Chapter 36
Chapter 36
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: Became the Gallery's Only Reptile
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"That's strange. I thought you definitely wouldn't know."
The world was dyed in darkness.
As if my sight had been stolen away, an endless abyss stretched out before me.
The voice echoing from within it was unmistakably filled with 'curiosity' directed at me.
"Could you maybe tell me? How did you know I'm not Raine?"
"Haha. You make it sound like I'm not a goddess."
It wasn't just dyeing the surroundings in darkness.
No matter how much I lit a fire, there was no visual change whatsoever.
At this point, it was best to give up on seeing with my eyes.
With no visibility, I needed to sharpen my other senses to compensate.
But as I closed my unseen eyes and focused on those other senses, the thing moved.
"I am a goddess, you know? Just like Raine, but the domain I oversee is different."
In the pitch-black darkness, her voice reverberated, coming from here and there.
I figured hearing would be the next best thing after sight for pinpointing her location, but she countered that immediately, as if she'd read my mind.
This way... I definitely couldn't pinpoint her position.
"Hmm. This stage should do nicely."
Snap.
I was pondering how to break out of this situation.
With the light snap of fingers, the darkness-drenched world suddenly flooded with bright light.
"See? This suits my aesthetic much better."
The space that came into view was clearly different from before.
Black colors still shrouded the surroundings like encroaching shadows, but now they formed beautiful patterns, as if painted on a canvas.
"Beautiful, isn't it?"
"Oh~ Are you sulking because you haven't heard my name yet? I'm Irene."
Whoosh.
"The goddess who oversees darkness and chaos."
As Irene spread her majestic wings and spoke, I recalled Raine's appearance and calculated their similarities and differences.
First, their looks.
Their hair, eyes, and overall vibe from their attire were different, but if you just looked at their faces, they were similar enough to pass for twins.
Hell, maybe they were something like twins?
"Since Raine and I share the same thing, of course we'd look alike."
'...She read my mind again.'
More importantly, share the same thing? What did that mean?
"So, how's the Gallery?"
The same question as before.
But clearly laced with a different meaning, I scowled and replied.
"Hehe! Thanks for the compliment."
"No? I just provided the idea. Raine's the one who actually made it."
But it was hard to believe.
Raine, of all people, creating the Gallery?
Maybe the version of her I saw in the game was just an act for show.
"Oh, no, that's not it. Raine's as boring as you all think she is."
"Why? Because for a boring type like her, majority vote is the simplest solution."
With that, Irene conjured a Gallery screen above her hand and continued.
"The initial design wasn't in this Gallery format. It was more like the group chats you all commonly use."
Vrrr.
A familiar yellow screen materialized in her other hand.
Hundreds, thousands of people were posting, forming additional chat rooms with others, and having private conversations—it all flowed by in sequence.
'That was the initial design.'
If my guess was right, Raine must have come up with that design herself.
"Correct. You're scarily perceptive."
Why, though.
Why suggest a Gallery of all things?
Why propose something so addictive that it devours your time...
"Because it's fun."
"I deal in chaos too, you see. Raine's chat rooms? They look nice on the surface, but they're super strict. One slip-up with profanity, and boom—warning. So the others sided with me."
Kiiing.
"But the Gallery? Post your raw desires, and no one's gonna moderate you. Maintenance checks? Honestly, if you can't remember, it's just checking if you crossed the line humans shouldn't. Failing means you're basically subhuman."
"But it's fun, right?"
She tilted her head as if to say, "What's the problem?"
"I seriously have no idea what the issue is."
"Anyone else, maybe, but shouldn't you in particular not talk to me like that? Thanks to me, you've kept your sanity this whole time."
Without the Gallery, I might have gone mad from not finding any trace of other humans.
Fine, I admit it.
But even if it had been Raine's chat rooms instead of the Gallery, things would have turned out just fine.
"Would they, though?"
But Irene, having read my thoughts, rejected that notion outright.
"It was because it was the Gallery that you took an interest in the people there. Now they call you Gallery Lord, and everyone loves and pays attention to your posts. But in Raine's chat rooms? Would you have ended up the same?"
Whoosh.
Irene spread her index fingers on both hands, forming an X.
"Nope. You wouldn't have gotten any attention."
As if demonstrating, someone who looked like me posted in the chat room Irene conjured.
But within 10 seconds, it was buried under a flood of other posts and forgotten. Irene didn't stop there—she tried with a photo next, but it got flagged by the chat's security and pushed away.
"See? Could you really say the you in a chat room ignored by everyone would be the same as now?"
I couldn't give a definite answer.
Because I lacked conviction in my own words.
Deep down, I knew Irene was right.
"Let's be real here. What I did helped you. Right?"
Before I knew it, Irene had approached and draped me around her neck.
Shocked that I'd been toyed with in an instant before I could react, I also realized goddesses were on another level.
And... unlike before, there was a subtle sense of wrongness.
"Since what I did helped you, don't you think it's fair for you to help me in return?"
What could a goddess possibly want from me?
Staring into those abyss-like black eyes made me feel like I was being sucked in.
I barely turned my head to look at her nose and lips instead, and she immediately stroked my right eye area as if she'd been waiting.
"Could you give me that red eye of yours?"
"I've always wanted such a beautiful eye. Yeah! Let's swap eyes. What do they call this? Coupling? Since we're swapping eyes, maybe couple-eyes?"
She's insane.
Even for her.
Who suggests swapping eyes?
Her response felt like a few screws were loose, and I broke into a cold sweat internally as I replied.
'I'll refuse.'
...Wait. What did I just say?
If I hadn't misheard, I'd just agreed to her batshit crazy proposal.
What the hell?
"Right? I knew you'd like it!"
She must have pulled some trick.
Her slender fingers reached for my eye without hesitation.
As they drew closer, I gritted my teeth.
'Damn it! What kind of lunatic goddess is this!'
This was bad—my eye was really about to get plucked out.
Swapping eyes with some weirdo who looks like Raine! And she's going straight for it—no anesthesia in sight!
I've done plenty of crazy shit myself, but not this level—no way without numbing it first!
"I'll make it quick so it doesn't hurt!"
The moment her fingers were about to touch my eye.
Salvational light descended upon me.
Pop.
"Ah. He's gone."
The Gallery Maintenance Check has a time limit.
Thus, once time was up, El was forcibly returned, leaving the goddess alone. She smacked her lips in regret and waved her hand at where he'd been moments ago.
Crackle. Zzt zzt.
"Ugh, really. Raine, I'm sorry. And Irene, stop messing around. You were imitating Raine too."
Her lips pursed in a pout, as if in a foul mood, and her appearance began to change.
Her black hair turned glossy gray. Her eyes matched—gray, but with white and black diamond patterns at the pupils' centers.
Her outfit shifted too, from goddess-like to something more like a slovenly gray tracksuit that screamed "unemployed." She unleashed a barrage of trash talk at the two tormenting her.
"...Both of you weaklings. With your filthy possessiveness."
Crackle! Zzt zzt zzt!
"Ow ow! I'm sorry! Kishine did wrong!"