The Ju-ddak's Quest and Conspiracy (1)

The storm of the chaotic era had passed, and the gallery had entered ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠an age of peace. Or so it seemed.

Wait… now that you mention it?

A hero party of five is the standard, yet one seat’s still open.

Ah… you still don’t know, do you?

Don’t worry, Ju-ddak. The D-class Porter was exiled ages ago.

Empty seat: Grave plot

D-class ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Porter: After being exiled, wandered around, then got a fortuitous encounter and became a freshman at the academy. First time casting black magic and failed, so he got gender-bent into a girl lol

Is it peaceful? Anyway. That level of bait is pretty good.

It had already been a week since I appointed the Pa-ttaks. The gallery was running smoothly.

Over the past week, the Pa-ttaks had been diligently managing the gallery. Still, it looked like they needed more time to truly get along with each other. They were still bickering and fighting…

Look at this chaotic mess where concept and sincerity constantly clashed. Whoever picked them… well. I definitely don’t regret it. This level of noise is actually fun. For real!

Now all that’s left is for the Pa-ttaks (Pa-ttak + golden children) to get their act together. Either way, the gallery itself had become quite stable. There were other benefits too.

The work the Pa-ttaks did was also recognized as points. But it still wasn’t nearly enough. After all, I had permanently banned all the malicious Hunter otakus who used to spam cat pictures, repetitive posts, and troll threads for 10,000,000 days, so the gallery had become quite clean.

There were still users who cleverly dodged the rules, but that was something we could clean up gradually.

Which was why I was currently eating pasta. And not at home, but at a restaurant table! I figured I should let Elsa rest a bit too. It was the right call. Mmm! Tomato pasta really is the foundation of all pasta. Maybe the portion was a little small? I should’ve ordered pilaf too.

As I naturally turned my gaze out the window, there was actually another decisive reason I had chosen to go outside today.

“Hmm… monsters, huh…”

While managing the gallery, my Awakened rank had risen to C-class. This was the first skill that had unlocked as a result. Honestly, I had been thinking I should try hunting a monster at some point anyway. After all, that was the trial the entire world was currently facing.

But a skill that gave me a quest? Wasn’t this a bit off? It wasn’t even an attack skill.

“There wasn’t anything like this when I was the hero either.”

No matter how much of a hero I was who had beaten the Demon King, on Earth I was just a C-class Awakened. It would still be a long time before I could unlock the hero’s power, and with the strength I currently felt, I could probably only handle slimes.

And what was even stranger was the reward. It said faster completion gave better rewards. Rewarding based on completion time? What was this, a mobile game?

Still, it looked like I could unlock it without spending points. But are you really not going to do the quest? You should.

“Don’t tell me this is like ‘I’m the only one who levels up’ or something?”

I hurriedly searched the gallery. As expected, there was no mention of quests appearing in the Awakened ones’ status windows. If I just took the easy route with a quest this simple, people would curse me out…

In the end, there was only one way to find out.

“Boss! Is there a gate nearby?”

“Red-haired young man. Why do you want to know about gates? Planning to go in?”

The kind-looking owner approached and pointed at my hair as he spoke.

“Yeah, I was just curious.”

“Are you an Awakened? You don’t look like one.”

“I may not look it, but I’m actually really strong. Well… I used to be.”

“Hahaha! Really? There is an E-class gate nearby. New hunters tend to favor that place.”

“New hunters?”

“Yeah. It’s a gate where goblins spawn.”

Oh, goblins? Even better.

**

I paid the bill and left the restaurant. I had one pasta packaged to go. I’d eat it for dinner. The direction the owner pointed was where the gate was.

But right in front of the store, I noticed a girl crouching on the ground. At a glance, it was clear she hadn’t washed or eaten properly in a long time. Poor thing. Had she been abandoned because she couldn’t awaken? This really was an apocalypse world.

“Want this?”

I held out the freshly packaged oil pasta to the girl. She slowly lifted her head and fixed her gaze on the food.

“Mmm… food…!”

Her eyes sparkled as if the smell was heavenly. Drool was already dripping from the corner of her mouth.

“Eat it all. If I come out tomorrow I’ll give you more. Don’t stay here if it rains, you’ll catch a cold.”

“Th-thank… you…”

Maybe I should check the gallery for a bit?

“This kid really is consistent. Posting declarations of war every hour.”

In the gallery, people were posting bait speculating about the next development for the D-class Porter who had been kicked out of the hero party. It was more entertaining than I expected. I was already curious about the next chapter.

The Pa-ttaks were managing the gallery while bickering among themselves…

Pa-ttaks and Hunter otakus, wait just a little longer. I’m going to measure my combat power real quick and I’ll be back.

**

I arrived at the gate the owner had mentioned. It was exactly as he described. Goblins were happily running around. Each holding weapons, looking for prey.

But the problem was…

“Hey… where are you going!”

Swish swish swish!!

“Hey…! You’re supposed to fight me…”

“Gobliiinnnn!!”

These bastards were running away instead of fighting me!