Punching through the wall, huh.
It sounded like a radical idea.
ㄴ Anon(100F)(OP): Oh…
ㄴ Anon(249F): That's genuinely stupid, just ignore it
ㄴ Anon(721F): You think a newbie's gonna fall for that?
ㄴ Anon(397F): Here come the wall-breakers;
Just as expected, the very next batch of replies was a flood of wall-breaker types charging in.
ㄴ Anon(150F): It's not nonsense…
ㄴ Bug King: Breaking the tower gets you outside. That's a fact.
ㄴ Anon(166F): Stop letting public opinion control you and think for yourself. All you have to do is break the wall and you can escape—we're trapped inside the Demon King's tower system and getting brainwashed…
ㄴ Meowy: That's right meowy!!
ㄴ Anon(335F): The walls have high magic resistance so mages can't break them, that's why they're suppressing this info. They're scared only the martial arts types will escape ㅇㅇ
There seemed to be quite a few Gallery users who genuinely believed you could physically smash through the wall and escape the tower.
ㄴ Anon(100F)(OP): What's the actual evidence for that?
ㄴ Anon(643F): Hey hey, don't engage with this.
ㄴ Bug King: I'll tell you. Think about it carefully. Can the Demon King create something more powerful than himself? Wall > Demon King? Simple logic. Breaking through the wall has to be easier than killing the Demon King.
ㄴ Anon(351F): Yeah yeah, go ahead and smash that wall ㅇㅇㅇㅇ
ㄴ Anon(713F): What absolute nonsense lmaooo
ㄴ Anon(608F): You really think the Demon King would've made it possible to punch through the tower?
ㄴ Anon(487F): Even if it works, the moment you actually try it you'd probably get crushed like the Treasure Keeper?
ㄴ Anon(379F): lmao fr, the newbie just made it even clearer this doesn't work.
*So this is a minority opinion that's getting laughed out of the room.*
That much was easy to read.
ㄴ Anon(100F)(OP): Hmm… honestly I'm not sure about this.
It did sound like nonsense.
If you could just punch a hole in the tower and walk out, the entire Demon King's tower system would be a joke.
Did Sword Sovereign Ji-hee actually believe that?
ㄴ Sword Sovereign Ji-hee: Don't misunderstand. I believe neither side. I merely informed you of the possibility.
ㄴ Bug King: How did you—!
ㄴ Anon(239F): Newbie gave an ambiguous reaction so she cuts ties immediately lmaooooooooooooo
ㄴ Anon(279F): Wait, wasn't she basically the vanguard of the wall-breakers back in the day;;
ㄴ Anon(643F): Why does she want to look good in front of the newbie too, what's going on.
ㄴ Anon(432F): Was about to tank her credibility hard but she drifts right out of it lmaooooooo
Whatever she actually believed, I didn't particularly care.
As long as I could learn from her, that was enough.
After the wall discussion wound down, Sword Sovereign Ji-hee spoke.
ㄴ Sword Sovereign Ji-hee: Even if you ultimately fail to complete the derivative martial arts of *Slash*, if you follow the method I teach for breaking through the wall, it will still help you use the instant-kill skill *Sentence of Death – Slash* in actual combat.
ㄴ Anon(431F): Look at her hedging her bets lmaooo
ㄴ Anon(710F): That's not hedging, that's just correct. She's not a Death God herself—how would she even teach the *Slash* derivatives properly.
That was fine.
Developing a feel for handling a weapon, learning how to distribute force—the fundamentals of wielding a weapon.
That was what I'd wanted in the first place.
ㄴ Anon(100F)(OP): Understood.
ㄴ Sword Sovereign Ji-hee: Good. For now, strike the wall with your scythe as deep as you can manage. This is a test. You said your Strength stat has exceeded 100—even without any technique, you should be able to break through two layers without much trouble.
ㄴ Sword Sovereign Ji-hee: For reference, the marble surface on the outermost face of the wall is called the casing—the outer shell. The first layer refers to the ten-meter-thick section immediately behind it.
ㄴ Anon(150F): Just break the wall.
*Two layers would be about 20 meters…*
I nodded and stood up.
I'd broken through a wall before. Back then I'd made a crater with my bare hands.
Now that my Strength stat had broken past 100, doing the same thing with my scythe—digging out 20 meters didn't seem impossible.
*The scythe does kind of look like a pickaxe, after all…*
I positioned myself in front of one of the walls in the floor-100 chamber.
*Whoosh—*
I gripped the scythe tight and twisted at the waist.
I drew on my full strength and swung with everything I had.
*KRRAAAAAANG—!!!!*
With a shattering crack, the tip of the scythe slammed into the wall.
The recoil traveled up through my bones.
"Ngh."
I stumbled back two steps and steadied myself.
Then I checked the impact point.
A large crater had formed.
But.
In terms of depth, it had barely carved out even three meters.
All I'd done was shatter the marble portion.
*So I only broke through the outer shell…*
The darker-colored section that marked the beginning of the first layer hadn't taken any damage at all.
"…Going again."
I raised the scythe.
*KRRAAAAAANG—!!!!*
"…"
I tried several more times after that.
But it wouldn't go any deeper.
The dark-colored section didn't even get a scratch.
The wall was harder than I'd imagined.
"Does this mean… it'd count as 0th-circle if I tried to hit it with magic…?"
I reported the situation to the Gallery.
Anon(100F)(OP): Can't even break through one layer, by the way.
ㄴ Anon(249F): lmao
ㄴ Anon(322F): Thank god, looks like she's got no talent for this?
ㄴ SSS-Rank Gear Chaser: Why is that a good thing, you idiot.
ㄴ Anon(710F): lmaooooooo
ㄴ Anon(643F): Maybe the wall-breaking mindset just doesn't suit her personality?
ㄴ Sword Sovereign Ji-hee: Disappointing. Show me exactly how much you managed to break.
ㄴ Anon(100F)(OP): I'll post a photo…
The moment I posted the photo of the broken wall.
Surprised reactions started popping up.
ㄴ Anon(150F): Huh? Why does the first layer look like that?
ㄴ Bug King: Why is it so dark??
Something was wrong—that was the vibe.
ㄴ Anon(322F): Isn't that color the fourth layer?
ㄴ Anon(324F): No wonder she couldn't break it lol
ㄴ Anon(150F): Why is the first layer at the fourth stage???
ㄴ Anon(503F): Is the newbie's tower different again?
From what I was hearing, the material exposed was something that shouldn't exist in the first layer.
The Gallery was in an uproar over it.
ㄴ Anon(100F)(OP): So it's not that I'm weak…?
ㄴ Anon(324F): That's not really the point right now lmaooooooo
ㄴ Sword Sovereign Ji-hee: How peculiar…
ㄴ Anon(234F): Why is there a fourth layer right there???
ㄴ Fenrir: I'm telling you, the newbie's in a different tower from the rest of us…
ㄴ Anon(503F): Wait, is that actually true…
The hypothesis that my tower was different from everyone else's in the Gallery.
The color inside the wall had reignited that theory from before.
ㄴ Anon(356F): Couldn't it just be because it's a treasure room?
ㄴ Anon(269F): fr, it's got artifacts and gold coins in it so the Demon King probably reinforced it more.
ㄴ Anon(710F): ㅇㅈ that's the most plausible explanation?
"Hmm…"
It was possible that only this floor was special because it was a treasure room. Floor 100 had been strange in all sorts of ways, after all.
…Or.
My entire tower was uniquely different.
There was a way to find out which one it was, right now.
ㄴ Anon(100F)(OP): …Going up to floor 101 to check.
Floor 101—the first floor where monsters from the guide were supposed to appear.
If something different from the Gallery's information showed up, it would be all but confirmed that my tower was uniquely its own.
ㄴ Sword Sovereign Ji-hee: …Do so. If the first layer is already fourth-stage wall material, standard training won't be possible here anyway.
ㄴ Anon(369F): She's finally gonna meet a Gallery clone, holy shit.
ㄴ Anon(150F): Probably just because floor 100 is a special room? Go to floor 101 and train on first-stage wall ㄱㄱ
Before heading up to floor 101, there was something I needed to do.
ㄴ Anon(100F)(OP): For now, I'm stationing the Blood Knight on floor 100.
ㄴ Anon(702F): Good.
Setting up an intruder alarm.
That was the whole reason I'd learned necromancy in the first place.
Up until now, the Blood Knight had superior physical capabilities compared to me, so I'd been bringing him along as a climbing partner—but now I had him completely outclassed.
In that case, it was time to use him for his original purpose.
ㄴ Anon(312F): The Blood Knight? Wouldn't it be better to leave Barang?
ㄴ Fenrir: Barang's cute though. You can ride him too.
ㄴ Anon(100F)(OP): The Blood Knight would probably get caught in the Wrath of the Sun God. Barang can just stay airborne so he'll be fine.
ㄴ Anon(312F): Ah, fair
ㄴ Anon(702F): I can finally breathe a little easier.
ㄴ Anon(431F): So that's why she didn't sleep during the last vacation period…
Just like that last comment said—now I could sleep even outside of vacation time.
Even while asleep, I'd be able to detect the moment the Spirit Blood Tea Rite was severed, but thanks to Persona Divide it was even more reliable.
One half of my mind would always be awake, ready to catch the instant the Blood Knight took a hit.
ㄴ Anon(351F): You said you'd spend 30 minutes learning. Can you start climbing now?
ㄴ Anon(100F)(OP): I'm not trying to start climbing—I'm just going to floor 101 to check the monster and wall material. I can't climb any further anyway because of fatigue.
ㄴ Anon(351F): Ah, gotcha
I addressed Sword Sovereign Ji-hee.
ㄴ Anon(100F)(OP): I'll let you know right away if the wall on floor 101 is normal.
ㄴ Sword Sovereign Ji-hee: …Understood.
"Alright, then…"
ㄴ Anon(100F)(OP): Can someone link me the floor 101 monster info.
ㄴ Fenrir: Don't just look at floor 101—get familiar with everything above it too… just in case, you should probably skim up to floor 150 before heading up.
ㄴ Anon(249F): Floor 150 seems like overkill though.
*Up to floor 150, huh…*
According to the Gallery, the monsters around floor 100 would be instant kills with my current stats.
Even though I'd spread my stat points across multiple categories, the level gap from all that invader EXP more than made up for it.
SSS-Rank Gear Chaser had said that with just the Wrath of the Sun God, I could probably steamroll all the way to floor 300.
And besides, when I opened a door the system message would display the monster's name anyway—so even if something different from the Gallery's info showed up, I could check it afterward.
But purely out of—
*I'm just curious what monsters the Gallery users know about.*
For that reason alone.
I decided to take Fenrir's advice and learn up to floor 150.
I clicked the link he sent.
For the first time since day one, a post from the Gallery's sub-moderator appeared.
______
Title: Floor 101F~110F Defender Info & Strategy Guide
Author: (Flap)Unit Commander Taste-Test Reassigned
______
I clicked the post and started reading carefully.
"Reading's gotten easier too."
Two streams of consciousness, split by Persona Divide.
I divided the page in two—one eye scanning floors 101 through 105 from the top, the other sweeping through floors 106 through 110.
I finished absorbing the content shortly after.
*They're not that threatening, honestly…*
That was my impression, though a fresh wave of goosebumps crept up my skin.
It was a reminder—once again—that most of the Gallery users were these grotesque monsters.
I turned my head toward the Blood Knight beside me.
"Blood Knight… thank you for everything up to now. Guard floor 100 for me here."
⟨…By your command…⟩
With those parting words, I climbed onto Barang's back.
And then.
[Requesting Floor Ascent]
I took the stairs and stepped into floor 101.
Would it match the Gallery's information, or not?
According to the Gallery's guide, the monster on floor 101 was a massive centipede-type creature.
I opened the door to floor 101.