The Legend of the Machine's Wrath

The GIFs RD1234 had uploaded were from The Matrix and The Terminator series. He had actually done a pretty good job of curating some of the most exciting and iconic scenes.

And yet...

"Why is everyone overreacting like this?"

The comment section was in absolute chaos, filled with people crying that doom was upon them and that everything was over. I looked away from the screen and turned my head toward Reina.

Reina had curled herself into a tight ball, hugging her knees with both arms, and was rocking back and forth like a toy roly-poly.

"What's wrong with you?"

"It's over. It's over. It's over. It's over. It's over."

"Huh?"

"The Machine's Wrath! Head Mod, do you really not know the legend of what happens when the Machine Race is angered? They will sweep across the entire world!"

"No clue."

"What?!"

I shrugged, holding my palms up to the ceiling.

"Seriously, no clue. What's this Machine's Wrath thing anyway?"

What is that, some weeb nonsense? 'Machine's Wrath'... what a cheesy name. It sounded like the title of some bargain-bin movie they'd play three or four times a day on a cable channel.

"This is no time for jokes! Hundreds of years ago, a Demon King who had unified the Demon Realm made the mistake of challenging the Machine Race."

Suddenly, it was history class. But Reina's expression was so dead serious that I decided to listen quietly for once.

"And?"

"The Demon King's army of hundreds of thousands, marching with absolute confidence, was completely annihilated before they could take a single step into the Machine Race's territory."

"What?!"

"Staves that spit fire, invincible steel warriors, a rain of fire pouring from the heavens... This onslaught wiped out ninety percent of their forces, including the Demon King himself. They are not an opponent we can fight!"

So the legend passed down among the demons perfectly matched the GIFs RD1234 had posted.

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"The legend ends with a warning that if anyone ever challenges them again, they will completely erase the Demon Realm. And it seems that time is now!"

A declaration to erase the Demon Realm.

Wait, just because he watched some movies, why is he talking like that? Don't tell me...

"Hold on, now that I think about it, I didn't actually look at the movie list I sent him. What on earth was in it..."

I hurriedly opened the Point Shop and rummaged through my purchase history.

"Wait, why is the list like this?!"

Only now did I notice the small warning text at the bottom that I had completely overlooked.

* Please make sure to check the movie list before purchasing.

"Ah."

It was one hundred percent my fault. There were barely any bright, hopeful movies on the list. Most of them were set in dark, dystopian futures where robots were hostile to humans, or where humans oppressed robots.

"I thought it would have movies like Big Hero 6, Ron's Gone Wrong, or Wall-E..."

Why did it have to be filled with terrifying battle cyborgs firing machine guns with one hand to eradicate humanity, instead of wholesome, heartwarming ones?

The gallery was rapidly descending into absolute chaos. Right then, a message from RD1234 arrived in the administrator chatroom.

"He understood the meaning?"

"Then why did you only post those specific GIFs?"

Just looking at the content of his post, it seemed like an outright threat to wipe everyone out.

Since his pure and beautiful anime girl avatar had failed, he had tried the exact opposite: posting edgy, violent combat robot images to get attention.

The reaction was indeed explosive, though in a completely different way. People were waiting for the apocalypse, packing their bags to flee, and running out into the streets in panic.

"It feels like every time a new sub-mod takes office, a major disaster occurs."

But what could I do? They were highly efficient sub-mods, and I had handpicked them myself.

"But I... will love my flawed sub-mods regardless..."

It was time to clear up the misunderstanding.

There were recording magic tools in this world, but they were insanely expensive. If you converted their price to my past life's currency, they would easily cost hundreds of millions of won. Only nobles with money to burn would ever buy such a thing.

The gallery users refused to believe it, claiming there was no proof. My goodwill had somehow turned into a duplicitous double-sided strategy, and according to the gallery's consensus, I was now a piece of trash who had joined hands with the Machine Race to betray the Demon Realm.

"Sigh, I really have no way to prove it's just a movie."

RD1234 had a playback device, so sending a USB was fine. But the regular gallery users—the Mabung-is—were notoriously broke. Even if they weren't, most nobles only lit candles or magic stone lamps at night. Electricity was out of the question, and even if they had it, more than half of the population in the Demon Realm lived hand-to-mouth. They wouldn't have the luxury to run TVs or DVD players.

"But if I invest in setting up all the equipment for them just to prove this..."

My points wouldn't even come close.

While I was worrying, a system notification popped up.

"Huh?"

Ah, because the rumor of the Machine Race's Great Invasion had started in the gallery, people had flocked here to gather information. With the massive influx of users, posts and comments had surged, naturally leveling up the gallery.

And the reward for leveling up...

"Together Watching?"

With this...

"Maybe I can make them believe me?"

To the stubborn gallery users who only believed what they saw with their own eyes, I decided to give them a taste of real cinema.