Chapter 79
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 79
Chapter Title: Channel 1
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1 Channel.
A world where an elder god—a being not mentioned in any ancient texts—emerged, devouring people's minds and bodies as it dragged the realm toward annihilation.
"……."
"……."
Fortunately, there were those who had escaped the clutches of that elder god.
They had pledged to unite their strength against it and were hiding out in a relatively safe shelter.
"Hye-gak. I assume you've seen the message floating before your eyes as well."
In that shelter, a middle-aged man estimated to be in his forties spoke in a deep, resonant voice, referencing the system message.
He was Namgoong Jin, once one of the world's Ten Great Masters and now, due to the elder god's emergence, the unwilling Supreme Alliance Leader—the Sword Emperor.
"That could be a trap laid by the elder god as well."
In response, Hye-gak, the abbot of Shaolin Temple, pressed his palms together and called it an elder god trap.
"It might be a trap. But on the flip side, there could be others in the same boat as us."
"I understand your frustration, Leader, but things could get even worse than this."
Hye-gak had already grasped Namgoong Jin's intentions and calmly tried to dissuade him.
Naturally, after hiding in the shelter for no small amount of time, Namgoong Jin raised his voice a notch higher than before.
"How could things possibly get worse than they already are?"
"How could they not? At least this way, we can die as humans instead of turning into monsters."
When facing the elder god or its minions, an incomprehensible voice echoed in one's mind.
The voice eroded one's mental fortitude until, inevitably, succumbing to it turned the victim into a monster.
"You've witnessed it time and again, Leader—people corrupted into monsters by the elder god, butchering their own families and friends without mercy."
"So what? Are you suggesting we hole up here for the rest of our lives?"
"We're biding our time. When the elder god ventures far away or falls into a deep slumber, our chance will come."
"Ha."
Namgoong Jin let out a hollow scoff at the response.
"Just wait around when we don't even know where the elder god is now—or when it might sleep?"
"Then, Leader, are you proposing we make use of this mysterious window called the 'gallery'?"
Namgoong Jin nodded.
"Exactly. There might just be a way out of this mess."
"Even if there are others like us, as you say, Leader, what good would it do?"
Hye-gak tried to dissuade him once more, but the unyielding light in his eyes told him otherwise.
In truth, surviving by hiding this long was a miracle in itself, so Namgoong Jin's urge to take action was understandable.
"Very well. Then have one of your subordinates look into it instead."
"A subordinate..."
"If it's an elder god trap, using the gallery will trigger changes—we can execute them on the spot."
In essence, it meant putting them down immediately if they turned into a monster upon using the gallery.
Put another way, Hye-gak was questioning whether Namgoong Jin would sacrifice others to sate his personal desires.
"Hye-gak. Are you really going to do this?"
"It's only natural. If you turned into a monster, Leader, who could possibly stop you?"
For reference, those transformed into monsters grew several times stronger than they had been in life.
With Namgoong Jin already at the pinnacle Transcendent Realm, if he fell, no one could stand against him.
"Then who do you intend to send?"
"We'll call for volunteers. Everyone saw the message before their eyes—some might share your thoughts, Leader."
"……."
Namgoong Jin wished he could check it himself, but Hye-gak's logic held water.
If he somehow turned, no one in the shelter would survive.
"Volunteers..."
"You can reconsider even now."
Namgoong Jin stared silently at Hye-gak for a moment before speaking.
"What's the difference between living like this and just dying? Accept the volunteers."
Hye-gak, seeing his resolve unbroken, bowed his head with palms pressed together.
"Understood."
'Hmm.'
Ever since becoming the integrated channel administrator, I'd spent the whole night checking every new function one by one.
The verdict? The integrated channel admin had near-omnipotent control within the gallery.
'You can really do just about anything.'
Clicking on a nickname that had posted something brought up a small info window for that user.
'And from here, I can see every post or comment they've ever made.'
Secret posts and comments included, naturally.
On top of that, I could view their 1:1 chats and trades.
'Even exchange transaction history.'
Everything—what they'd listed, what they'd bought—was neatly logged by date and time.
Not just that. What posts they'd viewed. Their current points. Who they'd blocked. All of it.
'And get this.'
Most shockingly, I could check everything outside the gallery too.
Name, age, gender were basics. Even location tracking, like how Elisicia had pinpointed me.
"……."
If I wanted, I could directly view the other person's appearance.
Like a hidden camera—this tiny screen let me spy on whatever the owner of that nickname was doing.
'In other words, I could see what the Ice Queen or Quick Fix Doctor☆ actually look like.'
This touched on privacy, so after peeking at one random stranger, I hadn't touched it again.
Separately, I could now send items without their consent—or forcibly reclaim their points.
'Point reclamation could stir up some real controversy.'
Anyway, it was clear now why they hadn't handed over all these powers from the start.
'But that's not the point.'
The integrated channel admin oversaw every aspect of the gallery.
True to that, I could expand the item listing limit on the exchange.
'Originally, you could only list three items.'
Now, I could bump that up at will.
Do you wish to increase the exchange registration limit?
Required Cost: 10,000 points.
"……."
Points paid, as expected.
Each slot cost 10,000 points to unlock.
'But if I expand this, the Hero Party won't have to manually list items every morning.'
With my mind made up, I shelled out 270,000 points to raise the limit to 30 slots.
We'd only been listing 21 types combined before—me and the Hero Party—but now I could handle 30 solo.
'And the gallery translation feature.'
Up to now, only my gallery interface was translated. Now I could extend that to everyone else's.
Required Cost: 500,000 points.
Just 500,000 points.
'Hard to gauge if that's pricey or a steal.'
Value-wise, it was a bargain. Full inter-channel communication opened up trading possibilities across worlds.
'Channel 3 folks could snag weapons from Channel 4, for instance.'
The Incheon Alliance would eat that up.
Awakening Stones and bloodstones in exchange for Channel 4 gear? Obvious win.
'And...'
Apparently an admin perk: I could check survivor counts per channel.
From 1 to 7, spot-on numbers.
Channel 1 Survivors: 1,763,711
Channel 2 Survivors: 504,469
Channel 3 Survivors: 2,594,170
Channel 4 Survivors: 247,517,345
Channel 5 Survivors: 3,472
Channel 6 Survivors: —
Channel 7 Survivors: 1
'Channel 2's in rough shape too.'
Only half a million left.
Watching live, the numbers ticked down one by one.
'Someone just died.'
Sadly, Channel 6 was wiped out—no survivors.
That lone soul in Channel 7 was obviously Yoo Hyun-min, no surprise there.
'Channel 7 really is just him.'
The real shocker? Channel 1.
I'd figured most died without using the gallery, but no.
'Over three times Channel 2's count.'
Curious why no activity, I hopped into Channel 1.
'Admin privileges now.'
It wasn't empty— a few posts here and there. Clicking nicks revealed their info.
'Huh?'
[Is this how you post here?]
A fresh post in Channel 1.
Posted moments ago.
'Triggered by the global system message?'
Someone got curious. Perfect timing—I dove in.
But the body was blank.
'Doesn't know how to use the gallery.'
Admin to the rescue.
Clicked the nick.
Name: Namgung Ji-ah (Female) Age 22
'A girl.'
But this info? Useless in the current crisis. Name, gender, age—big whoop.
'Drop a comment? Or 1:1 chat?'
She might miss a comment entirely—alarms ring, but newbies often can't pinpoint the source.
'A direct 1:1 might spook her.'
After agonizing, I went with 1:1.
Took a while, but she accepted.
Opponent has accepted the 1:1 chat.
Are you the integrated channel administrator?
Yes, that's me. Finally getting to chat with someone from Channel 1.
Channel 1? What's that?
Put simply, it's one of the worlds in the Doom Salvation Gallery. There are seven in total. We call them Channel 1, Channel 2, and so on for convenience.
There are seven worlds like this one?
Yep. See the '2ch' next to my nickname? Means I'm in the Channel 2 world.
Other worlds... that's astonishing. Are they in a similar situation?
Similar situation?
I know zilch about Channel 1... but the Doom Salvation Gallery only pops up right before total destruction.
System? What's a system?
Ah, like a mechanism or tool. Anyway, when something wipes out over 90% of the world's population, the Doom Salvation Gallery appears.
So you're saying the other worlds have lost over 90% of their populations too?
I skipped mentioning worlds at 100%—no need to go there.
Correct. That's why I'm teaming up with the other channels to get through this.
How exactly do you team up with the other channels?
We trade items back and forth. Speaking of, do you need food or anything over there?
……We do. We've been digging up roots for months.
Roots, huh.
'Expected it, but Channel 1's no picnic.'
I jumped straight into Modern Item Purchase, loaded up on rice, meat, and veggies in bulk, and shipped them over.