As Yeonju received a request to post on behalf of Daphne, already knowing what this vote was for, she let out a long sigh and leaned back against the chair.
“Haa… So in the end, we’re going.”
Then, interlocking her fingers and resting them on her stomach, she remained still for a long time as if frozen in that position before turning her gaze to the right.
On the auxiliary screen next to her, information gathered so far about the religious group ‘Messiah’ was listed.
At first, the claim that ‘Messiah’ was targeting sounded plausible, but it’s true that she wondered if there was any need to pay attention to the ramblings of a pseudo-religious group only interested in money.
That’s why she didn’t even bother telling Daphne about it.
However, the more she dug, the more impressive the forces ‘Messiah’ possessed seemed to be.
On the surface, it appeared to be just another pseudo-religious group preaching about the apocalypse common among the post-Wave generation, but the number of hunters revealed to be affiliated with ‘Messiah’ was unusually high.
Among them, there were over five hunters ranked AAA or higher.
That number was comparable to the high-ranking hunters possessed by an entire nation.
It’s natural for religions to flourish in difficult times, but…
The more she thought about ‘Messiah’, the stranger it seemed.
How could a mere pseudo-religion attract so many hunters?
‘If they were gathering in one place to wage war, it would be easier to understand… but eternal life? Such nonsense… and they all believe it?’
According to the words of the con artist Seunghwan caught, the leadership of ‘Messiah’ shows ‘the power of another world’.
High-ranking hunters aren’t fools, so if it was enough to attract them, it seems they must be showing something quite plausible.
Moreover, seeing how even the con artist Seunghwan caught showed considerable loyalty to ‘Messiah’, it was clear they had taken deep root.
From what she heard, it didn’t seem like he had directly seen ‘the power of another world’, but rather that a higher-ranking hunter was involved and he had heard about it from them.
Seunghwan said ‘Messiah’ was already under surveillance, but it didn’t seem like a group that could be dismissed so easily.
There was still some time until Suji ascended to , so it seemed necessary to dig a bit deeper into this unsettling element beforehand.
And now it was really time to tell Daphne about ‘Messiah’ too.
Yeonju kept sighing, then collected herself, adjusted her posture, and continued writing the post.
[(Administrator Verified (Notice)) Announcement from the Gate Stability Department.Hello, this is Kim Yeonju, the dedicated administrator for hunter Daphne from the Crisis Management Support Division, Gate Stability Department.
First, I would like to express our gratitude to all the Dryads who participated in the vote.
As per hunter Daphne’s request, we are revealing the subject of the DIY masterpiece painting.
(A photo of Team Daphne making ‘V’ signs while holding their individually colored DIY masterpiece paintings)
Thank you.] [This is the timeline separator]
The voting ended 12 hours after it started.
Team Daphne had been spending time surfing on a monster-infested beach until then, and they gathered together to check the results.
As the results were revealed, joy and disappointment were mixed, and Peace let out a victorious shout.
“I beat the team leader and Elaine!”
He blatantly pointed out the people right in front of him, to the point of embarrassing those who heard, but there was no one here who would be upset by that.
They just grumbled in their own ways.
“Honestly, in terms of speed, Peace should have lost completely. It’s because the team leader kept laughing and couldn’t concentrate.”
“I didn’t tell you to laugh, but it seems like my victory anyway. Hahaha.”
“Keep living like that and you’ll be called annoying wherever you go.”
Saint threw out a rebuke with a sigh as always, and Elaine, uncharacteristically, looked at the drying canvas with a face that seemed to linger on the results.
“I’ll gracefully accept the results, but… weren’t the brushes too defective?”
Peace laughed even louder, seeming to enjoy Elaine’s regretful expression immensely.
“Haha, defective? I think you should first put your hand on your chest and think about whether you should have allocated your strength stat properly. Who was it that wore out the lifespan of those cheap brushes?”
“…They were sent by my fans, how can you call them cheap.”
Suji quickly stepped in to take a side, but somehow in the wrong direction.
Elaine seemed to realize that her explanation was unnecessary because of Daphne who defended the brushes instead of her, so she just closed her mouth.
After chattering for a while, the four of them went into Daphne’s living space and sat or lay down comfortably on the large mattress or sofa.
Suddenly, thinking about holding weapons again, all the comfortable time they had spent playing and eating seemed like a dream.
The atmosphere became heavy in an instant.
Suji looked around at her team members.
Everyone’s face was dark, but among the three, Elaine’s face was particularly full of concern.
It was understandable, as Elaine was the only one whose opinion hadn’t been followed.
Suji recalled what Elaine had said to her last night.
Elaine’s worry seemed to be about the safety of Suji and the team members.
If that was the case, even if they couldn’t follow Elaine’s wishes, couldn’t they at least alleviate her concerns?
Suji had been preparing a backup plan from the moment she decided to leave the decision to a mere ‘DIY masterpiece painting’.
She opened her mouth to speak.
“How about Team Daphne clearing one floor of each country’s tower? We plan to ask each country to abstain from in exchange. Of course, with a limit up to the 70th floor. If we can negotiate just by revealing information up to the 70th floor, that’s fine too.”
The team members’ surprised gazes all converged on Daphne’s face at once.
Suji understood why her teammates looked so dumbfounded. Even she thought that she had stubbornly only taken methods she considered absolutely certain.
Because of this, she had never chosen diplomatic methods, and rarely relied on those around her.
Perhaps, even to her, this was the first time she had proposed such a negotiation.
“Team leader, are you feeling unwell? Ow!”
Peace asked, and Saint quickly jabbed him in the side to stop his words.
Suji lightly scratched her cheek, feeling burdened by the flood of gazes.
Still, though it was a bit troublesome, she wanted everyone to approach the task with a positive attitude.
So she wanted to properly persuade even those who opposed.
“To be honest, it’s not my style… but maybe because I’ve played so many simulation games, it seems to have rubbed off on me. Anyway, since it ultimately requires our effort, I don’t intend to force it if the team members don’t agree.”
Peace and Saint briefly thought it over, then quickly agreed.
“I’m for it. It’s awkward to say it myself, but if Team Daphne clears the stuck floors, everyone will welcome it with open arms. For us, we’ve already cleared up to the 70th floor, so it’s a freebie. There’s also the advantage of being able to receive the first-time rewards again. As expected of our team leader.”
“Certainly, if we do that, we can greatly reduce the number of participants in , and the possibility of a melee breaking out will also be lower.”
“What about Elaine? Does this seem worth a try?”
At Daphne’s question, Elaine, who had been sitting upright alone on the sofa, stared at her intently.
“…Team leader, you have a talent for always surprising people.”
It was praise to the point of being embarrassing.
Peace grumbled about Elaine being a fox or something while watching her, and Saint also muttered “What’s going on? What’s this?” while twitching his rabbit ears, but Elaine ignored the two teammates’ reactions as if it were an everyday occurrence and continued speaking.
“Even if it just reduces the scale of the melee, it would be much better. I’ll try to back up the rest. Thank you.”
With this, it seemed that even Elaine had somehow understood.
Suji showed a satisfied expression.
They say hard work pays off.
Suddenly, she felt the benefits of playing management games running empires, islands, pizza shops, and so on.
‘Maybe my thinking has been too narrow because the fields I’ve experienced so far have been too focused in one area. We’ll see how it goes.’
Suji clapped her hands together with satisfaction, making a clapping sound.
“Then, shall we disband now?”
“What?”
“Disband?”
“What do you mean by disband?”
Seeing the three team members looking at her with wide eyes, Suji burst into laughter again without realizing it.
After her clear laughter rang out for a while, she wiped the tears that had formed in the corners of her eyes.
“If we’re going to prepare for battle, we’ll need to organize our items, and everyone has family, right? We should say goodbye. Are you all going to stay here without going anywhere? Did everyone have that much fun?”
“Well…”
“That’s…”
Peace and Saint trailed off in their responses, looking at each other.
Both had agreed to ascend , but it seemed they weren’t too keen on leaving behind the enjoyable times they had.
Suji waved her hand freely at the two who were now hesitating after having given their agreement.
The Villainous Demon Lord Laid an Egg for Her (Female-Dominated)
Several months after transmigrating into a book, Yu Wu found herself facing the demon lord Li You, who could no longer conceal his dragon horns. With one hand on her aching waist and the other gripping a sharp sword, she stared at him.
The demon lord’s eyes were red with fury:
“This is all your doing! Today, I won’t rest until I kill you!”
Yu Wu rubbed her temples. Putting aside the taboo against bloodshed during pregnancy, wasn’t it this very man who willingly walked into her trap that day?!
Warnings:
- Male pregnancy.
- Height ratios are set to mirror typical male-female height proportions.
- Characters include a foot-loving demon lord and an eldest daughter from an immortal family’s concubine lineage.
