Chapter 92, Enthusiastic Response
I had just woken up, so my eyes still couldn't focus properly.
I squeezed them shut and opened them again.
The number didn't change.
10,873.
Ten thousand eight hundred seventy-three.
In the Gallery, the number of comments on a post was always displayed beside its title.
If there was one comment, it showed (1).
If there were ten, it showed (10).
So [Summary of the Mysteries I've Encountered So Far (10,837)] meant that the post had received more than ten thousand comments.
This wasn't the total number of comments posted across the Gallery over the past week.
It was the number of comments on the single post I had uploaded this time.
“What the...”
Still unable to understand the situation, I blinked a few times before moving my hand to check the comments more closely.
My long index finger tapped on a post.
Damn.
It was someone else's post.
Thinking I had made the mistake because I was flustered, I tapped again.
This time, I entered someone else's post again.
Only then did I realize.
Dozens of new posts were being uploaded to the Gallery in real time.
If I so much as blinked, my post disappeared off the screen and was pushed far downward.
The Gallery had always been active.
Every time I refreshed, there would usually be a new post.
But even then, it had never been active enough for dozens of posts to pile up every second.
[72 Demons, isn't this thing weaker than the dog guarding my house? Why the hell is it a 900-series Mystery?]
[Recruiting people to research Mystery 871. Minimum qualification, Grand Mage.]
[I'm telling you, Tag-type Mysteries are fucking broken.]
[Upvote if you want Mommy Dorothy to step on you lololol]
[Honestly, isn't that Swallowing Mimic complete garbage?]
[The Heavenly Demon and the entire righteous faction fought in front of my house today, and watching the Heavenly Demon desperately slaughter the greatest warriors of the righteous faction suddenly made me realize how amazing Gallery Master must be for fighting in an even harsher environment.]
[Looking for people to decipher the runes engraved on Mystery 197 together.]
[There's a Martial Alliance, a Magic Tower, an Order, what kind of faction DOESN'T exist in that setting lololol]
[Why the hell does Gallery Master attract so many women?]
[Upvote if you think Gallery Master is a god lolololol]
And it wasn't like every post was directly about me, either.
I quietly watched the flood of posts and eventually noticed a certain flow.
Every post was following the same current.
And I realized that current had started from the post I uploaded yesterday.
“I didn't think the reaction would be this big...”
Judging from how the Gallery users had reacted in the past, I had expected it to cause some kind of stir.
I just hadn't expected it to be this enormous.
If someone asked whether this was good or bad, it was obviously good.
It wasn't negative attention.
It was positive attention.
There was no reason for that to be bad.
Still, so many posts were appearing that my eyes were starting to hurt.
I changed the settings so I could only see popular posts that had received more than a certain number of recommendations.
Only then did the rate drop from dozens of posts per second to roughly one every ten seconds.
Even that was absurdly fast compared to normal.
After looking through the popular posts, I realized the Gallery was currently split between two major topics of discussion.
One side was using the descriptions of the Mysteries I had uploaded to investigate what they called the setting and worldbuilding.
The other side was analyzing the possibilities of the Mysteries themselves and creating builds as though they were playing a game.
Something like, Use this Mystery here, combine it with that Mystery there.
The former group mostly consisted of priests and mages.
The latter had a lot of martial artists and immortals.
Both kinds of posts were extremely useful to me.
Reading highly recommended discussion threads alone made me feel as though I was improving one step at a time.
“Ah. I should check the comments.”
I had gotten distracted while browsing posts.
Remembering my original purpose, I clicked on the post I had written.
As expected of a post with ten thousand comments, I could keep scrolling and scrolling without even seeing the end.
I quickly began reading.
[Summary of the Mysteries I've Encountered So Far]
[Author: ㅇㅇ]
[(Roughly, a list of Mystery names and explanations about them)]
.
.
.
└? What the hell is this? I only read the first line and my hands are already shaking. Am I seeing this right?
└Holy shit, he's actually dropping the setting guide here?
└He even gave us detailed explanations, holy fucking peak ㄷㄷㄷㄷ
└Is this really Gallery Master??? There's no way Gallery Master would do this.
└For real, there's no way the number one shitposter in the Regression, Possession, Reincarnation Gallery would feed us lore this kindly;;
└Then what the hell is this post?
└Dunno.
└Anyway, probably not Gallery Master.
└Holy shit, Gallery Master, I knew I could trust you.
└I was supposed to go to the Righteous-Demonic War today, but the moment I saw this post I immediately no-showed lololol, you can't expect me to miss a setting guide~
└Same, I'm the number one warrior of the righteous faction and I just no-showed too lololol, how the hell am I supposed to resist a setting guide lololol
└I'm the Heavenly Demon and I didn't go either. I'm just sitting in the Divine Cult reading the setting guide right now. Doesn't Mystery 731 seem fucking insane?
└Are these guys roleplaying?
└I think they're actually serious...? I think I'm in the same world as them; I came here for the Righteous-Demonic War and the Heavenly Demon isn't here....
└Then what happens to the Righteous-Demonic War?
└Dunno, it'll probably end somehow. I'm leaving too, gonna go read the setting guide.
└Martial world peace ㄷㄷㄷ
└Gallery Master saved the martial world.
└Gallery Master G O A T, I worship you ㄷㄷㄷㄷ
└Gallery Master protects the martial world from his room, while I can't even protect my mom's outfit.... Sad.
└I tried organizing this, and I think 100-series Mysteries are probably object-type? 200-series might be animals, and 300-series might be humanoids.
└Oh, nice organization.
└I'm Gallery Master, and I think this is right.
└I'm a Mystery, can confirm.
└Anything else? Organize more.
└I'll do it, wait.
└Done.
└Adding to that, I don't know about the 400s and 500s, but I think the 600-series are phenomena. Not completely sure, though.
└Then what about the 700-series?
└If things like the Mystery Supermarket and False Utopia were in the 700s, maybe 700-series are places or spaces?
└What about the 800-series?
└Dunno.
└800-series is hard. Can't really get a feel for it.
└Gallery-Master-emon, tell us~ Give us more lore~
└Hot take) I read the summary of what Gallery Master went through this time, and I think he should've confessed to Seolhwa on the spot....
└White-haired-beautiful-girl-confident-ice-princess-in-front-of-others-but-shy-loser-beautiful-girl-in-front-of-me is irresistible, okay~
└Why do I know every single word in that sentence, but when they're put together I can't read it...?
└Gallerybro....
└No, seriously, why did Gallery Master just let Seolhwa leave? If it were me, I'd immediately accept the invitation and tell the Martial Alliance Leader, "Give me your daughter."
└Apparently the Regression, Possession, Reincarnation Gallery has officially changed its name to the Delusion Gallery starting today.
└This dude has gone so far that he's even giving Gallery Master dating advice lololol
└Gallery Master is an ultra alpha male who rotates through women every day anyway lololol
└Why am I crying.
└Hngggg, ㅠㅠㅠㅠ
└I seriously want to become like Gallery Master. What do I do? Kill myself and pray to possess his body?
└Is Gallery Master your mortal enemy or something...?
└Gallery Master probably has it rough too, fuck that, with that many women he can suffer a lot more for all I care.
There really were a lot of comments.
Far too many to sit there and read all at once.
I decided I would go through them little by little whenever I had free time.
That was enough Gallery for now.
I should get back to training like usual.
Before that, though, I needed to check what had changed.
I pulled the Runestone from my waistband.
A Runestone engraved with runic characters that gave off a faint glow.
It was an excellent Mystery that enhanced many things simply by possessing it, including my senses and stamina.
But in my opinion, the Runestone's true value wasn't there.
I took out Lucy and read the Runestone's description.
[[Scq971, Runic Script] is engraved upon this ancient stone from the distant past. It inspires courage and vitality in its owner and reduces poor physical condition.
In addition, the senses become sharper, and instinct and intuition also become more acute. It may even allow the owner to perceive things they previously could not.
Furthermore, if the runic characters engraved upon the Runestone are deciphered, it will come to possess even greater power.]
What caught my attention was the final sentence of the second paragraph.
It may even allow the owner to perceive things they previously could not.
The possibility was low, but I wondered if that could include things like internal energy or mana.
I had occasionally tried learning martial arts and mana in the past.
I had even asked the people around me for advice.
There had been no progress.
Hoping things might be different this time, I opened the Gallery and searched for an internal energy cultivation method.
A long list of posts appeared.
I opened the one with the most recommendations and followed the instructions written there.
I sat cross-legged and focused on sensing the energy inside my body.
I stayed like that for about an hour.
There was no particular result.
Next was mana.
Just like before, I searched the Gallery for a mana cultivation method and began following it.
