Chapter 63

[Title: LOL This is Awesome]

(A golem struggling to keep its balance GIF)

(Monsters lying on the ground gasping GIF)

Something seems off with my scout.

Did they all have a drink or something?

– LOL why are they like that?

– If they’re in a weird state, that works in our favor.

– Whoa, there were actually 4 Steel Golems!

Nah, if they had invaded in good condition, Kellierhton would have been in serious trouble.

A post from the scout about the upcoming wave was uploaded to the Gallery.

A report indicating that the monsters were acting strangely.

Initially, most comments expressed relief, without knowing what the issue was.

However, the strange symptoms worsened in less than an hour.

—

[Title: Uh, Something’s Off]

(GIF of dead monsters and golems)

(GIF of surrounding plants rotting)

(GIF of crows flocking to devour corpses that turn into corpses themselves)

Suddenly, everything began to die.

I can’t ask questions in a hurry.

– What’s going on?

– No, this is a bit creepy.

– Golems can die so helplessly?

– ?? Did they get cursed or something?

Nah, I’ve never heard of such a potent curse!

I’ve never heard of a curse that can wipe out five variant monsters in just one hour!

It was great when the monsters were slumped.

The Steel Golem was a bizarre monster that could single-handedly break down walls.

If they were weakening, that would be good news, but if they all died in an hour, that changes everything.

– What could this be, divine punishment?

– It’s a curse from the gods! The gods have cursed us!

– Is the Great War going to break out again?

Hundreds, thousands of waves of monsters quietly turned into corpses.

All the animals in the area rotted.

Of course, the animals that came to eat these corpses died too.

Fear from the unknown.

The atmosphere in the Gallery began to shift from welcoming to fearful.

– What if that comes after us?

– Could an entire city die in an instant?

– Dying like that seems excruciating.

– (I’m scared, Elf Con)

“I guess I need to make an announcement.”

Modern firearms were impressive, but chemical weapons were on another level.

Before panic spread in the Gallery, I wrote up a new announcement.

—

[Announcement: Important Notice Regarding Current Rumors]

Author: Head of the Gallery

It’s me.

This is a notice about the Kellierhton Rift rumors.

(GIF of all the monsters dead)

To get to the point, yes, I did it.

I thought I’d cut back the damage in advance, but I didn’t know the fallout would be this severe;

That’s VX nerve agent.

I tossed it into the Rift, and they tried to crawl out to live but ended up all dead, so no worries!

I wrote this to address all the various myths and rumors circulating in the Gallery.

—

“Well, I guess that’s good enough?”

I explained what it was, and I assured them it wasn’t going to target people.

Of course, as soon as I uploaded the announcement, thousands of comments began pouring in.

– But they have no wounds?

Nah, for real, there are no signs of an explosion either.

Even with magic, there are traces; what in the world… why are they quietly collapsing one by one?

– Has Head of the Gallery learned curse magic?

Nah, does that exist?

– ?

– ???

– No, not really; but if you don’t know, what’s that about?

Meanwhile, there were also those who focused on the confirmed lethality.

They wanted to actively use it for defense and combat.

—

[Title: Head of the Gallery, This is Really Good]

Seems like the effects are unreal.

Can’t we release that VX stuff at the Marketplace?

– For real LOL OP weapon is in the Gallery!

– Isn’t it fine if we use it to deal with the monster crowd?

I thought about that too at first.

But then I realized the monsters hit by it, before dying, desperately flail out of the Rift.

– How would you use it, Head of the Gallery?

– Can’t we catch it like a grenade and throw it at the monsters?

– How would you catch it?

– Well, can’t we catch it somehow?

– Ah, Head of the Gallery, you’re losing it.

– Let’s loosen it a bit and clean up all the monsters, haha.

“Ah, how should I explain this?”

It seemed like the Gallery still didn’t fully grasp the dangers of chemical weapons.

I pondered how to explain it, but then I realized there was no need.

Time would explain it.

It had been one week since the use of chemical weapons.

—

[Title: Update from the Northern Plains…jpg]

(GIF of completely rotting animals and plants)

(GIF of the vast plains lined only with corpses)

It feels like seeing hell…

I guess you could say it’s filled with thoughts.

A bit—no, a lot—of chills.

Head of the Gallery, what on earth did you bring us?

– Why is it that animals die just by passing through?

Nah, it seems like if even a bit of blood touches, they just drop dead!

Is life really that easy to snuff out?

– I really shouldn’t mess with Head of the Gallery.

Nah, when they say Great Magician, now I really get it…

Time didn’t heal anything.

The lucky part is that the VX only spread a few hundred meters from the Rift.

Thanks to the Rift spitting out waves and then disappearing.

“I will never carelessly unleash chemical weapons again.”

Never go into the chemical weapons tab at the shop.

This was beyond manageable.

If I were to use it again, I better tightly seal off the area surrounding the Rift.

“For now, I need to do some cleanup.”

I couldn’t feel relief just because the Rift was gone.

If left like this, I could end up killing even the innocent.

“But who’s going to do it?”

However, this was on a different level compared to the Gallery Doctor during the Black Plague.

Even the strong Steel Golem succumbed in just 20 minutes of torture.

To ask someone to go clean up something like VX in that area?

“Still, I should at least post a recruitment notice…”

I drafted a recruitment post just in case.

The Gallery was in a state of fear over chemical weapons.

– Touching it means death?

Nah, you just breathe it in and you’re dead!

Seriously, say something that makes sense, even dragons can’t manage that, LOL.

Fact) It’s official from Head of the Gallery!

Damn, something like that really exists?

In a medieval setting dominated by physical attacks, just touching it means death?

It was remarkable that tales of demon curses and divine retribution weren’t cropping up.

But just in case, I posted something…

—

[A total of 152 applications have arrived.]

“What the hell?”

In less than a minute, applications were flooding in easily surpassing a hundred.

—

The ground turned gray.

It had been a week since the corpses were left unattended.

Normally, they should be rotting, but there weren’t even any flies around the corpses.

“If there is a hell, it would look like this?”

“I think it might be worse than that.”

All of this was the work of Head of the Gallery.

A few days ago, Head of the Gallery’s recruitment post appeared in the Gallery.

—

[Recruitment: Looking for People to Work.]

Conditions: Any with arms and legs will do.

Support: Chemical protective gear, gas masks, etc.

Job Content: VX damage area cleanup squad.

—

The recruitment content was incredibly concise.

No, it was so concise it felt short.

But those chosen for the field didn’t even read this thoroughly before applying.

Because they were offering huge sums of money.

—

“But I didn’t think I’d end up doing something like this.”

As the man speaking pressed the ignition button, the flamethrower unleashed a fierce flame.

The long flames began to consume both the corpses and surrounding flora and fauna.

The job given to them was simple.

To burn everything in this area to ash.

—

“Chilling…”

If this were hell as the youngest man said, then everyone would be going to heaven.

If they could just see that hellish sight once, they’d all want to live and become devout religious followers.

However, even though they learned it was such a horrifying task, none of those selected fled.

“So why did you come to do this job?”

“Yeah, you look young; aren’t you scared?”

One of the workers asked a boy.

But the boy was unfazed.

It didn’t seem like he was forcing it.

“Being hungry is scarier.”

“That’s true.”

“I was dragooned into the Great War without a penny, so this isn’t that bad.”

He felt even a bit proud of it.

At least Head of the Gallery didn’t ask them to do anything he wouldn’t do himself.

Just the fact that he provided them with this strange gear was enough to keep them safe, right?

More importantly…

—

4,000 Mana Pills have been deposited.

“Wahoo!”

An enormous amount of money buoyed their spirits.

Amidst the excited workers, one person suddenly looked up to appreciate the scenery.

It was Head of the Gallery who annihilated the throngs of monsters that had the entire nation in a frenzy.

In that midst, he nonchalantly protected them as well.

Once a believer of the great God of the Gallery, the man chuckled to himself.

“Isn’t this pretty godly?”

—

The effects of the chemical weapon were gradually getting sorted as time passed.

Occasionally, when similar corpses emerged from other rifts, the hired hands would be there to take care of it.

“There shouldn’t be any contact with people.”

Fortunately, there had been zero incidents so far.

But it wouldn’t hurt to remain vigilant.

As I read each post that came up in the Gallery, I was keeping a watchful eye for any issues.

—

[Title: My eyesight keeps getting worse.]

(GIF of a crying frog)

That’s not all.

My hands are oddly trembling, and I keep forgetting things that happened.

Something weird keeps coming up on my hands…

I’m taking my medicine and applying it well, so why is this happening?

“Could it be?”

Is it a side effect of the chemical weapon?

It’s possible that diluted traces from the bodies of the dead monsters somehow entered through a pathway.

If not that, there’s no way my body could deteriorate so rapidly while I’m taking care of my medication.

– Head of the Gallery*) What medicine are you taking then?

I immediately left a comment on that post, and soon enough, I found an unexpected answer.

– Author*) ㅠㅠ Mercury…

– Head of the Gallery*) ?

—

“Oh crap.”

Mercury, the go-to for medieval maladies.