I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 362

After defeating the shadow-controlled Ogre, I analyzed the characteristics of the forest.

First, what was certain was that the moment we stepped outside the light, we would be eroded by shadows.

Considering there were already wraiths that not only parasitized our shadows but even controlled them.

Second, living creatures including the Ogre had been eroded only recently.

Lastly, the deeper we ventured inside, the more an eerie, unsettling atmosphere lingered.

Originally, I had no intention of pressing deeper, but a crazy idea just popped into my head.

"It’s a bit of a crazy idea, but can I share it?"

"Speak, Master."

"Let’s set fire to this forest."

"...."

At the proposal to become fellow arsonists and nature destroyers, everyone’s expressions turned subtle.

It sounded like madness on the surface, but it was actually a highly effective method.

Shadows are weak to light? Then shouldn’t we just create that light?

However, light cannot be physically multiplied. Thus, as a backup plan, I chose ’fire.’

"Master."

"Speak."

"Are you perhaps a genius?"

Look at that. Even Lackey, whose IQ easily surpassed 150, praised my idea.

You might ask what if the fire spreads too severely into a massive forest fire, but...

’It’s better than the whole forest getting swallowed by shadows.’

Of course, whether the shadows were eroding other areas too was unknown.

Given the circumstances, however, the likelihood was extremely high.

If these shadows gradually expanded to engulf our Shelter, there would be no way to stop it then.

Although the ancient ruins in between served as a breakwater, giving us some time.

└ Starlight Lady: There’s no need to be too hasty. It seems the core source is nearby, so how about exploring a bit more?

└ Necromancy is Love: I’m curious too. What could be inside to turn the forest into this?

└ Heavenly Demon: It seems something interesting happened while I wasn’t watching.

└ Let’s Grow Trees: Ecosystem destruction is not allowed!

Regardless of how great the idea was, the fixed-handle gallery users advised against it.

Saying it was too hasty, or that the ecosystem might be ruined, and so on.

"I can ignore everything else, but the ecosystem destruction part is fine."

└ Let’s Grow Trees: Why! Is Grylls-nim going to harm nature just for survival!

"Yes."

└ Let’s Grow Trees: ...?

└ Passing Dwarf: I think this is the first time I’ve seen that bastard speechlessly shut down lol

└ Praise the Sun: So satisfying hahahaha

Let’s Grow Trees reacted with utter speechlessness to my single word.

If he were in front of me, he would have been blinking with a bewildered expression.

It was absurd for that regular of all people to whine about the ecosystem.

He was the one spearheading ecosystem destruction by planting trees in other countries every chance he got.

"I’m up to my neck in trouble, what ecosystem? And you said ecosystem destruction? Is there anyone coming all the way out here to destroy the ecosystem?"

└ Passing Dwarf: If someone actually did, wouldn’t that be fucking impressive?

└ Starlight Lady: Impressive aside, that sounds like a crazy person....

└ Necromancy is Love: Perhaps monsters inhabiting the Forest of the Four Seasons might come outside.

└ Princess Chaenggu: Then it could be really dangerous!

└ King Reor: Headlines will read ’Elves Plunge World into Chaos’ lol

Countless roasts followed. It seemed even more intense because he was a user who usually racked up anti-fans.

Factually speaking, none of it made much sense, but factual accuracy didn’t matter.

As long as someone could be teased, that was just daily life in the Gallery.

└ Let’s Grow Trees: Oh! Does that mean the Artificial Guardian Legion will work in the Forest of the Four Seasons too!

└ Passing Dwarf: This bastard’s mental gymnastics really are built different;;

Of course, teasing was completely useless against Let’s Grow Trees, who only said whatever he wanted to say anyway.

I chuckled watching the regular users chatter among themselves and turned my head away.

Beyond the light, only pitch-black darkness was revealed. For now, I planned to explore just a bit more.

"Lackey. I’ll give you materials, so keep making torches."

"Understood."

Flash!

After asking Lackey, I activated the Eye Lantern again.

The forest, where I couldn’t see an inch ahead, lit up bright. Now we could move.

’The crystal orb isn’t broken anywhere either.’

The new crystal orb gifted by King Reor wasn’t bad in performance either.

Since it cast light from a much higher position than Largo, the giraffe with a neck long and sad.

It was a massive help during the melee fight with the Ogre earlier as well.

Kwak!

Lackey drove a torch into the ground like a stake. The light from the torch illuminated the surroundings.

It definitely didn’t seem to absorb light completely like an Immortal Herb.

The only problem was the shadows synergizing with the trees so dense they covered the sky.

If we planted torches everywhere like this, even if the crystal orb broke, they would serve as emergency safe spots.

Step— step— step—

Securing as much vision as possible with the Eye Lantern, we pushed forward.

Though it was a forest without a single ray of light, we created light ourselves.

The torches Lackey drove in like trail markers along the way also played a huge role.

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Chwaak! Chwak!

"Master."

"Why?"

"Oil smell is strong."

"Endure it."

Just in case, I splashed oil bought from the auction house everywhere.

Because of this, the smell of oil spread in all directions, delivering quite a strong sting to the nostrils.

It couldn’t be masked even by the forest’s lush grassy smell. No, in the first place, it had been so completely eroded by shadows that there was no smell of nature at all.

’Seeing how it gets darker, we must be getting close to the core source.’

What could possibly be at that core source? I felt scared yet curious.

Since we had already prepared an escape route, as long as we didn’t panic, it should be fine.

"...What the hell is that again?"

However, upon discovering the source of the shadows covering this forest, I was struck speechless.

"...I feel like throwing up."

"It looks gruesome."

[I agree.]

While my companions, who had seen their share of horrific sights, showed those reactions...

"Kkyueeeek!"

"Ppiiiiiiik!"

"Pbeaak! Pbeaak!"

The kids with weak stomachs were busy trembling uncontrollably or hiding behind us.

I patted the back of Tyranno, who was trembling in my arms.

Even so, I didn’t take my eyes off the source of the shadows.

’Is that a plant, or an animal? Is it something like an Immortal Herb?’

Overall it looked like a tree, but as if alive, its branches wriggled like tentacles.

And what about the trunk? If anyone suffered from trypophobia, it was an absolute nightmare.

Tumor-like growths were sprouting all over it like barnacles.

What was even more horrific was the pattern of eyeball-like structures embedded everywhere.

The colors weren’t vibrant either. Existing only in black and white, it was like looking at a monstrous entity.

Rather, the absence of color and reliance strictly on monochrome amplified the eerie grotesqueness even further.

"Kkiruk? Kkiruk?"

"Jjaekjjaek! Jjaek!"

"Kkaak!"

To top it off, white birds were ’taxidermied’ all over it like ornaments.

The exact same species as the birds that had threatened us with beaks and heads splitting open like lotus blossoms.

’Ugh... It looks like an alien species from some sci-fi space game.’

Aside from being strictly monochrome, its appearance was second to no alien race. Maybe even more horrific.

At least those felt scary rather than repulsive.

I had no idea how that thing came to exist. If Allfather had seen it, he would have charged in screaming about research material.

└ Necromancy is Love: The source of shadows... A splendid research subject.

"Excuse me, are you Allfather’s alt account?"

└ Necromancy is Love: I am not.

└ Starlight Lady: Ugh... I feel nauseous.

└ Passing Dwarf: Won’t we get banned for gore content at this rate?

└ Don’t Abandon the Hero: That much is totally fine! There’s plenty worse than that in the Gallery!

└ Sword Matstar: There are many things worse than that?;; I’ve seen plenty of weird stuff, but nothing worse than that;;

└ Don’t Abandon the Hero: Want moderator privileges?

└ Sword Matstar: I apologize.

└ Heavenly Demon: You seem to have nothing to do, how about joining us?

└ Sword Matstar: I’ve actually become very busy lately ㅡㅡ

The regulars also expressed disgust. I myself almost puked the second I laid eyes on it.

Anyway, now that we found what seemed to be the core source, I pondered how to deal with it first.

We needed to be cautious, as attacking recklessly might trigger an unpredictable reaction.

’It doesn’t react even when illuminated by the Eye Lantern. Should we just burn it to ashes?’

Getting close was completely out of the question. Not only was it sickening, but who knew what kind of threat it posed.

So I asked Lackey to blast a satisfying Fireball at it.

Hearing my request, Lackey nodded and reached into his Subspace Backpack.

"Then it is time to use this."

"Whoa whoa. Put that back."

Using a national-authority-level staff was taking it too far.

If we weren’t careful, instead of just the monster tree, the whole forest might explode.

Chwareureuk!

While we were talking, the shadow source extended its branches—no, tentacles.

However, due to its shadow nature, it couldn’t enter the light.

Chiiiiik!

When I shone light on it with the Eye Lantern, it disintegrated into white light and vanished.

The birds hanging all over it, however, were completely unaffected by the light.

My guess was that those birds served the role of killing creatures protected by light.

’This won’t do.’

There was no choice but to use the method used on the Immortal Herb. I bought several oil bottles from the auction house.

After handing them out one by one to my companions, I instructed:

"You see that over there? When you throw..."

"Heave!"

"Hup!"This chapter is updated first at novelping(.)com.

Before I could even finish speaking, my companions chucked them immediately. They expressed their earnest desire to burn that thing to crisp as fast as possible.

After a brief moment of fluster, I stared at the Shadow Tree covered in oil.

Now, setting fire to it would finish the job. However, I decided to prepare for its desperate struggle.

Trickle—

"Slowly. Very slowly, let’s step back."

So I poured oil slowly as we retreated.

So we could gain distance from the Shadow Tree’s attacks. So that even if it went wild, it couldn’t touch us.

Eventually, we reached the spot where we defeated the Ogre. As a bonus, I splashed oil onto the Ogre’s corpse as well.

"Lackey. Fire."

"#$%..."

"Not that fire, the torch."

Seeing him about to cast magic, I hurriedly stopped him. This guy’s magic had other uses.

Soon, after taking the torch from Lackey, I quietly lit the oil on fire.

Fwrrroosh!!!

The flame caught, and fire surged deep inside the forest.

The moment I saw those flames, I shouted to the party:

"Now let’s run!"

Judging by how fast the fire spread, it would reach the Shadow Tree in no time.

We had to get out of this forest before that to avoid disaster.

What about the wild boar we caught earlier? That was a problem for later.

Purifying this hideous forest was the top priority right now.

Chwareureureuk!

It was when the flames reached deep inside the forest. Whether the Shadow Tree caught fire or not, tentacles reached out toward us.

They weren’t just extending from the Shadow Tree. Every shadow around us threatened us.

However, as long as light existed, they couldn’t directly harm us.

"Master! Make fire bigger!"

"This is the max!"

Furthermore, keeping them at bay with the Eye Lantern’s light meant the shadows couldn’t pounce on us.

Soon, just as we escaped the forest and reached the location of the ancient ruins...

Kwagagang!!!

A massive explosion echoed from deep within the forest, making the earth vibrate.

Was it a reaction from the Shadow Tree detonating, or some other reason?

Whatever it was, the shadows engulfing the forest gradually thinned out. Exploring would be much easier now.

"Master. How will you put out fire?"

Lackey asked me. The burning smell from the forest grew stronger.

Since the fire started from the center, spreading in all directions was only a matter of time.

I covered my nose at the distinct burning stench before speaking.

"I’m not putting it out."

"...What?"

"Is there any need to put it out?"

If it threatened our Shelter, sure, but it wouldn’t reach that far.

The reason I was confident was simple: analyzing the map showed a large river in between.

Besides, even if the flames spread, it would reach the gorilla pack’s territory before ours.

’Then all the better for us.’

Just as I was harboring such thoughts...

[Buooooh.]

A familiar sound echoed from the sky. I looked up.

The Sky Whale, having arrived unnoticed, was floating leisurely.

’What the? When did that thing get here?’

While I was flustered, the Sky Whale looked down.

Not looking at us, but toward the forest where the fire was raging.

The Sky Whale stared at the fire for a long moment, then opened its colossal mouth.

Puaaaa!

And it fired a stream of water that truly deserved the description ’water cannon.’

While the pressure wasn’t particularly intense, the volume was utterly terrifying.

[Buooooh.]

The Sky Whale easily extinguished the spreading wildfire and turned its head.

This time, it was aiming directly at us. Anxious foreboding crept in.

In the meantime, the Sky Whale curled its mouth into an ’O’...

[Ptooey!]

As if spitting, it launched a droplet of water right at me.

It clearly shot it from far away, but by the time I snapped to my senses, the water drop was right in front of my nose.

Teong!

"Keo-ok?!"

It flew in so fast I couldn’t even raise my shield. Thanks to that, I took a direct hit to the stomach.

Thank goodness I had Body-Protecting Gangqi active; otherwise, I would have suffered far worse damage.

[Buoooooh!]

The Sky Whale swam away lazily and disappeared. Its posture felt like a clear warning.

If I set fire to the forest again next time, it would do something far worse.

"...Why did I get hit?"

└ Necromancy is Love: The Sky Whale is famous for loving the forest. There is a rumor that in the past, humanity couldn’t recklessly destroy nature because of that creature.

You could’ve told me a little sooner.