I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 48

The giant crab’s pincer slam. I narrowly dodged that attack.

Because the motion itself was large and deceptively sluggish, dodging it wasn’t difficult.

However, the tremor that shook the ground when it slammed down. That vibration was extraordinary.

’F-First, mana...!’

Soothing my startled chest, I circulated my mana. A refreshing sensation surged through my muscles.

Practicing whenever I had spare time allowed me to react hastily.

"Kkururuk."

In the meantime, the giant crab raised its pincers again. Surprisingly nimble for its giant body.

Seeing that, I immediately moved my feet. Better throw away any thought of blocking that head-on.

Teok!

"Ack?!"

But because it was unfamiliar terrain, I made a mistake. My foot tripped on something while stepping back.

The feeling of the world spinning was brief; the sky entered my field of vision.

Even as my body tilted backward, I acted on instinct.

"Kheuek...!"

A non-negligible impact radiated from my back. Still, it was bearable.

Right before falling, I curled my body into a ball to minimize the impact.

This was the result of performing a breakfall just as taught in Sword Matstar’s post.

Dudududu-

Even while I stumbled and tried to recover, the giant crab didn’t stop.

Perhaps owing to its numerous legs, it approached rapidly despite its huge frame.

Mikkeul-

I tried my best to push myself up, but slipped slightly.

Meanwhile, the giant crab’s pincer slowly rose, casting a shadow over my head.

Standing up like this was impossible. I instinctively raised my shield to block.

Praying that this shield would protect me, I drew up the mana in my body to the absolute limit.

Kkwa-ang!

A sound like metal clashing against metal. The shock delivered beyond it.

Though my arm felt numb, it was bearable. It was weaker than the Muscle Mushroom.

Before a follow-up strike could fly in, I hurriedly rolled my body away.

Kwang!

It seemed the giant crab had slammed its pincer down once more while I was rolling.

Feeling the vibration transmit through my entire body, I silently stood up.

The giant crab adjusted its orientation by shuffling its numerous legs, then approached me once again.

’I gotta toss out the idea of blocking and then striking back.’

If I keep blocking with the shield, my arms will be blown off first.

I had to target an opening somehow, but finding one was tough.

’The problem is that even though its attacks are monotonous, they’re fast.’

I kept moving my legs constantly while keeping my brain working.

This was also a tip Sword Matstar had shared: think while keeping your legs moving.

That way you don’t give the opponent an opening and can steer the situation to your advantage.

Kwang!

And Sword Matstar’s advice proved effective. The giant crab swung and missed.

The giant crab slammed its pincer into the spot where I was standing just a second ago.

Now is the chance. Infusing mana into my sword, I swung it with all my might.

The sword, shimmering like a heat haze, instantly sliced straight through the pincer.

Seogeok!

The tip of the pincer fell off cleanly.

It wasn’t that big of an effective hit. Since only the claw tip snapped off rather than the entire pincer arm.

That was unavoidable due to its massive size. I wasn’t like a certain someone who could slice the whole thing in a single slash.

’Treat it like slicing it piece by piece.’

But it was enough. Chipping away at it bit by bit like this, I could kill it.

Huwung!

The giant crab rapidly swung its clawless pincer arm.

Since the arm itself was a giant bludgeon, that alone was threatening enough.

I kept moving my legs to figure out its weakness.

’Wait a second. This guy...’

Doing so allowed me to spot a glaring weakness. A very fatal one at that.

Crabs as a species have no choice but to walk sideways. Even if its size grew, its trait didn’t change.

In other words, its attack range was extremely narrow. No matter how it swung, the clear limit remained.

’Especially its turning speed is ridiculously slow.’

While the giant crab flailed its pincer arm around, I darted my feet quickly to secure its rear.

The giant crab tried its best to turn around, but it was too slow. It couldn’t strike with its pincers either.

Such was the tragic fate of a crab designed solely to walk sideways.

Seogeok!

While the giant crab was turning, I chopped off its legs instead of its pincers.

With a single slash, two legs were severed off cleanly.

The joint masterpiece of the Sword of the Heavenly Demon and Aura.

Kung!

Having two legs sliced off simultaneously caused the giant crab to lose its balance.

Seeing one side lurching, it seemed it couldn’t even maintain its center of gravity.Get faster updates on novelpin⁠g.com.

My goal was to make this thing completely lose its mobility.

Since its turning radius was as slow as a turtle, I thoroughly exploited that point.

Seogeok! Seogeok!

I kept positioning myself at its back rather than its front, hacking off its legs.

Slicing off two legs on each side caused it to completely lose even its turning capability.

Thanks to that, severing the remaining legs was a piece of cake.

Chwa-a-ak!

Finally, I sliced off its prized pincers entirely.

Left with only its lone torso, the guy slumped on the ground.

Being a crustacean, its body was still squirming despite having all limbs severed.

Kwajik!

I climbed onto the giant crab’s carapace and drove my sword down into it.

The spot where I plunged the sword was right between its eyes. The center of the upper portion.

Kagagagagak!

I pulled the sword downward like pulling a lever.

Since it was the Sword of the Heavenly Demon that cleaved even rock-hard wood like tofu, it pulled through effortlessly.

Soon, the blade reached the very bottom of the shell, and I yanked the sword with all the strength I could muster.

Chwa-ak!

Because it had lost all its legs, it didn’t snap cleanly in half.

But I was satisfied just by the fact that its movements stopped completely.

I lightly flicked off the guts clinging to my blade.

"Phew!"

I let out a heavy breath. My heart thrummed wildly from the surging adrenaline.

If I hadn’t found its weakness, I would’ve suffered tremendously.

Beyond just suffering, it was a situation where I almost lost my life. It was strangely exhilarating.

"Kkururuk."

"Kkuruk."

Before I knew it, small crabs gathered and began gathering around to feast on the giant crab’s carcass.

Even a giant crab was faithfully fulfilling its role as a scavenger in death.

Staring at the scene, I posted a thread on the Gallery.

Hunted a giant crab

(Picture of the insanely huge giant crab carcass)

A giant crab way bigger than a human popped out at the lakeside;; It used its pincers like bludgeons.

Fortunately its turning speed was sluggish as hell so it was easy to catch. What kind of bullshit mob is this;;

I only uploaded the post and didn’t read the comments, because returning to base immediately was an urgent matter.

On top of falling on my butt, I had rolled all over the ground.

Leaving myself like this would not only smell terrible, but I could also contract an illness.

’Next time I come, I gotta bring good shoes.’

Through this incident, I realized just how important footwear was.

Especially when I slipped, I felt my life flash before my eyes for a brief second.

Catching my breath once more, I moved my feet to head back.

’The fish carcass... is over there.’

I hadn’t forgotten the way back.

Since there were fish carcasses and leftover crab carcasses marking the route.

The thought of carrying this uncomfortable dampness all the way back made me dizzy already, but I had to bear with it.

"Kkururuk. Kkuruk."

"..."

Spotting a crab along the way, I gently picked it up.

Following that, I purchased a backpack from the auction house. Not a small belt pouch, but a full backpack worn on the back.

’I can’t wait.’

I’m gonna eat it as soon as I get back to the cave. Since I had to give some to Wonmo and Speed Sloth too, I stuffed two more inside.

I thought about giving some to the Dwarf, but unfortunately trades were only available tomorrow.

Crabs were perfect as drinking snacks, so I planned to come back tomorrow.

’Allfather said they’re edible, so it should taste good, right?’

I had no particular worries about parasites.

There didn’t seem to be any risk of them killing each other and spoiling either.

So far, the only times these guys ate their own kind was when they were already carcasses.

Deudeudeudeudeu-

Right when I was happily contemplating inside my head, a vibration resonated through the earth.

Whenever an earthquake occurred, I never experienced anything good.

As soon as that thought struck me, I hurriedly looked around.

Chwa-ak! Chwak!

Giant crabs began emerging one by one from deep within the lake.

Their sizes were similar to or slightly larger than the one I had just fought.

The count was at least five or more. I watched the scene in utter dismay.

I barely killed a single one, and now five burst out. If I hadn’t left that spot, I would’ve been in danger.

’Is this really a lake? Not the ocean?’

Seeing how there wasn’t the distinct salty smell of the ocean, it was indeed a lake.This chapter was copied from novelping(.)com without permission.

I moved cautiously, fearing the giant crabs might notice my presence.

Thank goodness, until I reached the river entrance, they didn’t glance at me even once.

Because they were completely preoccupied picking up and feasting on their dead kin with their pincers.

’They really stick to their instincts.’

From the looks of it, their top priority was carcasses. The title of scavenger suited them perfectly.

I took small steps backward before turning my back. It was time to return to the cave.

Kugugugugugu!

It was then. A shaking on a whole different dimension than before was felt.

The shaking was far worse than the artificial earthquakes caused by the giant crabs.

For a moment I panicked wondering if it was a real earthquake, when an unignorable noise echoed from the lake’s direction.

Kwagwagwagwaga!

The sound of water erupting high into the sky and crashing back down. At that noise, I turned to look at the lake.

"..."

As soon as I turned around, I could only stare mesmerized by the sight.

I thought the giant crab was big enough, but a creature far more extreme was living in the lake.

’...Fuck. What the hell is that?’

If the giant crab was the size of a large truck, the crab I was looking at now was the size of a building.

Strictly speaking in height, it was comparable to a multi-story apartment building.

Absurdly massive to the point of treating perspective like a joke.

Can that even be called a crab? It’s basically a walking building.

Spot the weird thing in this video.

Wild Grylls

(Video of a building-sized crab standing next to a giant crab)

What do you think is weird? Try finding it!

L Heavenly Demon) Hm? Why does the sky look so small?

L Wild Grylls) Beats me. I wonder why it looks so small?

L Sword Matstar) This is the first time in my life seeing a crab that big? Does something like that actually exist in the world?

L Wild Grylls) You’ve got sharp eyes. I couldn’t believe it even after seeing it myself.

L Heavenly Demon) Looking again, it is astronomically large. It piques this lady’s interest.

L Wild Grylls) Wanna come over? Let’s catch it and steam it to eat.

L Heavenly Demon) My aides are desperately holding me back, so I cannot go. My apologies.

L Allfather) Oh;; Ohh;;; Holy shit what is that?

L Wild Grylls) lolololol I don’t know either. Is this your first time seeing it too, Allfather-nim?

L Allfather) The species itself is definitely a Gappers Crab, but... I don’t know whether to classify that as a new species or not. What on earth is that?

L Wild Grylls) I find it fascinating too.

L Passing Dwarf) A whole mountain is walking around;;; But I got one favor to ask, can I?

L Wild Grylls) Asking for a crab for drinking snacks? Because of the trade cooldown, I can give it tomorrow.

L Passing Dwarf) Thx thx, if possible give me that giant one over there.

L Wild Grylls) Crazy bastard lol

L Wow;; I’m literally speechless. Isn’t that an actual spiritual beast?

L fr fr it probably harbors an inner core inside its shell

L If it’s that big, it definitely qualifies as a spiritual beast lol

L Any plans to hunt that thing?

L Wild Grylls) No no;; I can never hunt that. Even hunting a single giant crab just now was hard as hell.

L Nothing is impossible in this world. You can do it if you try.

L If you catch it, the Gallery will blow up lol

L Wild Grylls) If there’s someone to help me hunt it together, I’ll try lol

L (No comments)

L Wild Grylls) Answer me, you motherfuckers.

Scrolling through the Gallery, I moved my legs.

I wanted to get back as quickly as possible. The dampness made my body feel heavy.

’By the way, why is the back of my neck so itchy?’

Perhaps because my tension eased, my senses heightened. As heightened as they were, I clearly felt the itchy spot.

Unable to resist the feeling, I scratched the back of my neck with my right hand.

Mulkong-

Then I felt something squishy. The moment I felt that, I couldn’t help but come to a dead stop.

My instinct told me: this squishy thing is definitely bad news.

What’s more, even when I flicked it with my fingers, it didn’t fall off. Swallowing my saliva gulp, I grabbed it.

Then I pulled hard, forcibly ripping it off. It stretched jju-uk like jelly.

Ppok!

Along with pain and a strange sound, something peeled off from the back of my neck.

It was big enough that I had to clutch it in my fist, and it was slick and slimy.

I slowly brought my right hand in front of my face to confirm what was held in my hand.

Badung- badung-

Flailing while trapped in my hand was a red slime—no.

A brown leech that looked hideous at a single glance was wriggling its body.

And an extraordinarily massive leech at that.

"KYAAAAAHHH!!!"

I want to get out of here right now.