I Became a Gallery Newbie Beloved by Transcendents

The one-eyed beast thrust the spear in both hands towards me.
Although it was a swift trajectory, it wasn’t something I couldn’t deflect.

The red spear that extended in a straight line suddenly bent horizontally to the right.
I quickly twisted my arm and countered with my sword.

Clang!

The beast’s arm, along with the spear, shot upwards.

An opening.

I swung the great sword Karnavalt horizontally.
The sword that rushed towards the one-eyed beast’s waist made a sound of tearing flesh as it pierced through its skin.

But I couldn’t bisect it in one go.
I didn’t feel any regret. I had anticipated that it wouldn’t be cut through in one strike.

I approached from the left and stabbed the Dagger of Blood into its shoulder.

Uwaaaaah!

A cry close to a wail echoed from the one-eyed beast’s mouth.
The one-eyed beast used its four beast-like legs to fling its body backwards.

It’s as springy as a horse.

The one-eyed beast rapidly charged in again.

The red spear drew dozens of trajectories.
Vertical, horizontal, diagonal, and lateral.
In other words, it was a spear path (槍路) that indiscriminately crossed from all directions.

Clang clang clang clang clang!

If this was right after I entered the Tower, it would have been an attack that could turn my body into minced meat, but now my stats have risen significantly.
Along with combat sense built through real battles.

Clang clang clang!

I need to maximize efficiency with minimal movement.
I blocked all of the one-eyed beast’s attacks.

[Trajectory Insight Lv.1 – Skill acquired.]

Ugh-!

The one-eyed beast let out a strange groan, perhaps bewildered that all its attacks were blocked.
I pulled my right arm holding the great sword sharply backwards.

I stepped forward strongly and thrust the sword repeatedly.

So fast that my muscles screamed.

Dragon Slaying Sword 4th Form.
5 consecutive thrusts.
Quinque Acies.

Five large holes appeared in the one-eyed beast’s upper body.
The spear the one-eyed beast was holding clattered to the ground.

I ended the battle by slicing the one-eyed beast’s neck with a horizontal slash.

[Experience gained.]
[Current experience 62%]

I swung the great sword once to shake off the blood on the blade.
I’ll probably reach level 20 if I kill about two more beasts of this one-eyed beast’s level.

Now my gaze turned to the cat-eared beastkin tied under the tree.
I had no choice but to look.
Because I felt it watching me from the moment the battle was nearing its end.

[NPC – Feline Beastkin Mike]

“You probably weren’t alone originally. Where are the others?”

As I approached the tree, the pointy-eared one trembled and leaned against the tree.

“I’m here to rescue you, so don’t be afraid.”

Round green eyes were trembling.
It seems to strongly believe that I’ve come to kill it.

First, I cut the steel chains that bound it to the tree.
When I cut the chains, the pointy-eared one hurriedly used both hands to completely undo the iron chains tied around its neck and waist.

“You’re a feline, right?”

I crouched down to match eye level.
I asked despite already knowing not only the race but also the name.

If I pretended to know clumsily, it would become more wary.

The pointy-eared one with yellow cat ears nodded.

The feline’s mouth opened.

“…Thank you… for saving me, please don’t kill me.”

It was a very feeble voice.

“What kind of speech is that, saying ‘don’t kill me’ right after thanking me?”
“I’m sorry… I apologize.”

I can’t say anything to that.

“What’s your name?”
“It’s Mike.”

I took out a sandwich from my inventory.
The person running the Tower coin shop must have some conscience, as sandwiches come in sets of three by default.
I held out one piece.

“At least eat this.”

After I finished speaking.
For a while, Mike looked at me with suspicious eyes.

I clicked my tongue and took a bite of another sandwich next to me.

“It’s normal food.”

Only then, after a bit more time, did Mike gently receive the sandwich with both hands.
Trembling.

Carefully holding the received sandwich, Mike slowly walked back towards the tree.
Like a stray cat wary of people.
Mike started nibbling on the sandwich like a hamster.

“Mmm…”

The drooping cat ears perked up.

“Mmmm.”

Slightly raising its head, it looked at me.
The dark face brightened a little.

“Thank youuu.”

It was still a low, feeble voice, but the trembling seemed to have stopped a bit.
The wariness also seemed to have lessened slightly.

I stayed a bit away until it finished eating, thinking it might choke if I made it talk while eating.

“Thank youuu.”

I heard another word of thanks. When I turned my head, the slowly eaten sandwich had completely disappeared.
I thought eating slowly quickly was nonsense, but it turns out it’s possible.

“Mike.”
“Yes.”
“Where are your companions?”

Mike’s eyes filled with wariness again.
…I can’t just give another sandwich to ease the wariness again.

Currently, Mike is reacting negatively to my curiosity about their companions.
If I make a baseless inference, they’ve had bad experiences with humans. That’s about it.

“I don’t know what you’ve been through, but I have nothing to do with those people.”

Words flowed again from Mike’s chewing mouth.
A low voice, very slowly.

“Because you gave me something tasty, I’ll trust youuu…”

Finally!

“Humans kidnapped me and my friends and were trying to sell us somewhere. We saw a chance and ran away… but the only place we could go was here, the Beast Forest.” trafficking, slave traders. Is it something like that?
My mind started working.

“Is there a possibility of a rescue team coming from your tribe?”

Mike spoke in a still thin voice.

“We were taken not far from our tribal village, so if the adults in the tribe noticed, I think they would have sent a rescue team.”

Right after Mike finished speaking, a notification window popped up in front of my eyes.

『You have reached the truth of the narrative!』

『You must now make a choice.』

『1. Hand over the escaped feline group to the slave traders.
Minimum clear condition: Deliver 5 or more living felines to the slave traders.
Quest difficulty – ★★★★』

『2. Rescue the feline group and hand them over to the rescue team sent by the feline tribe.
Minimum clear condition: Deliver 8 or more living felines to the feline rescue team.
Quest difficulty – ★★★★★』

『You must choose one of the two options. If you fail on the first attempt, subsequent attempts including the second can only proceed with the opposite choice of the first attempt.』

『Quest failure criteria: Failure to meet the minimum clear condition』

『In subsequent attempts after failing the first attempt, you cannot gain any ‘experience’.』

『Criteria for inability to attempt a second time: Player death』

『The higher difficulty quest will give greater rewards upon success. However, this is limited to the first attempt.』

What to choose.
My conclusion came easier than I thought.
With my decision made, I opened the Transcendent Gallery.

Title: Is this kind of method normal? Suddenly giving choices.
Author: ㅇㅇ*

Hand over the felines who escaped from slave traders back to the slave traders, difficulty 4 stars.

Hand them over to the rescue team sent by the feline tribe, difficulty 5 stars.
And if you fail the first attempt, subsequent attempts can only proceed with the opposite choice of the first attempt.

ㄴ It did exist, but there wasn’t anything like the last line. Pandemonium is quite nasty.
ㄴ Why would they run to the Beast Forest even when escaping.
ㄴ For real lolol

ㄴ ArchMage) When I was climbing, I inferred that such choices were meant to show the player what kind of person they are. Will you abandon some of your humanity in exchange for an easier difficulty? Or will you take the righteous path despite the higher difficulty?

ㄴ ArchMage) But this seems to deviate from that purpose because of the last line.

ㄴ Lololololol Bullshit, abandoning humanity. Isn’t it more humane to help people of the same species, whether they’re slave traders or not?
ㄴ I’m sorry for being human…
ㄴ In these cases, you should push forward in the direction you want. It’s not for us, who aren’t facing that situation, to interfere.

ㄴ They’re just NPCs anyway. Think lightly of it. Even if they seem alive and breathing, it’s just a story flowing within that Tower.
ㄴ ─ Said the newbie who chose the easy path while gritting their teeth and hypnotizing themselves, and later regretted it immensely. Upvote if true.

ㄴ Bullshit, why put emotions into fakes. Are you lacking?
ㄴ Lol I regretted it. Actually, I was like that. I felt sorry.
ㄴ Lol These two comments couldn’t be more bittersweet lololololol Are you crying?

ㄴ ClosedRoomTheorist) Didn’t you do it to survive? It’s okay, you’re not trash. – This world is made up of a giant closed room
ㄴ I’mAnElf) Uh, hmm. Is this guy really a demon?

ㄴ Pioneer) But that last line, it would drive someone with weak mentality crazy. If you choose 2 on the first try and fail. Then from the second attempt onwards, you have to do 1 no matter what. If you fail even after doing something you don’t want to do, you have to keep repeating that act.

ㄴ SpearKing) But those who fail once are likely to fail the next attempt too, with high probability.
ㄴ DragonKing) Beltui- that’s right.

ㄴ HeavenlyDemon) If you choose 1, you’ll end up killing the felines who came as the rescue team. If you choose 2, you’ll end up killing humans of your own kind.
ㄴ Seeing that 1 has a lower difficulty, the felines who came as the rescue team are likely to be weaker, while the humans on the slave trader side are stronger.

ㄴ LightSword) As long as you don’t die, it’s fine. Make a choice you won’t regret. Don’t worry about whether it’s dirty or clean.
ㄴ IceQueen) Freeze! That’s right!

My conclusion didn’t change.

ㄴ ㅇㅇ*) I’m back.

With that comment, I closed the Transcendent Gallery.
A notification window was floating in my vision.

『Choose one of the two options!』

I pressed the option with my right index finger.

『You have selected a quest.』
『2. Rescue the feline group and hand them over to the rescue team sent by the feline tribe.』

I have no intention of going to the second attempt that doesn’t even give experience.
I’ll finish this in one go, on the first attempt.

“For now, I’ll help you escape from those humans’ hands.”

Mike’s green eyes widened.

“…Thank youuu.”

Mike thanked me again.