작성자) : But what's good about having a high floor number?
When I asked that, the comment section fell silent, as if a hush had descended.
The atmosphere had suddenly turned ice-cold.
A comment appeared.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ (574F) : If you beat everyone all the way up to Floor 1000 and become the strongest, you escape.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ (451F) : You're not a newbie, but you're letting yourself get baited by this?
So you escaped by climbing to Floor 1000.
That was useful information.
But at the same time, a question arose.
‘Why wasn't that in the guide?’
Why had they omitted the most important information?
ㄴ 게이트키퍼(작성자): It seems like the thing a newbie would be most curious about is how to escape. Why isn't it in the guide?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(574F) : It used to be there, but they took it down ages ago. Too many people started dying while climbing.
This wasn't even military-style administration. What the hell... They should at least tell people, shouldn't they?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(574F) : They restricted it because they were worried people would blindly climb without information. They want you to talk things over sufficiently with the gallery members before making a move.
So there was a deeper meaning behind it.
ㄴ 펜리르 : It's dangerous because you have to challenge the floor above you to a duel to climb.
So the stronger Demon King's Army soldier won by fighting another Demon King's Army soldier and moved up to the floor above?
I thought I more or less understood.
It was similar to the replacement-bloodbath system from some manga.
Another question occurred to me.
ㄴ게이트키퍼(작성자) : Then do you kill the other gallery members??? Wouldn't that be wrong?
ㄴ 펜리르 : Don't worry about that. Everyone here is in the same tower but a different tower. Think of it like parallel universes.
Parallel universes.
Something even more unrealistic had suddenly emerged.
At any rate, it seemed these people wouldn't actually fight one another.
Well, if they did, the atmosphere would have been far more serious than this.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(339F) : No, fuck, are we sure nobody knows that registered user? They were born above Floor 800?
ㄴ 펜리르 : It really is fucking absurd. I'm only half-convinced myself.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(248F) : Can someone start above Floor 800? Has that ever happened?
ㄴ 펜리르 : Never.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(248F) : That's fucking unfair. Some of us started at Floor 190 and made it all the way here.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(543F) : Ah, I'm so fucking jealous.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(451F) : It's probably a lie, so I don't think you need to be jealous?
ㅇㅇ(327F) : Upvote if Gatekeeper is grinning because the troll thread is fully stocked.
Most of them still didn't seem to believe I was a newbie.
Then the anonymous user who had believed me from beginning to end pointed me out and said:
ㅇㅇ(574F) : Come as an anonymous user. Prove you're on Floor 800, go go.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(174F) : Are you a genius?
Come to think of it, floor numbers were displayed next to the usernames of anonymous users, too.
Since I was a registered user, mine hadn't been displayed.
Following that commenter's advice, I erased my username and made a new post.
Title: I'm a Newbie. Just Woke Up.
Author:__
I hit backspace in the username field...
Post.
__________
Title: I'm a Newbie. Just Woke Up.
Author : ㅇㅇ(1F)
Can you see my floor number now?
_________
Huh.
Strange.
The number was abnormally small.
Not only was it below Floor 800...
‘Floor 1?’
Startled, I immediately wrote the first comment.
ㅇㅇ(작성자)(1F) : It says 1. What is this?
I refreshed the page.
And then.
The comment section began to explode.
ㄴ 펜리르: ?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(413F) : ????????????????
ㄴ ㅇㅇ (341F) Huh, you're really a newbie? I've never seen Floor 1 before.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(339F) : No fucking way, Floor oooooone?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ (221F) : A legendary incident has occurred.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(274F) : I've never even seen a two-digit floor, but Floor 1 is fucking hilarious LMAOOOOOOOOOOOO
ㄴ 펜리르 : A fucking legend.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(248F) : Ahh, that's satisfying!
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(221F) : ??????????
ㄴ 발록 : How does this even make sense?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(451F) : Guess you really are a newbie, holy shit LMAOOOOOOOO
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(413F) Congrats!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!