I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 293

Maybe it was time to call it a day. That thought crossed my mind when I brought down the crow and returned to the Shelter.

The crow that had abducted me without a sound. It was a baffling moment, but I used my wits to overcome the crisis.

Thanks to that, I also obtained the corpse of a crow with its wings ripped out. The body count was steadily rising.

"Ahjussi."

"Speak."

"Do you think we could fly in the sky with these wings?"

I pointed at the crow wing that was larger than my entire torso.

Ludwig looked at the wings, which were far larger than his own torso, then looked back at me.

"Are you serious?"

"Vanir can fly with that massive body, so shouldn’t it be possible for us too?"

"Bbi-ik?"

Perhaps because his mother was mentioned, Tyranno reacted.

Thanks to eating and sleeping well, Tyranno’s body was growing noticeably larger.

Tyranno’s wings were also quite large compared to his torso.

Besides, he was so heavy. Day by day, it felt like the kid was turning into a pig.

’Still, he can fly, at least.’

The same went for Wonmo. It felt like they were growing together.

"You’re going insane."

Ludwig retorted scathingly. Feeling embarrassed for no reason, I scratched my head.

Call it the wings of Icarus; I just wanted to re-enact the story from mythology.

Sounds stupid? I know. But just as Ludwig said, my mind was gradually growing dizzy.

’If I keep repeating this routine, I won’t even be able to rest properly in the Shelter.’

This was the biggest problem. Monsters attacking day in and day out.

Even attacking from the ground, underground, and from the sky. They ambushed whenever there was an opening, without discriminating against any location.

At least, as a stroke of luck amidst misfortune, I wasn’t physically exhausted.

Not only was there a clear strategy for each monster, but I also had the help of my companions.

However,

’Physical stamina aside, it’s a problem mentally.’

Ever since I was swallowed by that mole monster, my mental fortitude had taken a severe hit.

If I had just arrived in the Forest of the Four Seasons, I would have fallen into a panic.

The lion mutant—no, the parasite—and the giant crow took it a step further.

It felt like a flare signaling that there would be no more comfortable days for me.

’Hunters roam here and there, so do they just not care about the gazes of the regional rulers?’

Even though Tyranno—that is, a hatchling—was present, those creatures showed no fear.

Setting aside the lion mutant since it was a parasite, the other creatures all charged without a care in the world.

As if even a dragon’s wrath meant nothing in another territory.

’In reality, that’s probably true.’

Every single one of them possessed an inner core.

Which meant they possessed at least a baseline level of intelligence.

I let out a long sigh and started with the cleanup first.

"Ahjussi. Did you bury all those bugs?"

"I buried them."

"Then let’s pluck the crow’s feathers. We can use them as fletching for arrows."

Because the crow was so massive, even its feathers were huge.

I planned to collect all of these and ask the goblins for a favor.

I would make the arrowheads myself, so I’d ask them to craft just the fletching.

If nothing else, I didn’t have the time to craft arrows from scratch. Everything I’d done so far was just swapping out arrowheads.

"Master. We are back."

"Kkirik. Kkiririk."

"Kuruka namuka?"

"Okaka! Okaka!"

While plucking feathers one by one, Lackey brought the goblins over.

The goblins showed various reactions upon seeing the monsters we had slain.

Well, since every single one of them had been a total headache, I could understand them reacting that way.

"First, what you guys need to do is butcher this dinosaur. Its bone armor is extremely hard, you see?"

Since Lackey hadn’t gotten used to the goblin language yet, Cain translated the long sentences instead.

The goblins listened to my words, glanced at the bone-armored dinosaur, and nodded without complaint.

"Kereuk. Keraku!"

"Oraka! Kkirikura karu!"

The goblins moved in orderly fashion at my direction.

Since the dinosaur was so large, securing a suitable flat area came first.

Thanks to the chaos caused by the recent attackers, securing a wide, flat space wasn’t difficult.

"By the way, have you guys ever butchered an animal this big before?"

Watching them work so skillfully, a question arose in my mind.

Considering the capabilities of the hobgoblins, if they all rushed it together, they could easily take one down.

Furthermore, unlike our group, the goblins were warriors who had worked together from start to finish.

Since time immemorial, numbers won every fight; it was highly probable the goblins had hunted similar things before.

"Karuta makakki."

[He says they’ve done it a few times.]

Cain translated the hobgoblin’s words. It was just as expected.

"But why aren’t you butchering?"

[But why aren’t you butchering?]This chapter was copied from novelping . com without permission.

"Koka kkuraku."

[I am the supervisor.]

"...."

He talked like he was some kind of safety supervisor.

Well, still, it was a logical role assignment. With other creatures ambushing from time to time, keeping watch on the surroundings was essential.

While the goblins dismantled the dinosaur bit by bit, I plucked the crow feathers.

I planned to hand these over and receive arrows in return.

"Ah. Right. The entrails go into the river up there. Throw them in there."

Fortunately, no hunters ambushed us during the entire butchering process.

Was it because there were many of us, or had all the nearby hunters been wiped out?

Perhaps they would come at night instead of during the day. I’d rather they all swarm at once in the morning.

"Kkiruka kaneubu?"

[He asks if they are taking all of this.]

"Not all of it. We have stuff we need to use too, so take a reasonable amount. Ah, and you guys know how to make arrows, right? I’ll give you these feathers, so make arrows and give them to me. I’ll give a few to you guys too."

Dismantling the bone-armored dinosaur finished quickly thanks to the goblins’ skilled labor.

The entrails were all dumped, and the meat was sliced up nicely.

However, because the quantity was so vast, I kept the high-quality cuts for myself and gave the rest to the goblins.

Anyway, just the high-quality cuts were enough to fill the storage to the brim, so food wasn’t a worry.

’Come to think of it, where do these guys get their salt?’

A question arose as I handed over the meat. Salt was an essential item for survival.

As for me, I could obtain infinite salt thanks to the Gallery, but they couldn’t.

Even if it wasn’t pure salt, there had to be another way for them to consume sodium.

’Don’t tell me it was in that bug dish I ate last time?’

Even if it wasn’t bug dishes, they gathered all kinds of medicinal herbs, so it wouldn’t be strange.

Not to mention that things inhabiting the Forest of the Four Seasons were fundamentally rich in nutrients.

Rich to the point where bodies grew abnormally large.

"Kkuara."

After finishing the butchering of the bone-armored dinosaur, the hobgoblin walked over and held something out to me.

It was an inner core the size of a ping-pong ball. As expected, the dinosaur also possessed an inner core.

Whatever else I might give up, I had no intention of yielding the inner core.

"Give that to me, and the rest is..."

I checked the state of affairs as most of the butchering wrapped up.

Realizing time would be tight after finishing the dinosaur, I moved efficiently.

I extracted feathers and an inner core from the crow, and just an inner core from the mole.

After doing so, the sun was gradually starting to set. The timing was perfect.

If left abandoned like this, other beasts would smell the corpse and gather.

Obtaining more byproducts would be nice, but I had verified multiple times that giving up was better than taking unnecessary risks.

I briefly stared at the dinosaur corpse, which now consisted of nothing but bones and scraps of flesh. I wanted to list it on the auction house.

...The head portion, which had been turned into mush after I struck it repeatedly with my aura club, felt a bit much, so I dumped it in the river.

Of course, putting even this much on the auction house would cause an uproar.

"Register immediately."

Who cares? My survival comes first.

I initiated the registration process on the auction house for the tattered dinosaur corpse.

’Mm... wait a minute.’

And right before pressing the final register button, I flinched. The winning bid price of the dinosaur corpse from last time suddenly crossed my mind.

It didn’t just exceed pocket money; it was an amount matching the ’budget’ of a large corporation.

Furthermore, money once deposited into the Gallery couldn’t be withdrawn.

Which meant it could essentially be thrown away. It was pretty unfair.

’Is there no method to give it randomly?’

I didn’t know if such a feature existed, but I should ask Orange Badge.

While the goblins prepared to leave, I sent a message to Orange Badge.

[Wild Grylls: Hello, Orange Badge-nim. I have something to ask, is that alright?]

[Don’t Abandon the Hero: Ah! Hello! Yes! What are you curious about!]

Whenever I saw her, I couldn’t help but think she had a bright personality. According to what I heard from Ludwig, she really was cheerful in person.

After smiling warmly for a moment, I asked about the auction system.

[Wild Grylls: It’s nothing else, but regarding the auction house. I caught a dinosaur today?]

[Don’t Abandon the Hero: Did you travel back to the Paleozoic era?! Earlier you caught a giant stag beetle too!]

[Wild Grylls: You sure are good at joking. Anyway, disposing of it is troublesome, so I’m planning to post it on the auction house, you see?]

[Don’t Abandon the Hero: Yes! Then you’ll make an astronomical amount of money again!]

[Wild Grylls: That’s true, but from what I see, if I post this, it’s going to cause an uproar again.]

[Don’t Abandon the Hero: It’s beyond an uproar! I heard rumors that scholars from all over the world are heading to Setan right now!]

I had heard about it in the Gallery too. Scholars from across the globe flooded into Setan just to catch a glimpse of the dinosaur carcass.

If that was all, it would be fine, but I also heard rumors that a massive number of people went broke after sinking astronomical sums into it.

It was probably because it really held that much value, but the fact that it was an asteroid-impact-level event remained unchanged.

’Seriously, someone might go bankrupt just because of this single item.’

So I asked Orange Badge.

If there was a feature to award the winning bid by ’luck’ rather than ’money’.

At this rate, quite a few people would end up kicked out onto the streets.

[Don’t Abandon the Hero: I think I understand what you’re worried about! Actually, a feature like that does exist!]

[Wild Grylls: Oh. Then would it be possible?]New chapters come out on novelp‌ing.com first.

[Don’t Abandon the Hero: It’s possible, but I object!]

[Wild Grylls: Huh?]

Orange Badge, who usually granted almost any request, flatly rejected it this time.

Surprised, I listened as Orange Badge brought up a point that made total sense.

[Don’t Abandon the Hero: Investing that kind of money means they are mostly people of high status! What do you think would happen if an ordinary or poor person luckily won the dinosaur carcass?]

[Wild Grylls: It would draw attention? Then that person could just sell it at an auction.]

[Don’t Abandon the Hero: That would be nice, wouldn’t it! But the moment word spreads, sinister hands reaching out is a given! What Grylls-nim is offering would be nothing short of a poisoned chalice!]

I hadn’t thought that far. Listening to Orange Badge’s words, I nodded.

A poisoned chalice. There was no better expression than that.

The world wasn’t easygoing. The world I used to live in was the exact same way.

’It’s the same logic as a restaurant that became famous through TV broadcasts collapsing because it couldn’t handle the sudden surge in popularity.’

That was why restaurants that were already doing well often refused TV broadcasts.

They were already doing well, so there was no need to advertise.

[Wild Grylls: Then is it better to just list it on the auction house as usual? It seems like a lot of people will go broke... and you can’t even withdraw money from the Gallery.]

[Don’t Abandon the Hero: It’s better than a person’s life being put in danger!]

[Wild Grylls: Tsk. Understood.]

In the end, I had no choice but to list it on the auction house as usual.

Just as Orange Badge said, losing money was better than having one’s life threatened.

Before long, shortly after I listed it on the auction house, the price began to surge exponentially.

It felt unsettling, like dropping a meteor, but for me, this method was the best option.

’The next thing to do is....’

Contacting the Dwarf. To craft bone armor.

Fortunately, the Dwarf was at his post, as he replied to my message immediately.

[Passing Dwarf: Make armor out of bone? Honestly speaking, that’s a bit difficult.]

[Wild Grylls: Why?]

[Passing Dwarf: How am I supposed to know when I don’t even know that guy’s measurements? Besides, it’s bone, so once it breaks, repairing it is tough. Just slap it together roughly and call it a day.]

Slap it together roughly and call it a day. Of course, if I was going to do that, crafting it out of Mythricon was better.

It was the opinion of an expert among experts, so I couldn’t ignore it.

In reality, even if bone was hard, once it broke, repairing it was difficult.

Perhaps because it came as a set with leather, crafting it into clothing wouldn’t be too hard, though.

[Wild Grylls: Then just craft it roughly like clothes. I’ll measure his size with a tape measure and come back.]

[Passing Dwarf: As clothes, it doesn’t matter. Ah, and I’ll give you a gift. I made it with the fruits you gave me last time.]

The Dwarf gave me a gift while he was at it. Fruit wine crafted from World Tree fruits.

I thought he would give me one bottle at most, but he sent three whole bottles.

I had given him quite a few World Tree fruits, but I hadn’t expected this much.

’Someone might come at night, so let’s just drink one glass each.’

Of course, I didn’t drink alone; I gave a glass to each of the other goblins as well.

"Kiya!"

"Kyaa!"

"Oowak!"

Everyone showed a satisfied reaction. True to liquor directly brewed by a Dwarf, it had a tremendous flavor.

A beverage suitable to drink after hard labor. Very satisfying.

Taking a single puff of a cigar at the end would have been icing on the cake, but I passed on that.

’It’s sweet. Barely any drunkenness, either.’

After wrapping up all the general work like that, darkness settled in.

While darkness fell, no other monsters ambushed us.

Whether this was a reward for all the hard work we suffered through, or the calm before the storm, nobody knew.

’Please, I just hope they don’t come at night.’

Lackey’s house, which we ended up using temporarily.

I planned to stay here until a new house was built.

Since all our companions gathered in one place, it was crowded, but I didn’t care in the slightest.

"We should... stand night guard too, right?"

"We should."

The wilderness was far more dangerous at night than during the day.

Although it was mostly time for sleeping, one or two nocturnal creatures might come prowling around.

To prevent that, a night guard was necessary, but....

"...."

"You’re standing guard?"

Nod—

Bbareumbo stated that he would stand night guard himself.

I was puzzled for a moment, then recalled the time with the saber-toothed tiger.

Back then, only Bbareumbo had noticed its approach.

Seeing that, it seemed he possessed some kind of outstanding instinct.

"Alright. But don’t overdo it."

I entrusted the night guard duty to Bbareumbo and fell asleep. Fortunately, the night passed without any commotion.

And so, the next morning.

"...Ggansu-ya?"

"Kkirik?"

"Are you in a growth spurt?"

Ggansu had evolved into a Hobgoblin.

What the hell was this?