Continent United Gallery
Sometimes in life, totally unexpected situations pop up out of nowhere. Most of the time, you improvise or draw on experience to get through them. But what if something way beyond that happens? What do you do then?
What do you mean, what do you do? You scramble for any means necessary.
"Fuck. What the hell is this."
A curse slipped out at the sight before my eyes. And who could blame me, given my situation?
Forest in front. Forest behind. Forest to the right and left. Forest everywhere. Towering trees so massive they blocked out the sun.
Where the hell was this, and why was I here? I couldn't make sense of it.
Welcome to the Continent United Gallery.
"Ah, shit. You scared me."
As my mind went blank, a weird message floated in front of me, hovering in the air like a hologram. I jolted in surprise, but it soon shifted into something else.
Recovery Prayer Day 114
[1] I'm losing my mindI'm losing my mindI'm losing my mindI'm losing my mind
[12] Whatever you do, DON'T click below!!!
[52] Today's the day for this!
[105] Is this... the continent gallery... for real...?
[8] Started dating my childhood friend! AMA!!
[10] Is there no one to engage in deep conversation with this lady? It's a serious matter.
The world's most horrific chaos, served up raw. Did I drink too much last night? The second I woke up, I was seeing shit that wasn't there. But even after rubbing my eyes over and over, the floating window hung there stubbornly. I was about to lose it.
"Am I... dreaming this...?"
I had no clue what was going on. Half-dazed, I moved my finger toward it. Would this even work? It looked just like those galleries I'd seen online. I picked the post with the most comments amid the chaos.
The post doesn't exist or has been deleted.
"...?"
More questions than chaos now. Should've clicked faster. But thanks to that, I realized my situation. Arms crossed, I scrolled through the gallery. I wasn't a regular, but I'd browsed a few times for info. And even as a hologram, it was dead simple to use—reacting to my gestures or even eye movements just as I wanted.
Recovery Prayer Day 114
StarlightPrincess
Recovery Prayer Day 114
└Hang in there.
The post with the fewest comments was short, with equally short replies. Not enough to judge. But first, I needed to check if where I was seemed safe.
Whatever this is, better play it safe.
No telling what might jump out in a forest like this. A bear shows up, and I'm done. At least light filtered through sparsely enough to see ahead. I started walking.
"Hm?"
Then I spotted some grass catching my eye. The dense trees hid it well, but that shimmer gave it away. And I needed cover anyway. I crept between the trees and settled in.
Neat-looking thing.
Ordinary grass at a glance, but its petals curved like a crescent moon. Glowing like the night sky's sliver, even without light. Pretty flower.
But pretty things usually pack poison.
So I left it alone. Rule one in forests like this: don't touch unknowns. Especially mushrooms. Better catch bugs if you're starving. Praying I wouldn't hit rock bottom, but given my spot, I had to consider it.
Any rules here?
I looked up, and the gallery popped open with just a thought. The top post was a sticky notice.
Notice
Don'tAbandonHero (Judaek)
1. No posts causing disgust or discomfort!
2. No pornographic images or videos!
3. No stirring inter-nation tensions!
4. No excessive cliques or excluding newcomers!
5. Violate the above? Ban!
6. Let's keep the gallery peaceful!
7. Heroes aren't harmful! Don't abandon them! (Most important!)
└No clue about the rest, but what's with the last one lololol
└What's the hero up to rn? Asleep?
└Heard lots of "world's at peace, so heroes are useless" talk
└Rumor has it the Empire sent an extermination squad lol
└Fr, that's rough lololol
That orange one was probably an admin or something. I'd heard of it. The notice was straightforward—no lines crossed, no ban. Super user-friendly too: photo/video posting, even user trades. But non-auction trades only for fixed nicks, to prevent illegals. And chats timed out after 3 minutes to avoid cliques.
Users can trade?
Best news yet. No idea where I was. Survival gear trumped money right now. Food was priority one, then weapons, firestarters—everything.
Trades favor the desperate, though. The needier you are, the worse the deal. After agonizing, I made a fixed nick. Needed to ID this place first.
Opened my eyes in a forest. Where tf is this?
YasaengGrill
Drank last night, woke up here;; Anyone know where this is?
Posted. Knew this was another world. Issue was where. No time to ponder how. Survive first, think later. Dead means nothing.
└? Who the hell is this guy
└Just legs? Guess who lol
└Want my legs? Guess mine
└Come on
└Looks like a girl's
└Go for it
└Actually a dude lol
└Fuckin
Damn, useless comments only. Assholes. But it hit me: I fucked up. Just a forest pic? No way to ID it. At least they replied—friendly enough.
So I posted again.
What's the continent's most famous forest?
YasaengGrill
Srsly
└GrowTrees
Obviously Alvhaym!
└Fuck off you tree-huggers
└GrowTrees
Tree-huggers? We just stated facts!
└Y'all wreck your own forest and invade others
└GrowTrees
Mother Nature herself said: All forests are Alvhaym!
└PassingDwarf
Those fuckers wiped out all my firewood sb
└Always causing trouble, total nuisances
└100 yrs ago they tunneled underground for World Tree roots lol
└They're worse than demons these days lololol
"... "
Kids, give me normal replies. Thought GrowTrees might help, but nope. All forests = Alvhaym. Alvhaym = elf turf. Thus all forests = elf turf. Spreading that nonsense.
Not imperialists or what?
Elves love nature, right? Shocking mindset, even with other races existing. Steer clear. Asked another question.
└YasaengGrill
No forests elves hate?
└PassingDwarf
Yeah. Four Seasons Forest. Known for being a bitch.
└YasaengGrill
What's it like?
└PassingDwarf
You got a thick skull? Need a hammer?
This guy straight-up rude. Head hurts like I got hammered last night, but nah.
└YasaengGrill
Yeah woke up in forest;; Head hurts too, sounds right...
└PassingDwarf
;;;
└Ugh! Trash!
└Poor OP tho. What'd they do?
└YasaengGrill
Just drank. A lot.
└PassingDwarf
Sb your fault;; Can't even find your house, dumbass
└DwarfCursingAlcoholics
Whoa an alcoholic getting cussed by a dwarf
Other world on wake-up, what ya want? But PassingDwarf kindly explained Four Seasons Forest: continent's deadliest. All four seasons, as named. Thought bs at first, but soon got why.
Seasons by zone? What kinda...
Not all. Mana-rich, crawling with deadly monsters. No sense of direction—enter, never leave. Dump spot for criminals. Zero survivors.
└PassingDwarf
But tons of elixirs and herbs.
└YasaengGrill
Don't know which is which?
└PassingDwarf
Then die lol eat a shroom
└YasaengGrill
Fuck you
"Sigh..."
Frustrated sigh. Pray this ain't Four Seasons Forest. If it is... dunno. Herbs aplenty, so trade to survive. Home later, after escape. Stuck here? Useless.
Then...
Glanced between legs—lower. Crescent-petal grass clump. Herb maybe? Post to gallery—solid idea, since it helped before. Continent United Gallery? Even better.
Anyone know this herb?
YasaengGrill
(Crescent grass pic)
ID this herb pls?
Three seconds later.
└Cheonma
Care to trade with this lady? Urgent matter.
Cheonma—fixed nick. Wuxia title? Checked their posts quick. No dealing with crazies.
Cheonma Posts: 2,548 Comments: 3,817
Is there no one to engage in deep conversation with this lady? It's a serious matter.
-10 min ago
Body growing heavier by the moment.
-30 min ago
Heaven is heaven, earth is earth. Failed to grasp this simple truth.
-1 hr ago
Just random bs. Few comments each.
What? A roleplayer?
Haughty speech, but gallery shitposting? Mismatch. Listen first. Checked replies.
└Sb is that Moonlit Herb? Why tf?
└Gimme gimme gimme gimme gimme
└How much? Name it
└SwordTasteStar
That's good stuff?
└StarlightPrincess
Useless to me... I need solar energy...
└PassingDwarf
Hey. Need a dwarf-forged sword?
"... "
Whoa. After peeking at Cheonma's post, comments exploded. Even grumpy PassingDwarf got polite. That big a deal?
└Cheonma
Mine!! This lady claimed first, so greedy!!
└Nah, doesn't matter~
└Claim lol whoever I like first
└Boomer gtfo~
Cheonma's first reply got buried. They asserted presence, but drowned. Trades meant huge sums sometimes. No clue on currency, but one thing clear.
Pick the most desperate.
Cheonma persisted, hammering comments at warp speed. Pitied 'em.
Posts scream illness. StarlightPrincess sick too, but passed—needs different herb.
After deliberation, picked Cheonma. Ignored other offers.
Even if they "claimed first," getting sniped sucks. I get it.
Request trade with Cheonma?
Chat logs fully visible to admins; severe cases lead to permaban.
Admins got power. Or strict on illegals/cliques. Neither here, so requested. Needed survival gear.
Wonder what they'll offer?
Request accepted by Cheonma.