May the Grace of the Head Mod Be With You (2)
"Ow! Ouch, ouch, ouch!"
"You insolent brat!"
A woman was dragged out by her ear, held firmly in the Director's hand.
"Do—do you have any idea what you're doing right now?! Do you know who I am—"
"I know exactly who you are! I know all too well! And that's why I'm about to lose my mind!!! Why on earth did someone as illustrious as you handle things so miserably? Huh?!"
The Director slammed the documents he brought into the woman's face.
As the fluttering papers settled, Linzy stood there, her mouth agape in utter disbelief. None other than Lindsy Gaiel, the absolute elite whom no one had ever dared to reprimand, was being treated this way.
"How could you ruin our most popular sector in a single instant? Huh?!"
"D-Director. I—I told you, I can clean this up! If it weren't for that Head Mod or whatever he is..."
"Shut up!!!"
The only reason the Director had endured insults like "bald head" or "fat guy who can't take care of himself" was purely because Linzy's performance had been stellar, and she was a manager favored by the higher-ups.
However, when the human sector's performance didn't just hit rock bottom but actually triggered a massive wave of complaints from all over, the higher-ups turned their wrath onto the Director, who was responsible for Linzy. Naturally, the Director had no intention of letting it slide today.
"Clean it up, my foot! You threw cold water on the audience who was expecting a spectacular counteroffensive! How are you going to fix that?! Huh?!"
"I—I have a proposal! A proposal I prepared just in case!"
"A proposal?"
"Yes!!!"
At her final plea, the Director's eyebrows twitched.
"Let me see it."
Linzy hurriedly brought over a folder. The Director snatched it from her hands, narrowed his eyes, and carefully reviewed the contents.
"Hmm, indeed..."
"I—I told you I could do it."
"Tsk. There must not be another disappointment. If something like this happens again..."
The Director raised his arm and pointed toward a dusty, cramped office in the far corner.
"I'll pack up your desk and throw you in there."
"!"
Being discarded into the graveyard of losers and failures was a fate worse than death. Linzy nodded her head vigorously.
The Operator slipped back into her office right around the time the Director raised his arm. She had no desire to stand around idly and draw the sharp, hostile attention of the office staff.
And...
Linzy's proposal...
It likely contained some scheme designed to put the Demon Realm at a disadvantage. The Head Mod and the Demon Realm must not fall because of it.
The Operator decided she would have to sneak over to Linzy's desk in a few days to check the contents.
And...
At least the Demon Realm...
I must protect the Demon Realm and the Head Mod, no matter what.
Vowing this to herself, she opened the administrator console.
"...Operator?"
Just as he was deep in thought, a message from the Operator arrived for the first time in a while.
"You said you had some urgent business. I guess it's all wrapped up?"
"Dangerous?"
Don't even get me started. Instead of giving a long-winded explanation, I opened the gallery window and clicked on a Concept Post that briefly summarized the recent series of events.
"It's all summarized here."
About five minutes later, the Operator, having read through the Concept Post, replied.
"Apparently. I didn't really know much about it myself."
"The fact is, I literally did nothing."
All I did was release food at cost and upload a new movie to divert the forum's attention to a different topic. But they took it upon themselves to creatively mimic the movie's contents. They invented bizarre contraptions, eerie costumes, and novel tactics to effectively hold off the enemy.
And after all that...
They were comparing me to some legendary Dejai Master, projecting me onto a character from the *War of the Stars* series and revering me as the "spiritual pillar" who led the Demon King's army to victory.
"First of all, it's incredibly embarrassing, so no..."
"If they keep saying I helped the Demon King's army win, the Ared Empire will misunderstand and keep threatening me."
I explained to the Operator that I had recently rejected the Emperor of the Ared Empire's request to stay out of the war in exchange for reconciliation.
However, since I had never intervened in the war in the first place, I couldn't grant a request to "stop intervening." It was a perfectly logical response, wasn't it?
But...
"But I saw a post saying the human Emperor is absolutely furious about this."
"Still, the Ared Empire is technically the strongest nation on the continent. Couldn't they pose an actual threat to me?"
"Is... that so?"
Well, if she says so. That takes a bit of the anxiety off my chest.
"In that case, I want to divert the forum's attention to something else. Any good ideas?"
"Hmm?"
The Operator answered proudly, then brought up a window filled with various charts and graphs to explain further.
"True. Whenever I tried to steer the conversation or moderate the topics, some users would rebel."
If the topic was about me, I just shouldn't show up in the gallery. Then, the users' interest would naturally wane. Bored, they would eventually wander off in search of a new topic.
But...
"Stay off the gallery? How do I even do that?"
"I'm asking how one is supposed to do that."
Asking me to take a five-day break from the gallery was like taking chocolate from the Demon King, paint from the skeletons, or mixed nuts from the harpies.
"I mean, yeah, but not being able to comment is pure torture."
Since I started managing this place, I had never once just lurked without posting. But...
"Hmm."
No matter how painful it might be, following the Operator's advice seemed like the best course of action for now.
Looking at the state of things, the moment I left even a single comment on a post like this, all the attention would immediately lock onto me.
So...
"Alright. I'll hold back for now and wait for them to move on to another topic."
I decided to go on a gallery detox. During that time, I taught Liv the common tongue and spent my days casually moderating the gallery. It was surprisingly bearable.
And a few days later.