Tree Lover (1)
The Martial God Gallery. Sure, it had "gallery" in the name, but unlike those typical spots overflowing with meaningless bait posts and endless guild wars, this was different. A refined community where Martial Gods at the pinnacle of enlightenment engaged in lofty discourse. Or at least, that's what it was supposed to be.
But right now? "What the hell?"
There was no nobility or elegance here. Just vulgarity, stuffed to the brim with an abyss of depravity. It felt kinda familiar, though...
"What the fuck happened while I was gone?"
Two days away. What could have possibly gone down in that time? The scene was pure pandemonium, brimming with chaos and lamentation. Looked like...
"Guess I gotta step in."
Every user in the Martial God Gallery was a Martial God who could cleave the heavens with a single sword stroke or split the earth with one strike. But before this lord, they were nothing but no-name scrubs—
"Mod decree. By my command, everyone freeze."
Gallery frozen for 10 minutes.
The universe blinked out for a moment.
Mod tag. Aside from slapping an orange badge next to your nick, it's not all that special—just basic no-pay mod powers like IP bans and gallery notices to nuke threads. But it's a double-edged sword; you can't really use it effectively.
Mods just wanna see those dopamine hits from quality posts, but most bangers come from users walking the razor-thin line of rule-breaking. Ban a few you don't like, and the gallery turns into a snoozefest that kills it dead. Spam notices too much, and pissed-off users turn around and nuke the mod in a "kill the mod" event. Useless.
Still, in special cases like this, you gotta pull the trigger. The ultimate power to silence Martial Gods whining about the world's unfairness in one shot.
"Feel the power, human?"
After blacking out the overheated gallery for a bit, I posted.
I know I've been slacking as newbie mod, but excessive spam and hate posts will get you banned, peeps.
No plans to go full power trip. But some lines gotta be drawn, so I dropped a mild warning. Figured it'd cool heads no matter the cause.
Wrong. Dead wrong. Underestimated the madness and obsession of those fit for the Martial God's throne.
Power flicked back on, and the spam feast exploded. My fresh notice got buried three, four pages deep in seconds.
Seeing that cosmic horror landscape, I recoiled for two reasons. First, the troll behind this aggro nuke was just one person.
"Wait, you?"
Second, that troll was a gallery user I never suspected.
280 posts per minute, etching the most glorious first troll of my mod career. The name—
"Tree Lover...?"
Tree Lover. Sharp ones already guessed: suspected species, elf—born tree hugger.
Hence her beef with Elf Hater sis. But...
"She wasn't this menhera back then."
From what I recalled, it was one-sided hate from Elf Hater. Nicknames said it all.
Elf Hater despised Tree Lover, but Tree Lover barely acknowledged her. Like, not even on the radar.
Past posts confirmed it.
That was Elf Hater's usual vibe. Beyond chronic hater, every breath spewed elf loathing.
Tree Lover, meanwhile—
That kinda thing. You can't judge a book by its cover, but this elf screamed plant gallery fan nick. Just someone who loves trees, y'know?
If picking the normal one between them, even I'd side with her. But people are deeper than the ocean.
Elf Hater's hate had reasons after all.
"Uuu... scrubs are scary..."
Prime menhera specimen. Didn't even wanna approach. But what choice? If I don't, this mess drags on.
Deep breath. Froze the gallery again, commented on Tree Lover's latest.
Cautious comms attempt, and—
Wtf. Menhera overflowing through the screen.
Right on cue, tempting DM from Elf Hater. Deep breath, replied to Tree Lover first.
Laid out my side calmly, and Tree Lover regained some sanity.
Explanation followed: incident started two days ago, during my return.
'So everything blew up after my final live ended?'
Hot bait lately: analyzing my ended lives for posts. Habit of live-streaming fights birthed it—gallery Martial Gods critique my sloppy moves, weak points. Handy free coaching, why not?
But unexpected bait dropped.
(Cropped image of Hope grabbing something)
Shot right before newbie mod escaped. Looks like from near Monster Flower's roots. Any gallery folks know what it is? Feels like next weapon material lmao
Trigger: Sickle Ham's post. My #1 fan, always first in live, rewatched 3-4 times post-stream, spotted it.
New bait spread, users swarmed with guesses. Tree Lover peeked, lost her shit.
Things spiraled. Ignoring Sickle Ham ready to fistfight naked, time to find the bait star.
"Where'd I stash it?"
Chaos back then, returned exhausted, no time to check. Vague memory of tossing it...
"Ah, here."
Luckily, wedged in shelter corner.
"Phew, close. Woulda been gallery hell otherwise."
Picked up the blood-caked lump, wiped sweat.
But "So. What is it?"
Seriously, no clue. Thought mutant grossness like Hope's core at first, but vibe different. Mutants felt alien-burst imminent; this was fresher, cooler. Pale, sickly now.
Why this feeling? "Wait..."
Rushed to Yoji, splashed spirit spring water. Washed clean—
"Ooh. Knew it."
Not a blood lump. Just mutant flesh slathered over a hard, tree-fruit-like core.
Clean now, energy worlds apart from mutants. Crisp, pure. Stark contrast, almost sorry for comparing.
Posted quick. Should calm now.
But—
Not calm. Poured oil on the fire.
What the—
Seed? Oh yeah, that thing made a last plea before dying...
What.