I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 612

To state the conclusion first, the battle against the mechanical dragon that roared at us ended anticlimactically.

You might wonder why it ended so underwhelmingly when it was a mechanical dragon directly created by gods and oozing majesty.

Was it because our party became absurdly stronger than before? No.

Was the mechanical dragon weaker than expected? Not that either.

Or did Cain perform something like hacking to neutralize the mechanical dragon? Not even that.

"Waaa! We beat it!"

"Piiiik!"

"Pbeaek!"

The children were standing proudly atop the mechanical dragon, holding hands and rejoicing.

The mechanical dragon was half-destroyed, lying collapsed on the ground.

Watching that scene, the rest of the party couldn’t help but display various reactions.

"Master."

"What."

"Are theme parks originally like this?"

"Mmm..."

Stroking my chin at Lackey’s question tinged with futility, I shrugged my shoulders and answered.

"It’s a place that protects childhood innocence."

[I also have childhood innocence, though.]

"Adults get no mercy."

[Tsk.]

Since explaining it is quite tricky and bizarre, to break down what process actually unfolded:

"Kaaaaaaah!"

The mechanical dragon roared, threatening us. Normally, goosebumps should rise all over one’s body in sheer terror.

But whether because it was a machine rather than a living organism, I felt no tension at all.

I was merely slightly worried that dust might get in my eyes due to the strong wind generated by the roar.

’What’s this? Does it mean I’ve gotten stronger?’

It felt completely different from when I fought numerous formidable foes until now. Calm, as it were.

But setting aside such doubts, the fact that this guy was hostile toward us remained unchanged.

So I immediately took up a combat stance. The target was, naturally, the mechanical dragon.

Since it was an entity crafted by none other than the gods, we couldn’t let our guard down.

"I don’t know why that guy is hostile toward us, but for now, fighting is best."

[Understood. I shall protect the children.]

Cain decided to protect the children as he usually did. Since we didn’t know how strong the mechanical dragon was.

Thus, when combat preparations were completed, I looked around.

Even though the mechanical dragon was running amok, the knights who scolded me earlier remained motionless.

Whether their AI went haywire or if it was for another reason, I couldn’t tell.

"Kaaaaaaah!"

Kung! Kung!

The mechanical dragon began to approach step by sluggish step.

The creature, which was originally situated like a structure in the middle of a massive open square, moved out of its spot.

[Oh my! An evil dragon has awakened from its long slumber! Everyone must join forces to defeat the dragon!]

"What the..."

At the same time, a broadcast resounded throughout the entire theme park. It was a woman’s voice brimming with liveliness.

Dumbfounded by the woman’s words for a brief moment, we decided to fight the mechanical dragon first.

An intense Aura Blade enveloped the Sword of the Heavenly Demon, and the rest of the party finished preparing for battle one by one.

"Huuup!"

Machine or not, a dragon is a dragon. If we tackle those heavy legs first, the chances of victory will be high.

With that, I charged forward like an arrow. Then a colossal shadow fell over my head.

Apparently, the mechanical dragon intended to slam down on me with its front paw. But I trusted the party behind me.

Kwaang!

A noise of giant objects clashing against each other sounded. It wasn’t magic.

Looking at it, Dolsoe seemed to have struck the front leg using his forte, the Palm Strike.

During that time, I swung my sword toward the thick hind leg.

Seogeok!

Basic skills honed over a long time. The Sword of the Heavenly Demon and the Aura Blade.

If these three elements harmonized exquisitely, even a dragon’s bone could be cleanly severed.

Even if it were a mechanical dragon created in the Age of Gods.

Seureureuk—

However, the mechanical dragon’s true ability was not durability. It was quick-recovering regeneration.

The metal instantly turned liquid-like, and then rejoined together immediately.

It wasn’t shape-memory alloy, yet to have such recovery power was unbelievable even with my own eyes.You are reading on nov​elping.com, the official source.

’Looking at it, it seems like energy is being converted into recovery power...’

As soon as I realized the structure, I activated my Eye Lantern.

As expected, the area around the mechanical dragon’s heart glimmered. Intensely enough to hurt my eyes.

I figured out the heart was the power source, but its size was so huge that targeting it was tricky.

[Oh dear! The adults are struggling in the battle against the dragon! Is there no child to help?]

That really rubs me the wrong way. Don’t know who’s speaking, but her voice sure is pretty.

While thinking that, the dragon’s giant front paw dropped onto me.

Just as it was too late to dodge and I tried to raise both hands to block, I realized something strange.

Seueuk—

Right before the front paw dropped onto my head, the mechanical dragon released its strength.

Because it happened in an instant, someone watching from afar wouldn’t have noticed, but it definitely pulled its power.

And it wasn’t even meant for subduing—it was literally, genuinely ’gentle’.

Teok—

Thanks to that, I could easily catch and block the mechanical dragon’s front paw. It barely took any effort.

Realizing belatedly that my strength was formidable, the mechanical dragon began applying pressure bit by bit.

The funny thing was that it was applying force very slowly and carefully so I wouldn’t get hurt.

’What’s up with this? Does it even want to fight?’

Come to think of it, when it roared, there was something suspicious back then too.

It definitely roared at us, but strange as it was, no ’hostility’ was felt.

To be exact, should I say it was ambiguous? The monsters we dealt with until now possessed tension-inducing malice.

But this mechanical dragon was a bit different. It was ambiguous to call it a threat, ambiguous to call it hostility—everything was just ambiguous.

It was almost like an ’act’ asking us to play along loosely. It was hard to grasp its intention.

[Ah! The knight is in danger! We need a hero!]

Hearing the broadcast, I gently pretended to fall backward. Naturally, the giant paw gently pressed down on me.

It only had a strong feeling of covering me, with zero feeling of crushing me. Only then did I realize.

The mechanical dragon had no intention of harming me or my party. All of this was an ’act’.

"Dadddddy!"

A short while later, a cute and adorable voice struck my ears. Urgency was mixed in to boot.

Quietly turning my head at this, Wonmo was sprinting toward me frantically.

Cain should clearly have been protecting him, so why was Wonmo coming over here?

"Let go of Dad!"

Kwaang!

Wonmo’s body slam hit the mechanical dragon’s leg square on.

A leg built with durability so sturdy it would require my full seriousness to hack in half.

Wajangchang!

That mechanical leg shattered into ’smithereens’ from a single body slam by Wonmo.

A phenomenon unbelievable even if I rubbed my eyes and looked again. Regardless, wasn’t this a bit too much?

It was such a natural destruction phenomenon that it brought out an empty laugh from sheer absurdity.

"Kaaaaaaah!"

Even the dragon howling as if in pain was added to the mix. Empty laughter escaped automatically.

Regardless, Wonmo was dead serious as he dragged my arm while I lay on the ground.

"Dad! It’s dangerous here! Let’s go fast!"

"Huh? Uh, yeah... okay."

Led by Wonmo’s hand, I escaped from the mechanical dragon.

I thought only Wonmo had come, but that wasn’t the case either. Turning my head, the other kids had also arrived.

"Piiiiik!!!"

Hwareureureuk!

Tyranno’s breath directly struck the mechanical dragon’s head.

Earlier, Lackey had cast fire magic to weaken its durability.

Back then, it clearly didn’t budge an inch, yet now its body was melting down as if touched by extreme heat.

"Pbeaek!"

Peobeobeong! Peobeong!

Cheongseol also used her power for the first time in a while. She fired a powerful laser from her mouth.

Astonishingly, various parts of the mechanical dragon hit by the laser exploded, even triggering a chain reaction.

Even when ’adults’ including myself put on a desperate clown show, the guy was unscathed; but when ’children’ used their power, it fell over on its own.

"Waaa! We beat it!"

"Piiiik!"

"Pbeaek!"

As a result, only the half-destroyed mechanical dragon was left sitting desolate, while the children cheered.

Naturally, I couldn’t help feeling absurd looking at this, but this place was a ’Theme Park’.

Unforgiving to adults, but a place that gives dreams and hope to children.Read the latest chapters at novelping . com.

[Heavenly Demon] Children are extremely precious. That place seems to bestow dreams and hope upon such children.

[Sword Matstar] Adults have childhood innocence too, can’t we get some?

[Don’t Abandon the Hero] It seems tailored to everyone’s best efforts! Because the best effort of an adult and that of a child are different!

[Allfather] A most fascinating machine.

[Princess Chaenggu] I know that too~! It’s the same principle as professional wrestling actually being all acting~!

[Suspiciously...] But does it treat animals as children too?

[Passing Dwarf] Isn’t it treating them as juvenile beastfolk? That Wonmo kid even speaks.

[Suspiciously...] Makes sense.

The fixed-nick users also seemed to grasp the significance of the theme park, passing it off with a laugh.

Perhaps due to the influence of the gods, children were extremely precious in this world as well.

Children’s Day was even designated as a worldwide public holiday, so that said everything.

"By the way, Cain-ssi. Didn’t I clearly ask you to protect the children?"

Setting that aside, I had something to ask Cain.

I clearly asked him to guard the kids, yet he failed.

Cain, who obeys my orders unconditionally, couldn’t have ignored it, so there must be a reason.

Hearing my question, Cain scratched his head (though he lacked a head as a Dullahan, so he merely gestured) and spoke with a nuanced tone of being wronged.

[That is... I protected them at first as well. But that knight over there came over and said this to me: "Only with the children present can the dragon be defeated."]

"A knight?"

I turned my head at the mention of a knight. The knight robots still stood frozen in place.

[Ahem. Hem. Hem.]

"..."

[Anyone can become a knight.]

As I stared blankly, it subtly turned its head away, clearing its throat.

Furthermore, hearing it make such vague, floaty statements brought out an empty laugh.

Apparently, since the theme here was ’Knights’, they had included an attraction like this.

"Master. Let me think of it positively. At least it doesn’t persecute him for being a dragon hatchling like last time."

"...Yeah."

As Lackey said, at least there was no wild commotion over having a dragon hatchling, which was nice.

Looking at the kids jumping up and down happily on the half-destroyed dragon, I glanced over at another spot.

The kids were over there, but there was one child who wasn’t joining in.

"Don’t you need to join in?"

"Hmph. I am not a young entity."

Heukgu, still waiting inside my shadow.

Strictly speaking by age, wouldn’t Heukgu be the oldest among us?

Since he was a guy who existed since the Mythological Age, that made sense.

Anyway, after tidying things up roughly, we moved to another location.

Now that we learned the theme and strategy (?) of this place, we had no choice but to put the children at the forefront.

Though a theme park shrouded in a lonely atmosphere, seeing the kids running around lively warmed the heart.

Still, it wasn’t completely without gain. On our way, we were able to find a massive guide map.

"Hmm... There are a total of 3 attractions. One is Knight, another is Mage, and the last is... King?"

[In any fairy tale, a King has knights and mages. They seem to symbolize Aris, Aragon, and lastly, the Chief God.]

It seemed roughly along those lines. I finally realized the identity of this theme park.

Aside from the name Earthland, the theme itself was close to fantasy.

’Maybe the trend of the era right before destruction was like that.’

And it wasn’t exclusively a space for children.

Representative of that...

"Master. What is that big and beautiful thing?"

"Uh... a pilotable mechanical robot? There was one at the place where we fought the frilled lizard too."

"Let’s ride it. I’m curious."

"Looks like two people fight each other in it?"

There was also a space to protect adults’ childhood innocence. Pilotable robots.

Pilotable robots with appearances you’d see in movies or games. Being just as curious, I boarded one.

And.

"Master. You really suck."

"Hey. Rematch me."

I was overwhelmingly thrashed by Lackey.

"Oho. Wanting to go again after losing just once? Master, unfortunately we don’t have time for this."

"I’ll bet candied sweet potatoes."

"Are you trying to trick me with a mere thing like that, Master?"

"For a whole week, as dessert with every meal."

"That is far too much to refuse. I accept."

As expected, theme parks are places that bring joy to adults too.