Chapter 26

“What’s with all this?”

Frederick frowned as he looked over the posts Duke Isaac brought along.

Isn’t this just Joodak’s pointless drivel?

And he’s even trying to grab attention by adding .jpg to the end of it!

But Isaac was unfazed.

He gestured behind him, and one of the assassin squad members brought forth a trembling man.

“Who is this?”

“This is the head of the Glein Merchant Guild.”

“Oh, I see. Isn’t he the one who used to sell food supplies to the Kelton Kingdom?”

It was the guild which had been paraded as a symbol of their diplomatic ties with the Kelton Kingdom.

Of course, that was a long time ago.

The kingdom of Kelton no longer existed.

“Take a look at the photo in this post.”

Title: Just got a new bed, isn’t it amazing?.jpg

Author: Joodak☆

(A meme showcasing a barter-exchanged bed)

Lol, my back hurts from that stone floor.

I can’t even go outside, so shouldn’t I at least be comfortable lying down?

– What the hell is that pink thing? Lol

Nah, it’s even a canopy.

Is Joodak admitting that he’s a cute half-elf?

– What’s with the darkness?

It’s darker than our backyard shed.

Hey Joodak, you should see some sunlight and get out a bit!

Joodak☆) Can’t do that, there are undead outside, no way;

“If you look behind, there are stacks of food supply barrels. And they all bear the emblem of the Glein Merchant Guild.”

“And?”

“The stone floor and the fact that they can’t tell day from night suggests it’s a basement storage.”

“Hmm.”

Frederick stroked his chin.

“So that must mean it’s from the Kelton Kingdom?”

“The Glein Merchant Guild was established solely for the purpose of establishing ties with the Kelton Kingdom. And our Empire doesn’t often utilize basement storages.”

At that, Duke Isaac spread out a map.

On the map, drawn with the capital of the Kelton Kingdom as reference, numerous circles marked locations were scattered.

“This is a map showing the locations of all basement storages.”

Most of the circles were marked with an ‘X’, leaving only a handful remaining.

“Meaning!”

“…That’s right.”

A dark smile formed on Duke Isaac’s lips.

“I will go and eliminate Joodak.”

An ideal opportunity to remove Joodak, the obstacle of the Adrian Empire, had arisen.

*

“Ooh?”

Swoosh, swipe.

There’s really nothing to do in the storage.

Naturally, I started getting interested in all sorts of things, one of which was my pet Rift.

While messing around with the Rift, I discovered one thing.

“What is this? It’s a teleport!”

It was indeed a teleport leading somewhere.

I repeatedly placed the Holy Sword into the Rift and pulled it out again, and the sword remained perfectly intact.

There was no sign of damage or breakage at all.

“If I jump in there and leave a post, I could instantly become a meme.”

Joodak was basically another Gallum.

An impulse surged through me, but being reckless enough to stick my head in there was out of the question.

I merely acknowledged that it was a passageway leading somewhere, and resumed my gallery activities.

However, there wasn’t much to do.

The unpaid slave Full-Peel Elf had finally shed their newbie status and started managing their share of the gallery.

Thanks to the two diligent Deputies, I didn’t have to manage the gallery as strictly as before.

“Since this is the case, should I browse through old posts?”

Thus began the search through the gallery logs.

The gallery log could be seen as a kind of Gallum library filled with past writings from a Gallum.

I had the hobby of occasionally sifting through my old writings to see the reactions in comments.

While perusing the posts, I stumbled upon something peculiar.

“What’s this? Why are the views increasing?”

– Just got a new bed, isn’t it amazing?.jpg

– I can’t tell night from day here.jpg

These were posts that had failed to grab attention.

Yet why were the views increasing?

Not just single digits, but now in double digits, even exceeding one hundred!

But had any new comments been made? Not really.

“Hmm, what is going on? This is unsettling.”

It seemed someone had gone through my gallery logs to look at a post with just a single picture.

As if they were investigating something.

– Joodak, be careful about your surroundings.

– There are plenty of creepy Gallums aiming at you.

– Make sure to be careful about anything that could reveal your location when posting pictures.

– If you get caught, the gallery will be ruined!

– Please take care.

Thinking back, there were many concerned comments from Gallums during the early days of the gallery.

“Now we’re careful about every single photo…”

In the beginning, I snapped pictures of everything out of curiosity.

A sense of unease washed over me.

“Maybe I should move?”

I had been cooped up in this storage for too long.

I should consider securing locations or taking measures for better protection.

Of course, starting tomorrow.

“I swear, I really will start tomorrow.”

It’s not that I’m just lazy or anything.

I slid under the blanket and slowly closed my eyes.

After some decent sleep, just as I was about to continue contemplating my move, I heard a sound.

Clank, rattle.

“…?”

A faint noise, one that could only be heard in complete silence.

Clank, clank.

As I opened my eyes and turned towards the source of the sound, I noticed a small noise by the entrance.

Sneaking closer with cat-like steps, I could discern the sound’s origin.

“Is that the sound of a door unlocking?”

The sound of someone picking the lock on the storage door.

Then it became apparent that they were struggling to open the door, repeatedly hitting the piles of materials I had blocked it with.

*

The Empire’s finest assassins.

They were professionals who never failed to capture their targets once a mission was assigned.

While on the hunt for Joodak, they were attempting to break into another storage.

Clank.

“Something’s caught.”

“Here, inside.”

They opened the door, but it didn’t budge.

Something was blocking it from within.

The assassins moved toward the entrance with a magic spell in one hand and a dagger in the other.

“I didn’t order any delivery!”

A loud voice echoed from inside.

A voice that didn’t quite confirm it was Joodak, but that didn’t matter.

“After we kill this innocent person, we’ll just need to observe whether Joodak is active or not.”

They had already killed about ten innocent people.

No guilt was in their hearts.

As they melted down the wooden door with corrosive magic.

“Stop! I can shoot!”

The absolute gallery-exclusive spell “Stop.”

At that moment, the assassins froze, but they didn’t care and proceeded to burn the door.

And then they spotted someone inside.

“Found you.”

A sinister smile crept upon their faces.

Clumsy movements and awkward reactions.

There’s nothing easier than killing a hesitant foe.

Just as the assassins were about to enter with grins, a bang!

Sparks flew from the darkness.

“Cough!”

And the leader of the assassin squad dropped dead on the spot.

“Leader?”

“He’s dead?”

The most skilled assassin among them had been taken out in the blink of an eye.

As they watched their leader slump over, bleeding profusely on the stairs, the assassins swallowed hard.

“So Joodak really isn’t just anyone, huh.”

“I’ll go in with a magical barrier.”

The vice-captain, now the captain, spoke as they all geared up with magical shields and advanced once more.

Whoosh!

This time, an unknown metal object shot through.

“That weapon!”

The assassins instantly recognized what it was.

A strange magical explosive that could even penetrate the Bone Dragon’s magical defenses.

One of the assassins quickly slashed at the incoming grenade with his dagger.

Now, that was the speed befitting the finest assassins!

Boom!

Of course, the grenade exploded just as fast as his reflexes.

“Ugh!”

“What the hell! That’s not that weapon!”

But this time, it wasn’t a high-explosive grenade.

It was a fragmentation grenade.

One of the worst modern weapons that unleashed metal shrapnel at all nearby targets.

“Uagh…”

“What kind of monster is this?!”

Even during encounters with high-ranking mages, they had never felt such a sense of crisis.

What on earth were those attacks?

There would be no more searching around now.

Leaving behind their blood-soaked comrades, the few remaining began to leap over the debris.

Clack!

Then they heard a chilling sound.

“Freeze! Hands up or I’ll shoot!”

Emerging from behind cover was Joodak, wielding some sinister-looking black object.

It was none other than the K2 Rifle, the tears of Korean soldiers.

“Huuh?”

“Shut it!”

The assassins didn’t know the password, so of course, it wasn’t going to work.

Joodak had no intention of showing mercy and shouldered the weapon, aligning his aim at the assassins.

“Top-tier sharpshooter here; assassination? That’ll be tough.”

And just as he was about to blast the assassins!

Click, click.

“Shit.”

The weapon jammed.

The previous round had caused a catastrophic malfunction.

“Dammit! I should’ve just used the shotgun!!!”

Why did I choose the K2 for familiarity’s sake?

Why had I forgotten that with familiarity came the risk of malfunction?

Images flashed through Joodak’s mind.

At that moment, he recalled the Rabbit Hole ticket he had almost forgotten.

Just then, an assassin shouted with venom.

“Don’t you dare dodge my dagger and run!”

“Thank you!”

Barely escaping the dagger, Joodak made a break for the corner!

Thanks to the obstacles he had set up, the assassins couldn’t pursue him right away.

In the meantime, Joodak was able to pull out the Rabbit Hole ticket he had hidden in the corner.

“This thing was meant to be torn, right?”

The ultimate escape button he had saved for last resort.

If he used this, he could escape to the Rabbit Beastfolk village targeting him.

Whether he could actually escape there was uncertain, but it was better than dying right now.

“Die!”

As the assassins closed in right before him.

Joodak held up the ticket with both hands!

“Still, the Rabbit Beastfolk village is quite risky.”

And he dove into the Rift.