I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 194

Digging deeper into the rationale that human inequality stems from farming brings one to survival and food.

Though it sounds overly fundamental, it can be said that human discord began with survival.

If one is so full that their back is warm and plentiful, why bother risking conflict with those around them?

When food is scarce, hunger sets in. When hunger sets in, people die.

When famine strikes, neighboring people die along with them.

If the leaders are the problem, people revolt. If the neighboring village lives better, war breaks out. That is how discord amplifies.

Humans are living beings that eat, sleep, and excrete.

As long as one cannot escape that cycle, the importance of food is bound to be monumental.

Roughly speaking, it could even be called the root of all issues.

As long as agriculture serves as the source of food supply, it is a natural course of action for people to strive to acquire good land.

When the unit of gathered people grows so large that it forms a nation, what happens if the land is barren?

With a high probability, war breaks out.

Desperate struggles to avoid starving to death, or to live better lives.

This is a problem that must be continuously faced no matter how much civilization advances.

Title) Interesting thing about elves

Fertile land where the World Tree grows lushly.

Racial traits powerful enough to rival the Demon Race.

A level of unity that, if united, can drive out specific ethnic groups.

With these three things, why haven’t they conquered the world?

└ Something weird sneaked in there?

└ But it’s true. No matter how severe racial discrimination gets, normally people don’t go that fucking far.

└ That’s not just racial discrimination, that’s ethnic cleansing lol. Well, I guess it is racial discrimination now keke.

└ Might be because their land is too good. They’re self-sufficient, so like "Why bother?"

└ Being too strong might have hindered their development. Look at humans. They developed while pulling all kinds of desperate stunts.

└ The highlight of that was getting stronger just to survive against the Demon Race...

└ They even fought among themselves a lot LMAO

Title) Why the Messiah Empire is broken

These guys have a reason why they can maintain that vast territory.

First off, the Karen Plains area is fucking broken. It’s not land as fertile as the World Tree’s, but it’s still magnificent.

Above all, it’s sooooo damn wide. To the point where people say the moment you step into the farmland, you get lost.

Thanks to this structure, the Messiah Empire is bound to have a high population support capacity. I heard their population count ranks first to begin with.

Because the population is large, there are plenty of talents, which is how monsters like Ash appear.

└ Wasn’t population advantage originally with the Beastfolk, but now shifting to humans?

└ Lately Beastfolk tend to have only one child per family.

└ Even that must be hard, right? Their birth rate has to be high due to mating seasons alone.

└ Yeah, the moment you let your guard down, bam, a kid is born.

└ Suspiciously) It’s not to that extent. Mating seasons need to align for both partners. Otherwise, it’s real misery for both.

└ Kids aside, how do Beastfolk have such high population support capacity? I heard their caloric intake is huge due to high muscle mass.

└ Wydd (the Beastfolk nation) also has great land. If it weren’t good, they couldn’t survive.

└ That land was originally human land. They took it through war.

└ Woah woah woah

So-called land advantage. Expressed in Earth terms, a host-hax map.

In that sense, anyone knew the importance of farming without needing it explained.

If farming fails, the nation falls. Therefore, people thought:

How can we make farming a bit easier?

What crops should we grow to make farming easier?

Accordingly, humanity has selectively bred wild crops over a long period.

So they could break free from the harsh wilderness and grow like hot-house flowers.

So they could discard everything unnecessary and focus purely on taste and quantity.

Title) Why selective breeding is hard

Strong survival ability but tastes bad - Lower survival ability - Tastes good - All kinds of bugs flock to it - Become strong against bugs - Survival ability becomes strong - Tastes bad - Ptui

Repeat indefinitely below.

└ LMAO It’s more complicated than that, but great explanation

└ How did our ancestors selectively breed crops?

└ Because any ancestor who couldn’t do that starved to death.

└ LMAOOOOOOOOOO

└ LMAOOOOOO

└ LMAOOOOOOOO

Selective breeding of wild crops was bound to involve countless trial and error.

Increasing the size of corn, which used to be the size of a finger knuckle.This chapter was taken from novelping(.)com without permission.

Completely removing seeds from seed-filled banana pulp.

Filling the inside of watermelons—which barely had red flesh—entirely with flesh.

After all kinds of attempts, various crops could be acquired, but numerous problems still remained.

Because the food problem was a dilemma not just for humanity, but for all living creatures.

In that sense, the Messiah Empire executed quite a decent policy.

Enacting a practical policy stating that rewards would be granted if an excellent variety was bred.

That was also a policy spearheaded by Robert, which allowed Messiah Academy talents to focus on agriculture.

"You should have gone to the Academy."

"I told you, I just scattered soil!"

"Your father is sorry for not having money."

"No, Father. Really, I only scattered soil."

However, even talented individuals are useless unless they experiment directly.

Moreover, agriculture is work on a yearly scale, so it takes a long time.

In other words, if crops could be grown instantly, selective breeding would become far easier.

’What in the world is happening?’

Roy, an ordinary young farmer. He couldn’t believe the reality unfolding before his eyes.

He had simply scattered seeds and scattered soil over them.

It was just that the soil was the soil he received from Grylls.

He had done it out of the idea that since he scattered soil from the Forest of the Four Seasons, wouldn’t plants grow a bit better?

He had also shared knowledge regarding farming with him while he was at it, so it was a good trade for both of them.

"Whoa. Look at this. The wheat grains are completely packed."

"Just one of these is worth three to four times other wheat stalks!"

The farmers gasped in admiration as they checked the rapidly grown wheat.

It was clear even at a glance that it was much larger than ordinary wheat.

However, what mattered was not the outside, but the inside.

As the saying goes, empty vessels make the most noise; it could just be fancy on the outside.

"But the taste is kinda..."

"Puek! Why is it so bitter?! We can’t sell this."

Indeed, setting aside the quantity, it failed in taste.

In the end, it was decided that the first harvested wheat would be discarded.

"This one tastes okay, but..."

"The quantity is too small. We’ll only take a loss like this."

"This one is no different from what we used to harvest."

"This one’s the same too."

The situation wasn’t much different for the other wheat stalks.

Most were the same as usual, and only the occasional eye-catching one was evaluated.

Among those, most had unique characteristics but almost no ’advantages.’

A variety capable of catching both quantity and quality, so to speak. Regrettably, no such thing could be found.

"I don’t know what it is, but Roy seems to have done something pretty interesting?"

"Yeah. Try scattering that soil again like earlier. Something good might come out."

Farmers by nature soon gathered around Roy.

There were eye-catching varieties here and there, so what if something that caught both quantity and quality appeared?

That year’s farming would not only be a bumper crop, but the nation might even bestow rewards.

So when Roy was flustered and stammering, the one who stopped the excited crowd was his father.

"Hey there. I don’t know what my son did, but why are you all being so short-sighted?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"It’s great that the wheat grew instantly. But shouldn’t you also consider the energy of the land?"

When he mentioned the energy of the land, namely ’soil fertility,’ the farmers also went "Ah, right," belatedly.

Farming is not something that ends just because seeds are sown.

Sunlight, water, pests, plus enduring or avoiding periodic natural disasters—various conditions had to be met to secure stability.

On top of that, a bumper crop was another matter.

Among those, the most important thing was the land itself. The nutrients contained in the land were not infinite.

If they were infinite, the word ’desertification’ would never have appeared in the first place.

Why would numerous nations criticize Alfheim’s tree-planting campaign?

Because the trees Alfheim planted sucked up all the surrounding nutrients.

Because of that, native plants withered away, naturally inflicting big and small harm on the ecosystem.

Plants were living creatures after all, so they were beings that lived by absorbing nutrients.

Therefore, unless it was exceptionally fertile land, planting the same crop every year was difficult.

"For now, Roy, you rest today and look into that strange soil some more. Got it?"New chapters come out on novelpin⁠g.com first.

"Yes. Understood."

"Now, now. Let’s get back to our work. We have plenty to do."

Thanks to his father’s adept social tact, Roy was able to escape the commotion.

However, his mind was still complicated. He stared down at the pouch in his hand.

It contained the soil from the Forest of the Four Seasons received from Grylls.

’Is it really because of this?’

There was a lot to experiment with. He immediately headed home.

People in the Messiah Empire, where agriculture was a main industry, cultivated vegetable plots in every household.

Experimenting there would allow him to roughly get a feel for things.

"Huh? Roy. Why are you home already?"

"I have a quick task to do."

"Waaah! Oppa! Did you come home to play with me?"

"No! Hyung came home to play with me!"

As soon as he returned home, a chaotic energy was felt.

Roy forcibly peeled off his two adorable yet annoying younger siblings.

What he had to do right now was experiment. Since his father happened to give him time, he couldn’t waste it.

’If crops grow right away, wouldn’t I be able to select better varieties?’

There is a prejudice held by numerous people: that people who only farm are ignorant.

How much do those people know about farming to say such a thing?

Roy, coming from a family of farmers for generations, was quite knowledgeable in agricultural science.

Although he wasn’t connected enough to enter the Academy, he read books steadily and possessed plenty of knowledge.

How ancestors farmed, for what reasons ancestors adopted certain methods, and so forth.

The wisdom of ancestors could never be ignored. There was definitely a reason why it was handed down as know-how, and every time he actually practiced it, he realized something.

’There must be a reason why they selectively bred wheat like this... No, wait. Before that, I should inform Grylls-ssi of the results first.’

Roy pushed reading aside for later and logged into the Gallery.

Due to the nature of his occupation, he didn’t log into the Gallery frequently, but he entered whenever he was bored.

Besides, with the current global state being what it was, he had no choice but to log in frequently.

To get a single newspaper, one had to walk a whole day to reach the city.

He had even learned the news of the Emperor changing recently through the Gallery.

’Come to think of it, I couldn’t take a picture. I’ll just have to tell him in words.’

Roy searched for Grylls’ post on the Gallery.

A post serving as a morning greeting and announcing the start of the day was located at the top.

’Sending a private message is a bit embarrassing.’

Roy posted a comment instead of a private message.

Originally, confidentiality was important for things like this, but he was a farmer by nature.

He lacked a lot in such detailed aspects.

└ Grow Big and Tall) Grylls-nim. That soil you gave me yesterday was really amazing.

└ Wild Grylls) How was it good?

└ Grow Big and Tall) As soon as I scattered the soil, the wheat grew instantly. Even the soil in the Forest of the Four Seasons is on another level.

└ Wild Grylls) It grew instantly? Just by scattering the seeds?

└ Grow Big and Tall) Yes. I don’t know about over there, but it’ll probably grow really well.

└ Wild Grylls) Ah. I should’ve been scattering it all along. I lost out big time.

└ Grylls-ah. What about that sapling the elf gave you back then? How’s that?

└ Wild Grylls) It’s still growing well? I think it grew about 30cm compared to last time?

└ The wheat grows instantly, so what the hell is that sapling;;

└ Did she really give you a World Tree sapling?

└ Is another World Tree gonna pop up then LMAO

Roy left a word of thanks and closed the Gallery.

What mattered right now was not the Gallery, but selective breeding.

He had to develop a high-quality wheat somehow to be of great help to the village.

’Let’s see. I should read this book first.’

Roy began reading the diary handed down through generations of his family. However, he was completely unaware.

Of what kind of impact a single comment posted on the Gallery would bring to the village.

As a farmer by nature, he knew nothing at all.

Meanwhile, at that exact time, Grylls.

"Alright. Let me go. We have a lot of work to do today as well."

"Understood."

He too began his daily routine alongside Ludwig.