Chapter 45
-One week earlier.
“How do you calm down a furious populace?”
Estelle was reading a difficult book called ‘
The Psychology and Rule of the Masses
’ or something like that, so I tossed the question at her.
It wasn't entirely without an ulterior motive; I was bored and wanted to make small talk...
And given the position of ‘manager,’ which was liable to attract aggro, I thought it would be good to prepare in case I ended up being strung up in the gallery someday.
“...That came out of nowhere.”
“Was it a bit much?”
“...Yeah, but it is interesting.”
Tap-
Estelle closed the book, looked straight into my eyes, and said.
“First, tell me what your position is. Are you one of the angry masses?”
“No, probably... a king?”
Calling the gallery's manager a king was a little embarrassing, but I couldn't think of a more suitable expression.
“Then it's simple... Open the granary and throw out bread first.”
Estelle said in a slightly excited voice.
Honestly, I hadn't expected her to be interested in a topic like this, so it surprised me.
“Bread?”
“Yeah. Bread and circuses are the traditional ways rulers control the people. Most rulers killed by the people died protecting bread they themselves couldn't eat in a lifetime. Stupid, isn't it.”
“What if they don't calm down even after I open the granary?”
“Bread is only a temporary measure... While they're filling their bellies with bread, you need to foment division. Favor a particular group so the people's spears point at one another instead of the ruler. It's called divide and rule.”
“...And if someone still appears to stir up trouble?”
“Then of course you kill them.”
Estelle's voice was cold enough to send a chill down my spine.
“Once you've successfully divided them, a few chirps won't have much effect on public opinion. You can't gag every member of the populace, but breaking the necks of a few canaries isn't difficult, is it?”
Having said that much, Estelle asked in a strangely seductive voice.
“But Ian... why this all of a sudden? Have you suddenly started wanting power?”
I shook my head firmly; saying ‘
yes
’ here felt like it would change the genre of my life.
“No, I just got curious. That's all.”
“...I see.”
Estelle looked a little disappointed, then turned her gaze back to the book.
Gulp-
I made up my mind.
Never again would I bring up a topic like this with Estelle.
***
▶[There are (346) unread notifications!]
The number of notifications kept growing.
[Seriously!!! What the fuck is the manager doing!!!!!][5]
[The gallery's on fire because the manager's incompetent lol][11]
[If this EightWanksADay bastard is dead, upvote lololol][37]
Posts full of rage against the manager continued to pour in.
“...Phew.”
Recalling my conversation with Estelle, I posted on the gallery.
[Poster : EightWanksADay◆]
[Giving away 30 chicken-burger sets—line up by the 15-minute mark][0]
The manager has nothing to do with this maintenance. Explanation over.
I'm giving away chicken burgers because I feel responsible for neglecting the gallery's management lately, and want to show that I'll be a better manager from now on, yeah... And since maintenance is only for one day anyway, please bear with me for just one day.
Then comment “Long live EightWanksADay” within 15 minutes.
MojitoDeliveryman■ : Line
ㅇㅇ(124.804) : Line
ChildhoodFriendRape■ : “Long live EightWanksADay”
NeverGetAnA■ : “Long live EightWanksADay”
ㅇㅇ(122.39) : “Long live EightWanksADay”
Apibel123■ : Damn... I knew you'd come through. “Long live EightWanksADay”
ㅇㅇ(511.462) : “Long live EightWanksADay”
ILikePeasants■ : “Long live God God God God”
...
[If the manager suddenly seems ridiculously lovable, upvote lololol][6]
Starting with me lololol
[?? : Yeah, yeah. Surprisingly, that's true][27]
This guy hands out 30 chicken-burger sets at a time.
Following Estelle's advice and throwing out bread, public opinion turned positive in an instant.
“At least I handed out the bread properly...”
But I couldn't let my guard down.
This was only the beginning.
EightFapsADay◆ : Ah, I forgot to write this in the post, but anonymous users are excluded...
ㄴCatEatingDogFood■ : K... that's more like it...
ㄴㅇㅇ(122.39) : ???? Why are anonymous users excluded? Is it okay for the manager to discriminate?
ㄴPyeokkwaelrwel■ : Probably to prevent VPNs.
ㄴㅇㅇ(122.39) : ??? Who even uses a VPN that much??
ㄴㅇㅇ(74.890) : For real, only the Dark Emperor could use one anyway.
ㄴMemoriesOfMorak■ : If you're salty, make a fixed handle lol.
ㄴㅇㅇ(598.215) : Lol, you think fixed handles are great? Everything gets recorded when you make one—who knows what'll happen later lol.
EightFapsADay◆ : Don't fight. Excluding anonymous handles isn't discrimination. It's just because they don't have gallery logs. I can't openly post the coupons...
ㄴㅇㅇ(122.39) : No, even if you post it as a reply and delete it immediately, it stays in the notifications;;;
ㄴCatEatingDogFood■ : Fuck, are we supposed to do that for all 30 lol? And then if someone steals them, you'll blame the manager again.
ㄴㅇㅇ(122.39) : ;;; That's how you've always handed out burgers until now;;
ㄴCatEatingDogFood■ : Ah, these anonymous bastards are whining like crazy. You want a chicken burger but don't want to make a fixed handle? lol
ㄴㅇㅇ(113.111) : This is seriously ridiculous. What do fixed handles have to do with chicken burgers?? Is fixed-handle pride getting out of hand?
ㄴPyeokkwaelrwel■ : For real, these anonymous bastards just want consequence-free pleasure lololol absolutely disgusting lololol
As planned, a fight between fixed-handle and anonymous users began.
“Bread, then division.”
Competing for the limited chicken burgers, the fixed-handle users attacked the anonymous ones to reduce their number, while the anonymous ones attacked the fixed-handle users to reclaim their lost burger rights.
Of course, some people still continued agitating instead of lining up for chicken burgers.
[No, fuck!! You idiots!! Don't get baited by chicken burgers like pigs and dogs!! Focus on the gallery going under!!][0]
“...I have no personal grudge.”
It was merely a sacrifice for the gallery's peace.
Click-
[15-minute ban]
Under normal circumstances, this ban would have led to backlash, with accusations of abuse of power.
But...
In 15 minutes, the chicken burgers would be distributed, and 30 fixed-handle users would be on my side.
By then,
even if OnlySayNiceThings■
shouted as loudly as they liked, they'd merely be a troll rampaging because they hadn't received a burger.
‘If it looks like it won't work, I can just say it was a mistake.’
Today, I was a
‘well-liked manager
’ who had handed out thirty chicken burgers.
With what was essentially a one-day pardon in my pocket, what could OnlySayNiceThings■ do even if I apologized?
[I suddenly realize the manager really is something][15]
It's amazing that the manager is handing out 30 burgers in the gallery even though he did nothing wrong...
[“Ellis-nim? Why aren't you starting the service?”][55]
“EightWanksADay hasn't arrived yet.”
As you can see, even before the results came in, public opinion in the gallery was already on my side.
“...This is as far as Estelle's lesson goes.”
Though I already had a perfect 100-point answer sheet, I had no intention of stopping here.
Swish- Swish-
Subtly
‘top-tier fixed handles’
I would slip a few of them into the winners to make the gallery completely take my side.
【Rigged Ladder】
A grave crime treated as equal to, or worse than, murder in the gallery.
If I got caught, it would definitely be serious...
“As long as I don't get caught, it's fine, right?”
Anything becomes a crime if you get caught, and art if you don't.
***
“....”
As the self-proclaimed Dark Emperor and the manager's arch-enemy, Poporing was naturally rampaging on the side of the anonymous users.
[Poster : EightWanksADay◆]
[Results][36]
(Ladder game winners.jpg)
Please comment by the 35-minute mark.
-ChildhoodFriendRape■
-MojitoDeliveryman■
-VirginExaminer■
-ILikePeasants■
...
Until she saw her own fixed handle written among the winning results.
Grrr-
Poporing was hungry.
Grrrrr─!
Very hungry, too.
She wanted to shout that they thought they could tempt her with something as paltry as a chicken-burger set!! but...
She couldn't even remember the last time she'd eaten anything other than ramen.
Gulp-
Just imagining a chicken burger dripping with oil and juices made her mouth water.
“I...I guess...it can't be helped....!”
Poporing generally separated her gallery persona from her real-life persona, but...
She was still human.
“....I...I'll...let it slide...just this once...temporarily...”
She couldn't bring herself to accept burgers under her fixed handle while cursing the manager with an anonymous one.
Tap- tap-
ㄴMojitoDeliveryman■ : “Long live EightWanksADay” Thank you. I'll enjoy the meal! I love you!
***
[101 Reasons ‘Magical Girl Urara’ Is Superior to ‘Mesugaki Witch’ from an Objective Perspective.reason]
...
Reason - 73
(Mesugaki Witch Chapter 57.jpg)
As you can see, in ‘Mesugaki Witch,’ the “spiky speech bubble indicating a loud voice” is used “identically” in the “explanatory text,” making the “contrast and distinction ambiguous.”
(Magical Girl Urara Chapter 73.jpg)
In contrast, ‘Magical Girl Urara’ uses an ordinary one “exactly once at an important moment,” maximizing its effect. This alone clearly shows the difference in the artists' skill between the two comics.
Reason - 74
(‘Mesugaki Witch’ outfit torn in battle.jpg)
(‘Mesugaki Witch’ outfit not torn in the very next panel.jpg)
The torn outfit is restored in a single panel—as if the author has dementia.
This is a mistake that has never once occurred in ‘Magical Girl Urara,’ where even bruises are depicted clearly.
Reason - 75
Tap-!
Fingers that had been moving endlessly as though playing a piano suddenly stopped.
[Save draft]
“...Shall I stop here for today?”
The Empire's Second Princess, Laplace Mayflower, said in a cold voice.
“It took longer than I thought...”
She had thought finding around 101 reasons would be easy, but after writing about 50, it became difficult to find even eight a day.
Even so, she had no intention of reducing the number.
Once she had decided on 101, she would finish with exactly 101.
That was Laplace Mayflower.
【Notice: Gallery Maintenance and Unavailability Due to Added Gallery Features!】
“....The gallery is closing?”
At that moment, Laplace, who had checked the notice belatedly, stroked the tip of her chin.
“Why all of a sudden? ...Is it because of the manager?”
The only major change recently in the gallery had been the manager's appearance.
Considering that there hadn't been a single feature addition or gallery maintenance in the past several years,
she could only conclude that the maintenance had occurred because of the manager.
“It's a little disappointing... but this worked out nicely. I can finish what I put off during the maintenance.”
Swish─
Laplace's eyes glowed red as she took a camera from the desk drawer.
***
【Notice: Gallery Maintenance and Unavailability Due to Added Gallery Features!】
“Hmm. To think I can't use the gallery for 24 hours... This is a serious problem.”
When the owner of the alluring voice shook her head, her long purple hair, reaching down to her waist, swayed like it was dancing.
Laura Lavandula
She was a figure regarded simultaneously as the greatest saint and the worst saint in the history of the church.
“What shall I do about this...”
In fact, if the church had been in a normal situation, the position of ‘Saint Candidate’ held by Yuris should not have existed.
Ever since Goddess Ellis descended upon this land, the position of saint had always been for life.
The next saint was not chosen by humans selecting a candidate; rather, when the saint neared the end of her life, she received a revelation from Goddess Ellis and handed over the position of saint.
Laura herself had become a saint after receiving the position from the previous saint in exactly that way.
However, fifteen years ago.
Laura abandoned the ‘
gift of prophecy
’ in exchange for obtaining ‘
necromancy
’.
The church was thrown into chaos by the unprecedented event of a saint turning her back on the goddess.
In a world where the existence of gods was ‘proven’ to begin with, it was extremely rare for a member of the clergy to fall.
In particular, no one had imagined that the saint favored by the goddess would betray her.
As a result...
Laura was designated as the church's ‘
top-priority subjugation target
’.
-Top-Priority Subjugation Target-
It meant a being that had to be subdued, even if it required pouring all the church's power into it.
The church judged that the existence of ‘
Fallen Saint Laura
’ could shake faith in Goddess Ellis from its very foundation.
“...I suppose I should hole up in the underground prison for a while.”
Despite her status plummeting in an instant from ‘saint’ to ‘top-priority subjugation target’ like this, Laura did not waver.
She merely avoided, hid, and fled, continually collecting ‘souls’ and building her strength for fifteen years.
She needed stronger power, even if it meant giving up everything.
“Do not permit anyone to enter until I give permission.”
Creak-creak-
At Laura's command, an ominous sound of bones clacking against one another rang out.