Chapter 44
Gallery posts got deleted from time to time.
But it was rare for a Featured Post to be deleted so blatantly.
And on top of that, a monster I'd never seen before.
- Ah; I'd gotten kind of attached to it, too.
- I'm an elf-hater myself, but I didn't want things to turn out like this...
- How the hell are we supposed to kill this?
The appearance of a new monster was enough to throw the Gallery into turmoil.
“And it looks like it has intelligence, too.”
The pumpkin-headed monster followed the elf around as though hunting prey, then killed the elf.
[Title: Why This Incident Feels So Fucking Ominous...]
(Meme of a pumpkin-headed monster holding a sickle)
During the Great War, the monsters charged in mindlessly from outside.
But lately, they had started wearing us down, seemingly testing the waters little by little in waves.
Doesn't it feel like they're deliberately using their heads because they can't devour the continent all at once?
- For real, something feels seriously off.
- Seems like it's trying to weaken us before striking.
- Monsters using their brains? Get real.
ㄴ Then explain that monster right there...
- Shouldn't we kill that thing first?
ㄴ But who the hell is going to kill something like that...?
ㄴ Full-Life Elf) I've already formed a monster-hunting party, yeah.
ㄴ Oh.
ㄴ Damn, I knew we could trust the sub-mod!
Thankfully, the elves of Elrad took the incident seriously.
Led by the sub-mod, a monster-hunting party was already heading to the site of the incident to subjugate the monster.
[Featured Post: Monster Subjugation Record 1.jpg]
Author: Full-Life Elf
(Meme of dozens of elven monster-hunting party members carrying swords and bows)
(Meme of a high-explosive grenade held in the hand of Full-Life Elf at the front)
(Meme of an elf giving a confident thumbs-up)
We found the corpse of the Elf Archer Master, yeah.
Now it's time for revenge, yeah.
[Recommendations 9999+] [Dislikes 14]
- Let's bring out the Head Mod's weapon~
- Fuck, he's just using his ultimate move lol
- Wow, aren't those the queen's knights? Look at that firepower ㄷㄷ
- The elves must be seriously pissed.
ㄴ For real, they're even taking grenades with them lol
ㄴ They cherished those like their lives.
“Their expressions are terrifying.”
Anger was etched on the elves’ faces.
There was a reason for that. They had gone so far as to take grenades that the Elven Kingdom had been carefully conserving as part of its military strength.
Besides, the elven monster-hunting party consisted of elves selected to deal with the occasional variant monsters that appeared in the waves.
As always, it looked like they would easily kill a single monster and bring the whole thing to an end.
“But something feels strange.”
But my thoughts differed somewhat.
Something felt unsettling.
Maybe it was because the expression of the pumpkin monster in the Elf Archer Master's picture looked different from those of ordinary monsters.
Just as I was beginning to think it wouldn't be caught so easily...
(Meme of the quiet incident site)
(Meme of confused elves)
?? Where did they go, yeah?
Where did all of them go, yeah?
- Huh?
- Holy shit, did the monster run away?
- It's so clean there's not even a sign that it ate the bodies?
- No, where did they all go?
A new post had gone up.
It could only mean one thing.
The monster had run away.
The monster that had once charged in mindlessly, driven by low intelligence and violent tendencies, had backed off before the fight even began.
“Then could it be...?”
Just as I was getting a bad feeling,
a new comment was posted on the thread.
- Monster spotted inside Elrad!!!
- (Meme of a pumpkin monster disappearing at the edge of someone's vision)
- (Meme of the Sacred Tree guardian elves in a miserable state)
- It killed only a few elves and ran away again!
ㄴ This comment has been deleted.
ㄴ El-kyaaaak
ㄴ This comment has been deleted.
ㄴ Full-Life Elf) W-what's going on, yeah!!
A new pumpkin-headed monster.
It was trying to outthink an intelligent race.
*
The pumpkin monster was cunning.
It fled whenever it faced a monster-hunting party it couldn't defeat, while choosing only small groups or weak elves to hunt.
- It was spotted east of Elrad!
- It tried to break into the Elven Kingdom, then ran away!
- What the fuck is happening?
- Monsters are using their brains...?
The elves' confused posts poured out without end.
Thanks to that, the other races couldn't simply sit back and watch the fire from across the river.
There was no guarantee that a monster of that kind wouldn't appear in their own settlements.
More than anything, the pumpkin monster never crossed the line.
- It's only traveling through places without World Trees.
- If it came farther inside, we'd at least be able to track its location.
- Full-Life Elf) I-I-I wanna kill it!!!!
Until then, most monsters had charged in together, and the elves had simply stopped them.
That was why the elves could move freely even through the vast Elrad Forest.
[Title: An Announcement from Eladriën]
Author: Armion
All elves residing in the Elrad Forest, return to Eladriën immediately.
Until the knights subjugate the monster, leaving the kingdom is forbidden.
[Recommendations 4692] [Dislikes 142]
- Ack! ㅠㅠ
- I just got out... ㅠㅅㅠ
- Eladriën is so stifling...
ㄴ An elf ought to spend their entire life in Eladriën, naturally ^^
ㄴ You must still be young and inexperienced, but there is no kingdom like Eladriën ^^
ㄴ Tsk! There are monsters outside, and humans will kidnap you and use you as slaves, so stay inside quietly.
ㄴ ...How outdated are you? ㅠㅠ
- Whoa, did an announcement for all the elves just drop?
ㄴ I can't believe I'm seeing this lol
ㄴ It's always the Council of Elders posting announcements, so this is the first official announcement from the Elven Kingdom, yeah.
ㄴ Whoa, the queen!
Now even that was blocked off.
After hearing that the pumpkin monster hunted elves traveling in small groups, the Elven Kingdom had issued an official position.
As a result, the young elves brimming with curiosity were absolutely miserable.
- Cough, cough, I wanna go outside...
- It's so stifling here, and there's nothing to do...
ㄴ You can read books^^ Let's develop the skill of sitting down with your butt firmly planted and reading^^
ㄴ Hiiing ㅠㅠㅠㅠ
ㄴ This is why elves are such shut-ins!!!
“They're even mobilizing the knights now.”
The monster-hunting party was made up of talented elves selected from among the elven knights and soldiers.
If the situation became serious, the knights themselves would step in, just as they had during the sudden wave incident last time.
And although the elves hoped the situation would end quickly thanks to the knights...
things weren't as easy as expected.
[Featured Post: Tracking the Pumpkin Monster, Day 3]
(Meme of exhausted elven knights sitting down)
(Meme of pointed ears drooping from the heat)
(Meme of someone fanning their clothes between their armor)
Haaah, I think I'm going to die from the heat.
We can't see the monster... and the weather is so hot...
Armor in this weather is fucking murderous...
[Recommendations 9999+] [Dislikes 42]
- Wow, you still haven't caught it? ㅠㅠ
- Let us out already!!!
- I don't want to read any more books...
ㄴ Please stop using the Gallery in the library ^^ Our young elves may not know any better, but isn't that against etiquette?
ㄴ Hiiing ㅠㅠㅠㅠ
- But why is this a Featured Post, anyway...?
- It just looks like an ordinary daily-life post...
ㄴ That's... haha
ㄴ Heeheehee
ㄴ The elves' one and only advantage.jpg
ㄴ This might actually make us start liking elves?
ㄴ Author) Ah!
ㄴ Author) Figures, humans!!!!
ㄴ Haha, look at them.
ㄴ I've already taken a screenshot ^^
You couldn't hunt the monster with just one or two elves.
But whenever they moved around in large numbers, it sensed them like a ghost and hid far away.
It was becoming visibly clear that the elves' morale and stamina were starting to fall.
- Head Mod*) Want me to help?
It seemed like it was about time I helped them.
The elves immediately appeared and began posting a flood of replies, as though they'd been waiting for me to say that.
ㄴ !!!!
ㄴ Of course, always welcome!!
ㄴ Head Mod*) But I feel like I'd be interfering too much in the elves' affairs.
ㄴ Who says that?!
ㄴ Full-Life Elf: I knew we could count on Lord Head Mod, yeah!
- But Head Mod, is it really okay to keep helping like this without any reward?
ㄴ Ah.
Then I saw a post expressing concern.
Just as that Gallery bro said, I often helped the Gallery bros without receiving anything in return.
There was a connection between that and preserving the Gallery—and my own life—but it wasn't as though no Gallery bros had ever voiced doubts or concern.
- For real, isn't he giving too much and getting nothing?
- Honestly, there isn't a single thing in the marketplace that can be made here, for real lol
- Do elves really have no shame?
ㄴ Is that something humans can say?
ㄴ They get the most help from the Head Mod, then only come tattling when this happens.
ㄴ Shh, shh!
ㄴ Ugh, this is why humans are impossible to associate with.
ㄴ Yeah, official World Tree long-eared pests.
ㄴ Wanna die?
As always, the Gallery started burning up again in no time.
But unlike what the Gallery bros were worried about, it wasn't as though I had received nothing.
The holy sword and masterwork sword right there, the level-ups from all those mana dumplings, for starters.
There were also plenty of point gains the Gallery bros didn't know about...
- Head Mod*) It's fine, it's fine. No reward needed for this one.
ㄴ He's a god...!
ㄴ He's not x; he's a cute-girl half-elf tsundere Head Mod who temporarily became a man with magic for verification o
ㄴ (Moved elf emote)
ㄴ Author) R-really? But why...
ㄴ Head Mod*) I've already been rewarded.
I opened one of the images.
It showed a platinum-blond, pure-white elf looking exhausted from the heat.
“Heeheehee.”
- Author) Ah.
- Author) What are we supposed to do if even Head Mod does that!!!
ㄴ Head Mod*) Heeheehee.
ㄴ Heeheehee.
ㄴ Heeheehee.
ㄴ Author) Eeeek!!!
ㄴ Full-Life Elf) LOL, yeah.
“An intelligent monster? No problem.”
I went into the modern weapons category in the marketplace, and then into one particular list.
Grandiose names and pictures appeared alongside it.
[M14 Ankle Mine] - 74 points
[KM16A1 Bounding Mine] -90 points
[M6 Anti-Tank Mine] -125 points
.
.
Since all the elves had returned to the kingdom by then, it was safe enough to try them out.
“Honestly, I kind of want to see them in action, too.”
I'd only heard their names; I'd never actually seen what they could do.
I decided to acquire several and deliver them to Full-Life Elf through a barter.
*
They were outstanding elven knights, recognized even by Eladriën, the Elven Kingdom.
They had all gathered in one place, ears perked as they showed their curiosity.
“This is...”
“Is this the new weapon the Head Mod gave us?”
“...It looks strangely made.”
Things that looked somewhat crude had been attached to the top of a round cylinder.
The cold colors and incomprehensible English, combined with memories of the weapons the Head Mod had shown them so far, sent an inexplicable chill through them.
“Is it really that powerful?”
Eliana felt the same way.
Eliana held the KM16A1 bounding mine in her arms, her expression complicated.
Perhaps it was because of the stern warning the Head Mod had repeated without pause while handing it over.
Head Mod*: Remember this before using it.
Full-Life Elf: Of course, yeah.
Head Mod*: Never forget where you planted it.
No one is to enter within 200 m of it, even if you're crazy, and the elves must not approach it out of curiosity.
Do not treat this like a meme, so keep it in mind.
If you make a mistake, you'll all be half-dead.
“Ugh...”
Apparently, being hit by this thing called a mine wouldn't kill you, but it would make you wish you were dead.
If the normally lighthearted Head Mod was warning them that seriously, there had to be a reason.
“Was this how he told us to plant it?”
Eliana buried the mine very carefully, then moved 200 meters away—no, at least 500 meters away.
Then, just as she cautiously pretended to search toward the opposite side, following his instructions,
“Captain Eliana, it's appeared over there!”
Just as one of the elven knights shouted, the pumpkin monster really did appear at the far end.
It had been doing exactly that since yesterday.
It would stand far away, stare blankly at the elves as if mocking them, then run away.
It even seemed as though it were waiting for an opportunity.
But the time had come for that unease to end.
“Just a little farther... got it!”
It was at that moment that, thanks to the elves' exceptional eyesight, the unsuspecting monster stepped on the mine.
Eliana expected a huge explosion, like the high-explosive grenade last time.
Whoosh!
“Huh?”
But it was very different from what she expected.
The mine seemed to make a short hop straight into the air.
Fssshhh!
- Grrk?
The gruesome fragments inside began bursting through the air in every direction.