I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 602

Every nation, every region, every race, and every ethnicity possessed a taboo, an untouchable spot that could not be ignored.

For instance, telling a Dwarf that the liquor from their house tasted awful.

Or mocking Demons by telling them their race was terrible at sports, and so on.

Each had its own unique sore spot.

And this was even more pronounced when it came to food.

Since food was intimately tied to survival, playing around with food made people furious regardless of time or place.

Therefore, when food prices rose or portions shrank for the same price, commoners naturally scowled.

For most commoners spent more than half of their living expenses on food.

If that was the state of commoners, what about the poor?

Hence, regardless of region, price inflation was something nations dealt with as top priority.

Even if prices were rising, governments would somehow fix the prices of items that directly impacted daily life, talking about keeping consumer price index inflation in check and so forth.

There were several benchmark commodities for this, most of which were food, with prime examples being bowls of steamed rice and instant ramen.

A bowl of steamed rice had been 1,000 won since the 1990s. In effect, it had been frozen for nearly 40 years.

Farther back, it had been 500 won, but almost no one paid mind to that. The economy had developed enough and wages had grown, so it didn’t feel burdensome.

However, nowadays, as everyone knew, there were places charging almost double. Wouldn’t anyone ordering—regardless of age, gender, or social standing—be startled and go, ’Huh?’

Title) Current Central Plains Price Situation

(Photo comparing somyeon prices from last year and now)

(Photo comparing rice prices from last year and now)

Is this for real lol

Other stuff aside, rice and flour prices shooting up like crazy is seriously mind-boggling;;

Isn’t the Central Plains famous for rice? Why is it so expensive then?

OP) Because the side occupying that breadbasket region is the Demonic Cult;;

That too, but it’s mainly because the Imperial Court bastards are excessively focused only on the capital.

Word is the Demonic Cult is fine because they operate their own merchant guild.

Title) Aren’t they trading with the Messiah Empire?

Then why are prices inflating? I heard goods keep coming from over there.

Right now the Imperial Court and Central Plains merchants are playing chicken. Quoting prices as high as possible for trades;;

Messiah Empire is the only one profiting lol

No, but no matter how impressive the Demonic Cult is, can they really maintain price stability while fighting a war with the Imperial Court?

Part of it is Heavenly Demon’s martial power being insane recently, and part of it is they have way more money than expected.

Main thing is the Emperor being a coward. He’s operating on the mindset that as long as he defends the capital, it’s fine lol

Title) Why does the Emperor only defend the capital?

(Photo of Heavenly Demon displaying overwhelming martial prowess at the Martial Arts Tournament)

(Photo of Heavenly Demon looking genuinely drop-dead gorgeous)

(Photo of Heavenly Demon dominating a top executive of the Blood Cult)

This person has a track record of taking off the previous Emperor’s head in her late teens.

Wow how the hell did she do that?;; Isn’t the Grand General in the Imperial Court too?

Coincidentally, the Grand General happened to be on vacation lol

Grand General needs his rest too lol

Who knows? Maybe the Grand General thought the previous Emperor was garbage and opened the gates on purpose lol

Grand General: I need to browse the Gallery too~

The inflation in the Central Plains was driven by a complex mix of reasons, but the biggest factor was the civil war.

Originally, any war in the Central Plains was confined strictly to the ’Jianghu.’ This was true even for the Orthodox-Demonic War.

However, by Western standards, that was closer to a war between fiefs—a feudal territory conflict—rather than a nation-versus-nation war.

Thus, even if prices spiked temporarily, they usually returned to normal soon after combat ended.

Even if the scale expanded, the Imperial Court, which preserved its full military strength, stepped in without sustaining major damage.

Title) Reason why Central Plains inflation can’t be stopped

Ironically, it’s because they’ve never fought a real ’civil war.’

The Imperial Court is geopolitically optimized to repel external invasions.

Plus, the Imperial Court ruled over martial artists using accumulated know-how, and there were almost no rebels who openly declared they’d overthrow the Court.

But the Demonic Cult openly declared war, and the Imperial Court accepted it. Now it’s just a matter of tumbling down like dominoes.

These Demonic Cult bastards must’ve really made a bank selling Hair Growth Herb, huh?

Problem is it wasn’t just ’a bank’, it became a global hit;; Setting everything else aside, there are insanely many people trying to buy Hair Growth Herb.

Rumor has it even the Imperial Court is hoarding it through black market deals lol

Just cultivate it. Why aren’t they trying to farm it?

Because they bred a modified Hair Growth Herb that doesn’t produce seeds/fruit...

Why would they hand over such an awesome plant lol

And if it shows they’re buying it to cultivate, the Demonic Cult will absolutely refuse to sell lol

Trying to cultivate it is practically picking a fight, what else lol

Unlike the Western Regions, which were busy battering each other, the Central Plains had enjoyed a relatively peaceful history.

Various massive wars had broken out in the Jianghu, but the state’s military power rarely had to intervene to crush them.

Because of this, once a civil war broke out, things had no choice but to collapse in a domino effect.

Crucially, there was one more thing. The vast territory that was originally an advantage boomeranged into a massive drawback.

With such expansive land, there were too many places requiring attention, naturally forcing the army to be dispersed.

The Emperor of the Imperial Court realized this as well and began concentrating all forces on the capital.

’The former Emperor had his head chopped off, so he has more than enough reason to be wary.’

The Demonic Brain, Wi Seol-ak, formed an extremely satisfied smile at the current unfolding situation.Find the original chapter at novel⁠ping.com.

The price inflation was going exactly according to Wi Seol-ak’s intentions. For he was well aware of most of the Central Plains’ vulnerabilities.

No matter how mighty an empire was, it was inherently vulnerable to internal division.

Let alone the Central Plains, which merely possessed a tough outer shell while its internal skeleton was infinitely fragile.

Of course, the potential that had governed the entire Eastern Realm hadn’t vanished into thin air.

Unlike what the Gallery posts said, civil wars had indeed occurred in the history of the Central Plains. It was merely that they had endured so firmly that people forgot.

Title) Civil war broke out in the Central Plains in the past too

Was it about 500 years ago? Anyway, yeah.

Excuse me, what is the standard for ’in the past’ for people from the Central Plains?

First off, the minimum is 100 years.

Holy shit, for us ’the past’ is 10 years ago, aren’t the units completely off?

You think a Thousand-Year Empire is a joke lol

Fun fact: The Central Plains is a nation founded by one of Aris’s disciples. Even when the first Paladin Cain was alive, the nation called the Central Plains existed.

Only the name changed a few times, the state foundation remains the same lol

’The problem is that peace lasted for far too long.’

This was referring not to the Jianghu, but to the Imperial Court. In a game, the Imperial Court occupied a position akin to an arbiter.

No matter how remarkable the Jianghu martial artists were, they were nothing more than newborn pups in front of the Imperial Court.

However, nothing in this world lasted forever, and even that Imperial Court was bound to stagnate and rot.

They say even if a rich house falls, it lasts three generations, and that third generation was right now.

The previous Emperor desired not to rule the masses but to ’control’ them, while the current Emperor was a coward.

What was even funnier was that, unwilling to be an unfilial son, he was persistently smuggling Hair Growth Herb in secret.

This was also a card Wi Seol-ak held in his hand, but he refrained from revealing it for now.

’Securing public sentiment is still top priority. Since prices vary by region, turbulence will only intensify.’

Currently, prices in the Central Plains were fluctuating in real time.

Except for the capital directly managed by the Imperial Court, Changcheon, and the areas ruled by the Demonic Cult, most places were seeing runaway spikes.

Even on the Gallery right now, commoners were voicing loud grievances because the price of somyeon noodles had shot up.

However, this was merely the beginning. As time passed, things would crumble like falling dominoes.

’Merchants are the meridian points of a nation. If those meridians are blocked, turbid qi will inevitably accumulate in the body.’

Of course, the Imperial Court was no fool and was likely hounding the merchant guilds.

In fact, the reason prices stayed relatively stable when they should have spiked right after the war started was precisely this.

However, as time dragged on, both the Heavenly Demon Cult and the Imperial Court were gradually running low on funds.

Since he had long accounted for a game of chicken, Wi Seol-ak didn’t mind. If there was a concern, it was the Messiah Empire.

To be precise, the reaction of the Duke Mercedes family, with whom Wi Seol-ak had traded.

If they had raised the prices of trade commodities, it would have sent chills down his spine.

’Fortunately, a part of the Forest of the Four Seasons opened up right at that timing.’

Furthermore, their initial containment failed, bringing their front yard to the brink of exploding. That meant they had almost no leeway to worry about this side.

It was a situation where one could truly say the heavens desired the victory of the Heavenly Demon Cult.

That wasn’t all. Originally, the Forest of the Four Seasons was meant to be sealed off with a formation and left at that.

-May I not bring back some soil at least?

-Pardon? What do you mean by...

-I shall bring it.

-W-Wait a moment! Your Heavenly Presence!

Had the Heavenly Demon, Yoo So-wol, not recklessly barged inside to haul back soil.

She even claimed to have experimented herself, having snuck inside when no one was watching.

Of course, the moment he heard it, the blood in his entire body had turned ice-cold, but thanks to that, they were able to steadily procure soil from the Forest of the Four Seasons.

Of course, at a certain point she stopped going in directly and moved it using tools, but that experience itself was immensely valuable.

’When mere soil yields effects exceeding the highest-grade fertilizer...’

The Imperial Court must have thought like this:

That because the Forest of the Four Seasons near the Heavenly Demon Cult had opened up, their attention would be divided.

In truth, it was the exact opposite. They were reaping maximum benefits from the Forest of the Four Seasons.

The reason prices in regions occupied by the Heavenly Demon Cult weren’t inflating was also due to this.

’Grylls is a god. The Forest of the Four Seasons is invincible.’

Suddenly, such a thought occurred to him: that Yoo So-wol and Grylls forming a bond was the will of Heaven.

If Grylls were to emerge outside in the future...

’No, wait. He has already come out once.’

Christmas came to mind. At that time, Wi Seol-ak was also enjoying a rare vacation to celebrate the festival.

Then Santa had suddenly appeared from the sky, and Yoo So-wol, deeming it suspicious, had threatened him.

Fortunately, Santa was truly the Santa of myth and legend, leaving behind blessed snow before departing.

’When she approached the sleigh, she was unusually quiet.’

If Grylls was indeed riding in that sleigh, her reaction made complete sense.

From Yoo So-wol’s perspective, it was the first face-to-face encounter with the person who saved her life and formed a deep bond with her.

’Come to think of it, it’s a bit strange. Why did she hesitate?’

Having gained some breathing room, he began pondering other thoughts.

If she had indeed confronted Grylls, given Yoo So-wol’s personality, it wouldn’t have been strange if she pulled him out of the sleigh on the spot.New chapters come out on novеlping.com first.

Yet she didn’t. She merely stared blankly face-to-face for several seconds, waiting.

’Grylls is handsome, sure, but not so much as to make someone fall in love at first sight.’

Since the Heavenly Demon Cult was a gathering place for the marginalized, there were many beauties with striking, distinct features for Central Plains standards.

Foreigners with exotic eyes, half-bloods, or those with uniquely dazzling features, and so forth.

In the first place, Yoo So-wol herself was acclaimed as the Number One Beauty in the Central Plains, so Grylls’s looks alone wouldn’t satisfy her standards.

Even so, staring quietly at him like that... would be impossible unless there was a ’special emotion’ involved.

’Nah. No way. It’s a delusion, a pure delusion.’

Wi Seol-ak shook his head rapidly. The moment he let this thought show, his head would be severed from his neck.

He knew all too well how ridiculously high Yoo So-wol’s standards were. With her status and power, her standards had no choice but to be sky-high.

’Now that I think about it, I’m curious. How strong is Grylls’s martial prowess?’

Wi Seol-ak scrolled through the Gallery, analyzing Grylls’s recent exploits.

Seeing that he wielded Sword Gang, he had long reached the Transcendent Realm.

Furthermore, he was someone who employed Unity of Self and Object rather than Unity of Sword and Body.

In terms of realm alone, he undeniably belonged among the strong, yet his techniques were remarkably ordinary.

’Except that his basics serve as secret ultimate techniques to anyone else.’

It was as though every basic hit was unreasonably powerful. And his true essence wasn’t even swordsmanship.

Archery so precise it could truly be called ’Divine Archer.’ Every time he drew a bow, exclamations of awe burst out automatically.

In particular, the scene where he pierced the Bone Dragon’s heart was jaw-dropping even to look at now.

’We must recruit him not when he steps out temporarily, but when he truly escapes.’

Judging from Christmas and his usual personality, unless something special happened, Grylls would likely reside in the Holy Kingdom of Avalon.

So shouldn’t we start making moves right now? And the key to that lay with the Heavenly Demon, Yoo So-wol.

’First, I’ll gently prod her.’

Just in time, it was time to submit a report to Yoo So-wol.

Sorting out his thoughts, Wi Seol-ak headed to the audience chamber. Currently, Yoo So-wol was bored with nothing particular to do.

Most areas occupied by the Evil Faction had been cleared, and now was the time to closely monitor the Imperial Court’s movements.

"...Thus, it is predicted that prices across the Central Plains will continue to rise."

"And the damage to our Cult?"

"It cannot be said to be zero, but compared to the Imperial Court, it will be extremely minimal. We possess fertile breadbasket territories and livestock fed by those fields."

"Your service is great indeed. Is there anything you desire?"

’For Your Heavenly Presence to bring Grylls over.’ Wi Seol-ak barely suppressed his true feelings.

Since he was going to talk about it anyway, there was no need to rush.

"Your Heavenly Presence. May I offer a loyal advice?"

"Loyal advice is always welcome."

"The sky embraces all, yet ultimately, the earth must exist for the sky to exist as well."

"At first glance, it sounds insolent, yet you are not one to speak nonsense. Pray continue."

"Thank you. If Your Heavenly Presence rules the Central Plains in the future, who do you believe should be that earth?"

"The subjects."

Wi Seol-ak nodded. No nation could exist without its people.

Even if the Heavenly Demon Cult ruled the Central Plains in the distant future, that truth remained unchanging.

"However, the earth does not become prosperous merely by the existence of the sky. Only when the sun rises does morning break, and only when the moon rises does night reveal itself."

"Hm."

"Currently in our Cult, there exist only the sky and countless stars, but no sun or moon. Pray allow us to embrace those two as well."

Simply put, it meant recruiting talent. And priority number zero was Grylls.

Even if it wasn’t Grylls, recruiting talent was essential for future plans.

Wi Seol-ak couldn’t possibly devise every single plan forever, could he?

He believed Yoo So-wol would understand this as well.

"Your words are correct. Without the sky, the sun and moon are merely endlessly wandering stars, and without the sun and moon, the sky cannot be called whole."

"..."

"Yet I am troubled. The moon aside, the sun I desire shines so brightly that many long for it."

"...This humble servant thinks so as well."

Wi Seol-ak cheered inwardly. It was certain that Yoo So-wol desired Grylls as well.

At first, he had expected it to be mere gratitude toward a savior, or at most a desire for talent.

"Then, Demonic Brain, I ask you. How do you think I can embrace that sun?"

"Show the sky’s generosity and heart. The sun too must be searching for a vessel capable of holding its presence."

"A vessel..."

Upon hearing those words, Yoo So-wol seemed to deliberate for a moment, then answered with a slight nuance of hesitation.

"I am worried."

"About what, my sovereign?"

"I fear that even I might not be able to embrace the warmth of that sun."

"...Pardon?"

Wi Seol-ak was so bewildered that he failed to notice.

"If I cannot withstand that warmth, what should I do?"

The fact that Yoo So-wol’s earlobes had turned faintly red.

’...Is that man really that incredible?’

Of course, ignorant of her true feelings, Wi Seol-ak had no choice but to raise his estimation of Grylls even higher.