Divide and Conquer

I quickly figured out what was going on with the divide-and-conquer drama. I skimmed through the Concept Posts and checked the last five pages of recent posts. My conclusion: "Ah, damn it. Maybe I shouldn't have given her that chicken."

When you do someone a favor, you expect gratitude. Instead, she repaid my kindness with hostility. "She should've just eaten it quietly by herself. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Why did she have to record a video and post it to the gallery?" I checked the video myself.

Crunch! Slurp! Crunch, crunch!

"Damn. She really makes it look delicious." No wonder the gallery users were having a collective meltdown.

From the looks of it, that was a warning post written by a human troll.

"Judging by the nickname, this one's a dwarf. The reply must be from one of those Hum-Elf-Dwarves." However, the fact that even a post like this got quite a few upvotes meant...

"That video of our demon friend eating chicken must have left quite an impression on them."

I had already unlocked Fried Chicken and Seasoned Chicken for 1,000 points each. Since I had plenty of points left, I could easily release some stock in the Gallery Shop to calm down the forum drama. But...

"Why should I?"

First of all, there were so many trolls and Hum-Elf-Dwarves flooding the gallery right now that it was hard to tell them apart. And it wasn't like I had any intention of being unconditionally nice to the demons either. Weren't those pureblood demon bastards the ones who spent my entire life mocking me for being a half-breed?

"Why should I do you guys any favors?"

There was a reason Derek's Fixed Nick back in the day was 'DiePurebloodDemonsDie'. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠When I was just an ordinary demon, I had no choice but to endure and survive. But now, having regained the memories of my past life, I had mastered the very essence of online malice known as modern internet communities.

I would gladly feed them a massive pile of shit, but I didn't have a single shred of desire to feed them chicken for free.

"Shall I troll them a bit?"

I had observed the situation long enough. I identified the trolls fueling the fire, the demon gallery users swept up in the chaos, and the hidden Hum-Elf-Dwarves.

"Shall we get started then?"

Time for some gallery moderation.

"I'm pretty sure I made myself clear."

All Hum-Elf-Dwarves were subject to immediate bans. Yet, they didn't even bother to change their nicknames and kept posting in the gallery as if they owned the place. On top of that, they kept fueling the chicken drama all night, completely ruining the forum.

"Impudent bastards. All of you, get out."

As I kept repeating the bans for a while—Ding! A message popped up.

"Ah, you startled me. Operator?"

The culprit behind this whole mess. Still, it wasn't like I had explicitly told her beforehand not to post pictures of chicken in the gallery, so I quietly waited to hear what she had to say.

Apparently, she had a different curiosity.

"Ah, this?"

She was so slow-witted. Well, I suppose that was why she had thoughtlessly recorded herself eating chicken and uploaded it to the gallery in the first place.

"See, if you squeeze the trolls' throats too tightly, they get completely wiped out. But if you hold them loosely, they'll slowly creep back to cause trouble, right?"

If I couldn't catch trolls, my point supply would dry up. And if my point supply stopped?

I'd have to walk all the way down to the village to buy groceries again.

Absolutely not.

"So, I lock them up for a week, and then release them so they can come back and troll again. It's basically a fish farm."

I could almost feel a cold gaze piercing through the text. I could understand the Operator's reaction. After all, this method was essentially exploiting a loophole in the point system. But hey, what could I do? A man's gotta eat.

Fortunately, she didn't seem to make a big deal out of it.

Anyway, that's that.

Before I knew it, the gallery cleanup was almost complete.

"Now that I've whipped them enough..."

It was time to throw them a tiny speck of a carrot.

Do you finally feel like using the shop?

"Yeah. I just had a great idea."

Current Points: 32,760 pt

I opened the Gallery Shop and ordered 5 Fried Chickens and 5 Seasoned Chickens.

Whoosh!

Points Deducted: -300 pt

"Smells amazing."

I wanted to take a huge bite, but...

"Eating chicken first thing in the morning is a bit much."

I held back and registered the items in the shop.

"Wait, there's an auction option? In that case..."

A brilliant idea struck me.

"Even better."

The Head Mod's great purge swept through the gallery first thing in the morning. Trolls were slaughtered in droves. Even the ordinary gallery users carefully deleted the posts and comments they had written overnight cursing the Head Mod. Holding their breath, they waited for the Head Mod's official announcement to go up.

Regin, an ordinary Ma-bung-i, was among them. But then...

A sudden notification popped up. The very food that Yajjicheong had eaten so deliciously—the one that had received the highest number of upvotes in history and made it to the Concept Posts overnight—had been registered in the Gallery Shop.

"Is the Head Mod a god?"

Regin shook his body violently like an excited monkey beastman, translating his joy into a dance. But his joy did not last long.

"FUCK!!!"

The stock was microscopic, and to make matters worse, the transaction method was an auction. An enraged Regin logged into the gallery. Along with like-minded users, he raised his voice, demanding the Head Mod release more stock. Judging by the gallery users' behavior and the Head Mod's reaction up until now, throwing a tantrum and staging a protest was bound to be effective.

But right then, an unexpected post was uploaded.

"What? What's with this atmosphere?"

Regin was flustered. Unlike before, something was strange. It was as if...

"It's like everyone is under some dark magic spell."

The Head Mod had completely seized control of the entire gallery in an instant.

The Cheerful Demon Realm Gallery, now split into two major factions, was burning hot as users argued over who was right and who was wrong.

At the exact same time, the culprit behind all of this, the Head Mod...

"Ah~ now this is what I'm talking about~"

He unlocked convenience store bento boxes and bottled water from the Gallery Shop and watched the gallery while eating his breakfast.

"Look at these demons losing their minds."

It was a tactic quite familiar to the residents of Hell Joseon on a planet called Earth.

"How does the divide-and-conquer taste?"

The Head Mod had successfully split the gallery.

"Now, fight to the death."