*
[Purchased 2 instant abalone porridges. -4P]
[Purchased 1 bottle of 1.5L barley tea. -2P]
I need to eat something, anything.
Just one lump of bread?
That couldn't fill my starving stomach.
Compared to what I had been eating for the past few days, it was two meals' worth, but.
"Food. I need to eat first."
Honestly, when the points came in and I learned what they were for, I wanted to ignore whatever Sora was explaining and go straight to the shop.
You could say setting foot in a shop first means I've already thrown away all pretense, but.
Responsibility? That's a privilege you can only afford on a full stomach.
When you're hungry, forget about that.
There was no microwave to heat anything up, but I didn't have the luxury to worry about such things in the first place.
Because my hands were trembling so much as I tore open the abalone porridge packaging.
If Sora had come to find me two days later, wouldn't she have discovered my cold corpse lying dead?
I picked up the enclosed spoon, buried my nose in the abalone porridge, and took a deep breath.
"Sssssp, haaa~"
I couldn't smell a thing.
Even without heating it up, there should definitely be a smell...?
I think my sense of smell had gone bad because of the stench coming from the bathroom.
I wanted to enjoy my first meal in a while to the fullest, but it couldn't be helped.
"Well then... I'll dig in!"
I scooped up a large spoonful of abalone porridge and stuffed it straight into my mouth.
It was lukewarm.
Since I hadn't heated it up, it was lukewarm and clumpy, so I had no choice but to eat it like that.
But even so, this lukewarm abalone porridge felt like the most delicious food in the world.
"Kkhup... gulp. Chew chew. Kkuheup..."
Perhaps because I had cried so much over the past week, no more tears came out, but I could proudly say it was the best meal of my life.
*
After making two abalone porridges disappear from the world like a magic show, I looked at the gallery screen again.
[So hungry... feels like I'm gonna starve to deathㅠㅠ]
[Ark Gallery? Nope! Starvation Gallery? Yasss!!! Fuck...]
[Where'd the bastard who always spammed posts go? Feels empty without him]
[I want to rip open the bellies of those dog-like nobles.]
[Any jobs? I'm confident I can do anything like a dog!]
Every single one was a desperate-looking post.
Titles of posts hungering for food, searching for jobs, and raging at the establishment.
They'd all contain heavy content, so I clicked on the title that looked the lightest,
[Where'd the bastard who always spammed posts go? Feels empty without him]
Author: Anonymous
- Just saying.
I remember he was one of the few who posted troll posts on Starvation Gallery, annoying but memorable, and I haven't seen him for a few days, yeah.
Why'd he suddenly stop posting? Did he finally get his act together? lololol
(Comments)
- Uh. Um...
- He's dead;;
ㄴ(Author) ?? Don't bullshit me, anon, isn't joking about whether he's dead or alive a bit much??
ㄴ For real. Did you check the posts he uploaded before? Posts get deleted when you die;;
ㄴ(Author) That bastard was complaining about being hungry then suddenly started spamming posts like crazy, doesn't that mean he was doing well? Why would a guy like that suddenly die??
ㄴ How would I know? Nothing improved even when he wrote complaint posts, so I guess he changed course and enjoyed himself by spamming posts or whatever
ㄴ(Author) I looked for his old posts and there's really nothing;; I had built up so much one-sided closeness, and he went first...
- That bastard never blamed others even in complaint posts. That bastard who kindly answered when anyone asked anything. That bastard who kindly replied to comments even while spamming posts after changing course. Rest in peace.
ㄴ May the Goddess lead you to the Garden of Rest, and may you slumber in eternal peace.
ㄴ(Author) May the Goddess lead you to the Garden of Rest, and may you slumber in eternal peace.
"Oh shit."
The post with the lightest-looking title contained the heaviest content.
Is this world a more painful place than I thought?
Still, I couldn't grasp the whole picture from just one post, so I immediately checked another post.
[Ark Gallery? Nope! Starvation Gallery? Yasss!!! Fuck...]
Author: Harudukki
- Fuck, I roam the mountains like catching mice and can't even find a handful of tree roots to shove in my mouth;;
I made my username this swearing I'd eat two meals a day, and I've been searching high and low through mountains, fields, and rivers, but this work seems even harder because of it;;
Even rolling around like a dog to gather stuff, I barely manage one meal every two days instead of two meals a day...
How do you guys get by?
If you have any good info, please shareㅠㅠ
(Comments)
- Like there'd be any?
- lololol there was a post about a crazy person wandering behind the village on the bare hill, is that crazy person you?
- Mountains, fields, rivers, everything edible already burned up~
ㄴ The survivors nearby ate what remained clean^^
ㄴ Wasn't the hail and drought two years ago the final blow? It seems no one has the strength to endure anymore?
There was no hope in the second post either.
"Like, there's no dreams or hope at all."
Me, whose hands trembled from getting by on just a piece of bread for a week?
I was the very picture of an ordinary person.
An ordinary person who hadn't checked Starvation Gallery, no, the Ark Gallery.
"I think I roughly know what kind of life they live. Then lastly..."
[I Want to Rip Open the Bellies of Those Dog-like Nobles.]
Author: RespectTheCrownPrincess
- Fuck, I want to kill all those fucking noble bastards.
How are the nobles living in the provinces fatter than the imperial family living in the capital?
The imperial family is also reducing their food and spending because of crop failure, trying to endure somehow,
but those bastard nobles in the provincial backwaters are throwing parties?
And they're taking the things needed for that party from our house?
Those fucking dog bastards, that's the food our family was going to eat until the next harvest,
if they take all of that too, what are we supposed to do?
(Comments)
- Been a day or two? lololol
- Squeezing the people to throw a party? What, this was a daily life post?
ㄴ This is the usual appearance of the Empire, is it not?
ㄴ(Author) The imperial family is dying emaciated and skinny, and it's everyday life that provincial nobles are fat? Shit, something is seriously wrong.
ㄴ It's been wrong for 50 years~ have a drinkㅠ
- (INeedReform) I am sorry. It is this Princess's fault...
ㄴ No way, Crown Princess Your Highness?
ㄴ Why has Your Highness come to such a shabby place...?
ㄴ(Author) It is not Your Highness's fault! Please do not blame yourself!ㅠㅠ
Even while everyone is starving to death together, the people's support for the imperial family is firm?
How did you do this?
"You must have shown truly tremendous leadership by example?"
The imperial family of the Empire seemed to have shown the people some kind of performance that I simply couldn't imagine.
After that, I checked a few more noticeable posts, and a rough estimate came out.
"This is hopeless?"
This is what a country entering the stages of societal collapse looks like.
It didn't collapse because of bad politics.
The world screwed it over and it collapsed.
If they had even a little leeway, the heads of provincial nobles squeezing the people would have been pickled in salt and delivered to the imperial family.
"My lord, why have you only sent the head?"
But in a ruined world, there was no way such a hopeful thing would happen.
[Purchased 1 spring notebook. -4P]
[Purchased 1 Monami ballpoint pen (black). -1P]
"An Empire, a human nation... what Empire? Anyway, it's in a situation of entering collapse procedures due to natural disasters. Surprisingly, the imperial family is being supported. Provincial nobles are being cursed for frequent exploitation."
I noted down the conclusion I came to while reading the posts.
If I write it down in advance, it'll be useful later.
"But I heard there are various races, so why can I only see human posts?"
"Sora, Sora. I have a question."
*Ding!*
[Yes. Please speak, Lady Rein.]
The screen that had been slightly away approached with a cheerful notification sound.
"I heard there are other races too, but I can only see human posts."
Is there perhaps a different gallery for each race?
Like the Ark Gallery is a gallery only humans use.
But Sora's answer was different.
[No. Everyone uses the same gallery. It is possible to infer low frequency of use through information from previously written posts. Do you need it?]
"Yes. Please do."
As expected, Sora was fast and accurate.
I named her, but I really named her well.
[......]
"......"
[......]
"......"
Was saying she was fast too hasty?
Perhaps there was a lot of information to check; it took the longest time out of all the questions so far.
"Um... you only need to tell me about the major races. I think races with too few members would have a high possibility of being wrong even if you guess the reason."
[Understood. I will tell you information regarding the major races, Elves and Dwarves.]
Oh, the answer began right away.
Perhaps it was difficult to guess the reason for races with few posts from the beginning.
[It is conjectured that most of the Elf race is currently in hibernation. The title of the last post uploaded by an Elf was 'What should I be careful about before hibernation?' As life became difficult due to food shortages, posts also appeared saying they would fall asleep under the care of the World Tree.]
"They couldn't endure, so they went to sleep."
"I see. Then what about Dwarves?"
When you think of Dwarves, isn't it alcohol, loyalty, and manliness?
Honestly, when I learned this race existed, they were the ones I looked forward to the most.
[Currently, Dwarves have lost interest in the gallery, and because they cannot drink alcohol, they are focusing on other matters.]
"They can't drink..."
For Dwarves to be unable to drink alcohol, it must surely be a situation painful enough to die.
[They are striving to make food that uses even a little less grain. The title of the last post uploaded by a Dwarf was 'My brother! If you sift stone powder and soil finely through a sieve and add it to the dough, you can make a larger quantity of bread!']
Thrashing in agony, they were making otherworldly stone bread.