She was feeling emotions that matched the clothes she was wearing.
*I'm about to go full menhera…*
She hadn't even finished processing the situation yet.
The Gallery had been completely scorched by topics about her.
______
Title: Legendary bait of the century just dropped.
Title: Floor 1 lmaooooooooooooooo
Title: Holy shit the Gallery regen speed is real???
Title: Just show us a pic of the hero and leave already.
Title: Isn't below floor 100 something nobody's ever seen?
Title: Ngl I pissed myself a little from excitement…
Title: HEROOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!
Title: Newbie write something newbie write something newbie write something newbie write something newbie write something newbie write something
Title: Honestly thought it'd be floor 800+, upvote if you're satisfied.
Title: Floor 1, you okay mentally? You alive?
Title: Look at all these ghosts coming out of the woodwork.
______
Reading through the posts, it seemed like this was a rare situation.
*Has no one ever possessed floor 1 before…*
______
Title: I genuinely can't believe it, how is floor 1 showing up on the Gallery.
Author: Anon (741F)
If I remember right, I think the lowest anyone had was floor 120.
It's been almost 10 years since I've seen a newbie, but floor 1 is actually legendary.
______
That seemed to be the truth.
Every post and comment thread she looked at—the numbers next to every username were three digits.
She was sitting there in a daze, scrolling through the Gallery, when one title reached into her chest and shook it.
[Title: Shouldn't floor 1 start preparing for the hero now?]
Preparing for the hero…
The guide post had clearly stated this was the Demon King's Tower, and that heroes would come to conquer it starting from floor 1.
Which meant she, being on floor 1, would be the first person to encounter a hero.
Looks like she'd become the bullet sponge at the very front of the line.
But something about the atmosphere felt off.
[Title: Isn't floor 1 actually insanely sweet?]
[Title: Honestly kinda jealous ngl.]
[Title: Ahh~ I wanna see the hero~]
For some reason, they were envying her.
*Wait, I'm not screwed?*
She held onto that question and clicked on one of the posts.
______
[Title: Isn't floor 1 actually insanely sweet?]
Author: Anon (510F)
Not being able to escape is the same for everyone, so being on a lower floor doesn't matter.
Floor 1 means you get to actually fight and mess around with the hero.
[Comments]
Anon (434F): You maniac, the newbie is level 1 lmao
______
Fight and mess around—what does that even…
She posted a comment.
Anon (1F): Why is fighting fun? Do you respawn if you die?
└Anon (432F): Nope. You just cease to exist.
Obviously, if you only have one life, then why—
She couldn't wrap her head around it.
Anon (510F) (OP): You've got content.
└Anon (413F): Saying it like that won't land lol
Content.
What the hell does that mean.
Fighting a life-or-death battle against people who came to kill her is content?
*What kind of Lu Bu logic is that.*
Then a comment came in that actually tried to explain.
Anon (413F): You won't get it. We've done nothing but train every day—we've never actually fought an enemy. Everyone's itching for it.
└Anon (1F): Don't you fight while climbing the tower?
└Anon (413F): We each have a growth ceiling that limits how high we can go. Past floor 300, everyone's basically just parked there.
She could get the gist of what that meant.
Most of them were people who'd been stuck on their respective floors for a long time.
They'd mentioned decades earlier, so they must have been sitting there for a very long time.
*They've gone insane from boredom…*
But her situation was completely different.
She was on floor 1.
She'd have to keep running into the people who came to conquer the Demon King's Tower.
With absolutely no buffer in between!
She hurriedly wrote the next post.
_____
Title: Looks like I'm screwed so I'm dropping the formalities.
Author: Anon (1F)
So what do I do now?
Questions.
When does the hero come.
How many of them.
How do I prepare.
Answer fast.
______
She hit refresh and comments had already appeared.
Anon (211F): Look at her dropping the honorifics immediately lol
└Anon (1F) (OP): So what can you guys even do—without me you'd die of boredom.
└Anon (211F): That's… fair actually.
└Anon (318F): Sharp as hell, how'd you figure that out
Why wouldn't she.
She'd watched dozens of garbage posts pile up before she ever wrote her first one.
└Anon (1F): Lurked through all the "I've given up on life" posting and figured it out.
└Anon (211F): "Given up on life" lmaooo
└Anon (143F): First Floor 1 meme, certified classic
Meowy: When hero comes just go hwak!! scratch with claws meowy.
└Anon (1F) (OP): Want to die?
└Meowy: Meowy….
└Anon (334F): An 800-floor veteran just got bodied by a day-one newbie lmaooooo
She waited for a useful comment, but the next one was even worse.
Anon (772F): Answers: 1. Don't know 2. Don't know 3. Don't know.
└Anon (1F) (OP): What do you mean you don't know anything
└Anon (334F): Facts.
└Anon (412F): We genuinely don't know. Someone would have to have actually seen a hero.
Huh?
Wait, seriously?
Nobody had ever seen a hero?
A hollow laugh escaped her. She couldn't believe it.
Wasn't this a bit much, even by these standards.
They really had just given up on life.
This was a completely unexpected turn.
She posted a comment in a daze.
Anon (1F) (OP): So if there's no hero guide, what the hell is the Demon Army Gallery even for?
└Anon (384F): That one hurts…
└Anon (134F): Oh no.
└Anon (413F): Well…
└Anon (711F): You just hit the *core truth*
And another comment said:
└Anon (431F): That's literally what we've always said. The hero has never made it past floor 100.
So what had these people even been doing.
The Gallery was just distributed as pure entertainment?
└Anon (743F): We've only been researching ways to fight each other.
└Anon (417F): It's a parallel universe thing anyway—sharing weaknesses so the ranking matches go smoother.
What does that even—
*So I can't prepare for anything?*
At this rate, she might lose her mind and die before the hero even showed up.
From her perspective, the hero was a random murderer.
If a killer like that could kick down her front door at any moment…
There was no way to live like that.
She'd definitely develop a neurosis.
Anon (1F) (OP): So what the hell am I supposed to do? If the hero comes now do I just die?
└Anon (314F): Golden answer right there
└Anon (431F): I can tell you how to get stronger… but I have no idea how to counter a hero ㅠㅠ
└Anon (312F): I'm sorry… that's just how it is.
└Anon (754F): Nooo don't let the newbie die ㅠㅠㅠㅠ
└Anon (324F): For now just start training
Training… Right.
Getting strong fast was probably the answer.
└Anon (1F) (OP): How do I train? Can I level up without fighting?
└Anon (324F): First post your stats—training methods differ depending on your base stats.
└Anon (1F) (OP): How do I check stats? There's no status window in the menu.
└Anon (683F): Take a photo of yourself and post it, that unlocks your stat window.
└Anon (371F): Lewd newbie naked reveal in 10 seconds
└Anon (146F): So what kind of mob are you anyway?
What kind of mob she was.
That question had actually been popping up consistently in other posts for a while now.
Anon (1F) (OP): I look kind of human. Holding a really big scythe.
└Anon (498F): Humanoid means demon-type. Horns?
└Anon (1F) (OP): Nothing like that.
└Anon (312F): Stop describing it and just post a photo.
There was even a helpful post explaining how to take a photo using the hologram.
But she hesitated a little.
It wasn't that she didn't know how—she'd spotted the camera icon a while ago.
But… there was a complication.
*This is kinda awkward…*
The reason was that she wasn't thrilled about taking a photo of this female body and posting it.
She knew exactly what happened when a woman (?) got outed in a community this heavily male-coded.
They'd definitely start calling her a thirst trap or whatever. Obvious.
All kinds of horny idiots would swarm in and start pestering her.
*Though they're already all swarming in…*
She didn't have much choice given the situation.
It seemed like posting a photo of herself was the only way to unlock the stat window, so there was nothing to be done.
She pressed the camera button at the top of the hologram panel.
It looked like she just had to hold the hologram panel like a camera and shoot.
She switched to selfie mode.
And then.
"This is me?"
An incredibly beautiful girl was blinking back at her.
Absurdly striking features.
Unrealistically large, mysterious cerulean eyes.
A nose bridge that looked sculpted.
Skin so white and flawless it could only be called pallid.
Lips like flower petals.
It was a face that drew gasps.
"Wow… drop-dead gorgeous."
She couldn't tell if she was uncomfortable or pleased.
It was genuinely strange—the thought that her mind was inside a body like this.
After taking it in long enough.
She fixed the hologram in the air and stepped far back.
She posed so the giant scythe would be fully visible.
Click!
Then she wrote the post.
______
Title: Here's my appearance & equipment for now.
Author: Anon (1F)
[STATUS]
Race: Death God (死神)
Floor: 1
Level: 1
Strength: 14
Agility: 19
Vitality: 7
Intelligence: 15
Sense: 18
Magic: 16
Luck: 9
Defense: 3
Magic Defense: 13
Remaining Stat Points: 0
Trait: Unawakened.
Skills: None.
Weapon: Death Scythe.
These are my current stats—someone give me a training method.
______
She hit refresh expecting an explosive reaction.
Surely there'd be more "ohhh" and "sis I'm dead" comments than any actual stat analysis…
But.
Her prediction was completely off.
[Comments]
Anon (147F): Level 1 stats are kinda lewd lmao
Anon (341F): Balanced build.
Anon (141F): Isn't this a hybrid?
Anon (431F): The stats are just adorable honestly;;;;
Anon (415F): Need a Death God specialist in here.
Anon (348F): For level 1 that's pretty decent, no?
Anon (148F): Humanoid type is rough though.
Anon (713F): Humanoid has good matchups at higher floors a lot of the time.
They were more grounded than she expected.
Not a word about her appearance.
And on top of that, even—
Anon (654F): Look at that face lol
Anon (347F): AAAAAAAAAAAAH red pill wtf
Anon (239F): Ugh gross;; humanoid types never get less unsettling no matter how many times I see one.
Squid Lover: No way my newbie looks like THAT
There were people calling her disgusting.
*What's wrong with this face?*
She had to be seeing things wrong.
While she was reeling in confusion, a decisive comment appeared.
Fenrir: Oh what, it's a biped bug. No fur either. Pathetic.
└Anon (675F): Ugh furry bro please!!
These guys.
No way.
Were they actually monsters with completely different aesthetic standards?
Anon (345F): The skin is too smooth, it's gross.
Anon (311F): No slime secretion, looks way too dry.
Anon (519F): Only two eyes—how do you even maintain field of vision?
This can't be real.
But it was.
*These insane monster freaks.*
Goosebumps rose on her skin.
The thought that she'd been talking to monsters this whole time suddenly terrified her.
She should have caught on when they used the word "humanoid."
But thankfully, some of the reactions she'd expected did exist.
Anon (414F): Holy shit she's gorgeous
Anon (314F): Is she a thirst trap by default?
Anon (615F): I'm done.
Makanong: Unnie you're so pretty,,
*Right. This is the reaction I… no, not that I wanted—just what I expected…*
The standards were wildly divided.
The ones calling her pretty were at least the ones who looked somewhat human.
Comments saying as much were visible too.
Anon (341F): That's objectively beautiful though…
Anon (654F): The silicon-based ones having a brain shutdown is hilarious lmao
└Anon (602F): I'm carbon-based and I still find it gross—the neck is too thin and it makes me anxious. That's supposed to be pretty? Looks like it'd snap if you poked it.
└Bug King: The jaw is too small, can it even chew food properly?
*They did say parallel universe…*
She'd heard they'd gathered from multiple dimensions and universes and had accepted it without really thinking about it.
Now it was finally sinking in.
From what she could gather, it wasn't just people who'd possessed bodies—there were Gallery members who were genuinely, originally part of the Demon King's army.
Anon (552F): We agreed to tag photos a while back… but she's a newbie so we'll let it slide.
Anon (437F): Appearance bait, haven't seen this in ages.
So by their standards, this face might actually be a gross image.
Anon (1F) (OP): Sorry, I'll be more careful.
She posted that comment and left the thread.
She needed to find a post that would actually tell her how to train.
She might have to fight at any moment.
That's when she spotted one post.
______
Title: I am the Death God of floor 800. Floor 1 Death God, read this.
Author: Death Note Grand Canon
You carry the noble bloodline of the Death God race—one capable of mastering instant-kill skills.
..
.
It was a post with a very compelling opening.
"Instant-kill skills?"
