I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 235

I sorted both the Golden Acorns and regular acorns.

Sorted out like this, the ratio was roughly 1:5. There was certainly a massive pile of acorns overall.

However, if I turned all of them into acorn jelly, more than half would disappear. I picked up a single Golden Acorn.

’What kind of effect will this have?’

The Golden Apple had a rejuvenating effect. But I had no idea about this one.

Besides, acorns aren’t something you eat raw, so eating one recklessly was a bit dicey.

’Should I mix them, or make them separately?’

That was a dilemma in its own right. I held up a Golden Acorn.

After examining it back and forth for a while, I popped it into my mouth and bit down.

If a problem arose after eating it, I could just drink an Elixir.

Kkadeudeuk! Kkadeuk!

It was a little—no, very hard, but not to the point where I couldn’t chew it.

"Pueeek!!!"

Instead, an insanely astringent and bitter flavor washed over me.

A bizarre, foul taste spread across my entire mouth. It felt like my tongue was going numb.

I hurriedly turned on the hose to flush out my mouth. Even so, the puckery, astringent taste wouldn’t wash away.

"Puek! Keheuk! Uuu..."

"..."

When I pulled myself together, Bbareumbo was staring at me with a thoroughly pathetic look on his face.

Fortunately, minus Bbareumbo, none of the rest of the party saw my dumbassery.

Frowning heavily, I stepped into the cave.

[Hmm? You look as if you’ve chewed on shit.]

"Pretty much."

[Did you actually chew on some?]

"I basically chewed on shit-flavored curry."

I gave Cain a half-hearted reply and took a spoonful of honey.

As the sweet flavor spread, I felt like I was coming back to life. Eating these raw was absolutely out of the question.

’Golden Acorn or not, it must be eaten as acorn jelly.’

With that resolve, I logged onto the Gallery. It was time to summarize today’s routine.

Since I had taken pictures of the squirrel, all I had to do was tell them what happened today.

Title) Back home.

Wild Grylls

(Photo of piled-up Golden Acorns and regular acorns)

(Photo of the newly planted World Tree sapling and the squirrel tending to it)

(Recording Orb video footage shot beyond the Inverted Waterfall)

(Photo of Wonmo and Tyranno taking a nap)

Returned after a heap of trouble. This forest is crazy, just as expected.

Squirrels teleporting through tree hollows, monsters lurking beyond an Inverted Waterfall...

Still, it wasn’t a total loss. With that squirrel’s help, I can set up portals.

Though apparently it’s only possible with World Tree saplings? So I got another one.

Right now I’m back and getting ready to grind acorns.

What kind of adventure awaits tomorrow? Oh, goody.

Seriously, I want to escape ASAP.

└ Heavenly Demon) You have worked hard. Ah, by the way, the herb you sent me this time is quite unique.

└ Wild Grylls) What kind of effect does it have?

└ Heavenly Demon) I shall let you know privately later.

└ Sword Matstar) What on earth is that monster captured in the video? It looks terrifying just watching it;;

└ Wild Grylls) I couldn’t film it completely, but it was crawling up the waterfall. So I ran away. Sword Matstar-nim, can you defeat that thing?

└ Sword Matstar) Giant ones are usually easier to handle. But that one looks a bit scary.

└ Bro was writing a horror novel all by himself lol

└ Wow;; Is that the Forest of the Four Seasons? No wonder even dragons can’t live there.

└ You went around real hard today.

└ Starlight Lady) What is that squirrel? Is it a new friend?

└ Wild Grylls) We became friends after a tussle. According to Bbareumbo, it’s a gardener tending to the forest? Something like that.

└ Starlight Lady) I see. It’s cute, do you have any more pictures?

└ Wild Grylls) I’ll take some when I meet it again later.

└ Praise the Sun) What’s with those golden acorns? Are those like the Golden Apples too?

└ Wild Grylls) I tried eating one and it tasted like shit. I’m just going to make acorn jelly.

└ Praise the Sun) Tasting like shit is weird enough, but making jelly out of it is fascinating too. Can you really turn acorns into jelly?

└ Isn’t that possible in the Central Plains?

└ I’m from the Central Plains and this is the first time I’ve heard of making jelly out of acorns.

└ Let’s just assume Grylls is an omnivore.

└ Fr, bro’s a beast acknowledged even by a gorilla lol

└ Wild Grylls) My mom used to make it for me all the time though...

└ Ah shit, fell for the guilt trap again.

└ Let’s Grow Trees) Then is that squirrel raising the World Tree sapling?

└ Wild Grylls) Probably? Though if a dragon catches it, it’ll all burn down.

└ Let’s Grow Trees) It sounds like the Ratatoskr of legend! Truly marvelous! How could it be so adorable!

└ Don’t you mean horrific?

└ Are you trying to set teleport points with that? To make round trips easier?

└ Wild Grylls) Yup, gonna test it out. If it works, the chances of escape go up.

└ Congrats. Your chances will double.

└ Even doubled, it approaches zero rofl

└ 0.001 or 0.002, same diff lol

└ Isn’t it way lower than that?

Sharing today’s exploration results quickly drew a crowd.

Both anonymous lurkers and fixed handles voiced their opinions, and the upvotes climbed rapidly.

Since I wasn’t going to stream kangaroo fights for the time being, what should I use this for?

’I guess I’ll save it for whenever there’s a sports match later.’

After replying to a few comments, I posted another question thread.

To make acorn jelly, you first have to grind the acorns.

Right now, they were being washed thoroughly to get rid of the astringency.

Who did I order to do it? Lackey, of course.

Even though he grumbled, he was obedient, so I was growing quite fond of him.

’Everything in the auction house has lukewarm reviews.’

So I directly posted on the Gallery.

Asking if anyone had a suitable tool for grinding acorns.

└ Starlight Lady) I have something suitable, should I give it to you?

└ Wild Grylls) You have cooking utensils?

└ Starlight Lady) Something similar. If it’s for grinding hard materials into powder, it should be useful.You are reading on nov​elping.com, the official source.

└ Wild Grylls) Starlight Lady-nim, aren’t you using it?

└ Starlight Lady) I already have a better one. I’ll throw in a sieve to filter the powder while I’m at it.

It felt a bit like she was dumping her junk on me, but I accepted it gratefully since it was stuff I needed.

Soon after, I checked out the cooking utensil(?) sent by Starlight Lady.

First was a cylindrical tool for grinding powder. In the center was a circular hole.

When I first saw it, I thought it was a millstone. It actually had a handle attached.

Wiiiiiiiing!

"Oh!"

However, it was different from a normal millstone. I realized it the moment I grabbed the handle.

When I grabbed the handle while circulating mana, it started spinning on its own.

It wasn’t a blender, but an automatic millstone. This was pretty fascinating in its own right.

’Did it turn out like this because magic developed instead of science?’

Anyway, now that I had gotten a good tool, all that was left was preparation.

I checked the acorns Lackey had finished washing.

Since it was going to be a dessert rather than a side dish, I had instructed him to wash only the Golden Acorns.

"Hey. Lackey."

"What."

"Tossing them in whole is a bit much, so crush them a little. Here’s a mortar."

"..."

"Got a problem? No food for you then."

"Bad guy."

In the end, Lackey’s work only finished after he pounded the acorns using the mortar bought from the auction house.

Now all that remained was putting the roughly crushed acorn pieces into the millstone.

Normally, you’d have to place a bowl under the millstone, but that wasn’t necessary for this one.

Gal-gal-gal-gal-gal-gal-

Because as soon as I dropped acorn pieces into one hole, powder came pouring out of another hole.

I had no idea how the internal mechanism worked, but it was truly marvelous.

After grinding up all the Golden Acorn pieces, I ran them through the sieve once.

’Now I mix this with water.’

I added about two spoons of salt for seasoning.

After stirring well so the salt dissolved properly, I poured it into a pot.

This was the crucial part. Boiling it over fire was fine, but there’s a specific timing when it thickens up into a paste.

That’s when you have to reduce the heat to low to prevent disaster.

’Since fine control is tricky here...’

I substituted it by pulling out some firewood. That should be enough.

While it was thickening sufficiently, I added about two spoons of cooking oil.

After about thirty minutes, it would become so thick that stirring with a ladle would be difficult.

’Done.’

Lastly, I just had to scoop the thickened mixture into a suitable container to act as a mold.

Once it set completely, the acorn jelly would be ready.

"Ahjussi, I’m gonna prepare dinner, so come out!"

I called out to Ludwig and started setting up meal prep.

Did they hear my voice? Wonmo and Tyranno also stumbled out groggily.

"No. That’s for dessert."

"Kkyuu?"

Wonmo showed curiosity toward the acorn jelly halfway through, but I blocked him immediately.

Seeing as even meat-loving Wonmo took a fancy to it, it must look quite appetizing.

Afterward, while prepping fish dishes with Ludwig, I browsed the Gallery.

’Is there no soy sauce?’

I also wanted to get some chili peppers while at it. But damn, soy sauce was insanely expensive.

I remembered hearing that oil and soy sauce used to be super expensive back in historical times, and it seemed similar here.

It was as if the existence of magic and mana caused the balance to be bizarrely skewed.

I bought a soy sauce with decent reviews and sent a message to Grow Big and Tall.

[Wild Grylls: Hello, Grow Big and Tall-nim. Are you around by any chance?]

[Grow Big and Tall: Ah! Hello, Grylls-nim! What’s up?]

[Wild Grylls: Well, I wanted to get some seeds. Do you happen to have chili pepper seeds?]

[Grow Big and Tall: I should have some if I look. Should I give them to you?]

[Wild Grylls: Yes. Is there anything you want in return?]

[Grow Big and Tall: I’d like to get a bit more soil... would that be okay?]

I bought chili pepper seeds from Grow Big and Tall, a born farmer.

Plain soy sauce alone would be bland, so I planned to chop up chilies and throw them in.

’I should get some garlic later too.’

Since I had a vegetable garden, the quality of my meals seemed to improve day by day.

I wrapped up a cozy dinner with the party and brought out the dessert.

"Alright. Let me introduce this. It’s called acorn jelly, a dish from the country I used to live in."

[It looks a bit like konjac jelly?]

"The feel is somewhat similar."

The grand acorn jelly tasting session had finally arrived.

Perhaps because it was crafted from Golden Acorns, the jelly had a golden hue instead of brown.

It gave the impression that it might taste like lemon. But it was undeniably acorn jelly.

"Ppyiii..."

Was its squishy appearance weird to him?

Unlike Wonmo, who had a ravenous appetite, Tyranno hesitated to eat.

"Tyranno. You don’t have to force yourself to eat it."

Chyap-chyap-chyap-chyap!

The moment I spoke, Wonmo began scarfing down his share of acorn jelly delicious-like.

"Or maybe Wonmo will eat it all?"

"!!!"

At my follow-up remark, Tyranno made a face that screamed ’Not that!’

He, too, delicious-like gobbled up his seasoned acorn jelly.

Watching the two of them, I let out a smirk and took a casual bite.

Squishy yet chewy-looking, it seemed to have cooked wonderfully.

"Nyam."

Acorn jelly for the first time in a while. How did it taste?

Since it was made from Golden Acorns instead of ordinary ones, the taste was bound to be different.

"Oh?"

Nutty. That was my instant impression upon eating the acorn jelly.

Normally, acorn jelly was slightly bitter and moderately savory. Paired with soy sauce, it would taste salty.

However, this one had an exceptionally strong nutty richness. It was like holding a mouth full of pure sesame oil.

It was delicious. If I had eaten this during the main meal, the rich nuttiness would have completely overwhelmed all other flavors.Read this novel at novеlping.com for the best experience.

"Delicious."

"It tastes good."

"Kkyuu! Kkyu!"

"Ppyiiii!"

Everyone gave glowing reviews to the acorn jelly.

The ingredient quality was so top-tier that whatever you made out of it would have received praise.

"It’s delicious. Had I known, I would’ve harvested more..."

It was before I could even finish my sentence.

Puswisuwisu!

Steam hissed upwards like a pressure cooker finishing a batch. From where?

From Ludwig right in front of me. And not just him, but the rest of the party as well.

"Bb-Bbareumbo, you too?"

"..."

Bbareumbo, Lackey, Wonmo, Tyranno, and even Largo who stopped after a single bite.

I thought I was fine, but I was merely hidden behind them; faint steam was rising from me too.

"W-What on earth is happening?"

"#$%^...?"

Ludwig asked me what the hell this was to cause such a reaction.

Since I had just been thinking the exact same thing, I couldn’t answer.

Fortunately, the steam gradually subsided before long.

Right around the time I wondered if this was the unique effect of Golden Acorn jelly...

"Kkyueeeek!!!"

"Ppyeeeeeng!!!"

For some unknown reason, Wonmo and Tyranno burst into tears.

Startled by their cries, I turned my head to see a bizarre sight.

Both were clutching their noses with their front paws, writhing in agony.

Just as I was about to ask what was wrong—

"Keoheup?!"

A monstrous stench forced its way into my nostrils.

A foul stench so potent that it completely overpowered the nutty aroma of the Golden Acorn jelly.

It was so horrific that even breathing through my mouth was unbearable.

’I-Is it poison? Quickly, a gas mask...!’

I hurriedly reached out to search for my gas mask.

Then, I suddenly noticed something strange on my arm.

It looked as if years of accumulated grime had lumped together into a pitch-black layer.

The moment I saw it, I instinctively brought my arm closer to my face.

Keung-keung. Keung.

The result of sniffing it:

"Uwooooorgh?!"

I realized that this stinky odor was coming from my own body.

No, to be more precise, it was emanating from the entire party.

Ludwig, who was clutching his nose in agony, had it even worse on his arms.

It was so bad that black gunk covered more than half of his arms.

’C-Could it be?’

I roughly grasped the effect of the Golden Acorn jelly.

However, understanding it was one thing; the stench was just way too brutal.

The conclusion I reached was:

"F-First of all, Ludwig-ssi!"

"#%?"

"Strip! We need to wash up, even if it’s cold water!"

We had to wash with cold water. Heating up hot water would take way too long.

Even if it was freezing, there was no choice. Leaving this stench unchecked felt like it would suffocate us to death.

[How fortunate. I cannot smell.]

I tried my best to ignore Cain’s peaceful commentary.

"Ah! Right! Tyranno! Can you heat up warm water with your Breath?!"

"Ppyeeeeek!"

"If you endure it, I’ll make you candied sweet potatoes!"

"Pp-Ppyek?"

Fortunately, thanks to Tyranno’s Breath, the stench incident was brought under control.

However, putting out the fire was one thing; taking baths consumed a ton of time.

This went for Largo too. Given his massive size, washing him was no easy feat.

"Hey, you brat! Wash up fast! Otherwise you’re gonna stink!"

"..."

"Ahjussi! Grab that bastard! He’s fast only at times like this!"

Above all, Bbareumbo was the hardest to handle.

Even though he knew his body reeked, he stubbornly refused to wash to the very end.

Perhaps because the waste products had all been purged out, even with Ludwig joining in, Bbareumbo dodged and darted around effortlessly.

Walking upright with both arms raised like some monkey, he just couldn’t be caught.

Just as I was about to give up—

"Kkyuuuu..."

"Ppyiiii..."

Wonmo and Tyranno began sneaking away from Bbareumbo.

It was a reaction that basically said: family or not, dirty is dirty.

"..."

Sensing something at that moment, Bbareumbo finally bathed obediently.

It seemed he was weak to kids after all.

And so, another eventful day came to a close.

While Grylls quietly wrapped up his day, looking forward to tomorrow—

"Oh Lord of Heaven! This is a miracle! This herb, capable of bringing back what was dead, is verily on par with the Herb of Eternal Youth!"

"Hmm."

"If only we can cultivate this herb! We could recruit every unfilial person under the heavens into the Demonic Cult!"

Yoo So-wol was listening to a lengthy lecture from Physician Song.

It wasn’t that she was particularly interested, but rather she listened because he was the Cult’s chief physician.

’Is it really something to go to such lengths for?’

She was genuinely bewildered.

Indeed. She had no choice but to be bewildered—

for that emotion was one known only to those who had lost it.