I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 441

In the Forest of the Four Seasons, living creatures were one thing, but even the environment was apocalyptic.

Yellow dust accompanied by pollen blew in during spring, swarms of insects raged in summer, and heavy blizzards poured down in winter.

Especially regarding the weather, nothing was ever moderate. Torrential rain was ironically the best of the bunch.

Thankfully, I had grown accustomed to it over time and could prepare adequately. Strictly speaking, based on my Shelter’s standards, that is.

"Master."

"Speak."

"Can we continue exploring?"

Lackey raised a fundamental question. At those words, I looked outside.

The rain that had dropped in single beads was now pouring like a downpour.

As seen earlier, this rain was no ordinary shower. It was imbued with the energy of fire.

The rain that had caused tiny embers upon touching the ground was now cascading down like a squall.

Hwareureureuk! Hwareureuk!

This meant that flames flared up everywhere as if a wildfire had broken out.

A rain was falling, yet instead of extinguishing the flames, they burned even fiercer—an utterly contradictory situation.

Truly an environment typical of the Forest of the Four Seasons. No wonder there was ash scattered on the ground.

’At least we managed to shelter from the rain thanks to me...’

I raised my head upward. Blue ice came into view.

Currently, we were sheltering from the rain inside a makeshift ice cave.

Naturally, this ice cave was fabricated using frost energy. After squeezing out as much mana as possible to generate a huge block of ice, I hollowed out the middle.

Enlisting Lackey’s help along the way, we somehow managed to avoid the rain. However, since Largo had to fit inside too, a non-negligible amount of mana was consumed.

The issue was that this wasn’t the end. One could tell by looking at the sight outside where flames were burning brightly.

Chiiiik!

Thick white steam billowed off the ice. Evidence that the hot fiery rain was melting the ice.

It wasn’t just simple rain but a deluge, so the melting speed was rapid. Without constantly replenishing it with frost energy, it would melt in no time.

"Master. I shall cast magic."

"Forget it. It’s not that hard. Save your mana as much as possible."

Lackey’s shield could easily block the fire rain. But right now, conserving mana was wiser.

Because unlike me, Lackey didn’t possess an abundance of mana. Magic drained significant mana with every cast.

Hearing my reply, Lackey nodded. Then, appearing to gauge my mood, he carefully opened his mouth.

"Then can I play the guitar?"

"...."

Unable to hide my absurdity, I stared at Lackey. Under my gaze, Lackey scratched his head and watched my reactions cautiously.

How should I put it? While the little ones felt like raising toddlers, dealing with Lackey felt like handling an immature teenager.

But in this situation, there was nothing else we could do. Waiting aimlessly was also boring.

"Bust out a tune."

"I shall bust it out splendidly!"

Given my permission, Lackey whipped out his guitar with an excited look.

Before long, he skillfully tuned the guitar chords. Watching him, I asked with a half-doubting feeling.

"Did you memorize all the chord fingerings?"

"Memorizing is not difficult."

Truly, he was like an onion—the more you peeled, the more was revealed. He didn’t just transcend the limits of gorillas, he transcended the limits of apes.

Snickering, I shook my head side to side. Meanwhile, Lackey’s performance began.

[♩♩♫~ ♬♬♪♩♩]

Right from the start, it was extraordinary. A very familiar melody.

Widening my eyes, I asked Lackey.

"Isn’t this that song from this morning?"

"Correct."

"How do you know the pitch?"

"I just play it."

[Passing Dwarf: Is that really a gorilla?]

[Smart Demon: No wonder Wi Ho-chang took the gorilla brothers as successors;;]

[Internal Cultivation Master Robert: Truly, his talent exceeds most ordinary humans.]

[Heavenly Demon: The expression ’jack-of-all-trades’ suits him well.]

[Sword Matstar: Are you willing to take that gorilla as your disciple?]

[Heavenly Demon: Teaching him would be gratifying, but... his facial features portend bad fortune.]

Everyone showed amazed reactions at Lackey’s talent. What was hilarious was Heavenly Demon’s face-reading joke.

It would be one thing for a human, but I had never heard of a gorilla having physiognomy features before.

"What are his facial features like?"

[Heavenly Demon: The bridge of his nose, that is, the root of his nose is low. He is lazy so he cannot gather wealth, and his familial relationships lean poor.]Read the latest chapters at no​velping.com.

[Smart Demon: Having a low nose bridge is true for gorillas in general;;]

[Allfather: Words that leave me nothing short of awestruck.]

[Sword Matstar: Hahahaha]

[Starlight Lady: Haha;;]

Was she speaking seriously, or was it closer to a joke?

Watching the fixed-nicks busy teasing Heavenly Demon, I smirked.

It was so funny that even Starlight Lady, usually demure, was bursting with laughter.

"Master. Song finished. Can I keep singing?"

"Sing until the rain stops."

Until the downpour ended, Lackey’s musical show did not cease.

Since he was surprisingly good at singing too, my ears didn’t suffer. On the contrary, it was peaceful.

He hadn’t been taught professionally, yet his skill was on par with a veteran bard. Is there anything this guy can’t do?

Tududuk- Tuduk-

How much time passed? The rain gradually stopped, and the dark clouds all moved past.

Looking up at the cleared sky, I stepped out of the ice cave.

Perfect weather where not even a single drop fell. It seemed like we could set off soon.

"Let’s set off again."

With the fire rain stopped, we moved on. Along the way, I carved markers so it would be easy to return.

The trees were all bare without even leaves, but that was fine. I just had to snap branches to leave marks.

Swaaaa!

A short while later, we reached a gently flowing river. The water itself appeared extremely clear.

The temperature was growing progressively muggy, leaving us thirsty.

"Ggyuuuu~"

"Seuup. No. Wait."

"Ggyuu?"

I stopped Wonmo from stepping closer to drink water. Wonmo looked at me with a face asking what was wrong.

Having more fur than the rest of the party, Wonmo got thirsty faster. But in the Forest of the Four Seasons, one must knock on stone bridges before crossing them.

Given the fire rain earlier and how most dwelling creatures were heavily tied to flame.

’Where is a suitable branch...’

Grabbing a nearby branch, I froze it solid with frost energy.

Next, I inserted the frozen branch into the quietly flowing river.

Chiiiik!

Just as expected. The moment the solid frozen branch entered, thick steam billowed up.

Pulling it back out right after, the ice on the submerged section had completely melted away. Merely calling it ’hot’ was insufficient.

"Anyone want to drink this?"

"...."

As I held out the branch and asked, everyone shook their heads side to side.

Wonmo gauged the mood and crept backward. It seemed getting drinking water here would be difficult.

’Just in case, I brought a lot of water... but we still need to be careful.’

Kwak!

Looking at the quietly flowing river, I drove my sword into the ground.

Subsequently gathering the mana within my body, I gradually released frost energy.

Jjeojeojeok! Jjeojeok!

The frost energy emitted from the sword slowly began taking form.

The makeshift ice cave made earlier was simple—just blindly scaling up the size was enough.

But now, a more delicate control than that was required. Therefore, I even closed my eyes to concentrate.

"Ah, damn. Doesn’t work."

[What were you trying to do?]

"I was trying to make an ice bridge."

It didn’t work. Far from an ice bridge, only an oddly shaped ice pillar was formed.

It was certain that delicacy was far removed from a person like me. Ultimately, I adopted a brute-force method.

Jjeojeojeojeok!!! Jjeojeojeok!!

Freezing the entire river altogether. There was no easier or simpler method than this.

The downside of consuming significant mana was hardly a downside to me. Didn’t they say if your body is strong, your head doesn’t have to suffer?

"Alright, alright. Everyone, cross over."

As we passed over the rock-hard frozen river, the party members glanced at me sideways.

I felt like I roughly knew what they were thinking, but I didn’t bother asking.

Thus, with all party members across, I pulled my sword and immediately dashed over.The source of this chapter is novelрing.com.

Swaaaa!

The instant I crossed the river, the ice melted in a flash and reverted to its original form.

Had I been even slightly late, I would’ve been swept away. The water temperature seemed higher than imagined.

’For the water temperature to be that high... what on earth is upstream?’

I looked toward the upstream section of the river. Suddenly, I became curious about what was there.

One might say we crossed the river for nothing then, but this was the only path anyway.

Going upstream briefly and taking a slight detour shouldn’t be an issue. So I spoke to the group.

"Let’s head upstream along the river. Maybe the animal we’re looking for is there."

"Are you really going to look for it?"

Lackey asked with concern. I knew what he was worried about.

By nature, regional rulers were extremely troublesome to deal with. No, beyond troublesome, they were overwhelming.

However, according to the Flame Horse’s testimony, the ruler of the Ash Zone was coiled up in ancient ruins.

Even just for this piece of information, there were more than enough reasons to go look. Even if trouble arose, we had insurance.

"We’re only going to look for it. Fighting is secondary. Since it’s an aerial type, fighting it unprepared would be super dangerous."

"I shall trust you."

"What’s that tone?"

"Master said that and fought every day."

"Even I don’t fight if there’s no way out, okay?"

It’s not like I’m a battle-crazed lunatic.

No matter how strong I’ve become, I unconditionally avoid battles with no chance of winning.

Escaping this place came first; I didn’t crave power for its own sake.

Strength was merely something naturally acquired while surviving.

Swaaaa!

The further upstream we went, the muggier the weather gradually became.

Fortunately, few members among the group suffered much from the heat.

Even those sensitive to heat didn’t have it severe thanks to my frost energy.

Activating Body-Protecting Gangqi and frost energy simultaneously was practically a natural air conditioner.

Sallang- Sallang-

It was right when we had almost reached the river’s upper stream. Something fluttered past my eyes.

An insect. Normally, applying bug repellent and ignoring it was fine.

But the bug that brushed past my face was hard to ignore.

"...A fire moth?"

Not a metaphor, but quite literally a moth on fire flew past.

Since its entire body was burning, it was hard to tell if it was a moth or a butterfly, but its thorax was thick.

I stared blankly at the fire moth fluttering leisurely away. The fire moth was flying toward a tree.

Soon enough, the fire moth landed on the tree. I thought it was an unremarkable action, but it was anything but.

Hwareuk!

Suddenly, flames flared up on the tree. A flame so weak it couldn’t be weaker.

However, the color and intensity of the flame were identical to the fire moth’s. It was another fire moth.

Hwareuk! Hwareureuk!

Starting with that, even more fire moths began igniting flames on their bodies.

I wondered if they were mating, but that would be underestimating the Forest of the Four Seasons far too much.

Hwareureuk! Hwareureuk!

The fire moths weren’t attached to just one tree. They were clinging to neighboring trees as well.

Thanks to that, the scene transformed into looking as though trees were set ablaze. I flinched backward at the beautiful yet ominous sight.

But behind me, a scalding river was already flowing. Going back was impossible.

Sallang- Sallang-

The fire moths with ignited bodies took to the sky simultaneously. I quietly drew my weapon and watched the scene.

The fire moths soaring into the sky began merging into one. Though clearly independent entities, they were combining as a single unit.

A phenomenon lightly shattering common sense. Was even a phenomenon like that considered natural in the Forest of the Four Seasons?

Paaat!

Before long, the fire moths merged perfectly into one.

It wasn’t a simple gathering; a massive swarm had transformed into a single entity.

Its shape looked like a fire moth blown up to gigantic proportions.

Peolleok!

As the gigantic fire moth lightly flapped its wings—

Kwaaaa!!

Countless fireballs shot forth from those wings.