Chapter 44
A day had passed, but the Gallery was still blazing with enough hot-button material to keep it going for days.
The fallout from this topic lay in the error windows that appeared for every Capital Area user when the Black Zone appeared during Baek Jinhyeok's invasion of the Capital Area.
Title : I Don't Think the System Is a Single Entity
When Jinhyeok got ejected from the Black Zone in one hit
Seeing how everyone got alarms and error messages...
This is just my speculation, but I don't think the System is a single entity ㅇㅇ
Maybe Starplex and the System that awakened us belong to completely different factions...
At the very least... they seem to be different entities with a superior-subordinate relationship
So... we have to support Shop-nim!!!
So are the Systems having some kind of faction war in the sky?
ㄴ So it's polytheism now ㄷㄷ
ㄴ What is this, Greek mythology? ㅋㅋㅋ
Starplex <<<< I'm telling you, this bastard is a Constellation!!!
ㄴ Kyaa, the Constellation School wins another round;;
ㄴ The Head Mod who said the System was a Transcendent Being is smiling ㅇㅇ
Starplex has higher authority ㅇㅇ
ㄴ I think Starplex is probably about the level of a department manager
ㄴ The name alone is fucking awesome ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Oh, Shop, our lord...
ㄴ The Shop that gave us rice and salvation is the only true System...
ㄴ It gave us restrooms too, bro...
ㄴ Oh, god of bowel movements...
[Troll NEET] 55 O System, please ㅠㅠ
ㄴ [Troll NEET] OO Shop, our lord
ㄴ 00 Shop, our lord...
ㄴ What the hell are you guys doing? ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
ㄴ For real, they're monkeys ㅋㅋㅋ
Hey, Wiki bro, come out here
ㄴ [Shop Wiki] Hmm... if the System is an aggregate of data that responds to conditions...
ㄴ [Shop Wiki] I suspect there may be protocols or code that divide up authority priorities...
ㄴ Protocols????
ㄴ A dataaaaa aggregateeee?
ㄴ Clickety-click, clickety-click
ㄴ The message sent to the Head Mod +999
No, you bastard
ㄴ Say something that makes sense, please
ㄴ How could the System not be a single entity?
ㄴ Obviously, it was just a bug
The existing Capital Area Survivors Gallery users were chewing over, picking apart, tasting, and enjoying every angle of the error, while taking Iga-Tangtangtang for headaches, toothaches, and stomachaches.
The System-nim... hates evil people...
ㄴ It helps the weak... but hates incompetent people...
ㄴ It also encourages primitive desires and a thriving birth rate... Is that the kind of being it is?
Mm-hmm, exactly
ㄴ Don't try to understand it too logically
ㄴ Open your heart and accept it
ㄴ We were like you once too ㅇㅇ
ㄴ But after we became able to use bidets, reason disappeared
The System even brought down a rain of meat to stop the Red Zone wave...
ㄴ Huh???
ㄴ It made meat rain down??
ㄴ Fuck, then believe right this second!!!
ㄴ I'll upload another lewd pic!!
The new arrivals were overwhelmed by the flow of the conversation, but they were slowly following along.
[Healer Union] Bam~~ ba-bam~~ ba-bam~~ bam~~
ㄴ ㅇㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
ㄴ You can tell just by looking at this; it's fucking hilarious;;
ㄴ The bastard is back ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
ㄴ He's really going hard on the Gallery ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
ㄴ What is he going to say next;;
[Healer Union] Is it really so important what the System is? The System is merely a tool!
ㄴ Huh?
ㄴ [Healer Union] We must not depend on the System! We must carve out our own destinies!!
ㄴ [Healer Union] Therefore! I demand better treatment for healers!!!!
ㄴ ㅇㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
ㄴ ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Just... someone trying hard to make a living...
ㄴ But that's actually a pretty valid point;;
ㄴ Instead of debating here, hurry up and go pick up scrap metal, you bastards!
But if that's true, Healer Union is spending way too much time on the Gallery too;;
ㄴ [Healer Union] Sharing our hardships!!!! Demanding better treatment!
ㄴ Ohh
ㄴ Exactly
ㄴ That's what the Survivors Gallery is for in the first place;;
Some of the newbies had, of course, adapted quickly.
So what had I been doing?
[Healer Union] Anyway, continue what you were saying
ㄴ [Healer Union] How old did you say you were?
[Troll NEET] Somewhere between my mid and late twenties ㅇㅇ
ㄴ [Healer Union] Wow!! We're exactly the same age!!!!
ㄴ [Troll NEET] Ohh;
For a while, I was just shooting the breeze with this user.
“They're more normal than I expected.”
They were just role-playing as someone who worked hard in real life.
Besides, they seemed to be about my age. Of course, that wasn't to say I was particularly good at acting my age.
[Troll NEET] Hmm; if you're in your mid-twenties... 27? 28? 29?
ㄴ [Healer Union] !!!!!
ㄴ [Healer Union] It's rude to ask a woman her age and then guess like that!!!!!
ㄴ [Troll NEET] Sorry, I didn't know that was rude, and I didn't know you were a woman either;;
[Healer Union] ....Well... I... guess I never told you that;;
ㄴ [Healer Union] ....
ㄴ [Healer Union] Bam~~ ba-bam~~ ba-bam~~ bam~~!
ㄴ [Troll NEET] ?
[Healer Union] Ah! Anyway! You said earlier that you're a solo player who hasn't joined a guild too, right? ㅠㅠ
ㄴ [Troll NEET] ㅇㅇ I'm just a shut-in Stalker who travels alone
ㄴ [Healer Union] I was in Cheonan, but after I was connected through the Gallery...
ㄴ [Healer Union] I luckily got a job at a major Capital Area guild yesterday, you know??
“Oh?”
What? They'd kept saying they wanted a job, and they got one in a single day?
“Is this really not just a gimmick?”
They'd called themselves a small fry, but they got hired at lightning speed like this?
[Healer Union] But I'm the absolute newest recruit, so the hazing is no joke... I feel like they treat me as nothing but a tool ㅠㅠ
ㄴ [Healer Union] I'm still the newest recruit even after the apocalypse ㅠㅠㅠ
ㄴ [Troll NEET] Hmm... let's hang in there... If you endure, better days will come ㅇㅇ
[Healer Union] !!!!
ㄴ [Healer Union] Thank you for saying that!! That's so kind of you!!!!
ㄴ [Troll NEET] It's nothing ㅇㅇ
[Healer Union] I thought you were weird because you only stirred up trouble on the Gallery... but you're surprisingly sweet... I'm touched...
ㄴ [Troll NEET] ?
ㄴ [Troll NEET] I'm going to lounge around in my room, so you little rookie, go work yourself to the bone ㅇㅇ
ㄴ [Healer Union] ?
ㄴ [Healer Union] Argh!! Give me back my touching moment! You're so annoying!!!!
[Healer Union] ...Still, I enjoyed talking with you today! I mean it! You should join a good guild too ㅠㅠ!
ㄴ [Troll NEET] Bye-bye
The conversation had gone that way because I had roughly played along with the gimmick post they had made.
“I'm surprised too.”
There are more normal people in the world than I expected.
Anyway, let's hang in there. It's a hard world for everyone to make a living in.
I turned my gaze back to the status window.
“So... is this what happened?”
[Building Master Quest 5 Complete!!]
[Reward: VIP Member Appointment Authority]
The reward I received this time for clearing Building Master Quest 5 was VIP Member Appointment Authority.
“No, but it said VIP.”
It wasn't BBIP?
“I've learned something new again...”
They say knowing your own ignorance is the beginning of growth. This counts as growth too.
Anyway.
[VIP Member Appointment Authority]
[Active: You can now appoint VIP members]
[Pyramid Commission] : 5% of all purchases made by regular members within a certain distance of a VIP member will be paid to the Shop Owner as a bonus.]
[Absolute Vision] : You can constantly view a VIP member's real-time location and surrounding area on a map.]
If I appoint a particular user as a BIP...
No, if I appoint them as a VIP member, I can spread a purchase aura around them and even check their location.
“A payment buff would be fucking awesome.”
With maintenance costs skyrocketing as they were, an increase in mana-stone income would be excellent for me.
Of course, customers who became VIP members also received benefits of their own.
[VIP Customer-Exclusive Premium Benefits List]
1. Permanent 10% VIP discount on all Shop items
2. Priority reservation rights for the Time Deal feature (exempt from the open rush)
Those were a discount and priority reservation rights for items they needed.
“Look at that perfect balance.”
The discount was nice, but from a customer's perspective, the priority reservation purchase function for necessary items was probably even better.
[Appointed VIP Members: 1/4]
[VIP List]
Head Mod (Baek Eunwol)
And so, during Jinhyeok bro's invasion this time, of course—
I appointed the Head Mod, who worked hard in every possible way, as the first VIP member.
“So that was Baek Eunwol's name.”
It was a pretty unusual name, too.
Anyway, I appointed the Head Mod without giving it much thought, partly as a reward and partly so it could be put to good use, but the message that came from the Head Mod was unexpected.
It was a customer inquiry.
[Customer Feedback Box] : A one-on-one direct channel is opened, allowing dedicated macro responses to be sent in reply to VIP inquiries.
The VIP privilege of a one-on-one direct channel had opened immediately.
“I didn't think this would be particularly useful...”
I wondered what kind of complaints there could be about an online shop that sold goods—a System shop, no less.
But that wasn't the case.
[Baek Eunwol Customer Inquiry Received]
[System-nim, System-nim. May I appoint a deputy administrator to manage the users who have grown to 90,000? Or should I use all the mana stones to prepare everyone for the Black Zone disaster you showed me?]
A complaint had been submitted right away.
“That... is up to them, I suppose. It'd be good if they did, but no big deal if they didn't.”
I hadn't even known there was a function for choosing Sub-Mods, and it didn't matter much to me, so I figured they could do whatever they wanted.
[VIP Customer Feedback Response Function]
[Customized Automatic CS Translation]
[Greetings, VIP Eunwol customer. You may handle this matter entirely at your discretion, but our company is reviewing your matter positively. Thank you.]
But whatever I said, it was automatically translated into a polite macro CS response and sent.
“Fuck your mother.”
[VIP Customized Automatic CS Translation Complete!]
[Starplex sincerely wishes that peace and harmony may always grace the home of our VIP customer.]
[Would you like to send this response?]
“No.”
Damn, look at it neatly translating everything.
“It's not particularly important, anyway.”
Actually, this kind of polite macro CS translation might be better than responding directly myself.
It was naturally more polite than my way of speaking, and it also helped maintain the mysterious persona.
“Hmm.”
Of course, I did have something to think about.
[Appointed VIP Members: 1/4]
[VIP List]
1. Head Mod (Baek Eunwol)
“Who should I appoint next?”
Unlike Shop members, this was a genuinely rare privilege, so it felt awkward to hand it out arbitrarily.
“Things could really get chaotic.”
Besides, the reservation system was so overpowered that giving it out without any justification would probably make the mood completely go to shit.
“We need a pretext, don't we? A pretext!”
It was while I was racking my brain and thinking it over from every angle.
Title : *Notice [Head Mod] Sub-Mod Application Announcement
The System-nim whispered directly to me
I have decided to choose four deputy administrators to manage the Gallery alongside me,
so I hope everyone will apply enthusiastically ㅇㅇ
Oh!!
ㄴ Oh?
ㄴ Huh?
ㄴ You said Sub-Mod!!!!
I've never seen anything like this before...
ㄴ There was only a Head Mod in our region too...
ㄴ Gasp!!
The Head Mod's announcement had gone up. It said that Sub-Mods would be chosen to work alongside the Head Mod.
“She's really doing it?”
I told the Head Mod to do whatever they wanted, and they really did.
[Head Mod] All right! Please apply in large numbers!!!
ㄴ Hmm...
ㄴ ...
What do we get if we do it?
ㄴ Can we use your Awakening ability too?
[Head Mod] You can't, but you can manage posts on the Gallery!
ㄴ Then why would we do it?
ㄴ [Head Mod] ?!!
But the Gallery's response was much more lukewarm than expected.
Unpaid slave labor with a moderator badge;;
ㄴ Why would anyone do that? ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
ㄴ [Head Mod] ...
ㄴ We're too busy trying to make a living, seriously ㅋㅋㅋ
Head Mod, bear that heavy burden alone ㅇㅇ
ㄴ Don't order me around
ㄴ I'm sorry
ㄴ But I don't want to be a Sub-Mod
[Head Mod] ...Then no one is going to do it?
ㄴ Looks like it;;
Seeing the Head Mod so dejected, I thought.
“That's true.”
There really wasn't much incentive to do it.
Just as I was thinking that,
Wait a second. I need a pretext to appoint more VIP members too, don't I?
“Oh?”
A good idea suddenly occurred to me.
*****
The Gallery's mood suddenly changed 180 degrees.
- I'm applying to be a Sub-Mod!!!!! [3432]
- Mom! I want to be a Sub-Mod when I grow up!!! [332]
- I will be a Sub-Mod!!! [3324]
- I want to do it!!!! [3323]
- Sub-Mod application post [336]
....
Suddenly, the Gallery was overflowing with Sub-Mod application posts. What was the reason?
Title : [★Starplex★] Deputy Administrator Selection Event Announcement
To support today's deputy administrator selection process, our company has decided to provide an unprecedented special benefit.
The deputy administrators selected in the end will be granted Starplex VIP membership for the duration of their terms.
(Roughly, benefit explanation post. JPG)
We hope for many applications from our users. Thank you.
??!!
ㄴ ??!!
ㄴ Huh???
ㄴ What????
Wait, a permanent discount??!!
ㄴ That's not the important part
ㄴ You can reserve items now!! It's a reservation system!!!!
ㄴ Fuck, we don't have to rush at opening anymore!!!!
Wait, is the System-nim really backing the Head Mod's decision this much!!!!!!
ㄴ [Head Mod] I told you, this is the System-nim's will!!!
ㄴ No way, I thought you were joking;;
ㄴ For real, I didn't expect it to support you this much...
Fuck, I want to be a Sub-Mod!!!!!
ㄴ Head Mod, make me a Sub-Mod!!!!!!
ㄴ I should have applied sooner!!!!!
[Ironclad] !!!!
ㄴ [God of War] !!!!
ㄴ [Myth] !!!
ㄴ It has to be me...
ㄴ For real ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
That was why the Gallery was currently overflowing with Sub-Mod application posts.
I was rejoicing in my room.
“This is it!!!”
When something is good, it's good—this kills two birds with one stone by securing both a pretext and practical benefits.
Title : [Sub-Mod Application] I Will Abandon My Dignity for the Gallery's Rise
(Roughly, a photo of someone wearing only underwear and doing a handstand in a restroom. JPG)
The world has already ended, so I abandoned my meager human rights and dignity a long time ago.
This is me indulging in the desires the System-nim favors!!
If you choose me as a Sub-Mod, I will throw away every last bit of my remaining shame and become the Head Mod's dog 24 hours a day!!
My faith in bidets and ramen remains as strong as ever!!
Just choose me, bow-wow-wow!!!
What kind of desire is this bastard indulging in...
ㄴ For real, what's with this exposed handstand thing? ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
ㄴ It's in a restroom too ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
ㄴ For real, what kind of desire is that? ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
[Healer Union] “Give up.”
ㄴ Ah, so that's what it was ㅋㅋㅋ
ㄴ Fuckㅋㅋ
ㄴ ㅇㅋㅋㅋㅋ
[Head Mod] Rejected
ㄴ ?! Why!!!
ㄴ ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ One-second rejection ㅋㅋㅋ
ㄴ ㅇㅋㅋㅋㅋ
ㄴ Rejected ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Ah ㅋㅋ the System isn't doing the screening—the Head Mod is ㅋㅋㅋ
ㄴ Ah, right ㅋㅋㅋ
ㄴ You have to match the Head Mod's tastes ㅋㅋㅋ
I watched the scene with ease.
“No, this is fucking hilarious.”
Of course, I was enjoying it a little too.
*****
It was at that moment, as the Gallery was buzzing with the Sub-Mod selection contest.
There was someone who had been in the Blank Zone until now and had only just connected to the Gallery and grasped the situation.
“They're choosing Sub-Mods...?”
These benefits are fucking legendary
ㄴ For real, the open-rush exemption is insane...
ㄴ This is fucking amazing;;
But what is this customer inquiry thing?
ㄴ [Head Mod] I tried it, and you can send one-on-one inquiries to the System-nim and receive answers
ㄴ Huh? You can actually talk?
ㄴ [Head Mod] Hmm... It seems like a macro response comes back;;
ㄴ Really?
System <<<< Get ready, bastard!!!!
ㄴ We should submit complaints all night... right???
ㄴ “We have a backlog, you know.”
ㄴ ㅇㅋㅋㅋㅋ
She wasn't interested in the Sub-Mod position or the VIP benefits.
“A one-on-one inquiry...?”
At the prospect of having a one-on-one conversation with the System,
“Uh...”
Her heart, which never even pounded hard when she ran at a speed her eyes couldn't follow,
Thump.
'I can do it. I can talk to it.'
Thump.
‘Then I want to try it. I want to talk.’
Thump.
It suddenly began pounding hard and fast.
“...Okaaayyyyy...”
And so she immediately declared her intention to apply as a Sub-Mod without any hesitation.
“I'll be a Sub-Mod riiiight noooow!!!”
Cha Do-hee. Her registered Gallery handle was [Speedrun].