I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 206

Light emanates from my eyes.

Usually, this expression is used metaphorically.

Not that light literally comes out of one’s eyes, but just to show intense interest or excitement?

But light was literally shooting out of my eyes. Thanks to the reactions of those around me, I noticed it early on.

Wonmo and Tyranno loved the fact that light was beaming from my eyes.

On the other hand, Ludwig... reacted as if he was seeing the weirdest shit imaginable.

He was staring at me with a face that said, Is this creature even human?

He might have served as a Paladin for a long time, but a case like mine must be a first for him.

Title) Who is the person with light shooting out of their eyes, nose, and mouth?

Wild Grylls

(Photo of Grylls’s face inside a dark cave, with light beaming from his eyes, nose, and mouth)

That would be ME!

ㄴ Heavenly Demon) What in the world happened? Have you been possessed by a specter?

ㄴ Wild Grylls) No. I ate the Pumpkin Jack’s Inner Core and ended up like this.

ㄴ Heavenly Demon) Was it an Inner Core possessing such an effect to begin with?

ㄴ Sword Matstar) In the first place, I’ve never seen a Pumpkin Jack possess an Inner Core.

ㄴ Everything has an Inner Core nowadays;

ㄴ Even ordinary fish have Inner Cores, so whatever lol

ㄴ Basically we should assume every living creature has one at this point.

ㄴ But just looking at the photo, he looks fucking like a ghost rofl

ㄴ Are you sure he’s human?

ㄴ Hahaha

ㄴ Lololol

ㄴ Fuck, why is this so hilarious rofl

ㄴ That’s a truly fundamental question lol

ㄴ The more I look, the more it feels like he’s becoming something non-human lol

ㄴ Starlight Lady) Do you perhaps feel any urges to eat human flesh or drink blood?

ㄴ Wild Grylls) Why are you saying such terrifying things;;

ㄴ Starlight Lady) It’s part of the records on monsterization into Yokai. Old texts mentioned such symptoms. Fortunately, it seems you aren’t turning into a Yokai.

ㄴ Wild Grylls) ;;;

ㄴ Starlight Lady) Still, it’s best to be careful just in case. A person shooting light from their eyes isn’t recorded even in ancient literature.

ㄴ Allfather) There was one. A person who had their eyeballs gouged out used glowing prosthetic eyes instead.

ㄴ Starlight Lady) There was someone like that? Why did they do such a thing?

ㄴ Allfather) The records merely stated ’because it looked cool.’

ㄴ Honestly, it IS pretty cool lol

ㄴ Your eyes are glowing, how could anyone resist lol

ㄴ Passing Dwarf) Does light still come out if your head gets chopped off? Then you’d really be a human lantern.

ㄴ Wild Grylls) Don’t say such gruesome stuff;;

ㄴ Don’t Abandon the Hero) By the way, what did Ludwig-nim say!

ㄴ Wild Grylls) Aside from his look of ’I’ve seen all kinds of weird shit,’ he’s fine. And he told me to turn my head away because it’s too bright.

ㄴ So you were just being a nuisance rofl

ㄴ Will you even be able to sleep? lol

ㄴ Princess Chaenggu) Our Demon Race has inverted eyes, but Grylls-nim has glowing eyes! Could you perhaps be of the Heavenly Race!

ㄴ Wild Grylls) I don’t know anything about that;; And what is the Heavenly Race anyway? Does a race like that exist?

ㄴ Princess Chaenggu) Just saying!

ㄴ They exist. Though they’re called Angels rather than Heavenly Race.

ㄴ Aren’t Angels demigod-tier?

ㄴ Yeah, that’s why most people who ascend or achieve Ascension to Immortality end up becoming Angels.

ㄴ Oh. So did the Blood Demon become an Angel too?

ㄴ I wouldn’t know that lol it’s all just mythology anyway

ㄴ Angel Blood Demon shiver

ㄴ Fucking unfitting lol

ㄴ Look at how Grylls’s face isn’t even visible in the middle of all that.

ㄴ Can’t be helped since the cave is dark.

Once I uploaded the post, the Gallery erupted into chaos.

Have they ever seen a person like me in their lives? Probably not.

I closed the Gallery and peered outside the cave.

Like a high-performance flashlight, the light brightly illuminated the darkness.

With this, navigating through the dark would be no problem at all.

’By the way, how do I turn this off?’

The issue was whether I could control it. Straining my eyes, blinking, and so on.

I made several attempts, but the light showed no sign of turning off.

There was no significant change in the mana inside my body either. It was identical to before.

Was it a passive concept, or was it something I could control at will?The source of this chapter is novelpi​ng.com.

’If I can’t control it, that’s a bit awkward.’

I turned my head to look at Ludwig. At that, Ludwig knitted his brows.

Having the drawback of being unable to look someone in the face like this was quite troublesome.

The kids liked it, but even that excitement would fade before long.

’Let’s start by operating the Mental Cultivation Method. Since I consumed an Inner Core, there’s bound to be something.’

I decided to run my Mental Cultivation Method to see if I could feel anything inside.

’I don’t really feel anything special though?’

Aside from the cold energy, nothing was felt within my dantian.

Was it really a passive ability? Since light didn’t beam from my eyes before sunset, the chances were high.

Still, I couldn’t give up. If I couldn’t control it as I pleased, the meaning of having the ability would fade.

Thus, borrowing help from Ludwig and the Gallery, I began trying out various methods.

ㄴ Can’t you turn it off and on by smacking the back of your head? That’s what people do when a lantern glitches out.

ㄴ Wild Grylls) That’s for when it won’t turn ON, you crazy bastard.

It wasn’t of much help. Since everyone was seeing such a phenomenon for the first time, they couldn’t get a grip on it either.

In the end, I decided to let it slide for today. Anyway, as long as I closed my eyes and shut my mouth, it was fine.

The light coming out of my nose couldn’t be helped, but it was at a tolerable level.

’By the way, it really feels like I’m turning into something other than human.’

An aura that expanded like crazy in size, cold energy—stuff like that fell within the realm of common sense.

Even if rare, it wasn’t as though there were no precedents at all.

But shooting light out of eyes, nose, and mouth couldn’t be found in any literature.

According to Starlight Lady, some people who turned into Yokai had such symptoms, but it wasn’t certain.

’Aren’t Inner Cores supposed to be all good things?’

It would have been great if I had known beforehand that it had such properties.

Unlike in some web novels, there was no status window or system interface whatsoever, so I had no choice but to figure out every single detail myself.

Was the silver lining that the mana in my body had grown incomparably more abundant than before?

I closed my eyes and considered what was to come tomorrow.

’Winter will be here soon. Five days at the latest.’

The weather growing steadily chillier was proof of that.

After raining a few times, the weather had turned drastically cold.

I would also need to obtain winter clothing for Ludwig pretty soon.

Asking Passing Dwarf for this should work out fine.

’First, I’ll do some logging, and build up a roaring fire since it might snow.’

After finishing all these tasks, I planned to head to the Orichalcum Cave.

Since my eyes were glowing anyway, shouldn’t I test out their performance?

The cave I lived in was cramped, and with the campfire inside, it was awkward to test.

’It’s just a quick trip back and forth anyway. I can introduce it to Ludwig while I’m at it.’

Winter preparations were nearly complete. For the time being, it was fine even if we didn’t do outdoor activities.

If there was anything left, maybe setting up an emergency escape route? That could be worked on quickly.

Planning out tomorrow’s tasks, I slowly drifted off to sleep.

Thus, the next morning dawned. The weather was less chilly than yesterday.

"Since it’s bright out, light isn’t coming out of my eyes anymore."

"Hmm."

Whether it was a passive that only triggered in dark places or at night, light no longer emanated from my eyes.

Naturally, realizing this, Wonmo and Tyranno showed their disappointment.

I patted their heads and set out to prepare the meal.

First off, I needed to go up to the river and retrieve the fish traps...

"Huh?"

Right as I reached the river, I picked up a strange feeling.

Since it was an extraordinarily clear river, everything inside could usually be seen.

But most creatures were fast and camouflage made them hard to spot.

Banjjak! Banjjak!

Right now, it was a bit different. Spots all across the river were sparkling.

Those sparkles traveled along the river current until they hit the fish trap with a tuk!

The area around the fish trap was straight up sparkling like a chunk of gold, drawing my attention.

’Wh-what is this?’

Not knowing for sure, I retrieved the fish trap first. Lackey, who had followed me, helped out as well.

Soon, pulling up the trap, I could see fish flopping around inside.

The belly of the fish—specifically, the part housing the Inner Core—was sparkling exceptionally bright.

’...Could it be?’

I immediately cleaned up and headed down to the Shelter. There was no reason to delay.

Soon, extracting the Inner Core housed inside the fish, I was able to confirm it.

Even if faint, the Inner Core was sparkling like a star.This chapter was taken from nоvelping.com without permission.

It seemed to be the effect of the Pumpkin Jack’s Inner Core I consumed yesterday.

’Come to think of it, the Subspace Backpack and the bottle storing Inner Cores are sparkling too?’

These were things I only just noticed now. Yesterday, it probably hadn’t been long enough since I consumed it.

This effect would be a massive help to me. Gathering medicinal herbs would become much easier now.

Since I wasn’t an expert, asking the Gallery about every single plant had been exhausting until now.

’Still, it’d be better to ask the Gallery about their specific effects.’

I roughly explained it to Ludwig.

Hearing my explanation, Ludwig wore a slightly surprised expression, as if asking if such a thing was even possible.

At this point, there was something I was curious about. Mithril, which had been judged as a living entity.

Would Mithril also sparkle like gold dust? I headed toward the back of the cave.

Beonjjeok! Beonjjeok!

Far beyond mere shining, the Mithril was gleaming so intensely it was almost blinding.

Gleaming from deep inside, it felt... well, I didn’t want to go any closer.

It felt like if I carelessly mined it, I’d end up suffering the consequences. It gave me an even more unsettling feeling.

’Well, as long as I leave it alone, it won’t harm me, so...’

Though feeling uneasy, it seemed I’d need to steadily wander around the cave area from now on.

Because relying solely on the herbs Papa Raccoon brought had limits when it came to crafting Fasting Pills.

To test out the ability first, I decided to wander around alone.

Just in case, I didn’t forget to take Bbareumbo along.

’That thing is sparkling just as brightly as Mithril.’

That thing was the sapling given to me by Let’s Grow Trees.

While other plants grew quickly, it was the only one growing slowly.

Did he really give me a World Tree sapling? It was a moment of heavy suspicion.

’They say a World Tree is bigger than most villages, can it even grow fully here?’

If it did, the entire Shelter would be smashed to pieces.

Casting useless thoughts aside, I searched around the cave.

Surprisingly, sparkles were hard to find. It seemed to be because most of them were just weeds.

’What on earth is the criteria? Does it have to be at least Inner Core grade?’

There was a lot to think about. After roughly looking around, I returned to the cave.

After returning, I finished preparations to set out for the Orichalcum Cave.

Since I planned to figure out whether the light from my eyes was passive or active.

Naturally, we were all heading out together. Leaving an awkward number of members behind could be even more dangerous.

’Even if we get raided, only food would get stolen anyway.’

Thus, the members of the Shelter set off for the Orichalcum Cave.

Ludwig mounted Largo and quietly followed behind me.

’I should install a saddle for him later.’

Since he was riding the giraffe like a horse, a saddle was a must.

Even while heading to the cave, I collected every sparkling herb along the way.

Then, midway through, something sparkling underground caught my eye.

Could it be an expensive mineral? Without hesitating, I pulled out a shovel and a pickaxe.

"Ludwig-ssi. There’s something here, so let’s dig hard."

"Hmm."

Ludwig also shoveled diligently following my words.

I broke up the hard ground with the pickaxe, and Ludwig scooped out the dirt with the shovel.

As a result of working like this, we were able to get closer to the sparkling spot.

Kugugugugugugu!

And suddenly, the entire ground began to vibrate.

Ludwig and I stopped everything we were doing.

Based on my experience so far, earthquakes were never a good omen.

And sure enough.

Kukwakwakwakwa!

Something began to surge up from the ground. We hurriedly backed away from the erupting earth.

Soon, the identity of the majestic entity that emerged was...

"G-Guardian...?"

A golem made of earth—it was a Guardian.

Banjjak! Banjjak!

In the Guardian’s chest, a core was emitting a vivid light.

"...#%%^#$?"

Ludwig’s question asking what on earth I had done.

I couldn’t give any answer to his question.