I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 291

Fucking miserable.

No phrase was better suited to describe my current state of mind.

Honestly, I wanted to use even harsher language, but I held back since things hadn’t hit absolute rock bottom.

Though the main cave collapsed, at least the forge and warehouse hadn’t caved in.

Had those collapsed as well, I would’ve spammed words starting with the letter ’F’.

’Still, it doesn’t change how frustrating this is.’

Looking at the corpses strewn helplessly around, I let out a deep sigh.

Starting from the giant stag beetle corpse, to the bone-armored dinosaur, and finally the mole monster corpse.

Each one was so massive that clearing them out would take an eternity.

The bigger problem was that these three likely weren’t the end of it.

If another Hunter attacked while I was cleaning up, all my effort would go down the drain.

With so much to do that I couldn’t focus on anything, I sighed again and accessed the Gallery.

They say true craziness leaves you seeing no way out compared to fake busywork, and that couldn’t be truer.

Title: My house collapsed, fuck

Wild Grylls

(Photo of stag beetle corpse)

(Photo of bone-armored dinosaur)

(Photo of mole monster)

(Photo of collapsed cave)

First a stag beetle flew in and destroyed my cave.

Next a dinosaur popped out, and then a mole swallowed me from underground.

Somehow killed them all, but these guys might not be the last, and I have to rebuild my home, so I’m feeling pretty miserable.

Heard it’s because I can’t refine/contain my aura properly, attracting prey, so it’s probably gonna get worse from here;;

L Heavenly Demon: Didst thou slay them all by thine own power alone?

L Wild Grylls: I landed most of the finishing blows, but I got help from my party.

L Heavenly Demon: Splendid. At the very least, thy offensive power is quite remarkable.

L Sword Matstar: You got swallowed? How did you kill it then?

L Wild Grylls: It gulped me down in one bite, so I just raised hell inside until it spat me out. Ripped its mouth apart while I was at it.

L Sword Matstar: Impressive. Ah, I’m not being sarcastic, I mean it. Usually, people panic when swallowed and can’t do anything.

L Isn’t it because they get chewed to death by teeth, not panic?

L I heard creatures like that usually have super strong stomach acid;;

L At this point, hasn’t Grylls adapted brilliantly to the Forest of the Four Seasons?

L Yeah seems so. No matter how you look at it, that guy is the weirdest creature there lol

L I think it’s only been two months lol

L Allfather: Haaah... Haaah... So many research materials...!

L The pervert professor is here again

L Tbf he only posts stuff that would make a scholar flip out lol

L But aren’t giant insects like stag beetles common?

L There are some, but not with arms and legs like a human.

L Do all of those monsters have Inner Cores?

L Wild Grylls: Don’t know yet. Need to dissect them to find out, but that’ll take too much time.

L Praise the Sun: What are you gonna do with the dinosaur corpse? Put it on the auction house?

L Wild Grylls: Have to dissect it first. That bone armor barely got cut even by Heavenly Demon-nim’s sword.

L Heavenly Demon: What? It was not cut even by the sword given by this seat?

L Wild Grylls: Yeah. So I used aura like a giant club and beat it to death.

L That sounds even weirder;;

L Using aura like a club lmao

L Passing Dwarf: You’re gonna suffer if you want to build a sturdy house.

L Wild Grylls: Do you happen to know a way to build sturdily?

L Passing Dwarf: Plenty, but since it’s the Forest of the Four Seasons, it’s totally pointless. It’ll just get knocked down constantly lol

L Wild Grylls: Still, wouldn’t Dwarves have their own unique construction methods?

L Passing Dwarf: Not my specialty. Plus, monsters of that scale popping up constantly makes any building futile lol

L What about building a fortress wall out of bricks?

L Wouldn’t there be lots of flying monsters too?

L Then guess you’re fucked lol

So there’s really no answer. I let out a sigh.

If monsters like this keep popping up regularly, it’s going to be a huge headache.

But I couldn’t just not build a house; winter comes every four weeks. And a winter filled with frequent avalanches at that.

For that reason alone, shelter was essential. Sleeping outside meant becoming a corpse the next morning.

"...For now, let’s roughly clear those away."

I dragged the corpses of the attackers into one spot.

Every single one was massive, so just moving them was an exhausting chore.

The work didn’t end there. They surely housed ’Inner Cores’ as well.

Furthermore, various byproducts could be utilized, making dissection mandatory.

’Especially the dinosaur’s bone armor; that’ll come in handy for many things.’

I was fine since I had Body-Protecting Gangqi, but it would be very useful for the others, especially Largo.

Think of it like barding for a horse. Largo’s body was just too big.Get faster updates on NovelPing.

’Besides, his surface area is huge, making him an easy target.’

Just look at that long neck. If that snaps once, it’s game over.

"Ahjussi, if I craft armor, will you wear it?"

"If you make it."

"What about you, Lackey?"

"Not particularly."

Looks like I only need to craft armor for Ludwig.

But the dinosaur corpse was way too big, making things tricky from the start.

Dissecting it whole would take far too long, but doing it little by little meant leaving the rest exposed for too long.

Beside the smell of blood attracting predators, decay was a serious concern.

’I should get help from the goblins.’

I asked Lackey to take Ggansu and request assistance from the tribe.

Framing it as offering them bone armor in exchange for helping with dissection.

"I’m off."

"Yeah. Take this with you just in case."

I handed Lackey a bottle of Elixir.

Given the nature of the Forest of the Four Seasons, you never knew what might happen along the way.

Having decided how to handle the dinosaur, what remained were the stag beetle and the mole.

Kwaddeudeuk- Kwadeuk- Chwaak!

Wrapping my entire body in Body-Protecting Gangqi, I rummaged through the interior of the stag beetle.

The sensation on my hands and the foul stench made me grimace.

Still, finding the Inner Core didn’t take long. It was located where the heart would be on a human.

’The size... is pretty damn big.’

The Inner Core was the size of a ping-pong ball.

Compared to the fish Inner Cores which were pill-sized, this was significantly larger.

As Lackey mentioned earlier, Hunters roamed around without maintaining specific territories.

Since it must have devoured creature after creature to survive, a large Inner Core made total sense.

’It evolved from a normal insect into a human-like form, so nothing is surprising.’

More important was dissecting the bone-armored dinosaur. I planned to dump the stag beetle corpse.

I barely had storage space, and I had no intention of eating insect meat.

"Nyam nyam nyam. Nyam."

Wageujak. Wajak. Wajak.

"...Is it tasty?"

Let me correct that. I decided to use it as snacks for Wonmo and Tyranno.

As soon as I pulled out the Inner Core, the little guys eagerly started munching on it.

Both were omnivores, so it wasn’t strange. As long as they didn’t get stomachaches, it was fine.

Next, I dissected... actually no, I didn’t dissect the mole. I was really going to throw this one away.

’Because when I broke out from the inside, I scooped up its Inner Core while I was at it.’

Thanks to getting swallowed in one gulp, I had been able to get right next to its Inner Core.

I ripped out its Inner Core right then and there before escaping. No wonder the damn thing died instantly.

[Wild Grylls: Allfather-nim. In the photo I uploaded earlier, there’s a mole. Should I give that to you? I don’t need it.]

[Allfather: Of course, I would be delighted! But is that really a mole?]

[Wild Grylls: It burst out from underground, so I’m treating it as a mole for now. Even though it lacks hind legs.]

[Allfather: I see. However, I cannot think of an appropriate compensation at the moment...]

[Wild Grylls: I’m just dumping my trash anyway, so you don’t need to give me anything.]

[Allfather: Still, to me this is more precious than gold, so I shall contact you soon.]

[Wild Grylls: Got it. But it’s pretty massive, so make sure you secure enough space first.]

I gifted the mole to Allfather. I wasn’t particularly asking for compensation.

The more research Allfather did, the more information I could gain about the creatures in the Forest of the Four Seasons.

Rather than direct compensation, I needed information. Especially since creatures like this were bound to pop up frequently in the future.

’I have zero clue what kind of beast will show up next.’

A stag beetle, a dinosaur, and finally something mole-like.

Not to mention species, even their evolutionary paths were entirely unique.

I stored the stag beetle’s Inner Core in the warehouse and opened the Auction House.

Since I had to rebuild the house first, I planned to start doing the groundwork right now.

Kuuung! Kung!

"...Ah, seriously."

"Another comes."

But at the feeling of yet another tremor, profanity almost spilled from my lips.

Ludwig also let out a groan akin to a lament, clearly growing sick of this.

Lackey and Wonmo, who were happily munching on the stag beetle, raised their heads as they felt the vibration.

And then...

Kwaddeudeuk! Kwadeuk!

From the direction of the densely tangled trees, the entity causing the tremors revealed itself.

The first thing that caught my eye was a lion’s head. That is, the head of an actual lion.Get faster updates on novelp​ing.com.

And below that head... was a human torso.

To be more precise, it looked like a fifty-fifty mashup of human and beast traits.

"...Beastfolk?"

[It appears... to be Beastfolk.]

"It’s Beastfolk... but..."

It was a Beastfolk. I had occasionally seen pictures of Beastfolk posted on the Gallery.

A race categorized into bestial-type Beastfolk, who were closer to animals, and humanoid-type Beastfolk, who were closer to humans.

The monster standing before us had a lion-like head, leaning closer to a bestial Beastfolk.

’But something is...’

The issue was its physical state—specifically, its wounds. Its whole body was covered in severe injuries.

Whether it hadn’t cared for itself at all or had suffered some disaster—

Blood dripped continuously, forming crusty scabs, and its intestines were literally spilling out from its abdomen.

On top of that, its neck was twisted at a grotesque angle. It looked like a walking corpse.

"Kuuuawuuuuah!!!"

Yet its physical movements were anything but a corpse’s.

The lion Beastfolk—no, the monstrosity—screamed and sprinted right at me.

Watching its exposed entrails sway back and forth was deeply morbid, but one thing was certain.

This bastard was targeting me too. I had no choice but to take it down.

Buung!

Aside from its savage momentum, its wild movements were far too wide. Even I could dodge them with ease.

Tiing!

Even when it accidentally clipped me, it didn’t matter. My Body-Protecting Gangqi blocked it all.

Its strength was immense, but... it felt like it couldn’t properly control its own body.

Its ragged, broken body made it feel remarkably alien compared to the monsters I had met so far.

’Is this a case where it ran out of mana and couldn’t regenerate?’

That might be it. I immediately manifested aura upon the Sword of the Heavenly Demon.

[Strange. Why does it not feel like a living being? Its roars are odd as well.]

Cain’s questioning voice echoed in my ear, but I brushed it aside for now. What mattered right now was the lion abomination.

As the lion abomination charged while howling, I lightly thrust the sword forward.

Puuk!

My aura stabbed directly into the lion abomination’s neck.

Any living creature, especially an animal, would freeze or falter when stabbed through the throat.

"Kkuaawuuuaak!!"

"W-What the hell..."

But not this creature. Faltering be damned, it just kept lunging at me.

Consequently, the aura lodged in its throat dug deeper, and my movements sped up.

Just as its razor-sharp claws closed in right in front of me—

Chwaak!

I slashed my blade with full force, severing its neck.

Not completely sliced off, but cut enough for the head to dangle loosely.

No matter how strong a beast was, a mortal wound like that should result in instant death.

Kuuung!

It was just as I expected. The lion abomination collapsed to the ground the moment its neck was sliced.

It was much easier than the previous ones. Did it really just throw itself at me in a desperate suicide charge?

"Cain-ssi. You said this thing didn’t feel like a living creature?"

[Didn’t its eyes lack focus? And it wasn’t blind either.]

Was that so? Feeling suspicious, I approached the lion abomination.

Strangely, the blood flowing from its neck was overwhelmingly sparse.

Normally, it should be spouting like a fountain or gushing out like a turned-on tap.

’What’s going on? Something feels uneasy...’

Hwiik!

Right as that deeply uneasy feeling began to creep over me—

The lion abomination, which I assumed was dead, suddenly swung its arm!

Completely taken aback by this action, I nearly fell flat on my ass.

"W-What the fuck?!"

While I panicked, the lion abomination slowly stood back up.

Its neck, dangling halfway off, presented an utterly terrifying sight.

Jwaak!

But taking it one step further into horror, the lion abomination grabbed its own head and ripped it off!

While my mind froze in disbelief at the surreal sight—

Puaaaaak!

As if letting out a blood-curdling screech, blood erupted furiously from the lion abomination’s severed neck.

Paaang!!

And it hurled its own detached head straight at me!