I Became a Gallery Newbie Beloved by Transcendents-Chapter 1: Gallery ()

I fell into a strange world.

There’s no clearer way to describe my situation right now.

There was no warning.

I just followed my usual routine—finished my part-time shift at the convenience store, browsed the community forums, then went to sleep.

But when I opened my eyes, I wasn’t in my tiny one-room apartment anymore.

Gray walls.

Candlesticks mounted on them.

This didn’t feel like a dream.

I slapped myself—pain shot through my cheek, real and unmistakable.

I pinched my thigh just to be sure—yep, pain.

It was so surreal that I could only be sure it was real.

‘...Maybe I should’ve been nicer when posting on the forums.’

Not that I’d been particularly nasty yesterday.

Actually, forget that—maybe I should’ve just lived my life better in general.

Then I might not have ended up in a shithole like this.

I moved forward cautiously.

Thunk.

Something was in my way.

I looked down at my feet.

A skull.

It rolled slightly with the motion.

A human skull.

My mind went blank for a moment.

Where the hell had I ended up?

A skull meant this place had conditions that could kill people.

Faded bricks.

The damp, moldy scent of earth.

...This wasn’t some kind of dungeon, was it?

With no better option, I kept moving, following the flickering candlelight.

And then I stopped.

【 1 】

The black number caught my eye.

Was this entire place structured like a multi-story building?

There was nothing to do but keep walking.

Crunch.

A wet, chewing sound reached my ears.

The problem?

The source of the noise was right around the corner.

I crouched behind a protruding gray wall, using it as cover.

‘Shit.’

Crunch.

Something was eating something.

A massive ant.

Even just its body height alone had to be at least 100 centimeters.

And it was devouring something.

‘...A person.’

It looked like a human.

A dead human.

Motionless, their flesh was being chewed apart by the ant.

The creature’s huge mandibles moved rhythmically, and with each bite, thick, dark-red blood dripped down.

Crunch.

I held my breath.

Maybe it was because I was behind it, or maybe it was just too focused on eating, but one thing was certain—this thing hadn’t noticed me yet.

‘There’s a weapon.’

Right behind the ant.

A spear.

Most likely the one the person being eaten had been holding.

That was the only thing here capable of killing this giant insect.

If that thing finished eating and came my way, I’d be dead before I even had the chance to pick up the weapon.

Now was my only chance.

Moving immediately was the best option.

I lowered my body as much as possible and inched forward.

Holding my breath completely, I advanced.

Crunch. Crack.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

I reached out, forcing myself to ignore the grotesque sounds in my ears.

Toward the spear, still lying behind the feasting ant.

Thunk.

‘...Got it.’

The spear felt heavy in my hands, but not unbearably so.

Good thing I had at least trained a bit with an empty bar at the gym.

I was about to thrust the spear forward—

A shiver ran down my spine.

A predator’s gaze.

The giant ant’s black eyes were staring straight at me.

I moved immediately.

Stepping forward with my right foot, I thrust with both arms.

Thud!

The spear pierced through the ant’s head.

It staggered, reeling backward.

I swung the shaft of the spear, aiming for its legs.

Crack!

My heart pounded.

The momentum was on my side.

I kept attacking, striking again and again.

Over and over.

Straight into its head.

Until finally, a puddle of dark greenish-blue blood formed beneath it.

I had definitely killed it.

The massive ant lay still, its head crushed.

Sweat soaked my entire body.

Sticky insect blood stained my black shirt.

“Hahh...”

Maybe it was because I had exerted myself too much, but my arms screamed in pain, as if they had been torn apart.

[EXP has increased.]

[Current EXP: 30%]

[When EXP reaches 100%, you will level up.]

[As your level increases, EXP gain will slow down.]

...Level?

At this point, my head was spinning.

Where the hell was I?

I turned my gaze from the crushed ant to the corpse behind it.

“...What the hell?”

Their clothing was completely different from anything modern.

It looked medieval—something straight out of a fantasy setting.

Above the dead person’s head, words flickered into view.

[NPC - Fleeing Citizen]

Not even a name.

Just... Fleeing Citizen.

“...An NPC?”

Everything happening was utterly unreal.

Carefully, I searched the corpse.

A pouch lay tucked beneath their clothes.

Reaching inside, my fingers closed around something familiar.

I pulled it out.

“...A smartphone?”

What the hell?

A smartphone, out of nowhere?

Everything that had happened so far felt anything but real.

And yet, here was a piece of modern technology, sitting in my hands.

It looked exactly like a smartphone.

I pressed what looked like the power button.

Beep—

The screen lit up.

A flash of blue light flickered, and then—

A holographic interface spread out before me.

And on it, the words:

【Transcendent Gallery】

I raised my hand and scrolled down.

There were a ton of posts.

It looked just like the online community forums I had been browsing before I got here.

I clicked on a random post that caught my eye.

Title: Any rookies worth watching these days?

Author: ㅇㅇ

- Been busy with real life, haven’t checked Climber Gallery in a while. Feels like ages since I last visited Transcendent Gallery lol.

- Not really seeing any promising newbies.

- Fr, today’s lot have no grit. All they do is look for the easy way out.

- And where did you clear? Normal? Lmao, don’t talk if you’re just a washed-up Easy Mode survivor.

- Sword of Light: Do you know the way of the sword?

- Shut up, sword parrot. Don’t you ever get tired of repeating that?

So Transcendent Gallery was abbreviated as Transcendental Gal, huh?

Then what the hell was Climber Gal?

I hit the back button and clicked on the latest post.

Title: Why the hell can’t we post in Climber Gallery anymore??? Fuck this system.

Author: Archmage

- This is driving me crazy. Why are they hesitating instead of just winning the fight?! It’s just the 35th floor! I don’t care if your arms are burning or your legs are getting torn apart—just charge in and kill the damn thing! You heal up once you clear the floor anyway, stop dragging your feet.

- Easy for you to say when it’s not your life on the line. You sure you’re really an Archmage?

- Lmfao, Easy Mode reject spotted. Bro, do you even know who you’re talking to? This guy cleared Hard Mode. Look at his username.

A fixed nickname.

A go-nick.

It meant a user had an official, recognized username within the gallery.

- Bro, 60% of us are Easy Mode survivors. You’re just a Normal Mode scrub at best. Stop ass-kissing the Archmage.

- Easy <<<<<<<< Normal.

- Lol, someone’s got an ego. The difference between Normal and Hard Mode clears is like night and day. There’s a whole wall between them.

- Priestess: Hawawawa, no fighting, everyone...

- Shut.

- Sword of Light: Do you know the way of the sword?

God. This was giving me a headache.

One thing was clear, though.

Everyone in this gallery—the people posting and commenting—they weren’t currently struggling their way up.

They’d already cleared the damn thing.

...Then what about me?

I still had no idea where I was, but this was definitely the first floor.

Which meant I was just starting.

Unlike these people.

I should post something. See how they react.

I clicked Create Post.

A floating, holographic keyboard appeared in midair.

Nice. This would make typing easy.

Tap tap tap—

I should just use "ㅇㅇ" as my username.

If this really worked like a typical forum, then that was what people without a fixed nickname used.

It really did feel like an internet gallery.

I finished writing and hit Upload.

Title: Did you guys all clear this? I think I just started, wtf is this place?

Author: ㅇㅇ

- There’s a big “1” on the wall, so I think I’m on the first floor. You «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» guys all done with this? Where the hell am I? I just killed a giant ant.

The moment I posted it, comments flooded in.

- Wtf, is this some kind of bait? How is a climber posting here? This is Transcendent Gallery, dumbass.

- Go wash your feet and go to sleep if you’re this bored.

- Priestess: Hawawawa, not funny at all...

- Take this to Climber Gal.

- LOL, “take it to Climber Gallery,” what kind of clownery is this? Is this dude insane? How the hell would a climber even get to Transcendent Gallery? What, you wanna reset and climb again?

- Nah, fuck that. No way I’m climbing again. I still get PTSD.

...They didn’t believe me.

I was about to type another post, begging them to take me seriously—

Then another comment popped up.

- Admin: I have no idea how the hell this happened... but it looks like they’re telling the truth? I just checked their coordinates. 666.666.66.532. That’s a Climber Gallery user’s location.

Admin?

As in, like, the admin?

On a forum, the admin was the one who had the power to delete posts, ban users, and manage the board.

The moment they commented, the thread went dead silent.

And then—

As if a dam had burst, the comments exploded.

- WHAT THE FUCK?? HOW IS A CLIMBER HERE? LOLOLOL WHAT’S GOING ON??

- AND THEY’RE STILL ON THE FIRST FLOOR??? HOLY SHIT LOLLLLL

- This makes no sense. A climber in Transcendent Gallery???

- Priestess: Hawawawa, I apologize for my earlier rudeness...

- Sword of Light: Do you know the way of the sword?

Even as I scrolled, the comments kept pouring in.

- Archmage: What the hell is happening??? Hey, do you know magic?

- Pioneer: ??

- Filthy Blade: Explain. In detail.

- Absolute Monarch: Where are you from?

- Heavenly Demon: So you’re on the first floor? What’s your difficulty?

- Sealed Room Enthusiast: An anomaly has occurred— this world is a massive sealed chamber.

- Ice Queen: Frozen solid!

- Elf Here: Are you non-human by any chance?

- Damn. Even the lurkers are crawling out of the woodwork. LOL.

- Fr. This has everyone’s attention.

The sourc𝗲 of this content is frёeωebɳovel.com.

- All the big names are showing up.

The entire Transcendent Gallery was now focused on me.