The comment section's first page was already completely filled.
Not even thirty seconds had passed since the post went up.
[Comments]
Anon(312F): ? out of nowhere???
Anon(461F): Holy shit what is up with the Hero.
Fenrir: So they finally met lol ;;;;;;;
Anon(340F): Was eating and then what.
Anon(512F): Holy shit is that the Hero's party??
Anon(710F): HEROOOOOOOOOOOOO
Anon(631F): fffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff
Anon(351F): Gallery's first confirmed Hero photo drops lmaooooooo
Anon(418F): Wait what?? We were literally just eating a second ago.
Anon(311F): The Hero was actually real?????????????
Anon(148F): wtf?
Anon(277F): Is this real?
Anon(741F): HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLY
Anon(341F): Why isn't this the bait post about food going into someone's mouth.
The comment section was absolute pandemonium.
Understandably so.
She'd just posted a photo of herself eating in that same spot, and now the very same backdrop was blanketed in corpses and blood.
More than anything—this was the first confirmed sighting of actual invaders in the Gallery's entire history.
Anon(651F): Why did the menu suddenly change… from blood sausage and tteokbokki to this…
Anon(431F): Looks like she cut them all down lmao I'm losing it…
Anon(310F): holyshitholyshitholyshitholyshit
Anon(601F): What the hell is that with the separated head ;;;
Anon(388F): The Hero's party (former).
Anon(351F): Tent's painted red so looks like they got ambushed mid-meal lol
Anon(270F): I'm gonna hurl
One Who Savors a Cup of Black Tea: My… what an enchanting scene… Remarkable… Magnificent…
└ Anon(161F): Sis why are you like this, you absolute freak?
└ Anon(338F): Something got triggered in her ;;
Anon(420F): Wow… I never thought I'd live to see the Hero. Newbie's insane.
Anon(183F): I'm going to lose my mind fr
It was genuinely unhinged in there.
And even Floor-574 Anon, who'd been my guiding star all this time, was showing a surprised reaction.
Anon(574F): Wait they came already??? That's wild. Didn't see this coming…
His comment made it clear he hadn't expected them to arrive this fast.
But the replies to him were nothing but praise.
└ Anon(320F): I worship you. Galaxy-brain GOAT.
└ Anon(271F): Good thing she leveled up fast by climbing early. If it weren't for this guy, the newbie would've died on floor 1 at level 1 lmaooooooooooooo
└ Anon(320F): Everyone who said the Hero didn't exist can shut their mouths lol
└ Anon(620F): Fenrir ← is this a callout? lol
└ Anon(340F): For real, if the newbie hadn't listened to this guy and just sat there meditating at the start, she'd have been screwed fr
└ Anon(461F): His prophecy that the Hero would be trash also confirmed ㄷㄷㄷ
└ Anon(431F): Was she actually trash though? Looks like she did a whole song and dance with invincibility and instant-kill skills to take them down.
└ Anon(312F): Why do you think she used an instant-kill skill?
└ Anon(615F): Those mangled corpses weren't cut by a scythe, that's for sure ;;;
└ Anon(621F): But can you actually kill someone with an instant-kill skill you just learned? Pretty sure that's not how it works. Death God players, get in here.
After that, questions poured in nonstop.
Anon(310F): Are you okay???
Anon(418F): You were eating and the door just burst open? Must've scared the hell out of you lmaooo
Fenrir: Wait, was the Hero actually weak? ;;;
Anon(436F): You went to the Death God Realm, right?
Anon(351F): How did you win against three of them;;
Anon(199F): I'm getting chills, this is insane.
Anon(431F): Did you use Death's Edge Invincibility?
Anon(741F): How strong were they?
Anon(621F): Hey newbie, you can't just drop a photo and disappear ㅡㅡ Write something.
The flood of comments made my head throb.
I slumped down onto the floor and tapped at the holographic keyboard.
└ Anon(60F)(OP): First of all, I'm completely unharmed. I'll answer everything slowly. I'm a little dizzy right now.
└ Fenrir: Thank god…
└ Anon(432F): A n s w e r n o w t e l l m e i m m e d i a t e l y
└ Anon(312F): You survived. That's genuinely impressive.
I let out a long breath and replied to their questions one by one.
Three adventurers who burst in while I was resting.
The panic of those first moments.
The moment I alone realized they were enemies of each other.
My cover blown when I spilled the coffee.
The preemptive strike.
Activating Death's Edge Invincibility, making the trip to the Death God Realm, and using the instant-kill skill.
I gave a rough rundown of what had happened.
└ Anon(312F): Getting ambushed mid-meal and still keeping your head straight. Insane judgment.
└ Anon(621F): Not saying anything was genuinely the right call.
└ Anon(418F): Wow… her mental fortitude is something else fr.
└ Anon(331F): If it were me I would've just charged in and died immediately.
└ Anon(513F): Not letting your guard down was the real win bb
Most of the replies were admiring and complimentary.
But there were a few that weren't.
└ Anon(138F): Good job and all, but couldn't you have cut down both girls while they were drinking coffee?
└ Anon(513F): With a Strength stat under 40? Yeah right lmao
└ Anon(216F): But did she even need to invest in Strength? If she'd just blocked the exit and waited, the barrier's duration would've run out on its own.
└ Anon(531F): The instant-kill skill has a 7-year cooldown, wasn't it a bit hasty to use it right away?
└ Anon(681F): These idiots look like they've never seen an invader in their lives and will never fight in a floor war, so their backseat gaming is absolutely worthless lmaooooo
But they weren't entirely wrong.
If I'd felt zero tension from the start and hadn't hesitated for even a moment about killing people, I could have handled it more safely and cleanly.
On the other hand, though, there were reactions at the complete opposite end of the spectrum.
Anon(351F): Uhm… you're kind of scary.
└ Anon(277F): Fr, hearing the explanation and looking at the photos makes me want to throw up. I can't help wondering if it was really necessary to spill their guts like that…
└ Anon(154F): Those poor people…
└ Anon(432F): The girl who was inside the barrier must've been terrified…
Perfectly understandable things to say.
But sharp replies came firing back at those comments in rapid succession.
Anon(612F): What is wrong with these flower-brained idiots? Are they living in a different world?
Anon(521F): Why are you sympathizing with the invaders?
└ Anon(341F): Fr lol. Do they think they're human? We're the Demon Army.
└ Anon(431F): Obviously the type who would've frozen up and died if they were in the same situation as the newbie.
└ Anon(448F): Newbie killed them perfectly fine, what's the problem.
└ Anon(277F): No, I'm just saying it's gross because they're shaped like people, I never said anything bad about the newbie?
└ Anon(448F): Then please, enlighten us on how to kill someone in that situation without using a scythe.
└ Anon(631F): The humanoid types and their double standards lmaooooooooooooooo How many beast-type monsters have you cut down until now lmaooo the braincells lmaooooooooooooo
└ Anon(511F): Those respawn on lower floors though…
└ Anon(574F): Hmm… something feels off… what is it.
└ Anon(431F): Why is the galaxy-brain whining, you're making my stomach churn.
└ Anon(574F): ?
Comments defending me while I sat there quietly kept rolling in, but the ones criticizing me didn't bother me at all.
If anything, it was the opposite.
I was glad that people like that existed in this Gallery. People who still had their humanity intact.
If they kept looking at things that way, it would keep me from going numb to cruelty. Not that I should ever have to encounter humans in this tower again, but…
Just then.
A username appeared that seemed to be the polar opposite of the soft-hearted crowd.
"Oh. A username I've never seen before."
Void Hermit: …So this is the true face of the Hero everyone made such a fuss about.
Void Hermit: Not even worth swallowing whole, let alone savoring. Pitiful in both quantity and quality.
└ Anon(631F): The Gallery's certified sociopath has entered the chat ㄷㄷ
└ Anon(431F): This guy's humanoid himself, so why does he hate humans so much??
└ Anon(761F): It's not even hate, he just thinks they're insects.
└ Anon(431F): Didn't this guy leave the Gallery 90 years ago after going off the deep end while making some kind of pill?
That cold, detached way of speaking gave me a feeling.
Could this be one of the veteran usernames SSS-Rank Gear Chaser had mentioned?
└ Anon(631F): Did you see the post?? What do you think of our newbie??? ㅎㅎ Pretty amazing, right?
└ Anon(312F): Start from the post four days ago, give it a try
└ Anon(466F): Why do you guys project yourselves onto the newbie?
└ Anon(543F): If you're not going to project onto the newbie, why are you even on the Gallery right now?
└ Anon(321F): Fr lol
His next comment appeared.
It was just text taking up the same space as everything else, but the presence it carried was immense.
Void Hermit: …To think that mere mortal dust was my opponent. How utterly tedious. Ten thousand years of cultivation, wasted.
└ Anon(132F): Ten thousand years lol the Gallery hasn't even been around 400 years lmao
└ Anon(611F): Sweetie~! There's a little thing called time compression!
Void Hermit: The sheer insignificance of it all turns my stomach.
└ Anon(431F): I mean they could've been strong lol She used an instant-kill skill to finish them, so she never got to fight them properly.
└ Void Hermit: The moment they were disposed of by such a trivial trick, they ceased to be worth discussing.
└ Void Hermit: I shall depart once more. To think it would be this underwhelming.
A trivial trick, he said.
└ Anon(60F)(OP): Are there targets the instant-kill skill doesn't work on?
└ Anon(435F): dunno lol
No answer came. True to his word about leaving, he seemed to have closed the Gallery.
SSS-Rank Gear Chaser: That guy showing up at all means he's actually super interested in you, newbie lmao
└ Anon(433F): First time I've ever seen him post multiple comments in a row lol
SSS-Rank Gear Chaser: But yeah he's definitely disappointed lol. Came in out of curiosity and left in a bad mood.
Hmm. I wonder if there's anything I could learn from that person later.
Something about him makes me not want to get involved, though.
I was thinking that when Gear Chaser posted another helpful comment.
SSS-Rank Gear Chaser: Anyway, can you get a proper shot of the invaders' items? Post everything including their gear and I'll tell you if anything's worth keeping.
└ Anon(60F)(OP): Oh, thank you so much! Give me a sec.
I'd been waiting for exactly this.
I'd been thinking about looting, but I had no idea how to go about it.
└ Anon(621F): Looting time let's go.
└ Anon(531F): Strip 'em clean!!!
I closed the Gallery and walked toward the bodies.
*
└ Anon(574F): Hmm… I think we might be in trouble…
└ Anon(320F): Why?
└ Anon(612F): Galaxy-brain, why are you being ominous again.
└ Anon(574F): Nah never mind, she's got a day of vacation so it should be fine. I'll say something once the loot farming's done.
└ Anon(213F): The speculation factory is firing up ㄷㄷ