I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 422

The winter, which had been exceptionally easy to endure, had passed. As winter ended, the kids who had been hibernating woke up as well.

"Ppae-aek!"

The same went for Cheongseol, who had spent the winter at the roots of the World Tree.

As if sensing that winter was over, she tore open space and made her entrance.

I could feel the terrifying glare of Cheongseol’s mother beyond the torn space, but I tried my best to ignore it.

Since Cheongseol was currently busy licking my cheek, she probably wouldn’t touch me anyway.

Soon, the torn rift mended itself, and our party returned to complete form.

"Wonmo-ya."

"Kkyu-u?"

"How come you seem to get bigger with every passing day?"

Every time winter passed, Wonmo’s size swelled a bit.

It felt odd to describe a child as ’swelling,’ but he really had gotten bigger.

Well, he was in the middle of a growth spurt, so I let it slide.

"Alright. Let’s take a photo today."

"Kkyu-u!"

"Tyranno, Cheongseol, stick close next to him too."

Still, the fact that they were adorable remained unchanged.

I gathered the three kids into one spot and put clothes on them.

Mind you, I didn’t dress them individually, but stuffed them all into a single, whole piece of clothing.

I set it up so only their heads popped out.

Title) Cerberus arrived at my house shake-shake-shake-shake-shake

(Picture of Tyranno, Wonmo, and Cheongseol huddled snugly together)

(Picture of the three kids stuffed together into an adult t-shirt)

A Cerberus dangerous to the heart has appeared;;

ㄴHeavenly Demon) Such cute little things gathered together. It warms the heart.

ㄴSword Matstar) Don’t know about anything else, but I really want to raise a creature like Wonmo...

ㄴStarlight Lady) I’m going to raise one first ^^

ㄴSword Matstar) Excuse me;;

ㄴBut hasn’t illegal poaching of owlbears increased recently?

ㄴYeah, I’ve heard about that.

ㄴWhat’s the point though? The failure rate is so high it’s pointless lolol

ㄴIf an owlbear’s cub gets kidnapped, it’ll hunt you down until it dies lol

ㄴPraise the Sun) I wanna say I’m raising something cooler than that... but I can’t even speak up because of the dragon lol

ㄴWhat are you raising? A lion? Or a tiger?

ㄴPraise the Sun) I don’t raise weak stuff like that lol

ㄴIf you’re gonna talk big, at least post a picture

ㄴFr, not even posting pics, what a talker lol

ㄴPraise the Sun) That’s because it hasn’t hatched yet.

The response was explosive. Wonmo’s popularity in particular was astronomical.

Fitting popularity for our Gallery Master. I planned to register emotes soon, and I wondered how well they’d sell.

Points weren’t of much use to me anyway, but it made me feel good.

"Alright. That wraps up packing... time to head out..."

Hwi-ing!

Just as we were about to set off, a gust of violent wind blew in from outside—a wind packed full of yellow pollen.

If we went out like this, I wouldn’t even be able to open my eyes properly. I had completely forgotten about pollen season.

Ultimately, we had no choice but to wait until the pollen yellow dust settled. Thus, we were able to head out after lunch.

’Guess I’ll just visit the library today and call it a day.’

Meeting Alex at the library and borrowing various books would likely consume the rest of the day.

With Cheongseol’s help, I arrived at the ruins where the library was situated.

Chwareureuk!

Noticing our arrival, Alex kindly rolled out a carpet for us.

The problem was that the carpet was a squishy, fleshy tongue.

I appreciated the gesture, but I desperately wanted to decline.

"Hey. How have you been?"

[Met again. Happy.]

Alex, the mimic wearing a baseball cap on its head, greeted me warmly.

I exchanged a few words with him and scanned for other books. Books to look for really meant cooking recipes and little else.

’While I’m at it, I should share some new bar snack recipes with the dwarf.’

That wasn’t all. I was also planning to lend a book to Allfather.

He had requested it right after his ban was lifted, but that happened to be right when winter began.

[Wild Grylls: Hey. I’m gonna send over some bar snack recipes, anything specific you want?]

[Passing Dwarf: Got any brewing guides rather than snacks? I’m curious what kind of booze the gods made.]This story is hosted at novelpi⁠ng.com.

[Wild Grylls: Brewing methods were probably all more or less the same, right? I’ll look for one anyway.]

I handed over a book on brewing methods to the dwarf.

Truth be told, brewing methods hadn’t changed much since ancient times; it was merely a matter of whether the approach was scientific or not.

If brewed scientifically, the success rate would probably go up a bit.

Since time immemorial, improperly brewed liquor often reeked of nothing but sourness.

[Wild Grylls: Is there any specific book you’d like?]

[Allfather: Ohhh...! There are so many, I don’t know what to choose...!]

[Wild Grylls: Hmm... Since you’re a professor, it should be fine to give you a somewhat difficult book, right?]

[Allfather: What kind of book is it?]

[Wild Grylls: Quantum mechanics theory.]

[Allfather: Just hearing the name makes me thrum with excitement!]

Would Allfather actually be able to understand quantum theory? I had no idea.

So I asked Alex for a book that even a total layperson could grasp.

Alex’s response to that was quite something.

[Uncomprehending. Learning quantum mechanics implies high academic attainment. Cannot be learned simply.]

"You’re saying it has to be learned the hard way?"

[Quantum mechanics is not a discipline to be understood. It is a discipline to be studied.]

"..."

I had no idea what he meant. Still, I handed the book over.

Allfather would produce some sort of result in his own way. Even if he just found it satisfying, it didn’t matter.

After borrowing various books from Alex, I began proper exploration.

Well, ’exploration’ just meant searching around this vicinity. For starters, time was far too short.

’Last time I went over that way...’

This time, I planned to head elsewhere. I would absolutely never go back to where the Flesh Aberration was located.

The ruins were fairly expansive, and even where there seemed to be no path, it was merely concealed by the forest.

I hadn’t originally intended to go there, but it was better than the alternatives.

’I should postpone going back to that cursed insect zone as much as possible.’

The place where mosquitoes the size of human faces buzzed around, and where the Asura Mantis roamed.

There was even a giant volcano-spewing turtle.

Just recalling how much I suffered back then made my blood run cold.

[Still, you have grown stronger, so is that not enough?]

"That’s hindsight bias. I came really close to dying back then."

Getting ambushed day in and day out, I thought I was going insane.

Thankfully, moving as a ’pack’ now meant we were almost never ambushed.

Using the library as a focal point, I scoured every nook and cranny of the surrounding forest. I prayed we would find a new path.

"Huh? This place is..."

"It looks like a tavern."

Then, inside the forest, we encountered a strange structure.

Overall, it was a three-story building that looked like a tavern, heavily blanketed in moss.

The thick moss indicated no one had even approached it. Yet the fact that the building hadn’t collapsed and stood upright was unusual in itself.

"Could this building be a mimic too?"

[I cannot say the possibility is absolute zero. However, most structures that were mimics lacked moss.]

Just as Cain said, telling a disguised mimic apart was simple:

Was the object covered in moss, or was it clean?

Because moss was a mimic’s favorite snack, they kept themselves squeaky clean.

The library had looked exceptionally tidy on the outside too, so that made plenty of sense.

"Let’s go inside first."

There was no telling what might be inside, but ignoring it wasn’t an option either.

From my perspective, finding even one more record was beneficial. I immediately started live-streaming video.

"Alright, everyone. I’ve found another building. It looks like a tavern."

ㄴPassing Dwarf) Is there booze?

"Why do you always look for booze first?"

Letting out a dry chuckle at the dwarf’s booze obsession, I quietly opened the door.

Having lacked oil for a long time, a crisp Kki-ik- creak resonated clearly.

Stepping inside, I was greeted by a pitch-black interior.

"Surprisingly, the inside is clean?"

"Master?"

"Ah, sorry."

Prompted by Lackey’s scolding, I reflexively clapped my hand over my mouth.

However, unlike the moss-covered exterior, the interior was truly spotless.

As if someone had been sweeping it until moments ago. Not a single cobweb was in sight.

’Gotta be careful.’

I conjured up a Light Crystal Orb and advanced inward.

Fortunately, no traps were visible at all. Only the pristine interior of a tavern met our eyes.Visit novelping dot com for the full chapter.

Furthermore, I realized it wasn’t a tavern, but a meat shop.

The reason I knew this was because the counter took a very familiar shape.

"It’s not a tavern... it looks like a butcher shop?"

[It appears so.]

I walked around slowly, checking if there were any anomalies.

Even for a butcher shop, a spotlessly clean interior was highly abnormal.

It was right then.

[~]

Out of nowhere, music began to flow. The moment my party and I heard the music, we froze in place.

Music held particularly nasty memories for me; after all, I had previously encountered an insect that utilized Sonic Arts.

That Sonic Art user had controlled other entities while pushing me into a tight corner.

"Everyone, draw your weapons!"

At my shout, each member of the party readied their weapons. I did the same.

Yet the music played leisurely on, and nothing happened.

Where, then, was this music coming from? I sought the origin of the singing voice.

"...A jukebox?"

Before long, I located a jukebox sitting in a corner of the shop.

Like the shop interior, the device maintained a pristine form without a single speck of dust.

In fact, the machine was playing a song that had once been famous. It was a melody familiar even to my ears.

’Is this a mimic too?’

I deployed Body-Protecting Gangqi and approached cautiously. Then, a surprising thing occurred.

As if it had been waiting for a long time, a tongue slowly slithered out from inside the jukebox.

It even gently fondled the hand I extended. There was no hostility.

[A gentle fellow. Then again, there could certainly be another one like the library mimic.]

"Master. Are there no other songs?"

Hearing Lackey’s question, I pondered. A thought popped into my head: Could it be?

I requested one of the famous songs. At that moment, something amazing happened.

[~~~~]

That exact song began to play. Honestly, I couldn’t help but be amazed.

The sound quality was top-notch, with no stuttering whatsoever.

A strong urge to take it with us blossomed inside me.

"It’s quite a nice fellow. Should we take..."

I was about to consult the party for their opinions when I froze mid-sentence.

At that, the party tilted their heads as if asking what was wrong.

"What is it?"

"...Hold on a second."

I carefully counted heads. No, there wasn’t even a need to count.

Because Wonmo, our cutie pie mascot, had vanished.

Startled, I asked the party quietly,

"...Does anyone happen to know where Wonmo is?"

"He was right here a moment ago..."

"..."

Only then did the party realize the gravity of the situation. The room fell into dead silence.

[~~~~]

Even amid the silence, the jukebox remained busy playing music enthusiastically.

In a completely different space, far from where the jukebox was passionately singing...

"Kkyu-u-u-u! Kkyu-u-u-u!"

Wonmo was currently being snatched by someone and dragged away to who-knows-where.

With one foot caught, Wonmo flailed around and pecked fiercely with his beak.

He resisted with all his might, but it was all meaningless. And understandably so—the kidnapper’s body was immense.

Though Wonmo was still a cub, he was fairly big. Yet the culprit had kidnapped him without making a sound.

What’s more, the kidnapper’s size was no smaller than an ogre’s. It was no ordinary entity.

"Keureureuk..."

"Kkyu-u-u-u-u!!!"

The kidnapper walked along while letting out a deeply sinister growl.

In one hand, it held a meat hook caked with dried blood.

Soon, the place where the kidnapper dragged Wonmo was none other than...

"Hehehe."

"Kkyu... kkyu-u...?"

A warehouse where countless animal carcasses hung suspended from hooks.