I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 761

While surviving in the Forest of the Four Seasons, I had encountered numerous life forms.

Among them, there were many creatures capable of inducing disgust, and bugs were near the top of that list.

Even if bugs didn’t cause any particular harm, just looking at them made a feeling of disgust grow deep within one’s heart.

Since the majority agreed on the disgusting part, it was also frequently used as a derogatory expression.

Furthermore, because there are so many things that cause harm to humans, it was common for even people who used to like them to get fed up and feel disgusted after being affected.

This was because when the size of the bug grew... the disgust usually increased proportionally.

Kkumulkkumulkkumul-

And as of today, I realized once again just how atrocious maggots could be.

I had rarely seen maggots until now, but I knew they were disgusting.

Realizing that not only the apples but the entire tree was filled with maggots, I quickly took action.

"F-fire! Burn it quickly!"

That was something that should not exist in this world.

If it were a cockroach, I could at least pass it off with a "Whew, holy shit, that scared me."

But a tree swarming with maggots was absolutely something that should not exist in this world.

Given the nature of maggots, the fact that it ended up like that meant its insides had been thoroughly eaten away.

The fact that it possessed mimicry abilities, fitting for the Forest of the Four Seasons, was a bonus. Therefore, that had to be eliminated unconditionally to prevent any future trouble.

Hwareureuk!

The fire, thoroughly fueled by oil, began to burn down the entire maggot tree.

Along with the smell of burning protein, the tree convulsed violently.

I felt an inexplicable sense of anxiety from that convulsion.

As explained earlier, maggots are bugs that multiply by eating away at the flesh of a host.

I didn’t know how on earth they mimicked a tree, but from their perspective, we would be a fresh, delicious prey and a nesting ground.

"Lackey. Just in case, activate the shield."

"Understood."

"Elia, can you wrap the shield in fire or lightning? So it reacts immediately like a barrier if they approach."

"That’s easy. Lackey-ssi, would you tell me the necessary formula?"

Following my instructions, the joint work of the two mages unfolded.

First, Lackey deployed the shield, and Elia’s fiery lightning covered its surface.

Peok!

Immediately after, the maggot tree, which seemed like it would burn endlessly, exploded, splattering its debris in all directions.

Even that quickly died down due to the fire and lightning on the shield’s surface, but I saw it clearly.

The maggots struggling desperately to pierce the shield and burrow into us.

Although they were maggots not even 1 cm in size, it was bizarre enough that their struggles were clearly visible.

Hwareureuk!

Since there were so many maggots, it took a long time for them to burn.

Were they competing with quantity over quality?

Since we used so much oil, I was worried the flames might spread further, but honestly, as long as we could get rid of the maggots, who cared if the fire spread?

If nothing else, this hellish bug forest had to be completely burned down for other regions to be safe.

’I’m really glad my home has distinct four seasons.’

If the weather were warm all year round, bugs would have infested constantly.

Even in places not far from my house, don’t large bugs appear?

I looked around until all the maggots clinging to the shield were burned.

I could see the burning maggots struggling to survive somehow, but they were all annihilated.

Soon, with acrid smoke and the smell of burning flesh, the maggots were completely incinerated.

Just in case, I didn’t deactivate the deployed shield and checked meticulously.

"······They seem to be all gone now, right?"

[It appears so.]

I let out a sigh and said we should move on.

Other regions at least had places to rest, but here, even ordinary trees were extraordinary.

’What on earth happened to the lion? Was it really eaten?’

I was curious about the lion’s whereabouts, but I also wondered why not even a speck of other animals could be seen.

If there were even small animals, I would have just passed it off.

But since it was entirely a bug field, doubts naturally arose.

’Even for maggots, size isn’t the important thing. The key is whether they have other hidden abilities.’

Considering their reproductive power, it wasn’t incomprehensible.

The problem was by what process the bugs rose to the top of the food chain,

as they wouldn’t do this simply because the weather got humid and mana became abundant.

’If that were the case, the bugs near my house would have been truly threatening.’

There is something in this region.

The Artificial Sun that created the Ash Zone.

The shipwreck that crashed in the Land of Water.

Just like those, there is a strong possibility that a ruin that completely altered the environment itself remains.

It was a kind of big data obtained from exploring so far, and I could guarantee there would be something similar here.

Although I didn’t know the exact location, we would be able to find it if we searched.

’For now, finding a place to rest is the priority. No, it’s better to make one.’

I had already realized long ago that there was no space to rest in this region.

If so, rather than looking for a place to rest, it was better to make one directly.Find the original chapter at nove⁠lping.com.

Conveniently, lunchtime was also gradually approaching, so I planned to prepare in advance.

"First, since we don’t know what might pop out from the ground, I think we should deploy the shield a bit deeply."

"Then the consumption of internal energy will be severe, Master."

"We can take turns with Elia. Elia’s issue right now is her physical stamina, not her mana. If worst comes to worst, I’ll give her an Inner Core."

ㄴStarlight Lady) Using an Inner Core as a substitute for a mana potion—just hearing it sounds absurd.

ㄴPassing Dwarf) It’s really no different from sharpening a sword with gold;;

ㄴPraise the Sun) As expected, you are richer than me.

What’s the point of being rich? I can’t even use it.

I chuckled at Praise the Sun’s half-admiring remark and prepared the resting space.

Tiing! Ting!

It was not long after the shield was deployed.

I had doubts, but even though we deployed the shield, there were many bugs rushing at us.

The funny thing was that other bugs frequently attacked to eat those bugs. It was like witnessing the food chain among the bugs themselves.

"Lackey. Is it bearable?"

"It is still bearable."

We took a sufficient rest while eating the food prepared in advance.

Fortunately, I had brought a large amount of beef jerky so it would be easy to eat right away, just in case.

If we had brought other food ingredients or planned to procure them locally, it would have been a headache.

"I told you before, but bugs are also delicious if you roast them!"

"No thanks."

"Some scholar said that bugs could be the food of the future. It wouldn’t be bad to get used to it in advance."

"If the food situation gets so bad that we have to eat bugs, wouldn’t the world have ended by then?"

"For once, Master is making a rational point."

Well, even in a ruined world, people would rather hunt or gather than eat bugs.

The problem is that in the Republic of Korea, hunting is limited to wild boars, water deer, and pheasants at best.

Especially since water deer have a terribly strong gamey smell, they aren’t very good. The rest are just so-so.

[But it feels like the bugs have become more numerous since a while ago.]

Cain spoke as he looked around the shield.

Just as he said, it felt like the frequency of the bugs appearing was much higher than before.

The bugs attacking to eat me, and the bugs approaching to eat those bugs.

If it was just a cycle, that would be one thing, but there was something suspicious about it.

"Indeed. Why are so many coming?"

[Perhaps they are drawn to you because you harbor dense mana. Just like how bugs gather when you sweat.]

I nodded naturally at the highly plausible hypothesis.

Unlike ordinary animals, bugs often have exceptionally developed specific senses.

Like the mosquito earlier, if their sense for finding mana was developed, it wouldn’t be strange for them to rush in like this.

’Come to think of it, Yoo So-wol told me. That I frequently use mana without realizing it.’

The constitution where mana accumulates step by step every time I breathe is a bonus.

One might say I should just control it, but that is no different from being told to breathe artificially every single time.

Even if I breathed artificially, at some point I would forget and return to the beginning.

"You are quite popular with the bugs, Master."

"...The nuance is a bit strange?"

"I only spoke the truth."

"Whatever."

I easily ignored Lackey, who was spouting weird things.

Anyway, since we had a quick lunch, we finished preparing to move again.

Walking forward blindly was still a difficult task, but this was all we could do right now.

At least keeping our sense of direction thanks to the coordinate tracker was a consolation.

’I want to go to high ground, but there’s nothing in sight.’

It was dense trees in all directions, and even the bushes stretched as high as the trees.

Occasionally, giant grasshoppers or katydids would lie in wait in those bushes, which was no small headache.

We moved forward like that for quite a while, and just around the time the urge to burn down the entire forest intensified further.

"Ah."

"Hmm?"

As soon as we emerged from the lush bushes, we faced a vast clearing.

As if the dense forest from just moments ago was a lie, we encountered a desolate area.

Since this wasn’t the first or second time, I could have just passed it off, but the problem was the building sitting all alone in the middle.

It was a suspicious-looking building to anyone, appearing to hold the secrets of this region.

"But is it just me, or does it feel like something terrible will happen the moment we step foot in there?"

"Let’s throw a stone first, Master."

As Lackey said, we decided to throw a stone first.

Starting from a small pebble to a large rock nearby.

But no reaction occurred, which made it even more suspicious.

"Bugs should at least have trees... did something eat everything up?"This chapter was copied from nove⁠lping.com without permission.

"If it ate everything, shouldn’t this entire region be desolate?"

Just as Elia said. It didn’t make sense for only a specific area to be desolate.

In the end, it meant we had to check it ourselves, but I was reluctant to go directly.

Who knew what might pop out from the ground to just walk in normally? So, I thought of a method.

"Please wait here for a moment."

After telling the group to wait, I went back into the forest.

After about five minutes had passed.

"I’m back."

"...Master, there are strange things clinging to your body?"

"They are ingredients. Quickly kill them all and make them into meat patties."

After letting bugs cling to my entire body, I made meat patties out of them with the group.

Of course, we were absolutely not going to eat this.

No matter how hungry we were, we would rather get food from the Gallery than eat meat patties clumped with bugs.

’Even that Bear Grylls guy ate grubs raw; he didn’t clump them into meat patties.’

Anyway, after making the meat patties, I threw them right near the building.

The meat patties rolled along, hitting the ground.

Chwareureuk!

As soon as the meat patties stopped, green tentacles popped out from the ground and dragged them right in.

Seeing this, it was certain that something was beneath the ground.

The problem was how to pass through there, and there were two methods.

One was to wake up everything in the ground and break through head-on.

The other was to fly over or find a way to bypass it.

"Or, it wouldn’t be bad for Master to draw attention as bait while we find a way to crack it."

"Do you want to die...?"

Just as I was about to flare up at Lackey’s reckless suggestion, this thought occurred to me.

’Since I won’t die easily anyway, wouldn’t it be fine?’

Even if a problem arose, the group would rescue me.

"Hmm... maybe it’s not bad?"

[Have you finally lost your mind?]

"Even when fighting the Immortal Herb, I set myself on fire and went in, didn’t I?"

[....]

When I mentioned how we defeated the Immortal Herb, Cain was also left speechless.

Anyway, I just had to become the honey myself and wake up all the entities in the ground.

"Now, then, let’s go...."

Just as I took exactly one step.

Kugugugugu!

A vibration shaking the entire ground echoed, and then.

Kwagagagagwa!

A terrifying number of entities revealed themselves from beneath the ground.

Their overall appearance looked exactly like Venus flytraps, one of the famous carnivorous plants.

The problem was whether they had intelligence like the Immortal Herb, as they drooled while looking at us—specifically, at me.

Chiik!

Even when that drool touched the ground, a faint smoke rose up.

It must either possess immense heat or be highly acidic.

"Grrrr...."

"Uh... well...."

I stared at the front, which had intensely transformed into a forest of carnivorous plants, and then turned my head toward the group.

Perhaps they also felt anxious, as they were carefully taking steps backward.

"Lackey. Give me a bottle of oil."

"Understood."

After receiving the oil bottle from Lackey, I poured it.

Not toward the Venus flytraps, but over my own head.

Hwareureuk!

Finally, I even set my body on fire.

Since it was a flame heavily fueled by oil, it wouldn’t go out easily.

Following that, I gestured toward the carnivorous plants—no, the forest—and said confidently:

"Come on. Come on, you motherfuckers! Come over here! Come on!"

ㄴPassing Dwarf) He’s a real crazy bastard, lol.

ㄴAllfather) Rather, it wouldn’t be bad to consume a plant containing the energy of fire later to control fire.

ㄴHeavenly Demon) Then it will clash with cold energy and cause an adverse effect.

ㄴSword Matstar) Or mana might be amplified.

I could only watch the discussion of the fixed-nicks for a brief moment.

"Kyaaaak!"

One of the Venus flytraps opened its mouth wide and lunged at me.