WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Got a Gallery in the Wild ◈
Chapter 37: Moderator (4)
──────
At the moment, SwordTasteMaster, Ash, was what you would call an unemployed bum who got smacked on the back by her mother every single day.
An unemployed bum who spent all day browsing the gallery and giggling whenever something funny came up.
Still, she had plenty of experience navigating society, not the ordinary kind, either, but the political world, where conspiracies and power plays were part of everyday life.
Since ancient times, politics had developed to keep overwhelming power in check.
Ash had been nothing more than a commoner before the Emperor granted her a title.
Until then, she had worked hard to avoid political trouble, watching the nobles’ moods, flattering them, and agreeing with whatever they said.
Marriage had honestly been the easiest option, but Ash was so strong that every attempt had fallen through.
Once she became captain of the Imperial Guard, there was no longer any room for political trouble.
In any case, Ash had navigated society, including the dark, messy world of politics.
That was why she felt a certain wariness when Heavenly Demon became an assistant moderator.
‘She must’ve made a trade. There’s no way this old fossil became an assistant moderator otherwise. Same goes for the Head Mod.’
The moment she heard Heavenly Demon had become an assistant moderator, Ash started thinking.
Unlike some people, she had experience dealing with society.
She grasped the situation faster than anyone.
‘What the hell did she trade?’
Ash had spent a long time on the gallery. By experience alone, it had been nearly ten years.
Unlike the former Head Mod, the current one valued rules and principles.
They were also deeply self-sacrificing, so they never forced anyone into becoming an assistant moderator.
If someone like that appointed an assistant moderator, especially a well-known registered user, there had to be a reason.
‘Heavenly Demon probably offered the trade first……’
Honestly, Heavenly Demon becoming an assistant moderator was not a huge problem for Ash.
Would Heavenly Demon throw her authority around however she pleased?
Her moderator status would be revoked immediately, and she would get banned for several weeks.
Heavenly Demon knew that too, so on the surface, she seemed to be working diligently.
But Ash tried to read the intention behind it.
Why had Heavenly Demon become an assistant moderator at this particular moment?
‘It’s too much of a coincidence.’
Ash had clashed with Heavenly Demon plenty lately.
They had bickered over whether the Mana Cultivation Method or the Inner Energy Cultivation Method was better.
Still, it had been closer to Ash picking fights one-sidedly, so Grylls had sided with Heavenly Demon.
Ash knew how pathetic she had looked, so she only gave advice and did not interfere further.
‘But it’d be such a waste……’
That did not mean she intended to give up easily.
He was too promising. It had been a long time since she had seen someone with such potential.
Ash had once trained countless disciples.
The reason was an extremely impure one, since she had been looking for someone suitable to marry, but that was beside the point.
Either way, she could confidently say she had a sharp eye for people.
Those disciples had fallen for and married other women, but Grylls was different.
As she had said before, even if his life was at risk, there was no need to worry about him looking elsewhere.
‘Even the ones I taught weren’t this good. I have to teach him somehow.’
Every time she looked at Grylls, she felt like she was seeing her younger self.
A constitution that steadily gathered mana just by breathing.
Grylls accumulated mana simply by breathing because of his special environment.
Normally, mana circulating throughout the entire body was only possible for a mid-rank Sword Expert.
‘Still, I don’t want to become an assistant moderator.’
She absolutely wanted to refuse becoming one herself.
Just because it was a gallery did not mean there was no politics.
There was even worse “politicking” everywhere.
What was the difference? Politicking involved incitement, fabrication, stirring up trouble, and finally, infighting.
Assistant moderators especially drew more attention than other registered users.
Just look at Heavenly Demon. The moment she became one, she was attacked from every direction.
It all passed without much trouble thanks to her uniquely stubborn personality.
Besides, Ash’s mental strength was not the issue. She just hated it. Ash simply hated being an assistant moderator!
‘Either way, I’m the latecomer.’
In the end, Ash could only snicker.
Heavenly Demon had completely outmaneuvered her. Who would have expected her to become an assistant moderator?
Still, Ash could not suppress her curiosity. What had gotten into the Head Mod’s head that made them put Heavenly Demon in that position?
‘I should find out.’
Connecting with the Head Mod was very simple. All she had to do was send a trade request.
Only registered users could send trade requests, so the Head Mod accepted them whenever possible.
[DontAbandonTheHero]: Hello!
[DontAbandonTheHero]: What can I do for you?!
The Head Mod responded enthusiastically the moment they accepted the request.
Ash smiled at the Head Mod, who never seemed to lose their energy, and spoke.
[You]: Head Mod. You traded with Heavenly Demon, didn’t you?
[DontAbandonTheHero]: Bwuh?!
Unlike her smile, there was no beating around the bush in her question.
The Head Mod must have been seriously flustered to send such a strange reply.
The Head Mod Ash knew was incapable of lying.
It was the same even in a gallery built on anonymity.
[DontAbandonTheHero]: How did you know?!
[DontAbandonTheHero]: Did the assistant moderator tell you?!
[You]: No.
[You]: I just took a shot in the dark, but you confessed.
[You]: So what did you trade?
[DontAbandonTheHero]: She asked me to enable one-on-one conversations!
[You]: Oh, I see.
[You]: So that was it. Talk about greedy.
Ash nodded at the Head Mod’s utterly honest answer.
Thanks to that, she understood the whole story. As expected, Heavenly Demon had become an assistant moderator for Grylls.
‘But couldn’t she just use private comments? That’s way too straightforward.’
There was still one question that remained unanswered.
What was the point of private comments, then? Ash wanted to know why.
[You]: Aren’t one-on-one conversations visible to you too, Head Mod?
[DontAbandonTheHero]: Yes! I’m watching them right now!
[You]: What are they talking about? The Inner Energy Cultivation Method?
[DontAbandonTheHero]: I can’t tell you in detail, but I can answer yes!
That much was within her expectations. Even so, she did not understand.
The return was far too small compared to the responsibilities an assistant moderator had to bear.
Was Heavenly Demon the type to wield power recklessly? No.
Heavenly Demon only said what she wanted to say. She was not swayed by others.
If anything, she resembled the Head Mod. She was not the type to commit tyranny just because she disliked something.
And with the Head Mod above her, she was not in a position to act tyrannically.
‘Suspicious. Too suspicious. What’s her goal?’
Ash thought for a long time. It was difficult to figure out Heavenly Demon’s intentions.
Still, it was not as though she had accomplished nothing. She nodded and thanked the Head Mod.
[You]: Thank you.
[You]: Head Mod, is there anything you want?
[DontAbandonTheHero]: I don’t need a bribe!
[DontAbandonTheHero]: If you want to become an assistant moderator, you can just say so!
[You]: No, I’m fine without that.
[You]: I didn’t make this trade because I wanted that.
[You]: I was just curious why she was acting like that.
[DontAbandonTheHero]: I see! Understood!
The conversation ended there. Ash slowly organized her thoughts.
‘It doesn’t seem like she has any political intentions.’
Certainly, given Heavenly Demon’s personality, she probably had no political motives.
She had likely become an assistant moderator to make it easier for her to help Grylls, while also serving some other purpose.
Ash did not know what that purpose was, but at least it would not harm her.
‘Was I worrying for nothing?’
Heavenly Demon becoming an assistant moderator was a huge issue in itself.
Ash had even engaged in a battle of nerves with Heavenly Demon.
She could not help but pay attention.
‘This is hard. Really hard.’
Maybe she was overthinking things.
She had not abandoned the idea of helping Grylls.
Whenever he ran into trouble, she could quietly help him.
‘The Inner Energy Cultivation Method has plenty of terms that are hard to understand unless you’re from the Central Plains. He’ll definitely make a post saying it’s difficult.’
That was when she would strike and share her Mana Cultivation Method know-how.
Since the Mana Cultivation Method was especially suited to training people, it had plenty of useful tips.
Ash focused on the gallery, waiting for that moment.
She refreshed every ten seconds, waiting for Grylls to make a post.
[Post title] The Inner Energy Cultivation Method is way too hard.
‘He posted!’
Not long after, Grylls made a post.
And it was exactly what Ash wanted to see.
A post complaining that the Inner Energy Cultivation Method was difficult. She immediately opened it.
[Post title] The Inner Energy Cultivation Method is way too hard.
[Author] Wild Grylls
[Post] I’m learning the cultivation method from Heavenly Demon, but there are way too many words I don’t know, so it’s hard.
[Post] She says it’s the basics, but if even the basics are like this, I’m scared to think about what the advanced stuff will be like;;
└ Heavenly Demon taught you? How? There wasn’t even a post.
└ [Wild Grylls]: She requested a one-on-one conversation.
└ Assistant moderators can do that too? Did the Head Mod allow it?
└ [Wild Grylls]: Yeah, she said they allowed it. Said it was fine if people found out.
└ Damn;; Look at that special treatment. Makes me want to be spiteful already.
└ For real lol I wanna troll them now
└ [DontAbandonTheHero]: If you want, I can appoint you as an assistant moderator!
└ That threat doesn’t work anymore lol Anonymous Users figured out they can’t become moderators
└ Anonymous Users can’t become one anyway lol
└ [DontAbandonTheHero]: Then I’ll come find you myself and threaten you!
└ I’msorryI’msorryI’msorryI’msorry
└ Fuck, the Head Mod saying that is actually scary lol
└ This reminds me of that Head Mod who used to stalk people lol
└ Is that the sound of handcuffs?
“……”
Ash felt deflated as she read the post.
She had sent a trade request to the Head Mod just to figure things out, while the person involved had openly revealed everything.
All that work felt pointless. Maybe that was just like Heavenly Demon.
‘……I should at least give him some tips.’
She still needed to do what she came here to do. Ash pulled herself together.
Then she wrote a comment to offer various useful tips.
└ [SwordTasteMaster]: Which part is difficult?
└ [Wild Grylls]: It’s hard to figure out the route. Heavenly Demon even showed me a drawing while explaining it, but maybe it’s hard because I’m a dumbass.
└ [SwordTasteMaster]: I know what you mean. I can help you.
└ [Wild Grylls]: Thank you.
Ash smiled at the polite gratitude.
Unlike the Inner Energy Cultivation Method, the Mana Cultivation Method was a breathing method designed for training people.
It would be perfect for learning the basics in detail.
‘But why isn’t Heavenly Demon objecting for once?’
Normally, she should have jumped in by now.
Yet Heavenly Demon was nowhere to be seen.
What was she plotting? Ash felt suspicious, but continued writing comments.
└ [SwordTasteMaster]: The Mana Cultivation Method and the Inner Energy Cultivation Method have different trunks, but the same roots. Start by breathing.
└ [Wild Grylls]: I am.
└ [SwordTasteMaster]: In that state, send the energy in your lower abdomen to your huiyin. You know where that is, right?
└ [Wild Grylls]: More or less?
└ [SwordTasteMaster]: More or less isn’t enough. Since you’re a man, Grylls, it’s between your balls and your asshole. Send the energy there, and you’ll feel something.
└ [Wild Grylls]: Um…… yeah. I feel it. It’s itchy, can I scratch it a little?
“……”
Something about this was strangely frustrating. Ash furrowed her elegant brows.
It was not because Grylls was having trouble understanding.
Nor was it because she had to cram words into this narrow comment box……
└ Teach us too~
└ You’re selfishly keeping all the good tips to yourselves
└ [SwordTasteMaster]: . I hit a wall in my realm this time, can you help me?
└ Unlocktheprivatecommentunlocktheprivatecommentunlocktheprivatecomment
Hyenas had gathered after smelling the sweet scent of good advice. They were disrupting Ash’s concentration.
They had invaded every corner of Grylls’s comments, making it a little difficult to teach him.
‘Could this be why Heavenly Demon did it too?’
A reasonable suspicion gradually arose.
* * *
At that moment, in the Demonic Cult.
‘I can sense her frustration.’
Yu Sowol smiled as she read SwordTasteMaster’s private comments.
The moment one became a moderator, one could also peek at private comments. It was a natural privilege.
That was why Yu Sowol could see the useful tips SwordTasteMaster was passing along.
‘They are too fragmentary to call advice.’
SwordTasteMaster’s tips could barely even be called tips.
They were no different from what Yu Sowol had already taught him.
This happened because SwordTasteMaster, Ash, was too talented.
Unlike swordsmanship, which she had started from the bottom, she had a constitution that gathered mana simply by breathing.
She might have been skilled at swordsmanship, but she had little talent for teaching breathing methods.
‘Perhaps it only works because my benefactor’s potential is so great.’
Still, geniuses had methods that only worked for other geniuses.
Grylls absorbed SwordTasteMaster’s useful tips bit by bit.
Yu Sowol had even looked down on the method, yet Grylls eagerly took it in.
‘SwordTasteMaster. As expected, this person is no ordinary individual.’
It did not matter. Yu Sowol shifted her gaze.
The message window where she had just exchanged messages with Grylls floated before her.
Unlike trades, one-on-one conversations allowed real-time exchanges.
The full conversation remained as well, so she could review it whenever she wanted.
‘For fruit to grow, the roots must be firm.’
What Yu Sowol wanted was simple.
She wanted Grylls to understand all the insights of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art and bear fruit.
She planned to use SwordTasteMaster’s advice to resolve his weak foundation.
‘People think of sweet fruit before they think of roots.’
Even if Grylls received advice, the foundation itself was still the Heavenly Demon Divine Art. That would not change.
In the end, he would realize the greatness of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, and his respect for her would naturally grow.
SwordTasteMaster was no more than a helper. The one passing everything down to him was ultimately Heavenly Demon, Yu Sowol.
‘It is what I ought to do for my benefactor.’
Now it was time to carry out her duties as an assistant moderator. Yu Sowol turned her attention back to the board.
But she had yet to realize it.
└ [Wild Grylls]: Oh? This works? My sword is glowing!
└ [SwordTasteMaster]: Holy shit. Really? How did you do that?
└ [Wild Grylls]: How can you be the one asking me that?;;
└ [SwordTasteMaster]: It’s more amazing that you can do all that just from me talking to you;;
When the roots changed, the trunk was bound to change little by little as well.
And SwordTasteMaster possessed particular expertise in swordsmanship itself, rather than breathing methods.
└ [SwordTasteMaster]: With just a little practice, you might be able to carry only a sword instead of a shield. But seriously, how did you do that?
└ [Wild Grylls]: I’m telling you, I don’t know;;
It was seeping in, little by little.
Footnotes:
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
