Screeeech!
I stretched as I stepped outside.
"Nngh... Whew. Still, I somehow got it done."
"Good work, Rookie!"
Spider Sis, who had come outside ahead of me, handed me a bottle of water.
Gulp, gulp.
After draining the entire bottle, I spoke.
"How are the gallery users reacting?"
"They fucking... No, they love it. He was always such an asshole that they’re all going crazy over how satisfying it is."
"That’s a relief."
Right after arriving at the butcher shop,
I had reported the hunting process to the gallery in real time.
Everything—from the hide-and-seek game to find the hidden anomaly, to the part where we killed it directly.
We gave it back exactly the way it had done it to its victims.
[Chat] : (Gore Warning) You’re It~ ★
Author: Anon (999.1)
(Photo of the butcher shop anomaly, gruesomely butchered)
Yep, the situation has been resolved.
Our helper got a little too excited, so it ended up looking like that,
but even if it’s hard to recognize, that is indeed the low-intelligence anomaly.
The victims have all suffered enough until now.
You can finally sleep easy.
[Total Comments - 10]
CleanlinessKing: Damn, hahahahaha.
└CleanlinessKing: You turned it into absolute mush, hahaha.
└WhiteBear: Oh, that’s thrilling! Oh, that feels good!
└FenceLover: Why is Rookie getting more likable by the day? Hahaha.
PureCombatManiac: Oh... That real-time report was so terrifying...
└Hotelier: So it wasn’t satisfying?
└PureCombatManiac: Like hell it wasn’t, hahahahaha.
└PureCombatManiac: Seriously, that was some of the best dopamine of my entire anomaly life.
└DeerNose: But for real, it was fucking scary.
└DeerNose: Why is Rookie so good at writing?
└DontTurnAround: Hey, you’re an urban legend with Awareness 999, hahaha.
"Why are these guys scared of my writing when they’re ghost stories themselves?"
"Because you’re too good at writing scary stories... I got chills reading it too."
Spider Sis wrapped her arms around herself and shivered.
No, sis, you don’t get to do that.
You were the one who got even more excited halfway through and turned the anomaly into a pancake.
I do have some writing chops thanks to my time on Goeiri.
Clatter.
I tossed the empty bottle into a trash can and spoke.
"Anyway, what are you doing now?"
"Obviously, I want to explore the city with you, Rookie! ...But."
Drawing out the last word, she pointed to the watch on her wrist.
It was a spider-shaped watch with sleek black ornamentation.
"It’s about time to feed the kids, and Alfonso will scold me if I get back too late."
"I see. You’ve worked hard."
"What did I do? I just had fun today."
As she started walking away somewhere—
"...Ah!"
As if she had suddenly remembered something, she turned around.
Pointing a finger at me, she blurted out,
"I-I don’t have a husband, okay!? Spider anomalies can reproduce asexually, that’s why!"
After firing that off in a rush,
she shot webbing from her mouth, took to the air, and disappeared into the city.
"...Thanks for the information."
Informational posts deserved an upvote.
Not that I’d asked.
Anyway, it would be getting dark soon.
I’d gotten revenge for the boss up in heaven, too.
(The boss is at the convenience store.)
Just as I was thinking I should head home and prepare for work tomorrow—
Ding!
CleanlinessKing: Rookie, I’ve been thinking.
└CleanlinessKing: I just can’t let this slide.
"Huh?"
I got a private message from a mysterious gallery user.
Anon (999.1): Ah... Was it too violent, by any chance?
└Anon (999.1): Sorry, I didn’t consider that it might differ from anomaly to anomaly.
└CleanlinessKing: Nonononono, that’s not it.
└CleanlinessKing: I want to repay you for dealing with that headache.
└Anon (999.1): ??
*
[Discussion] : Season 1032: Deducing Rookie’s Identity
Author: AnalysisIs
I’m going to organize the information we’ve gathered so far.
1. Rookie is a Source-rank ghost story, or something above that.
Honestly, this doesn’t even need to be mentioned.
Awareness 999 isn’t the name of some fucking mutt,
and even the head mod barely made it past 600, so I’ll keep this short.
2. Rookie treats us kindly.
This was settled the moment he handed out free energy bars.
I’m writing this post while drinking almond water right now.
Rookie is simply the GOAT...
3. Rookie is the only Source-rank who has ever treated us normally.
This is the fucking starting point of the current debate.
It’s important, so I’ll emphasize it.
Source-rank entities are insanely impressive, but Rookie isn’t the only one.
The Ghost Story Minor Gallery has a long history. There’s no way there would only be one.
But here’s the problem:
Every Source-rank other than Rookie treated us like total shit.
No, actually, there is exactly one exception.
4. The First Ghost Story also treated us kindly.
The GOAT of us all, who has now become an ancient ghost story.
According to the old-timers, the root of all ghost stories.
The First Ghost Story’s traits perfectly match Rookie’s traits.
[Total Comments - 4]
DeleteReplay: Let’s hurry up, discuss this, and delete the post before Rookie sees it.
└WatchYourStep: What was the conclusion last time?
└[Author]AnalysisIs: Based on the evidence so far,
[Author]AnalysisIs: I think Rookie is the reincarnation of the First Ghost Story.
*
I went home first.
The moment I shut the door, I dove onto my bed and quickly messaged the gallery user.
Anon (999.1): I’ve got time now.
└Anon (999.1): So what kind of gift is this all of a sudden?
└CleanlinessKing: Exactly what it sounds like.
└CleanlinessKing: I didn’t like that butcher shop anomaly either,
└CleanlinessKing: but the head mod had given it a warning, so I couldn’t touch it.
└CleanlinessKing: You took care of it for us, though. I’m grateful, so I couldn’t just let it pass.
"Well... I didn’t do it expecting anything in return."
I scratched the back of my head, wearing an awkward expression.
It had been a villain, sure, but I had still taken a life.
I wasn’t sure it was right to be rewarded for that.
In short, my conscience was bothering me.
CleanlinessKing: The head mod calls it a... [Status Window]?
└CleanlinessKing: I want to transfer ownership of it to you.
└Anon (999.1): What.
"What."
That was until I heard the name of the reward the gallery user was offering.
"A status window? The kind of status window I know?"
I froze, my mouth hanging open.
What was a status window?
Wasn’t it a marvelous thing that supported the protagonist with insanely useful abilities and even awakened an ego during moments of crisis?
And an anomaly had one of those?
The reward was so far beyond my expectations that my mind went blank.
Anon (999.1): You’re giving me a status window??
└Anon (999.1): And why is the head mod’s name coming up???
└CleanlinessKing: Um... Well....
└CleanlinessKing [Assistant Mod]: I’m actually an assistant mod...
└CleanlinessKing: I took over the project the head mod was running.
└Anon (999.1): ?????
But there was still more to be surprised about.
CleanlinessKing, the likable registered user who had left me so many comments until now,
had revealed himself with a blue badge.
Just as my jaw began aching from having my mouth open too wide—
CleanlinessKing: Ah, hold on, something personal came up, so I’ve got to go.
└CleanlinessKing: I’ll send you the status window first. Use it well.
└Anon (999.1): No, wait a fucking—
Ding!
A notification rang from my phone.
「[Status Window]: Level 1
User: Anon (999.1)
Available Abilities:
[Ghost Story Minor Gallery]
[Communication with Other Species]
■■ ■uction
■■ Windo■
Some abilities have been locked because the Status Window’s level is low.
Obtain Ghost Points (GP) to upgrade the Status Window.
Remaining GP: 0
TIP: Ghost Points can be acquired from the fear of living beings.」
A screen I had seen countless times in game fantasy stories.
"...You should’ve given me this when I was trapped in the Backrooms."
All the strength suddenly drained from my body.
To think status windows really existed.
If I’d gotten this in the Backrooms, I could have escaped ages ago.
Or rather, maybe I would have starved to death because I couldn’t get any food.
"There are two abilities I can use, some abilities are locked, and... Ghost Points?"
As I slowly read through the status window,
my eyes stopped at the term GP.
"How am I supposed to get fear from living beings? What, am I supposed to go work at a haunted house or something?"
Anomalies would have an easy time scaring people.
But I’m human.
Unless I’m carrying around a can of gasoline, nothing I do is scary.
"And the gallery users aren’t really afraid of me anymore..."
Just as I was racking my brain over how to make use of this—
[A comment has been posted on Goe Bung [Head Mod]’s post!]
"Hm?"
A comment had been left on the post I made in the Ghost Story Minor Gallery.
No, not the Ghost Story Minor Gallery—
I mean the Ghost Story Minor Gallery those people use.
Anyway.
CurryFlavoredPoop: Whew, the author’s writing is insane...
└CurryFlavoredPoop: My hands were seriously shaking while I read it...
[You have obtained 30 GP!]
"Oh?"
I’d found a way to earn Ghost Points, too.
"Well, well. Looks like it’s time to return to being writer Goe Bung after all this time."
The head mod of DamMari, Goe Bung, was making his comeback.
(Not the Goe Bung in the Backrooms.)
*
[Chat] : Wait, why is the Ghost Story Minor Gallery’s user count doing this??
Author: HeartCasino
(Gallery user count: 9,105 — one day ago)
(Gallery user count: 9,112 — one hour ago)
Is it a bug? Why did it suddenly do this?
[Total Comments - 4]
AshesMimic: What the fuck is this?
└AshesMimic: Seven newcomers joined?
└Anon (190.5): Acceptthenewcomersacceptthenewcomersacceptthenewcomersacceptthenewcomers
└Anon (112.5): Hehehehehehehehehehehehehehe.
└AshesMimic: Holy shit, it’s not a bug. Those are real newcomers.
└WhiteBear: What is this?? What the hell is this???
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