I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 161

A real-life PK, something I had only heard about, actually took place. I had only heard stories, but this was the first time I saw one actually happen.

It felt like watching an archaic piece of culture, something straight out of an era of romance.

’Real-life PK or whatever, as long as you win on the internet, that’s all that matters.’

Besides, back in the world I came from, there was the ultimate special move: "I’m suing you."

Though suing was practically a kamikaze move since it made life troublesome for both parties involved.

Plus, lawsuits only worked in cases of one-sided malicious comments, so if both sides bore responsibility, most couldn’t pull it off.

’And the biggest risk is getting your face exposed.’

Just look at the Blood Demon. People didn’t even know his face, yet he was being used in all sorts of memes.

If a real-life PK went sideways, you couldn’t complain even if you got publicly mocked to hell and back.

Human malice never truly disappeared, no matter how eras or worlds changed.

In fact, Earth’s internet culture felt even more vile in comparison.

’Well, it degraded just as much as it advanced.’

Anyway, setting that aside, I checked the video recording the Heavenly Demon’s martial prowess.

In the video, a woman dressed in black attire and a hulking man wearing a worn, tattered martial arts robe faced each other.

The difference in weight class was stark.

Yet, rendering that weight class meaningless, the woman was single-handedly toying with him.

’She’s pretty?’

The one-sided slaughter aside, the Heavenly Demon’s appearance caught my eye even more.

A beauty rivaling—no, perhaps even surpassing—elves, who were renowned as the race of beauty.

Combined with her lofty aura, she resembled a flower blooming at the peak of a sheer cliff.

A flower that required overcoming endless hardships just to pick, complete with sharp thorns bristling along its stem.

Her martial might, beauty, and presence were truly fit for the grandeur of the ’Heavenly Demon.’

’A person like this posts boomer-esque stuff in the Gallery?’

It wasn’t certain if this Heavenly Demon was the same person as Deputy Mod Heavenly Demon.

Yet for some reason, I had a strong hunch they were the exact same person.

The old-fashioned tone in the Gallery translated into maturity, and her stubborn image translated into lofty dignity.

Lastly, right down to the nuance of praising her own beauty. There was zero disconnect between reality and the Gallery.

The only sticking point was the possibility of her holding a high status or being old, but that didn’t really matter.

Re: How amazing is Heavenly Demon? I’m from the west so I don’t really know.

Re: Smart Demon) This is related to Central Plains history, but do you know what the Burning of Books and Burying of Scholars is?

Re: Don’t know.

Re: Smart Demon) Just think of it as going beyond suppressing scholars to exiling them. It’s an obscurantism policy they do in the Central Plains...

Re: What is that, you nerd?

Re: Don’t talk about stuff only you know, give us a one-line summary.

Re: Smart Demon) She’s just fucking crazy insanely impressive, alright? She personally chopped off the Emperor’s head.

Re: One-line summary thx

Re: That’s not a one-line summary though? lol

Re: Just fucking get it lol

Since the existence of ’Heavenly Demon’ itself signified the leader of the Demonic Cult.

The larger the organization, the less one could afford to overlook its ruler.

Especially since position shapes the person, the Heavenly Demon’s speech pattern might have shifted once she took that throne.

’And being arrogant just means she’s brimming with confidence when you think about it.’

More importantly, I recalled the Heavenly Demon’s opponent—the static user who posted the gore pic earlier.

The static user who had posted photos of blood-soaked ground and corpses while the moderators were away.

It was deleted soon after, but I had read that post. And I realized.

The Heavenly Demon had simply killed someone who deserved to die.

’I should provide some cover fire.’

I had tossed out the opinion that she wasn’t Deputy Mod Heavenly Demon on the grounds that she didn’t have the sword I gifted her.

As everyone knew, the Heavenly Demon was a swordsman. A swordsman skilled enough to possess a Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron blade.

Well, since she toyed with him barehanded, whether she had a sword or not probably made zero difference.

Still, from my perspective, it was better if the Heavenly Demon’s identity wasn’t exposed.

’Because if Heavenly Demon goes into hiding, I’d hate that.’

Besides, what would change even if I saw through her identity?

It was meaningless unless I actually went outside, and even if I did go out, it would still be fine.

Because we had shown each other courtesy and respect in the Gallery where anonymity was guaranteed.

If we did so in the Gallery, would reality be any different? I didn’t think so.

’And she’s the person with the highest chance of rescuing me.’

If the Heavenly Demon’s identity got exposed and she went into hiding, it wouldn’t benefit me in the slightest.

It would be best if we could just chat respectfully as usual and I could ask for advice.

I watched the Gallery, which was going wild over the Heavenly Demon, and sent a message.

Naturally, to the person who should be busiest right now—Heavenly Demon.

[Wild Grylls: Heavenly Demon-nim. Are you busy?]This chapter was taken from novelрing.com without permission.

[Heavenly Demon: This seat is always at leisure. What is it?]

She should be busy thinking of an explanation(?), yet surprisingly she replied right away.

At this speed, she was practically watching a fire on the opposite bank of the river.

After a brief moment of doubt, I asked about the topic in the Gallery.

[Wild Grylls: By any chance, are you the real Heavenly Demon?]

[Heavenly Demon: If this seat were, what would sir do?]

[Wild Grylls: Nothing much would change, right? The fact that you’re my benefactor doesn’t change.]

[Heavenly Demon: That is an answer to my liking.]

[Wild Grylls: So are you real?]

[Heavenly Demon: The real Heavenly Demon is a far grander existence.]

Isn’t she hyping herself up? Strangely, it felt like it.

Though it strongly felt like she was stubbornly denying it, I let it slide.

As I said earlier, I wanted to maintain a friendly relationship with Heavenly Demon.

[Wild Grylls: Got it. Then when do you plan to clarify things? Until you speak up directly, Heavenly Demon-nim, it seems it’ll keep burning wildly.]

[Heavenly Demon: Right now, I wish to enjoy this. Seeing them praise this seat in such a manner warms my heart.]

Still, one thing was certain: Heavenly Demon was enjoying this attention.

Her being wary of the Blood Demon who was worshiped via memes, and her clickbait posts before becoming a Deputy Mod, pointed to it.

While having a "my way" sort of personality, she desired the attention of the users.

’Well, that makes sense.’

Heavenly Demon is human too.

Surprisingly, this makes her even more charming.

Furthermore, she didn’t harm others with low-class insults like family insults.

She felt like a person closer to good than evil.

[Heavenly Demon: Still, there is one concern I have.]

[Wild Grylls: What is it?]

[Heavenly Demon: They might perchance think this seat and the real Heavenly Demon are the same person. Would they not?]

[Wild Grylls: That possibility... is there, right?]

[Heavenly Demon: What thinkest sir? Dost thou truly believe much will change if that happens?]

Looking at it, she seemed to want to enjoy the Gallery as usual.

Since Heavenly Demon genuinely liked the medium of the Gallery itself.

After contemplating her words for a moment, I sent a reply.

[Wild Grylls: First of all, you are going to issue a clarification, right?]

[Heavenly Demon: Naturally, I must.]

[Wild Grylls: I don’t think you need to worry too much then. Things won’t really change much from before.]

[Heavenly Demon: Why so?]

[Wild Grylls: Either way, Heavenly Demon-nim, you don’t actually know any of the people talking about you, right?]

Even if users knew Heavenly Demon, Heavenly Demon didn’t know the users. That was the main point.

It was a one-way street, not a two-way street.

However, the issue was that the real-life Heavenly Demon’s honor might be tarnished.

[Heavenly Demon: It mattereth not. People speak ill of kings behind their backs, so why bother stopping them? Nay, if one could curse me to my face, even this seat would acknowledge them.]

[Wild Grylls: This seat?]

[Heavenly Demon: My tongue slipped. In any case, I do not mind, so thou needest not worry.]

Though she herself maintained a nonchalant attitude, Heavenly Demon’s words were spot on.

In a Gallery where even the Emperor was called all sorts of derogatory names, the Heavenly Demon was no different.

In fact, the insults here were quite mild. Earth was... I won’t bother explaining.

I had come to realize that a single person could be given that many nicknames.

’Sports players had tons of bizarre nicknames. Is it like that here too?’

I’d look into it slowly. At any rate, there seemed to be no need to worry about Heavenly Demon’s anonymity.

She had found her own solution, and our relationship hadn’t changed from before.

[Wild Grylls: By the way, who is that person named Geum-jang?]

[Heavenly Demon: I asked my aide, and he said he was one of the Blood Cult’s elders. He possessed quite decent skill.]

[Wild Grylls: I wouldn’t stand a chance, right?]

[Heavenly Demon: He would be roughly on par with the chief fellow, not the white fellow.]

So he was fucking strong. And Heavenly Demon played with someone like that.

With skill like Heavenly Demon’s, even if she entered the Forest of the Four Seasons, wouldn’t she become a ruler of a territory?

I tossed aside useless thoughts and turned my head.

In the direction I turned, Lackey was diligently sawing away.

’I wonder if Lackey knows this Geum-jang guy too?’

Curious, I asked Heavenly Demon to write down Geum-jang’s name for me.

After receiving the text shortly after, I called Lackey over.

"Lackey! Come over here for a sec!"

"?"

Lackey stopped his hard sawing work and ran over.Follow the newest chapters on novelping dot com.

Up until two days ago, he wouldn’t even pretend to hear me when I called, but now he came right over.

It seemed giving him the glasses had built a sort of trust between us.

"Do you know who this is?"

"...."

When I wrote the name on the ground, Lackey stared at it intently for a while.

Then, as if he recognized the name, he nodded and looked at me, speaking.

"#%@#%"

"...You can’t speak Korean yet, can you?"

"Ukki?"

"Sigh. Shit."

I need to teach him quickly. Not being able to communicate is frustrating as hell.

Besides, translating back and forth through Heavenly Demon like this was quite cumbersome. I felt bad, too.

Anyway, Heavenly Demon translated Lackey’s reply directly.

[Heavenly Demon: He says he was the most trusted subordinate. Supposedly he was slated to be the Blood Cult’s next successor.]

[Wild Grylls: He was a massive big shot then. If such a person disappeared...]

[Heavenly Demon: Those gorilla fellows are the real successors.]

[Wild Grylls: Do you think they’ll come to the Forest of the Four Seasons to find the successor?]

Whether to kill the successor or bring him back, it was a pretty big deal for the Blood Cult.

With Geum-jang, who should have been their pillar and main muscle, fallen at the Heavenly Demon’s hands.

Now that they were on the Heavenly Demon’s hit list, what could the Blood Cult even do? Nothing.

Unless they searched for Lackey and the Chief Gorilla in sheer desperation like clinging to someone’s pant legs.

[Heavenly Demon: That possibility is not zero. The world is vast and crazy bastards are plentiful. And according to my aide, those Blood Cult fellows are utterly batshit crazy.]

[Wild Grylls: I want sane people; I want to avoid crazy ones.]

No matter how much I missed human interaction, I didn’t want to live alongside Hitler worshippers.

We couldn’t even communicate, and they might harm me.

’Though a sane person wouldn’t come anywhere near the Forest of the Four Seasons in the first place...’

When people back on Earth fell for cults and committed all kinds of antics, how much worse could it be here?

It would be worse, never less.

Planning to keep a close eye on the Blood Cult’s activities for the time being, I spoke to Heavenly Demon.

[Wild Grylls: Thank you for letting me know. You’ll post a thread soon, right?]

[Heavenly Demon: I have prepared a clarification perfectly suited for the Gallery users. Since it carries sir’s advice, thou mayest look forward to it.]

[Wild Grylls: Oh. I’ll look forward to it.]

Just what kind of clarification was she preparing that she told me to look forward to it?

I tossed a Fasting Pill to Lackey, telling him good job.

Lackey looked delighted and happily munched down the Fasting Pill.

Speed Sloth shot me a strange look, but I tried to ignore it. I still had plenty left.

’Let’s see. She must have posted it by now...’

It was while I was browsing the Gallery.

[This seat is the Heavenly Demon.]

A title impossible to ignore caught my eye. And it really was Heavenly Demon.

Did she just announce herself despite saying all that earlier?

Baffled by her contradictory words and actions, I clicked into the post.

Perhaps because there were so many users accessing it, it even lagged slightly.

Title) This seat is the Heavenly Demon.

[Heavenly Demon]

In truth, ’tis a lie.

But what art thou going to do about it?

What can ye fools even do? Ye insignificant worms.

Other than getting angry, cursing, and belittling, what can ye possibly achieve? I hear only the lamentations of worms who cannot even reach the heavens.

Re: Sword Matstar) What kind of post is this lolol

Re: Holy shit lolol This trash is the Heavenly Demon? Bullshit hahahaha

Re: If that’s really the Heavenly Demon, the Demonic Cult members are gonna cry;;

Re: Fuck, how is that garbage the Heavenly Demon lolol That’s just a Gallery idiot

Re: Smart Demon) I’ll just choose to believe it’s fake. That’ll make my mind feel easier.

Re: Didn’t you say you were from the Demonic Cult last time? That thing is your lord.

Re: Smart Demon) Fuck off, no it isn’t you son of a bitch.

Re: Why are you swearing;;

"Umm..."

If nothing else, one thing was absolutely clear.

’She’s truly wise, isn’t she?’

Extremely wise indeed.