Chapter 177: Huh, Was That Not It…?
Shia and Menelapie, who once saved the world from the Demon King, along with Lirisia, who repeatedly faced and opposed him, actually didn’t know the Demon King’s exact nature.
While they didn’t know everything, after numerous battles with this strange, non-living being, they learned that the Demon King didn’t just target a single world.
Instead, he was a singular yet multifaceted being who invaded countless worlds simultaneously, including Earth.
Despite his multifaceted nature, the Demon King and everything rooted in him were entities that despised humanity.
Their sole purpose, from the moment of birth, was to bring about destruction.
No matter how strong he was, he was a vile and cunning entity who slowly manipulated and incited humans from within.
He was also a malevolent ruler, deserving of being called the absolute powerhouse among living creatures.
Whack!
[Ugh!!]
And today, the Demon King was getting beaten up as if he were a stray dog on a sweltering day.
[Uh, guh…]
“Hiccup…! Hey! You’re gonna listen to the Meat Fairy, right!?”
[Y-Yes, I’ll…]
Thud!!
Shia stomped on the Demon King’s stomach once more.
[Huh… why on earth…]
“Don’t lie!”
[It’s not a lie…]
“You have no excuse!”
Not lying, huh?
How ridiculous.
The Demon King was an existence steeped in lies, malevolence, deceit, and hypocrisy since birth.
Shia knew that there was no way the Demon King would surrender and beg for his life before her.
The moment her guard was down, he would stab her in the back under the guise of surrendering.
The Demon King would stop at nothing to achieve his goal of annihilating humanity in this world.
[Guh…huh… ugh…]
“Are you gonna keep being the Demon King or not?!”
[N-Never again… ow!]
Thud!
[Urgh, guh…!]
Before he even finished his sentence, Shia swung her mace once more, aiming directly at the Demon King’s precious place.
Of course, the Demon King didn’t have a fixed gender, but as he was currently using the shell of a human female, the shock and pain would be considerable.
Well, there was no need to feel guilty.
Wang Soyeong had already crossed an irredeemable path, blinding herself with revenge and desire, offering her body and soul entirely to the Demon King.
The Demon King, by virtue of being the Demon King alone, deserved to be eliminated without question.
So, there was no issue with beating him mercilessly.
“Don’t! Lie! To me!”
Smack, smack!
Thud!
“Lies are bad, you know!”
[What do you want me… to do about it… ugh…]
The Demon King writhed in agony, curling up like a shrimp under the relentless judgment of the Meat Fairy.
Incidentally, Menelapie had already beaten the Demon King to her satisfaction and had returned to join Lirisia and Yeonhwa.
“…..”
“…Um, Menelapie?”
She subtly averted her gaze, seemingly unwilling to explain the pitiful sight she had shown them.
“Say… nothing… I apologize… I showed you a rather unsightly side…”
“Yeah, it was pretty embarrassing.”
“…..But, Lirisia, have you figured out what’s going on?”
“Figured out? There’s not much to figure out.”
With that, Lirisia began to explain the information she had obtained by consuming the memories of the Awakened she encountered on the way here.
“San Guild, San Guild. Some were contractors, some were hires, others were part-timers. There were Koreans, foreigners—a variety. But after consuming their memories, it all comes down to this. The ones here were all either commissioned by or connected to someone from San Guild.”
“Hmm…”
“Is that really so?”
“It is. Consuming memories lets you pull out what’s stored in their brains. Whether or not it’s true, that fact is embedded in their minds. You’ve got mind reading or psychometry in this world, right? The results would be the same with those, too.”
Yeonhwa nodded as she examined the strange equipment around them.
According to Lirisia, that green powder was made by grinding down shamans who bore Hunter Cells.
And once ingested, that green powder could induce an easy state of brainwashing or hypnosis with a simple trigger.
It was certainly a dangerous facility, and if it was San Guild behind it, it would make sense for them to have such a place in Korea for impure purposes.
Yeonhwa was also aware that San Guild had clashed with Shia previously.
‘Grandma mentioned that they’ve been hostile towards our family for quite a long time…’
Though it hadn’t escalated into outright war or conflict, tension with San Guild had been rising since their recent interaction with Shia.
Even Yeonseo, who had recently retired, had been absent often, busy dealing with San Guild’s illegal research labs.
‘Ha, they’re really trying to provoke us now, aren’t they?’
Yeonhwa found it irritating that a Chinese guild kept sneaking into the country and causing such chaos, even if she didn’t understand their exact motives.
They’d already pulled off quite a list of deeds.
They’d attempted to kidnap Shia’s mother, Yoonjung.
They’d engaged in unauthorized skirmishes and killings within Korea, and now they’d gone so far as to create brainwashing powder by grinding people down to use against elves who were on poor terms with them.
Yeonhwa didn’t know the full extent, but just this much was already unsettling.
“Hmm…”
Yet, despite hearing Lirisia’s words, Menelapie seemed lost in thought, as if something didn’t quite add up.
She looked unconvinced.
“Menelapie, is something wrong?”
“…Doesn’t it seem too obvious?”
“Why? What’s the problem now?”
“I mean, it’s too blatant.”
Blatant?
Yeonhwa and Lirisia turned to Menelapie.
“Lirisia, if the memories you pulled out are truly accurate, then San Guild would obviously be the main culprit behind this situation.”
“They planned to brainwash elves, built this facility, and carried out these schemes with malicious intentions.”
“This much is undoubtedly true.”
“Right, I pulled the memories myself.”
Lirisia shrugged.
“But as far as I know, San Guild is the largest guild of Awakened in the world.”
“Who cares if they’re the biggest? Their actions are petty and vile.”
“Regardless, they built a large-scale guild with global influence, so it’s hard to believe they’d be this foolish.”
“Here in Korea, they’re openly producing brainwashing powder, a dangerous substance, and acting carelessly.”
“It doesn’t add up; the smarter and more cunning people get, the more covertly and meticulously they act. They wouldn’t be so brazen.”
“Then what’s your idea of a smart plan?”
“A smart plan…”
Menelapie briefly imagined her old days in the Imperial Palace.
Though she didn’t know much about Earth, the knowledge she had was enough to make a quick assessment.
“If I were a San Guild leader directing this operation, I would’ve started brainwashing quietly, only after the elves completed terraforming and moved to Korea.”
“The brainwashing powder could be administered simply by adding it to food or water.”
“As the elves integrated into human society, they’d naturally be exposed to various environments, and we could choose the best time to use the powder at any moment.”
“Even if some felt something was off, the elves adapting to human society might not notice.”
“There’d be no need to go to the risk of posing as a contractor to supply brainwashing powder-laced food to a dungeon.”
“Because of the contractor, they’re now the obvious suspects, and Lirisia easily tracked them down, leading to this whole situation.”
“Maybe they were just testing it out? To see if the powder works effectively on elves…”
At Yeonhwa’s suggestion, Menelapie shook her head.
“Even so, testing would’ve been more effective after the elves had fully migrated.”
“They took too big a risk for a simple test.”
“Furthermore, the elves’ homes are in the terraformed Great Forest, but after moving, they plan to engage in social and economic activities individually.”
“It would’ve been more efficient to gradually approach elves who became independent in society or hunters, exposing them to the brainwashing powder individually like a contagious disease.”
“With enough time, countless elves would become puppets, and the Great Forest would be unaware of the impending attacks from humans.”
“Uh… really?”
In fact, brainwashing or group hypnosis usually works better when done subtly and gradually, infecting individuals one by one.
Trying to brainwash en masse by sprinkling powder over food is a foolish and dangerous approach.
"In this world, I’ve heard there are individuals with mind-reading abilities assigned to law enforcement forces. Could your memory consumption be considered similar to that?"
"The principles differ, but the result of reading thoughts or memories is pretty much the same."
"So, what if they anticipated from the start that a mind reader would look into their memories?"
"Is it possible to plan around something like that? Memories can’t… wait, ah?!”
Yeonhwa’s eyes widened in sudden realization.
If even the guards Lirisia defeated had only been bait…
“Right, if they’d already used that brainwashing powder on those fallen Awakened ones, then it all makes sense.
They might not have been cooperating by choice; they could’ve been brainwashed and hypnotized to guard this facility even before targeting elves.
No wonder the memories I consumed felt so fragmented and ambiguous—it’s because they were brainwashed from the start…”
According to Menelapie, the Awakened that Lirisia defeated and consumed memories from had been brainwashed all along, holding false memories and perceptions.
Separate from truth or lies, the Awakened genuinely held these memories, so Lirisia didn’t notice any inconsistencies.
“…Then, the one who produced this brainwashing powder… could it be someone who isn’t actually part of San Guild or connected to them?
Are they hiding their identity to shift the blame onto San Guild?”
"Exactly. If we had fallen for it, we’d have wasted time and emotions chasing San Guild with no real results or evidence.”
“…That’s quite scary.”
"However, I don’t know who exactly would do this.
Looking at the clues… someone who knows about the existence of elves.
It would require enough resources or methods to hypnotize and brainwash so many Awakened…
and considering how the Awakened were systematically brainwashed to shift suspicion onto San Guild, they must know Shia and Yeonseo have a hostile relationship with San Guild."
Could it be a politician?
Or perhaps some large organization…
There was a chance it could have been a member of parliament or someone involved in the government who had dealings with elves, but there wasn’t enough evidence yet.
[Please… no more… please, stop… ugh…]
“Understood?
No more Demon King.
Got it?”
Right, for now.
It seemed that Shia had managed to subdue the Demon King, at least temporarily.
“Come to think of it, maybe we can ask that thing.”
Whether or not the Demon King’s fragment would give a proper answer remained to be seen.
○○○○○
Today as usual, the Genre Hunter Gallery was bustling with trolls and net surfers.
Shia was the gallery owner, but even without her, there was always new gallery gossip about which Hunter people liked or who someone spotted.
However, when a complaint post from a random user made it to the main page, the trolls, as they always did, began spewing negativity without fear, even knowing that Shia’s defenders, Menelapie and Yeonseo, were on standby.
[Honestly, shouldn’t the gallery owner be taken down by now?] (113)
Recommendations: 291
『She hasn’t streamed in weeks! If it were any other streamer, they’d be dethroned by now, lol』
[For real, lol]
[Honestly, seems a bit overrated]
[Is something wrong? The gallery owner’s a Hunter]
[Are the other Hunters not busy?]
In reality, for a Hunter streamer to broadcast every day was practically impossible.
It wasn’t public knowledge, but high-ranking Awakened from B-rank and above were incredibly busy.
They fought to protect hidden places and battled monsters lurking under the beds of sleeping children.
Hunter streamers were no exception.
Broadcasting every three days would be considered consistent, and even for the most relaxed Hunters, daily streaming was rare.
In fact, thanks to Shia’s daily—or sometimes thrice-daily—streams, viewers had come to expect that Hunter streamers must broadcast daily to survive.
[But isn’t it a streamer’s responsibility to be consistent with broadcasts, even if they’re a Hunter? Even Cheon Ah-young streams almost daily lately.]
[Ever since the gallery owner showed up, all the Hunter streamers have been pushing broadcasts like crazy, lol]
ㄴ[For real, they used to all be too busy with dungeon expeditions or Association duties]
[If she can’t keep up with the broadcast frequency, she should step down]
[Honestly, aren’t we tired of seeing her devour monsters?]
[Aren’t we tuning in to see the Holy Power Pouch, though? lol]
[So if not the current gallery owner, who’s next in line?]
[No clue]
[How about Noona Yeonhwa?]
[Oh, that could work]
[If she’s Yeonseo’s granddaughter, that’s a given.]
While the trolls wasted time spinning gossip…
Ding!
[A stream by Hunter Shia has begun!]
[Breaking News: The gallery owner’s streaming]
[Let’s go, you mad people]
[For real?]
[I’m going in]
[Let’s go, let’s go]
[Open the door!!]
[Bring it on, lol]
[These jerks, they were just saying how they were tired of her and she should step down, and now they’re running back to her stream, lol]
[No, that wasn’t me]
[One last look at the Holy Power Pouch before going in…]
[Open the door open the door open the door open the door open the door open the door open the door open the door open the door]
A moment ago, they were flinging insults, but once Shia’s Hunter stream’s “ON” sign appeared, the trolls and loyal viewers alike swarmed into her stream.
Trolling or not, ultimately, the gallery owner’s broadcast was all that mattered to them.
[It’s been ages since you streamed, you lunatic, lol]
[Almost suffocated from waiting so long.]
[Narak narak narak narak narak narak narak narak narak narak narak narak narak narak narak]
[Why isn’t the host saying anything?]
[? Why is the screen blank?]
[What’s going on?]
[?]
“Huh?”
Huh…?
As the many viewers entered Shia’s Hunter streamer broadcast, they noticed a stranger on the screen.
[?]
[??]
[?]
[???]
[Who’s that?]
[What the heck?]
[Who are you?]
[What is this?]
[Did I enter the wrong room?]
The person on screen had purple hair with a tinge of darkness, hands and feet resembling an insect’s carapace, and a strangely familiar appearance that resembled Shia, which piqued the viewers’ curiosity.
This stirred up a flood of questions in the chat.
[Who are you?]
[What is this? Isn’t this Shia’s stream?]
[Huh, the stream title says it is…]
[Who’s that?]
[Wow. Those assets rival the gallery owner’s…]
[Could it be a mutated Hunter?]
[Shouldn’t all Mutant Awakened be listed on the Wiki? I don’t recognize her…]
[What, do you memorize all that?]
[There aren’t that many…]
[Furry degenerate]
[I’m not a furry…]
[Furry freak.]
[Agh, dang it…]
“Hueek…”
Yane seemed like she was trying to do something, but, seemingly unable to figure it out, she tilted her head, floating near the drone.
She fiddled with a few things, trying to press the drone in places like her master had, but without much success, as if there was indeed something wrong.
Incidentally, as she moved her head, Shia’s maternal pouch swayed firmly with each movement she made.
“Hueeeeeek…”