Demon Lord Gallery

After that day when my hopes were shattered, I spent three days in a half-vegetative state.

I didn’t even bother with meals, just repeating a cycle of gate cleaning-sleep-gate cleaning-sleep, so maybe it’s hard to call it vegetative.

Anyway, while taking this break that wasn’t really a break, I had a lot of time to be lost in thought, and as a result, I was able to gather my thoughts and attitude somewhat.

Let’s not be too emotional about the gallery.

After all, the initial purpose of entering the gallery was close to a hobby and entertainment.

If you don’t expect, you won’t be disappointed. With this thought firmly planted in one corner of my mind, the wounds received from the Demon Lord Gallery were nothing special.

“Well then, shall we look at the gallery that’s been piling up for three days?”

I wonder how much chaos, fighting, and mess has occurred in these three days.

I shouldn’t feel joy about this, but my hands were already trembling at the thought of seeing the gallery full of chaos.

I’ve become quite the Demon Lord.

The Demon Lord Gallery I opened with such expectations excellently met those expectations.

[Why the fuck is the hero here][5]
[Why are the hero spy bastards suddenly having a fit?][11]
[No gays getting beaten by heroes?][28]
[Save me][4]
[Hell-born gallery members are fucked][9]
[???: It’s been a while, this chilling sensation…][347]
[Thumbs up if you think all gallery members are just bubbles ㅋㅋㅋ][107]

Screams were raging everywhere.

The only problem was that it seemed more chaotic than I expected.

“What’s going on here?”

Seeing new posts coming up every second and the gallery looking more urgent and full of madness than ever, it seemed like an unusual situation.

[Title: What in the world is this?]
[Author: ㅇㅇ(111.432)]

Demon bro came back after 3 days of gallery break, can someone explain what’s going on…]

I really realized how chaotic the gallery was right after posting.
Normally, whenever I, who was treated as good firewood and a newbie in the gallery, posted something, comments would pour in, but this time the reaction was quite slow.

The reaction of the first comment was also completely different from usual.

[ㅇㅇ(666.878): Don’t you have hands or feet, read the gallery yourself you useless bastard]

Although Demon Lords’ sudden outbursts were nothing new, this kind of outburst was something I had never seen or experienced before.

“….Is the situation that bad?”

Something quite big must have happened.

It didn’t take long to realize the urgency of the situation, and I quickly started reading through the numerous posts in the gallery.

Fortunately, it didn’t take long to grasp the situation.

This was because there was an excellent speed wagon in the gallery.

According to the summary post by One-eyed Grandpa, the speed wagon… no, the unofficial Demon Lord Gallery archivist, there had been a sudden large-scale offensive by heroes since the day before yesterday.

It wasn’t just a case of heroes from one or two dimensions suddenly rising up, but heroes awakening simultaneously in dozens or hundreds of dimensions and starting to subjugate Demon Lords.

According to additional comments from the armband wearer Feathered Serpent and fixed nickname White Skull, it seems to be retaliation for the Hero Gallery terror incident involving a promising hero a few days ago.

Although it’s unclear how exactly the tail was stepped on, it seemed to be true that it was related to that incident.

And the gallery members’ reactions to this ‘retaliatory action’ were largely divided into three types.

[Title: Why the fuck is the hero here]
[Author: ㅇㅇ(666.878)]
[Why are they popping out of the Demon Lord’s castle basement and shit I thought I was going to die of shock for real]

[Title: Save me]
[Author: ㅇㅇ(666.984)]
[The hero is right in front of my door now. All my minions are dead. All dungeon gimmicks have been broken.
Save me…]

[Title: Why did the hero suddenly get so strong?]
[Author: ㅇㅇ(499.946)]
[No, they were just trash when they came with the Demon Lord subjugation alliance a few months ago, but now they’re incomparably stronger? Even my Four Heavenly Kings are all being torn apart, what do I do???
I lived nicely, no, I lived like a proper Demon Lord, so why are they doing this to me??]

The first type.
Those who felt a threat to their lives and were going crazy.

Whether it was a previously weak hero suddenly powering up insanely and coming for them, or waking up to find a hero smiling with a sword in front of them, or hearing a sound from the basement in the middle of the night and going to check only to have a hero pop out.

While these situations might sound ridiculous just hearing or reading about them, it seemed like it wasn’t funny at all for those actually experiencing it.
The cause of most of the weird posts or sudden outburst comments/posts in the gallery were mostly from this first type, which says it all.
There was even a post like this:
[Title: ???: Yeah, keep coming at me~]
[Author: Retry]
[(Laughing clown incubus image)
Just kill yourself and it’ll be overㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
“………”
Just seeing this was enough to know how muddied today’s Demon Lord Gallery waters had become.

.
.
.

[Title: Seems like they’re targeting specific dimensions for retaliation]
[Author: White Skull]
[Looking at the dimensions currently under attack or expected to be attacked, all have Demon Lords of 6th rank or below.
They probably only targeted dimensions where subjugation/attack is possible without much difficulty]

[Title: Must read for those saying heroes suddenly powered up]
[Author: IDidWrong]
[That’s probably because there’s a high chance retired heroes or similar beings are embedded in that dimension. They’re either teaching the hero or passing down secret techniques+holy relics. Usually, after retiring and when the next hero awakens, they don’t even get caught by hero detection magic. If you have the leisure, spread search magic or whatever and find the retired heroes and learn their weaknesses]

[Title: Beware of heretics]
[Author: HereticsExecutioner]
[There is a heretic among the Hero Gallery’s named users. He’s a hero worshipped as a celestial deity in several dimensions, but despite being a false god, he claims to be a true god, and despite being ignorant of what is right and wrong, he’s a being who discusses good and evil, justice and wickedness.
Beware of heretics and false gods. Beware of heroes who have received his power and holy relics]

The second type could be considered somewhat normal.

These were Demon Lords whose dimension’s heroes were fine, or who had resolved the issue without much problem and were sharing information about heroes with other Demon Lords.

Of course, there were gallery members who provided proof with images close to gore images in between, but fortunately, I was able to avoid all such trials under the protection of the armband wearers.

And the last, third type… was quite problematic.

To exaggerate a bit, half the reason the gallery was burning was due to the Hero Gallery’s retaliatory actions, and half was due to these third type Demon Lords.

[Title: Thumbs up if you think all gallery members are just bubbles ㅋㅋㅋ]
[Author: ㅇㅇ(444.121)]
[Thumbs up if you think all the gallery members who can’t handle one hero and are getting completely beaten and wailing are just bubblesㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

[Comments][107]
[ㅇㅇ(444.94): Mindlessly thumbs up while shedding tears]
ㄴ[ㅇㅇ(666.201): Thumbs up while tearing the author’s horns in all directions]
[OutsideTheBlanketIsDangerous: Recommended….]
[魔王: I agree]
ㄴ[ㅇㅇ(666.394): Even -tul- brother acknowledges it]

[Title: Trash♡ Garbage♡ Incompetent who can’t handle one hero♡]
[Author: High School Girl]
[Trash who can’t even beat a hero that even a high school girl can beat♡
How pathetic that you can’t handle something like this♡
Just honestly say ‘I don’t deserve to be a Demon Lord’♡]

[Comments][43]
[ㅇㅇ(444.474): Ugh, shit, really……]
ㄴ[ㅇㅇ(444.474): Where the hell do you get this kind of shit?]
ㄴ[ㅇㅇ(666.884): Isn’t it secretly arousing?]
ㄴ[ㅇㅇ(417.863): You crazy bitch, the age of the gallery member who wrote this]
ㄴ[Deleted comment]
ㄴ[High School Girl: ^^☆]
[World’s Prettiest: You’re pretty good]
[Feathered Serpent*: This… isn’t… a Demon Lord!!!!!!!]
ㄴ[ㅇㅇ(666.593): Magic armband wearer coughing up bloodㅋㅋㅋ]

The third type was literally troublemakers.

If those who mock Demon Lords being torn apart by heroes in real-time and continuously supply firewood and set fires aren’t troublemakers, then what are they?

Well, you could say they’re performing their duties as Demon Lords and devils impeccably.

The problem is that there’s one really crazy bastard who’s hitting the peak among the unnecessarily diligent troublemaking Demon Lords.

[Title: ???: It’s been a while, this chilling sensation…][347]
[Author: Equilibrium]
[Ah, this chilling and holy sensation.. It’s been hundreds of years.
The long time of humiliation and oppression… I was getting sick of it.
Thank you, Hero Gallery!

It’s time to return as the “Holy Sword Knight” Equilibrium]

[Comments][347]
[ㅇㅇ(666.941): There really was a hero spy here, fuck]
[ㅇㅇ(666.854): Can someone explain what this bastard is doing?]
ㄴ[ㅇㅇ(403.612): He’s selling out some gallery members’ personal information to the Hero Gallery in real-timeㅋㅋㅋ]
ㄴ[White Skull: Some gallery members have had their dimension logs, weaknesses, and even dark history all exposed, right?]
ㄴ[ㅇㅇ(666.854): This is crazy]
[SaveMe: You crazy bastard, what are you doing now????]
ㄴ[Equilibrium: Tsk tsk, how dare a filthy Demon Lord speak to a holy hero]
ㄴ[SaveMe: What are the armband wearers doing!!!!]

“Hmm……”

It’s a mess.

To sum it up in one word, ‘mess’ was too appropriate.

I really couldn’t have imagined that a Demon Lord would appear to sell other Demon Lords’ personal information to the Hero Gallery at a time like this.

“These guys are really crazy…..”

What’s even funnier is that this ‘Equilibrium’ who’s selling out personal information is actually a hero.

According to the speed wagon, One-eyed Grandpa’s explanatory comment, he’s a gallery member who became both a hero and a Demon Lord by drawing both a holy sword and a demon sword.

But looking at his actions, he seemed way too suitable to be a Demon Lord rather than a hero no matter how you look at it.

Moreover, this crazy bastard’s actions didn’t seem like they would end easily─

[ㅇㅇ(666.974): At this point, isn’t he really a hero spy? What are the armband wearers doing]
ㄴ[Spider Lord*: It’s so fun, I’m just leaving it aloneㅋㅋ]
ㄴ[ㅇㅇ(666.561): Armband wearer’s shock ‘I declare I won’t work’]
ㄴ[Basilisk: This bastard seems to have taken a bribe]
ㄴ[Equilibrium: Likeable Sub-manager, shall we have a sword duel in the arena this weekend? ^^]
ㄴ[Parrot: From neglect of duty to bribery. The gallery is ruined]

Because a hotbed of corruption in the name of bribery and improper solicitation was unfolding.

“This is interesting.”

Thinking that this seemed like firewood that could burn for a few hours to a few days no matter how you look at it, I quickly pulled out the microwave popcorn I had found the other day.

Using my ability, perfectly browned popcorn was ready in an instant.

There’s a slight burnt smell, but it’s deliciously perfect to eat while watching this fire.

I continued my gallery activities while tossing popcorn into my mouth.

Indeed, watching a fire from across the river is the best.

After lurking for a while, munching on popcorn.

As I was scrolling down, one post caught my eye.

[Title: What’s the newbie awakened Demon Lord doing now?]
[Author: SaveMe]
[While gallery members are in chaos because of heroes, is the newbie okay? Honestly, isn’t he the easiest Demon Lord to deal with? I hope the newbie gets a taste of the hero’s spiciness too]
It was a post containing both curiosity about the newbie’s news and a truly Demon Lord-like thought of ‘you should die together’, and after reading the post in an instant, I immediately left a comment.

[ㅇㅇ(111.432): Unfortunately, there’s no such thing as a hero in my dimension at all. It’s not that there isn’t one now, there never was oneㅋ]

Logically, if there had been such a thing as a hero, humanity wouldn’t have been halved during the Gate incident.

During the dozen years of fighting against the gates, not only were there no beings called heroes, but even those called superheroes/heroes could be counted on one hand, so it was certain there were no heroes.

Additionally, all the superhumans who were called heroes are dead too.

They were good guys.

Just as I was about to get lost in memories for a moment, that’s when it happened.

‘Hm? A new comment?’

When I clicked the notification, the page changed and showed my comment and a reply below it.

And after reading through it, I could only stare blankly at the screen for a moment.

“….What?”

[ㅇㅇ(111.432): Unfortunately, there’s no such thing as a hero in my dimension at all. It’s not that there isn’t one now, there never was oneㅋ]
ㄴ[One-eyed Grandpa: That’s because the hero hasn’t appeared yet. Since it hasn’t been long since the existence of a Demon Lord appeared, there can’t be one yet]
[White Skull: One-eye is right, and probably soon a hero will pop up in the newbie’s dimension too?]
ㄴ[White Skull: At most, a hero will probably appear within 1 year in the newbie’s dimension time units]
ㄴ[White Skull: That’s the causality attached to the existence of heroes and Demon Lords]

Hero.

A word that was about ten thousand years away from me, and an existence I thought I would never see in this world, was approaching me.