Have you ever had an experience like that?
Not a door locked from the inside. An experience where the door is locked from the outside, and you can’t get out.
Once you go through it, it isn’t easy to forget.
Turning the doorknob only for the door not to budge—an experience that makes cold sweat pour down your back just imagining it.
And I was, right now, going through something just like that.
The difference was that this was far more horrifying, and came in a form that directly threatened my life.
[You cannot access the Exchange.]
“W-what the hell….”
Something that might have been sweat, or tears, blurred my vision.
My hands trembled violently, unable to stay still, as if they had been burned.
Before my eyes, in the blue letters, I suddenly remembered some shitpost I’d seen yesterday, flashing past like my life before my eyes.
A joke post that started with something like, “Yesterday, my world collapsed.”
Until yesterday, I’d laughed inwardly and scrolled past it….
But now, I didn’t think I could laugh anymore. Because I knew what it felt like for the world to collapse.
The Exchange. The system that had let me live like a human being.
As long as I traded the magic stones rolling around near me, my money increased as if it were being duplicated, and I could easily get the things I needed to live….
“This isn’t right!!”
It wasn’t as if I’d violated any of the Exchange’s rules, nor had I harmed anyone.
Yet the Exchange had been blocked overnight.
To deny reality, I closed my eyes, then opened them.
I closed them again, rubbed my eyes, and opened them once more.
“Haa….”
The blue window floating before my eyes remained unchanged.
Like time that kept slipping away, like a calendar showing the current hour, it stayed there before me.
Another deep sigh leaked out.
Of course it did. One of my means of communication with the surface had just been reduced.
The world looked dark.
It had already been dark because this was the deep sea, but it felt especially dark now.
As I stared at the window floating in the air with dead-fish eyes—
Whirrr.
Asoluzn, like a small tank, rolled over to my side on its caterpillar tracks.
Then, as naturally as could be, it placed its mechanical hand on top of mine.
I wondered if it was going to take my mana.
“…?”
But I didn’t feel any movement of mana at all.
Asoluzn simply kept its hand there, still and unmoving.
“…Are you comforting me?”
Asoluzn did not answer. It merely stayed quiet.
At that sight, it felt as though the dark world had brightened just a little.
At that moment, a new window appeared before my eyes.
—A new message has arrived.
A message, in this situation? Right now, by surface time, it should be around dawn.
And yet, a message….
‘Who is it? Truth Scholar?’
Wondering who had sent the message, I opened the Gallery.
“Uh… huh?!”
There was someone there far more incredible than I’d expected.
An orange icon appeared beside the nickname.
That icon, similar in shape to one I’d seen in my previous life, was a symbol of absolute authority in this Gallery.
Arbiter: Hello. I am the administrator of the Fantasy Gallery, Arbiter. Please reply as soon as you confirm this message.
The stiff tone I’d seen in notices.
But behind it was the weight of absolute authority, so it didn’t look like empty posturing.
Aurora: Yes, I confirmed it. But why can’t I use the Exchange?
A message I typed the moment I saw the head mod’s message.
Since this was a one-on-one chat with the head mod, no one else could see this conversation.
And a few seconds later, a reply was posted immediately.
It was so fast I wondered if they were managing the Gallery and writing comments at the same time.
Arbiter: I cannot explain the details of your Exchange suspension at present, Aurora. I apologize.
An apology right from the start.
With the power they held, they could have simply said, “Just because lol,” and I would have had nothing to say, so I was a little flustered that they began with an apology.
But the message did not end there.
Arbiter: The suspension of the Exchange was a measure taken to prevent any possible accidents.
Your Exchange access will be restored, but you must follow the conditions below when using it.
A list of conditions followed beneath.
There weren’t that many.
First, selling magic stones was forbidden until the head mod granted permission.
Second, trading minerals was allowed, but I was not to save up money to purchase weapons or anything that would help in combat.
Third, I was not to trade the remains of deep-sea creatures.
Honestly… I didn’t like it.
Of course I didn’t. Something I had been able to trade freely with had been narrowed in an instant.
Without even thinking to smooth out the frown that had naturally formed on my face, I typed a message.
The emotion-laden words were transferred into the Gallery.
Aurora: Yes, well. Since it’s the head mod’s word, I’ll follow it. But isn’t this a bit much? I haven’t even done anything.
After sending the message full of my feelings—
I remembered that the person I was talking to was the head mod.
“…Ah, wait, did I just send that for no reason?!”
Now that I thought about it, if the head mod got offended, it could instantly become—
‘Yep, you’re permanently banned lol. Live in the deep sea lol.’
I hurriedly tried to delete the words I’d added at the end….
But the head mod had already seen my message and even sent a reply.
At the thought that the Gallery might disappear, my entire body stiffened with tension.
Inside the submersible, where time seemed to have stopped, only my eyes moved to read the head mod’s words.
And soon, my expression turned strange.
…It really had no choice but to turn strange.
Arbiter: …I’m sorry. I had no choice either….
Instead, I will do one thing you want, within my ability.
Looking at the Gallery, it seems people do n*ked dogeza to apologize. If you want, I can send that.
I am female. Objectively, I am good-looking.
I pondered for a long while.
Not because I wanted to see the head mod’s n*ked dogeza… but because I began to doubt whether the person I was talking to really was the head mod.
I mean, wasn’t that natural? This was someone who posted notices like a machine and replied like a machine.
And now, all of a sudden, they were saying they’d do something you’d only see in erotic creative works.
I immediately demanded a photo from the head mod… no, I did not. I changed it to a few questions.
Aurora: I don’t need a photo;; Can you answer a few questions?
Arbiter: Yes, if they are questions I do not know, or questions I can answer within the bounds of the Formless.
An instant reply. Truly, fast enough to make me wonder whether they were actually managing the Gallery.
There was something in the head mod’s words that was difficult to understand, but I didn’t pay much attention to it and asked right away.
First, about the deep sea.
Aurora: How much do you know about the deep sea?
Arbiter: I cannot answer that.
I was rejected immediately.
Then next, how I had ended up here.
Aurora: Do you know how I came here?
Arbiter: I cannot answer that.
…I was rejected again.
I began to wonder whether they would answer anything properly at all, so I tossed out a question almost at random.
Aurora: How old are you?
Arbiter: ……I cannot answer that. I don’t have one.
…That was subtly different.
‘Are they really only answering what they can answer…?’
Thinking that, I asked an utterly trivial question.
Aurora: How many hours a day do you spend on the community?
Arbiter: Around 22 hours.
Uh…? It was surprising that they answered properly, but the content itself was shockingly surprising too.
Spending 22 hours a day on the community…. Not even most shut-ins would go that far….
While I couldn’t hide my surprise, the head mod left another message, not an answer.
And with that answer, the strange thought that had been lingering beneath our conversation was confirmed.
Arbiter: …Answering you at present will not be very efficient.
Later, when you set foot in another city, ask me then. At that time, I should be able to give you more answers.
It was a message that was close to a kind of proposal.
And it was a message that made me feel they knew something.
That strange sense I had felt from the beginning.
The sense that the head mod, the administrator of this Gallery, seemed to be connected to the deep sea.
With this answer, I felt it clearly.
The head mod knew something.
Aurora: Yes, understood for now. If I go to another city, may I continue asking questions?
Arbiter: Yes. Then I will await that day.
I sincerely hope your path becomes a little easier.
With those final words, the head mod’s chat window disappeared.
The chatroom remained nowhere, existing only in my memory.
“Hmm….”
Sitting with my back against the wall of the submersible, I sorted through the swarm of thoughts that kept spinning without rest.
Having such an incredible encounter first thing in the morning made my thoughts grow complicated to match.
The head mod knew something.
That much was certain.
Whether that something was the truth about the deep sea, or merely ordinary information, I did not know.
But there was no way for me to learn that truth.
I couldn’t meet the head mod, and I wasn’t in an absolutely superior position either.
“Mm….”
Just as my worries were about to deepen in earnest—
“Beep beep!”
“Uwaak!! …You scared me.”
Haeasha, who had been floating around near me, suddenly opened its eyes wide.
It had been sleeping as still as death, so I thought it wouldn’t move….
As if it found my reaction amusing, Haeasha drifted around me while making short sounds like “beep beep beep.”
“Don’t laugh….”
“Beeep….”
It suddenly became terribly gloomy. …Did I say that too harshly?
“No… you can laugh a little.”
“Beep!”
It brightened up again at once.
Looking at it now, it followed my words incredibly well. Like a well-trained puppy.
After giving Haeasha, which was rubbing its face against my hand, a suitable pat, I stood up.
Haeasha looked at me suspiciously, but this was something I had to do.
Creeeak.
The hatch, which had been opened many times now and made far less noise than before.
I pushed it open and stepped onto the sandy floor.
Grains of sand were pushed aside by my shoes, forming tiny ridges.
Haeasha floated along the ridges I made.
The place I was headed was, of course, the city.
After all, this was the only place I could go right now.
Well, normally I came out for reasons like scouting or securing materials.
‘But this time….’
My gaze naturally turned to Haeasha, who was following me without making any sound or leaving any trace.
Today’s goal was to test Haeasha’s combat ability.
They called it an ancient ruler, so of course it should be strong….
But who knew with a subadult? If it had no proper combat strength, it would only be a burden to me.
As I walked while thinking that, the sensation beneath my feet changed.
The ancient city spread out before my eyes.
As I walked through the silent city, a Cyclops appeared before long.
They really were packed into every corner of the city like cockroaches. At this point, I was almost getting attached to them.
Kirik.
I heard the familiar sound of its eyeball rolling.
An eye that recognized us and stared straight at us.
Its hand soon accelerated and launched a slash.
Shaaak!
But there was no damage.
From the sword I had drawn at some point, green flame-like mana shimmered.
“Canceling them out is easy now.”
I cut through the slash with my mana-clad sword.
In a simple contest of strength, I no longer got pushed back easily.
But that wasn’t the important part.
“Beep… beeep?”
“…Even if you look at me like that, there’s nothing I can do. You have to catch that.”
My heart ached as Haeasha looked up at me with sparkling eyes, but….
What couldn’t be helped, couldn’t be helped.
“Beeep….”
Haeasha moved hesitantly, as if it lacked confidence.
The Cyclops, without wavering in the slightest, launched another slash.
At that moment—
“Pii!!”
A coughing sound burst from Haeasha’s mouth.
But the aftermath was nothing like a cough.
Wiiing!
A sound like an energy cannon filled the city.
A white beam advanced without obstruction, melting the entire area.
In the place where the white beam had passed, nothing remained.
Seeing that, I immediately turned on the broadcast.
I didn’t forget to bait viewers either.
[Deep-Sea Escape Log Day 13, Haeasha coughed;;]
Then people immediately came pouring in.
While showing the place where Haeasha’s cough had passed, I spoke.
“Haeasha coughed, and this happened. Is this right?”
└Truth Scholar: Wow! Amazing!
└Violence Is Healing: …Is this really something you can just call amazing and move on from?
└Sword Saint of the Draw: Hm, at this level, it certainly seems stronger than a dragon subadult.
Stronger than a dragon, which looked similar….
Should I say it was strength befitting the title of ruler?
“Beep?”
Haeasha turned to look at me and tilted its head, as if asking whether it had done well.
It was a sight that left me no choice but to stroke its head.
“Yeah, you did well.”
“Beeep!”
And so the broadcast continued a little longer.
└Truth Scholar: No, who names something like that?
└Sword Saint of the Draw: Hah, then just how well did you name it that you’re lecturing him…?
└Violence Is Healing: Everyone be quiet and let’s go with the one I came up with, shall we?
└Education Master: If you don’t know what names animals like, kindly stay quiet.
A war broke out over Haeasha’s name.
…I was just going to call it Haeasha.