I Became a Gallery Newbie Beloved by Transcendents-Chapter 22: Tower Exchange Meeting (7)

The object that appeared next to the two players’ corpses was a square-shaped cube.

It looked just like a cube.

I had already heard about this cube from the senior members of the Transcendent Gallery.

An object that materialized a deceased player’s inventory.

I had also heard that this cube couldn’t just be put directly into an inventory.

Clank—

I grabbed the cube and pressed the button in the center. Like a supply crate from an FPS game, the cube expanded and unfolded with a whoosh.

However, since it belonged to players from below the 10th floor, there weren’t any particularly useful items.

Of course, I collected all the healing potions and transferred them to my inventory.

Sun Haoran’s cube had almost nothing useful, but I picked up the most valuable-looking item from Baek Jin-young’s cube.

After organizing all the items, I was finally ready.

Now, it was time to enter the hidden boss room.

The difficulty rating of the hidden boss room marked on the map was five stars.

According to Laura, who had been playing on Hard Mode, a five-star rating meant the highest possible difficulty for a hidden boss room.

It was clearly a dangerous situation to enter alone, but I had no intention of backing down.

A strong desire took hold of me.

The desire to level up.

The level I gained from killing the Kobold Champion was one.

And the level I gained from killing Sun Haoran was a guaranteed increase of two.

If I gained five more levels from my current level 15, I would reach level 20.

That would be the point where I could use Sword Aura.

I was extremely curious about that threshold.

Shff—

I took out my device and opened the Transcendent Gallery.

Then, I made a post.

Title: What kind of monster will show up in the Exchange Event’s Hidden Boss Room?

Author: ㅇㅇ*

- The dungeon is called Kobold’s Cradle. It’s been nothing but kobolds so far. The boss room had a Kobold Champion.

- The hidden boss room’s difficulty is five stars.

- Oh, and I just finished the boss room and had to kill two Exchange Event players who suddenly tried to kill me.

I added the last line about killing the two players as if it was nothing special because I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it.

Of course, the Transcendent Gallery’s comments didn’t go the way I expected.

ㄴ Dragon King) Uuuuh, Beltui— Another climber has been tainted by darkness.

ㄴ What darkness? You’re probably the one who’s been killing people the most without hesitation.

ㄴ Dragon King) Beltui— You caught meeee.

ㄴ Archmage) Hmm, did you confirm the kill?

ㄴ Ice Queen) Frozen! Frozen! Confirming the kill is important!

ㄴ Heavenly Demon) Needless sympathy will only bring disaster.

ㄴ Hard Mode Players, you should at least comfort someone if it’s their first time killing people, but instead, you’re just asking if they confirmed the kill.

ㄴ Admin) This is just everyone’s way of offering comfort in a roundabout way.

ㄴ Lol, what kind of comfort is this? A full 360-degree rotation back to the starting point?

There were also a few comments about the original topic I posted.

ㄴ This crazy guy, if it’s rated five stars, shouldn’t you be thinking about NOT going in?

ㄴ But honestly, even if it’s five stars, Pandemonium Mode would probably be worse, so it’s hard to tell him not to.

ㄴ For real, lol. I’m not even sure if this will be harder than the Floor 2 stage he already cleared.

ㄴ Absolute Monarch) Hmm, if the boss room had a Kobold Champion, then the hidden boss room might have a Kobold Grand Warrior... Or maybe even the Kobold King. Low probability, but possible.

ㄴ Uh... I think we should stop saying ‘low probability’ at this point. Every ‘low probability’ scenario is happening to this guy.

ㄴ Lmao, for real. Who the hell cursed him with Pandemonium Mode? Did he sell a Holy Sword to the Demon Realm in his past life?

ㄴ ㅇㅇ) Is the Kobold King strong? The kobolds themselves didn’t seem that tough.*

ㄴ Shrine Maiden) You must not underestimate the king. The Kobold King, King Kobold, is a true king, unlike those fake monarchs like the Queen Antsranthrope you defeated before.

ㄴ Spear King) The Kobold King can crush an Orc Grand Warrior alone. That’s what being the ruler of a species means.

ㄴ Wow, you’re actually making sense for once. Are you drunk?

ㄴ Spear King) No...

ㄴ Sword of Light) The kings of all species have something extraordinary about them. If the tower system recognizes them as a ‘king,’ they’re on a whole different level. If it’s the Kobold King, there’s a chance it can use Sword Aura. You should be careful.

Be careful of Sword Aura.

In the end, I would only find out after stepping into the hidden boss room.

Standing before the black door, glowing letters appeared in my vision.

Ding!

[Would you like to enter the hidden boss room of the Kobold’s Cradle dungeon?]

[Dungeon Difficulty - ★★★★★]

Suddenly, a small flicker of light shimmered in the air, and a piece of paper floated down.

[Exchange Event Return Scroll]

Description: A return scroll for reckless people attempting the hidden boss room alone in an Exchange Event dungeon below the 10th floor!

Effect: If you tear the scroll, you can return after 10 seconds! + But if you die within those 10 seconds, you’re dead for good!

This was the first time I had seen such a dramatic item.

I placed the return scroll in my inventory.

I wouldn’t be needing it.

The next notification asked whether I wanted to enter the dungeon or not.

[Yes / No]

Of course, I pressed ‘Yes.’

Rumble!

The door opened.

A vast chamber came into view.

At the center of the hidden boss room was a golden chair.

And sitting upon it was a monster that seemed completely out of place.

[King Kobold]

King Kobold.

Its entire body was covered in black fur, resembling a lion’s mane.

Its golden eyes were closer to those of a true predator.

The massive kobold held a sword in its right hand, a blade larger than its own body.

Grrrr—

A growl that didn’t sound kobold-like at all echoed through the room.

KWWWAAAAAHHH!!

A deafening roar shook the air.

It had been a while since I felt such overwhelming pressure.

The sheer killing intent weighed down on me, making my body stiffen for a moment.

[Mana Body Reinforcement Lv.4 - Activating skill.]

I had to endure it.

[Focused Reinforcement Lv.4 - Activating skill.]

King Kobold’s eyes gleamed as it charged forward.

Right before the collision, I severed the aura of killing intent binding me.

[Mental Barrier Lv.1 - Skill acquired.]

I barely managed to parry its incoming horizontal strike by angling my blade.

Clang!

The impact sent my body hurtling backward.

I focused my eyes on King Kobold’s movements.

Its knees bent forward, its thighs swelling as it prepared to leap.

Boom!

The massive body shot up like a spring.

Both arms were raised high, and an eerie blue aura surged along its blade.

A blue Sword Aura.

I had somewhat expected this after hearing Sword of Light’s words. If I was facing the Kobold King, it was bound to use Sword Aura.

If I had known this, maybe I shouldn’t have completely overpowered that Third-Rank Knight in the Floor 2 stage... Maybe I should have at least experienced Sword Aura back then.

King Kobold’s body came crashing down like a thunderbolt.

A thick cloud of dust billowed into the air.

Dragon Slayer Sword Technique – Sword Defense Form 1: Libra.

My greatsword, Carnivalt, trembled violently as I blocked the downward strike.

King Kobold.

The ruler of its species.

Its raw strength wasn’t much different from the Orc Legion Commander’s.

But its combat instincts...

King Kobold was far superior.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

Half of my swings followed the Dragon Slayer Sword Technique’s forms. The other half were instinctive strikes.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

My ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) sword path and King Kobold’s clashed violently.

Every attack I sent out was intercepted.

[Skill ‘Warrior’s Movement’ has leveled up. Lv.4]

The countless clashes of our blades.

King Kobold’s instinctive swordsmanship was giving me profound insights.

Along with excruciating pain.

Schrkkk!

My armor was pierced.

A diagonal slash ran from my left shoulder to my right waist.

I swung my sword fiercely once more to create distance between us.

Then, from the pouch tightly secured at my waist, I pulled out a small syringe-like object.

A [Pain Suppression Doping Agent] I had purchased in the Floor 3 waiting room.

Without hesitation, I jabbed the syringe into my right waist.

I also poured a Low-Grade Health Potion over the wound.

The searing pain that had been rattling my brain slowly began to fade.

KWWAAAARGH!!

King Kobold closed the distance again like a sprinter in a short-distance race.

I grabbed the second sword that had been hanging idly at my waist.

Tssssss!

Blue Sword Aura flared up along both blades, burning like waves of energy.

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The sweeping trajectory of those blades surged toward me like an unstoppable tide.

Dodging wasn’t always the answer.

I chose to face it head-on.

I lowered my body and focused all my mana into my feet.

My thigh muscles tensed and expanded.

Just like King Kobold had done, I bent my knees and launched forward explosively.

A perfect charge.

At the very last moment, I twisted my body to the right, narrowly avoiding the incoming blue arcs.

KAAANG!

I deflected one with a horizontal slash—Thursahogg.

A flash of lightning filled my vision.

Another diagonal slash struck me.

Scarlet blood splattered onto the floor.

[Status Ailment - Severe Bleeding. ‘Doombringer’ has been activated.]

[Skill ‘Doombringer’ has leveled up. Lv.2]

[Your body has temporarily exceeded its limits.]

The more blood I lost, the clearer the world became.

A fleeting opportunity.

SCHWAAACK!

With my right hand, I swung my greatsword Carnavalt and slashed King Kobold’s shoulder.

KAAAARRGH!!

With my left hand, I drove my Bloodstained Dagger toward its throat.

CRUNCH!

The monster’s jaws, like those of a lizard, snapped open and bit down on my dagger’s blade.

Its golden eyes glowed with murderous intent.

My body moved on instinct.

I dropped my greatsword Carnavalt onto the ground and grabbed my Black Javelin.

THUD!

Once into King Kobold’s heart.

Then, immediately withdrawing it, I drove it into its throat.

CLATTER—

Its jaws loosened.

The dagger it had been desperately biting clattered onto the floor.

And then, King Kobold’s massive body slumped lifelessly.

[You have defeated the Hidden Boss Monster!]

[Level Up!]

[Lv.15 → Lv.17]

['Strength' has increased by 12.]

['Agility' has increased by 10.]

['Endurance' has increased by 10.]

['Mana' has increased by 9.]

[Achievement Unlocked!]

[Achievement - Fall of a Species]

Unlocked upon eliminating the apex of a species.

[You have slain the King of the Kobolds!]

[Achievement experience granted!]

[Lv.17 → Lv.19]

Just one step left to Level 20.