I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 308

Flustered. That was my feeling upon seeing the message displayed before my eyes.

A Gallery maintenance conducted without any warning. It was a completely unexpected turn.

Ah, let me correct that. It wasn’t entirely unexpected. Someone had mentioned it in passing before.

In the distant past, it was daily routine for the Gallery to go under maintenance at the drop of a hat, but now the frequency had relatively decreased.

However, just because the frequency decreased didn’t mean they didn’t do maintenance at all.

I just never imagined that timing would be right now.

’They should have at least announced in advance when they were doing maintenance...’

I clicked my tongue.

I didn’t know who ran the Gallery, but one thing was certain.

’They really run this shit like garbage.’

At the very least, they should inform us of the maintenance dates.

I tried connecting to the Gallery a few times before giving up with a sigh.

Not just me, but other people would also be unable to connect.

The silver lining in all this misfortune was that it was currently winter.

’If it had been under maintenance during a real crisis...’

Just imagining it was horrific.

In truth, there were many situations we couldn’t have overcome without the Gallery’s help.

A primary example was the case of the Immortal Herb Colossus. If we hadn’t obtained oil, we would have suffered greatly.

’Still, food is sufficient.’

Although the Gallery maintenance was flustering, our supplies were sufficient.

The stockpiled food could last for at least a month or more, and various materials were similarly abundant.

However, it wasn’t as if there were no problems at all. There was one particularly huge issue.

’Of all times, I returned the items to Princess Chaenggu right as winter started.’

The fact was that there was no telling how long the maintenance would continue.

According to the information I had overheard, it could end in a single day, or it could be under maintenance for a whole week.

If it turned out like that, hell would begin the moment winter ended. Countless monsters would swarm in.

Even if it was winter, we couldn’t rest easy; activity merely decreased, it didn’t stop completely.

’Because there are monsters that don’t hibernate.’

Still, dinosaurs won’t come. They’re reptiles.

As far as I knew, reptiles also hibernated like bears.

’...Wait, do they?’

I turned my head and looked at the two kids who had fallen into hibernation: Wonmo and Tyranno.

The guys who went straight into hibernation the moment they realized winter had arrived.

Just watching them warmed my heart.

"Cain-ssi. Dragons are reptiles, so they hibernate too, right?"

[I cannot give a definitive answer. Most dragons are heavy sleepers to begin with.]

Indeed, even Tyranno’s mother, Vanir, had slept for months to recover.

Furthermore, as could be seen from the armored bone dinosaur, dinosaurs that breathed fire from their entire bodies might appear.

’Whew... First, I need to hold a discussion. It’s frustrating without the Gallery.’

Leaving the two kids who had gone into winter sleep behind, I called the other party members.

This situation was something that couldn’t be easily overlooked; if we were careless, great danger might follow.

"We are fucking doomed now."

"..."

"..."

At the overly graphic expression, all the party members stared at me.

They were glare-filled gazes asking if I really had to say such a thing in a situation like this.

"Ahem. I will correct myself. If things go wrong, we might be fucked."

So I corrected myself. I revealed to the party members that the Gallery could not be accessed.

One way or another, the Gallery had been providing major and minor help to our lives.

Despite repeatedly mentioning that I would lower dependency on it, the reality was that I failed.

Perhaps true survival had now begun.

"The fortunate thing is that food is plentiful and we won’t freeze to death."

[Is that not enough?]

"The problem is when monsters that are tricky to raid appear."

In fact, the very appearance of monsters was dangerous.

The shelter, the blacksmith forge, the charcoal kiln, the food storage, the watchtower, and so on.

The moment the structures we took such effort to build collapsed, we wouldn’t even be able to rebuild them immediately.

’Checking the time isn’t a problem. I’ve just been relying on the Gallery until now.’

I turned my head and checked the clock hanging on the wall.

Even though a harsh winter had arrived, the clock ticked steadily onward.

Even without a clock, when the sun rose, we worked; when it set, we rested.

There would be no situation where the pattern shifted.

’This is more manageable than I thought?’

Unless our food completely vanished, there was no reason to fall into danger.

Even if it vanished, we still had Fasting Pills left.

The Fasting Pills Heavenly Demon gave us were piled up in abundance, so all I needed to do was ask for Bbareumbo’s understanding.

"For now, let’s live as we usually do. However, monsters might raid us, so let’s be extra cautious."

"Mm."

"Understood."

Besides, I was the only one with a problem; the other party members weren’t much different from usual.

If we just spent our daily lives as we usually did, winter would pass in the blink of an eye.

’Yeah. At the very least, we can sufficiently endure winter.’

Steeling my heart, I stepped outside.

There was nothing to do cooped up inside anyway, and we needed firewood to use throughout winter.

’By the way, I wonder if the hobgoblins are doing well?’Find the original chapter at novelpi​ng.com.

I didn’t know how hobgoblins spent the winter.

However, mud huts were fundamentally difficult to heat. Their bones would probably ache from the cold.

Later, when the Gallery maintenance completely finished, I should give bricks to the hobgoblins.

As could be seen from how they constructed the watchtower, those guys lacked technology; they weren’t stupid.

Pak! Pak!

After vigorously chopping firewood, I went inside to rest.

Checking the clock, it wasn’t even lunchtime yet.

At times like this, logging into the Gallery...

"Ah. Right."

It was under maintenance. I had almost logged in out of habit.

In the end, I launched into External Arts training. It was the training method taught to me by Heavenly Demon.

Since it was difficult to do cardio exercise here, I substituted it with other exercises.

’I didn’t know burpee tests were this hard.’

In Central Plains terms... I don’t know. I forgot.

At any rate, I thought it would be hard when I just heard the explanation from Heavenly Demon.

And when I actually tried it, it was fucking hard. Combined with other exercises, it was several times harder.

However, the point of External Arts was that one had to practice steadily and silently.

Like a training method out of some manga, one had to forge oneself with the mindset of vomiting blood.

"Ughhh..."

The moment I finished every process, I collapsed onto the floor. Sweat poured like rain despite it being winter.

I regulated my breathing and barely managed to lift my head to check the clock. It felt like two hours had passed.

’Only one hour passed?’

Not at all. It felt as if time flowed twice as slowly for me alone.

However, the clock did not lie. I just had to accept it as it was.

Leaving my aching muscles behind, I operated my Mental Cultivation Method.

Operating the Mental Cultivation Method right after exercise allowed mana to seep into torn muscle tissues.

Ukssin! Ukssin!

"Ahhh..."

However, that process gifted me no small amount of pain.

It was a side effect caused by the fact that the amount of mana flowing inside me was far too vast.

If it had been anyone else, it would have stopped at a mild sting, but not me.

’It hurts like fucking hell.’

With External Arts training finished, I rose from my spot and headed outside.

Going outside, Ludwig and Lackey were laying bonfires in various places on the ground.

It was to melt the ground that had frozen hard, in case snow fell later.

"Come inside when you’re done. Let’s eat sweet potatoes."

"Mm."

"Sweet! Po! Ta! To!"

Unlike Ludwig, Lackey’s eyes sparkled brightly.

He was a guy who originally liked sweet potatoes, but now it was winter.

It was the season when the taste of sweet potatoes multiplied several times over.

’Still, it’s boring without the Gallery.’

I pondered while munching on a sweet potato.

Accessing the Gallery whenever I had spare time had been my daily routine, but that had vanished.

Ludwig was naturally taciturn by nature and hadn’t adapted to Korean yet.

Lackey wasn’t much different. There was no information to gain, and his past history wasn’t very pleasant.

"So please tell me some fun story."

[You are likely the only one who treats me as a storyteller.]

"To be precise, I treat you like a talking stone statue, you know."

[Aris-isiyeo. Why did you not grant me rest, but entrust me to an infidel like this?]

Cain lamented while engaging in his signature Aris talk.

Seeing his faith toward Aris remain steady even after death, his belief was truly incredible.

’He seems to clearly realize he’s dead, though...’

Not only this, but when going outside, he transformed into a giant stone statue.

I wondered if his soul was truly inside this.

’Since it’s a fantasy world, maybe it’s possible?’

With even the concept of Ascension to Immortality existing, there would be nothing impossible.

More than anything else, I was curious why this person was in the Forest of the Four Seasons.

"Your memories aren’t fully back yet, right? As to why Cain-ssi is in the Forest of the Four Seasons."

[Actually, my memories returned a while ago regarding that part.]

"...Why didn’t you tell me?"

[I forgot. You forgot about it quickly as well.]

They were true words, so I had nothing to say.

Back then, things more important than Cain’s past were scattered everywhere.

"Then could you tell me now?"

[Of course. First, let me nail it down clearly. I am indeed the person called Cain in life. That very Paladin Cain everyone speaks of.]

There was the paradox Cain had mentioned once before—the Ship of Theseus.

Replacing old planks of a ship over and over until the entire ship changed and no original element could be found.

A paradox dealing with essence: whether that ship was truly the exact same ship as before.

"That’s fascinating. Does it mean the mind is what matters?"

[That too, but to be precise, one should view the Forest of the Four Seasons as the strange element.]

"The Forest of the Four Seasons is strange?"

[Indeed. I vividly remember my end. I died in the Forest of the Four Seasons.]Visit novelpin​g.com for the full chapter.

It was astonishing news.

Unlike Aris placing his soul into a stone statue, his end was in the Forest of the Four Seasons.

I wondered if he, like Ludwig, had lost in a political struggle and been semi-forced in here.

However, as someone praised as the first Paladin, that didn’t seem to be the case.

Just seeing how Aris placed his soul into a statue showed that she cherished this man greatly.

"Why did you enter the Forest of the Four Seasons?"

[Because I hoped to meet my end in the place closest to God.]

"Just that?"

[I believe that is more than enough?]

"..."

At this level, wasn’t it fanaticism? Still, I thought he might be like that since he was the first Paladin.

After all, he was the very first human chosen by God. Practically on par with the first Hero.

"So who were you fighting in this forest when you met your end?"

[I achieved Ascension to Immortality.]

"..."

[Perhaps I could be considered your senior!]

Crazy extraordinary. What kind of life had this man lived during his lifetime?

Furthermore, entering the Forest of the Four Seasons should have placed restrictions on mana usage.

Achieving Ascension to Immortality under those conditions—it was only natural that it was hard to easily believe.

"Were you able to use mana?"

[It was impossible at first. After my mana hole was destroyed, it became possible only after acquiring a new mana hole.]

That’s too extreme. It means you can only use it when there’s zero mana inside your body.

I felt slightly dumbfounded listening to his explanation, but brushed it past lightly.

Whatever the case, the fact that he was an extraordinary person remained unchanged.

"Then after Ascension to Immortality, you met Aris and acted inside the statue?"

[That is so. In a way, one could view this stone statue as my new body.]

"What if you couldn’t get a body?"

[I do not know that far either. I entered the body of the stone statue right after Ascension to Immortality.]

"Hmm..."

Something felt uneasy.

It sounded as if even if one achieved Ascension to Immortality, one couldn’t leave the Forest of the Four Seasons.

Cain was the first Paladin, so he received Aris’s attention and gained a new body.

However, I didn’t know about Blood Demon, who was said to have achieved Ascension recently. I was confused whether he had truly escaped, or failed to the very end.

"At that level, couldn’t you have asked for a new body instead of a stone statue?"

[Then wouldn’t there be no reason for me to have achieved Ascension to Immortality? So I asked her to help me protect the Holy Kingdom until I give up.]

"That’s a reason extremely typical of Cain-ssi."

He didn’t have the epithet ’Noble’ attached to him for nothing.

If it were me, I would have gone crazy long ago, but he stubbornly maintained his sense of self. It was truly monster-like willpower.

"Then..."

Just as I was about to ask the next question.

Deudeudeudeu-

The moment a faint vibration occurred,

Kugugugugugu!

Suddenly, the entire ground shook violently.

I was flustered as the earth suddenly vibrated, but quickly took measures.

It could be a surge of monsters, so I woke up the kids who had gone into hibernation first.

"Guys! Wake up, quick!"

"Kkyuu...?"

"Ppi-ik...?"

"Lackey! You fetch Wonmo! I’ll fetch Tyranno!"

If things went wrong, the house might collapse. Before long, we rushed outside.

The moment I stepped outside, I realized one thing.

’This vibration isn’t caused by beasts or monsters.’

The periodicity, and the feeling as well.

I could quickly tell that this was a pure ’earthquake’.

And a strong earthquake level at that. Beyond flustered, I was bewildered by the unseasonal natural disaster.

"F-First, keep your balance..."

"T-There!"

As Ludwig pointed toward the sky, he who was calm in every matter showed such a reaction, meaning something had occurred.

Wondering if flying monsters were raiding, the moment I raised my head...

"...W-What."

I had no choice but to gape my mouth open. That was because...

"The sun is..."

As if demonstrating that space was changing in real-time, the sun was moving in all directions.

Shadows also twisted wildly back and forth due to the sun’s position shifting in real-time.

Here’s the question: with the sky in that shape and state, is the ground safe? Absolutely not.

Jjeojeojeok-

The ground.

On the earth we were treading upon.

Jjeojeojeok!!!

Giant cracks began to form.

An even bigger problem was that the crack was heading straight toward the food storage.

"...Ah, fuck."

We were screwed.