I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 750

Corpses lying around like trash.

Me, sitting as if those corpses were nothing, having dragged over a plastic convenience store chair.

It was a scene close to the end of the world, but since it actually was the end of the world, it wasn’t wrong.

’Why on earth is the memory continuing?’

More than that, I was more concerned about the fact that the flashback was continuing.

I thought a different flashback would appear every time I reached a specific location, but that expectation was spectacularly missed.

Although it was much better than being cut off, my wonder didn’t change.

’Could it be that it changes based on my current memories...’

Pudeudeuk!

It was around the time I was thinking that.

A few crows flew toward the mountain of corpses and began to peck at them.

In the flashback, whether the crows pecked at the corpses or not, I only glanced at them and didn’t care at all.

ㄴPassing Dwarf) Doesn’t he look like some gatekeeper in a dungeon?

ㄴSmart Demon) The gatekeeper is too strong, though?

The fixed-nicks also left a few playful words at my appearance.

Meanwhile, I slowly approached myself sitting on the corpse chair.

It was to confirm whether the book I was reading was truly the Bible or something else.

Syarak—

The pages of the book turned, revealing various biblical verses.

As I had felt when looking from afar, the cover was worn and tattered, and the pages were also yellowed.

I wondered why I was carrying around such a worn Bible, but that didn’t last long.

"Oh! A lamb is here!"

Suddenly, a man’s voice was heard from the front.

At the somewhat exaggerated tone, not only the me in the flashback but also the real me turned my head.

Turning my head, a religious man and his group had swarmed in.

The reason I immediately discerned he was a religious man was because of his attire.

He was wearing a clerical coat, a cassock, that a religious person would wear.

Since it was the clothes a pastor would wear, I could identify it at once.

"...Who are you?"

Teok—

When the religious man and his group suddenly appeared, the me in the flashback closed the Bible and asked.

It was an extremely sharp tone, so cold that I doubted if it was really me speaking.

ㄴHeavenly Demon) His voice is full of killing intent.

ㄴSword Matstar) Is he really the same person as Grylls-nim? His expression is terrifying.

My expression was scary enough for Yoo So-wol and Ash to say that.

It was an atmosphere where it felt like I would plunge a knife into them the moment they said something useless.

While I stood up from the corpse chair, one of the religious man’s group shouted.

"What is that rudeness to the Pastor! Show some respect!"

"This person is the savior of the world!"

"Oh, please."

"Oh, please."

Not only me watching that unsightly scene, but also the me in the flashback spat out the exact same word.

No matter if it was the end of the world, who wouldn’t find that sight absurd?

"Calm down, everyone. Didn’t we come here to talk?"

Still, the religious man seemed to have some leadership, as he calmly placated them.

The me in the flashback also seemed to decide to watch for now upon seeing that, and waited quietly.

ㄴHeavenly Demon) He is counting their numbers.

ㄴSword Matstar) It seems Grylls-nim already has no intention of talking, though?

Or was it? Hearing the two’s words, I checked my expression in the flashback.

He really wasn’t just looking at the religious man, but was counting the numbers of the group.

Meaning he was already half-hostile. It seemed my personality was really bad back then.

’It had no choice but to be bad.’

The world was ruined, the friends and their families I wanted to protect were all dead, and crazy bastards trying to covet even the ashes were popping up one after another.

There was no way my personality wouldn’t turn foul.

Moreover, it seemed I held a faint faith at this time, but some cultist had appeared right before my eyes.

"O lamb. I have heard many rumors about you."

"Rumors about me?"

"The story that there is a gatekeeper guarding a charnel house in Daegu."

"Where did you come from?"

"I came down from Daejeon."

It’s not that far. I see why the rumors spread quickly.

An apocalyptic era where not only cell phones and the internet but even proper communication equipment couldn’t be used.

It takes quite some time for rumors or information to circulate properly, but since the distance was relatively close, they seemed to have arrived quickly.

"So why did you come looking for me? Do you guys want the ashes too?"

"That is not it. I have absolutely no intention of desecrating the deceased."

"Hmm?"

It was unexpected, if anything. I quietly watched the situation.

Although his cult-like aspect was strong, seeing that he had many followers, his leadership must be certain.

Having clear leadership meant his goal was clear.

’Is he perhaps someone I can reason with?’

Around the time I was thinking that, the religious man spat out some grand words.The source of this chapter is novelp​ing.com.

"Rather, I intend to send the deceased to a better place."

"...Keep talking."

"God has already gathered the souls of the deceased and is waiting to create new bodies. Thus, to send the deceased to a better place, even their ashes must be completely annihilated without a trace."

"Surely that method isn’t mixing the ashes in water and drinking them, is it?"

"That is the best method, but if the bereaved family refuses, it is right not to do so."

Has he half-lost his mind? Just listening to him, it sounds like he’s speaking human words.

But as if proving that a person who has lost their mind is just a lunatic, the religious man continued.

"O gatekeeper. Look at these lambs. They are those whom God has not yet embraced. Furthermore, they cannot go to God’s side until their sins are forgiven."

"Ah, is that so? It seems there are many who have blood on their hands."

Mocking him, the me in the flashback carefully put the Bible down on the chair.

Subsequently, I fumbled in my chest pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes.

"C-Cigarettes...!"

"It’s cigarettes! Cigarettes!"

"There were no cigarettes nearby...!"

Making such a fuss over just one cigarette. I keenly felt that the world had ended.

Regardless, the me in the flashback was busy leisurely smoking a cigarette.

Looking at it, it seemed to be a cigarette pulled from the piles of corpses.

"There are many who have blood on their hands. Therefore, to atone for their sins..."

"Cut the crap, Pastor. Let me ask you one question."

Cutting off the words of the pastor (presumably), I asked cynically.

"You seem to have read the Bible quite a bit too, right? Recite Romans Chapter 8, verse 28."

"Y-Yes? That is..."

"Recite Romans Chapter 8, verse 28."

"T-That is, well..."

The religious man—no, the swindler—flustered and hurriedly flipped through the Bible.

The me in the flashback let out a sigh of disgust at that unsightly display and criticized him harshly.

"If you’re going to pull a scam, you should at least know your stuff. Or better yet, just claim that Jesus has returned and invent a new doctrine yourself."

"...."

"With a brain that doesn’t even work that much, how dare you pretend to be a pastor. And the bastards who fell for it are something else too. Brainless shits who surrender their sense of self are everywhere."

"This bastard dares to insult the Pastor!"

Unable to tolerate my sharp tongue, one of the group rushed at me.

In his hand, he held a kitchen knife with all its teeth chipped, completely wrapped and secured with bandages.

The me in the flashback stared blankly at the vagrant, then took the cigarette out of my mouth.

Chiirik!

Before the vagrant could stab with the kitchen knife, I pressed the cigarette in my hand against his forehead.

When the vagrant screamed at the unexpected counterattack, the me in the flashback grabbed his wrist.

On the grabbed wrist was the kitchen knife secured by being wrapped in bandages.

Kwak! I forcefully twisted that wrist and plunged the kitchen knife into his chin.

I plunged it so hard that even the handle of the kitchen knife wasn’t visible, it was that deep.

At this rate, it must have penetrated his brain.

Kuuung!

The vagrant, after taking a few steps, collapsed to the ground.

Even in a situation where a person’s life was snuffed out in an instant, the swindler shouted without caring.

"He is a heretic! Divine punishment upon him!"

At the swindler’s shout, the vagrants swarmed in.

Of course.

"Keu, keuoooeok..."

"M-My arm... My arm..."

Since I was already sick and tired of fighting one-against-many, subduing the vagrants was not difficult.

Thus, only the swindler holding the Bible was left standing alone.

I made a gesture of lightly loosening my neck and took steps toward the swindler.

Perhaps the swindler was only smooth-tongued, as he didn’t even put up a proper resistance.

"Y-You Satan bastard! Get back! I said get back!"

"In times like this, you should call me a viper bastard rather than Satan. You have no idea how much God and Jesus detest vipers."

The funny thing was that the swindler was shouting while holding a crucifix.

It seemed he had grown his power by gathering brainless people while pretending to be a real religious figure.

The world had ended, and this kind of crowd existed even before the world ended, so it wasn’t strange.

Ppagak!

"Aaack!"

Perhaps the me in the flashback found the swindler’s behavior annoying, as I kicked his shin hard.

The swindler fell to his knees with the sound of his shinbone breaking.

"Before I send you to God, let me ask you a few things. You said you came down from Daejeon earlier, right? Are the survivors gathered in Daejeon?"

"Uuuu..."

Kkwaak!

"Answer me."

"Aaaack! Yes, yes! The survivors gathered in Daejeon...!"

As I stomped on his broken shin, the swindler answered hurriedly.

Hearing that answer, I recalled the distance between Daegu and Daejeon.

If you took a train, it wasn’t that far, but since taking a train was impossible in this kind of situation.You are reading on novelрing.com, the official source.

It was better to walk directly or go by car.

"Why Daejeon? There should be Seoul too."

"S-Seoul was... hit by a nuke..."

"...What? A nuke? What do you mean by that?"

The capital, Seoul, was hit by a nuclear attack. I couldn’t easily believe this crazy story.

But the swindler seemed serious, as he spat out words in a trembling voice.

"I-It’s true! Because some monster appeared in Seoul, they had no choice but to fire a nuke...!"

"A monster?"

"I-I heard it was a monster made of human corpses...! T-That’s why they evacuated to Daejeon...!"

"...."

The me in the flashback took my foot off his shin.

Only then did the swindler let out a sigh of relief, thinking he had survived.

"Then is there a military in Daejeon too?"

"T-There were many people with guns, but it wasn’t the military...!"

"So it’s not a military, but warlords."

Indeed, since the survivors were extremely few, there was no way there would be a proper commander.

If the military had been even slightly intact, the world wouldn’t have turned into such a mess.

There were even circumstances where, right before the world was destroyed, the leaders of powerful nations went ’whatever’ and fired nukes indiscriminately.

There was no way the military would run properly, so it was best to fold my expectations.

"T-Then, are you sparing..."

"Before that, give me your book."

Just as the swindler was getting hopeful, I snatched his Bible.

Funnily enough, unlike his act of pretending to be a pastor, the Bible was truly clean.

There were no traces of being handled, and no yellowed parts could be found.

He had carried it around purely to put on an act.

"You kept it clean."

"T-Thank you...!"

"You didn’t even have any traces of properly opening it, yet you did a fine job pretending to be a pastor."

Udeuk!

Saying so, I broke the swindler’s neck with the Bible.

Slightly lifting the head of the swindler lying on the floor, I wedged the Bible against his neck and snapped it just like that.

The swindler, whose neck bone was cleanly broken, died on the spot without even leaving a proper last will.

Tadadak! Tadak!

The me in the flashback immediately burned the swindler’s Bible. As if I didn’t even want to touch it.

Subsequently, just as I was about to head back toward the chair, I muttered softly.

"Daejeon... But Jesus is also indifferent. Why did He have to be born back then instead of now? Ah, was that era even more of a mess than now?"

Ending with words that showed a lot of contemplation in many ways.

Syararak—

The space gradually began to transform back into the original place.

Just before it cleared, the last thing I saw was one thing.

Seueuk—

It was me, carefully picking up the Bible I had placed on the chair.

"...."

The flashback completely cleared, and the elegantly standing World Tree filled my vision.

I carefully touched the trunk of the World Tree and quietly gathered my mana.

Jjiirik!

Not long after I gathered my mana, the space next to me tore open.

Soon, the one who revealed herself was Cheongseol’s mother, Nidhogg.

"Keureureuk."

Nidhogg looked at me and made an ’Is it you again?’ expression.

But soon, as if giving me a pass, she gestured for me to enter.

"I’m sorry for always causing you trouble."

"Keureuk."

’If you’re sorry, treat our child well.’ That’s what it sounded like.

At any rate, with Nidhogg’s help, I quickly arrived at my house.

Chalssak! Chalssak!

"Ack! Ack! Why, why are you hitting me?!"

"...."

Chalssak!

"Sorry! I’m sorry! I should have come back sooner!"

I got slapped on the back several times by Bbareumbo.

Meanwhile, at that time, the cornfield.

Having sent off his guest after a long time, Gerdi was leisurely resting at home.

But that rest was brief, as another guest soon arrived.

"So... you want me to tell you where the person who visited earlier went. Is that it?"

"That is correct."

But that was not a guest.

"Why should I tell that to the bastard who backstabbed us?"

It was closer to an uninvited guest.