I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 338

After feeling a chill at the mention of being trapped due to radiation, I decided to listen to the rest of the content before judging.

This man was a soldier, and the last remaining survivor in this bomb shelter.

The others had died from radiation exposure or escaped outside, while he remained until the end as the person in charge.

In his heart, he wanted to escape too, but kept guard to the end because he didn’t know who might come to this bunker.

But that was just rhetoric; with all communication methods cut off and supplies running dry, he seemed utterly desperate.

[A common story.]

Just as Cain said, it was a common story. The survivor remaining until the very last moment and depleted supplies.

The outside was teeming with danger so he couldn’t easily venture out, leaving him to quietly await death.

I had managed to survive by hook or by crook, but for him, even that would have been difficult.

Since he said it was full of radiation, stepping outside would have been equivalent to embracing death immediately.

’Come to think of it, his body....’

Looking closely at the recorded video, peeling skin was visible.

I could roughly guess that he had already been exposed to radiation.

Having realized that himself, he seemed to have abandoned hope.

"More importantly, can you tell what unit he belonged to?"

[He said he belonged to some allied infantry. Appears to be a soldier who fought enemies.]

"And what else?"

[Nothing particularly important. In truth, most of it was him saying he missed his family or cursing the higher-ups.]

"Hmm...."

I wanted to know what the place he lived in was like, so it was a shame.

Still, it wasn’t like I gained no information at all. Especially the most crucial piece of information.

[He cursed the government and mentioned a place called Earth... What kind of place is that?]

"Earth is my hometown, though?"

[Your hometown?]

"Yes."

[You speak as if you came from another world.]

"Because I did come from another world."

That fact was none other than that this man hailed from ’Earth’.

A person from the same world as me, who arrived here for some reason.

I heard that not only in the Forest of the Four Seasons, but outside as well, ancient ruins like this existed.

Rather than the Forest of the Four Seasons being peculiar, this whole world should be viewed as peculiar.

’If he really was from Earth, why was even this shabby bomb shelter transferred here whole?’

It’s a trope that pops up fairly often in fantasy.

A story where Earth’s civilization is completely destroyed due to nuclear war, and a tiny minority of humanity migrates to another planet.

Terraforming that migrated planet like Earth to create a new world.

Or if not that, a post-apocalyptic world.

’If anyone heard this, it’d sound like a myth.’

Creating a world and birthing new humanity—viewed from that alone, it really was a myth.

But none of this can be said to be 100% correct. It’s strictly guesswork.

At least, given the mention of radiation, the circumstance of nuclear missiles being launched was certain.

Once a nuke is fired, nuclear umbrellas activate, and a chain reaction likely takes place.

[There is another notable part.]

"What is it?"

[Just as humanity found fire to build civilization and found electricity to evolve, mana turned the impossible into reality, he said.]

"...."

[However, he said that by flying too close to the sun, they burned themselves up.]

Fire led humanity to found civilization, and electricity allowed that civilization to advance exponentially.

Since he said mana was a tier above that, there was no telling how advanced they had become.

Since compressed-space subspace already exists, they had long surpassed the technological singularity.

The problem was that having advanced too much, a single war seemed to have completely ruined civilization.

"I wouldn’t know. When I lived on Earth, electricity was what was commonly used."

[More than that, the fact that you are here is a mystery itself. You seem to know everything, yet you don’t know all of it.]

"I’m just someone who lived normally before coming here in the first place."

At any rate, what can be gleaned from the record he left behind is one thing.

This world has been heavily influenced by Earth, and proof of that remains everywhere.

In other words, those worshipped as gods are highly likely to be Earthlings.

The only confusing part is whether this world itself is Earth or not....

’Didn’t Vanir call them invaders before?’

Mentioning invaders meant they were an alien species.

Earthlings must have arrived when civilization in this world was already established.

Since it was said that before the gods taught them about ’mana’, the people of this world were slaves to dragons.

Though all I found was a skeleton and a video, it feels like the puzzle pieces are snapping into place one by one.

’It’s not completely solved yet. This bunker itself is full of mysteries.’

Why on earth did Earthlings move even impurities like this bunker here?

Also, why did they help humanity in this world and then vanish without a trace?

Lastly, why did I wake up here?

Many puzzle pieces still remain. To fit them together, I needed more puzzle pieces.

"There’s nothing besides that, right?"

[There is nothing particularly noteworthy.]

Hearing those words, I decided to move along.

Browsing through the recording further wouldn’t yield much else.This chapter was taken from nоvelping.com without permission.

Before that, I checked the Gallery reaction. I hadn’t paid any attention to it while talking with Cain.

ㄴStarlight Lady) My head can’t quite grasp it, has anyone understood what that meant?

ㄴPrincess Chaenggu) For now, it seems Grylls-nim is like a relative? of Aris-nim~

ㄴPassing Dwarf) She’s a god. He’s a dumbass.

ㄴPraise the Sun) That’s true, but calling him a dumbass is a bit much hahaha

ㄴHeavenly Demon) A relative of a god. How fitting to be associated with me.

ㄴSword Matstar) How does she commit sacrilege so naturally?

Everyone seems confused. Probably because too much information poured out all at once.

Of course, there were those like Heavenly Demon who didn’t care at all.

’It’s not like the Dwarf said anything wrong either.’

The word "dumbass" bothered me a bit, but I couldn’t bring myself to refute it.

Because the gods of this world were valiant enough to fight dragons directly.

Moreover, their martial prowess was top-tier, so comparing them to me would be rude.

Looking at the skeleton with a hole in its head, I examined other areas.

With emergency power back on, searching thoroughly was easy, but that was all.

’Everything’s dead.’

Only the ceiling lights had turned on; devices like computers didn’t work at all.

It might be because of the futuristic design that I couldn’t operate them, but it seemed power wasn’t flowing to them at all.

However, the bunker hermit crab even activated automated turrets and mortars. Meaning the hermit crab acted as a power source.

Seeing this, there must be a system for supplying power. I had to find that place first.

"Oh. Master. Key is here."

"Huh? A key?"

Just as I was meticulously digging through the command center, Lackey discovered another key.

The key’s shape was identical to the one found earlier in the locker room.

"Saw key slot earlier. Let’s put it in there."

"The one near the control panel?"

"Don’t know what control panel is, but probably right."

The keyhole Lackey mentioned was on the control panel.

There were two keyholes, so I didn’t pay attention before, but now we conveniently found another one.

Since there was nothing else to find anyway, I decided to try inserting the key.

"...Lackey. Wait a second."

"Why?"

"Let’s put the keys in later."

Between the keyholes, a square-shaped panel caught my eye.

Covered by a protective plate, I didn’t know what was inside.

But feeling needlessly anxious, I postponed it.

’No way, right?’

Praying it wasn’t what I thought it was, I looked around elsewhere.

I looked closely to see if there were any surviving written records like the survivor’s log.

Regrettably, no other recordings were found. The same went for paper documents.

Occasionally I was lucky enough to spot a few books on desks, but the moment I picked them up, they crumbled into dust like sand, making them unreadable.

Unless specially preserved, paper degrades easily, so it couldn’t be helped.

"There is another door here."

Right then, Ludwig discovered another door.

Since it was a door accessible only from the command center, it was bound to be a crucial facility.

However, due to the small door size, we couldn’t bring Largo.

Stepping inside, I realized what place it was at a single glance.

"Electric... wait, power room? Anyway, looks like something like that."

It consisted of complex mechanical equipment, alongside a control panel for operation.

Messing with it recklessly felt like it wouldn’t end well. However....

"Shall we try turning it on?"

"Let’s do it. Master."

"Doing so wouldn’t be bad either."

The rest of the party and I couldn’t overcome our curiosity.

Even Ludwig, usually taciturn, couldn’t suppress his curiosity.

Cain didn’t say much either, but tacitly agreed.

’Let’s see... is this how it works?’

Squeezing out my meager English knowledge, I searched for the activation button.

However, even when I pressed the activation button, it only made a Woong- hum, and nothing happened.

As expected, power seemed insufficient. I raised my head to look at the machine apparatus.

"Ah. Could this be where you insert a battery?"

I found an empty compartment in the middle and a battery-like object fallen underneath it.

Looks like inserting a fully charged power source here will do the trick.

The problem was that we couldn’t find such a battery.

Looking meticulously around the entire bunker, including the command center, no spare batteries were in sight.

[That man earlier said it. He said even the auxiliary power sources were completely depleted.]

"That’s a shame."

[He also implied that while emergency power could be activated, he was saving it for whoever might come next.]

"Hmm..."

Pondering, I placed my hand on the machine slot meant for the battery.

Then, circulating the mana within my body, I slowly infused it into the machine.

Wo-o-o-ong!Visit novеlping.com for the full chapter.

The moment I infused it, the operating sound hummed.

Surprised by the noise, I hastily pulled back my hand. Thereupon, the machine went silent again.

As expected, it seemed to use mana as a power source. That was good news at least.

The problem was whether we could find a power source sufficient to energize this entire bunker.

’Lackey and Ludwig won’t cut it, and while I might be able to power it...’

Being stuck here holding onto it wouldn’t make much sense.

Deliberating again and again, an ingenious idea suddenly flashed through my mind.

"...."

[....]

"...."

[...Why are you staring at me?]

"By any chance, as a true paladin, do you have any intention of sacrificing yourself?"

[Oh Aris, please stop the nonsense of this wicked man.]

"It’s not nonsense, I’m dead serious."

[Oh Aris. A creature worse than a demon is right here. What are you doing not taking him away?]

"She must be sleeping."

Whether Aris takes me or not doesn’t matter. In fact, if she takes me, all the better.

I desperately persuaded Cain. Naturally, I had no intention of actually sacrificing him.

If it looked dangerous, I planned to pull him out right away. I couldn’t afford to lose the first holy knight just to craft a battery.

[Whew... Only this once.]

"Thank you."

Fortunately, my persuasion worked, and Cain reluctantly agreed.

Following that, I pulled Cain’s stone statue out of his coffin and placed it into the empty machine slot.

Woong-woong-woong-woong-woong!

As soon as Cain was slotted in like a battery, the machine began to react.

Simultaneously, lights began returning one by one to the control panel in front of the machine.

I half-doubted it, but it actually treated Cain as a power source.

"How do you feel?"

[Terrible. It feels like someone is scrambling inside my head.]

"Please bear with it for a bit."

Saying so, I pressed the machine’s activation button.

As I pushed the button, a loud Deolkeong! clatter resonated from somewhere.

Startled, I froze, but that sound stopped before long. It seemed to just be the sound of the bunker turning on.

"I’ll be back quickly."

[....]

Perhaps because his mana was being drained, Cain didn’t even talk back.

I resolved to hurry before getting scolded by him.

Stepping out of the power room, I reached the command center.

Reaching the command center, as expected, the monitor mounted on the wall was operating.

The computers seemed to have started up naturally as well. I waited silently to see what the monitor would display.

And what appeared on the monitor was....

[Oh. You guys. Why are you standing there?]

"...Huh?"

"Eh?"

It was the face of a man I had never seen in my life.

Golden hair shining like the sun and a neat beard.

The face of a generally cheerful and handsome man floated on the monitor.

[This is fascinating. Can you see me by any chance?]

"...No way, Cain-ssi?"

[Indeed. It is I. This is truly fascinating.]

Cain on the screen looked over his body here and there, revealing his amazement.

Could it be that the power source actually played the role of an AI too?

Now that it was replaced by Cain, he transformed into that appearance.

Just as I was becoming bewildered by this baffling situation, Cain opened his eyes wide.

[Oh... this is truly... astonishing.]

"What is?"

[It is information that just flowed into me. Look at this.]

Cain naturally displayed another screen instead of his face.

That screen was incredibly familiar to me.

Because that was a world map of Earth.

On that world map, there was a section glowing uniquely red. Right in the dead center of North America.

Cain pointed at it and said:

[It says our current location is right here. Do you know where this is?]

"...I roughly know. No, before that, let me ask you one thing."

I asked with a lingering sense of disbelief.

"If we are at that location right now, does that map mean the Forest of the Four Seasons?"

[The entire map shown here is it.]

"...."

I’m gonna go insane, seriously.