I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 77

Now that I had neatly maintained Bbareumbo’s claws, I looked for Wonmo.

But seeing him sound asleep, I felt guilty about waking him up.

Besides, he was still a cub, so there was probably no need to groom his claws yet.

’Now that I’ve done everything I needed to...’

I checked the time. It was currently 4:00 PM.

I’d need to eat dinner soon. Until then, reading Sword Matstar’s posts thoroughly should do.

After reading carefully and practicing a bit, it would be dinnertime.

’When am I gonna improve my fundamentals?’

I realized it acutely during the fight with the Guardian. I was surviving purely on gear carried by stats/items.

If not for the Sword of the Heavenly Demon, piercing the Guardian’s Core would’ve been impossible.

I wasn’t some manga swordsman; bare-handed, I couldn’t even slice stone.

But this was fantasy. Wouldn’t some people be able to slice stone bare-handed even without mana?

Feeling suddenly curious, I wrote a post in the Gallery.

Title: Can you slice stone with a sword without mana?

Wild Grylls

Usually, having mana makes your body stronger, right?

Does that mean if you have no mana, everyone is no different from an ordinary person?

An ordinary person can’t cut stone or slice iron with a sword, right?

└ Heavenly Demon: It varies depending on the situation. If the dantian is completely ruined, one is no different from an ordinary person. But as long as the dantian remains intact, one can exert great strength even in daily life.

└ Wild Grylls: But you need proper techniques for that, right?

└ Heavenly Demon: Of course. Strength lacking technique is bound to scatter. Technique is what helps concentrate strength into a single point.

└ Wild Grylls: Then does that mean you can do it, Heavenly Demon-nim?

└ Heavenly Demon: Though I am still lacking, I can cut an opponent with pure Thought Transmission. This is called the Mind Sword.

└ Sword Matstar: Ignore that martial boomer’s last comment. Anyway, for those above a certain skill level, even their bare body is a deadly weapon in itself, so it’s possible.

└ Wild Grylls: What’s the criteria for ’a certain skill level’?

└ Sword Matstar: The realm of being able to use Aura Blade unconsciously? A realm where mana affects the physical body so much that aging slows down.

└ Wild Grylls: Don’t tell me that’s a Sword Master?

└ Sword Matstar: Mass-produced Sword Masters excluded.

└ What do you mean mass-produced lol A Sword Master is a Sword Master lol

└ This is all because of Ash. Because of this bastard, other Sword Masters get flayed for being mass-produced lol

└ A person responsible for a nation’s military power, mass-produced lol

└ If they were mass-produced, every tom, dick, and harry would be churning them out;;;

└ Wild Grylls: Is it impossible just by learning fundamentals?

└ Heavenly Demon: Considering your talent, it is not impossible. However, due to the absence of a master to guide you, it will likely take time.

└ Sword Matstar: Still, if you keep reading my posts steadily, you’ll be able to master the fundamentals. I can guarantee this.

└ Wild Grylls: So in short, rapid growth in a short period is impossible.

└ Heavenly Demon: It is not impossible. A martial artist grows stronger the more they fight. Since you are stranded in a deadly land, as long as you survive crises, you will reach it quickly.

└ Sword Matstar: Heavenly Demon-nim, that sounds like telling him to go die?;;

└ Heavenly Demon: Phrasing makes all the difference. This girl has no doubt that you will survive until the very end.

└ Wild Grylls: Er... it sounds like encouragement, so thanks anyway.

└ Don’t Abandon the Hero: There’s another way to get strong fast!

└ Wild Grylls: What is it?

└ Don’t Abandon the Hero: Faith in the Goddess! Aris-nim, Goddess of War and Wisdom!

└ Wild Grylls: I hate gods though.

└ Don’t Abandon the Hero: What?! What kind of blasphemy is that! Why do you dislike her?!

└ Wild Grylls: I was living just fine when my parents died in an accident, and after grinding desperately to live, I got dumped into the Forest of the Four Seasons. Of course I wanna curse them.

└ Man, you go ahead and blaspheme all you want;;

└ Poor guy is dying inside. How does someone have a life like that lol

└ Orange Badge, are you a Paladin by any chance?

└ Don’t Abandon the Hero: Similar! Though I was expelled due to a brief misunderstanding!

Gods. Hearing Orange Badge’s words, I fell into deep thought.

I didn’t follow any specific religion. But that didn’t make me a hardline atheist either.

Even before being dropped out of nowhere into the Forest of the Four Seasons, I tended to believe in the existence of gods.

That way, I could hurl profanities at them to my heart’s content.

Wouldn’t it be better to hate a god than to hate a human being?

If they struck me down with divine punishment just for cursing them? I would’ve cursed them even harder for being a petty-minded prick.

’People even curse the King behind closed doors.’

Believing in God just to hate God. Quite an ironic statement.

Still, thanks to that mindset, I was doggedly clinging to life, so it wasn’t bad.

’For now, is training the only answer?’

It felt like my mana was steadily growing, but I couldn’t even grasp the feeling of Aura Blade.

If anything, having too much mana made it harder to control.

This was probably because I originated from Earth. Since my origin was different, shouldn’t my training method be different too?

Sensing mana in the first place was already close to a miracle.

’...It’s gonna take a long time.’

To escape the Forest of the Four Seasons, I had to become strong.

But to become that strong, I needed to at least know how to use Aura Blade.

And finally, learning to use Aura Blade could take a very long time.

Therefore, I had to keep long-term survival in the Forest of the Four Seasons in mind.

’As long as I can escape eventually.’

With that resolve, I closed the Gallery.

Orange Badge seemed to be saying this and that to me, but I lightly ignored her.This story is hosted at novelping(.)com.

Blasphemy is wrong, no matter how hard life gets you shouldn’t curse God, and so forth.

Seeing as she seemed to be a devout believer, I wondered if I had brought up a sensitive topic for no reason.

’It’s not like God feeds me or anything.’

Besides, in this world, there are far more things to worry about than gods.

Ah. Not that I was belittling religious people or anything.

I didn’t think anyone was as amazing as a truly devout believer.

They were people who embodied the essence of self-sacrifice; why would I mock them?

’It’s not that I hate people.’

My parents were good people, and the folks helping me out were all good people too.

Sure, there were occasional assholes, but I wasn’t the type to take it lying down.

’Looking at it this way, the Gallery is fascinating too.’

I knew all too well how hideous people could act under the shade of anonymity.

Because where I lived, people could be killed by pens just as easily as weapons.

In that light, even though the Gallery swarmed with desires, personal attacks were rare.

Occasionally some weird Dwarf auntie pops up, but other races just pass it by. Only Dwarves react.

The same went for Beastfolk. With extreme preferences like that, it was just a matter of taste.

’I wanna go home.’

I glanced at the cave wall.

Tomorrow would be Day 10 already. It didn’t feel like I had done much, yet time flew by.

The areas I explored were few, and beasts attacked from time to time, giving me a headache.

’Where should I go tomorrow?’

I turned my gaze sideways. Next to me was a crude map drawn on a large sheet of white paper.

The river that served as my lifeline, the lakeside connected to it, the Mature Mandrake colony, the Mushroom Cave, the Orichalcum Cave, and so on.

Looking at it like this, I seemed to have covered a fair amount of ground. Though one was discovered by chance while searching for runaway Wonmo.

’Even if I go down the river it’s just the lake, so setting a starting point is better.’

I pondered while looking at the map. It was time to plan and explore carefully.

If I had to stay long-term, it was better to explore thoroughly.

Setting up signposts along the way to prevent getting lost would be wise too.

Moving around the lake was impossible. If a giant crab popped out, I’d be dead.

’Or should I go up the river?’

Not a bad choice. A river doesn’t necessarily have to be a single stream.

Even if it’s upstream, it might branch off into two or multiple forks midway.

’It’d be good to check what’s at the end of each river branch.’

Downriver was the lake, but who knew what lay upriver?

Rather than wandering aimlessly, locking down a clear route would be better.

After roughing out tomorrow’s plan, I checked the time.

It was already close to 5:00 PM.

It seemed like a good time to head up to the river and check if any fish were caught.

"I’ll be back in a bit."

"...."

Speaking to Bbareumbo, I stepped outside the cave.

Setting up the iron fence just in case was a bonus.

Armed up, I headed toward the river.

Since an otter pack had appeared just this afternoon, I needed to stay alert.

Chalseok! Chalseok!

"What? Three of them?"

Checking the fish trap, there were a whopping three fish caught inside.

One golden fish, two red fish.

I wondered how this was even possible in such a short amount of time.

’Good things are good.’

The more food, the better. Humming a tune, I hauled up the fish trap.

As I pulled it up, I scanned the surroundings in case something tried to ambush me.

It hadn’t been long since the otter pack died, so something might have been drawn by the scent of blood.

’Let’s run back quickly.’

After securing the trap, I dashed back to the cave.

Terrified someone might be chasing me from behind, I even used mana.

Returning inside, I dumped the fish into the iron bucket.

With three whole fish, the bucket was completely full.

’I can eat one tomorrow morning.’

If only every day was like this... wait, no. What do you mean "every day like this"?

Escaping ASAP is top priority; let’s not get weird thoughts. I shook my head vigorously.

’Until I escape, that is.’

Yeah. That mindset suited me better.

I went back up to the river to set the trap again, then gradually began preparing dinner.

Wonmo, who was napping, seemed to realize dinnertime was approaching and slunk out.

Coming over with sleepy eyes was so adorable. Every time I saw it, my heart felt healed.

Chiiiiik!

I gave one prepped fish to Wonmo, and cooked the other as I usually did.

Lightly seasoning it with salt, a delicious fish dish was complete!

A flavor I never tired of, no matter how much I ate. It felt like eating top-grade beef rather than fish.

’Why is it better than tiger meat?’

Maybe it was because the tiger meat was smoked.You are reading on novelping . com, the official source.

Having finished dinner, I transitioned into practicing my Mental Cultivation Method.

I didn’t forget to take the medicine Allfather gave me.

"Coos~ Wonmo-ya, try to catch this."

"Kyuuu! Kyu!"

After everything was done, I played with Wonmo.

Basically dangling a cloth tied to a stick and waving it around.

I saw YouTube cat owners playing with their cats like this sometimes.

Wonmo wasn’t a cat, but I heard this could hone hunting skills to some extent.

Kung!

"Kyua!"

"Ack!"

Well, even if accidents happened where we crashed into each other, it was bearable.

He was still a small cub after all. Even if he grew larger than when I first saw him, a cub was a cub.

"Kyuuu! Kyu!"

"Heeheehee."

Hugging Wonmo tight, I nuzzled him before gently letting go.

I think I understand why people raise pets.

Doing this made the loneliness feel just a little lighter.

’Wonder what the Gallery is up to.’

Outside was growing dark. I logged into the Gallery.

As always, the Gallery was overflowing with all kinds of shitposts.

A place smelling more like human warmth than anywhere else.

Even if there were occasionally weirdos, I passed them over.

’What are these people doing in reality?’

It was a curious thought. Especially the fixed handles who had befriended me.

Almost all of them were far from ’ordinary’.

Even Heavenly Demon, who was mocked as a martial boomer, seemed to me like a mature elder, someone of high stature.

’They’re good people.’

Of course, I was just curious; I had no intention of digging deep.

Just them helping me out was already a massive favor.

Title: Day 9 complete!

Wild Grylls

(Photo of the campfire)

End of an exceptionally tough Day 9! Day 10 begins tomorrow!

See you tomorrow!

└ Heavenly Demon: Rest comfortably. This girl is always cheering for you.

└ Sword Matstar: You went through an exceptionally hard time today, hang in there.

└ Starlight Lady: Fighting! I pray you don’t break my record!

└ Looks like he’s gonna pass it no matter how you look at it?

└ Counting is meaningless. He won’t escape anyway lol

└ Starlight Lady: You people are absolute trash ^^

└ Let’s Grow Trees: Thank you for giving me the core today! Thanks to you, work got much easier!

└ Wild Grylls: Glad to hear it got easier. I’m also using the gift you gave me well, Let’s Grow Trees-nim.

└ Let’s Grow Trees: How is it? The pride of Alfheim!

└ Wild Grylls: Are all elves smokers by any chance?

└ Let’s Grow Trees: Ah. Right.

└ Lmao xxxxx

└ What do you mean ’Ah, right’ lmao

└ Gave him cigars and forgot about it lmao

└ Knife-ear. Do you smoke too?

└ Let’s Grow Trees: No! I use it as incense.

└ That’s weird in its own way;;

└ Who uses cigars as incense?

Let’s Grow Trees was a strange person too.

What on earth was he doing with the core to need it so much?

Still, from my perspective, I disposed of a white elephant, so it was a good trade.

’Tomorrow, let’s head upriver.’

There was still time before sleeping. In the meantime, I practiced my Mental Cultivation Art.

Heavenly Demon said she wanted to teach me the next formula, but I needed to train the basics first.

I didn’t know the standard for those basics, but she explained it would take at least two weeks.

’I can eat the Inner Core starting then.’

About four days remained. I quietly closed my eyes and entered Internal Energy Regulation.

I could vividly feel the mana circulating inside my body.

Strangely, as days went by, the amount of mana grew larger and the circulation speed seemed faster.

’Is it because of the fish?’

Eating fish containing Inner Cores every day—no, every meal—might be the reason.

Still, control was possible. If control was impossible, my body would have exploded long ago.

Undisturbed by my surroundings, little by little, very gradually, I sank into concentration.

And the next day.

Swaaaaaaa!!

"Ah, damn it."

I spat out a curse at the pouring torrential rain.