I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 104

Whether beast or human, territory is a deeply sensitive matter.

In the case of humans, broadly speaking, it is a nation—that is, a country’s territory—and on a smaller scale, a home.

Furthermore, while none of food, clothing, or shelter are unimportant, ’shelter’ takes charge of ’safety’ in daily life.

Without a home, one can never be safe from natural disasters or various accidents.

Therefore, whether human or beast, a territory is absolutely necessary to lead a safe life.

Even humans grow wary or combative when a stranger invades their home, so how much more so for beasts?

It was not for nothing that I set out on an exploration to determine the gorilla’s territory.

’By the way, seeing how it was with the Owlbear and the Mad Dog, it seems there are territorial feuds going on, right?’

Although I stepped forward boldly, my worries were more than one or two.

First off, what happens to the now-vacant territories of the Owlbear and the Mad Dog?

It was something I pondered multiple times, but so far nothing noticeable had stood out.

There was a kangaroo in the cave where the Owlbear used to stay, but it ran away upon seeing me.

The fact that other animals might approach to claim the vacant territories finally hit home.

The Saber-toothed Tiger was a monster I barely repelled thanks to Speed Sloth’s help. Had I been alone, I would have died several times over.

’If they can force their way into what used to be the territory of such a Saber-toothed Tiger...’

They might have challenged it while the Saber-toothed Tiger was still alive.

Or perhaps they have already become the rulers of this entire zone.

’I’ve been steadily marking my territory too, though.’

Of course, I’m not saying that seriously. I’m just peeing anywhere.

Even so, I believed that served as a slight territorial marker.

’This is the Owlbear Cave.’

Tracing back yesterday’s memories, I reached the Owlbear Cave.

Originally, I planned to wander around using this place as a starting point.

"Kkyu! Kkyu!"

That was before Wonmo darted inside the cave, that is.

I hurriedly called out to Wonmo, but he had already gone inside. Shaking my head side to side, I entered the cave.

"Kkyu-aaak! Kkyu-aak!"

However, before long, Wonmo came rushing back out.

Judging by his terrified expression, something seemed to be inside.

I barely managed to calm down the trembling Wonmo and peeked inside.

"Oh."

I think I know why Wonmo was scared. The things inside were no ordinary sight.

The kangaroo I saw yesterday. That kangaroo was hopping around inside.

The problem was that there wasn’t just one, but several of them. From the looks of it, they had claimed this place as their territory.

What I feared had come to light. The kangaroo pack had taken over in place of the Owlbear.

’By the way, do kangaroos even live in an environment like this?’

It might just be a prejudice, but on the Earth where I lived, kangaroos usually inhabited Australia.

If there’s food like grass or trees, there’s no reason they couldn’t live here, but...

I can’t help but feel it’s rather out of nowhere.

Setting my feelings aside, I decided to quietly back off.

Fighting right now would only be my loss, and I still have many places to examine.

’To escape, I’ll have to pass through the animals’ territories...’

This part bothered me as well. The fact that I would inevitably have to trespass on other animals’ territories.

If I’m unlucky, I might have to fight consecutive battles against the animals ruling those territories.

Which is why I need more information to prevent that.

’Wait a minute. Come to think of it...’

I turned around and stared at the entrance of the Owlbear nest.

It was regarding Rice Craone, the owner of the book I found here.

’How could that person live in the Owlbear’s nest? Did he live here before the Owlbear arrived?’

I figure Allfather will probably inform me about this later as well.

I looked at what had now become the Kangaroo Cave before taking my steps.

I still couldn’t gauge where the gorilla territory was.

It would be easy if I took going up the river as a reference point, but even that is ambiguous.

’The river itself might be the territory.’

It’s easier on my mind to keep exploration and territory identification as the main objective.

If I discover excrement along the way, I can just stop right away.

Since I had an excellent detection dog—no, detection bear—finding it would be easy.

"Keung-keung. Keung."

"Ehey. Wonmo-ya. That’s dirty, dirty."

That doesn’t mean I told you to look for mushrooms, though.

Fearing Wonmo might eat the mushroom, I hastily stopped him.

Afterward, I explored while meticulously placing marks so as not to get lost.New chapters come out on nov‌elping.com first.

As I did so, I suddenly realized the terrain was gradually changing.

’This isn’t just a forest, it’s practically a jungle?’

The leaves were turning a deeper shade of green, and moss was also starting to proliferate.

Moreover, while the forest floor often consisted of stone rather than soil, at some point it became filled with nothing but tree roots.

The air of the forest had also perceptibly shifted. Especially the humidity.

It was slightly dry just a moment ago, but at some point, it became humid.

’I didn’t get the feeling that the space itself changed, though?’

It didn’t feel like it had transformed alienly like across the river at all.

Just the feeling of ’ah, I’ve entered a jungle at some point.’

I wondered if I should head back like this, but decided to explore just a little further.

"Whoa. Holy shit."

Not long after harboring that thought, I was able to discover a new species.

A creature crawling forward intently, not knowing where it came from.

Its appearance lacked nothing to be called a snail, but its size was the issue.

The snail shell alone was much larger than I was. Needless to say for its main body.

’Is this what snails in Maple World feel like?’

Seeing a human-sized snail crawling along was beyond gruesome.

Yet at the same time, I was puzzled. With a body that large, wouldn’t it be eaten right away?

’There must be a reason, right?’

Let’s not touch it just to check. Leaving it to go on its way is the best move.

I bypassed the snail crawling as slowly as a sloth.

And before long, I realized why the snail was able to survive.

Chiiiik-

"..."

The ground the snail passed over. The grass on that ground had completely melted.

To top it off, as if even the soil had melted, smoke was wafting up.

It seemed to be poison like the Golden Frog, or an acidic substance.

Given snail characteristics, wouldn’t its entire body be poison and acid?

If one ate that, their body would probably melt like liquid.

’...I should name it the Acid Snail.’

Surely it won’t spit liquid from its mouth like the frog, right?

Just in case, I backed far away from the snail.

After exploring various parts of the jungle like that, I failed to find anything unusual and ultimately turned back.

’Do the gorillas not live here?’

It’s either deeper inside or I took the wrong direction.

Wonmo hadn’t found anything in particular either, so it felt like a wild goose chase.

’Time... still has plenty left.’

Checking the Gallery time, it was still only 2:30.

Since I planned to explore until 5:00 at the latest, I think I can search a bit more.

Instead, just in case, I did not enter the jungle. It would be trouble if I bumped into gorillas.

"Hmm?"

Just as I decided to return, I discovered something strange.

That was a tree with a hollowed-out central section.

Since the Forest of the Four Seasons is rampant with all kinds of fights, scars on trees aren’t strange.

However, the mark carved into this tree stood out exceptionally.

’Could this be... a palm print?’

A palm print was vividly imprinted.

I didn’t know about other things, but it didn’t look like a human’s palm.

I wasn’t sure which ape it belonged to. I’m no expert, after all.

There were only two things I could tell: it was much larger than my hand, and its proportions differed from my palm.

The palm was much larger than the fingers, and the overall size was more than double my hand.

’...This might be a territorial mark.’

I speculated as I stared at the imprint where my entire hand fit right in.

If this was truly an imprint carved by a gorilla, it would be best to get out right away.

Because I could end up getting ambushed by wandering around needlessly.

’Are there any other marks besides this one?’

However, I felt a greed to grasp the territory a bit more firmly.

I couldn’t just chicken out over a single palm print and accomplish nothing.

Just as I was about to turn my head:

"Huh?"

Another hollowed mark brushed against my fingertips.

Next to the large palm print, another mark had also been imprinted.

Because the tree was so thick, I almost passed right by it.Read the latest chapters at nov​elping.com.

However, the reason I was shocked lay elsewhere.

’This... really looks like a human palm print?’

A palm print much smaller than the one beside it was engraved.

Although larger than my hand, it was merely ordinarily large.

I wondered if it belonged to an underdeveloped gorilla, but that wasn’t it either.

’The fingers are long.’

Because the finger parts were uniquely long. Comparing the two imprints, the difference was stark.

Could it belong to Rice, who fell to the gorilla pack? That didn’t seem to be the case either.

I don’t know the reason, but I felt a sense of familiarity from this mark. As if they had stamped it to show off their mutual bond.

I carefully observed the two palm prints before snapping a picture. I plan to post it to the Gallery later.

’It seems like quite an old mark... I don’t know.’

I was confused as to whether this was stamped by a survivor or a mutant.

Holding onto doubts, I headed out of the jungle. I couldn’t stay any longer.

’I have things to think about, so I should return to the Shelter.’

At heart, I wanted to explore more, but I changed plans.

Because I found a mark presumed to belong to a survivor.

And that too, a trace of a survivor other than Rice.

’How did they come to stamp palm prints? And with a gorilla of all things?’

Chewing over the hard-to-unravel mystery, I returned to the Shelter.

Returning to the Shelter, I felt my tension snap free!

"Hmm?"

However, something was off. I felt an unidentifiable sense of dissonance.

What was the identity of this dissonance? It was completely hard to pinpoint.

Should I say it felt familiar yet awkward? Mysteriously, the positions of items seemed altered.

’Why is the laundry knocked down? Did I fix it wrong?’

The laundry hanging on the line scattered on the floor was the first clue.

The location of the iron barrel seemed subtly shifted, and the charcoal tub was strange too.

Traces of someone visiting were visible everywhere, stirring my vigilance.

’There’s no one inside though?’

Peeking into the cave, no one was there. For a moment I thought there was an intruder.

Rubbing the back of my neck, I disarmed myself and stepped into the cave.

And the moment I stepped into the cave, a dissonance far stronger than before hit me.

No. It wasn’t dissonance.

Because a whole item had vanished entirely.

"Huh?"

I am the type to organize things neatly so they are easy to find.

Because of that, I could quickly figure out which item had disappeared.

"What? Where did the Fasting Pills go?"

The Fasting Pills were gone. And sack and all.

Since Fasting Pills were mostly eaten by Speed Sloth, I kept them in one place.

For them to disappear meant... only one thing.

Someone invaded my Shelter and took the Fasting Pills.

I wondered if there were thieves even in the forest, but it wasn’t extraordinary.

Last time when heavy rain poured, didn’t a raccoon steal Fasting Pills?

Of course, that raccoon was given a true lesson by Speed Sloth and ended up inside Wonmo’s stomach.

"..."

Was he quite shocked by the words that the Fasting Pills disappeared?

Speed Sloth scrambled off my back at the absolute top speed he could produce outside of combat.

Following that, he even stared desolately at the spot where the Fasting Pills had vanished.

Desolation and rage vibrated vividly from Speed Sloth.

Who on earth stole the Fasting Pills? They hadn’t even touched anything else.

’Are there footprints?’

The culprit always leaves traces behind.

Leaving behind Speed Sloth who was silently fuming, I stepped outside.

Soon, carefully inspecting the ground, I saw footprints that weren’t there before.

’I should post this on the Gallery.’

Whoever it is.

’It’s my first time seeing Bbareumbo get that angry too.’

It seems all that’s left for them is to get killed by Bbareumbo.

At the same time. Somewhere in the jungle.

"Oo-ho-ho! Oo-ho!"

"Ooh ooh ooh! Oo-hu-hu!"

An unseasonable gorilla banquet was taking place.