I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 107

The wild is harsh. And barbaric.

Expecting ’reason’ from wild animals is a fool’s errand.

The law of the jungle, where the strong plunder everything from the weak.

At the same time, a world where the survivor is the strong one.

Even if I wanted to treat them rationally, beasts are not rational.

They are creatures governed by instinct over reason, and that does not change even if their intelligence increases.

Those who invade territory are enemies. Those who steal food are enemies. Those who go beyond stealing and eat it are also enemies.

Kill the enemy, or be killed by the enemy.

That is the way of the wild and the law of nature.

Hwiik!

The gorilla head punched by the leader gorilla.

Though shot like a cannonball toward Speed Sloth, who was Speed Sloth?

Wasn’t he a creature capable of effortlessly dodging an arrow fired point-blank?

A head launched merely by a punch was something he could dodge with ease.

’Wait, that was launched with a punch?’

But separate from that, it was shocking. The punch from the leader gorilla I had just witnessed.

It would be one thing if it were just raw power, but it had controlled its force perfectly, making it even more terrifying.

If it had recklessly pushed with raw strength, that gorilla head would have exploded.

Yet through whatever subtle principle it used, the head merely launched like a shell without bursting.

"Ooh-ooh-ooh! Ooh-ooh-ooh!"

"Ooh-ooh-ooh! Ooh-ooh-ooh!"

The attack from the leader gorilla that followed Speed Sloth’s provocation.

When the leader gorilla pounded its chest, the other gorillas followed suit.

A gorilla pounding its chest was an undisputed sign of intimidation.

In short, a declaration of war.

"Ha..."

"...."

"Gyareureung...!"

Unlike me, who let out a sigh, Speed Sloth maintained his usual relaxed composure.

Wonmo seemed to read the mood as well, standing on guard with his fur bristling high.

’Though those guys were the ones in the wrong first.’

If the gorillas poured the gasoline first, the one who threw the match on top was Speed Sloth.

The problem was that my home was the one burning down. What a shitty situation.

Unless I disposed of those gorillas, putting out the fire at home was impossible.

I steeled my resolve and prepared for an attack that could come at any moment.

’They’ll be incomparably stronger than the otters.’

These were gorillas, not some ordinary animals. Creatures with the strongest physical strength among primates.

As evident from the clubs in their hands, they were even using tools.

It would undoubtedly be a tough fight. What bugged me most was the leader gorilla.

’What’s with that guy holding nothing at all?’

It wielded no weapon, yet felt far stronger. A bizarre intuition.

As I narrowed my eyes and glared at the leader gorilla, another gorilla began charging forward.

Befitting gorillas, they dashed forward by pressing the ground with their long arms.

Yet the leader gorilla merely stood back and watched, not stepping forward directly.

"Bbareumbo. Get on Wonmo’s back."

"...."

"Wonmo, don’t charge in right away either. Stick close to my back."

After giving orders to Speed Sloth and Wonmo, I backed away stealthily.

Charging head-on at those gorillas in this state gave a low win rate.

I was able to beat the otters because they were small and had simple tactics.

But look at these guys. This wasn’t just a simple charge.

’They’re surrounding us.’

They weren’t running in a straight line; they scattered in all directions.

Front, back, and both sides. They were establishing an encirclement.

As if this wasn’t their first rodeo, they executed it the second the fight started.

’They really know how to use their brains.’

That made them even more dangerous. Intelligence was the reason humans rose to the top of the food chain.

Even if they fell far short of human intelligence, they were still indisputably threatening.

"Kuaaaa!"

Once the encirclement was complete, the gorilla that made eye contact with me swung down its weapon.

Among those wielding bone, stone axes, and wooden clubs, this one was using a stone axe.

I hastily raised my shield to block. Just in case, I even channeled mana.

Kaaaaang!!

The stone axe and shield collided, echoing a loud clang.

As expected of a gorilla dubbed the strongest among primates, the strike felt incredibly heavy.

Had it been before I ate the eel, every single hit would have been lethal.

But I had no time to pay attention to the sound. Another gorilla holding a wooden club was approaching, not just the stone axe wielder.

Unable to even entertain the thought of counterattacking, I hurriedly retracted my shield.Follow the newest chapters on novel⁠ping.com.

Huuung!

The club grazed right past my eyes by a hair’s breadth.

Simultaneously, the stone-axe-wielding gorilla roared and rushed toward me.

Its gruesome teeth were a bit terrifying, but I forced myself to shake off the fear.

Kaaaang!

The stone axe and shield collided once more. But counterattacking was tough.

Because just like before, the gorilla with the wooden club followed up with an attack.

They were attacking recklessly, yet precisely because of that, they were covering each other’s openings.

’If this keeps up, I’ll be at a disadvantage.’

I didn’t even have the leeway to check on Wonmo and Speed Sloth’s situation.

Through the skills I had honed so far, I was somehow defending and dodging, but I was overwhelmed by numbers.

Unless I attacked, I couldn’t escape the gorillas’ relentless onslaught.

’The attacks themselves are simple.’

Exchanging several blows back and forth, I picked up on their pattern.

Well, calling it a pattern might be a stretch.

Since their attacks were close to wild swings.

However, they were using ’tools’. They were hitting me using ’tools’.

I was trying to spot the careless opening that inevitably reveals itself when trying to use a tool.

Quite ironic.

They picked up weapons to become stronger, yet that very action created an opening.

Huuung!

The stone axe grazed past my front by a narrow margin.

Seeing the timing as it prepared to strike downward, I had stepped back.

’Then the next hit will come from the club.’

I glanced to the side. Just as I expected, the gorilla was preparing to swing its club.

An attack swinging diagonally, rather than straight down.

Vaguely predicting the direction of attack, I raised my shield. And the sword held in my right hand...

Puuk!

Stabbed straight toward the collarbone of the gorilla with the stone axe.

Infused with surging Aura atop the Sword of the Heavenly Demon, it penetrated effortlessly.

Moreover, given the gorilla’s stance, stabbing its shoulder was remarkably easy.

"Kueoeoeo!!"

Kwaang!

The gorilla clutched its stabbed shoulder and stumbled backward.

Meanwhile, my shield successfully blocked the club. Now was the chance.

While one gorilla was dazed, I decided to finish off the other gorilla first.

’If it’s just one...’

The gorilla kept attacking persistently despite its comrade being hit.

That was its fatal mistake. Even with immense physical strength, its speed itself was slow.

Furthermore, this guy’s weapon was a wooden club, not a stone axe.

Ujijik!

No matter how sturdy the wood, colliding with an iron shield was bound to break it.

The instant I heard the sound of the club snapping, I slashed my sword diagonally.

Chwaaak!

Rather than trying to split the whole body, slash where you can cut. That was Sword Matstar’s teaching.

Cleaving an entire body required putting in a massive amount of ’force’.

That inevitably caused stability to drop sharply. Swordplay was about stability over force.

She even advised that if I wanted to use raw force, I should use an axe instead of a sword.

’She warned that clashing against hard objects with raw force might even dislocate my shoulder.’

Based on that advice, I had slightly altered my combat style.

Even when a sure opportunity presented itself, do not put in excessive force.

Since the Sword of the Heavenly Demon was so magnificent, I had nothing to worry about for the time being.

"Keueoeoeo!!!"

A diagonal slash appeared across the gorilla’s upper body as it tumbled backward.

Blood didn’t splatter dramatically, but it was undoubtedly a deep wound.

"Kueoeoeo! Kueo! Kueoeo!"

The gorilla thrashed and writhed on the ground.

Blood began gushing furiously from the sword slash.

Not just blood; internal organs spilled out in clumps from its torn abdomen.

Even though I slashed lightly, given the weapon’s power, it had sliced open more than half of its abdomen.

With that, one was eliminated. The other was still clutching its shoulder.

The moment its eyes met mine, a terrified expression filled its face.

Perhaps as intelligence increases, fear of death becomes unavoidable.

Puuk!

"Keu... keueo..."

Without hesitation, I finished it off by stabbing its heart.

Decapitation didn’t suit my style, and above all, clean-up was troublesome.

Having dispatched both gorillas, I turned around to check on Wonmo and Speed Sloth.New chapters come out on novelрing.com first.

"Kkyu-u... kkyu..."

"Wonmo?"

As expected, the two gorillas engaged with them had turned into cold corpses.

However, Wonmo was whimpering as if he had been injured.

I glanced at the leader gorilla, then approached Wonmo.

"Kkyu-u-u..."

"Your claw broke."

Wonmo’s claw was broken. Fortunately, he wasn’t severely injured.

It didn’t seem like he was hit by a gorilla; rather, it looked like he made a mistake himself.

I patted Wonmo’s head and spoke to Speed Sloth, who was riding atop him.

"Go to the cave and give Wonmo an Elixir. You can do that, right?"

"...."

At my words, Speed Sloth nodded.

Following that, Bbareumbo patted Wonmo on the back twice.

Wonmo glanced at me once, then shuffled clumsily into the cave.

’Now, what’s left is...’

The leader gorilla. I turned my head to face the leader gorilla.

The guy who stoically watched from behind even as his kin died one after another.

Was it confidence, or did he have another reason?

’The fact that he has no weapon bothers me the most.’

Unlike the gorillas using weapons, he was completely bare-handed.

What on earth did he possess to stand bare-handed? A question arose.

But the fact that he was an enemy remained unchanged. I spoke to the leader gorilla.

"Are you going to keep going?"

"...."

The leader gorilla did not answer. He merely responded by slowly standing tall.

As he straightened his waist, the two hands that touched the ground raised as well.

Two legs that were short relative to his arms, like a sloth. But legs as thick as tree trunks.

’So he wants to fight...’

Right as I thought as expected, the gorilla slowly took action.

He pushed his left foot forward and pulled his right foot back.

His left hand was extended forward with palms visible, and his right hand was pulled back to his waist.

Finally... he gave his upper body a slight twist.

As all these joined together, a ’stance’ was completed.

"...."

Fuck. What the hell am I looking at?

No matter how I look at it, isn’t that a martial arts stance?

A gorilla is showing me that?

A martial art that is absolutely impossible to master without a master’s teachings?

I wanted to deny everything unfolding before my eyes.

No matter how crazy the Forest of the Four Seasons was, this... this was crossing the line.

"...Who taught you that?"

"...."

"Who taught you—"

It was just as I involuntarily began raising my voice.

As if feeling my question wasn’t even worth answering, the leader gorilla leaned his upper body forward.

A signal to charge, obvious to anyone. I calmed my excitement and assumed a stance.

Swiiiik!

A movement completely different from the other gorillas. The others literally just dashed forward.

But the leader gorilla approached me ’as if gliding’.

Huuuuung!!

That wasn’t all. The moment he closed in right in front of my face, the leader gorilla struck.

A massive palm coming precisely toward my face.

The moment that attack connected properly, my head would explode like a watermelon.

Paaang!!

I barely dodged the palm strike by tilting my head.

But I didn’t dodge it completely. It brushed past my cheek by a hair’s breadth.

I felt a sharp sting, as if the skin had been torn.

’Th-this is...’

In a situation where time felt like it was flowing in slow motion, I could see the leader gorilla crystal clear.

Eyes that were tranquil beyond words, yet harboring a subtle rage. Even so, he maintained composure.

Looking at that, the palm print I discovered during today’s exploration came to mind.

A palm print presumed to belong to a gorilla. And beside it, a palm print presumed to belong to a human.

’Just who on earth...!’

What this implied was one thing:

’Just who on earth did he learn this from...?!’

Someone had taught this gorilla ’martial arts’.