I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 638

Regardless of time and place, civilizations often began near massive rivers.

Waging wars just to claim a single river was a common occurrence.

Rivers are highly important not only in ancient times but also in the modern era; with the advancement of technology, the construction of ’dams’ significantly affects international relations.

When a dam is built, it only benefits that specific region, while downstream areas mostly dry up or flood.

Consequently, when an upstream country announces plans to build a dam, downstream nations frequently fly into a rage.

The problem is that if the upstream country is a superpower, there is no solution. It is practically a daylight robbery.

Our country, specifically the Korean Peninsula, has many mountains, and the rivers flow horizontally rather than vertically, so it is relatively better off.

Furthermore, rivers are beautiful in their own right, making them the main culprits behind rising real estate prices.

One way or another, it was a natural environment that couldn’t help but be deeply connected to real estate.

"Hey, you bastards with no business ethics! Do you even call yourselves human!"

"Master. They are beasts. And didn’t you smash their home first?"

"Ah. Right, indeed. If you don’t tear down that barrier right now, I’ll kill you all!"

"In the end, you’ve decided to become a beast yourself."

And I ended up feeling like my real estate had completely tanked, not in a civilization, but in a forest.

More problematic than the river simply drying up was that the beavers were using this to ’threaten’ us.

Because they declared that if we didn’t listen to them, they would release the dam and turn the downstream area into a disaster zone.

From my perspective, the home I had worked so hard to build was in danger of being completely swept away, so I had no choice but to protest like this.

’I can really understand the feelings of people who protest whenever a dam construction is discussed.’

Their livelihoods were on the line too. The moment a dam is built, they are forced to relocate to other regions.

Who would want to leave their beloved hometown? I felt the same way.

’This is the home I’ve cultivated for half a year!’

The memory is still vivid. At first, I lived while remodeling the cave that was the Mad Dog’s habitat.

Then, as I gradually grew stronger, numerous powerhouses of the forest gathered, and eventually, the cave collapsed.

After a brief moment of despair, we banded together again and built a house in no time.

There were quite a few trials and errors, but how proud I was when I finally saw the completed house.

But to give up all of that just because a single dam was built?

’Hell! No!’

I might burst with rage, but I could absolutely never give up.

In that case, what I had to do was threaten the beaver family.

If you guys don’t back down, I will have no choice but to take strong measures as well.

Even in civilization, whether to build a dam or not leads to residents protesting, or even escalating into border disputes.

Especially from my standpoint, not only my food but my very dwelling was in danger, so releasing the water was essential.

I also had to fish in this river if possible, because if I did it right in front of my house, I had no idea what kind of creature I might hook.

Didn’t I fish last time and end up hooking a Water Dragon, throwing the house into chaos?

"If you guys don’t demolish this quickly, you’ll regret it."

"Jjiiik! Jjik!"

"This is our home. Since it’s our home, we can do whatever we want."

"Did they really build their home with absolutely no business ethics?"

Since they didn’t show any sign of understanding no matter how many times I spoke, I finally decided to use force.

For the stability of our home, I couldn’t leave them be.

"Master. I have a question."

"What is it?"

"Sharks already live in that river, so does that mean sharks are living in that stagnant water too?"

"...?"

I tilted my head upon hearing Lackey’s words.

Come to think of it, that river was originally water flowing from the sea.

Normally, rivers flow into the sea, but in this damn forest, perhaps because the rotational axis was messed up, it flowed in reverse.

Perhaps because of that, not to mention large whales, even sharks frequently appeared downstream.

In other words, there was a very high probability that sea monsters backflowing from the ocean were living in that pool.

Kuung!

Meaning they were struggling desperately to smash the dam the beavers had built.

"Jjik...?"

"Jjiik...?"

An unsettling sound echoed from the firmly erected barrier. The sound of a large object colliding with it.

The barrier built by the beavers didn’t collapse from just one hit, but that only made it more anxiety-inducing.

Kung!!!

The noise rang out loudly once more. Now, it was at a level where vibrations were shaking the ground.

Along with this, the barrier bulged out slightly, reminding me of my growing anxiety.New chapters come out on novelping dot com first.

Sensing that they were in deep trouble, the beavers hurriedly began repair work using nearby materials.

However, no matter how skilled the beavers were, they couldn’t block the body slams or headbutts of marine creatures.

Kung! Ujikeun!

Now, the barrier bulged out to a noticeable degree. It looked as if it would collapse at any moment.

Watching that sight, I took a step back and recalled yesterday’s events.

The moment I made a hole in the barrier, an incredibly powerful current had rushed out.

At that time, it was downstream and had no impact on our house, so it was fine, but now was different.

It was already a strong current, and if that rushed toward our house? It was obvious that everything would be swept away.

Kuung! Kwajijik!

"Jjiiiiik!!!"

Deciding there was no hope, the beavers also scrambled away from the barrier. I’ll have to personally pay those bastards a visit later and beat them to a pulp.

Anyway, if we stayed like this, we would be the ones suffering damage. I racked my brain furiously.

’The dam bursting is a foregone conclusion anyway. In that case...’

I ordered Lackey to prepare Teleport. The best course of action was to take measures to minimize damage to the Shelter as much as possible.

Therefore, after nocking a Mythricon arrow to my bow, I fired it toward where the river originally was.

Blowing up another part of the barrier in advance to reduce the current’s force as much as possible was the priority.

Kwaang!

The moment the blocked dike burst, the river water poured out violently.

The problem was that because the force was too strong, the part that was on the verge of collapsing earlier was also in a precarious state.

"Lackey! Teleport!"

I immediately ordered Lackey to Teleport. Since Lackey had prepared in advance, there was no delay.

Soon, we arrived at our Shelter. However, ominous noises began to echo slightly from above.

The barrier had finally burst, and a tsunami was beginning to rush in. Whether the forest was wide or not didn’t matter.

Just as the beavers had built it well, the consequences were returning. Thus, I quickly prepared a makeshift solution.

"Lackey! Cast a shield over our entire house! Cain-ssi and Dolsoe, block the current with me!"

[What will we block it with?]

Kwajik! Kwajik!

In response to Cain’s question, I punched and ripped out two nearby trees.

Even I had to admit it was an incredibly crude logging method, but this was no time to sweat the details.

Soon, after stacking the two trees together, I skewered them with my Mythricon sword to secure them.

"Whatever else happens, we must defend the house, so hold on!"

Kugugugu!

The moment I said those words, an immense tsunami began to pour down.

I had breached the barrier in advance knowing this would happen, but it seemed it didn’t make much of a difference.

’Was it impossible to prevent it from collapsing all at once?’

While I was thinking that, the tsunami reached right before our eyes.

At first, thanks to the shield Lackey had wrapped around the entire house, it seemed to flow past without issue.

Kuung! Kung!

But, the problem was the debris and creatures being swept along with the tsunami.

Logs and branches that were the materials of the barrier, and large stones. That wasn’t all.

The creatures that had been trapped by the dike were colliding one after another, delivering heavy impacts.

"Kyaaaaaa!"

"Crazy."

Among them were sharks, crocodiles, and all sorts of other creatures.

Since this was the Forest of the Four Seasons, the impact was so tremendous that I could see cracks forming in the shield.

"Master! The shield is going to break soon!"

As soon as I heard Lackey’s words, I immediately blocked it with the trees.

Soon, the shield shattered like a glass window, and the violent current collided with the trees.

Since Lackey had blocked it beforehand with the shield, it wasn’t too difficult, but the problem was the creatures being swept along inside.

Chwareureuk!

"Argh!"

An octopus clung to me and began choking my neck.

"Kiiiiik!"

A fish with sharp teeth like a piranha tried to bite off my flesh, and so on.

All kinds of bizarre creatures popped out, but I stood firm. After all, I just had to endure this current.

How long did we hold out? As the current gradually weakened, we were finally able to catch our breath.

Having caught our breath, Lackey deployed the shield once more, bringing the situation to a temporary close.

"Phew... that was seriously exhausting."Visit novelping dot com for the full chapter.

[This is trickier than dealing with most monsters.]

Seeing that even Cain, who had been through all kinds of battles, said such a thing, it was proof of how arduous the task was.

In truth, I would rather fight monsters; opposing nature felt no different, and it drained my energy.

No matter how much humanity developed or how strong individuals became, before nature, they were nothing but mere specks.

Even Earthlings fled in a hurry as soon as a great catastrophe struck Earth, didn’t they?

’If nothing else, I must hunt down and kill those beaver bastards.’

Because of the beaver family, not only our house but the entire forest was flooded.

In effect, they had almost destroyed an entire habitat.

I didn’t know where they had fled, but if I ever met them in the future, I would unconditionally slaughter them.

They had no choice because they had to build a home too? That was their problem, and here, my house almost blew up.

Gnash my teeth, I slowly began to repair the house that hadn’t been fully tidied up yet.

Debris had washed down, and all sorts of marine creatures had been swept in, making the cleanup difficult.

Peoljjeok! Peoljjeok! "My goodness. The fish are jumping like frogs."

"Bpiyung?"

"Maengkkong-ah. I’m not talking about you."

I immediately discarded the fish that looked like they had chugged a refreshing bowl of radiation.

If I ate that and harmful substances accumulated in my body, even an Elixir wouldn’t be able to cure me.

’At least the toilet didn’t backflow this time.’

If it had backflowed again, my eyes would have rolled back, and I would have set off immediately to find the beaver family.

After a long time, the cleanup was finally finished, and just as I was thinking of having a meal out of sheer exhaustion...

"Muooo."

"Ah. You’re here? It’s still a long way from winter."

After a long time, the deer—Rudolph—had paid a visit.

It was the first time seeing his face since last Christmas. Perhaps because all his decorations were removed, he looked somewhat awkward.

Anyway, as I said, winter was still far off, so why did he come?

Just as I harbored such doubts, the deer looked around my house and opened his mouth.

"Muo."

"The house is a mess. Were you also caught in the current?"

"I was, but... you too?"

The words ’you too’ meant that he or other animals had also suffered damage.

When I asked if that was what he meant, the deer nodded his head as if telling me to follow.

Though puzzled, I brought Lackey along for translation and followed behind the deer.

The cleanup was almost finished anyway, so leaving it to the others wouldn’t cause any problems.

Soon, following the deer, we arrived near the Kangaroo Cave. This place had also suffered considerable damage, as it was completely soaked.

’Why on earth did we come here? Is he asking for flood recovery assistance?’

I knew the deer also visited the Kangaroo Cave whenever he was bored to participate in matches.

Since the deer roamed all over the forest and dipped his hooves here and there, his actions were entirely understandable.

But that expectation completely changed the moment we stepped inside.

"Kweoooargh!"

"Uuu! Uuu!"

The kangaroos, the bears, and even the gorillas from Dolsoe’s territory.

Numerous animals had gathered in one place, protesting wildly. They looked ready to fight at any moment.

Not knowing what was causing this, I raised my head and witnessed an astonishing sight.

"...The beaver family? Why are they here?"

The beaver family was hanging their heads low, looking like criminals.

Roughly speaking, it seemed the animals who suffered damage from the beavers had captured them.

Indeed, they hadn’t just fought a territorial war; they had flooded the entire forest, so it was only natural.

Even a territorial dispute only has value if the place is livable; blocking it with a dam made everything meaningless.

In severe cases, a great war could have erupted across the entire forest, so there was a need to make an example of them.

And that example was only one thing.

"Jjiiiiiiik!"

"Kkieeeeeek!"

It was ’dismemberment by drawing’ executed directly by the forest animals.

Each of them bit the beaver’s limbs with their mouths or grabbed them with their hands, then tore them apart.

It was a method of execution fit for criminals who plotted treason or sold out their country.

"Muo."

"This is the end of those who are not rulers."

"..."

Indeed, monopoly is a bad thing.