I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 400

Never in my life did I think I’d end up in a life-or-death battle with mosquitoes.

It’s not like I’ve never fought mosquitoes back when I lived on Earth.

But that was strictly figurative; I never dreamed I’d actually be fighting for my life like this.

Wiiiiing!

A mosquito the size of a human charged at me while letting out a deafening buzz.

The shield I was holding had already been pierced by their sharp, hard proboscises.

Still, if I didn’t even have this hole-riddled shield, my Body-Protecting Gangqi would have been put in danger, so I kept blocking relentlessly.

Chwaak! Hududuk!

The mosquitoes themselves were weak. Every time I swung my sword, they dropped like dead leaves.

The problem was that, true to mosquitoes living in this forest, there were insane numbers of them. They truly poured in without end.

At least it was a comfort that whenever I swung my Aura Blade like a flyswatter, they rained down in heaps.

Kwag!

But my two hands weren’t enough to kill all the pests rushing in from all directions.

In the end, one of the mosquitoes plunged its snout straight into my thigh.

Thanks to my Body-Protecting Gangqi, it didn’t penetrate deeply. The problem lay elsewhere.

Juuuuuk!

It was absorbing mana instead of blood. I panicked.

There had been quite a few creatures that absorbed mana so far, but I never expected even mosquitoes to do it.

I quickly dispatched the mosquito that had driven its snout into my thigh.

"Open areas are dangerous! Let’s hurry and retreat somewhere else!"

[Understood!]

Cain already had snouts stuck all over his body like a hedgehog.

At any rate, he had no blood to be sucked, and as long as his main statue body wasn’t damaged, he wouldn’t get his mana drained either.

Thus, roughly swatting away mosquitoes, I searched for a defensible spot.

Since it was a forest, finding such a place was difficult, but before long, I managed to spot one.

"That cave over there! Let’s head toward the cave!"

It looked like a cave where some beast would lurk. But I had no choice.

It was far better than getting pecked to death by mosquitoes from all sides like this.

Killing one giant beast was much better than dealing with a swarm of mosquitoes.

"Kereuk?"

What kind of coincidence was this? The moment I was about to step inside the cave, I ran right into its owner.

A jaguar. A jaguar of enormous size, no less.

The jaguar locked eyes with me, tilted its head, and then glanced at the swarm of mosquitoes behind me.

Following that, it scowled, bared its teeth, and roared.

"Kaaaaaaah!"

"Keuag?!"

I reflexively covered my ears. It should have been a simple roar, but I felt like my limbs were being paralyzed.

If even I had this kind of reaction, how much worse was it for the swarm of mosquitoes? The furiously charging mosquito swarm came to a screeching halt!

At the same time, mosquitoes rained down onto the ground with a hududuk.

Seeing them tremble violently, it seemed the jaguar’s roar possessed a sort of paralysis ability.

"Phew... Saved..."

"Kaaaaaaah!"

"...or not."

I engaged in a desperate fight with the jaguar charging at me with its sharp claws exposed.

Still, a single jaguar was far better than fighting a swarm of mosquitoes.

"Haaah... haaah..."

A moment later, peace returned as I drove my sword straight into the jaguar’s head.

It would have been a bit tough if I had fought alone. But I had a companion.

Call it cheap or whatever, I didn’t care. Surviving was the only thing that mattered here.

"...Let’s eat jaguar meat for dinner tonight."

[You’re the only one here who eats meat.]

Come to think of it, that’s true. I should just roughly butcher it and throw away the rest.

I looked around the cave I had chosen as my place to lodge for tonight.

Inside, bones left over from the jaguar’s meals were scattered around, and the stench was quite foul.

But staying outside meant who knows what calamity might strike. I had no choice but to roughly clean it up and bear with it.

’I have to stay awake for three whole days anyway.’

I didn’t know which Hunter might launch an ambush during these three days. I had to fight off sleep and endure.

Especially since there were plenty of bugs here that even bug repellent couldn’t affect. That was the biggest headache.

I thought about heading to a different zone instead, but I gave up on that idea.

There was nowhere else as cozy and capable of acting as a shelter as this cave.

"I could even use this cave as a base camp later."

[Not bad.]

I recalled the cave that had now disappeared. The cave I had comfortably used for several months.

After a brief moment of nostalgia, I slowly cleaned up from the inside out.

It would be nice if there were incense candles or something, but that would be really dangerous.

"Let’s rest for a bit. There’s still plenty of time until dinner."

[What are you going to do with the jaguar carcass?]

"I’ll fetch it later."Read this novel at novelping . com for the best experience.

I intended to rest for about 10 minutes and then butcher it immediately.

Having fought relentlessly until now, a bit of fatigue had accumulated.

I checked the Gallery. What kind of posts had been uploaded this time?

Title) Isn’t Grylls