I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 28

A sloth.

An animal whose name combined trees and sluggards.

True to its name, it was famous for every single one of its movements being agonizingly slow.

It was so slow that there were even rumors that zoologists who studied them for two years gave up out of sheer frustration.

Looking at this, one might think it would be at a massive disadvantage in the wild, but surprisingly, it was quite a rational creature.

Call it the aesthetics of slowness—being slow meant low energy consumption.

’But this is the Forest of the Four Seasons?’

I had no idea whether that aesthetics of slowness applied to the Forest of the Four Seasons as well.

Even right now, having locked eyes squarely with me, wasn’t it creeping along at a snail’s pace?

What it was after was definitely the fish inside the bucket.

But I wasn’t sure if sloths were omnivorous. What I needed at a time like this was the Gallery.

Title: What is this damn thing?

Wild Grylls

(Photo of a sloth caught red-handed trying to steal fish)

I went up to the river and came back down, and this guy was here.

Looks like it got caught trying to steal fish, but do sloths eat meat too?

ㄴ Heavenly Demon: Leisure emanates from its very expression. Be careful.

ㄴ ???: You don’t know what a sloth is?

ㄴ Telling him to be careful of a sloth LOL

ㄴ That’s ridiculous lmao

ㄴ Heavenly Demon: Fools who will only regret after being pierced by those fierce claws.

ㄴ Allfather: I did not know sloths inhabited the Forest of the Four Seasons as well. Sloths usually live in jungles.

ㄴ Wild Grylls: Sloths don’t eat fish, right?

ㄴ Allfather: Leaves are their primary diet. Furthermore, sloths cannot walk and must crawl. However, that individual supports its body with both arms like a gorilla. Perhaps it is not a sloth.

ㄴ Wild Grylls: (Video of the sloth moving exceedingly slowly)

ㄴ Allfather: It is a sloth. What is that thing?

ㄴ Wild Grylls: I don’t know either.

ㄴ Got cognitive dissonance after watching the video LOL

ㄴ Even the professor is seeing this specimen for the first time, holy cow

ㄴ Isn’t this basically research material?

ㄴ Allfather: Though it is research material, please be careful. The flora and fauna inhabiting the Forest of the Four Seasons each possess a weapon of their own.

Both Heavenly Demon and Allfather were urging caution.

The difference was that Allfather’s caution stemmed from facing the unknown, whereas Heavenly Demon’s was closer to instinct.

Either way, telling me to be careful of this sluggish sloth made no sense to me.

’Honestly, I could just grab the guy with my bare hands.’

If I snatched it with my hands, it’d be caught instantly. Still, I had no intention of catching it.

I might catch some disease or get bitten by bugs if I grabbed it for no reason.

Wonmo was fine since I washed him squeaky clean, but not this guy.

’For now, I should chase it away.’

Since it targeted my fish, I had no intention of letting it off easy.

That said, I felt a bit bad killing it, so I only planned to intimidate it roughly.

"Shoo. Shoo. Go away."

"...."

As I poked it with the spine of my sword rather than the blade, the sloth slowly backed away.

Even its retreating movements were so sluggish that watching it nearly drove me crazy with impatience.

But this fish was for my lunch. Even if it was a sloth, I couldn’t give it up.

"You go eat leaves. That’s your main diet anyway."

"...."

"That look says you hate it? Why do you hate it? Go climb a tree. There’s plenty to eat."

"...."

The sloth’s expression, which had always been leisurely, shifted slightly.

You could say its expression altered ever so subtly, looking slightly pissed off.

It felt as though it was replacing words with a face that said, ’You broke that tree, didn’t you?’

If that was really it, I was sorry. But there was no way in hell I was giving up the fish.

"Making a face like that won’t work. Hurry up and go."

"...."

"Tsk. This won’t do."

Now, even when I poked it with the spine of the sword, it wouldn’t step back.

I looked around and picked up a suitable tree branch.

Tap-tap- tap-

Poking it with the branch to tell it to get lost, the sloth finally began backing away again.

If I pushed it all the way to the trees like this, wouldn’t it return?

Grab!

"Huh?"

But the world never worked out the way I wanted.

The sloth grabbed the tip of the tree branch with its hand.

After a brief moment of fluster, I pulled back to yank the branch away.

Squeeze!

"What kind of strength...?"

It didn’t budge. The sloth was stronger than I thought.

Maybe it was natural for an animal that climbed trees to have strong arm muscles.

In times like this, finding another branch was better than engaging in an unnecessary contest of strength.

’Or should I just put on my gloves and lift it up?’

That’d actually be better. The gloves were in my pocket.

After equipping the World Tree Gloves, I took a position behind the still-sluggish sloth.This story is hosted at NovelPing.

Until I secured the rear, the guy could barely move. It was the same even when I grabbed its back.

"Heave-ho."

"...?"

As I hefted it straight up, the sloth’s expression turned into one of surprise.

Even the change in its facial expression was as sluggish as its actions.

It was truly fascinating that it could make a face like that with such a relaxed countenance.

Only after I carried the sloth all the way to a tree was the matter wrapped up.

Now all I had to do was grab the antidote and go hunt Golden Frogs.

’Surely it’s not coming back this way, right?’

With a half-doubting heart, I turned around. Sure enough.

It was working extremely hard to approach this way. Just watching it made me feel pitiful for it.

Just what was it about this fish that had it so obsessed? A sigh escaped me involuntarily.

’...This won’t do.’

Talking (?) alone won’t work. A more definitive threat is needed.

Especially since that sloth guy is a thief trying to snatch my precious meal.

I aimed my crossbow at the sloth slowly creeping toward me.

Killing it outright felt a bit much, so I planned to fire a bolt into the ground just to threaten it.

Seueuk- seuk-

’...Seriously frustrating.’

Delaying so much time because of a single slowpoke like this.

If I had a cruel personality, I would have put a blowhole straight through its head.

But the sloth hadn’t inflicted any direct harm on me.

The animals I had killed up until now were beasts that had threatened my life.

I aimed the crossbow at the dirt ground and pulled the trigger, ensuring it wouldn’t hit the sloth.

Piing! Pa-ak!

The crossbow bolt flew at rapid speed and embedded itself into the dirt.

The sloth lowered its head in slow motion.

Then, after staring intently at the bolt stuck in the ground, it raised its head once more.

Neurit- neurit-

"Driving me crazy."

Just what the hell was inside that bastard’s head?

Even after I went this far, it had no intention of retreating whatsoever.

Frustrated in the end, I asked the Gallery for help.

Title: Someone tell me how to chase this bastard away

Wild Grylls

(Video of the approaching sloth)

It keeps eyeing my fish. Even after I picked it up and moved it to a tree, it’s still doing that.

I even threatened it with a crossbow, but it keeps coming steadfastly. Anyone got advice?

ㄴ Heavenly Demon: Quite a persistent fellow. Observe and learn.

ㄴ Sword Matstar: Why not just give it the fish? Feels like it’s gonna keep annoying you.

ㄴ Wild Grylls: Everyone, I want to eat a proper meal too. Wonmo eats better stuff than I do.

ㄴ LOLOLOL

ㄴ Lmao

ㄴ Seriously tragic LOL

ㄴ Why is that bastard like that? Is there something in the fish?

ㄴ Wild Grylls: Nah, I think it’s doing this because I destroyed its house.

ㄴ Why did you destroy its house?

ㄴ Wild Grylls: I chopped down a tree and turns out that was its home.

ㄴ Does that sloth speak too?

ㄴ Wild Grylls: No, just my intuition haha

ㄴ So it was just complete bull LOL

ㄴ Grylls-ya. Are you gonna become a human who loses even to a sloth?

ㄴ Wild Grylls: That’s not it, but killing it feels a bit much.

ㄴ Just kill it and eat it or give it to Wonmo. That’s better.

ㄴ Wild Grylls: Is that thing tasty?

ㄴ No, heard it tastes terrible. That’s how they survived humans.

ㄴ Allfather: This is my first time seeing a sloth act like that... Fascinating.

ㄴ Professor, even you are seeing this for the first time?

ㄴ Allfather: I am not well-versed in the Forest of the Four Seasons either. I do not even wish to go near it.

There wasn’t any particularly helpful advice.

Most of them were along the lines of "Why not just kill the sloth?"

However, sloths tasted terrible and had lousy hide that wouldn’t even sell.

It might be fine if Wonmo ate it, but dealing with the aftermath was bothersome too.

’Still, I can’t just give up the fish.’

Seeing that insane tenacity, even if it took time, it would definitely steal the fish eventually.

Throwing away a chance to have a proper meal after so long?

Not a chance. I loaded a bolt and aimed it at the sloth.

This time, instead of the ground, I intended to target it so it would serve as a clear threat.

No matter how sluggish the guy was, it would surely feel danger if a bolt whizzed right past its head.

’If it dies by mistake, well...’

Wouldn’t I feel a little sorry?

I aimed next to the head of the sloth that was slowly stepping forward.

The moment it took another step, I pulled the trigger without delay.

Ping!

The bolt grazed narrowly past the sloth’s head.

Even though it had almost died, the guy’s expression remained utterly laid-back.

Did it really not know it almost died, or was it just because it was slow?

Now it felt so brazen that a dry laugh escaped me.Read the latest chapters at n⁠ovelping.com.

’This won’t work.’

I discarded the option of threatening it to chase it away.

It needed a blowhole in its body to come to its senses.

I had to go hunt Golden Frogs right now, but too much time had been delayed.

Steeling my heart, I aimed for the sloth’s shoulder.

The bolt was already loaded. All that remained was firing.

’Don’t ever come back.’

Muttering those words internally, I pulled the trigger.

There was no hesitation. I had already given it multiple chances.

Piing!

The bolt flew like an arrow. Its trajectory pointed precisely at the sloth’s shoulder.

It was a force that even an owlbear had gone wild after taking one hit.

If its hide was thinner than an owlbear’s, it would probably be pierced through.

Right. If things went according to my expectations, that should have been normal.

Swish!

If only the sloth hadn’t slightly twisted its body to dodge.

Right before the bolt could strike, it dodged by a hair’s breadth.

Far from being slow, it was an immensely agile movement.

"Huh?"

Witnessing that sight in real-time, I had no choice but to let out a foolish noise.

What did I just see? Did I see a sloth dodge a bolt?

My fluster at the utterly unbelievable reality lasted only a moment before I hastily loaded another bolt.

Just now must have been a fluke. It was so slow that I simply failed to predict it properly.

Reassuring myself, I aimed the crossbow once more. The sloth was still displaying slow movements.

Piing!

The crossbow bolt fired once more, and—

Swish!

As if proving it wasn’t a delusion, the sloth dodged the bolt with nimble movements.

This was absurd enough, but what was even more ridiculous was the guy’s next action.

As if nothing had happened, it approached this way with dull, sluggish steps.

’...It’s dangerous.’

I narrowed my eyes in vigilance. This guy was definitely not someone to take lightly.

It actually saw the bolt and dodged it. And with extremely simple movements at that.

The speed of a bolt leaving the bowstring was extremely fast. Just seeing it with your eyes and reacting was a difficult feat in itself.

Title: Can anyone here actually dodge a bolt by watching it with their eyes?

Wild Grylls

Isn’t that hard? Please answer excluding Heavenly Demon and Sword Matstar-nim.

ㄴ Heavenly Demon: Why art thou excluding this one?

ㄴ Wild Grylls: Because if I ask Heavenly Demon-nim, I feel like I’ll only get "It’s easy" as an answer.

ㄴ Heavenly Demon: Thou knowest this one well now. How gratifying.

ㄴ Sword Matstar: It’s surprisingly easy. You literally just look and dodge.

ㄴ Wild Grylls: Whew...

ㄴ Rather than looking and dodging, you have to predict the trajectory.

ㄴ Yeah, and you have to watch the archer’s hands carefully. Then it’s pretty easy.

ㄴ Easy my ass LOL It lodges the moment the archer releases the string.

ㄴ Most guys saying it’s easy are probably holding shields LOL

ㄴ Busted, k

ㄴ But why are you asking that?

ㄴ Wild Grylls: A sloth saw a bolt and dodged it.

ㄴ ???

ㄴ ????

ㄴ What kind of bullshit is that again?

ㄴ Wild Grylls: I wish it were bullshit too.

Even when asking the Gallery, the replies came back saying it was difficult.

They said the speed of a bolt leaving the bowstring couldn’t be tracked by ordinary human eyes.

And since I claimed a sloth did such a thing, nobody believed me.

’Even seeing it with my own eyes, I can’t believe it.’

Meanwhile, the sloth drew even closer.

Gauging the distance roughly, it was about 10 meters away.

At this distance, seeing it with your eyes and dodging should be impossible.

Soon, I aimed the loaded crossbow at the sloth.

Now that it was proven to be a dangerous entity, there would be no more mercy.

’This time, let’s aim for the head.’

Without a single inch of hesitation, I pulled the trigger straight away.

The instant the trigger was pulled, the sharp bolt was launched toward the sloth’s head.

At this rate, the bolt would pierce the center of its head, ending its life.

But this was the Forest of the Four Seasons—an environment where all sorts of bizarre flora and fauna inhabited.

Snatch!

"...My god. Crazy."

The sloth snatched the bolt fired at its face right out of the air with its hand.

Following that, it slowly lowered the hand obscuring its face and stared at me blankly.

The guy’s overwhelmingly laid-back expression seemed to say to me:

-Slow.

Or something to that effect.