Chapter 114
The world turned white.
It felt as if the earth were the sky and the sky were the earth.
“Ugh...”
Her entire body had gone limp, completely beyond her control.
How much time had passed?
It was just as Myoran, slowly coming to her senses, was painstakingly getting to her feet with her adorable rabbit paws.
“Chief!”
One of the nearby rabbit beastfolk hurriedly helped Myoran up.
At that voice, Myoran belatedly remembered what she had been doing until then.
“Right! What about the fight? How did it go?”
She had thrown the magic condenser Head Mod had given her into the midst of the sandworm swarm.
After that, all her memories had cut off.
They might still be fighting.
Just as she hurriedly asked, thinking there was no time to waste, the expression of the rabbit beastfolk supporting her grew awkward.
“Well...”
Instead of explaining, they pointed somewhere.
It was when Myoran followed that gesture and turned her gaze beyond the palisade.
“...!”
Myoran couldn't help sucking in a startled breath.
A scene teeming with countless sandworms.
No, the scene that had definitely been teeming with sandworms.
It had come to a complete stop.
They hadn't even had time to fall.
“H-how...”
Sandworms underwent rigor mortis the instant they died, dying stiff.
So it was possible to make a rough guess as to how they had died.
At the place where the flashbang had detonated,
every sandworm had been massacred while staring blankly in that direction.
*
“No, uh...”
The flashbang's effect was undeniable.
The eyeball fleas, which were sensitive to sight, had died the moment they saw the flashbang's light.
The sandworms they had been parasitizing had consequently been massacred exactly as they were.
The problem was that it had been too effective.
- Aaaaagh! Aaaaagh!!!
- Why? Why? Why? Why?
- (Elf emote clutching both eyes)
- Aaaagh, you fucking Head Mod!!!!!
“Hm.”
Myoran had been uploading the situation to the gallery in real time so she could share it with me.
The problem was that it was currently the middle of the night.
Without meaning to, she had thrown a flashbang into the eyes of every gallerybro who had stayed up browsing the gallery.
“Should I apologize?”
I hadn't posted an announcement in the gallery.
My warning had been directed only at Myoran and the rabbit people.
Head Mod had trolled.
For a moment, I wondered whether I should at least post an apology, but instead I decided to brazen it out.
[Title: It's Me]
Author: Head Mod*
Yeah, I did troll you guys.
(Grinning frog meme)
But what can you do about it?
You guys upload thousands of tactical nukes every day, too.
Can't I be a troll for once? Lmao
[Upvotes 5512] [Downvotes 5002]
I've been browsing this gallery for more than a day or two.
If I asked for forgiveness in the gallery?
= Ah! This person is someone we can insult.
But if I acted shameless instead?
- Crazy bastard lmao
- (Meme with the Head Mod emblem photoshopped beside a troll)
- This is where the Head Mod...
- Fact) If Head Mod deliberately threw a gore pic at us, every gallerybro would suffer serious injuries
I could pass it off as the Great Amusement Mountain.
But there was one thing I had clearly realized from this incident.
We needed to be careful when using flashbangs.
“Not something we can use every time they invade.”
Rabbit beastfolk were especially sensitive to sound.
Flashbangs didn't just emit light.
They also came with a blast loud enough to burst eardrums.
Even if we had somehow gotten through this one, it wasn't a weapon suitable for the rabbit beastfolk.
-Head Mod*) How's the village doing?
ㄴ Myoran) The fields were damaged, but they're still at a recoverable level, so we're fine.
ㄴ Myoran) The injured are recovering quickly, too. Thank you so much, myo.
Fortunately, there had been no casualties.
Since we had made it through this attack without major damage, the result could be considered a success.
“Still, we've made it through the immediate crisis.”
And before long, all sorts of posts began pouring into the gallery, as expected.
- So is this another new kind of magic?
ㄴ It looks like light magic. Are there any magicbros who know about it?
ㄴ Structurally, it shows a similar pattern, but the forms are completely different.
ㄴ Damn, these fucking magefags again.
ㄴ You low-HP bastards, please stop opening debate threads;
Starting with the mages who appeared whenever modern weapons were mentioned.
[A new barter notification has arrived.]
- Only Head Mod should look at this secretly///
- I'm boredㅠㅠ When are you coming to visit again?
- ><...
- Head Mod, ever since that day, my heart hasn't settled down. What am I supposed to do...
Even the rabbit beastfolk's barrage of messages, which had been quiet until now.
I turned off the barter notifications, which had long since lost their original function and become a barrage of lewd pictures, and fell into thought.
“Flashbangs are good. They are good, but...”
They didn't suit the rabbit beastfolk.
Although the immediate problem had been solved, the sandworms were still out there.
[Title: Pㅠㅠ I'm too scared to go to the fields.]
(Meme of someone throwing a pebble into a field)
(Meme of a sandworm popping out like a ghost)
They come out from everywhere. What should I do? ㅠㅠ
I'm hungry...
- If you don't mind, would you come to my house?
- Noona, I'll sleep in your yard.
- (Hehehe knight emote)
[Title: Forced to Stay Home Again Today... ᴗ_ᴗ̩̩]
(Meme of someone looking up forlornly while holding up their ears)
I don't have any money either...
I can't work either...
And my sides feel cold, too...
Is there a Head Mod passing by?
Ugh! I'm so sad!
[Upvotes 9999+] [Downvotes 0]
- Hello, I'm a human knight~ Wow~
- No, what the fuck is up with the upvotes and downvotes? Lmao
ㄴ Fuck, that's the kind of upvote count you usually only see on a post praising Head Mod lmao
- Hehe, my body's feeling hot again...
ㄴ I'll give you one.
ㄴ 2222
ㄴ Author) Fuck off, all of you 🖕🖕🖕
ㄴ Head Mod*) Too bad.
ㄴ Lmao, this bastard
ㄴ Author) H-huff, huff, huff! Head Mod, when are you coming to visit our village again!!!
The sandworms hadn't all died.
They could invade again at any time.
Underground, they were dangerous because they could burst out not only from every direction, but from the floor and ceiling as well.
And before long, a new post went up.
[Title: Head Mod! I Found a Rift!]
(Meme of a rift discovered underground)
^^...
But how am I supposed to smash it...?
The problem was that it had been discovered underground.
“Wait, rifts can appear underground, too?”
Thinking about it, there was nothing strange about it.
Rifts formed underwater as well, so of course they could form underground.
Apparently, those rifts had been producing the sandworms all along.
The problem was how to deal with them.
- Can't we just camp out and wait?
Of course, there was a way to deal with rifts on the surface.
You gathered troops in front of the rift.
A rift couldn't spew out a large number of monsters all at once.
Besides, whenever monsters emerged from a rift, it became defenseless, so you killed them as soon as they came out.
ㄴ How?
ㄴ No, I mean, camp out and wait.
ㄴ Then how are we supposed to camp out? ＼- /
ㄴ Ah
ㄴ Lmao, idiot
The problem was that this was underground.
For one thing, the distance was far too great.
Even if the village surrounded by a palisade was considered safe, the rift was beyond the fields entirely.
“At that distance, even a gun wouldn't hit it, would it?”
Even bringing in a top marksman from the Republic of Korea Army would have a hard time.
And we couldn't station troops nearby, either.
At most, we could gather a few dozen to a few hundred.
It would be difficult to have even that many wait there, and we didn't know where the remaining sandworms might attack from.
“Would a monster lantern work?”
The monster lantern was more intense than a car's headlights.
But I soon shook my head.
That wouldn't be enough, either.
We needed a bigger light, a more intense illumination!
I soon found the answer while searching through the shop.
[Searchlight] - 450p
“Huh? This is...”
A searchlight, also known as a searchlight.
A device equipped with a reflector for projecting a powerful beam of light in a specific direction... and so on.
“Batman?”
Simply put, it was the Bat-Signal you shone into the sky when calling Batman.
It was enormous, larger than a human body,
a bizarre lighting device that could speedrun blindness just by looking at it.
The searchlight, which proved that lighting could be used for war, caught my eye.
The moment I found it, there was only one thing I had to do.
“I'll teach you about lighting.”
Sandworms, you should die, right?
- Myoran) Head Mod, what is this...?
ㄴ Head Mod*) It's just a light, but a really, really strong one?
ㄴ Myoran) ?
ㄴ Head Mod*) It would probably be faster to try using it than to explain.
I immediately bought the items and shipped them to Myoran.
“Well, wouldn't more be better?”
Besides, they were cheap.
I almost sent only one, but then I sent several to be safe.
[10 ‘searchlights’ have been shipped to Myoran!]
Quite a lot, at that.
*
“Chief, Chief, what did Head Mod say?”
“Does Head Mod miss us?”
“What did he say that thing is called?”
Head Mod, Head Mod.
Even while eating carrots, Head Mod.
Even while plowing the fields, Head Mod.
Myoran felt as if her ears might develop calluses.
“Enough already, myo.”
By nature, rabbit beastfolk were weak to kindness.
However, this kindness came with conditions.
He must not want anything in return.
It had to be pure kindness without conditions.
‘There is no such thing in this world, myo.’
But no creature that wanted neither material repayment nor a purpose existed.
Myoran had lived a long life as a rabbit.
Moreover, she knew all too well about the countless desires directed at rabbit beastfolk.
So she considered kindness without a price to be nothing more than a fantasy from her younger days.
Until Head Mod appeared.
“Chief, please answer quickly!”
“It's unfair that you're the only one chatting with him!!!”
“I'm jealous, I'm jealous, I'm jealous, I'm jealous.”
She had never encountered such a person before.
Hair as dark and deep as ink.
Eyes that always looked languid.
Though he was an administrator who could do anything, he wanted nothing from the rabbit beastfolk.
‘Well, it wasn't exactly nothing.’
Just one thing.
If she had to name one, it was that they would survive without being hurt by his gifts and immerse themselves in browsing the gallery.
That was all.
He was like a rabbit saint.
The rabbit beastfolk were instantly captivated by his untainted, pure wishes and kindness.
‘I did tell him to come visit again next time, but...’
Judging by the state of the rabbits, it might be better for Head Mod, too, if he didn't come back.
Myoran let out a small sigh and answered.
“He said it's called a searchlight, myo.”
“What does he want from us?”
“Nothing...”
She hadn't even finished speaking.
“Aah.”
“Hngh.”
Several of them clutched their hearts.
Someone began nervously fiddling with their ears while sweating cold sweat.
‘He really is frightening, myo.’
Pure kindness that expected nothing in return.
Having witnessed the power it held, Myoran was now almost frightened of it.
How enormous was its effect on the rabbit people?
It was the first time she had seen an entire species go so completely insane.
That was when.
-Thud!
A heavy rumble traveled through the floor.
It was when Myoran and the rabbit people surrounding her perked up their ears and turned to the side.
-Squeee!
There, in the distance, sandworms were crawling out through the rift.
“I suppose it's about time to begin... myo.”
With a cold expression, Myoran pressed her rabbit paws against the ground and stood up.
At that, the rabbit beastfolk, their faces strangely excited, ran toward the searchlights.
Strange steel tools as large as people.
“Head Mod told us never to look directly at them, myo.”
And he had warned them.
This was absolutely not some kind of meme.
Just never look at them, or even get curious about them.
“...If he warned us that strongly, how powerful could they be?”
Chills ran down Myoran's spine at those words, and she shouted as the sandworms began pouring out.
“Begin! Myo.”
The moment Myoran's adorable rabbit paw stomped against the ground,
they activated all the searchlights at once.
And the searchlights Head Mod had sent were military searchlights used in wartime.
-Fwoosh!
At most, a bright light would burst out for a moment.
Before the eyes of the rabbits who had thought so,
“...Good heavens.”
In the dark underground world,
a radiance arose.