I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 765

As soon as the arrow pierced the World Tree, the monster’s movements stopped. The same went for the tentacles covering my body.

I was no fool to miss this opportunity. I immediately shouted to the group.

"Everyone, attack that World Tree! That is the main body!"

The group also hurriedly tore off the tentacles clinging to their bodies.

Soon, they used every means they had to attack the World Tree.

"Female! Surely you aren’t hesitating just because it’s a World Tree!"

"A bad tree is not a tree!"

Perhaps because her own life was in danger.

The madness Elia usually showed was nowhere to be seen, and she was busy attacking the World Tree.

After quickly reorganizing myself, I glanced at the frozen monster and rushed toward the World Tree.

"Hup!"

Seogeok!

The trunk of the World Tree was severed by the Sword of the Heavenly Demon.

Although my aura had decreased compared to before due to having a large amount of mana absorbed, it wasn’t to the point where I couldn’t cut down the World Tree.

Kugugugu—

The World Tree fell, and the wires connected to it were also severed.

At the same time, the monster, which had been moving intermittently like it was lagging, also collapsed to the floor.

Targeting the World Tree had been a desperate gamble, but fortunately, it had hit the mark perfectly.

"Whew..."

I let out a deep sigh and slumped onto the floor.

The others also slumped onto the floor, exhausted.

Although we hadn’t fought a frantic battle like with the insects outside, it was a fight that inevitably drained our energy.

Not only was the monster’s physical tier insane, but it also adapted in real-time, and its regeneration was off the charts.

On top of that, it had even absorbed our mana to grow its own strength, making it a truly troublesome opponent.

If it weren’t for the clear weakness of the World Tree, wouldn’t we have been helplessly used for reproduction?

’I really don’t know what they created.’

I wiped my face with my hands and carefully examined the fallen World Tree.

The hole in the very center from the arrow, and the traces of being burned here and there by magic.

Perhaps because it was a World Tree, fire magic barely worked on it, so the flames didn’t even spread elsewhere.

’More than that, I wonder if it really is a World Tree.’

Just in case, I placed my hand on the World Tree lying on the floor.

I wondered if I could project the Chief God’s past, but unfortunately, there was no particular reaction.

The stump connected to the roots was the same. No notable change occurred.

Was it only possible with a World Tree that the Chief God’s hand had directly touched, or was there some other condition?

’Still, I can use an entire World Tree as a material.’

I seemed to have gained quite a lot of harvest from this journey.

The problem was how to move it, but since I had the Subspace Backpack, it should be possible somehow.

"If worst comes to worst, I’ll load it onto Cain’s horse."

[Did you really have to say that out loud?]

"Since you weren’t of much help in this fight, you should at least do that."

[Ugh...]

Cain couldn’t argue back either, so he reluctantly agreed.

Cain hadn’t made much of an impact in this battle, as he failed to break free from the monster’s checks.

One might say he could have just ridden his horse, but even the horse’s feet got tied up, making things difficult.

’Well, thanks to that, Lackey and Elia were relatively safe.’

The most effective attack against the monster was physical, not magical.

That was why it mainly checked Cain, who used the coffin flail.

Of course, it adapted to even that physical impact immediately, making it hopeless, but let’s pass over that.

"More than that, I’m contemplating what to do with this guy..."

I stared at the monster, which had completely stopped after its power (?) was cut off from the World Tree.

An entity whose skin, a proper blend of brown and black, was glossy, and whose face was bizarrely shaped.

I wondered what kind of experiment had been conducted to birth such an entity, but disposal was more urgent.

"It’s better to pull out the World Tree’s roots and burn them."

"That’s good too, but how about cutting the wires connected to the World Tree first?"

Both Lackey and Elia brought up reasonable opinions.

I decided to follow Elia’s opinion first.

Just as she said, I completely removed all the wires connected to the World Tree.

Although the trunk was completely logged, just in case.

ㄴAllfather) If it isn’t rude, would it be possible to give that corpse to me...?The source of this chapter is novelрing.com.

"Hmm..."

ㄴAllfather) Just once... I beg of you just once...! I will get down on my knees and beg!

While I was contemplating the disposal, Allfather begged earnestly.

Honestly, I could hand it over to him, but I felt a bit uneasy.

If by some chance this guy acted autonomously, it would be like releasing a horrific monster to the outside world.

’Besides, it’s questionable whether it’s truly dead.’

Therefore, I rejected Allfather’s request.

I was also curious about its identity, but secure disposal was the priority.

’How can I dispose of it cleanly?’

This was a creature that should not exist in this world.

So shouldn’t I melt it down using fire, acid, lava, or whatever?

If worst came to worst, I could throw it into the Artificial Sun located in the Ash Zone.

"Huh?"

It was while I was examining the completely stopped monster.

I discovered a peculiar point on its hand.

It was a human fingerprint. Surprisingly, the fingerprint was distinct.

’It has fingerprints even after evolving like this?’

Why did it leave behind fingerprints of all things? Something was strange.

I pondered and glanced toward the World Tree.

The group was contemplating how to move the severed World Tree.

Jiljiljil—

"Hm? Master? Where are you going?"

"I have something to check."

I dragged the monster along as I headed somewhere.

Toward the stump where the roots were, rather than the World Tree’s trunk.

Soon, I placed the hand of the monster I was holding close to the stump.

Syaaaa—

Then, an amazing thing happened.

The monster’s body, along with the World Tree’s stump, slowly began to scatter into particles of light.

Not just these two. The World Tree that had fallen on the floor also decomposed into white particles and vanished.

Paat!

A moment later, a burst of light erupted instantaneously, forcing me to squeeze my eyes shut.

I was startled, but since it wasn’t light on the level of a flashbang, I was able to open my eyes quickly.

"This place is..."

Upon opening my eyes, what I saw was a clean laboratory, unlike before.

We had been fighting fiercely with a monster just a moment ago, but now there was no trace of that at all.

The World Tree I had logged was no different. The moment I saw it standing upright again, I realized.

[It seems the past has been projected.]

"Is this also Grylls-nim’s past?"

"No. That’s not it."

It was of a different nature. For some reason, I had such an intuition.

"Master. Look over there."

It was while we were looking around the inside of the laboratory. Lackey pointed somewhere.

The moment I turned my head in the direction he pointed, I couldn’t help but flinch.

That was because the monster we had fought a fierce battle with was lying there.

If there was a difference, it was that it had completely stopped moving, like a puppet with its strings cut.

Along with this, its size was considerably smaller, and its gloss was gone.

It looked almost like an ’incomplete product.’

"Director. Are you really going to proceed?"

Just then, an unfamiliar man’s voice reached my ears.

Turning my head in that direction, I could see people gathered who hadn’t been there just a moment ago.

"I have already made my decision. This project is our last."

A middle-aged man with a beard connected to his sideburns spoke in a solemn voice.

However, the appearance of the middle-aged man, as well as the people standing in front of him, was a bit strange.

They had features that seemed to be a blend of insects or bugs.

They hadn’t completely deviated from human form, but insect characteristics were clearly evident.

"We are an important process of the project pursued by Aragon-nim. Unless we can house a sound mind in a powerful body, our existence has no meaning."

"But even now is enough! Alpha-nim created the Beastfolk, who embody the strength of animals, and we have also utilized our own strengths!"Read this novel at nove​lping.com for the best experience.

"But we failed to house the mind in the body. Alpha also rejected that project."

A project to house a sound mind in a sound body.

Lucas was someone who immediately came to mind.

Although he referred to himself as an AI, it wasn’t much different.

’Even looking at Cain, he maintains his memories from his past life, so why?’

Why on earth were they trying to conduct such experiments?

"Creating the body alone is enough for us, Director. If the mind is assisted by an AI..."

Right on cue, a person harboring the exact same question as me raised their hand and spoke.

But did that displease the director?

Kwajik!

A long tentacle shot out from the director’s hand and pierced the researcher’s chest.

What was even more hideous was that a heart was dangling at the end of the tentacle, as if harvesting fruit.

"Kkeuueu..."

"There is still someone talking such nonsense. I will personally ask Alund-nim to transfer your head as well."

Cheolpeok!

Answering thus, the director threw the researcher toward the World Tree.

Then, surprisingly, the World Tree extended its branches and buried the corpse in the ground.

It buried it very excitedly, as if shouting, ’Yahoo! Fertilizer! Jackpot!’

"Our ultimate goal is the complete resurrection of the Sovereign. Will you tarnish the Sovereign’s existence with mere AI?"

"...."

"I still remember. The order that the Sovereign re-established. Although he was sufficient on his own, he sacrificed himself to give us a warm world. But the Sovereign turned his back on the world and left for our sake. To give us the remaining world."

Having said that, the director continued in a voice tinged with madness.

"Do you think that is right in a parent-child relationship? No! At the very least, shouldn’t we show him what kind of world we cultivated and what kind of future we unfolded!"

[It is a misguided faith.]

ㄴDon’t Abandon the Hero) How tragic.

ㄴHeavenly Demon) I wonder if the parent would have wanted that.

People chimed in with a word or two. Most of it was pity and lamentation.

"...Or so Aragon-nim said."

This bastard Aragon brainwashed them like that. A hollow laugh almost escaped me.

Hearing it, he felt like a child throwing a tantrum because he didn’t want to leave his parents’ side.

Aragon had simply scaled it up, but it wasn’t much different.

"Therefore, our project must be completed to the end. Understood?"

"...Yes!"

The researchers’ loyalty was no different.

They didn’t stop the project, even to the point of sacrificing their own bodies.

"Who is the test subject this time?"

"Combined with the genes of the Hercules beetle..."

The problem was that the project literally proceeded by grinding people down.

This could be seen as the number of researchers gradually decreased noticeably, until eventually, only the director was left.

"...."

The director stared blankly at the test subject, the monster we had fought a fierce battle with.

The monster, just like when we fought it, had a glossy sheen and a rugged build.

Although its appearance was almost close, it was still slumped like a puppet with its strings cut.

"...It is the final experiment."

The director muttered bitterly. I didn’t know if it was filled with regret or some other emotion.

I was even confused whether the direction of that regret was about the failure of the experiment, or if it was close to liberation.

Soon, just as the director stood up as if having made a decision—

"How did the experiment go?"

A man’s voice, which I had never heard before, pierced my ears.

A solemn yet tickling male voice.

At this, not only the director but also I, who was watching, turned my head.

"...Huh?"

"That person is..."

I couldn’t help but be taken aback by the sudden appearance of the man.

Golden hair that shone brilliantly, as if embodying the sun itself.

Blue eyes that were deep and intelligent like a lake.

"Aragon-nim?"

The God of Magic, Aragon, revealed himself before the director.