I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 337

The inside of the bunker was much larger than it looked from the outside.

It was a layout that made no sense based on the scientific common sense I knew, but I just brushed it off.

Since I already had Subspace Backpacks on hand, talking about common sense was a foolish thing to do anyway.

More importantly, since I was starting the full-fledged exploration of the bunker, I turned on the stream first.

I had almost no knowledge about ancient ruins, so I needed immediate feedback.

"Master."

"What."

"The inside is cleaner than I thought."

"I’m gonna kill you. Seriously."

I scolded Lackey, who was already raising death flags, and began broadcasting.

As soon as I turned on the stream, fixed-nicks swarmed in. I greeted them.

"Hello. It’s a bit late, but I’m going to start exploring the ancient ruins now."

ㄴHeavenly Demon) You are later than expected. Did something happen along the way?

ㄴSword Matstar) Right? Time-wise, it took more than 10 minutes.

"A pretty massive hermit crab popped out, but I somehow managed to take care of it."

I explained to them as I looked inside.

Maybe because the hermit crab, which I suspected to be the power source (?), was dead, the interior was extremely dark.

Looking up at the ceiling, there were light fixtures of some sort attached, though they weren’t working.

’Is that running on electricity... wait, no, mana?’

Where I used to live, without electricity, 90% of civilization would stop functioning.

I didn’t know if they used mana instead of electricity, but I would have to investigate to find out.

Since English existed here, it must be closely connected to the place where I used to live.

’I need to find at least a trace of it.’

I used Mystletainn as a torch and handed it to Lackey.

Next, I activated my Eye Lantern to illuminate the path ahead.

Looks like I’ll need to get a new Light Crystal Orb from King Reor soon.

’Looks like this is a hallway.’

Rusty walls covered with moss from the long passage of time came into view.

The corridor was quite wide, and the ceiling was high as well.

Had I known it would be like this, I could have brought Largo along.

"Cain-ssi. Please bring Ludwig-ssi and Largo inside from outside. If Largo lowers his head, he should be able to get in."

After a short moment, Ludwig and Largo entered, and we moved forward.

Echoes softly reverberated with every step we took. A characteristic of a spacious corridor.

"I can start seeing doors now."

ㄴHeavenly Demon) Be careful, as you never know what kind of trap might be waiting.

ㄴSword Matstar) Should we send in someone who won’t get hurt even if a trap goes off?

ㄴStarlight Lady) Excuse me;;;

ㄴSword Matstar) You know I’m joking, right? ^^

I don’t think she’s joking. Still, it’s efficient.

Since the power was out, the chances of a trap triggering were slim.

But in this world, ’what if’ exists. Caution never hurts.

"Cain-ssi."

[Why do you call?]

"Could you perhaps enter through the door first?"

[If you state your reason honestly, I will willingly do so.]

"Because I think you’d be fine even if a trap went off."

[Oh, Aris, please.]

Why? I spoke honestly.

Cain grumbled on the outside, but perhaps deeming it a reasonable judgment in its own way, he approached the door.

Kwa-ang!

And he forcefully kicked the door open.

The tightly closed iron door blew off from a single kick of his.

[I opened it. Enter.]

"...."

[Is not the lantern your eyes? I cannot see ahead, you see.]

As expected of an old-timer, he had a fiery, bold side.

I smiled bitterly to myself and quietly peered inside.

’Is this a locker room?’

Right as the door opened, what appeared was a locker room and another door.

I stepped carefully, checking for traps. Fortunately, there were none.

Before stepping through the inner door, I carefully opened one of the lockers.

Surprisingly, it wasn’t locked, so it opened easily.

Kki-ik-

The locker swung wide open with a creaking sound.

Inside were spiderwebs and numerous spiders.

"Ah, damn it. I shouldn’t have opened it."

I should have expected bugs even if there were no items.

I pondered whether to open the other lockers or not, then popped them all open.

Spiders and various insects were the only things inside; there were no items.

"Master. Key is here."

"A key?"

Right then, Lackey found a key. I checked the key he found.

The shape of the key was surprisingly ordinary. The end was bent in an L-shape.

Given its thick build, it didn’t seem like an ordinary key.

’I should hang onto it for now.’

Lackey might have found an important item. I’ll give him a sweet potato later.

Having opened all the lockers, I decided to head inside through the door.

Unlike the iron door, this door was made of thick glass.

Fearing there might be a trap inside, I pushed it open using Mystletainn.

Kki-ik-

’...It’s a shower room.’

The inside was a shower room. In fact, I had roughly guessed it ever since seeing the glass door.

Aside from moss growing here and there, it was in pretty intact shape.

Walking around inside, I tried turning on one of the showerheads.

As expected, the showerhead showed no reaction.

"There’s nothing much here. Let’s go back."

Returning to the hallway, I opened another door.

Starting from dormitories where multiple people stayed, to a laundry room, conference room, cafeteria, and so on.

True to being a bunker, it had everything necessary. Among them, one room stood out the most.

"This place is...."

[It appears to be a warehouse.]

That was none other than a supply warehouse. It boasted a scale far larger than the other rooms.

It was probably possible because this room was constructed under the same principle as subspace.

Looking around the warehouse, I began searching in earnest.

Since the only light sources were my Eye Lantern and the Mystletainn torch, I was cautious.Read this novel at novelpin‌g.com for the best experience.

"Come to think of it, are other ancient ruins in this format too?"

ㄴPrincess Chaenggu) From what I know, their formats are all completely different~

ㄴStarlight Lady) Some places were infested with all sorts of traps, while others had uses that were completely unknown.

ㄴI Will Become a Duke) There are several ancient ruins where Subspace Backpacks were found. Some looked like taverns, and others had machines of unknown utility.

Hearing that, it seemed ancient ruins took all kinds of forms.

And that makes sense—just because I found a bunker doesn’t mean all the other places are bunkers too.

"Huh? This is...."

Rummaging through the warehouse, I spotted an eye-catching item.

It was a backpack—not just one, but three.

Hoping just in case, I checked the inside of a backpack.

Even when I illuminated the inside with my Eye Lantern, it remained pitch black. Not stopping there, I shoved my hand inside.

Even though I reached far beyond the external volume of the backpack, my hand touched nothing at the bottom.

"Could all of these be Subspace Backpacks?"

ㄴSword Matstar) Wow. Finding just one makes you filthy rich;;

ㄴStarlight Lady) Are those really all Subspace Backpacks?

ㄴPassing Dwarf) Could you perhaps give me just one?

ㄴPraise the Sun) Look at him suddenly speaking politely hahaha

I ignored the fixed-nicks’ conversation and checked the other backpacks.

I was able to confirm that every single one was a Subspace Backpack.

Finding just one Subspace Backpack is front-page global news, yet there were so many.

’But the backpack design is....’

Digital camo—the kind of design you’d see in the military.

Not a South Korean design, but rather closer to the Thousand-Trillion Nation—that is, the United States.

Between the English text and these Subspace Backpacks, everything converged on the nation I knew so well.

’I should look around a bit more first.’

This alone wasn’t conclusive. It would be better to look closer.

Naturally, I pocketed all the Subspace Backpacks. No way I was giving these up.

Volume wasn’t an issue since they were Subspace Backpacks anyway.

"Here. Carry these."

"Master."

"What."

"...Never mind."

Lackey showed a reaction that said he had a lot to say but wouldn’t. Dumping tedious chores is what lackeys are for, after all.

I thoroughly scanned the area to check if there were any other items.

I found some fabric presumed to be clothes along the way, but that was it.

Aside from the Subspace Backpacks, most of the room was completely empty.

Not to mention food, even basic daily necessities were nowhere to be seen.

’Considering the backpacks are intact, I thought there’d be clothes left behind too.’

What on earth happened here for the supply warehouse to be completely picked clean?

Harboring doubts, I searched every corner of the warehouse.

Unfortunately, nothing caught my eye. Even utilizing Wonmo and Tyranno’s sense of smell yielded the same result.

It seemed I’d have to settle with just the Subspace Backpacks. This alone was a massive harvest.

"Doesn’t look like there’s anything else. Let me turn back."

Though a bit disappointing, there was still one last spot left.

Located at the end of the hallway, a place with as many as two doors attached together.

Even the supply warehouse had only one door, so this place must be far larger or more important.

We walked to the end of the corridor and arrived at a door much larger than the others.

I felt a bit nervous, but beyond this, the most critical facility of the bunker must reside.

Fearing traps as always, I opened it cautiously.

Kkigigigik-

Starting from the door’s thickness, it was different from other places. It was immensely thick.

Seeing how blast protection was considered, the inside really seemed to be a crucial facility.

"Lackey. Help push on the side."

"Understood."

The door was considerably stiff, so I received Lackey’s help.

Then, pushing with all our might, we fully opened the door.

As expected, the inside was pitch dark. Even with the Eye Lantern and the torch, it was futile.

’Just how massive is this place?’

Even with the supply warehouse, I could guess its scale using the torch light. But not here.

What kind of place is this for even a torch light to fail to capture its scale?

"Over there. Something is shining."

"Huh?"

"Look over there."

Just then, Ludwig pointed at a spot. At that, I turned my head.

Just as he said, there was a part sparkling compared to the rest of the dark room.

Since there wasn’t much else I could do right now, I had no choice but to head there.

"Careful, we don’t know what’s on the floor, so be mindfu—-!"

Kwadang!

As I walked while talking, I tripped over something at my feet.

I wanted to regain my balance somehow, but falling down couldn’t be prevented.

"Master. What was that? Couldn’t hear."

"...Shut up."

Feeling unnecessarily embarrassed, I snapped softly. Glancing at the chat comments, it was a sea of laughter.

I considered just turning off the stream, but quit the thought. Taking out my frustration would only make me look pathetic.

’Wait, what on earth is on the floor?’

I shifted my gaze to check what caught my foot.

There was nothing special, just a simple bump.

’Why is there a speed bump of all things in a place like this...’

Embarrassed as I was, I had no choice but to move forward.

Suppressing my throbbing knees, I walked toward the glowing spot.

To avoid unsightly falls like before, I constantly looked down at the ground.

’By the way, there sure are a lot of desks.’

Taking steps, I realized there were an awful lot of desks.

I was slowly getting a feel for what kind of room this was, but I wasn’t certain yet.

Then, we reached the glowing spot Ludwig had mentioned.

’...This is in English too.’

At the glowing spot was a lever. Above the lever, some English words were written.

Narrowing my eyes, I read the English text.

"Emergen... cy Power?"

ㄴStarlight Lady) Do you know how to read that?

ㄴKing Reor) Isn’t that an ancient language?

ㄴSword Matstar) How did you read that?

When I read English smoothly, everyone expressed surprise.Get faster updates on no‌velping.com.

It wasn’t the first time English had appeared. However, it was the first time I read it out loud.

Before, there hadn’t been anything worth calling a full word or sentence.

"I told you repeatedly. I’m not from this world."

I replied briefly and mulled over the meaning of the English words.

My English skill couldn’t be called good even as a compliment.

Since my parents passed away early, far from studying, I had focused solely on earning a living.

’Emergency means urgent, and power means strength... so emergency power?’

With my poor English skills, I managed to translate it somehow.

Following that, I exhaled calmly and pulled the lever down.

Deolkeok!

With a clanking sound, the lever snapped down.

At first, nothing changed, so I wondered if even the emergency power had gone bust.

Chijijik-

But then, a sound like electricity crackling buzzed near my ears.

Tat! Tat! Tat! Tat!

The lights on the ceiling snapped back on in sequence. It was a light so intense it slightly dazzled the eyes.

Frowning, I surveyed the interior that had brightened up in an instant.

"This place is...."

I had suspected it to some extent, and my guess hit the mark.

Countless desks integrated with keypads.

A giant monitor mounted on the far wall in the direction I was facing.

Besides that, large and small monitors were positioned everywhere.

It was a design that felt strangely familiar yet futuristic.

As predicted, this bunker was a military facility. And this room was the command center.

"Looks like a military facility. A command center, specifically."

[There is a large desk in front of that object attached to the wall. Do the commanding officers hold meetings there?]

Even if eras and technologies differ, are soldiers still soldiers? They seemed to instinctively realize that this was a command center.

With a complicated feeling, I looked around until something caught my eyes.

’That’s....’

Surprisingly, it was a skeleton. A skeleton slumped limply in a chair.

I slowly walked toward that skeleton. The rest of the party followed behind me.

Approaching closer, I could realize that the desk he was sitting at wasn’t a normal desk.

Filled with all sorts of intricate mechanical devices, it looked like a control panel that only a commander could operate.

"There’s a hole drilled in his head."

I was looking at the control panel, then turned my head upon hearing Ludwig’s words.

Indeed, a small hole was pierced in the skull’s head.

The moment I saw that hole, I scanned the area around the skeleton.

’As expected....’

A small handgun was lying discarded on the floor.

I picked up the handgun slowly and inspected it from side to side.

Cheolkeok!

Unlike the automated turrets that fired mana bullets, this had a structure that accepted a ’magazine’.

However, whether he had used only the exact bullet needed for suicide, the magazine was empty.

[Skillful hand movement. Is it a weapon you know?]

"I’ve never used one directly. The ones I used to handle were much bigger than this in the first place."

At Cain’s question, I shrugged.

After examining the gun, I stowed it in my backpack. There were still plenty of places to investigate.

Just as I was about to step past the hole-headed skeleton and move forward—

Chijijik!

A sound akin to static hummed from the control panel.

The moment I heard that sound, startled, I whipped my head around.

Turning my head, Lackey was holding something that looked like semi-transparent plastic.

"Did you touch something?"

"I-I don’t know either. I just grabbed it...."

I pressed Lackey, but he showed a genuinely aggrieved reaction.

I wanted to scold him, but pushed it back. Right now, the object emitting static noise was what mattered.

Perhaps because it had a structure similar to a crystal ball, it reacted the moment Lackey touched it.

In that case, inside that translucent plastic....

[Ah... wait. Is this being recorded?]

The probability that a record was left behind was extremely high.

Indeed, a middle-aged man with a dignified impression appeared on the screen.

The problem was....

[Well... I am Michael Bardney. The last...]

"...What is he saying?"

"I don’t know either."

The problem was that I was truly awful at English.

Had I received rote-learning education, maybe I’d know, but I had completely built a wall against studying.

But just because I couldn’t speak English didn’t mean translation was impossible.

[I can understand it, though?]

"Really?"

ㄴHeavenly Demon) I too can understand what he is saying.

ㄴSword Matstar) Looks like it’s thanks to the Gallery’s automatic translation feature.

ㄴPraise the Sun) Translation aside, I have no idea what he’s talking about.

ㄴPassing Dwarf) Fr, he says he’s a brigadier general, but what’s a brigadier general? Is it like soy sauce?

Thanks to the Dwarf, I even learned this man’s rank. Brigadier General—a fairly high rank.

To know more in detail, it would be best to grasp the overall content.

[Fucking government. Fucking Earth. Fucking all of...]

"Master. That sounds like cursing."

"It is cursing."

Midway, as if his emotions flared up, he even spouted all kinds of foul curses.

Even if I knew nothing else, I knew swear words. It was probably cursing out his superiors.

[Thank you. And goodbye.]

After the Brigadier General gave his final farewell, the video ended.

It seemed his suicide was carried out after the video finished recording.

Once playback finished completely, I asked Cain.

"So why did he say he was here?"

Cain answered my question.

[Radiation? He said he was stuck trapped here because of that.]

"...."

[What is radiation?]

No wonder there were so many mutants in the Forest of the Four Seasons.

’Wait a second. Does that mean I’m irradiated too?’

I suddenly felt a cold chill.