I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 73

Having resolved the core issue—which was turning into quite a white elephant—I slowly began preparing for lunch.

Lunch didn’t mean much more than going up to the river and checking for fish.

If there weren’t any, I’d eat smoked meat; if there were, I’d eat fish. Simple as that.

I wondered how many fish had been caught while I was locked in a fierce battle with the Guardian.

’I’d be lucky if there were even two, right?’

Just in time, Wonmo woke up as well, so we all headed up to the river together.

Speed Sloth aside, this was the first time Wonmo was tagging along.

As long as he didn’t cause trouble and stuck close to my side, there shouldn’t be any problem.

Chambeong! Chambeong!

"Kkyuu! Kkyu-kkyu!"

"Yeah, yeah. Just wait a second."

Luckily, two fish were caught inside the fish trap.

The red fish that looked fascinating no matter how often I saw them. Not only were they big, but they tasted incredible.

As I pulled up the trap, I kept a close eye on Wonmo, worried he might jump into the river.

The moment he stepped into the river, the Golden Frog family would pop out, so I needed to be careful.

Buseureok—

It happened right when I had almost finished hauling in the trap. The rustling sound of bushes reached my ears.

I thought Wonmo might have bumped into them, but Wonmo was right beside me.

In other words, there was a high chance it was another beast.

Pretending not to notice as much as possible, I continued retrieving the trap.

Soon after, once the trap was pulled completely out of the water and the fish were flopping vigorously inside—

Buseureok! Buseureok!

A much louder rustling of bushes pierced my ears.

I immediately grabbed my sword and shield, turning my body toward the direction of the noise.

Wonmo must have sensed something unusual too, as his fur bristled up on end while he took a defensive posture.

"Kyiing. Kyiik."

"Kkiing. Kking."

The animals emerging from the bushes looked quite familiar.

Drenched in water, their bodies were a deep gray overall.

Faces that looked somehow cute yet packed with feral wildness.

Long bodies and menacingly sharp claws.

"...Otters?"

Otters appeared right before us. And not just one, but several of them.

At a glance, their clever yet adorable appearance almost lowered my guard for a brief moment.

But where was this place? Was this not the Forest of the Four Seasons, where even frogs were perilously lethal?

Snapping my slackening vigilance back into high alert, I stared at the pack of otters.

Judging by numbers alone, there seemed to be around five or six of them.

’And why the hell are they so huge?’

Their size was on an entirely different level from the otters I knew.

Part of it was because they were standing upright, but that alone made them reach past my waist.

With those vicious claws and the fact that they were in a pack, I couldn’t help but feel tense.

Peoltteok! Peoltteok!

In the middle of the standoff, only the fish inside the trap flopped about.

Then, the otters turned their eyes toward the fish. They seemed to be eyeing the catch.

It seemed they had come to snatch the fish.

’Look at these highway robber bastards.’

Not a chance. I’ll never give it to them. I activated my mana.

The mana that had been absorbed by the Guardian was now fully recharged.

It was possible because the Forest of the Four Seasons was rich in mana.

"Kkieok? Kkeok?"

"Kyyyyiiing."

As I slowly built up my momentum, the pack of otters gradually assumed battle formations as well.

Two at the back remained where they were, while the three in front lowered their stances.

"Kyaaaaah!"

The otter assumed to be the leader of the pack bared its teeth and hissed threateningly.

Normally otters have a strong cute image, but that one looked like a North American giant otter.

Baring its teeth like that, cute animal my ass; it radiated ferocity no less terrifying than an apex predator.

Well, otters primarily eat meat anyway, so technically it was a carnivore.

’The creatures I met until now were alone, but these guys are in a pack. I have to be extra careful.’

One wrong step and I could get pincer-attacked.

There was no telling what would happen if those claws or teeth landed a blow.

"Bbareumbo. You protect Wonmo. I’ll be fine."

"...."

And the most reliable fellow here was Speed Sloth.

At my request, Speed Sloth quietly slid down from my back and climbed onto Wonmo.

I had my shield so I was fine, but Wonmo was still inexperienced. He needed Speed Sloth’s support.

"Kyaaaaah!"

The largest otter charged forward with bared teeth. Its target was precisely me.

Approaching at a speed completely unbecoming of its bulky frame for an otter.

Soon, it swung its ferociously grown claws to initiate the attack.

Chwaang!

But not a chance. For I possessed the shield gifted to me by Praise the Sun.

As soon as the beast’s attack ended, I swung my sword without a moment’s hesitation.

Hwiing!

"?!"

An unsettling sound whistled past my ear, prompting me to raise my shield again.

It was a defense born of instinct rather than reason.You are reading on novelping . com, the official source.

Tiing! Taeng!

Something hard collided against the shield. The impact wasn’t very strong.

But the fact that something had been thrown was what mattered. I checked the object that had fallen beneath my shield.

’A rock?’

It was a rock. And a jagged stone the size of my fist, no less.

Before I could even wonder who threw this stone, the leader otter pounced again.

Jumping high into the air, the leader otter flew straight toward my face in a pouncing strike.

It seemed determined to shred me with its sharp claws, but it was too late.

Teoong!

I raised my shield upward, easily blocking the leader otter’s pouncing assault.

Going beyond a mere block, I violently bashed the shield outward before the leader otter could pull back.

No matter how large an otter was, getting slammed like this left it with no choice but to be sent flying.

"Kkieeeeng!"

The leader otter shrieked a high-pitched squeal ill-suited to its ferocity as it sailed through the air.

My plan was to clean up the other otters before the leader otter could return.

Turning my gaze toward Wonmo and Speed Sloth, I witnessed a rare sight.

"Kkyukyaaaaah!"

"Keeeeeng!"

Before I knew it, one otter’s torso had been sliced into three pieces, spurting blood, while another otter was completely pinned down by Wonmo.

Whenever it tried to resist, it was pecked by the beak and torn by claws. It was a complete victory.

Apparently Speed Sloth had put on a stellar performance.

Chwaak! Chwak!

He was even effortlessly snatching flying rocks out of the air or slicing them down with his claws.

Truly an astounding performance. By the way, were otters seriously chucking rocks?

"Keeeng! Keeng!"

"Kyaaang!"

They really were throwing rocks. The two remaining at the back were eagerly pelting stones.

I wondered, ’Do otters even have a habit like that?’ But now was my chance.

As the otter grenadiers prepared to throw another rock, I dashed forward.

Startled, the grenadiers frantically threw their stones, but every single one was blocked by my shield.

Closing the distance until I was right in front of their noses, I swung my sword—rippling with aura—from the inside out.

Chwaak!

Not even a squelching slice was heard. Only the crisp sound of wind being carved filled the air.

The combination of the Sword of the Heavenly Demon and aura could cut through pretty much anything.

Tuuk! Tuk!

Since they were standing straight up, their upper and lower halves were cleanly severed.

With that, all the ones throwing rocks from afar were eliminated, and Wonmo tore apart the one he had pinned down.

All that remained was the leader otter that had been blown away by my shield bash. It hadn’t made its comeback yet.

Buseureok!

Speak of the devil.

Fashionably late to the party, the leader otter pushed through the foliage and showed itself.

But what good did that do? Its companions were already either sliced in half or ripped to shreds.

"Kkkieeeeeek!!!"

The leader otter roared, as if unable to believe the tragedy (?) unfolding before its eyes.

Then, glaring at me with bloodshot eyes, it charged headlong straight at me.

Its speed was surprisingly fast for its size, which was quite jarring, but it wasn’t a major problem.

The strike of an utterly enraged beast was actually easy to dodge, so there was no need to even block with my shield.

Chwaak!

The leader otter launched itself into the air, executing a claw strike full of raw emotion.

Before twisting my body to dodge, I planted my sword vertically upside down directly in the path of the leader otter’s charge.

Since both of its hind legs had already left the ground, it was bound to collide with the blade.

Seueuk!

Just as I anticipated, the leader otter’s body slid right past the upright blade.

Following right after, the beast crashed face-first onto the ground—complete with a body split vertically down the middle.

Its rapid charge backfired horribly, making it effectively equivalent to suicide.

’That’s what you get for trying to steal someone else’s stuff.’

Snorting dismissively, I began tidying up the scene.

Leaving the corpses here might attract other wild animals sniffing out the scent of blood.

I tossed the otters’ corpses into the river and roughly covered the spilled blood with dirt.

Thanks to most of them already being neatly dismembered, clean-up was an easy task.

"Let’s go."

"Kkyuu!"

"We’ll have to wipe your claws as soon as we get back."

Both Wonmo and Speed Sloth had blood stained on their claws.

Even though the river was right in front of us, it was better to head back, if only because of the Golden Frogs.

Carrying the fish that were still flopping violently, I returned to the shelter.

Now all that remained was a delightful lunch. I gave one fish to Wonmo.

Naturally, I didn’t forget to remove the Inner Core buried inside its entrails.

"Eat this and I’ll give you honey later. Got it?"

"Ang-nyam-nyam-nyam."

He was too busy munching away to even hear my words.

Petting Wonmo on the head, I began prepping the portion I was going to eat.

’By the way, when am I going to use up all these Inner Cores?’

The Inner Cores were stacking up neatly inside the Elixir bottles. I really wondered if I would ever be able to consume them all.

I planned to take one every two days starting soon, but I was worried whether taking too many would count as an overdose.

’For now, I should post on the Gallery first.’This chapter was taken from n‌ovelping.com without permission.

I felt the need to report the fact that we were ambushed by otters.

Plus, since there were grenadiers throwing rocks, I needed to satisfy my curiosity as well.

Knowing something like this would happen, I took photos of the massacre beforehand. I appropriately censored the gory parts.

Title) Gave those robber bastards a true education.

Wild Grylls

(Photos of dead otters scattered everywhere)

These bastards tried to steal my fish, so I personally taught them a lesson.

But do these otter bastards normally throw rocks too? I was a bit shocked because they were split into front-line and rear-line ranks;;

└ Heavenly Demon) The otters I am familiar with do not look like that. This is the first time I have seen ones looking so ferocious.

└ Wild Grylls) I also thought they were cute at first, but nope.

└ Sword Matstar) Are those really otters? What kind of otter looks like that?;;

└ Wild Grylls) I guess it’s because it’s the Forest of the Four Seasons.

└ Passing Dwarf) Didn’t Speed Sloth try to steal your fish last time and get caught? Why did you spare him?

└ Wild Grylls) Bbareumbo was trying to sneakily swipe it, but these bastards tried to rob me by force.

└ Passing Dwarf) Honestly, what if every single one of those bastards was as strong as Bbareumbo?

└ Wild Grylls) I’d hand over the fish and fucking run for my life, LOL LOL

└ Passing Dwarf) Don’t you have any pride?

└ Wild Grylls) (Photo of Speed Sloth’s peaceful face) This guy is stronger than me. My pride crumbled to dust a long time ago.

└ Passing Dwarf) ROFL LOL LOL

└ LMAO LOL LOL

└ Totally understandable to throw pride out the window, LOL

└ Imagine being weaker than a sloth, LOL

└ Allfather) Otters do possess the habit of playing with or tossing pebbles. However, using thrown stones to fight is something I have never heard of.

└ Wild Grylls) As expected, the Forest of the Four Seasons is just weird, right? They don’t normally do this, right?

└ Allfather) It is true that they are the bullies of rivers. Contrary to their adorable appearance, they are creatures capable of preying even on caimans and crocodiles.

└ Wild Grylls) Otters?!;;

└ Allfather) Aside from being friendly toward humans at times, they are frightening beasts.

└ Just think about Wonmo. Even a cute cub like him could eat you up.

└ Don’t treat the wild like a joke.

└ At the very least, humans are fragile enough to die from getting back-kicked by a deer, LOL

Ah, I see. Otters were just naturally strong as fuck.

If I had gone alone, I probably would have had to either give up the fish or die.

It was fortunate that Wonmo and Speed Sloth were with me; it had actually been quite a dangerous situation.

’Nothing comes easy here.’

Even before considering it was the Forest of the Four Seasons, the wilderness itself was an extremely dangerous place.

Sighing inwardly, I began cooking the prepped fish.

The fish sizzled into a golden brown atop the large cast-iron pan.

Because the fish was so huge, even the cast-iron pan was enormous.

Title) Delicious Lunch

Wild Grylls

(Video of the fish turning golden brown while sizzling)

Today’s lunch. My lunch that I never get sick of, no matter how much I eat.

└ Heavenly Demon) My mouth is watering. Does it truly taste that delicious?

└ Wild Grylls) I only season it with salt, but it’s really delicious. It’d probably taste even better if someone who actually knows how to cook made it.

└ Heavenly Demon) If given the chance, I would like to request one fish. Would that be acceptable?

└ Wild Grylls) If you want, I can send you one right away. But since trading locks up the cooldown, I’ll send it over when we exchange Fasting Pills.

└ Heavenly Demon) Before that, isn’t that single fish your own precious sustenance?

└ Wild Grylls) That’s true, but since it’s Heavenly Demon-nim asking, I don’t mind.

└ Heavenly Demon) Forget it. I might adversely affect your survival for no good reason. I withdraw my previous statement.

└ Sword Matstar) Could you perhaps put just a piece on the Auction House?

└ Wild Grylls) I’ll just send you one later when I catch another;;

└ Sword Matstar) But then it’ll be hard to trade when you actually need to. Please just list a single slice.

└ Wild Grylls) It feels a bit like I’m ripping people off, so I’d rather not. I’ll just give it to you later.

└ Passing Dwarf) I ate it last time, and damn, it’s fucking delicious. But you get a fever immediately after eating it.

└ Isn’t that bad for you?

└ Passing Dwarf) Nono, the next day you overflow with raw strength. I’m bursting with power right now too LOL

└ The more I look at it, the more I wanna eat it. Can’t you put it on the Auction House?

└ You can’t list live things. And it’s not like Grylls is cooking it for us.

└ Can’t he just kill it and list it immediately?

└ Time still passes even when listed on the Auction House;;

Everyone seemed envious. I understood roughly how they felt.

There are videos uploaded to YouTube sometimes. Videos of cooking fresh wild catches right on the spot.

They were oddly mesmerizing, so I used to binge-watch them without realizing it.

’All I’m doing is grilling it, but because the fish is so big, it looks great.’

But aside from that, I couldn’t help feeling disappointed.

Giving a slice to multiple people was practically impossible.

Trading once locked you out for 24 hours, causing a lot of inconvenience in many ways.

’I might as well ask Orange Badge about this.’

I immediately posted a thread to ask Orange Badge.

└ Don’t Abandon the Hero) No way! I don’t know about removing it for everyone, but granting special privileges to just one person is unfair!

└ Wild Grylls) What about Heavenly Demon-nim then?

└ Don’t Abandon the Hero) She put on an Armband! Are you going to wear an Armband too, Grylls-nim?

└ Wild Grylls) ;;

I was reminded once again that Orange Badge was a total young boomer.