I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 272

Now that the new laborer and his supervisor were decided, it was time to start the daily routine.

As usual, morning began by retrieving the fish caught in the mesh net.

After that was preparing breakfast. Since food supplies were plentiful, picking the menu was the real task.

Sizzle— sizzle— sizzle—

And for this morning’s menu, I decided on grilled fish.

First, I seasoned it with salt, then evenly spread sauce purchased from the auction house.

The snow-white fish soon turned red, transforming into a mouthwatering sight. Throwing in extra garlic for myself was a bonus.

A hearty breakfast like this brings happiness throughout the whole day.

"Gulp..."

The new worker, the goblin, salivated at the delicious sight.

Aware of his predicament, he didn’t act overtly greedy, but his eyes were filled with craving.

Then again, even plain fish tasted amazing, and I had added various seasonings and spices.

To the goblin, it was closer to an unknown mystery beyond simple culture shock.

"Here. Eat this. Careful, it’s hot."

And I cooked a fish specifically for him.

Just like with Lackey back then, I never discriminated just because someone was a worker.

As long as they worked well, I was happy to give them whatever food they wanted without discrimination.

Of course, the moment they backstabbed me, severe punishment would follow.

Didn’t Lackey also get starved for an entire day when he played a trick on me once?

"Kki, kkirik...?"

The goblin asked as if inquiring whether he was truly allowed to eat it. He was treading lightly.

Come to think of it, being an intelligent individual, he was sharp at reading the room.

Hoping he wouldn’t use that intelligence to backstab me, I spoke.

"Eat up. That’s yours."

I nodded my head in permission. He wouldn’t understand my words anyway.

Then the goblin hesitated for a moment before staring at the eating utensils placed beside the plate.

The utensils included a spoon, fork, chopsticks, and lastly, a knife.

Out of the various utensils, he picked up the knife first.

Seueuk— seuk—

He sliced the fish neatly with the sharp knife.

Then, using the fork and spoon, he put a generous piece of tender flesh into his mouth.

"Kkiyoot!"

The moment he took a bite, he let out a strange sound. I should take it as an expression of admiration.

He then disassembled the large fish with practiced hands.

Handling utensils other than chopsticks so freely was surprising enough, but what was even more astounding was that he deboned the fish.

Seeing this meant that his goblin tribe, including himself, was accustomed to eating fish.

"Ahjussi. Do monsters bone fish?"

"No. Normally they eat it whole."

[There are many individuals who eat not just fish, but animal bones whole as well.]

Yet the goblin meticulously deconstructed the fish bone by bone before eating.

However, he didn’t use chopsticks, which were most suitable for deboning fish.

Instead, he concentrated on devouring the boneless parts.

’Judging by how comfortable he is with utensils, he definitely uses various tools.’

Without looking far, he was even using a bow.

It seemed their civilization level (?) was higher than that of the gorillas.

If the gorillas had just entered the Paleolithic Era, the goblins were probably somewhere in the Neolithic Era.

Still, unless I saw it directly, predictions held little value.

’Still, it’s weird. A weakling like him, even forming a group, should be wiped out in no time.’

I picked my teeth with a fish bone while harboring doubts as I looked at him.

Describing the Forest of the Four Seasons as ’dangerous’ was an understatement.

I was relaxed right now, but early on, I nearly died multiple times.

In particular, making Bbareumbo my ally was crucial. Thanks to him, I escaped death several times.

’The gorilla pack had the boss gorilla... does this guy’s tribe have a powerhouse on par with him too?’

This line of thought was far more convincing. Moreover, this guy was a scout.

A scout’s primary job was scouting, not combat.

Besides, frankly speaking, he felt a bit dimwitted. Just look at how he got caught trying to steal an arrow.

’I’ll have to wait until his friends show up.’

Until then, I plan to wring out every piece of information I can from him.

It might be frustrating due to the language barrier, but I should depict as much as possible through drawings.

"Ah. That’s right. Hey."

"Kkirik?"

"What’s your name?"

Before that, I should figure out his name.

Considering they form tribes and possess their own language, there’s a high chance he has a name.

Of course, renaming him wouldn’t matter—after all, Lackey’s real name is ’Wi Baek.’

Still, the reason I asked for his name was that, unlike Lackey, he belonged to an established group.

Renaming him recklessly might just plant a bad impression on their side.

"Master?"

"What."

"Why me?"

"I’ll make candied sweet potatoes for you."

"Mmm. Forgiven."

Lackey seemed to feel a bit left out too.

Though, simple guy that he was, candied sweet potatoes settled it instantly.

"Alright. Look closely. I’m Grylls. He’s Lackey. He’s Wonmo..."

I pointed at everyone one by one and taught him our names.

The goblin looked at each member I pointed out.

"He’s Tyranno."

"Ppi-ik!"

"..."

When I pointed at Tyranno, the goblin’s complexion turned pale in an instant.

Just like when he was tied up earlier, he seemed to recognize the dignity of a dragon.

Meanwhile, Tyranno crawled over to me and snuggled into my arms. Then he even rubbed his face against me.

It felt almost like he was saying, ’I’m here, so don’t even think about hurting him.’

"And you?"

Finally, I pointed at the goblin. The goblin, whose face had turned pale, flinched in surprise at being singled out.

Soon, his eyes darted back and forth before pointing to himself.

"Kki-ik...?"

"Yeah. You, I mean you."

"Ggansu."

"...?"

Hold on. Did I mishear?

A guy who could only screech or click saying Ggansu?

"Ggansu? Is your name really Ggansu?"

"Kkuek."Find the original chapter at novel‌ping.com.

[What a unique name.]

I agreed completely with Cain’s words.

How to put it... It felt like translating Dolsoe into a Middle Eastern style.

Still, now that I knew his name, calling him that from now on should be fine.

"Right. Ggansu."

"Kirik?"

"Now let’s work."

"???"

At the word to work, Ggansu’s face filled with confusion.

He couldn’t understand my words, which was unavoidable, but I had no intention of letting him off the hook.

"Lackey. His frame is small and he looks weak, so tell him to make charcoal. You know how to make charcoal, right?"

"I know."

"Yeah. He needs to stay in your line of sight at least, so that’d be better."

I assigned the task to Lackey and stood up from my seat.

As I stood up, Ggansu wore a bewildered look.

However, his master—or rather, his senior—was Lackey. It was none of my business.

"Get up. Need to work."

"Kki, kkirik?"

"Learn words. Or get scolded. First, I am Wi... no, Lackey."

"Kko... kko... Kkow-bong?"

"Lackey."

It exuded more of a senior-junior dynamic than a supervisor and worker relationship.

I chuckled watching Lackey already starting to establish military-style discipline (?).

I just hoped he wouldn’t engage in abuse. Ggansu’s friends might come soon, after all.

’I don’t know how far it is from here...’

Since the arrow was found where the gorilla pack was, it shouldn’t be too far.

Furthermore, it was only recently that the goblins discovered this shelter.

Since this forest was still full of things I didn’t know, inspecting everything step-by-step would do.

"Ahjussi. Let’s train."

"Mm."

This morning’s routine was sparring with Ludwig.

I hadn’t fully mastered the new fighting style yet, and I needed to practice controlling Aura too.

I raised my sword and shield to face Ludwig. He held his Mythricon sword as well.

Cha-aeng!

Ludwig’s sword collided with my shield.

As I always thought, Ludwig’s attacks felt exceptionally heavy.

The strike of someone who had mastered putting their full weight into every blow.

’Will I ever be able to become like that someday?’

After reflecting for a brief moment, I continued the spar with him.

Normally, a sword-and-shield warrior excels in having an exceptional balance between offense and defense.

At the very least, they provided superior stability compared to someone wielding only a longsword.

Swik!

"Whoa..."

However, Ludwig completely ignored that balance.

Just now, if I had blocked with my shield instead of dodging, it would have been dangerous.

I was the type to push through relying purely on physical weight class; my technical skill was far from mastered.

In other words, if I could master technique, I could utilize my physical build at nearly 100%.

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

[He says not to aim for the legs against an opponent of similar build. Doing so leaves your entire head exposed.]

"Then what if the enemy targets my legs? Little guys like Ggansu have no choice but to target my legs."

"Kkirik?"

Perhaps because his name was mentioned during the theory lesson.

Ggansu, who was chopping wood to size for charcoal production, glanced over at us.

Of course, Lackey called him out soon after, so he refocused on work.

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

[He asks if you haven’t learned Body-Protecting Gangqi.]

"I have no idea what that is?"

I knew full well what Body-Protecting Gangqi was. Heavenly Demon had mentioned it a few times before.

It was a technique that could only be learned after mastering Gangqi—that is, an Aura Blade—at a minimum.

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

[Body-Protecting Gangqi isn’t that difficult. Just as you infuse Aura into a sword, you project Aura across your whole body.]

"Mmm."

Hearing that explanation, I looked down at my hands.

Emit Aura across my entire body to form a barrier. Doing it with that kind of feel was all it took.

The level of mastery was the issue; the difficulty itself was bottom-tier easy.

’I have the hand-feel down too.’

Following Ludwig’s advice, I projected Aura across my entire body.

Before long, Aura began covering my entire body. Blue-glowing Aura.

Finally, when the Aura enveloped my body completely.

"Isn’t this super tacky?"

I became a single-color gentleman, not a single-suit gentleman.

Arms, legs, torso, face, neck, and so on. There wasn’t a spot uncovered by Aura.

It was truly strange that even though my face was fully covered, my vision remained perfectly clear.

[Uh... Ludwig. Did Body-Protecting Gangqi change to look like that? In my time, it was translucent.]

"...#%% %^^^&$."

[He says his is translucent as well.]

"I’m the weird one, right?"

I already knew I was weird. The problem was I didn’t know how I was weird.

I brought out a full-length mirror from inside the cave and checked my overall appearance.

I said single-color gentleman as a joke, but I really was a single-color gentleman.

Not only did it cover all my clothes, but my face was also shrouded in Aura.

’This feels like a manga character.’

For some reason, I feel like I could use alchemy right now.

Ah. Wait, that guy couldn’t use alchemy, could he? Whatever.

"Body-Protecting Gangqi is originally translucent, but because my Aura quantity is absurdly massive, it turned out like this... Can I interpret it that way?"

[That seems close to the correct answer.]

Hearing Cain’s opinion, I looked at Ludwig.

Ludwig observed me intently before speaking quietly.

"I will strike."

"Huh?"

"Hold still."

I was puzzled, but complied and stood still as requested.

Presently, he gripped the Mythricon sword and raised it high overhead.

U-u-ung!

A green galaxy unfurled over the Mythricon sword. It signaled that Aura had been activated.You are reading on n‌ovelping.com, the official source.

The instant I saw that, I startled in shock and instinctively crossed my arms to block.

Kka-a-ang!!!

The Aura-infused Mythricon sword collided with my arms.

If I had been bare-bodied, my arms would have been severed, and my entire torso cleaved in two.

Yet the Mythricon sword was stopped cold by the Body-Protecting Gangqi. It didn’t leave so much as a scratch.

I was so stunned I couldn’t even complain to Ludwig for attacking without warning.

I just stared at him dumbfounded. What on earth was he thinking?

’At least it’s a blessing that he couldn’t use his full Aura.’

If we were outside rather than in the Forest of the Four Seasons, I would have literally been chopped in half.

Meanwhile, Ludwig stared at me with quite a serious expression before speaking.

"Are you exhausted?"

"Pardon?"

"Body-Protecting Gangqi recovery. High Mana consumption. Can you feel it?"

"Uh..."

Hearing that, I focused. Indeed, the amount of Mana drained was noticeable.

However, was it because I had been cramming mini inner cores, or because my realm of cultivation had risen?

"I can feel it, but it’s not severe. Is Body-Protecting Gangqi’s fuel efficiency really terrible?"

"Fuel efficiency? What is that?"

"Ah. Fuel efficiency. I mean energy efficiency."

"The efficiency itself is fine. It is just that the amount required for recovery is high."

It was a pretty interesting concept.

Excluding the initial activation, the Mana consumed for maintenance was minimal.

However, repairing damaged parts was different. A palpable amount of Mana was consumed.

[Still, even Body-Protecting Gangqi shouldn’t be that hard. Slashing down infused with an Aura Blade normally cuts through Body-Protecting Gangqi and everything else. Even if Ludwig held back his strength, it’s far harder than expected.]

"If that’s the case, why use Body-Protecting Gangqi at all?"

[Because it’s far better than not using it. By that logic, why wear armor onto a battlefield? You could just not get hit.]

"..."

[It is essential because it reduces unexpected attacks to minimal damage.]

Embarrassed, I scratched my cheek. It was similar to a bulletproof helmet on Earth.

’Bullets penetrate helmets anyway, what’s the point? Can’t we just not wear them?’

That would be insane talk. A bulletproof helmet’s function isn’t limited to stopping direct bullet impacts.

Body-Protecting Gangqi was the same. Battles between masters were fundamentally fights of endurance.

Since no one knew what might happen in the meantime, maintaining Body-Protecting Gangqi was standard practice.

"So my Body-Protecting Gangqi is tough enough to block an Aura Blade?"

[It seems so. One must account for the Forest of the Four Seasons, but even so, it’s incredible. Typical martial artists aren’t like that.]

"How do martial artists block it?"

[They offset the Aura Blade with Body-Protecting Gangqi, and endure the physical weapon with their hardened bodies.]

I roughly got what he meant. What’s good is good, so I could just let it slide.

I looked at Ludwig without deactivating my Body-Protecting Gangqi.

Now that I’d acquired a new technique, all that was left was to wait for his advice.

"Phew..."

"?"

Yet Ludwig’s reaction was peculiar.

Not only did he sigh heavily, he even rubbed his dry face with his hands.

"#%$%%...?"

Even a murmur laden with complex feelings. Words mixed with deep trouble.

[He’s saying, ’How the hell am I supposed to teach this bastard?’]

"You really didn’t need to translate that."

In the end, it only gave Ludwig a headache.

Well, still, the fact that I had to polish my fundamentals remained unchanged.

Ludwig seemed to resolve to teach me strictly the basics before diving straight back into training.

"Hey. Lackey. Ggansu. Eat up."

"Good. Let’s eat."

"Kkkeeeeeek..."

When lunchtime rolled around, I called Lackey and Ggansu, who had been working hard.

Ggansu was absorbed in chopping firewood, but after just three hours of work, he was already exhausted.

Still, eating food helped him recover quickly. Whatever you do, you gotta do it on a full stomach.

"Ah. Come to think of it..."

Something suddenly came to mind. My Aura could carry ’frost.’

What would happen if I infused frost into Body-Protecting Gangqi and took damage? I got curious.

"Try striking me again."

"Mmm."

Ludwig seemed curious too, raising the Mythricon sword overhead.

Next, the Mythricon sword flowing with a green galaxy slashed down at my shoulder.

Kka-ang!!!

Just as expected. The Mythricon sword failed to cut my shoulder.

And that wasn’t all.

Jjeo-jeo-jeok! Jjeo-jeok!

The Mythricon sword wedged against my shoulder gradually began to be covered in ice.

Ludwig also anticipated this outcome, releasing his grip as soon as the sword started freezing.

Jjeo-jeo-jeo-jeok!

Before long, the Mythricon sword froze rock-solid.

I had become capable of attack and defense simultaneously.

’This is seriously great.’

Of course, since the Mana consumed was astronomical, wasting it wouldn’t be good.

Furthermore, monsters that even dragons found difficult to handle lurked in the Forest of the Four Seasons.

’Unless it’s an extreme situation, I shouldn’t coat myself like this. The Mana consumption is too severe.’

To avoid becoming a single-color gentleman, Aura control was essential.

I had no choice but to keep refining myself steadily. I made up my mind.

[It feels like you’re straying further and further from being human. What do you think?]

"I agree as well."

"Excuse me. Don’t talk trash in Korean, say it in your own language."

I pointed out with an exasperated expression.

’Crazy. That’s crazy.’

Meanwhile, the laborer Ggansu, who was watching the entire scene unfold.

He couldn’t help but be horrified by the bizarre antics Grylls demonstrated.

And no wonder—even for Ggansu, who had witnessed all sorts of things in the Forest of the Four Seasons, such an ’individual’ was a first.

’Even the descendant of a great being is here... Just what kind of place is this?’

Just as he grew increasingly terrified of Grylls’s shelter where even a hatchling resided.

"Hey. Your hands are idling. Work."

"Kki, kkiek!"

Lackey scolded him sternly.

Lackey possessed the qualities to become a truly fine senior.