Chapter 21
Then the first page of the comments was already completely filled.
It hadn't even been thirty seconds since the post had gone up.
[Comments]
ㅇㅇ(312F) : ? What the hell, all of a sudden???
ㅇㅇ(461F) : Holy shit, that's the hero.
Fenrir : So we finally meet, for fuck's sake;;;;;;;
ㅇㅇ(340F) : What the hell? I was eating.
ㅇㅇ(512F) : Holy shit, is that the hero's party?
ㅇㅇ(710F) : Heeerooooooooooooooooooo!
ㅇㅇ(631F) : D-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d
ㅇㅇ(351F) : The gallery's first real hero photos just dropped LOL
ㅇㅇ(418F) : Wait, what is this? We were just eating a minute ago.
ㅇㅇ(311F) : The hero really existed?????????????
ㅇㅇ(148F) : F*ck?
ㅇㅇ(277F) : Is this for real?
ㅇㅇ(741F) : Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck
ㅇㅇ(341F) : Why isn't this bait about food invading your mouth?
The comments were an absolute madhouse.
It was only natural.
He had just uploaded pictures of himself eating in the same setting, and in the very next picture, that setting was covered in blood and corpses.
More than anything, these were the first confirmed pictures of the intruders themselves in the gallery's history.
ㅇㅇ(651F) : Why did the menu suddenly change to... sundae and tteokbokki...?
ㅇㅇ(431F) : Looks like he cut them all down. Holy shit… insane.
ㅇㅇ(310F) : Insane, insane, insane, insane
ㅇㅇ(601F) : What's with that severed head?;;;
ㅇㅇ(388F) : Hero party (formerly).
ㅇㅇ(351F) : Seeing the tent covered in blood, I guess they were ambushed while eating. D-d
ㅇㅇ(270F) : Bleeuuuuuuuuugh
Knows the Leisure of a Cup of Black Tea : Oh my… what an enchanting view… Amazing… Wonderful…
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(161F) : What's wrong with this lady? Was she always a lunatic?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(338F) : Looks like someone pressed a button ;;
ㅇㅇ(420F) : Wow… I really am living to see the hero. Newbie, you're insane.
ㅇㅇ(183F) : I seriously feel like I'm losing my mind.
It really was being turned upside down.
Even the person on Floor 574, who had been my guidepost all this time, was reacting with surprise.
ㅇㅇ(574F) : Huh? He already got here??? That's crazy. I didn't expect this…
From his perspective, it was a comment saying he hadn't expected them to arrive this quickly.
But the replies were filled with praise for him.
ㄴㅇㅇ(320F) : I worship you, cerebral GOAT.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(271F) : Good thing you climbed quickly and leveled up. Without this guy, the newbie would've died at Level 1 on Floor 1 for real LOL
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(320F) : To everyone saying the hero doesn't exist: shut your mouths LOL
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(620F) : Is Fenrir taking a shot at this regular? LOL
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(340F) : If the newbie had ignored this guy and just meditated back at the beginning, things would've gone to hell. For real.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(461F) : The prediction that the hero was weak came true. D-d-d
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(431F) : Is he really weak? Looks like he had to put on a whole show with an invincibility skill and an instant-death skill just to kill them.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(312F) : Why do you think he used an instant-death skill?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(615F) : That mangled corpse couldn't have been cut apart with a scythe, could it?;;;
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(621F) : But can you really kill someone immediately with the first instant-death skill you learn? I don't think so. Any Reapers here?
Questions poured in without pause after that.
ㅇㅇ(310F) : Are you okay???
ㅇㅇ(418F) : Did the door suddenly open while you were eating? That must've scared the hell out of you, fuck's sake LOL
Fenrir : Was the hero really weak? ;;
ㅇㅇ(436F) : You went to the Reaper realm, right?
ㅇㅇ(351F) : How did you beat three people?;;
ㅇㅇ(199F) : This is giving me chills.
ㅇㅇ(431F) : Did you use Death's End?
ㅇㅇ(741F) : How strong was he?
ㅇㅇ(621F) : Newbie, how can you just dump the pictures and leave? Write something alreadyㅡㅡ
My head throbbed from all the comments pouring in.
I sat down on the floor and tapped away at the holographic keyboard.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(60F)(OP) : I wasn't hurt at all, to start with. I'll answer everything slowly. I'm still dizzy too.
ㄴFenrir : That's a relief…
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(432F) : A n s w e r n o w T e l l u s i m m e d i a t e l y
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(312F) : It's incredible that you survived, seriously.
I took one deep breath and replied to their questions one by one.
The three adventurers who barged in while I was resting.
The initial panic.
The moment when I was the only one who realized we were enemies.
My identity being exposed when I spilled the coffee.
The preemptive attack.
The moment I activated Death's End, visited the Reaper realm, and used the instant-death skill.
I gave them a rough explanation of what had happened.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(312F) : You got ambushed while eating, but your judgment was insane.
ㄴㅇㅇ(621F) : It was really smart not to say anything.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(418F) : Wow… your mental fortitude is seriously insane.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(331F) : If it were me, I would've charged in and died immediately.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(513F) : Not letting your guard down was really good. bb
Most of the comments were full of admiration and praise.
But there were also a few reactions that weren't.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(138F) : You did well, but couldn't you have cut both girls down at once while they were drinking coffee?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(513F) : Your Strength wasn't even 40. How would that have worked? LOL
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(216F) : But did you really need to invest in Strength? If you'd just blocked the passage, the barrier would've run out of time.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(531F) : The instant-death skill has a seven-year cooldown. Wasn't it too soon to use it?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(681F) : These idiots will never see an intruder in their lives or fight in a promotion match, but their backseat gaming is insane LOL
But they weren't completely wrong.
If I hadn't been nervous from the start and hadn't hesitated for even a moment about killing people, I could have handled things more safely and perfectly.
On the other hand, there were also reactions from the exact opposite perspective.
ㅇㅇ(351F) : Um… you're kind of scary.
ㄴㅇㅇ(277F) : For real. Hearing the explanation and seeing the pictures makes me feel like I'm going to puke. Did you really have to make her guts spill out…?
ㄴㅇㅇ(154F) : Poor thing…
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(432F) : The girl inside the barrier must have been terrified…
It was an understandable thing to say.
But those comments were met with a string of sharp replies.
ㅇㅇ(612F) : What are these flower-brained idiots? Do they live in another world?
ㅇㅇ(521F) : Why are you sympathizing with the intruders?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(341F) : For real LOL. They think they're human or something. We're the Demon King's army.
ㄴㅇㅇ(431F) : If they were put in the same situation as the newbie, they'd obviously have frozen up and died.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(448F) : The newbie killed them damn well. What the hell are you complaining about?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(277F) : I'm just saying it's grotesque because they have human forms too. Who badmouthed the newbie?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(448F) : Then please tell me how to kill them in that situation without using the scythe.
ㄴㅇㅇ(631F) : The hypocrisy of humanoid types is insane LOL. How many beast-types have we cut down so far? Intelligence, for fuck's sake LOL
ㄴㅇㅇ(511F) : They revive on the lower floors…
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(574F) : Hmm… something feels strange… What is it?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(431F) : Why are you whining, Brain Emperor? You're making me want to blow a raspberry on your belly.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(574F) : ?
Comments defending me continued to appear, but I wasn't offended at all by the ones criticizing me.
If anything, it was the opposite.
I was glad that people this human still existed in the gallery.
If they continued to hold on to that perspective, I could stay wary of becoming numb to cruelty. Though I hoped I would never meet another human in this tower…
But then.
A regular with an apparent disposition diametrically opposed to those soft-hearted people appeared.
“Oh. That's a username I haven't seen before.”
Grand Void Cultivator : So this is the identity of the hero everyone was making such a fuss over.
Grand Void Cultivator : The quantity and quality are so pathetic that they're not even worth chewing and swallowing, let alone decocting.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(631F) : The gallery-certified psychopath has entered. D-d-d
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(431F) : Why does this guy hate humans so much when he's humanoid too?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(761F) : It's not even hatred. He just seems to think of them as bugs.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(431F) : Wasn't this guy the one who went menhera while making Pondan pills and left the gallery ninety years ago?
His cold-blooded tone gave me a feeling.
Could he be the veteran regular SSS-Rank Item Carry had mentioned?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(631F) : Did you see the post? What do you think of our newbie??? He's awesome, right? Hehe.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(312F) : Start with the post from four days ago. Give it a try.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(466F) : Why are these guys projecting themselves onto the newbie?
ㄴㅇㅇ(543F) : If you're not going to project yourself onto the newbie, why are you even on the gallery?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(321F) : For real LOL.
His next comment appeared.
It was only text occupying the same amount of space as any other comment, but its presence was overwhelming.
Grand Void Cultivator : …To think those mere mortal specks were my opponents. How utterly boring. I almost regret ten thousand years of cultivation.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(132F) : He's talking about ten thousand years when the gallery isn't even four hundred years old LOL
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(611F) : Baekjok~! There's a concept called time compression!
Grand Void Cultivator : Their insignificance makes me feel nauseated.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(431F) : But they might have been strong, you know? LOL. He used an instant-death skill to kill them, so he probably didn't even get to fight them properly.
ㄴ Grand Void Cultivator : There is nothing worth discussing once they have been dealt with by such a paltry supernatural technique.
ㄴ Grand Void Cultivator : I shall depart once more. I never expected them to be this insignificant.
Such a paltry supernatural technique.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(60F)(OP) : Are there targets the instant-death skill doesn't work on?
ㄴㅇㅇ(435F) : Dunno?
No answer came. It seemed he had shut off the gallery after saying he was leaving for good.
SSS-Rank Item Carry : That guy must be really interested in the newbie if he's commenting this much LOL
ㄴㅇㅇ(433F) : That's the first time I've ever seen him post comments back to back LOL
SSS-Rank Item Carry : But he definitely is disappointed LOL. He came in because he was curious, then got all prickly.
Hmm. I wondered if there was anything I could get from that person later.
I had a feeling I didn't want to get involved with him.
As I was thinking that, Item Carry's question came in.
SSS-Rank Item Carry : By the way, didn't you get any items? Did you loot them?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(60F)(OP) : Ah, I haven't checked the items yet… I got about 400,000 gold from the Demon King's reward.
ㅇㅇ(188F) : ?
ㄴ SSS-Rank Item Carry : 400,000?! D-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d
ㄴㅇㅇ(510F) : Holy shit.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(321F) : Damn, I'm jealous.
ㄴㅇㅇ(461F) : Wait, is 400,000 even a real amount? I've never even reached five digits.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(631F) : 400,000 gold in one go is insane…
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(341F) : That's incredible. This must be the real way to make money LOL
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(520F) : Mr. On Break's brain short-circuited after living on his pension LOL
Four hundred thousand really must have been an enormous fortune.
And then I mentioned one more thing I'd received.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(60F)(OP) : And I got a vacation too.
ㄴ Fenrir : ? A vacation?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(351F) : What's a vacation?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(60F)(OP) : It says, ‘Access to this floor will be completely restricted for 24 hours.’ Looks like no one can enter Floor 60 for a day.
ㄴㅇㅇ(505F) : Wow, something like that exists? What the hell.
ㄴㅇㅇ(741F) : That's sweet LOL. You can sleep with your legs stretched out, newbie.
It seemed to be the first time they had heard of the concept of a vacation.
Which made sense…
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(331F) : You guys have been on indefinite vacation for life. Why are you jealous of one measly day?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(348F) : For real.
Everyone except me had been resting normally all along…
Perhaps for that reason, SSS-Rank Item Carry seemed interested only in the gold.
ㄴ SSS-Rank Item Carry : Wow, with 400,000 gold, you can even buy the top item two months from now. That's insane.
ㄴㅇㅇ(431F) : Don't you just buy everything whenever the Golden Carriage comes around?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(321F) : Wow, I'm so damn jealous.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(531F) : Why are people who fight maybe once a year jealous? LOL
ㄴㅇㅇ(631F) : Gearing up is the main content of the Demon King's Tower, come on LOL
At that moment, SSS-Rank Item Carry posted another comment offering to help.
ㄴ SSS-Rank Item Carry : Could you take clear pictures of the intruders' possessions? Upload everything, including their equipment, and I'll tell you if there's anything useful.
ㄴㅇㅇ(60F)(OP) : Wow, thank you! Give me a moment.
I had been waiting for this comment too.
I had thought about looting them, but I had no idea what to do with the items.
ㄴㅇㅇ(621F) : Let's get looting.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(531F) : Strip them bare!!!
I shut off the gallery and walked over to the corpses.
*
ㄴㅇㅇ(574F) : Hmm… I think we're screwed right now…
ㄴㅇㅇ(320F) : Why?
ㄴㅇㅇ(612F) : Why are you making us nervous again, Brain Emperor?
ㄴㅇㅇ(574F) : No, never mind. We have a day's vacation, so it should be fine. I'll tell you after we're done farming the items.
ㄴㅇㅇ(213F) : The brain-speculation factory is starting up. D-d-d