The tension only hit me after I'd already pressed the button.
*Regretting it this fast would make me a complete idiot, right?*
Every veteran in the Gallery had unanimously warned me against this.
But.
Sitting still and leaving it to luck was worse than going out to fight.
I gripped the scythe handle tight.
I stepped onto the stone staircase that had descended from the ceiling and started climbing.
Creak.
The moment I entered floor 2, I felt the humidity.
Something was writhing on the stone floor.
"……"
A black, semi-transparent blob of jelly.
[Defender: Black Slime (2F)]
A slime.
About 1 meter across.
I wasn't trying to jinx anything, but it didn't look particularly threatening.
The slime hadn't spotted me yet.
I held my breath and raised the scythe high.
First strike.
"Hup!"
"Huh?"
The moment I swung down, the slime flattened its body and dodged.
A miss.
Clang!
The scythe blade struck the floor.
The recoil sent a sharp ache through my wrist.
That's when it happened.
Boing—
The slime launched itself into the air and flew straight at me.
"Eek!"
No time to dodge.
Splat!
The black blob latched onto my thigh.
"W-why won't it come off!"
I tried to peel it away with my hands, but it was no use.
"Ugh…"
A deeply unpleasant sensation.
Its slime was seeping along my skin.
Cold.
A chill seeped through my stockings.
Squelch… squelch…
"Wait, hold on—!"
It was actively trying to worm its way inside my frilled skirt.
I needed to cut it off with the scythe, but I might end up slicing my own leg.
"This handle's way too long…"
I made a decision.
Thud.
I dropped the scythe handle to the floor.
I hadn't let go of the weapon.
Instead of the handle, I grabbed the blade directly.
"Get off—!"
I slid the blade between the black blob clinging to my thigh and my skin.
And then, with precision.
I scraped it off like I was filleting a fish.
Scrape.
"……Done."
Slither.
The black blob, split in two, dropped limply to the floor.
No marks left on my leg or anything.
*If anything, it feels like my skin got a little moisturized…*
Now you're dead.
Whoosh! Slash! Wham! Wham! Wham!!!
I swung the scythe like a maniac.
"Hah… hah…"
Guess I overdid it.
The slime had been reduced to cubes.
I stared blankly down at the pieces.
"Floor-574 was right…"
It was weak.
If I hadn't whiffed that first swing out of nerves, it would've been a one-second kill.
[Successfully defeated Black Slime on Floor 2]
[You have won a duel against the floor's master and become the new master of this floor.]
[Promotion Reward: 100G acquired!]
[Level Up! 1Lv → 2Lv]
[Stat Points +3 acquired!]
Nice.
So now I'm the one defending floor 2.
Floor 1 can be the slime's problem.
Still a little dazed, I pulled up the hologram again.
"Oh wow…"
The Gallery was in an uproar.
______
Title: No way she actually went up right?
Title: NOOOOO my precious newbie noooooo
Title: Changing floors in under a day what the f*ck
Title: Show us before you go hero show us before you go hero show us before you go hero show us before you go hero show us before you go hero
Title: Bring her back alive
Title: If there's some floor-1 loser who never even climbed watching the Gallery freak out and laughing their ass off, based lmao
Title: There's no way she actually went up.
______
______
Title: No way she actually went up right?
Author: Fenrir
Why isn't she posting, I'm getting anxious.
You're just trolling us to mess with us, right?
______
I left a comment.
Anon (2F): hi
└ Fenrir: ?
└ Anon (487F): ???
└ Anon (347F): why is this b*tch on floor 2 now?
└ Anon (482F): she actually climbed for real?
└ Anon (418F): wait she passed the promotion duel on the FIRST TRY????
Hooks were being collected in real time.
└ Anon (439F): first time I've seen someone's number change less than an hour after possessing lmaooo
└ Anon (372F): insane talent wtf
└ Anon (356F): this genuinely makes no sense.
The reactions exploded—everyone stunned that she'd taken the next floor immediately.
└ Anon (741F): t e l l u s h o w r i g h t n o w
└ Anon (211F): breaking through a floor takes a year of training minimum, one hour is absolutely f*cking lmao
└ Anon (418F): a year is already fast tbh.
It takes a year to kill that jelly?
No way.
That thing had literally zero defense.
I'd just swung the scythe around.
So… Floor-574's hypothesis was just right.
"It really was weak."
└ Anon (151F): "takes a week" "takes a year of training" lmaooo turns out all those estimates were based on average people lmao
But the comment section wasn't thinking of it that way—they were convinced I'd used some kind of method.
That's how unimaginable it apparently was to fight the next floor's monster without any training.
Anon (331F): spill. what spawns on floor 2?
Anon (411F): was it actually weak?
Anon (412F): how'd you kill it? does damage even land with no floor-1 base stats?
Anon (218F): share the strat.
Anon (741F): fresh unexplored floor info please please please…
A strat.
I just cut it. That's literally all I did.
I took a photo and made a new post.
______
Title: Proof + Floor-574 seems to be right.
Author: Anon (2F)
{Photo of a black slime corpse reduced to cubes}
It was so weak there was nothing to it.
Just dragged the scythe across it and it died.
Seems like Floor-574 was right that there was nothing to be scared of?
______
I naturally left out the part that looked like the opening of a tentacle doujin.
[Comments]
Makanong: Ooh~ a slime~ I wanna touch it~…
Anon (321F): It's a small fry alright. Never seen one that looks like that.
└ Anon (554F): Some that look like that are actually crazy strong tho.
I spotted Floor-574's comment too.
Anon (574F): Good job for now.
Anon (574F): But don't let your guard down yet. Floor 2 means the hero can come right up after you.
He was right.
There was no way a slime would hold up as a proper defense.
He'd said it was safe once you reached floor 100.
*For now, should I make it to floor 100 my goal…*
I made that plan and posted a question thread in the Gallery.
It was about what to do with the things I'd gotten from killing the slime.
______
Title: What do I do with 3 stat points and 100G?
Author: Anon (2F)
Where am I supposed to put stat points?
And how do I use 100 gold? I've dug through the hologram and can't find a shop anywhere.
[Comments]
Anon (339F): Gold is for payday.
└ Anon (2F): Payday?
└ Anon (339F): Once a month you get your wages and the Golden Carriage comes to the tower. Buy stuff then.
└ Anon (2F): Ah, got it.
______
Payday. A Golden Carriage.
"This really is the military, isn't it…"
The idea that the Demon King had designated a payday and was providing welfare to his soldiers was almost funny.
A pretty decent employer, I suppose. Aside from me, it sounds like no one ever runs into the hero anyway.
Just then, a new strategy post went up answering my question.
It was that Death God who'd been eyeing me as a potential disciple earlier.
______
Title: Listen well, my disciple.
Author: Death Note Grand Canon
…That was an exceedingly reckless act, but since it resulted in saving time, I shall refrain from further reproach.
Distribute all 3 points you've just earned into the Intelligence stat.
When the time comes to obtain a circle, it will increase the time efficiency you so desperately desire.
[Comments]
Anon (513F): so how much faster does it make it tho lol
Anon (211F): if the newbie completely ignores this advice, upvote lmao
Anon (312F): pretty sure the newbie is just waiting for floor-574's post rn
______
The comments had it exactly right.
I was only waiting for Floor-574's post.
It didn't take long before he commented.
[Comments]
Anon (574F): Don't overthink it, just keep climbing. For stats, put 1 each into Strength, Agility, and Sense.
└ Anon (2F): For real? That's fine? Won't I end up with a garbage build?
└ Anon (574F): It's fine, those are required stats for equipping gear anyway so it's never wasted. Keep putting points in like that and you should be able to brute-force your way through at least floor 10 with basic attacks.
That's it.
The answer I wanted.
But the moment his comment dropped, the Gallery ignited again.
└ Anon (651F): bro this is making my head spin, some floor-500 nobody skipping all the natural high-floor veterans to give stat advice, like is that allowed? every single stat point matters so much wtf
└ Anon (345F): newbie said floor 2 mob was weak and she turned out to be right so what can you do.
└ Anon (651F): that's so results-oriented ugh.
└ Anon (431F): but seriously how did he know, is he a regression?
└ Anon (574F): I inferred it from the given facts.
└ Anon (651F): "inferred" lmao your basis is pure headcanon lol, and what's this about being able to push through floor 10? where does that come from?
└ Anon (574F): if you see slimes on floor 1, you can estimate the rest. floor 10 is actually a pretty conservative estimate.
└ Anon (651F): the point is why are YOU the one making estimates wtf lmaooooo
└ Anon (312F): emperor of headcanon, the brain emperor
└ Anon (574F): no think about it, floor 2 has slimes, you think floor 3 is gonna have orcs? gotta be goblins at the very least right?
└ Anon (351F): just write out every mob from floor 1 to 100 and post it lmao
└ Anon (329F): this guy is unstoppable rn, basically possessed by the Demon King himself, like he personally designed the whole tower layout.
└ One Who Savors a Cup of Black Tea: Everyone calm down… I think we should just let the newbie decide for herself. ^^
Floor-574 was getting absolutely dogpiled.
But he wasn't fazed in the slightest and addressed me directly.
└ Anon (574F): Newbie. Put points into Strength, Agility, and Sense up to floor 5 and check how much stronger the mobs get. If it still feels manageable, start saving your stats from there.
└ Anon (431F): promotion duels without putting in stats lmao
└ Anon (574F): And when you feel like you have the breathing room, listen to the Death God veteran and start your Black Magic training.
Floor-574 was laying out a roadmap.
But he hit resistance again immediately.
└ Death Note Grand Canon (OP): That is unacceptable! Training must begin right this instant!
└ Sword Sovereign Ji-hee: This one agrees with Floor-574's opinion. Building strength to wield one's weapon—that is the true path of martial arts.
└ Death Note Grand Canon (OP): Stay out of this, you vulgar wench!
A chaotic comment section.
Opinions were divided, as expected.
I fell into thought.
"The choice… is mine to make."
Just like that one username said, writing in an oddly elegant style that stood out from everyone else.
No matter what anyone said, the decision was ultimately mine.
My life was on the line.
The Gallery was a reference, nothing more.
*I think we should just let the newbie decide for herself. ^^*
That comment carried that exact meaning within it.
I decided.
I would not blindly trust Floor-574's words, which had moved me. Nor would I be swept along by the experience and authority of the veteran veterans, going along with the crowd.
All of it, coldly.
I would look at it purely as information and judge accordingly.
I posed a question.
└ Anon (2F): Death God teacher. If I don't go all-in on Intelligence right now, will I be unable to learn Black Magic?
Death Note Grand Canon (OP): …That is not the case, but won't the time it takes to obtain a circle be delayed!
So skipping Intelligence for now wouldn't cause any major problems.
In that case…
I opened my status window and dumped 1 point each into Strength, Agility, and Sense.
[Strength stat increased by 1.]
[Agility stat increased by 1.]
[Sense stat increased by 1.]
I could almost hear the Death God teacher screaming.
But this was right.
One slime wasn't enough data.
In the end, I needed to keep climbing floors right now—which meant the correct answer was to put points into stats that would help me immediately.
"Huh?"
Just slightly, but the scythe felt lighter.
Confidence welled up inside me.
I summoned the staircase to floor 3.
[Promotion duel commencing.]