Chapter 81
“We have to kill that bitch!”
“I clearly saw her drinking blood!”
“We have to drive a stake through her heart!”
The mansion had become an inferno.
Beneath an ash-covered sky, she was dragged before an enraged mob with her entire body bound tight.
The gazes fixed on her were soaked in madness as they shouted.
They had to kill that maid as cruelly as possible.
“N-no, that's not it. I...”
Trembling in the center of it all, she muttered something under her breath, but there was no way they could hear her.
It was just as the blades, transformed into all sorts of murderous implements like rakes, swords, and stakes, began closing in on her.
“Ehehe.”
Erzebet's head jerked.
Clinging to her hazy consciousness, she looked around and found herself on the throne in the empty audience chamber.
“It was a dream.”
A very distant past, one even the dragons could no longer remember.
As memories of that day vividly resurfaced, she staggered to her feet.
She opened the refrigerator and stood in front of it, letting the cold air wash over her. Only then did she feel her head begin to clear.
- Ding, please close the door
“Sorry, just a little longer.”
- Ding, please close the door
“How impudent.”
Erzebet drank some cola to shake off the sleepiness creeping over her.
Lately, drowsiness had been hitting her particularly hard.
She had even begun occasionally falling asleep without warning, just as she had before.
“I've been getting so sleepy lately.”
Long ago, Erzebet had been cursed and fallen asleep, only to be awakened recently by some unwelcome visitors.
Of course, it wasn't a big deal.
She could simply close her eyes and go back to sleep.
But the problem was that she had learned about the Gallery, and she had learned about the Head Mod.
It had become far too much fun to permit herself to sleep.
“Ugh...”
Her eyelids grew heavy again, and her body slowed.
Even though she had only just awakened, her body seemed to be protesting that it was still desperately short on sleep.
“No. I'm absolutely not going to sleep.”
Erzebet had always liked sleeping.
But this time was different.
Because if she really went to sleep and woke up, everything would be different, just as it always was.
Her fellow blue mod, the countless Gallery users, the Gallery, and even the Head Mod would all be gone without a trace.
Perhaps the monsters had won the war and were ruling the world.
- Ding!
“!”
At that moment, a Gallery notification rang out.
Without even realizing it, Erzebet hurriedly logged into the Gallery.
This refreshing sound was wonderful no matter how many times she heard it.
It was always nice to receive replies or attention on one of her posts.
Above all, hadn't she worked up the courage to ask the Head Mod to meet her last time?
“What did he reply?”
Erzebet checked the notification, imagining that her nonexistent cold heart was beating hotly...!
Head Mod*: I am truly sorry. I will never casually toy with the blue mods' salaries again.
After mistaking the courage she had gathered over a long period of agonizing for something else, the Head Mod had left her nothing but a heartfelt, lengthy apology.
“...Idiot moron sea-cucumber trash-waste orc Head Mod.”
She pouted and grumbled her dissatisfaction, but she didn't show much of it in chat.
It would be even more pathetic and embarrassing to belatedly insist that she had meant it and ask him to think about it properly.
Erzebet glossed over it as though it had merely been a joke and moved on.
VampireToTheBitterEnd: I'll let it slide this time.
Head Mod*: I am overwhelmed by your grace!
After exchanging some pointless chat, she found herself craving another cola.
As she went to get a fresh cola from the refrigerator, she saw her own face reflected in its surface.
She realized that her usually impassive self was wearing a faint smile.
- Ding!
At that very moment, the refrigerator's warning beep rang out, making Erzebet even more irritated for no reason.
Bang! She shut the door with enough force to make the refrigerator tremble, then curled up on the throne and thought.
“...I don't have much time left.”
For now, she was stubbornly refusing to go to sleep, but one could never know.
If she dozed off for even a moment and woke up, no one knew how many centuries might have passed.
“Should I tell the Head Mod...?”
Erzebet remembered the moments they had shared.
The Head Mod had approached her without hesitation and abruptly declared that he was appointing her as a blue mod.
Unlike the Head Mod, who treated blue mods as unpaid blue slaves and toilet cleaners, she understood how much power they possessed.
She knew how much power the blue mods possessed.
If she put her mind to it, she could permanently ban someone from the Gallery and effectively sentence them to death.
- You crazy bastard, anyone but her—don't make her a blue mod!
- If she becomes a blue mod, everything's doomed!!
- Seriously, think again! If you pick her, we're all doomed!!!
Naturally, public opinion toward her had been negative.
But the Head Mod had simply said:
- Who cares?
He alone had believed in her and appointed her as a blue mod.
He had even easily solved the curse that had been tormenting her with cola and coffee.
The Head Mod now occupied an increasingly large portion of Erzebet's thoughts.
“Yes, I have to tell him.”
Erzebet finally made up her mind.
It would be better to come clean than to regret not doing so later.
And just as she was about to leave a chat message for the Head Mod...
[Title: Ah lol, I want to kill everyone.]
I'm tired of living.
I think I've done all I can, and I can't take it anymore.
I want to kill the monsters, and I hate humans, too.
Mom.
I'll just kill everyone and go back to you, Mom.
[Recommendations0] [Dislikes3]
- 1 point
- You suck at baiting, you idiot lol
- Did you miss the marketplace? Looooool
“This is...”
At a glance, it was an ordinary troll post.
But Erzebet could see it.
That it was 100% sincere.
“I'll tell him after resolving this matter.”
Every so often, people like this appeared while managing the Gallery.
People who developed PTSD from the aftermath of the Great War, suffered for a long time, and eventually went mad like monsters.
As a blue mod, Erzebet picked up her scythe and went outside to eradicate the troll.
*
“Was giving them draw tickets a bit much?”
Blue mods didn't receive salaries.
That alone was a miserable enough thing, and I might have ruined her mood by needlessly giving her a 100-pull draw and all.
In the end, hadn't VampireToTheBitterEnd, who had been quietly working away, invited me to 'build camaraderie' (an IRL showdown)?
“I suppose it's about time to recruit a new blue mod, too...”
At this rate, instead of applying, everyone would avoid the position like they were dodging a bomb.
As a token of my sincere apology, I sent the blue mods something I thought they might like.
[Admin Chat]
Head Mod*: Guys lol, sorry;
Head Mod*: (Honey Butter Chip bag meme)
Head Mod*: Eat this and calm down
Of course, trying to settle things with a single bag of snacks might only make them angrier.
But if it was the blue mods I knew...
FullHPElf: Eeeek, snacks! Something sweet!
FullHPElf: I'll enjoy it!
That was more than enough.
FullHPElf hadn't been worried in the first place, so she quickly cheered up and went back.
Especially since she had won an Ice Purifier Refrigerator, too.
“VampireToTheBitterEnd needs to accept it, though.”
My practical goal was to appease VampireToTheBitterEnd.
Who was VampireToTheBitterEnd?
[Title: The plant I grew]
(Gif of a sprout blooming)
Cute, right? Hehe.
[Recommendations3] [Dislikes3]
- Lol, put some ssamjang on it
- Doesn't look tasty.
ㄴ For real, who could fill their belly with that?
ㄴ OP) You nasty humans, piss off~
- VampireToTheBitterEnd) Hey, OP
ㄴ Gasp
ㄴ Oh no, emergency
ㄴ What did OP do?
ㄴ OP) ? ㅠㅠ Why are you calling me...?
ㄴ VampireToTheBitterEnd) Compliment me.
ㄴ OP) ㅠㅠ???
ㄴ VampireToTheBitterEnd) 3
ㄴ VampireToTheBitterEnd) 2
ㄴ OP) I've only ever caught a glimpse of you in a screenshot, but you're so beautiful, and your skin is so fair! And you have such a super cool-beauty vibe that I've always wanted to meet you and talk to you at least once ㅠㅠㅠㅠ
ㄴ VampireToTheBitterEnd) Pass.
ㄴ Wow, they got through this.
ㄴ Congratulations on passing the 5,131st surprise-ban Golden Bell~
Barging into a random post, picking someone out, and demanding that they praise her.
[Featured post: I suddenly want to make it to the featured page]
Author: VampireToTheBitterEnd
Upvote me.
[Recommendations9999+] [Dislikes0]
- Yeong!
- Cha!
- Yeong
- Cha
- Why are you suddenly doing this?
ㄴ If you don't want to die, hit the deck...
ㄴ Never ask why.
Suddenly demanding to be featured because she wanted to be featured.
She was practically the Dark Knight of Gotham City without a Joker.
Though in the Gallery, she was clearly a blue mod who was closer to a troll than an administrator.
But beyond the Gallery, she would cleanly normalize Gallery users who trolled in the real world.
It didn't matter if they were Duke Isaac, said to be a genius swordsman, or even a variant monster.
“That's why she's absolutely necessary...”
Why wasn't she replying?
Didn't VampireToTheBitterEnd go crazy for sweets and snacks just as much as FullHPElf did?
Several hours had already passed since I sent the snacks, yet there was still no reply.
Just as I was wondering about it, the Gallery's post rate suddenly began to accelerate.
- Explain yourself, Head Mod!!!
- Why do you favor only the blue mods! Give me some too!
- I know how to enjoy tasty things too!
- Make me a blue mod too, please.
“What?”
The problem was that I had become the target, even though I was just rolling around in bed.
It was unfair when I hadn't done anything.
The moment I entered the featured posts to see what the hell was going on, I understood.
It was an unparalleled featured post even among the featured posts, having received over 7,000 recommendations and over 9,000 dislikes in near-equal measure.
[Featured post: Honey Butter Chip review, I say...jpg]
Author: FullHPElf
(Honey Butter Chip meme)
(Meme of a Honey Butter Chip being picked up and enlarged)
(Gif of it being slowly put into a mouth and chewed)
Do you know what this feels like, I say?
A delicate sweetness that can never be described in words.
It's a snack you could eat for the rest of your life without getting tired of it. If you like sweets, you absolutely have to try it, I say!
Ah lol, but they don't sell it in the marketplace, right?
(Gif of an elf sticking out its tongue)
Then I guess I'll eat it all by myself~ I say~
[Recommendations7453] [Dislikes9999+]
- What's with this '~I say~' shit lol
- This is pissing me the fuck off
- Honestly, it looks fucking delicious just from its appearance...
- Please, even if it's only one, put it into the barter system and send it over...
- Elves are seriously disgusting, for real
ㄴ Exactly. Isn't their attitude basically that they'll gobble it all up among themselves and refuse to share? Lol
ㄴ Seriously fucking disgusting
ㄴ We haven't tried it either, you hateful humans
ㄴ Share some with your fellow elves!!
ㄴ So you really think you're special just because you're a blue mod? I'll dig up your information and come find you, for real!!!!
ㄴ Oh, never mind.
ㄴ They haven't tried it either. My bad;
“Is this crazy elf?”
It was because FullHPElf had previously been cursed out across the Gallery over a salary she never even received, and now her insane, wide-area aggro spared neither her fellow blue mods nor other races.
It was all because of the insane, indiscriminate aggro FullHPElf, that blue mod, had unleashed across both her fellow blue mods and the other races.