Demon Lord Gallery

Demon Lord.

It was a term used to mean the king of demons, the leader of devils, the lord of the demon realm, and was a common element in internet communities, games, novels, and other subcultures, but it was an unfamiliar word to me.

That’s because, would there ever be an occasion to hear or encounter the word ‘Demon Lord’ in daily life?

Novels and games were all I had encountered before the Gate incident, and after some social infrastructure was restored, I had no leisure time.

Fantasy novels? When reality is filled with monsters popping out and gates opening, who would have the luxury to seek out such fantasies?

Anyway, due to these reasons, the term ‘Demon Lord’ was an unfamiliar visitor to me.

And that wasn’t the only thing causing my bewilderment.

‘What’s with this Gallery?’

It was astounding enough that something resembling a status window had appeared before my eyes, but with unfamiliar words like Demon Lord and Gallery being listed, I couldn’t tell if this was reality or a dream.

“It’s not an illusion…”

There was no fluctuation in the surrounding mana flow, my mental state was normal, and it wasn’t created by mechanical devices like optical camouflage or optical sensors.

After eliminating possibilities one by one, I came to one conclusion.

This ‘Welcome to the Demon Lord Gallery’ phrase floating before my eyes was an entity created by some kind of power.

“Haha….”

I let out a hollow laugh.

Wasn’t the Gate the end of it? Was there an external existence that even I, who could pride myself as humanity’s strongest, couldn’t grasp at all?

Whoever or whatever created this ridiculous window was beyond my perception, which meant it was beyond my understanding, and an unknown existence was nothing but a potential threat.

It was an existence that could become an enemy of humanity at any time if it so chose.

Moreover, the term ‘Demon Lord’ couldn’t possibly have a good meaning.

If there’s anything fortunate, it’s that judging from the phrase resembling a welcome message, it seems to be a somewhat friendly response.

“What…?”

As I let out a sigh and unconsciously touched the sentence floating in the air, an unbelievable scene unfolded before my eyes.

[Demon Lord Gallery]

[Welcome to the Demon Lord Gallery, a resting place and plaza by Demon Lords, for Demon Lords]
[Manager: Bangaljuk]

[What’s the usual gender ratio in hero parties?][12]
[Advice on ruling the demon realm][23]
[┌I hope all those deceiver bastards get stabbed by heroes][37]
[It’s day 7 of dating the Succubus Queen..][9]
[Am I screwed, demon bros?][54]
[Can you congratulate me?][26]

How should I even describe this?

The window filling a corner of my vision, with an interface both familiar and unfamiliar, bore a striking resemblance to the internet communities I had seen in my youth.

“What is this…”

If I had to describe it, it would be right to say it was like an early 21st-century community that was considered an outdated relic even in my youth.

The window before my eyes, so similar to those communities that were fading into oblivion with the introduction of VR and virtual reality, was emitting a bright light as if urging me to click on it, and before I knew it, I unconsciously reached out to the new window floating before me.

After hesitating for a moment at the interface I hadn’t encountered for so long, I soon figured out how to operate it and began to learn about this self-proclaimed ‘Demon Lord Gallery’.

The first thing I read was the post with the most comments on the first page.

[Title: Am I screwed, demon bros?][54]
[Author: ㅇㅇ(666.317)]

[I had spread surveillance eyes throughout the kingdom and was monitoring the hero, you know? But this bastard couldn’t form a party for months, so I thought this generation’s hero was safe~ Then he suddenly says he’s going to subjugate the Demon Lord alone.
So I told the Four Heavenly Kings to block him casually, but when I came to my senses, the hero was right in front of the Demon Lord’s castle, fuck…
Now he’s made it to the doorstep of the Demon Lord’s castle with just a tree branch and no armor, am I screwed?

[Comments][54]
[ㅇㅇ(666.226): Demon bro, farewell]
[ㅇㅇ(666.784): F]
[White Skull: That’s what happens when you use surveillance eyes so poorly, can’t even figure out the hero’s specs]
ㄴ[ㅇㅇ(666.317): Was there another way to use surveillance eyes?]
ㄴ[White Skull: Where did you sell your insight magic, you gay…]
[ㅇㅇ(666.304): Welcome, early exit buddy demon broㅋㅋ]
ㄴ[ㅇㅇ(666.317): I’ll see you in Manmajeon]
ㄴ[ㅇㅇ(666.304): I’ve already been eliminated early though?]
ㄴ[ㅇㅇ(666.317): Ah…]
ㄴ[Wolf Viscount*: No Manmajeon-related fraternization allowed]
[Slave Wanted: Can you upload the battle data before you die?]
ㄴ[ㅇㅇ(666.317): ㅗ]

It was a dizzying post.

Between the post and the comments, the only things I could understand were the two words ‘hero’ and ‘Demon Lord’, and with my shallow knowledge, the only thing I could interpret was that the author of this post was half-mad.

“….Is this what all Demon Lords are like?”

Putting aside my doubts, I continued to look at other posts written in the Demon Lord Gallery.

[Title: ┌I hope all those deceiver bastards get stabbed by heroes][37]
[Author: Eternal Virgin]

Why can’t I date? Why can’t I date? Why can’t I date? Why can’t I date? Why can’t I date? Why can’t I date? Why can’t I date? Why can’t I date? Why can’t I date?

Can’t you just date quietly when you’re dating? Do you have to spread rumors all over the neighborhood when you date? Fuck, if you’re going to do that, why don’t you show your sex to the whole neighborhood too, fuuuuck

I hope the hero guy splits the guy in the comment below in half

[Comments][37]
[ㅇㅇ(666.097): The anger of the eternal virgin is understandable…]
ㄴ[ㅇㅇ(666.707): The eternal left has the right to be angry]
ㄴ[ㅇㅇ(666.840): 22]
ㄴ[ㅇㅇ(402.304): 333]
ㄴ[Wolf Viscount*: 4444]
ㄴ[One-eyed Grandpa: Wolf Viscount, why are you here without blocking your nick, you fuckin’ fraternizer?]
ㄴ[Eternal Virgin: Get lost, you bastards]

“……”

What on earth did I just see?

Ah, madness. My old friend.

The intense madness that seemed to transcend dimensions and burst through the screen was enough to make me dizzy.

Surely, surely.
Even among Demon Lords, there must be at least one or two normal ones.

With a useless hope of finding a normal person, I scrolled down and clicked on a post with a somewhat normal title, but—

What it contained was also madness.

[Title: Can you congratulate me?][26]
[Author: Newbie Baby]

[It’s my first time catching a hero, can you congratulate me? I saw the hero party coming and took all the Four Heavenly Kings and elite troops from the very beginning, went and crushed them. The hero party really couldn’t do anything and was completely wiped out ㅎㅎ

.
.
.
.

The hero can’t do anything, right? It’s really frustrating, right? Growth, awakening, whatever, you’re suffocating as soon as you start because you meet the final boss, right? You’re angry, right?
Hero, what will you do if you get mad? Oh well, whatever~ Here’s a fridge~ And an AMOLED-LED TV~!

[Comments][26]
[ㅇㅇ(666.338): Kid… go to sleep…]
[ㅇㅇ(666.887): Where the hell do they learn this kind of stuff? Ugh, shit]
ㄴ[Newbie Baby: What are you gonna do~]
[ㅇㅇ(666.004): The level of Demon Lords these days is really…..]
ㄴ[Spider Lord*: It’s easier to just pretend you didn’t see it]
ㄴ[One-eyed Grandpa: The world is really..]
ㄴ[Newbie Baby: Old farts, what are you gonna do ~what about the radio~]

“Haha─”

This… is a Demon Lord?
To think that beings with the power to create such a community transcending dimensions would act like this. It’s so ridiculous that I’m speechless.
How am I supposed to find something even a little bit normal?

‘Aren’t there any rules or notices, or posts from administrators?’

As I scrolled back up after scrolling down for a while, I finally found the post I was looking for.
A post written by ‘Bangaljuk’, the manager of this Demon Lord Gallery.

[Title: Unified Notice for Demon Lord Gallery (Updated at Manmajeon Standard Time Log 877.841.456)]
[Author: Bangaljuk]

[These are the rules and notices for comfortable community activities in the Demon Lord Gallery, a resting place and plaza by Demon Lords, for Demon Lords.

Don’t force gorossi/sniping.
Don’t engage in fraternization/old-fashioned behavior by comparing Manmajeon generations.
Whether it’s PVP or keyboard battles, it’s fine, but if you come out of the arena, you’ll be permanently banned from the gallery.
3-1. Absolutely no real PVP by invading other dimensions.
3-2. Absolutely no forced PVP by kidnapping Demon Lords/related persons/living beings from other dimensions.
3-3. Absolutely no forced PVP by merging dimensions.
3-4. Just don’t engage in PVP by any means other than the arena, you bastards, or you’ll all die.
Don’t bring anyone unsuitable for Demon Lord qualification into the gallery.
Don’t disclose the contents of the gallery to any beings other than Demon Lords or those from Manmajeon/Hell.
Dimensional movement is prohibited except in special situations and for the manager (main manager) and sub-manager (sub-manager).

I hope you’ll follow these 6 rules.

I believe you all know what punishment will follow for those who break the rules]

“Oh…”

Maybe it was because I had been looking at posts full of madness. Seeing a notice written in a relatively polite and ordinary tone was refreshingly new.

Should I say it gives the feeling of a community with somewhat human-like morals and rules?

Of course, it’s ironic to talk about morals and rules now when it’s assumed that all members of this community are Demon Lords.

By the way, while reading this notice, there was one thing that particularly caught my eye.

[4. Don’t bring anyone unsuitable for Demon Lord qualification into the gallery.]

‘Demon Lord qualification, huh’

I remember that when I first entered this unknown gallery, one of the sentences that floated in the air clearly had a part that said ‘Qualification confirmed’.

The inference I made from this series of information was that .

No matter how many times I calculated using thought acceleration, this was the only answer.

“Ha─”

To think that I’m a Demon Lord.
To think that I’ve gained a new title of ‘Demon Lord’ in addition to traitor and murderer of humanity, it’s really something.

Well, I guess it’s only natural considering how many people I’ve killed.

I sighed and browsed through the gallery with mixed feelings.

The Demon Lord Gallery was quite a good pastime on this late night that was so quiet it was almost eerie.

How much time had passed like this?

Reading through posts that showed stupidity and madness no different from humans, despite bearing the name of Demon Lord, time flew by in an instant.

Dawn was breaking, and the morning sun could be seen rising beyond the horizon.

A red sun rising amidst a gray background made up of collapsed cities and building debris.

It’s a scenery I’ve seen to the point of boredom for 20 years.

“…..I should get to work”

I couldn’t just play around forever. There was a mountain of work to do.

It was the moment I was about to close the Demon Lord Gallery, which had become a somewhat useful entertainment for one night, and get up.

Was it because I had experienced communication after such a long time, or was it because I had smelled something human from these beings called Demon Lords?

Even though I had clearly resolved to just observe the gallery a few hours ago, I wanted to have a conversation so badly.

I wanted to communicate. I wanted to talk with someone. I was curious about other Demon Lord beings and wanted to ask them questions. I wanted to ask about the identity of this gallery.

And I couldn’t resist this urge.

Manmajeon Time Log 902.642.123

A post appeared on the peaceful Demon Lord Gallery.

[Title: How did you all become Demon Lords?]
[Author: ㅇㅇ(111.432)]

[JGN]

A post with a body shorter than its title.

Normally, it would have been a post that would have been deleted for lack of sincerity or just forgotten.

Even in a community that had thrown away formalities, courtesy, and respect, there was still a minimum level of manners.

That’s why no one commented, and it was naturally a post that would have been forgotten and buried under new posts.

Until someone ‘sniped’ that post, that is.

[Title: Hey, what’s wrong with the author of that post below?]
[Author: ㅇㅇ(666.891)]

[What’s with the IP of the author who wrote ‘How did you all become Demon Lords?’ At first I was going to ignore it as just a low-effort post, but why does their dimension log start with 111?]

[Comments][101]
[ㅇㅇ(666.964): Dunno?]
ㄴ[ㅇㅇ(666.964): I’m seeing this for the first time too?]
[One-eyed Grandpa: That’s because they’re not from Manmajeon or Hell. They got the Demon Lord qualification on their own and entered]
ㄴ[ㅇㅇ(666.071): It’s a newbie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!]
ㄴ[ㅇㅇ(666.097): How long has it been since we’ve seen a self-awakened newbie, fuck!!!!]

A new topic began to roll in the peaceful and boring Demon Lord Gallery.