I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 429

The time had come to lay down the shield I had so stubbornly held onto. I stared at the shield hanging on the wall.

A weapon I had cherished ever since Praise the Sun gave it to me. But its limits had become clear.

Not that the shield was weak. As I told Sword Matstar, passivity was the issue.

If it were an opponent I could overwhelm with sheer weight class, that would be one thing, but cases like the Butcher Ogre were different.

I had to exert every single ability at my disposal to claim victory.

’If the shield were summonable, that would be a different story...’

Bare-handed usually, expanding into a shield whenever I desired.

If it were that type of shield, I would have kept using it, but such an ability was impossible even with magic.

Well, if it were the Mythic Era where Subspace Backpacks existed, maybe it would have been totally possible.

However, unless Allfather or Starlight Lady grasped the principles of subspace, it was close to impossible.

’Still, it might come in handy someday, so I should store it.’

I wasn’t throwing the shield away. Just ’storing’ it for a while.

Because a situation where I’d need a shield might come up someday. Above all, this wasn’t an item I should throw away.

’It’s something Praise the Sun gave me. Did he say it had a bit of Adamantium mixed in?’

Back then, I had zero idea how expensive Adamantium was.

As time passed and I realized the true value of Mithril and Orichalcum, I naturally came to understand.

Even Mithril and Orichalcum were in or near our shelter, whereas I couldn’t find a speck of Adamantium.

’Or maybe my starting location was just absurdly overpowered.’

Calling it useful didn’t do it justice; I had used it exceptionally well.

Perhaps because of that, there were signs of wear and damage scattered here and there.

Evidence of the battles I had gone through so far. I took a photo of it and sent a message.

[Wild Grylls: (Photo of the shield hanging on the wall)]

[Wild Grylls: Thank you for everything up until now, hyung-nim.]

[Praise the Sun: Huh? What’s this?]

[Praise the Sun: Did the shield break?]

When I messaged Praise the Sun, he naturally voiced his confusion.

So I carefully explained so he wouldn’t feel hurt. That I was laying down the shield to fight more proactively in the future.

That it was an enlightenment gained from the battle with the Butcher Ogre, and that I was letting him know beforehand so he wouldn’t feel disappointed.

[Praise the Sun: You’re really a hilarious guy, huh? You think I’d be hurt over something like that?]

[Wild Grylls: You said it was a shield mixed with a bit of Adamantium, right? You gave me something super rare.]

[Praise the Sun: You gotta think about what you gave me too, man ;; Besides, I have things way more expensive than that shield.]

[Wild Grylls: You have things more expensive than that?]

[Praise the Sun: My wives lol]

[Wild Grylls: ;;;]

[Praise the Sun: If you ever find a stamina potion later, throw one my way lol]

Fortunately, Praise the Sun brushed it off as no big deal too. My heart felt relieved.

Now all that remained was practice. Sword Matstar had advised based on her observations of me that I often fought bare-handed.

Even when finishing off the Butcher Ogre, I ended it with nearby objects rather than a sword.

Now even the Sword of the Heavenly Demon was merely a tool; true martial power was myself.

’Still, I’ll probably use the Sword of the Heavenly Demon until the end.’

It went beyond simply having good performance. Every time I used it, I felt it was a fucking broken item.

To the point where my hand was cleanly pierced when I botched using Telekinesis.

Thank goodness I quickly treated it with an Elixir, otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to do anything for days.

[Ttuttutturururu~]

It was after I had mostly cleared my tangled thoughts. A cute children’s song flowed out from the Jukebox.

In front of it, Wonmo, Tyranno, and Cheongseol gathered huddled together.

It seemed the nursery rhyme that had once swept the whole world was extremely popular with animals as well.

Title: Cute Three Brothers

Wild Grylls

(Photo of the kids huddled together in front of the Jukebox)

Photo of the kids. Just posted it because they’re cute ^^

└ Heavenly Demon) It warms the heart. It would cure even someone suffering from Qi Deviation.

└ Agreed

└ Giving that photo to anyone having a hard time would heal them completely lol

└ So when are you posting the Gallery Master emoticons?

└ Wild Grylls) I should post them soon, yeah

As expected, it received high praise. I smiled warmly and went outside.

When I went outside, Lackey was playing a masterpiece on the guitar.

Why was he playing outside instead of playing inside? It’s simple.

"How does it feel to get kicked out for making noise?"

"Silence."

He got kicked out by the kids. On the grounds that he was disturbing their nursery rhyme listening.

Unfair as it was from Lackey’s perspective, what could he do? A low-ranking entity has no choice but to obey orders.

"We’re heading out to explore soon, so get fully ready."

"Can I bring this along?"

Lackey asked, stealthily holding out the guitar. An expectant expression was a bonus.

Naturally, my answer was NO. Am I crazy to take an inexperienced bard along?

Although Lackey was closer to a true jack-of-all-trades rather than a bard, what can’t be done can’t be done.

"No way. If you wanna bring a guitar, hone your skill first. And didn’t you say you were switching classes to mage?"

"Magic is reason, while this is emotion. Right now, I am overflowing with emotion."Follow the newest chapters on nоvelping.com.

"Look at you, totally humanized now. Where’s the wandering Lackey of the past?"

"That person died as of yesterday. Today, a new soul has been born."

Seriously, why is this guy trapped living in the Forest of the Four Seasons? If he just went outside, he could become a celebrity in an instant.

Unlike me who’s just stupidly strong, he’s versatility itself. Gaining fame would be a piece of cake for him.

’Is he trapped in the Forest of the Four Seasons just for balance purposes?’

Anyway, I strictly opposed taking the guitar. Exploring wasn’t a joke, and we couldn’t risk our lives.

Lackey merely felt regretful and didn’t throw a tantrum, obediently complying. It showed he clearly recognized my rank.

However, disappointed as he was, he asked me to watch just this one thing.

"What are you trying to do?"

"You’ll see when you watch."

Lackey prepared not only the guitar but also his Mythricon gauntlet.

Originally, the Mythricon gauntlet was a weapon worn on the left hand. So he held the guitar in reverse.

Ttiriring~

Lackey plucked the guitar strings. A sweet note pierced through my ears.

Kwaang!

However, apart from the sweet note, a terrifying sonic attack blasted forward.

It wasn’t just a gust of wind blowing; a deep hollow gouged into the center of a tree. A direct hit had been made.

"How is it?"

Lackey puffed out his chest proudly. A silent indication of: "You still won’t allow it after this?"

I stared blankly at him before turning my head. It was the tree he had just blasted with the sonic attack.

Taking a deep breath right after, I shouted with all my might, just like last time.

"HA!!!"

At my Lion’s Roar infused with mana—

Ujijik!

The tree that was standing sturdily snapped in half.

Though ignorant as hell, I also knew how to use sonic attacks.

I realized it back when I wandered around with Cain last time. I had just left it neglected because there was no real need to use it.

"...."

"See? I don’t care if you play guitar, but don’t go using it during exploration."

Showing words and actions simultaneously convinced Lackey.

It wasn’t that his spirit was crushed, but that he realized on his own it was a waste of time.

’Honestly, I didn’t think it would work either.’

If Lackey had caught onto my internal thoughts, what reaction would he have shown?

Leaving useless thoughts behind, I gathered the group. Opportunely enough, the nursery rhyme had just finished as well.

"Let’s head out to explore soon. We won’t go too far; we’ll expand our range centered around the library."

That was a point I realized after subjugating the Butcher Ogre. Simply charging straight in one direction wasn’t good either.

Not that it was dangerous, but because there might be many things I missed.

Though I had realized many things about the Forest of the Four Seasons, there was still far more I didn’t know.

’I should expand the map a bit more.’

Before setting off, I examined the map I had been steadily drawing since my cave days.

Compared to the beginning, the mapped-out areas had grown vastly. It was thanks to Cheongseol’s ability.

’I might need to divide it by region soon.’

If my guess was right, the Forest of the Four Seasons was identical in size to Earth.

Investigating all of that one by one was virtually impossible. Even over a lifetime, I wouldn’t be able to explore it completely.

Of course, since my ultimate goal was escape, there was no reason to explore it all anyway.

’Though the mysteries aren’t solved...’

As curiosity killed the cat, trying to solve those mysteries would put my life in danger.

I had to stay cold-headed. Reminding myself several times that my goal was escape, I finished preparations to set off.

"Kkyuu! Kkyu!"

"Master. Wonmo says to bring the Jukebox along as well."

"No."

"Kkyuuuu..."

"I’ll give you honey instead."

"Kkyuu!"

Before long, with Cheongseol’s help, we arrived at the library. We weren’t visiting the library itself.

The library was merely designated as the reference point. From here, we would decide where to go.

’Since the Butcher was to the left of the library...’

Now we should head right. To the right was likewise forest.

It would be better to create a path ourselves rather than following a set one.

"Please pay extra attention as someone might disappear like last time."

[Understood. I shall take charge of Wonmo.]

"Kkyuu?"

Wonmo, our shelter’s mascot and troublemaker, was taken care of by Cain. The rest...

"...Guys?"

"Ppiik?"

"Bbaek!"

"...Never mind."

All stuck to me.Read the latest chapters at novelping . com.

When I tried to attach them to someone else, they all adamantly refused. It couldn’t be helped.

At least Tyranno was capable of flight, so we agreed on him following along beside me.

Afterward, as we advanced deep inside the forest, we were able to find traces little by little.

"This is..."

[The corpse of a beast.]

An unusual set of traces.

Beast corpses lining the area was a commonplace sight in the Forest of the Four Seasons.

Furthermore, corpses were crucial information because they allowed us to specify the culprit’s abilities to a small degree.

└ Starlight Lady) How strange. Its body is damaged from the inside.

└ Heavenly Demon) It appears as though it ruptured from within.

└ Allfather) It seems an explosion occurred internally.

Since everyone had a knack for grasping information, they delivered insights quickly.

In particular, Starlight Lady conveyed her opinion via private message.

Though she mentioned none of the entities she had summoned seemed suspicious.

It seemed to be an entity that hadn’t been discovered until now. It was best to be careful.

"Everyone, assume battle readiness. Lackey. Be ready to shoot magic at a moment’s notice."

I immediately issued instructions to the party and carefully stepped inside.

I also meticulously checked every now and then to see if anyone in the group had strayed.

As we went deeper and deeper inside, the bones of beasts multiplied.

It seemed a major fight had occurred recently, or a predator had gone wild to its heart’s content.

Buseureok— buseureok—

While investigating the corpse, rustling sounds echoed from the bushes.

The moment the group and I heard that sound, we immediately assumed combat stances.

Jeobeok— jeobeok— jeobeok—

What emerged from the bushes was none other than a Mad Dog.

The creature that had tormented me during my early days in the Forest of the Four Seasons. But something was strange.

"Grrrr..."

"...?"

The Mad Dog merely walked endlessly, taking no action whatsoever.

Normally, seeing an unfamiliar entity would trigger at least a hostile stance, so it was weird.

It was as if it had transcended life itself. No, that wasn’t it.

’It looks like it gave up on life...’

Even before that thought could end—

Ulluk! Bulluk!

Its body suddenly seemed to swell up massively, and then—

Kwajik! Kwajijik!

As if hit head-on by an explosion, its entire body shattered into pieces.

The shattered body tumbled down onto the ground in splatters, and strangely, not even debris flew about.

Paseuseu—

It simply turned into a corpse accompanied by pitch-black smoke. I felt baffled.

What on earth had it been hit by for the Mad Dog’s body to explode?

It was when I harbored half-curiosity and half-worry over this.

Buseureok—

The bushes where the Mad Dog had emerged shook once more.

Hearing the sound, I turned my head. The rustling of the bushes was less intense than before.

Before long, what emerged from there was none other than...

"...A rabbit?"

It was a rabbit. A pure white rabbit at that.

In terms of size alone, it was far smaller than Wonmo. Its cute appearance was a bonus.

But where were we? The Forest of the Four Seasons.

In particular, smaller creatures had a ’very’ high probability of harboring dangerous abilities.

Not to mention, considering the explosion that happened to the Mad Dog earlier...

"Everyone scatter! Hurry!!!"

Whatever principle it worked on, that rabbit might induce explosions.

At my shout, the party hurriedly scattered. They seemed to have felt something as well.

The same went for Bbareumbo. Unusually, he hastily dropped off my back.

’That bastard detaches that fast?’

It was the speed of Bbareumbo moving at max speed in normal times, not combat.

In other words, it meant he hurriedly bailed before getting dragged into a bothersome affair.

Tat!

Whether it regarded us as enemies in the meantime, the rabbit hopped! It leaped.

It was a light leap, but it approached in an instant. I immediately manifested my Aura.

Tuk—

Before long, its cute little paw collided with the Sword of the Heavenly Demon.

Hwaaaak!

"...?"

My field of vision was filled with a blinding flash.

Kwagwang!!!