Chapter 9 - A Sweet Night
Green grape candy—along with tangerine and mint varieties, it boasts the ultimate bang for your buck.
3P
Candy that tastes like green grapes. Human air freshener generator. Your surroundings fill with a green grape aroma while you're eating it.
Registering this should calm the gallery's frenzy.
Green grape candy? I am curious about the taste as well.
Huh? Sora suddenly said something totally out of left field.
"Can you eat it too, Sora?"
I asked just in case, and
No. I cannot eat it right now.
I got a kinda downcast reply.
'Cannot eat it right now'...
"So, that means you could eat before, or maybe in the future?"
I apologize. I cannot tell you yet.
What the heck. It felt like some massive secret was hiding there. Was Sora really the final boss or something? If so, it'd be pretty heartbreaking. The one always helping me from the sidelines turns out to be the villain, stripping away all my power at the crucial moment?
"Wahhh. I'm baby mod. Can't do nothin'."
I could totally see myself losing everything without even resisting. I was already too scared to step outside even one foot, after all.
I do not understand the intent of your question. Are you perhaps mentally underdeveloped compared to your appearance?
"No, it's not that... never mind."
She was probably just trying to understand what I said, but it hit me hard anyway.
"Sniff... ugh... huhu..."
I wiped my streaming tears and bought some jam and green grape candy. A hundred each. Didn't forget to set auto-registration either.
"And green grape candy should net 4P."
3P
Candy that tastes like green grapes. Human air freshener generator. Your surroundings fill with a green grape aroma while you're eating it.
> Change sale price in 'Just a Shop' to 4P?
> [YES / NO]
Of course, YES. I mashed the button.
Once the item registration was fully done, I double-checked for anything forgotten. Seemed like all my tasks were complete. I'd have to wait a bit to see reactions to the candy, so to kill time, I flipped to the last page of my notebook.
On the page of to-dos, I struck through the finished ones with a ballpoint pen. Apology notice memo, big issue resolved in a week—crossed 'em out one by one.
Then I jotted down a few new ones I'd thought of earlier.
What was left: '★ Buy Bunker ★' '...' 'Cold...' '...' 'Need to build steady revenue structure. But how?' 'Too little info. Think of ways to learn about this world.' '...' 'Wolves scary...' '...' 'Maybe wolves aren't that dangerous? Does it make sense a house-sized wolf can't break a wooden door?' '...' 'Take pic of four-eyed wolf and ask gallery. Gotta know what it is to deal with it.'
★ Buy Bunker ★
...
Cold...
...
Need to build steady revenue structure. But how?
Too little info. Think of ways to learn about this world.
...
Wolves scary...
...
Maybe wolves aren't that dangerous? Does it make sense a house-sized wolf can't break a wooden door?
...
Take pic of four-eyed wolf and ask gallery. Gotta know what it is to deal with it.
Gallery management woes half, wolf fears half. Plus some gripes sprinkled in. A truly nutrient-deficient page complete. To-dos for tomorrow's me sorted—now time to check the gallery.
But what was this feeling? Maybe from seeing their madness over sweetness earlier, but a chill ran down my spine.
"Sora, could you sum up the current gallery vibe in one word? Or one sentence?"
Best to ask Sora at times like this.
Yes, understood. To sum up the current gallery atmosphere in one sentence: Overcome with joy from the first true sweetness they've tasted, they're collectively going wild.
"Uh... thanks, Sora."
You are welcome. Please call on me whenever you need.
As expected. With jam reactions plus infinite candy? Of course they'd lose their minds.
Prep done, I opened the post list to see the gallery's reactions firsthand.
"Oof... yeah, I can stop here."
Just the jam reactions plus candy—exactly as expected. Skim a few, then bed.
Author: BooksAreEdible
Me? An Archmage who's walked the path of magic alone for 150 years. (Image: Desk piled high with parchment, books, paper stacks)
Upon reaching the rank of Archmage, my lifespan extended far beyond measure. I'd obtained all there was to obtain, accomplished the vast majority of what could be done. Always giving my all, I had no regrets.
But one thing lingered as a regret: walking only the path of magic meant zero romantic entanglements.
But today, I realized. (Image: Neatly arranged baguette, two jam jars, green grape candy on desk)
This is perfection. This has to be perfection. (Image: Parchment, books, paper stacks scattered on the floor)
No arguments accepted.
Recommends: 1322 | Disrecommends: 26
Whoa, highnic BooksAreEdible totally snapped. Her posts and comments so far had this super casual vibe, but the concept just shattered.
"She must've loved it that much, so it's fine, right?"
Honestly, Archmage virgin conspiracy? Not my problem.
After finishing that post that kicked off the conspiracy, I checked one with a slightly nagging title.
Author: Anon
(Image: Emaciated guy with bulging belly, upper body)
Mod, you sane? What're you plotting by fattening us up, huh~ Come here, I'll give you a big kiss!
Recommends: 1 | Disrecommends: 3278
"Sheesh... not even trolling, just pure bait."
Gallery's too clean, so I fell for the aggro title hard. Soon enough, real troll posts would flood in, not just this simple bait.
Anyway, good to see photo function in use. Wonder what memes'll come later? Imagining it already made me wanna quit, so on to the next post.
Author: WorldTreeGuardian
Exactly as the title says!
First, prepare a spoon!
Next, dunk candy in jam!
Then shove it in your mouth!
Finally, when jam melts in mouth, another spoonful!
Repeat and it's super tasty!
(Image: Spoon stuck in strawberry jam jar)
Recommends: 5237 | Disrecommends: 2
As expected, chaotic comment section. Highnic WorldTreeGuardian appears and hijacks everyone's speech patterns. Today too, countless gallers unified to 'It is!'.
After WorldTreeGuardian's post, I skimmed others that caught my eye. Tasty. Happy. Blissful. Tearing up. Tastier this way. Wanna kiss mod, etc. Simple joy posts, info shares, some bewildering ones. Mostly heartwarming stuff that lifted the corners of my mouth.
But man, the post volume was insane. Read a standout, back to main? It's already off page 1, gone.
"Firepower's nuts..."
Need favorites or bookmarks? Or sub-galleries to split the load? Tucked the idea away in my head.
Time was already 1:30 AM. Their hype from first sweetness was visibly dying down. Time for me to sleep too.
One last check before bed.
"Sora, can you display my remaining P on screen?"
Yes, understood. Displaying Rain's current remaining P below.
Points piling up fast thanks to candy. Seeing it, my grin wouldn't quit. Tomorrow, finally, I could leave this stinky room.