I Became the Only Reptile in the Community

Chapter 6 – Actually, I’m a strong snake? 2

—–CROW—– 

About a month had passed since I was born as a snake.

This month had helped me adapt sufficiently, and thanks to that, I could now call myself a splendid snake, better than anyone else.

Ssssss.

It seemed like just yesterday that I was only crawling on the ground, but now I could crawl on walls too.

My body had grown enough to eat Amrita in one bite without having to split it.

And especially! The biggest achievement during this month was this.

Control my breath! Tighten my stomach muscles…!

“Sss…!”

‘Ack! Ptoo!’

Chiiii.

Behold this.

Yes, I wasn’t an ordinary snake, but a venomous snake!

A venomous snake that spat acidic venom strong enough to melt whatever it touched!

‘Actually, I’ve never heard of a snake like this.’

The venomous snakes I knew used hemotoxin that coagulated blood or neurotoxin that paralyzed nerves.

‘Well, it must be because of the characteristics of ancient times.’

This wasn’t reality, but a game. The world of SEH.

This was a fantasy world overflowing with mana from the start.

There were bound to be many others more venomous than me.

Yes, I, who only used acidic venom, was just ordinary.

‘But the gallery is quiet today.’

Usually, it would be bustling with posts being uploaded rapidly, but for some reason, the gallery’s activity was unusually low today.

[Why is the activity so low today?]

-Author: YonggariSnack

Usually, posts refresh quickly, what’s going on today? Is something happening?

Even after I posted, it took a long time for a reply to appear.

Normally, a reply would appear within 10 seconds of posting, but now it took 10 minutes for just one to show up.

-Ah, the Gallery Master doesn’t know.

└(Author): What is it? Tell me.

└Sure~ I’ll tell you~.

“Sss!”

‘This guy!’

Thankfully, the teasing ended there, and he immediately explained the reason in a reply.

└It’s exam season. Everyone’s busy studying. As you know, the rewards you get depend on your grades, so everyone’s studying their butts off.

└(Author): Studying for exams?

Well, studying was important.

As a seasoned SEH player, I knew well the impact exams had.

‘But wouldn’t the time periods be different?’

The problem was that the gallery users were all in their own dimensions, living in different time periods.

I, for one, was active in ancient times.

Everyone’s time would be different depending on when they arrived here, but so many people were simultaneously taking a break from the gallery to study for exams?

This was something I, with my limited intelligence, couldn’t comprehend.

‘Ugh, my brain wasn’t that great to begin with, but I feel like I’m getting dumber by the day.’

I wondered if my intelligence would drop to the level of a snake, my current body.

└(Author): Everyone came here at different times, and they’re all going to study at the same time? Is that possible?

└Yeah. If you’re curious, search for “SEH exam questions” and read the posts.  That’ll naturally answer your questions.

I quickly searched for the posts he mentioned.

[SEH Exam Questions – 2nd Year]

-Author: TopInstructor

Second years, are you taking your second-year exams now? Second year is tougher than first year with the addition of specialized subjects. Especially considering the events that happen in second year, you know you can’t fail the exams, right?

‘What is this?’

I didn’t understand a single thing even after reading it.

There weren’t any comments either.

Other posts also had similar content.

How was I supposed to understand anything from this?

I went back to the previous post and left a comment.

└(Author): I don’t understand a single thing.

└Sigh.  What an intellect.

‘Wouldn’t understanding that be even stranger?’

Was I the only one who didn’t get it?

└Intellect my ass. Don’t lie, Gallery Master.

Then, reinforcements arrived to help me.

└Gallery Master, don’t mind that guy. The reason posts aren’t being uploaded right now is because the gallery is undergoing maintenance. It’ll be back to normal in about 30 minutes, so don’t worry.

└Ah, that’s what it is.

└You little punk, talking about studying for exams. You’re trying to trick the Gallery Master with that?

└LOL.

What?

So, it wasn’t because of studying for exams that everyone suddenly went silent.

I was racking my brains alone because of that little punk.

‘Wow. Seriously.’

I was angry that I fell for such a prank, but my head started to ache again from a new term that puzzled me.

‘So what’s gallery maintenance?’

But I didn’t immediately post or comment asking what it was.

Because I had learned from my previous actions.

Let’s find out myself before asking.

Then, at least 80% of my curiosity would be satisfied.

And this current question fell within that 80%.

[Gallery Maintenance]

-Author: MeowMeowWoofWoof

(Picture of a notice about gallery maintenance)

This suddenly popped up in front of me, what is it?

Gallery maintenance? If I fail this inspection, will the gallery disappear?

-No. It won’t disappear, but you won’t be able to use the gallery for a week. If you fail the next inspection, it’s a month. Then half a year.

└(Author): What the…?

-Don’t worry. It’s just a simple check of your activity in the gallery. If you haven’t posted anything strange or spammed inappropriate images, you’ll pass.

└Hey, when’s the inspection date this time?

└Around next month?

-If you pass this inspection, OP, you’ll unlock the messaging feature.

└(Author): What’s that?

└1-on-1 direct messages.

└Oh, there’s such a thing?

└Yeah. But since they check message content in the second year along with the other inspections, it’s best not to use bad language or post weird stuff even in 1-on-1 messages.

So, gallery maintenance was an analysis of the user’s activity for the past year, and restrictions were imposed on gallery activity based on the results?

If you passed the inspection, you would unlock the messaging feature, which allowed you to have private conversations with other users.

‘Judging by the posts, everyone undergoes the inspection on the same day.’

This situation occurred because the date was fixed.

In other words, everyone who was posting here now were newbies like me, who hadn’t even been here for a year.

I didn’t know how long the inspection would take, but I hoped they’d come back soon.

…And exactly 35 minutes later.

Those who underwent the gallery maintenance returned safely.

[Phew! I lived!!!!]

[This is the life!]

[I almost died holding my breath while the gallery was down!]

[Kyahahaha!]

[Let’s all have a drink!]

[Messaging unlocked! Anyone want to message me?!]

As soon as they returned, they posted, announcing their survival.

There were mentions of those who unfortunately failed the inspection and were banned from the gallery, but reading about what they did, I didn’t feel much pity for them.

[Special Side Story about Ancient Times to Commemorate Survival]

-Author: HistoryRestorationAddict

Hello everyone. You’ve all worked hard on the gallery maintenance today.

To commemorate surviving another year, I’ve brought a story you might find interesting.

This post won’t be of much immediate help to the Gallery Master’s survival. But it might be helpful later, so I hope the Gallery Master will read it too.

“Sss!”

‘HistoryRestorationAddict! You’re back!’

Of course I’d read it!

It was a little disappointing to hear that it wouldn’t be of immediate help, but I had already gained a lot of information thanks to what he had shared before!

.

.

.

The story I’m going to cover this time is about those who have survived from ancient times to the present day.

Let’s start with someone we all know, shall we?

This is the one whose name is mentioned the most when asked who is the strongest in SEH.

The Tiger Queen, who rules all the western territories of the continent.

A being whose name, face, and even the measure of her power are unknown, existing only in lore.

I thought her story might be revealed or she might be updated as a raid boss someday, but even new newbies say they don’t know, so she’s still shrouded in mystery.

‘The Tiger Queen…’

I’d seen the name before.

A mythical creature whose existence was uncertain.

I never thought she would be someone who lived since ancient times.

.

.

.

There are many fascinating things about the Tiger Queen’s story.

Why she rules the western part of the continent, and why she doesn’t appear in modern times.

I wanted to learn more, but the moment I saw her, she pierced through the flow of time and saw right through me. If I had been even a little late in looking away, my magic power would have backfired, and I wouldn’t even be able to write like this.

Even Dragons weren’t this much. It’s still chilling to think about.

(Blurry, out-of-focus picture with a blue tint)

The picture isn’t clear, but it’s a picture of the Tiger Queen’s eye.

I barely managed to take this, so don’t complain.

I almost died, seriously.

But her eyes were really beautiful.

Like the sky? Very clear, sparkling, and somehow mystical.

“Sss…”

‘Hmm…’

A picture of an eye.

The picture itself was so out of focus that it was hard to make out anything.

Only a faint blue light around the center of the picture was barely visible.

‘Eyes like the sky…’

I tilted my head back and looked up at the sky.

I didn’t know if the sky HistoryRestorationAddict envisioned when he saw the Tiger Queen was the same as the one I was looking at now.

But if it was, it would certainly be beautiful.

…Squeak. Squeak.

—–CROW—–