I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 281

The matches concluded with our overwhelming victory.

The hobgoblin chieftain at least put up a decent fight, but the rest were defeated in under a minute.

Naturally, the goblins couldn’t help but be shocked. Hobgoblins were their spear and shield.

I thought that seeing the guardians protecting them collapse helplessly might instil fear in them.

However,

"Ku-waaaaah!"

"U-waaaaah!"

Turns out, no. Instead, they welcomed us with wild cheers.

Whether it was respect for strength or thinking we were on their team,

the goblins stared at us with awe-filled eyes. It was a bit overwhelming.

’A promise is a promise, though.’

Amidst the cheering, I looked at Ggambu. He wore a slightly dissatisfied expression.

Did he want to show off their power on this occasion? I wasn’t sure.

"What about the promise?"

[What about the promise?]

Cain, perched on my shoulder, naturally translated for me.

Ggambu glanced at me, then gestured for me to follow.

He was probably leading me to the hut where Gganmar was. I was a bit excited.

What on earth was that flower that one had to be prepared to face death for?

Soon, we returned to Gganmar, and Ggambu explained everything that happened.

Gganmar stroked his beard in admiration. His gaze toward me changed as a bonus.

"Ak kakura bazkara beukuna."

[Your claim that you would take the Ark was no empty boast.]

"Huh? I didn’t say I’d take it, I said I wanted to see it."

Taking the plant called Ark was a no-go. Instead, he promised to let me see it.

We held the duels as payment for that, but it seemed the terms shifted—in a good way.

However, I had no intention of taking advantage, so I corrected him immediately.

"Keunakeu baneukan heuhaneu. Ak janeuka kakalkki."

[To us, it is the exact same thing. If you wish to lay eyes on the Ark, you must stake your life.]

"...?"

I tilted my head. For a moment, I wondered if this goblin had gone senile.

Considering his apparent age, it wouldn’t have been particularly strange.

However, judging by Ggambu’s reaction, it wasn’t senility. There seemed to be something special about this plant called Ark.

’Just looking at it can kill you? Is it some Medusa-like flower?’

Questions arose, but seeing is believing—I’d know once I saw it myself.

Gganmar conveyed something to Ggambu and nodded. Permission seemed granted.

Ggambu then stood up and walked out of the hut. I followed behind him.

"Keuarakeu buaka kkiggu."

[I warn you in advance: be careful. That place devours even the darkness.]

"Got it."

I didn’t know what it was, but let’s just go. I brought my companions along and followed Ggambu.

Ggambu also brought the hobgoblin chieftain, who was in relatively good shape.

"U-waaaaah!"

"Kyahahaha!"

"Kkyu-uuuu!"

Largo was still standing around grazing on grass, getting along fine with the goblins.

Wonmo and Tyranno were the same. There was no sign of them trying to harm anyone.

"Ahjussi! Ahjussi!"

"Huh?"

"Kamu a teoreu baku?"

Just then, a small goblin came running over to me.

They say everything is cute when young, and it was true. He looked to be about three years old in human terms.

Setting that aside, I couldn’t understand his words, so I asked Cain to translate.

[He is asking: "Ahjussi, ahjussi, can I pet that furball?"]

"If you call me Hyung."

Having already served in the military, I was immune to the word ’Ahjussi.’

Still, what needed correcting should be corrected. I spoke with a smile.

Upon hearing Cain’s translation, the little goblin went "Aha!" and opened his mouth.

"Ahjussi! Ahjussi! Kamu a kang baku?"

"..."

[Do you need translation?]

"Forget it."

The pure malice of children is truly terrifying. It seems to transcend species.

I just told the kid not to be a nuisance and followed Ggambu.

Ggambu headed toward the back of the settlement, bypassing the open square toward the side.

Walking straight along the path beside it, we came across a massive cave.

"Kakurakeu maka hurani."

[This is the place. Here lies the source of our power.]

"In this cave?"

When I pointed inside the cave, Ggambu nodded.

I peered closely into what looked like an ordinary cave.

The inside of the cave was pitch-black to a eerie degree. Not a single sound could be heard.The source of this chapter is novelping dot com.

Still, since goblins knew how to handle fire, exploring the cave itself shouldn’t be an issue.

"Kuarakeu barakeu kkua karukeu."

[It is a cave that devours even darkness. Not only can you not see ahead, but not even sound can be heard.]

"Don’t we have torches?"

At my question, Ggambu smirked dismissively as if it were ridiculous.

He then gestured to the hobgoblin chieftain, requesting something.

As if knowing what Ggambu wanted without an explicit command, the hobgoblin chieftain walked over somewhere.

Deolkeok-

It was a torch hanging on the cave wall. The hobgoblin chieftain tied the torch to a tree vine and handed it over to Ggambu.

Ggambu glanced at me, then tossed the torch inside the cave as if signaling me to watch closely.

Normally, the torch’s light should illuminate the cave interior brightly.

Ssu-uk!

"Huh?"

"Hm?"

However, an unexpected situation unfolded. The torch simply vanished into thin air.

It felt as if the darkness refused to permit even a shred of light.

Seueuk- seuk-

Ggambu slowly pulled the vine tied to the torch. The torch slipped back outside.

As if it had swallowed only the light, the torch’s flame was still flickering brightly.

Additionally, throwing rocks produced no sound whatsoever. In many ways, it was a perilous cave.

’If you get lost in there, you’re genuinely screwed.’

And inside that place grew the flower called Ark. It wasn’t for nothing that they said one had to stake their life.

’So that’s why he said he didn’t care if I just looked.’

If you want to pick it, pick it yourself. But we don’t want to help you.

I felt something didn’t add up earlier, but it was because of this cave.

"Karuka beuna marukona ak."

[If you find the Ark in there, you may use it as you wish.]

"In exchange for my life not being guaranteed, right?"

I crossed my arms and pondered. It was a harder problem than expected.

Tying a rope around my waist before going in would boost survival chances, but it was still scary.

"There aren’t monsters inside, right?"

[There aren’t monsters inside, right?]

"Oka. Mikareu janeuha konyu."

[None. It is a place that drains life as well as darkness.]

It was a truly dangerous cave. A moment of deepening dilemma.

Still, it wasn’t completely pitch-black for me.

Because a spot was twinkling at the far end of that cave.

With high-quality items like Pumpkin Jack Inner Cores, they glowed golden.

’Hm? Wait a second. Could it be?’

Aside from moving toward that light, something occurred to me.

Could it devour even the light emanating from my eyes?

The odds of it devouring it were high, but it was worth giving it a shot first.

So I squeezed my eyes shut and opened them a couple of times while circulating mana.

This was the only way to turn on my Eye Lantern(?).

Pat!

"Keu-ok?!"

"Eok?!"

When light beamed from my eyes, Ggambu and the hobgoblin chieftain gasped in shock. A reaction of ’What the hell is that?!’

Be that as it may, I looked into the cave interior using the beams from my eyes.

"Oh! I can see!"

Though my field of view was limited, the cave interior was clearly visible. I didn’t know why.

Still, good is good. With this, exploring the cave posed no big issue.

"I see nothing."

"Huh? You can’t see?"

"I cannot see. Can you see, Instructor?"

"No."

However, it seemed I was the only one who could see. For the others, the light was swallowed just like the torch.

I turned my Eye Lantern on and off several times, but nothing changed for them.

’Well, whatever. As long as I see fine, that’s all that matters.’

Without hesitation, I stepped into the cave. Of course, I didn’t forget to tie a rope around myself just in case.

I heard Ggambu startle in shock behind me, but ignored it lightly.

Since the inside of the cave was clearly visible to me anyway, there was no chance of getting stranded.

’Wow. But once I came inside, I can’t even hear outside sounds.’

I couldn’t even tell if I was speaking, and even the cave entrance vanished from view.

All I could rely on was my Eye Lantern and the single rope tied around my body.

If a dangerous moment came, I could just tug the rope.

’Still, doesn’t change the fact that this is a total freebie.’

With a slightly tense heart, I examined every nook and cranny of the cave.

Bones were scattered everywhere, perhaps from numerous warriors who entered the cave and failed to escape.

The count was quite high, but I noticed something strange.

’How come I can’t even see a single rat?’This chapter was taken from novеlping.com without permission.

Even in a pitch-black cave like this, life usually finds a way.

Most creatures here would have degraded eyesight or relied on vibrations for sensation.

Yet in this cave, not even a tiny rat was visible—not even bugs.

I wondered if this cave itself was a living creature, maybe even a stomach, but that didn’t seem to be it either.

’There’s no smell at all.’

Vision, smell, hearing, even touch. Not a single sense registered properly.

Thank goodness my vision was fine thanks to the Eye Lantern; otherwise, I would have yanked the rope long ago.

’No, wait. I wouldn’t have even felt the sensation of pulling the rope.’

It was a place where no thoughts came. Perfect for giving up on thinking altogether.

I had no idea what kind of messed-up cave this was, but as long as I got my job done, it was fine.

I silently took steps toward the glowing golden light that grew brighter and brighter.

’Found it.’

Before long, I found a flower twinkling with golden light.

It glittered as if plated in gold leaf, though its actual color was deep red.

Man, what on earth was this flower that it was glowing inside like this?

’There are others too.’

There were actually quite a lot of them. Golden sparkles twinkled everywhere.

If it were up to my heart, I’d harvest them all, but I left some behind just in case.

I could pick more later anyway. No need to be greedy.

’Let’s head back.’

I retraced the rope and moved toward the exit.

Though even the entrance disappeared the moment I stepped in, returning was easy thanks to my Eye Lantern.

"Heave-ho."

"Ugh!"

As soon as I stepped outside, a scream rang out.

Lackey was standing right in front and got blasted full-force by my eye beams.

I hastily turned off my Eye Lantern and checked the Ark held in my hand.

A flower holding a subtle light, distinct from its blood-red color.

"This is it, right?"

"Oh... ohhh...!"

When I held it out to Ggambu, he stared at it with trembling eyes. Looks like this was it.

I should harvest one more later to give to him. I stashed the Ark into my Subspace Backpack.

’Before that, I should post it on the Gallery.’

Identifying what kind of flower this was was crucial.

There was Heavenly Demon, who was knowledgeable about flowers, and the erudite Allfather, who would let me know right away.

Following behind a slightly excited Ggambu, I posted on the Gallery.

Title: Anyone know what this flower is?

Wild Grylls

(Photo of a cave devouring even darkness)

(Photo of a blood-red glowing flower)

Found this flower in a cave where you can’t see anything.

Goblins say this is the source of their power, anyone happen to know what it is?

└ Heavenly Demon: Noble guest? Unless this maiden’s eyes deceive her, what you have found is... a rather dangerous medicinal herb.

└ Wild Grylls: Dangerous?

As expected, Heavenly Demon commented first. But the content was strange.

A dangerous medicinal herb. To think Heavenly Demon, of all people, expressed it like that.

└ Heavenly Demon: By any chance, did you feel the energy in your body draining when harvesting it?

└ Wild Grylls: Uh... well? I was using my Eye Lantern, so I didn’t feel anything like that.

└ Heavenly Demon: Then, did that cave devour even light itself?

└ Wild Grylls: Yeah. Even with a torch I couldn’t see ahead. The light from my eyes worked fine, though.

└ Heavenly Demon: The light from your eyes works because it contains internal energy. And one more thing. Were corpses scattered around the area?

└ Wild Grylls: Lots of corpses, and not a single rat was in sight.

└ Heavenly Demon: What a relief. You were in grave danger.

└ So what on earth is that flower for you to act like that?

└ Anonymous: Yeah, aside from being blood-red, doesn’t it have no special features?

Another user voiced my question on my behalf.

Heavenly Demon didn’t seem inclined to drag things out either, sharing what she knew.

└ Heavenly Demon: The identity of that flower is highly likely to be the Immortal Herb. It is famous for granting the First Emperor a lifespan of 300 years upon ingestion.

└ Sword Matstar: Isn’t that just a typical founding myth? Besides, wasn’t there a rumor that guy was a half-elf?

└ Heavenly Demon: One might think so. However, it is the absolute truth. Though he obtained that longevity in a rather undesirable manner.

└ Allfather: I am also aware of the Immortal Herb. It is a flower that grows by absorbing the life force of its surroundings. Rumors say it even absorbs light itself.

Following Heavenly Demon, even Allfather testified. I felt uncomfortable.

To think this flower was such a dangerous plant. I roughly expected it, but I didn’t realize it was genuinely dangerous.

’By the way, how does Heavenly Demon know about this?’

Curious, I asked her via private message.

[Heavenly Demon: It is a record this maiden chanced upon when taking the head of the previous Emperor.]

[Wild Grylls: Ah. Right.]

Right. This person.

She was a regicide who assassinated the Emperor.