Chapter 39

Chapter 39, Constant Worship

A new post appeared in the Gallery while people were still discussing the possibility that the Gallery Master might be dead.

Within less than ten seconds of being posted, it received a hundred recommendations and reached the popular-post section.

[Who am I?]

[Author: Anonymous]

[(Image of the #Wuxia Tag.jpg)

WUXIA.

IS.

THE.

BEST.

I am a proud martial artist of Wuxia!

Is there anyone who wishes to fight me in a life-and-death duel?]

└ What the hell is that, you nerd?

└ This guy disappears for five days and this is the first crap he posts after coming back??

└ What's that piece of paper?

└ What is it supposed to mean?

└ Don't tell me that's a Mystery.

└ A Mystery looks that cheap?

└ Wait, I think I know what that is. Is that seriously real?

└ What is it?

└ Don't keep it to yourself, tell us.

└ Wow... isn't that “that thing”? I never expected something like that to actually exist...

└ What the hell is “that thing”???

└ To think the Gallery Master's world actually had “that” thing I've only heard rumors about... I never imagined it.

└ Are these guys role-playing or something?

└ Looks like it, but the original commenter seriously seems to know what it is. Isn't that guy a Magus?

└ The Gallery Master finally admitted martial arts are superior to magic!

└ Bullshit. Keep your delusions inside your own brain.

└ Aren't you the one deluding your, self?

└ Quote from the Gallery Master: “I am a proud martial artist of Wuxia!” You still don't understand after seeing that?

└ Quote from the Gallery Master: “WUXIA IS THE BEST. MAGIC IS TRASH.”

└ This bastard naturally slips in fake quotes while attacking people...

└ Wait, shouldn't it be “a martial artist of the martial world” instead of “a martial artist of Wuxia”?

└ It's “martial artist of the martial world”... didn't you claim you were at the Harmony Realm?

└ Hahaha, whoops, mistake.

└ A mistake? You bastard! You nitpicked every post I wrote while bragging about being in the Harmony Realm! Were you lying the whole time???

I looked away from the post and stared at the two women pressed closely against me.

Hwa-ryeon smelled like flowers.

Arlin smelled like the sea.

They were browsing the Gallery with me.

Hwa-ryeon especially had sparkling eyes as she typed on the keyboard floating in the air.

We had discovered this function yesterday.

As long as I gave permission, someone else could use my account to post on the Gallery.

Yes.

Hwa-ryeon had written the post from earlier.

Arlin glared viciously at her.

“Magic... is trash? Are you in your right mind? You're someone studying the primitive discipline of physically moving your body, yet you dare insult the noble art of magic?”

“I'm completely fine. And I didn't even write that comment. Why? Are you angry because it's true, Magic Freak?”

Two days had already passed since we destroyed the Company.

We spent the entire first day resting.

I hadn't had any chance to check the Gallery.

Only after spending a full day recovering did I finally have time to browse again.

It had been five days since I last checked.

If I included the time before regression, it had been more than a week.

And the Gallery had gone completely insane.

[When is the Gallery Master coming back? When is the Gallery Master coming back? When is the Gallery Master coming back?]

[I killed the Heavenly Demon yesterday. The reason was because the Gallery Master disappeared.]

[Ah, my life. My death. My rest. My peace. Gallery Master, Gallery Master, ah... where have you gone...]

[The martial world embraced martial masters, the continent embraced mages, and the Gallery Master embraced the Gallery.]

[Today, I finally reached the Harmony Realm. Seeing that there are still many realms above me suddenly made me realize how amazing the Gallery Master is.]

[It has been five days since the Gallery Master disappeared. My universe went dark.]

[I thought the Gallery Master was a new toy that finally appeared after five hundred years. That was before he disappeared. It turns out we were the Gallery Master's toys, and now we've been abandoned.]

[Lucy. Beautiful Lucy. You whose scent of paper enchants me. There have been no new pictures of you for five days... Gallery Master, please show mercy.]

There were worship posts.

Lamenting posts.

Sudden worship.

Every kind of meme imaginable.

All of them had one thing in common.

They were about me.

I couldn't believe the Gallery had turned into this just because I hadn't appeared for five days.

Of course, not all of them were being serious.

There were probably some people who genuinely meant it.

But most were probably just following whatever topic was currently popular in the Gallery.

Looking at the posts, the trend had begun around two days after I disappeared.

In other words, they had been obsessing over the same topic for three days.

They were probably starting to get bored of it.

Then I returned.

And Hwa-ryeon, using my account, aggressively started another magic-versus-martial-arts war.

As a result, two major topics were now trending.

[No matter how I look at it, doesn't that paper seem like a Mystery?]

[I think the hashtag written before the word is more important than the word itself.]

[I have a few guesses... but one thing is certain. That definitely isn't an ordinary Mystery.]

One topic was people analyzing the #Wuxia Tag visible in the picture I had posted.

[Martial arts, this guy is pretty impressive, huh? Even the Gallery Master acknowledged it.]

[“That is not how you swing a sword.” The Gallery Master said to Martial Arts.]

[The Gallery Master officially confirmed Martial Arts >>>>> Magic.]

The other topic was yet another war over magic versus martial arts.

“Hwa-ryeon. Delete that post immediately.”

“Why should I? If you don't like it, write your own.”

“Do you think I can't?”

I stiffened when Arlin pulled one arm free and began awkwardly typing.

The keyboard was floating on the right.

Arlin was sitting on my left.

To reach it, she leaned across me.

Her body pressed firmly against mine.

The refreshing yet heavy scent of the sea filled my nose.

Feeling something soft pressing against my chest, I moved the keyboard closer so she could type more easily.

She thanked me.

Then she wrote her own post.

This argument was probably going to burn even hotter than before.

“Are you both finished with the Gallery?”

“Yeah. I'm satisfied. Thanks.”

“Yes. Thank you as well. I was able to properly demonstrate how noble magic is.”

I pulled the cloud-like keyboard toward myself.

Strangely enough, it had a small amount of physical mass.

I could actually touch it with my hands.

At the same time, it remained translucent like a cloud.

I admired it for a moment.

Then I began typing.

My new post was about our journey.

Like usual, it was a mixture of a survival report and diary entry.

It didn't take long to finish.

Once uploaded, Gallery users who were deeply interested in Mysteries immediately rushed in to examine every detail.

Now the Gallery had three major topics.

People had divided into separate groups, each talking about whatever they personally cared about.

Maybe things would calm down after a day.

I had rested enough.

I decided to leave the Gallery alone for the day.

I already had something else to do.

The atmosphere in our apartment complex had completely changed over the previous four days.

I needed to find out why.

I called Confirmation Bias.

Since Bias had stayed at home for those four days, perhaps she knew something.

Bias trotted out of the bedroom and entered the living room.

I asked her what had happened in the apartment complex.

“What happened while you were gone? Umm... I'm not really sure...”

She answered hesitantly.

Something had definitely happened.

The most likely explanation seemed to be murder.

Something similar had almost happened to me before.

Four men had broken into my home, planning to rob me.

There was no way I was the only victim of things like that.

There must have been other criminals.

Other victims.

Still...

That alone wouldn't explain why dozens of armed people had gathered in one place.

Unless there had been dozens of robberies.

No.

Even then, would dozens of people really gather together like that?

I didn't know.

At times like this, instead of thinking alone, it was better to use collective intelligence.

I almost opened the Gallery like usual.

Then I noticed the flames around my hand had grown slightly larger than before.

I closed the Gallery again.

“Let's just go and investigate directly.”

I still hadn't fully recovered from the exhaustion.

The things we had harvested from the Company hadn't even been organized yet.

They were still sleeping inside our bags.

Still, this was a problem happening in the apartment complex where I lived.

I wanted to deal with it as quickly as possible.

I created a save point.

Then I took Arlin and left the apartment.

I planned to leave Hwa-ryeon and Lee Yeonhee at home.

Hwa-ryeon could quietly kill intruders.

Lee Yeonhee had difficulty protecting herself alone.

There was a chance someone might break in while we were gone.

Even with regression, the emotions I experienced didn't disappear.

If possible, I wanted unpleasant things to simply never happen.

Preventing them was better than fixing them afterward.

“We'll be back. Please watch the house carefully.”

“...Are you sure you'll be okay?”

Lee Yeonhee looked worriedly at my leg.

My left leg had regenerated about halfway.

Thanks to her healing over the last two days, more than half of the leg had returned.

Considering her growth rate, it would probably be fully restored within another day.

For some reason, my physical condition still felt poor.

Maybe the exhaustion hadn't completely disappeared.

My chest felt unsettled.

I almost felt like vomiting.

Even so, I shook my head.

“I'll be able to walk if Arlin helps me. She can also use flight magic.”

Arlin nodded and cast a spell on me.

Moving became easier.

Flight magic consumed mana quickly, so Arlin offered to support me instead.

I declined.

Then I pulled crutches from my bag.

We left the apartment.

Now we needed to find someone.

Arlin concentrated and raised both hands.

Blue energy rippled around her small hands.

Still focused, she clapped.

Clap!

The sound echoed.

I felt invisible energy spread outward together with the sound in the form of vibrations.

It was mana-based detection in every direction.

“Found them.”

Arlin opened her eyes immediately afterward.