I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 326

Was it the Icon Merchant Guild?

My memory was a bit hazy, but in any case, everyone probably remembered the insect repellent I obtained from that merchant guild.

The story went that the efficacy of that insect repellent became known belatedly, selling like hotcakes.

I wasn’t sure how things were now, but the Icon Merchant Guild kept gifting me insect repellent on a regular basis.

Since then, numerous merchant guilds inquired about sponsoring me, but I turned them down flat out.

Most of them were sending items purely for advertising purposes, and above all, they weren’t ’practical.’

Even the jersey Princess Chaenggu gifted me possessed the advantage of having surprisingly excellent protective capability.

In fact, the jersey solved the ’clothing’ aspect of basic human survival needs, so it was practically an essential.

Even now, I was making great use of the jersey I got from Princess Chaenggu, so there was no need to explain any further.

Thus, offering a sponsorship to me came with terrifying conditions.

[Does it have functionality grand enough to work in the Forest of the Four Seasons?]

For me, survival and escape were priority number zero, and my life hung in the balance in real time.

If I carelessly accepted a defective item and a problem flared up at a critical moment, it would be catastrophic.

If I had multiple lives, maybe it’d be different, but I only had one like everyone else. Therefore, exercising extreme caution was only natural.

After realizing that inquiring with me was high risk, high reward, news from merchant guilds thinned out as well.

Above all, for most items, trading with fixed-handles or buying them at the auction house was more than enough.

[Wild Grylls: Please don’t go getting hit by arrows, but you mean the functionality is that impressive?]

[Not Really Spam Ad Team: Absolutely. We can stake our guild’s fate on it.]

In that situation, a fixed-handle I’d never seen before called the Cheonjam Merchant Guild contacted me.

They offered to make clothes for me out of fabric they newly invented, asking me to wear them.

In a way, it was a simple sponsorship approach, but at the same time, it was dangerous.

If it turned out that the performance fell short, their credibility would be completely destroyed.

’Given that they’re staking their guild’s fate on it, it doesn’t seem like a lie....’

I searched the Gallery for their guild, the Cheonjam Merchant Guild.

I caught sight of a few posts uploaded for promotional purposes.

However, most were buried in indifference, and the few comments attached were close to shitposts.

’This is why the Gallery is problematic.’

Decent merchant guilds didn’t post ads on the Gallery.

Because of pleasure without responsibility, a few malicious users would tank their reputation.

Even if they tried to clarify, by then it was usually too late.

The fact that they posted despite that meant they were truly desperate.

Desperate people would clutch at straws to try and survive.

I pondered briefly before asking the fixed-handle.

[Wild Grylls: Did you say that fabric blocks arrows too?]

[Not Really Spam Ad Team: I am sorry, but unless it is thread spun by silkworms fed on World Tree leaves, blocking them entirely is difficult.]

[Wild Grylls: Didn’t you say you were going to get hit directly by an arrow?]

[Not Really Spam Ad Team: I intended to take a direct hit to demonstrate how easily the arrow pulls out afterward.]

[Wild Grylls: ;;;]

He was far crazier than I anticipated.

Not blocking it, but demonstrating how easily an embedded arrow pulls out?!

Actually, that was the precise reason people wore cloth garments under armor.

Defense was one thing, but it made removing an embedded arrow much easier.

’For me, overall protection matters more than arrows.’

The only group using arrows around here were the hobgoblins at most.

Unless they betrayed me, they wouldn’t be shooting arrows at me.

What I had to worry about was unexpected damage.

Getting pricked or cut on something sharp while exploring somewhere.

Danger striking from an unexpected place.

Attacks that breached the defensive strength of Body-Protecting Gangqi, and so on.

’Defense power and protective capability are different concepts.’

Defense power was the concept of blocking physical impact or damage.

Protective capability was a broader concept than that.

It wasn’t just physical impact; it included insect bites, camouflage, and UV protection.

[Wild Grylls: I appreciate your passion. But for me, convenience and various protective features are more important. You know the difference between defense power and protective capability, right?]

[Not Really Spam Ad Team: Of course. The fabric we manufacture guards against insect bites as a baseline, and its sweat-absorption capacity is outstanding. On top of that, it dries quickly.]

[Wild Grylls: And?]

[Not Really Spam Ad Team: Its durability is immensely superior.]

Immensely superior durability. That was the part I liked most.

Clothing was fundamentally a ’consumable.’ The longer you used it, the more worn and frayed it was bound to get.

Especially in a wilderness like this, durability was crucial. Damage occurred given the slightest chance.

[Wild Grylls: How superior is it?]

[Not Really Spam Ad Team: Please wait a moment. I will go record a video.]

They really were desperate. Seeing how he was going to record a video.

Having come this far, I felt kind of bad not taking the sponsorship.

’No. Get a grip.’

I shook my head vigorously. I couldn’t throw my life away out of pity.New chapters come out on novelping(.)com first.

If I accepted items out of mere pity, why would I have gone through all that trouble during the shoe crafting tournament?

Back then, someone smashed their shoes with a sledgehammer just to demonstrate their performance.

’Right. Let’s judge this objectively.’

I steeled my mind and checked the video he sent.

The video was, how should I put it... felt cheap and cheesy in every way, like something a small startup would put out.

What I mean by that is two grown men were holding onto opposite sides of a single garment.

[#$%%%#. Mark Saragon#$%%.]

At first, it sounded like a rough greeting.

Since Mark Saragon was the name he had introduced himself with earlier.

He looked like a middle-aged man with a slight potbelly. As a Westerner, he had stylishly groomed facial hair to boot.

An ordinary man, if anything. Beside him, a relatively younger guy was gripping the garment.

Jwaaaak!

The two suddenly began pulling on the clothing.

After a brief moment of flabbergast at the out-of-nowhere demonstration (?), the clothing merely stretched without tearing at all.

[$#$%%!!]

[Euaaaah!!]

Whether he yelled at him to pull harder or not, the assistant let out a scream.

Then the fabric stretched out like taffy. What on earth was it made of for its durability to be like that?

While impressive, the performance didn’t end there. Durability was one thing, but other functions were remarkable as well.

Ventilation, sweat absorption, and finally how quickly it dried, and so forth.

It had everything I needed. It performed better than most leather armors.

’Can you even call that clothing?’

It didn’t seem like a bad idea to buy multiple suits instead of just one.

I could gift them to the hobgoblins while I was at it. Not bad.

[Not Really Spam Ad Team: Do you require more demonstration videos?]

[Wild Grylls: Ah, no. There’s really no need to go that far;;]

If they kept going, I felt like he’d actually take a direct hit from an arrow, so I hastily stopped him.

Subsequently, when I asked if they could give me a few garments, they readily agreed.

They noted that because it was made of pure unadulterated fabric, it wasn’t dyed and thus looked plain.

Since I was only concerned about performance anyway, I brushed it off.

[Wild Grylls: Ah. Could you perhaps give me several suits? I think I should gift some to the hobgoblins too.]

[Not Really Spam Ad Team: We can give you even a hundred suits.]

[Wild Grylls: There’s no need to go that far;;]

For now, I received 10 suits of suitable sizes.

On the right side of the chest, the guild’s crest was stamped, but I didn’t particularly mind.

Since I accepted a sponsorship, letting this much slide was basic courtesy. In a way, Chaeyu’s jersey had logos stamped on it too.

’Shall I head over to the hobgoblin side after so long?’

Because I hardly did any outdoor activities during winter, I hadn’t shown my face for a week.

Ggansu had also returned, saying he wanted to spend winter with his family.

Since it was about time to explore, interacting with them wasn’t a bad idea.

’While I’m exploring, I’ll have the hobgoblins guard the house.’

When exploring, leaving the house empty was inevitable.

Up until now, the house had never been raided, but there was no guarantee it wouldn’t happen in the future.

I put on the clothes sponsored by the Cheonjam Merchant Guild. I gifted them to the rest of the group as well.

"Master. What about me?"

"Shave off all the hair on your body first, then we’ll talk. This is our fur."

"Mumble, mumble."

Coming from a guy who blocked venomous snake fangs with sheer muscle.

I smirked briefly before turning on the stream. It was to show the hobgoblins through the broadcast.

"Alright. Let’s go. We’re heading into the hobgoblins’ territory now."

└ Princess Chaenggu) Huh? That’s not the jersey I gave you!

└ King Reor) Kiyah. Did you finally abandon that crappy Chaenggu jersey? LOL

A fanwar was right on the brink of erupting the moment we started.

Seeing Princess Chaenggu go quiet for a moment, she was probably typing out a whole bucketful of curses.

I opened my mouth hastily before the chat section got ruined.

"Sponsorship... should I call it? I received clothes from a certain merchant guild. They said these clothes are incredibly good."

└ Sword Matstar) You didn’t get scammed, right?

└ Starlight Lady) Even if it’s you, Grylls-nim, you shouldn’t just take things so recklessly.

└ Praise the Sun) Which merchant guild is it?

└ Not Really Spam Ad Team) It is the Cheonjam Merchant Guild of the Iris Kingdom.

└ Princess Chaenggu) What kind of thread is it made of?

└ Not Really Spam Ad Team) It is made from the Kigas tree, which features tough fibers....

Multiple questions came out at once, but the party providing the sponsorship answered them step by step.This chapter was taken from novelping dot com without permission.

Since I only had to show it off anyway, I decided to pay it no mind.

It was better for them to handle the explanations themselves. For me, as long as the performance was good, that was enough.

’The fit is quite nice though.’

Overall, the fit wasn’t bad at all.

Since it was still warm spring and I hadn’t broken a sweat, I didn’t know how fast it dried. But breathability was quite good.

The jersey had a bit of a tight feel, but this had almost none of that feeling.

Of course, this was purely my subjective judgment, and clothes could only reveal their true value after long wear.

’For now, let’s just spend our daily life.’

As we chatted about this and that, before I knew it, we arrived at the hobgoblin village.

Whether nothing special happened during the winter or not, there were no notable changes.

"Nobody froze to death, right?"

"Kraneuku. Nabuneu. Kunaha."

"This winter was less cold. It is fine."

"I’ll build you brick houses later or something."

While I was at it, I gifted the hobgoblins the clothing fabric I received this time.

They all expressed doubt upon seeing the newly received garments, but everyone turned out to be satisfied.

To make clothes in the wild, skinning animal hides was the only option.

The problem was that there was no way those would function properly.

Therefore, clothing was a very crucial item for the hobgoblins.

"Knura."

"He says it’s small?"

"...That can’t be helped."

The issue was the size of the hobgoblins, especially the chief hobgoblin’s massive build.

Because the elasticity was outrageously high, he somehow managed to squeeze into it, but it clearly looked uncomfortable.

Still, since the durability was really sturdy, it was better than having nothing.

’There was a reason those guys were pulling on it like crazy.’

That way, it might stretch, but it wouldn’t tear.

After chatting with the hobgoblins, I returned to the Shelter.

Since I was planning to go exploring tomorrow, coming back here would do.

Since I brought Ggansu along too, he could play his role as a messenger splendidly.

"Kereuk?!"

"What’s wrong?"

On the way back to the Shelter, Ggansu suddenly freaked out.

Wondering what happened, I hurriedly looked over, and lo and behold.

A snake had bitten Ggansu’s arm!

I hadn’t seen snakes very often until now, so I had let my guard down.

"Ggansu! Are you okay?!"

Lackey hastily removed the snake while I asked.

Inhabiting the Forest of the Four Seasons, it was bound to harbor potent venom.

Inspecting Ggansu’s arm, I was able to confirm an unexpected fact.

"Huh? It didn’t pierce through?"

Despite the snake’s sharp venomous fangs, the clothing was completely intact.

However, the venom couldn’t be helped, soaking into the fabric.

Still, it remained a fortune in misfortune. Plus, the Shelter was nearby.

’The skin wasn’t pierced either.’

A mark remained, but there was no major wound. It seemed that even if it got pierced by arrows, it could withstand the fangs of a venomous snake.

Thinking how crazy the durability was, I administered an antidote just in case.

’Still, I should cut off the part tainted with venom.’

This couldn’t be helped. I carved out the venom-soaked portion with a knife.

I felt bad for the advertiser (?), but I couldn’t carry danger around with me.

Soon, after finishing rough first aid, I checked the comment section.

I was worried I had shown only bad aspects for no reason, but....

└ Passing Dwarf) It’s tougher than most hides? How did they make that?

└ Princess Chaenggu) We can make a new jersey with that!

└ Starlight Lady) Venom has high viscosity, so it shouldn’t absorb easily. How fascinating.

└ Praise the Sun) I should go acquire them. Where did they say it was?

It was quite the opposite. Most of them were marveling at its performance.

’There was a reason they were confident in its performance.’

It felt like receiving ongoing sponsorships from them would be fine.

’Rather than the fabric, the technology itself seems extraordinary....’

I turned my head. Where I looked, the World Tree stood tall and upright.

I knew that fiber was usually extracted from trees.

"Can World Tree fibers also be spun into thread?"

└ Not Really Spam Ad Team) Come again?

Ah. Is that a bit tough?