I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 528

Since outdoor activities should be avoided as much as possible during winter, we spent most of our time indoors.

While I could literally kill time thanks to the Gallery, the rest of the crew couldn’t.

Training alone couldn’t pass all the time, and being a confined space, I usually did it by myself whenever possible.

A bunch of sweaty men—no, males—crawling all over, and training together on top of that? The stench of old bachelors would reek through the place.

Therefore, to relieve boredom and nourish the mind simultaneously, I headed to Alex’s Library.

Riiip!

"This is...."

"Ah. It must be your first time seeing this."

To head to Alex’s Library, Cheongseol’s assistance was needed.

Tearing through space to enter the inner side of the World Tree roots, then closing the distance.

Dolsoe wore a dumbfounded expression, perhaps because it was his first time seeing the World Tree roots.

"This much is nothing, Brother. You will see far more amazing things in the future."

Was Dolsoe acting like a new recruit amusing? Lackey put on airs.

Seeing that reaction, I snickered and set foot inside Alex’s Library.

I planned to borrow books to read during this winter. Cookbooks or novels would be plenty.

"Say hello. This is Alex, a mimic who is the director of this library."

[Nice to meet you. New gorilla.]

"...."

Was it because he had lived only inside his territory until now? Dolsoe reacted with confusion to Alex’s existence.

Excluding gorillas, the living beings he had encountered so far were probably just humans and various beasts.

Though he said the Mechanical Kraken had launched a surprise attack before, a mimic was surely a first.

"What are you doing? Say hello."

"...I am Wiheuk—no, Dolsoe."

[Dolsoe. A pronoun meaning a male slave in the Joseon Dynasty of the Republic of Korea. Though rare, it was also used as a name.]

Having analyzed it thus, Alex looked at Lackey.

He had no eyes, but you could tell by the direction of the baseball cap he wore on his head.

[The albino gorilla next to you is named Lackey. This is also a pronoun for a servant.]

"The two are brothers."

[Do you perhaps have a hobby of taking gorillas as slaves?]

"No. It’s nothing like that."

I waved my hand and gave a rough explanation. That Dolsoe came under my command after a territory dispute.

And that someday he would return to his pack to lead them again.

Hearing that, Alex nodded as if he understood.

Afterward, I looked around the library to borrow books. Lackey had already decided, borrowing one right away.

I worried it might be a weird book, but it wasn’t. It was a fantasy novel he had recently enjoyed reading.

"Brother. What is that book?"

"Brother, read this too. This is fun."

"Is there any benefit to reading it?"

"It stimulates your imagination."

I listened closely to Lackey’s words. Looking at him, it seemed Dolsoe was also intrigued.

Noticing that interest, Lackey also explained various things about the novel.

Saying items no less impressive than a Mythricon sword appeared here, and that the Sky Whale appeared too.

Especially that each race had strong characteristics, making it great to observe various human dramas.

Dolsoe also listened quietly to the story, then asked in a hopeful voice:

"Is there by any chance a story of the Murim mentioned by Master?"

"I do not know. I will ask."

[Stories of Murim, that is, martial arts fantasy novels, also exist. However, I must give one warning.]

Alex’s warning to give caution. I was curious what the warning was.

Alex usually lent books out quite easily. He was even willing to hand over books written by a certain mustache gentleman.

But I didn’t know if martial arts novels were different, or if it was for another reason.

[Silence is the rule inside the library. If you do not correct yourselves after three warnings, you will be expelled.]

"...I am sorry."

"...."

It was just telling us to be quiet. I let out a chuckle and brushed it off.

Feeling embarrassed, Lackey scratched his head. He even quietly explained things to Dolsoe while doing so.

Dolsoe listened to Lackey’s explanation and borrowed a few books. Naturally, they were martial arts-related books.

’Surprisingly, he received Korean translations.’

I thought he would get books translated into the Central Plains language he was familiar with. Still, it wasn’t incomprehensible.

Alex himself wasn’t fluent in the Central Plains language, as opposed to Chinese characters. Furthermore, the Central Plains language Dolsoe knew was very different from the present.

As Heavenly Demon had informed me before, Wi Ho-chang’s manual also contained quite a few ’dead words’—that is, languages no longer in use.

"What book did you borrow, Ludwig ahjussi?"

"The Bible."

"...Aren’t you bored of it?"

"I feel like my faith grows stronger."

Naturally, the object of that faith was not Jesus, but Aris. Hearing this was so absurd.

You could call it blasphemy, but it was because the concept of faith here was somewhat unique.

While we doubted actual existence itself, mythology here was ’history’.Get faster updates on nov‌elping.com.

Originally, religion generally opposed science, but here they had a mutually supportive relationship.

The technology of the gods, which was thought to be utterly impossible to catch up with. The more you grasped that technology, the greater their majesty grew.

[The book return deadline is 2 weeks. Make sure to remember.]

"Did you hear? The moment you damage a book, you’ll have to pay for it, so take good care of them."

Having borrowed books from the library, we returned to the shelter. Now we just had to wait for winter.

Before that, we laid out bonfires all over the yard. Not just for snow, but to prevent the ground from freezing.

"Now, Brother. This is what fire is. It is very hot."

"...."

I ignored Lackey, who was making clicking jokes on the side. When will that guy fix his hazing habit?

I was worried because he seemed to have gotten a real taste for it. Tomorrow when it snows, I’ll make him shovel together.

Anyway, now we had completely finished winter preparations, and checked our food situation.

If there was one regret, was it that the mole who visited our shelter last time didn’t come?

Since the mole himself said he visited randomly, it seemed better not to expect too much.

"Ah. Right. I was forgetting something important."

"?"

It was when dinner was completely finished. As it grew dark, it was time for everyone to be indoors.

While exploring the Gallery, something suddenly occurred to me, so I called Dolsoe.

Quietly reading his martial arts novel, Dolsoe was bewildered for a brief moment before approaching me.

"Dolsoe. As you know, snow will pour down like crazy tomorrow. You know that, right?"

"I know."

"How did you clear snow?"

To children, a symbol of childhood wonder; to adults, a symbol of cold.

To soldiers and public servants, pure white trash falling from the sky.

The day when that trash poured down in heaps was winter in the Forest of the Four Seasons. It even fell for a full week straight.

Even if we diligently lit bonfires in the yard, it somehow accumulated anyway. So shoveling was essential.

If our shelter was like this, how much worse was the gorilla territory? That was why I became curious.

"We do not clear it."

"...."

"When time passes, it melts on its own."

Look at this crazy ’chill guy’. If he were human, he’d probably say ’leave it alone and it’ll dry’ even when his car got flooded.

Speechless for a moment, I realized the absolute necessity of shoveling. The amount of snow we had to clear every winter was no joke.

One could ask why we couldn’t just clear it with Lackey’s martial arts or magic.

’If that worked, I would have done it long ago.’

It didn’t work. Such delicate precision did not exist in Lackey.

A slight mistake could cause a fire, so we had no choice but to refrain from magic as well.

Therefore, there was no choice but to clear it by hand. Though a hassle, it was essential work.

"Lackey. When it snows tomorrow, teach Dolsoe how to shovel."

"Must I teach even shoveling?"

"At least pass down your know-how. If you shovel wrong, you’ll throw your back out."

The basis of all manual labor starts with shoveling.

In fact, even in the military, there are many people who throw out their backs from a single bad stroke of shoveling.

This place would be more, not less. Knowing this, Lackey accepted it, even while grumbling.

"Bbi-yung."

Right then, Maengkkongi, who was quietly warming himself by the bonfire, approached.

I looked at him to see what he came over for. Was he slowly preparing to hibernate?

"Bbi-yung. Bbi-yuuung."

"...Is that by any chance a shovel?"

But this guy Maengkkongi. He was holding a tree branch shaped similarly to a shovel.

I don’t know when he made it, but it looked like an expression that he wanted to shovel too.

"No. You don’t need to do that. Staying still is helping out."

"Bbi-yuuung...."

Flustered, I had blurted out something harsh to the little guy. Maengkkongi drooped down, looking thoroughly depressed.

Terrified, I explained as nicely as possible.

I understand your heart, but if something goes wrong, it could be dangerous.

Especially since you are a frog, the moment you go outside, you might freeze to death immediately.

Above all, just singing for us is a big help, so there’s no reason to be disappointed, and so on.

"Booo. Scumbag."

"Shut up."

Lackey teased me from the side, but I lightly ignored him.

Fortunately, Maengkkongi seemed cheered up by my encouragement, wearing a happy expression.

Title) Maengkkongi Who Brought a Shovel

Wild Grylls

(Photo of Maengkkongi proudly holding his handmade shovel)

(Photo of Maengkkongi depressed from a slip of the tongue)Find the original chapter at novelping . com.

(Photo of Maengkkongi regaining his energy thanks to encouragement)

Please enjoy looking at Maengkkongi’s photos.

He’s our shelter’s bard.

ㄴ Heavenly Demon) A cute little guy, similar to Wonmo.

ㄴ Sword Matstar) But what did you say to make him make such a sad expression?

ㄴ Wild Grylls) I told him staying still is helping out. I did make a slip of the tongue.

ㄴ Sword Matstar) Booo. Scumbag.

ㄴ Booo. Scumbag.

ㄴ Real scumbag.

ㄴ Don’t Abandon the Hero) How could you say such harsh words to such a cute creature...!

Judging by the reactions, it seemed I really was in the wrong.

Having posted on the Gallery like this, I slowly got ready for sleep.

"Dolsoe. Aren’t you sleeping?"

But this guy Dolsoe wouldn’t put down his book even while we were going to sleep.

At least at my instruction, he reluctantly put the book back. He definitely respected the hierarchy.

Thus, the group went to sleep. I was a bit worried about how much snow would fall tomorrow.

’Well, at least with an extra pair of hands, it’ll end quickly.’

I slowly closed my eyes. The sound of the fireplace crackling reached my ears.

Bbareumbo, who was in charge of the fireplace, was guarding it. He was always like that, so I lightly passed over it.

’Tomorrow morning... I want to eat something warm.’

I wondered if I should buy mushrooms from the Gallery and boil some hot pot to eat.

Conveniently, the cookbook I borrowed this time also contained recipes related to hot pot.

However, since broth is important for hot pot, I planned to borrow seasonings from the fixed-nick users.

’Since hot pot is famous in the Central Plains... should I ask Heavenly Demon?’

I didn’t know if Heavenly Demon knew much about hot pot, but she had probably tried it at least once.

Thinking like that, I quietly waited for the next day. Only the sound of the fireplace bonfires burning entered my ears.

Just like that, a day passed to the next morning. As expected, I faced a yard piled high with snow.

Even though we laid out bonfires all over, snow had accumulated. If we hadn’t laid out bonfires, it would have been much worse.

"Alright. Time to shovel now, Lackey."

"Understood."

Handing shovels to both Lackey and Dolsoe, we cleared the snow.

Me, of course, and Ludwig too. We all vigorously cleared the snow together.

"By the way, Master. I understand that snow keeps falling."

"That’s right."

"Must we clear it then too?"

"Exactly."

"...."

At my answer, Dolsoe raised his head and stared blankly at the sky.

In truth, snow was falling steadily even now. What was Dolsoe thinking?

"Master. I have a brilliant idea."

"What is it?"

"Build a roof that covers the entire shelter. How about that?"

"...."

"Oh. Brother. That is a genius idea."

"Brother, you truly understand my mind."

Why does it feel like men—no, males—drop in intelligence whenever they gather together?

Even this guy Dolsoe used to be a leader. Maybe it was because he had always solved things with brute force.

It was a situation that fit the saying ’intelligence and wisdom are separate things’ to the letter.

"Both of you shut up and shovel the snow."

Anyhow, it seemed he was adapting well.

However.

"Master."

"What?"

"Why is Master’s shovel so huge? It is as big as my torso."

Dolsoe was appalled at my shovel, which was bigger than an excavator.

It was a special shovel I made myself to use handy during this winter.

"It’s convenient."

"...."

Dolsoe looked at me as if I were an ignorant fool.

Around the time Grylls’ party was busy shoveling:

"They say the Demon Princess will be arriving soon, right?"

"Yeah. I wonder what kind of reaction the Hero will show?"

"Let’s just do our own job."

The Holy Kingdom, Avalon, was busy preparing to welcome the distinguished guest.