I Became a Gallery Newbie Beloved by Transcendents-Chapter 20: Tower Exchange Meeting (5)

I stared at the Kobold Champion in the distance.

No sense of overwhelming pressure.

It wasn’t like when I had faced the Orc Legion Commander.

But that was just me.

Aside from Laura, the five people in front of me were clearly feeling pressured.

Jake was visibly stepping backward.

At this rate, the front line was going to collapse.

Not that a formation really mattered when there were only seven of us.

If the tank gave in to fear, everything would crumble in an instant.

I gripped the black javelin in my right hand.

My target wasn’t the imposing Kobold Champion.

The other kobolds were blocking the way, standing as if they were its personal guards.

Swiish!

The javelin pierced through the chest of the kobold standing at the center of the formation.

Once one of them died—

Kwaaaargh!

The rest reacted.

The Kobold Champion raised its massive spear and slammed the shaft vertically into the ground.

Boom!

Was that its signal to command the kobold soldiers?

More than twenty kobold soldiers charged forward at once.

Laura brandished her longsword and dashed around the battlefield.

Since she had fought them before, her movements were noticeably sharper than yesterday.

Screeeech—!

Misaki was an unusual case—she was an archer.

And she was a good one.

Thwack!

Kieeek!

Misaki’s arrows didn’t instantly kill the kobolds, but they were enough to create openings for Laura and Sun Haoran to land finishing blows.

I observed the entire battlefield.

Kieeek!

Apparently irritated by Misaki’s arrows, two kobolds rushed toward her.

I cut them down.

"T-Thank you!"

Misaki didn’t even bother wiping the sweat dripping down her face as she thanked me.

Before I realized it, most of the kobolds had already died.

When only four remained—

Clang!

The Kobold Champion leaped high into the air.

Then it landed.

Updat𝓮d from freewēbnoveℓ.com.

The problem was where it landed.

Right on top of Jake’s shield—the only tank in the group.

Craaaaack!

The shield shattered instantly.

A shield that had withstood countless kobold attacks up until now, breaking like fragile glass.

The fragments scattered like shards of a broken mirror.

"Aaaargh!"

It was the first genuine scream of pain I had heard since entering this exchange gathering.

Jake had been struck cleanly in the abdomen by the Kobold Champion’s razor-sharp talons, which were no different from a spear.

Shlaaash!

I pulled the black javelin from the shoulder of a fallen kobold and sprinted forward.

"You...!"

Laura glared at me for suddenly charging ahead.

She swung her sword down at the Kobold Champion’s ankle.

Kieeeek!

Ignoring the beast’s furious scream, I grabbed Jake’s body with both hands and leaped backward.

Misaki and Zi Xuan boldly stepped forward, covering me as I pulled Jake to safety.

"Cough...! Guh!"

Blood gushed from Jake’s mouth.

I had heard that in emergency situations like this, most players kept potions in a pouch tied to their waist rather than inside their inventory.

Jake was one of those players.

I grabbed a low-grade potion from his pouch.

I poured it directly onto his wound.

There were also bandages in his pouch.

I quickly wrapped them around his torso.

"Alright. If you still die after this, don’t hold it against me."

Jake weakly nodded at me.

"His movements have slowed! Attack together!"

Laura’s voice rang out.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

The Kobold Champion was slower now—probably ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) thanks to the stab I had landed on its ankle.

Before entering the exchange gathering, I had discussed the concept of the final blow in the Transcendent Gallery.

***

Title: How Is EXP Distributed When Killing Monsters in the Exchange Gathering?

Author: ㅇㅇ*

— Does the person who lands the final hit get the most EXP?

ㄴ ㅇㅇ Yeah, not that you’ll need to worry about that much, but it applies to regular party play too. The one who lands the killing blow gets the most EXP.

ㄴ Spear King If you’re the type of climber who gets excited about sniping the last hit with a thrown spear, huge respect.

ㄴ ㅇㅇ* Huge respect.

ㄴ It's fine!!!!

ㄴ Y’all are having way too much fun.

ㄴ Sword of Light Why even bother throwing a spear? You can just use a ranged slash.

ㄴ Sword of Light Oh, right. You can’t use it yet. Not until level 20.

ㄴ LOL look at him flexing.

ㄴ But at this growth rate, he’ll hit 20 soon, won’t he?

ㄴ Shrine Maiden Curses and sorcery are just another form of jinxing, making it easy to land the last hit. You should study sorcery.

ㄴ Dragon King Beltui—Last-hit sniping is fun.

ㄴ Ice Queen Hehe! One time, I secretly stole the last hit by stopping the Ogre Lord’s heart from the inside! Frozen, frozen!

ㄴ If a hidden boss room shows up, go in if you can. There’s a double EXP event if you clear it.

ㄴ Avoid it if it has five stars.

ㄴ Heavenly Demon Why would you avoid it just because it has five stars? That makes it even more thrilling.

ㄴ I’m just a Normal Mode scrub, so I never go above three stars.

ㄴ A humble and self-aware scrub.

***

I’d land the final hit on this boss.

Any EXP I missed out on now, I could make up for in the hidden boss room.

Maybe it was because we were nearing the end of the exchange gathering, but the group’s coordination, which had been clumsy at first, was finally coming together.

The kobold soldiers guarding the champion had been wiped out.

Now, only the lone Kobold Champion stood.

Laura and Sun Haoran charged at it simultaneously.

"You take the right side!"

Laura shouted as she slashed at the champion’s left shoulder.

Clang!

But the blade didn’t cut through.

The champion had blocked Laura’s longsword with the edge of its own spear.

Sun Haoran’s thrust was caught barehanded.

Thunk—!

An arrow fired by Misaki embedded itself into the champion’s upper body.

Her accuracy was commendable, but the real issue was that the champion’s expression didn’t change in the slightest.

The others were doing a great job distracting it.

The perfect setup for me to land the finishing blow.

[Activating Skill: Magic Body Reinforcement Lv.3]

Mana surged from my Mana Heart and spread throughout my body.

My trained muscles swelled naturally.

[Activating Skill: Focus Reinforcement Lv.3]

For the first time in a while, I used self-hypnosis.

This was the mound.

I stepped forward, leaning back.

Rotating my waist, I swung my right hand, gripping the black javelin.

Swiishhhhh!

The javelin tore through the air.

—Crunch.

It struck the Kobold Champion squarely in the forehead.

Strike.

[Boss Monster ‘Kobold Champion’ has been defeated.]

[Level Up!]

[Lv.12 → Lv.13]

Finally, my level increased.

[Strength +7]

[Agility +6]

[Stamina +6]

[Mana +5]

[Dungeon ‘Kobold’s Cradle’ has been cleared!]

I felt the gazes of everyone—Laura and the rest of the group—locked onto me.

Each of them had a dumbfounded expression.

[Calculating contribution score for the ‘Tower Exchange Gathering’ dungeon.]

[You are ranked 1st.]

[1st place reward: 1000 coins.]

[1st place reward: Item granted.]

[Greatsword Carnavalt]

Type: Weapon (Sword)

Attack Power: +50

Effect: Increases critical hit rate when fighting two or more enemies.

Required Level: 12+

Grade: B+

Spear King-senpai.

I successfully sniped the last hit with a thrown spear.

Laura let out a small laugh as she walked toward me.

"You took first place, didn’t you?"

"Yeah."

"Aren’t you curious how I knew?"

I nodded.

I already knew the reason from the Transcendent Gallery seniors, but I was still pretending to be a newbie.

"The lower-floor exchange gatherings usually rank first place based on who lands the killing blow. Damn, you’ve got some skill. Your throwing spear technique is ridiculous."

Laura helpfully explained the reason while holding the black javelin I had thrown.

Wait.

Was she about to stab me?

Throw it?

I briefly doubted her intentions, but she simply extended the spear toward me, making sure to point it in a safe direction.

"Not that I hold a grudge. If you hadn’t thrown that spear, we’d still be struggling with that thing."

Jake, who seemed to have fully recovered from his level-up, stood beside Laura and gave me a nod.

"Thanks. You saved my life."

Misaki hesitantly approached.

"Great work...!"

Zi Xuan just shrugged.

"Well, I’m just glad I survived."

Laura was swinging her longsword lightly through the air.

It wasn’t hard to guess what she was doing.

"I’m leaving first."

Laura spoke quietly.

"There’s no way we’ll meet again in another exchange gathering with the same group, but if we do, let’s at least say hi."

A white circle formed beneath her feet.

A burst of pure white light surrounded Laura’s body.

And with that, the Hard Mode climber from Germany vanished.

Misaki suddenly approached me.

"H-Hey, would you like to add me as a friend?"

I had no intention of doing so.

My newbie act wasn’t over yet.

"Let’s do that if we meet again next time."

Not that I had any reason to.

That was the real reason.

Misaki seemed to realize why I had refused, smiling bitterly.

"Alright then!"

Still, her voice was cheerful.

"Well then, we’ll be off too!"

Fwoosh!

With a flash of light, Misaki and Zi Xuan vanished together.

"I’m heading out too!"

Jake waved at me before disappearing.

Now, the only ones who hadn’t returned to their towers were two others besides me.

Once they left, I would head straight to the hidden boss room.

Schlink.

Baek Jin-young suddenly pointed his sword at me.

"If you don’t want to die, do as I say."

Beside him, Sun Haoran stood with his spear raised.

The spearhead was pointed at me, just like Baek Jin-young’s sword.

Sun Haoran spoke.

"You’ll still die, but at least it’ll hurt less."

Well, well.