Chapter 51
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Translator: Silver Dragon
Chapter: 51
Chapter Title: The Galrums' Past (2)
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Well, it's still way better than the Gald Cup, at least.
The Galactic Gal tends to run a Gald Cup whenever there's no fresh bait.
The problem is, why do I have to put up the grand prize?
Ahem, please overlook it just this once with your boundless magnanimity, Armband.
(; ¬_¬)
I'll let it slide just this once...
The negotiations with the victim went off without a hitch.
The Armband didn't seem all that opposed, in the end.
After all, without any bait, they'd just end up doing some lame xenophobe Gald Cup anyway.
She must've figured this was the better option.
And so, the Armband Cup Epic Tale Contest was officially underway.
A flood of posts poured in.
But only a select few made it to the hot posts.
And from those, the three with the most recommendations were chosen as finalists.
Alright, that's as far as we go.
Final judging starts now.
We'll go by majority vote in a runoff—highest votes wins.
To heighten the immersion of the finals,
the gallery's expert tech team was brought in.
The finals will run a bit differently.
Instead of just posts, we're thinking memory link for the finale.
Memory link was, simply put, sharing memories.
The uploader shares their memory with the gallery,
and the galrums watch and rate it.
Then let's kick off with the first finalist.
Upload the memory to the gallery, please.
Cleaning Specialist took slot one.
A special attachment hit the gallery.
I clicked it and hit download.
The instant I opened the downloaded file,
the whole world plunged into darkness.
Whoa, what's this? Digging the vibe.
Feels just like a theater right before the movie kicks off.
This setup should keep everyone focused.
What do you think? Like it?
This is why humans need to learn science...
The moment the file opened,
my consciousness got sucked into this virtual space.
The space was structured like a theater.
Seats all around, big screen up front.
Ghosts that all looked identical sat in the seats.
I looked down at myself.
I was one of them—a ghost just like the rest.
The ghosts kept multiplying.
More galrums logging in, no doubt.
Oh, and you can use the shop to order whatever snacks you want.
Pays with real money, though.
No calories since it's VR, but the taste is spot-on.
Bored mouth? Give it a shot.
All proceeds go to the hardworking devs, so please patronize generously!
Curiosity piqued, I opened the shop.
〔Search for desired food via memory scan〕
A search bar popped up once inside.
Type in the food you want, find it, order it—that was the setup.
Theater means popcorn and cola, right?
I typed in popcorn and cola.
Hit order, and bam—they appeared.
I munched on popcorn while waiting for the show.
Right then, a voice came from the front.
Lights flickered on the screen.
Showtime.
Screen transitioned.
A snowy street appeared.
A boy trudging through the winter chill, rags for clothes, shivering hard.
As his ragged look suggested,
Dio was an orphanage kid.
His world was rife with interspecies wars.
The Human Empire dominated the fertile central plains.
Orc Kaganate ruled the northeastern steppes.
Elven Theocracy held the northwestern taiga forests.
Dwarven Kingdom claimed the southern mountains.
The Empire had built itself on sheer numbers,
but its borders faced constant raids from异種 eyeing those rich lands.
So the Empire waged endless war with the异種,
churning out countless war orphans.
Dio was one of them.
Dio needed money.
To survive the brutal poverty.
For his family-like little siblings and friends.
Reminds me of those rat-bastard species.
If Newbie had just wiped out all the异種 like a real chad, Dio wouldn't have been born an orphan.
That's the 14,842nd time I've said that's not me.
Kids from poor backgrounds often dream of getting rich.
But he'd never even dreamed that big.
No, he couldn't even imagine it.
That crushing poverty starved even his dreams.
If he had a dream, it was not starving.
Scoring bread to last the day.
That was his one wish.
But why starve without bread? Just eat meat if there's no bread.
Grab a knife, head to the woods, snag a rabbit. Problem solved. Why go hungry?
Goddamn nobles, man...
One more noble flex and snide remark, and I'm blasting you with cannons.
His reason for making money was always survival.
But bit by bit, his life started to change.
Thanks to the cash from his illegal gigs.
He began clawing his way out of the dirt-poor pit.
Dio was the boss among the orphanage kids.
The orphans were loyal to him to the death.
A unity no other gang could match.
That was their secret to success.
Things invisible in poverty came into view.
As a vigorous young man, his new interest was love.
Kallia was worlds apart from Dio in status.
Daughter of a count, after all.
He tried approaching her time and again,
but guards always grabbed him, beat him, and chased him off.
From then on, he was losing his mind.
How to win her favor?
That was all he could think about, day in, day out.
This guy's a total pure-hearted romantic...
Anyway, fate smiled on Dio, smitten as he was with Kallia.
One day, dressed like a noble for a deal, he hit a high-end bar.
And there she was—Kallia, sans guards.
A noble lady's rebellion?
Super risky.
But a golden opportunity for Dio.
He slid in smooth, struck up a chat.
Soon, he asked all the questions burning in his mind.
Hobbies? Interests?
Ideal husband if she married?
He unloaded everything.
I was a hero too.
Proud hero of the Republic of Korea.
Wait, you were a hero?
Newbie calls soldiers in his country 'heroes.'
Oh, thought you were a real one.
Hey, I am a real hero, you know?
A hero fighting the demon king north of the Korean Peninsula.
What's the Korean Peninsula, weeaboo?
Learning Kallia's ideal type,
Dio pondered how to catch her interest.
Becoming a knight? His origins were too lowborn.
A non-knight becoming a hero? Laughable.
So he hatched a little scheme.
Forging documents was their specialty.
Dio whipped up a fake knight ID,
then bought knight armor and sword from the local smithy.
Back in the city, Dio started acting the knight.
His underlings played squires, backing him up.
Word spread fast: a knight in town.
Kallia took notice.
Then the miracle: she came to him.
Kallia wanted his hero tales.
Dio fed her prepped fake stories, winning her over.
She fell for his words; he for her eyes.
They grew close in a flash.
Soon, marriage was on the table.