Chapter 36 - Moderator (3)

News that Heavenly Demon had become a moderator spread like wildfire. The account was already well known, so the uproar was only natural.

A moderator might be a lesser version of the admin, but they were still management. Break the rules or get on Heavenly Demon's bad side, and there was a good chance you'd get banned.

'Heavenly Demon wouldn't do that, though.'

Heavenly Demon was very much the independent type, steadfastly going her own way no matter what anyone said. You could call her nerves steel-plated. Or perhaps it was the particular generosity of an old person.

If you'd managed to offend Heavenly Demon, it meant you'd hurled insults too vile to repeat.

'Then you'd have no room to complain about a ban.'

Anyway, from my perspective, this was little more than an ordinary incident. Heavenly Demon becoming a moderator wouldn't change much. It only meant there was one more person on the management team. Being on friendly terms with her might make things a tiny bit more convenient for me, at least.

'Not that I'm going to rely on that.'

Relying too much on Heavenly Demon would inevitably make me lazy. I was already receiving plenty of help. Rather than cling to her, I was better off getting stronger myself.

'She must be busy now that she's a moderator, right?'

Moderators were practically volunteers. Unpaid slaves. But neglecting their duties could get them banned as well as stripped of the role. And with an admin this rigid and devoted to principles, they had no choice but to take it seriously.

'I'll just focus on my own work.'

I'd escaped the muscular mushroom, and Heavenly Demon had become a moderator, but I still had things to do: receive the wall from Passing Dwarf and improve my hideout. He'd said he'd send it around lunch, so the trade request should arrive soon.

'Once the wall's up...'

I was just pondering what to do after putting up the wall.

Passing Dwarf has requested a trade. Would you like to accept?

A trade request came in from the dwarf. Speak of the devil. With that thought, I pressed accept.

Passing Dwarf

You accepted right away. Got some time on your hands?

Been waiting for you.

Passing Dwarf

Oh. I like women, though. Curse my popularity.

You crazy bastard lol. Finished the wall?

Passing Dwarf

Yeah, but there's a lot, and it's big. Got somewhere to store it?

At his question about storage, I glanced around. Perhaps because a pack of mad dogs had originally lived here, the area around the cave was surprisingly spacious. The same went for the inside. Three of those huge things had lived there, after all. If necessary, I could store the pieces inside the cave after setting a few in place first.

I do. Roughly how big is it?

Passing Dwarf

Take a look at these first.

(Photo of a wooden wall), (Photo of a wooden wall 2)

Which one's better?

“Oh?”

I admired the pictures the dwarf had posted.

One was an utterly ordinary wooden wall: a row of wooden posts with their tops sharpened to points.

The other was closer to a barricade. A wall and a barricade meant much the same thing, but these differed in shape. Whereas the wall stood straight up, the barricade was slanted—pointed wooden stakes set at an angle and securely bound together.

Passing Dwarf

You're not going to live there permanently.

Wouldn't spikes be better for temporary use?

Easy to set up, too.

That does look better.

After all that fucking digging lol.

Passing Dwarf

Just fill it back in.

I'll make these, then.

How much longer will that take?

Passing Dwarf

What I give you should provide some basic defense. If it doesn't work out, make some yourself.

They're easy to make as long as you know how to tie rope.

I'll think about it. Can you send them now, then?

Passing Dwarf

Hang on.

Passing Dwarf has listed an item for trade.

Passing Dwarf

Here you go.

Thanks, thanks. Anything you need?

Passing Dwarf

Just give me booze lol.

Can't give you booze, but I'll find something to eat with it.

Fish work for you?

Passing Dwarf

Not bad.

Don't you need a fish trap to catch them?

It'd be nice, but they're so big it might be a pain.

Passing Dwarf

I'll make you one.

You'd better send those snacks. Okay?

Okay.

The trade ended, and the items the dwarf had sent arrived. I'd assumed they wouldn't be very tall, but I was wrong. Even with the stakes slanted, they stood a little taller than me. If anything, making them this way must have been more work.

'These are bigger than I expected.'

There was no time to be flustered. Another barricade would arrive soon. The delay between arrivals gave me time to position them without rushing. Their unexpectedly large size seemed to make them take longer to transfer. Or perhaps it was because there wasn't enough space.

“Whew.”

After a while, I finished arranging and adjusting them all. Not knowing how the system decided where to deposit traded items made things a little awkward, but there were no accidents.

'I don't suppose there's an inventory or anything?'

It seemed I'd have a headache every time something large arrived like this. I wished there were a separate space for storing traded items.

Job done!

(Photo of the hideout with barricades installed)

Finally finished putting up the barricades. Still more to do, but I'm proud of it.

Anyway, is there no storage space for traded items or something? They kept popping out of nowhere, so arranging them was a pain.

└Nice work. That feature you're talking about actually used to exist. It's just restricted now.

└Wild Grylls Why'd they restrict it?

└Smuggling. At first we called it military-style bureaucratic bullshit, but then the admin two admins ago ruined an entire territory, and it got blocked.

└Isn't that restriction meaningless for the admin? The admin can do anything.

└Yeah, you can use it if the admin lifts the restriction. But do you really think this admin will?

└Wild Grylls Can't we get about ten minutes? That'd be enough.

└There are fuckers who shove drugs up their assholes to smuggle them. Like hell the admin would allow it lol.

└Maybe for you, Grylls. But is there a system for lifting restrictions for specific registered users?

└Nope. Maybe for a moderator. Even then you'd have to suck up to the admin lmao.

└One thing's for sure, this admin's a stodgy old fart, so I doubt it'll happen.

└Don't Abandon the Hero I'm not a stodgy old fart! I simply value rules and principles! If someone calls a person that just for maintaining order, they're the one in the wrong! The technical term is antisocial tendencies!

└Well, look who's here. The admin.

└Hey, admin. How about lifting the restriction, then? You can do whatever you want now.

└Don't Abandon the Hero I've actually been considering that! I'll give it serious, favorable consideration, so please be patient! I'll be off now!

Favorable consideration, huh. Maybe I could get my hopes up. Even five minutes of storage would be nice. I'd supposedly arranged the barricades, but they were still scattered around rather haphazardly.

'No. That's asking too much. What am I thinking?'

I quickly shook my head. This wouldn't do. I'd resolved to rely less on the forum, yet here I was getting annoyed at a minor inconvenience. Its usefulness really was like a drug. No wonder people couldn't quit browsing. I reaffirmed my resolve: I could only grow by working through things on my own.

'First, let's take a proper look at these barricades.'

Someday I might have to make barricades myself—if something happened to the dwarf, or I couldn't access the forum. I needed to understand how they were built, if only to prepare for that possibility.

'He hollowed out the wood and slotted the stakes into it. Then tied them firmly with rope, just to be safe.'

When I had time, I should make a small barricade for practice. Trees were everywhere, so I'd never lack materials. What I'd lack was skill. My handiwork would be far inferior to the dwarf's.

'Aren't dwarves short? He did all this himself?'

The dwarven build suddenly came to mind. The barricades were a little taller than I was. It was rather amazing that a dwarf had made walls this tall all by himself. He was always making a fuss asking for booze, but perhaps he was someone important, too.

“Kyuu.”

“Hungry?”

Roundfur came up beside me and gazed at me with bright, clear eyes. While I'd been installing the barricades, lunchtime had crept up on me. With no fish left, it looked like I'd have to make do with fasting pills today.

I gave Roundfur a large piece of meat I'd bought on the forum. Eyes sparkling, Roundfur began devouring it in no time.

'I need to learn how to set traps, too.'

The problem was, I wasn't sure an ordinary trap would catch an ordinary animal here. The only small animals I'd seen so far were squirrels and rabbits, and even those were huge. The rabbits were the size of medium-sized dogs. They were incredibly fast, too, fleeing the instant they sensed me.

'Then I'll just make bigger traps.'

Simple, but effective. I just needed to set traps as though I were catching boars rather than rabbits.

Chewing a bitter fasting pill, I looked behind me. I'd felt something climbing up my back, and sure enough, it was the speed-sloth.

“Want one, too?”

“...”

It nodded at its characteristically sluggish pace.

I handed it a fasting pill and browsed the forum. After a short break, I planned to practice my cultivation method.

Heavenly Demon has requested a one-on-one chat! Would you like to accept?

“Huh?”

A message caught my eye as I browsed. Heavenly Demon hadn't requested a trade, but a one-on-one chat.

As far as I knew, one-on-one chats were unavailable to users, even registered ones. From what I'd heard, that was to prevent cliques. So how was Heavenly Demon doing it?

'What's this? Are moderators different?'

I had questions, but I couldn't very well turn down a request from Heavenly Demon. I accepted, and a window similar to the trade window appeared.

Heavenly Demon

My honored friend. Can you see my messages?

Hello. I can see them just fine.

Can moderators use one-on-one chats?

Heavenly Demon

Ordinarily, no.

But I persuaded the admin to grant me the privilege.

I must initiate the chat, however.

I see.

How are you finding the moderator job?

Heavenly Demon

There are many pictures that delight my eyes.

But those with little enlightenment, such as yourself, would succumb to an inner demon.

I thought I knew what she meant. I'd clicked on something without knowing any better the other day and gotten a proper eyeful myself.

But Heavenly Demon was a true forum addict among forum addicts. She'd take that stuff in stride. In a way, she had all the makings of an excellent moderator. Plenty of time, no inner demons, and a rock-solid mind. The admin must have welcomed her becoming a moderator, too.

Sounds like hard work.

Is there no time limit on one-on-one chats?

Heavenly Demon

None.

Though the admin will be able to see everything we say.

That is of no consequence. What I shall teach you is merely the basics.

The basics?

Didn't you already teach me everything?

You said I'd even opened the upper dantian or whatever it was, didn't you?

Heavenly Demon

Indeed.

But the problem is that you opened it too quickly.

Without sufficient grounding in the basics, you will falter.

Even a seemingly sturdy bridgehead will collapse one day if its construction was shoddy.

It was clearly martial-arts jargon, yet somehow I understood. The part about shoddy construction especially hit home. This must be what they called wisdom. She was an excellent teacher.

That makes perfect sense.

You mean my body could collapse from shoddy construction, right?

Heavenly Demon

Correct.

From now on, I intend to teach you the fundamentals.

Even a sturdy trunk will soon wither if its roots are weak.

Thank you.

But I'm not sure I'll be able to understand it all.

Heavenly Demon

Do not worry.

I shall explain it in terms you can understand.

First, assume the lotus position.

I sat in the lotus position as Heavenly Demon instructed. Perhaps because I'd grown accustomed to it, it felt refreshing rather than painful. I should practice other poses later, too. More flexibility couldn't hurt.

Heavenly Demon

Ah. There is something I wish to ask.

What did you feel while practicing the cultivation method?

Did you feel any blockage at the crown of your head?

None at all.

It just felt like something was making a full circuit around my body?

Heavenly Demon

It seems you truly have opened the Gate of Life and Death.

Your internal energy must be flowing freely through the Conception and Governing Vessels.

I had no idea what any of that meant. Still, I could tell she was impressed.

That's good, right?

Heavenly Demon

Very good indeed.

In terms of realms, that is late-stage Peak.

But your progress was so rapid that you likely cannot even properly manifest sword energy.

Sword energy? Putting mana into a sword?

Heavenly Demon

Correct.

Though I would prefer you call it internal energy rather than mana.

It is not strictly necessary, but it irks me somehow.

So it irked her. She must take great pride in her internal energy cultivation method. Well, she was an old person who'd seen everything life had to offer. I could understand that pride. It was something I ought to respect, really. I'd have to be more careful from now on.

I'll keep that in mind.

Anyway, I can't make it.

This is the first I've heard of it.

Heavenly Demon

Not only sword energy—even strengthening your body with it would be difficult for you.

That is why the fundamentals matter.

I see.

I understand.

Heavenly Demon

Thus, knowing the route will make things easier.

Read carefully.

When practicing the cultivation method, internal energy flows from the lower dantian to the perineum, then the tailbone...

Heavenly Demon's lesson continued. At tremendous length. All I could do was stare blankly with my mouth hanging open, because I didn't understand a word. It felt like I'd learned one plus one as my introduction to the basics, only to have calculus suddenly thrown at me.

Heavenly Demon

If you find it difficult, I can show you a drawing.

Could you?

Heavenly Demon

(Rough picture of the route) How is it? Can you see it clearly?

I could certainly see it clearly enough. The picture roughly depicted a person in profile, with the route drawn inside the body.

'What language is this?'

The problem was that I couldn't understand the language at all. At least the route was drawn, so I could more or less work it out.

'Is this going to be okay?'

This was way too hard.

* * *

While Heavenly Demon's crash course was underway...

Sword Masta

Admin. You traded with Heavenly Demon, didn't you?

Wha?!

Sword Masta was making a covert approach to the admin.