Chapter 15

Outskirts of the Elf Forest, Elard.

People were bustling about in the mossy area near trees that stretched high like buildings.

“Ah, I got it!”

Then, a man in armor ecstatically snatched something up—it was a green slime.

“Wow.”

“Already? I’m jealous.”

Though slimes were monsters, they weren’t very numerous.

The people, gazing enviously at the man taking a victory shot, searched even harder through the patches of moss.

The slime was known to have a corrosive touch, but it didn’t pose a significant threat.

“Being hungry is scarier than dying.”

Food had drastically dwindled after the Great War.

Everyone had experienced hunger, and those who had felt the depths of despair were all sincere about it.

“I bought ten tuna cans!!!”

“Wow, insane!”

“Hey, can you show me the price of those tuna cans?”

Of course, if items could be bought at the marketplace opened by the Head of the Gallery, it’d be a different story.

But it was no easy task to purchase items at a marketplace teeming with people from all over the continent.

Instead, they were just searching for variant monsters, which could provide their materials, clutching their hefty sacks of MSG.

“Mersenne, over here.”

“Hmm…”

And in this bizarre sight of elves hunting slimes in the Elf Forest,

Word eventually reached Mersenne, who held significant influence in the Elf Council.

“It’s quite displeasing. How could they invade the forest for monster cuisine?”

Mersenne’s sea-colored eyes swept the surroundings.

The scenery of the outskirts of Elard, which should have been tranquil and dangerous with monsters, was… strange.

“So, they’re hunting the monsters on our behalf?”

“Yes, especially focusing on the slimes in the outskirts for extermination.”

“That’s the problem.”

The elves were watching idly.

Why? The elves, who solely relied on the dew and fruits from the trees, were terrible cooks.

In other words, a culture had sprung up allowing humans to farm while taking a share of the cooking in return.

Be it armored human knights thrashing through the moss or young elves squatting with perked ears,

“Huh.”

Mersenne thought the young generation was indeed a problem.

Mersenne immediately opened the gallery.

Title: All Humans Get Out of Elard!

Author: Adorable Elf Elder >_[

Elf – Ha!☆ Elf Elder

Not pleased at all

If you ask what’s wrong, it’s everything!

Why on earth is such a thing happening in Elard?

Especially young elves are a problem too – “ –

Instead of pointing out invasions and keeping guard, they’re sniffing around trying to taste monster cuisine.

This is an insult to the World Tree!

[Would you like to post this?]

And just as she was about to hit the confirm button,

Eliana, the Elf Commander who had accompanied her for protection, arrived with some food.

“…Eliana? What’s that?”

“I received a bit because they were sharing. Here, it’s noodles made from slime.”

“…”

Mersenne glared thinly at Eliana.

Appointing a young elf as Commander had led to such antics—bringing back food instead.

‘I’ll have to call her later for some retraining.’

She was also thinking of casually asking about Eliana’s gallery nickname.

Every time she tried to sneak it in, Eliana never responded, which was quite bothersome…

“You should eat it right after catching it. Otherwise, it gets soggy and loses its taste.”

“…Alright, then.”

This wasn’t about eating due to hunger.

It was simply the responsibility of an elder to experience and understand the current reality firsthand.

Slurp.

Mersenne took a bite of the slime noodles.

“Ugh!”

And realized another aspect of the meal.

Soft and chewy noodles.

A pleasantly spicy sauce enriched with depth and perfection thanks to the MSG.

With suitable vegetable toppings for elves.

“Is this called noodles?”

“They say some call it slime jjolmyeon, but I still don’t know.”

“Hmm…”

Mersenne squinted.

For some reason, the sweet yet addictive spiciness made her snag her tongue slightly as she took another big bite.

“Whoa.”

Sweet-spicy-sweet-spicy, the perfect gourmet experience began to assault Mersenne’s senses.

This was a form of violence.

A culinary violence.

“What do you think? Isn’t it good?”

Mersenne snapped back to reality at Eliana’s question.

“Gah! Yes, it’s… fine, but still, I’m worried.”

She canceled her thoughts of it being savage.

But Mersenne still wasn’t entirely welcoming of this atmosphere.

There had never been a benefit to indiscriminately continuing a hunt like this.

“AHHH!”

“!”

And those worries turned into reality.

*

There’s a saying that too much of anything is excessive.

A prime example is global warming.

Uncontrolled environmental destruction slowly accumulates and returns in kind.

But in this other world, the severity appeared to be extreme.

Concept Post) Real-time destruction is happening… jpg

(A monster deer with four horns gif)

(The screen shakes as the author runs away gif)

Me, going to Elard to try slime gourmet.

But didn’t I end up coming to farm slimes?

So now everyone is gathering while farming slimes, and suddenly, a variant monster appears!

Lol, it’s only cute, why be scared?

(Deer foot in the background of the author’s full body gif)

Damn it, that’s enormous.

Oh shit! Lol.

Sika deer is terrifying.

“Wow, this is insane.”

The deer had a bewildering size, much larger than a two-story house, starkly contrasting its innocent-looking eyes.

It was the kind of size that would elicit awe even when just viewed in a gif.

This was something I hadn’t seen even in the rare monster-hunting posts.

If such a thing barged into a storage room, it would be clear that defenses would be obliterated in seconds.

“Hey, what the hell is that?”

Naturally, I instinctively threw out the question.

I needed to know if I was to strategize for defenses.

“Haha, is this your first time seeing such a creature?”

That’s what it felt like, so even though I was exasperated, I remained calm.

“Who am I? Gallery Administrator, the Head of the Gallery.”

“Hey, is that a wave?”

Upon hearing that ominous word, I narrowed my eyes.

But this time, there was no need for detailed explanations; simply searching the term “wave” yielded countless posts.

Three years ago) Damn it, a wave broke out in Kelton.

Three years ago) A wave is coming to the Kelton Kingdom, looking for races to help!

Three years ago) The Kelton Kingdom is ruined…

Three years ago) Of all times, a wave breaks out there?

The name Kelton Kingdom sounded vaguely familiar.

But there was no need to dwell on it.

“No, it’s right here.”

The phrase carved plainly on the storage items clearly indicated it was the Kelton Kingdom.

The place where I reincarnated was the Kelton Kingdom.

And it had fallen long ago.

But I had only thought it happened due to the Great War; I never realized it was because of a wave.

[Administrator Chat Room]

“The Head of the Gallery☆: Hey, Elf Deputy.”

“Full-Peel Elf: What do you want?”

“The Head of the Gallery☆: Is this wave really dangerous?”

“Full-Peel Elf: It could be, or it might not be.”

“What?”

“Compared to the Great War, during a wave, there are usually just one or two variant monsters that are the leaders.”

“Summarize that in short.”

“Great War ]>>> Wave >>> Current State.”

“Got it.”

“I will not die even if I’m a vampire. That deer meat looks delicious. Drooling.”

And I understood right then.

If the wave is comparable to a battalion, then the Great War was a complete aggregation of those creatures.

“Then isn’t that deer dangerous?”

I could see the variant monster deer rampaging in the posts popping up.

And it wasn’t something to laugh about since comments were disappearing in real time.

– How do we even catch that thing?

– It’s really fast, but it looks like it’ll be caught soon. What should we do?

– I’m forming a party in a hurry, need some help!

– [Post deleted.]

– Someone please, I need potions urgently!

– [Post deleted.]

“There’s no exit function in the Otherworld Doom Gallery.”

This meant that if lives were lost, member records would be erased with them.

My previously calm heart began to race.

Without Gallum, the gallery would cease to exist.

“Moreover, this isn’t just about other people.”

If everyone truly died, the next ones in line were the ones hidden away.

In such a scenario, I wouldn’t last even a few seconds.

“I’m sure we had various items for sale at the shop…”

I had only focused on food for survival, managing the marketplace all the while.

But now the situation was different.

For the first time, I started searching through the weapon, armor, and materials categories instead of food.

[Seamless Grenade] – 30 points

[Pressure Charge Grenade] – 40 points

[Flashbang] – 130 points

[Barbed Wire] – 45 points

…

“What should I buy? No, should I just buy everything?”

My point total had already surpassed 100,000.

Just as I was contemplating what would be effective against that monster deer, a new concept post popped up.

Concept Post) Scene footage compilation 3.

(Clips of the monster deer rampaging)

(A clip of Gallum standing frozen, not evading)

(A clip of being assault and attacked in real time)

“No way;”

“Ah, damn, put a warning on that.”

“Stop posting and go help.”

“Hey, what’s going on with that Gallum? It looked like a heart was punctured in an instant.”

“Ah.”

While I was deep in thought, perhaps due to fear, a woman was directly pierced by the deer.

Suddenly, my head went cold.

Just as I was about to turn off the video…

“What’s going on?”

“Is that a death?”

“Uh, why is it coming back to life?”

“Is that a human?”

“Humans die when they get a hole in their heart!”

The woman, who had clearly been pierced to death, was now staring down at the deer with crazed eyes, drooling.