[Not an Eraser🔸]
┗[Send Gift]
I pressed the Send Gift button beneath the head mod’s nickname.
[Starpang]
‘Is it automatically linked?’
The moment I pressed it, the Starpang screen came up.
If I picked an item here and bought it, wouldn’t it go to the head mod?
‘What should I send them...?’
To decisively turn public opinion around, I needed to send something fairly big.
I could ask the head mod separately what they needed and send them what they wanted, but...
‘It wouldn’t be any fun if I told them beforehand.’
A surprise would be more effective.
Honestly, I didn’t have much TP either. It’d be embarrassing if I asked first, then backed out because I couldn’t afford it.
[Golden Fried Chicken] - 200 TP
[1L Cola] - 30 TP
‘This should be about right, shouldn’t it?’
I still had a lot of things to buy myself, so it would be hard to invest any more than this.
Wouldn’t it be fine to send this to around five people?
Of course, sending it to as many as five people would mean taking quite a loss...
"This is a real investment for the future."
I could proudly call it an investment for the day I would eventually rise to become the gallery owner.
Press.
I mindlessly proceeded with the payment for a moment.
[Total: 2,300 TP]
"Wait—!!"
I had no choice but to urgently stop my finger at the price displayed above the final purchase button.
I had picked something worth 230 TP, so why had it become 2,300 TP?
Gulp.
‘...No way, right?’
My finger was touching the screen.
This was clearly one of those moments where, if I lifted my finger now, the payment would go through.
‘It’s not that investing in the head mod is a waste, but...’
No matter what, I wasn’t about to give away half my entire fortune.
‘If I slowly slide it up...?’
Cold sweat ran down my palm.
My mouth went dry as I carefully slid my finger off the Purchase button.
"..."
I had moved off the [Purchase] button. But my finger was still stuck to the screen.
Now, when I lifted it, one of two things would happen: I would send the head mod a gift, or nothing would happen.
‘Please...’
I prayed inwardly over and over as I slowly lifted my finger—
[Total: 2,300 TP]
"Haaah..."
Thankfully, the purchase hadn’t gone through. I let out a sigh of relief.
*
[Gift Sent]
[Recipient: Not an Eraser]
[Remaining Delivery Time: 5 minutes]
[TP Held: 4,143]
‘Sorry, head mod.’
I quietly apologized to them in my head as I gifted them a 1L bottle of cola.
If I could, I wanted to send chicken, pizza, and all sorts of things.
[Insufficient Regressions]
[TP cost for the Send Gift function has increased tenfold.]
‘This fucking tariff...’
Ten times was just too much.
If it had been five times, I could have somehow sent them at least some chicken.
If I had around 10,000 TP, I would have endured the tenfold cost and sent it, but that was impossible right now.
‘I need to buy weapons and guidebooks too.’
Even 300 TP was a huge expense for someone like me who needed to spend a large sum immediately.
[Wow, the gallery moderation log is fucking terrifying;;]
[Over 100 one-day bans lmao]
[Honestly, if it’s Irregular vs. eating food, isn’t food the obvious pick?]
[Upvote if you think they deserve a month-long ban lmao]
[If the head mod disappears, can we seriously not use the gallery anymore? That’s even scarier.]
I snickered as I watched the gallery remain as noisy as ever.
Posts looking for me came up now and then too, but it wasn’t time for me to make an appearance yet.
[Delivery Complete]
‘It’s done.’
When would their reaction come?
One mysterious bottle of cola that had suddenly appeared.
If food from outside appeared at this exact moment, anyone would realize I was the one behind it.
Even if they didn’t realize, that head mod would ask the gallery first.
They’d definitely speak to me first. Saying, ‘Could this possibly have been you, Newbie...?’
‘It’s a shame I could only send cola, but...’
If I played this right, I could keep that snowball rolling as much as I wanted.
Ding!
[New Comment from Not an Eraser]
[New Comment from Not an Eraser]
‘There it is.’
I immediately checked the head mod’s comment notification.
Not an Eraser🔸: Excuse me!! Are you there, Wiki?!?!
┗Not an Eraser🔸: There’s something I want to ask you!!!
Snicker.
They must have been desperate—they hadn’t even used spaces or punctuation.
They continued calling for me desperately below that, but I deliberately ignored them for the time being.
There was no flavor to it if I reacted to the comments.
I’d stay quiet until the head mod made a verification post.
┗Not an Eraser🔸: Was this sent by you, Wiki? Or was it someone else...?
┗Not an Eraser🔸: No, it can’t be anyone else?!?!
‘...Their personality seems to have changed a little?’
It felt as though one bottle of cola had completely transformed them.
It didn’t matter to me, so I watched the head mod’s reaction for a while.
[New Post from Not an Eraser]
A notification saying the head mod had made a new post appeared, and I grinned as I checked it.
*
"It’s over..."
I had checked every post that had gone up during the six hours I was asleep.
I went through them one by one and banned the gallery users who had viciously insulted the newbie, made wild assumptions, or baselessly hated on them for anywhere from one day to one week.
My head throbbed because ten times as many posts as usual had gone up while I slept, but it had come from my own mistake, so I accepted it.
"Haa."
It wasn’t the first time I had fallen asleep without saying anything, but the timing had been bad this time.
I didn’t write that I had watched the cola-pouring video around three hundred times. Even I was a little embarrassed by that.
‘How should I steer the topic...?’
The atmosphere had shifted from people insulting the newbie to people insulting those who had insulted the newbie.
It was only natural to some extent now that I had stepped in, but I couldn’t just sit back and watch.
"Nngh... I don’t want to..."
I squeezed my eyes shut and groaned, wondering if I had to do ‘that’ thing I hadn’t done in a while.
Nothing was better for turning the gallery’s mood around completely, but even after managing the gallery for nearly a thousand years, I had never built up a tolerance for it.
I was already doing my best by allowing it only two or three times a year.
‘But still... there’s no other way...’
I squeezed my eyes shut, resolved to permit a [Lewd Pic Purge Day] for the first time in a while. Just as I opened them and was about to make a post—
Rumble—!!
"...!!"
A tremendous roar sounded from outside the hideout.
I quickly sensed the air around me and prepared to unleash my power at any moment.
‘What is this...?’
This had never happened before. It was a vibration I had never felt.
I had planned to rest from tower climbing until today, so I didn’t want to go out.
But I couldn’t stay still after something so strange had happened. Uneasy, I carefully headed outside the hideout.
"...Huh?"
Something was sitting in the center of the cavern, where it was too dark to see clearly.
It looked to be roughly the size of my forearm.
With one hand extended, ready to blow up whatever that mystery was at any moment, I slowly approached the center.
"Huh...!!"
And it didn’t take long for what came into view to—
"Huh? Huhhh—?!"
—for me to realize it was cola, the thing I had imagined hundreds, thousands of times while looking at the newbie’s post.
Gulp.
"I-It’s real..."
Real cola.
No, I wasn’t completely certain, but it was probably cola.
I had never seen cola in such good condition... and in a PET bottle, no less. It was my first time ever seeing cola that didn’t come in a can.
"..."
When I reached out and picked it up, a chilly coolness was transmitted to my hand.
This was probably what it felt like when cola had been stored in a refrigerator.
Why in the world was this here?
In over 1,500 runs, this was the first food I had seen besides bread and water.
I couldn’t believe it had simply fallen from that sky with no end in sight.
‘Who on earth...’
I wondered who could have sent something like this, but an answer quickly came to mind.
"The newbie...?"
The newbie who had posted pictures of food a few hours ago.
The newbie who had let precious cola overflow, who had acquired an Irregular on their first run and cleared the 40th floor in a single day.
Surely, that newbie was the only one who could do something like this.
Tap, tap-tap. Tap tap tap.
I immediately opened the gallery and left a comment.
Without a doubt, without a doubt, the newbie had sent it.
‘I knew they were a good person...!’
The people who had insulted them had all been wrong to think badly of them.
The newbie had surely felt bad about eating by themselves, too.
They had probably planned to share from the start, but couldn’t because the atmosphere had gotten so weird.
Otherwise, there was no way they would have made such mean-spirited jokes about people being pitiful or whatever.
‘Is that why they sent it to me first...?’
The corners of my mouth rose without me realizing it.
No posts saying someone had received cola were going up in the gallery.
I felt happy at the thought that I was receiving some kind of special treatment.
The thought that I might have been forgiven for the Irregular incident made my guilt feel a little lighter.
┗Not an Eraser🔸: Where did you go this time, seriously!!!
┗Not an Eraser🔸: Please leave a comment!!!!
"Why aren’t they replying...?"
I commented again and again, but no reply came from the newbie.
They had been in the gallery until just a little while ago, so it wasn’t as though they had disappeared.
They had climbed as high as the 40th floor, so it didn’t seem like they would already be entering the Tower again. Something felt strange.
‘...Didn’t the newbie send this?’
If that was the case, I needed to find out quickly.
They might have sent it by mistake. There was no reason they would specifically give something this precious to me.
[Did anyone send this??]
[Author: Not an Eraser🔸]
(Picture of cola in a 1L PET bottle)
This suddenly appeared outside my hideout. If it belongs to someone, please quietly come to the complaint box.
I’ll return it anytime, so you don’t have to worry...!
If anyone lies and says it’s theirs, I’ll permanently ban them, so be warned.
[New Comment]
[New Comment]
[New Comment]
[New Comment]
Comments multiplied in an instant, but no one claimed to have sent it.
Everyone was flooding the post with question marks.
They were crying out, asking what the hell was going on and whether this wasn’t a place where there was only bread and water.
Anonymous: Wait, fuck, have you all been eating real food without me??
Anonymous: It’s fake, right? Tell me it’s fake, head mod... If this is real, I don’t think I have the confidence to keep living...
6373: Why not me..?
┗Anonymous: This one is genuinely pitiful, seriously..
Man Hotter Than Flames: Hmm, could it not belong to that newbie from earlier?
┗Man Hotter Than Flames: Forget that disgusting stuff. Is there no alcohol?
Long-Eared Noble O, Elf X: Is that black water really that precious? If no owner shows up, I want to try it too. Can’t you give it to me??
"If nobody shows up..."
I muttered quietly as I watched the comments pile up.
If this hadn’t been sent by the newbie, and if the owner never showed up after all... then...
Gulp.
There would be no helping it. I couldn’t just throw it away like this.
Would it be okay if I took a little sip then?
"Hehe..."
The thought alone brought a smile to my face. It would be best if the owner showed up, so I had no intention of being greedy, but it might be just a little okay if no one did.
[New Post from KingGodWiki]
"Oh...!"
For a moment, I had been kneeling in front of the cola and smiling foolishly. Then the newbie’s awaited new post went up.
I checked the notification window just in case, but they hadn’t replied to the comments I had left.
Either they hadn’t seen them, or they planned to make a new post instead of replying.
[Line Up]
‘Line up?’
I tilted my head, wondering what the newbie had written this time, and clicked the post that said to line up.
[Line Up]
[Author: KingGodWiki]
(Picture of the cola posted a few hours ago)
(Picture of numbers and a timer floating in midair)
Sent cola to two people, yeah.
Closes in 10 minutes by my timer.
I want to send more, but circumstances mean I can only do two people for now.
Might be able to send more later, but it’s hard right now.
But I’ll hand out even better stuff later too, like chicken and cake.
By the way, head mod, I sent you that one, so enjoy it.
I’ll send you something better later. Sorry for making you go through all that for no reason, yeah;
(Screenshot of a nickname with a note attached, along with the post)
(Screenshot of a nickname with a note attached, along with a comment)
.
.
.
Ah, lol, one more thing lol.
These fuckers are excluded forever lol.
I’ll make them regret it for the rest of their lives, yeah.
If you want forgiveness, come find me after your ban gets lifted.
If you’re a cute girl, I’ll delete the note for you!!
Or try posting a naked dogeza or something lol.
"..."
The likes and comments were rising at the speed they did when an Irregular verification post went up.
To comments asking what ‘line up’ meant, the newbie was even kindly explaining that it meant entry tickets for a drawing.
[Anonymous - insulted me]
[Anonymous - insulted my parents]
[43rd - insulted me]
.
.
.
Some people burst out laughing at the notes the newbie had captured.
Some asked whether they could get something else instead of cola.
Some had avoided a ban but were still on the list.
Everyone was leaving all sorts of comments.
In an instant, the gallery was being flooded with posts about cola and the newbie.
"...Ah."
I needed to moderate it, to make sure no strange posts went up.
I needed to check whether there were any comments insulting our newbie for no reason.
But I couldn’t take my eyes off the post the newbie had written.
[By the way, head mod, I sent you that one, so enjoy it.]
The cola the newbie had sent for me.
"..."
This wasn’t the synthetic cola of the apocalypse era, flat and of unknown opening date.
Fsssshh—!!
A cool chill spread gently through the entire bottle, and the moment I opened the cap, a lively sound rang in my ears.
"Ah..."
Real cola from an old era, with carbonation bubbling up wildly and flowing down the bottle.
I blankly stared at the overflowing foam, then carefully lifted the PET bottle.
It was difficult to hold because it was as large as my forearm, and the outside of the bottle was unpleasantly wet and sticky, but...
"Really..."
I didn’t care about any of that in the slightest.
If I could only taste this, it felt like nothing else mattered, no matter what happened.
‘It’s really okay for me to drink this, right...?’
Food from outside the Tower, the first I had consumed in a full 1,534 years.
No, it was a precious luxury that even in my original world, I could never have obtained while living as a scavenger.
Gulp.
I opened my parched mouth and, with trembling hands, carefully brought the cola to my lips.
"!!!!"
Tingle—!!
My eyes flew open at the sharp sensation against the tip of my tongue.
The sweet flavor and aroma spreading through my mouth.
The sticky mass of sugar clinging to my throat, and the coldness that made my head tingle.
Every moment, from the cola passing down my throat to reaching my stomach, felt vivid.
A sensation more dizzying than the first time I killed a creature filled my entire body.
"Hngh..."
My hands and feet trembled. I nearly dropped the cola.
When I hugged the sticky bottle to my chest, for some reason, a single tear slipped out.
"It’s so good..."
So this was happiness.
This was what I had been living so hard for all this time.
Gulp gulp gulp...
"...! Hngh!"
As I drank cola greedily with tears in my eyes, a natural bodily urge from the carbonation rose up.
I hurriedly sent out a wave to levitate the cola in the air, then covered my mouth with both hands.
I shut my eyes tight, my shoulders trembling as I desperately held it in.
"Phew."
No one was watching, but the very fact that I had greedily chugged cola alone and nearly burped was embarrassing.
‘Ah... I should have savored it...’
Once I finally calmed down, I looked at the cola floating in the air and saw that it had already been reduced by half.
I had drunk far too much at once of something precious I might never obtain again.
I should have saved more of it.
I could have drunk it for days... no, for weeks longer.
[I’ll send you something better later. Sorry for making you go through all that for no reason, yeah;]
As I looked sorrowfully at the cola with that thought, the newbie’s post entered the corner of my vision.
"..."
The newbie said they would send me ‘more’ later.
The newbie with such a broad, kind heart that they were instead apologizing for making me suffer.
‘...Should I extend their bans?’
I thought I needed to punish the people who had harassed and insulted such a kind newbie more severely.
*
[Newbie, I’m sorry. I was wrong.]
[Author: Anonymous]
If you were hurt by my rash judgment, I sincerely apologize.
I earnestly beg that you grant even me a fair chance.
Below is the sincerity you requested.
(Picture of a furry monkey beastman performing a naked dogeza)
Please forgive me just once with your generous heart.
"My eyes—!!"
No, fuck, I was just saying it! Don’t actually post it!!
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