I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 803

The road to Daejeon stretched out without any obstacles.

There were no notable threats, and aside from the hot weather, the journey was smooth.

That didn’t mean there were absolutely no problems, however—the issue was Wonmo’s stamina.

While humans possess strong endurance through bipedalism, specializing in long-distance travel, it was a completely different story for beasts like Wonmo.

They might be fine in battle, but they were utterly hopeless at long-distance travel like this, getting exhausted incredibly quickly.

One might ask if it wasn’t the same for Tyranno, Cheongseol, and Heukgu, but they were a bit different.

Tyranno, given his innate nature, had robust baseline stamina, while Cheongseol had no intention of ever coming down from my shoulder.

Heukgu’s essence was close to a shadow anyway, so if worst came to worst, he could just slip into the shadows.

And Largo... well, he was a Kirin, but maybe because he looked like a horse, his stamina was quite good.

"Therefore, I’m going to put Wonmo on the horse. Anyone object?"

"None."

"Because Wonmo is precious."

Thus, whenever Wonmo seemed tired, we marched by entrusting him to Cain.

Thanks to that, we were able to forge straight ahead without any delays.

"By the way, it’s truly fascinating every time I see it. To think that countless cars used to constantly pass over such a massive, sturdy road."

"Isn’t there something like this outside too? The roads should be well-paved."

"But there are no cars. If cars are ever invented, a highway will definitely be an absolute necessity."

"Wouldn’t it be faster for trains to be invented first?"

Well, with the future sight right there, it wouldn’t be strange no matter which one appeared first.

There were the extremely dexterous Dwarves, and from what I heard, Wydd also possessed highly advanced scientific capabilities.

In particular, I heard that Wydd had a strong tendency to focus on science because magic was significantly weak there.

’There’s a reason why democracy took root there, surprisingly.’

I heard they’re in an uproar over there right now because of the little hippo, but I don’t know if it was resolved well.

ㄴAllfather) If it wouldn’t be too rude, could you spare some parts?

ㄴStarlight Lady) Me too, if you don’t mind...

ㄴPassing Dwarf) Even if you look at that, reverse-engineering it will be impossible, you know?

ㄴSmart Demon) They’ll figure it out on their own.

Every now and then, I handed over car parts to the fixed-handle users I knew.

Just as the Dwarf said, even for a genius of the century, reverse-engineering a car engine would be impossible.

In the first place, technology is something that can only be achieved once a foundation is built up layer by layer.

Just because you suddenly throw an object at someone doesn’t mean they can manufacture it.

’Though it’s better than having nothing at all.’

What’s more important than an engine is books—in other words, knowledge.

I’ve been steadily lending chemistry-related books to Starlight Lady, so it should be about time for some results to show.

But even if she obtains knowledge related to chemistry, it isn’t perfect.

Because the various tools used for it have not yet appeared in the world.

Selena said she would be fine making them herself, but I wonder if that’s actually possible.

I could hand over books every time, but Selena also adamantly refuses them.

’Is it a small consolation that thermometers exist?’

For reference, that thermometer was also invented based on the one installed in Lucas’s forge.

If the thermometer hadn’t been invented, the Dwarves’ metallurgy wouldn’t have advanced by such a large margin.

While lost in all sorts of idle thoughts, I checked to see if there were any useful parts outside.

"Master. I shall show you something fun."

"Are you trying to cause trouble again?"

In the middle of our walk, Lackey showed me a car door he had ripped off himself and said something.

Just looking at his expression, it proudly screamed, ’I am about to cause trouble.’

Still, I was curious about what he was going to do, so I treated him with a ’let’s hear it first’ attitude.

"Wait. Master will probably like it too."

Lackey said so and climbed up the mountain slope right next to the highway.

The slope was quite steep, but he climbed up doggedly, completely unbothered.

Eventually, after reaching the top, he placed the car door on the ground and stepped onto it.

Chwaaaaak!

"Uho! Uhohohoho!"

Like a gorilla—ah, right, he was originally a gorilla.

Anyway, making strange noises, Lackey slid down rapidly as if riding a snowboard.

Since the slope was so steep, he accelerated rapidly and reached the bottom in an instant.

Hwiung!

Separate from being smart, did he not keep the law of inertia in mind at all?

True to his ape nature, his sense of balance was extremely outstanding, so he made it all the way to the bottom, but the moment he arrived, his body was launched into the air.

"Euaaaaah—"

The moment he was launched, Lackey fell right over the edge of the highway.

His screams gradually faded, followed shortly by a loud Thump!

I stared blankly over the edge of the highway where Lackey had fallen, then spoke to the group.

"Guys. You saw that, right? You must never copy that..."

"That looks fun!"

"Ppiiiik!"

"Ppaaek!"

No. I said don’t copy him.

I squeezed my eyes shut as the kids showed interest.

It felt like watching sons trying to copy an immature uncle.

To be honest, the thought ’that looks fun’ lingered in my mind too, but I held onto my sanity as much as possible.

"Whew. Kids. Even if it looks fun, you can’t do that. Got it?"

"Master! Save me!"Enjoying the story? Read on at NovelPing.

"See? He’s doing something weird again... Wait a minute."

Why did Lackey suddenly ask to be saved?

He wasn’t the type to break his body from just that.

Even if he landed poorly and put himself in danger, he would have just asked for help.

Seeing him urgently pleading for his life, there was a high probability that he had gotten caught up in something truly dangerous.

’What’s going on?’

The rest of the group must have realized the severity of the situation as well, as they rushed toward the edge of the road.

Soon, the moment we looked down below the road, we couldn’t help but gasp in shock.

Ageujak— Ajak— Kkwajak—

Countless animals surrounded Lackey.

Those animals had surrounded Lackey and were nibbling and chewing on him.

They looked like deer at first glance, but seeing those viciously protruding fangs, I realized it immediately.

’W-Water deer?’

The only animal with that kind of dental structure is a water deer.

Those water deer were gnawing on Lackey with their teeth, but fortunately, he was holding out as best as he could with his Body-Protecting Gangqi.

But the problem was that those fangs were extremely threatening, and the sound of his Body-Protecting Gangqi shattering like crackers was clear.

"This absolute idiot...!"

Rather than jumping down to fight them directly, rescuing him was the priority.

While I pulled out a rope, the members of our group who could perform long-range attacks struck the water deer.

Udeudeuk!

The first to launch an attack was Lackey’s brother, Dolsoe.

When he unleashed a Palm Strike with his hand clad in Mythricon Gloves, a massive palm print was carved into the ground.

Unable to withstand the pressure, the pack of water deer was crushed into mush and died instantly.

"@$$!"

Pajijik!

Elia also cast a lightning spell to save Lackey.

As if proving herself to be an outstanding mage, she completely scorched the water deer with difficult-to-control lightning magic.

Though she usually acted a bit scatterbrained, she became infinitely serious when the situation called for it.

Hwirik!

"Grab on, quick!"

The moment I threw the rope, Lackey quickly grabbed it.

Following that, I pulled with all my might, hoisting Lackey back up onto the highway.

While pulling him up, one water deer held onto his leg until the very end, but Cain finished it off with his coffin flail.

Tadadat!

The moment they lost Lackey, the pack of water deer immediately scattered as if their job was done.

Surprisingly, they didn’t scatter in a panic in all directions, but fled together in an orderly formation.

After narrowing my eyes at that sight, I temporarily set it aside and checked Lackey’s condition first.

"Are you hurt anywhere?"

"I saw it on the Gallery. Those things just now were definitely vampires."

"Seeing how you’re talking nonsense, you’re perfectly fine."

After roughly checking Lackey’s condition, I turned my head toward the fleeing pack of water deer.

They had fled so quickly that they had already vanished without a trace.

The water deer I knew weren’t afraid of humans, but those beasts earlier were completely intent on devouring Lackey.

’And there were so many of them, too.’

Looking down below the highway, the corpses that had been turned into mush or completely scorched came into view.

’Strange. Do water deer live in packs?’

Whether it was during my military service, or when I went on a trip with my friends after being discharged and ended up hitting one on the road.

I knew that water deer lived solitary lives, not in packs.

If wild boars had done that, I would have just sighed and let it go, but because it was water deer, it raised even more questions.

’Is this also due to the influence of the Forest of the Four Seasons?’

That was the only reason I could think of right now.

Or perhaps there was something so serious that it forced the water deer to live in packs.

Whatever the case, aside from their unique cry, they were not the water deer I knew.

"Brother. If you want to ride it again, I will help you. Do you need a door?"

"I’m never riding it again."

"Don’t worry, Master will save you anyway."

Dolsoe was teasing him mercilessly, seemingly finding his younger brother, who had caused such a massive accident, utterly pathetic.

Dolsoe usually let most things slide, but it seemed he judged that even he couldn’t cover for this particular accident.

At least we could take comfort in the fact that we had obtained some valuable information.

"Kids. You saw that, right? If you copy him like that, you could get eaten alive too."

"S-Scary...!"

"Ppiiiik...!"

Furthermore, he had even served as an excellent cautionary tale (?) for the kids.

What a glorious sacrifice.

"Actually, this was all part of my plan, Master. Have you ever heard of sacrificing oneself for others?"

"So you’re volunteering to be bait from now on? Got it. Next time, I’ll tie you up with a rope and let you dangle."

"Can’t I even make a joke?"

"There are things you can joke about and things you can’t, you rascal."

I said so as I handed an Elixir to Lackey.

Though he grumbled, Lackey took a sip of the Elixir to heal any potential injuries.

ㄴAllfather) I don’t know if creatures called water deer originally live in packs, but if they do, there is bound to be a ’leader.’

ㄴHeavenly Demon) Do you know what kind of existence the leader water deer is?

"I don’t know either. Those guys usually live solitary lives."This story is hosted at nov⁠elping.com.

I predicted the water deer’s patterns while exchanging a few words with the fixed-handle users.

First of all, seeing how they chewed, tore, tasted, and enjoyed Lackey earlier, it was certain that they had ferocious temperaments.

Well, I already knew they had nasty tempers, but being ferocious was a different story.

It was like the difference between someone who spits randomly on the street and someone who commits random acts of violence.

Since we didn’t know when those bastards would launch another attack, we needed to be careful.

Kwareureuk—

It was just as we finished reorganizing and were about to move again.

The sound of crumbling rocks falling from the mountain slope next to the highway caught my ears.

The moment I heard that sound, a sense of unease washed over me, and when I turned my head, sure enough.

Kwareureureuk!

Massive boulders were tumbling down toward us.

If the civilized world had still been maintained, rockfall protection nets would have been installed.

But now, those nets were completely ruined, and the iron fences below could no longer perform their function.

"Lackey! Elia!"

At my shout, the two mages cast a joint spell.

Just before the falling rocks hit, they deployed a shield that enveloped the entire group.

Kwaang! Kwadeudeuk!

Thanks to that, we were able to block the falling rocks without much trouble, but there was something bothering me.

Did this countless barrage of falling rocks really drop by chance?

If the rocks had been small, it would be one thing, but every single one of them was as large as a house.

Unless someone had artificially brought these boulders and dropped them, this situation was impossible.

"It seems to be over."

"Master. I have a strange feeling."

"Me too. It might be those water deer from earlier."

We had circumstantial evidence, but no physical proof.

Therefore, for now, we had no choice but to follow the highway while remaining on high alert.

First, the key was to get as far away from the mountain slope as possible.

We decided to pick up the pace, hurrying our steps to reach a wider section of the highway.

’To Daejeon... there’s still a long way to go.’

Since it was an open area, attacks from the water deer should be less frequent.

Just in case, after carefully scanning the surroundings once more, we moved forward along the highway.

"Nanana~ Nana~ Nananana~"

As we marched while listening to Maengkkongi’s sweet singing, time flew by in the blink of an eye.

I looked at the slowly setting sun and checked the time.

Perhaps because we had silently focused only on moving forward, dinner time had already long passed.

"Wonmo. It’s way past dinner time, are you okay?"

"Yeah. I’m okay."

"You can tell me if you’re hungry."

"I decided to listen to Dad."

"Is it because of Lackey earlier?"

"Yeah."

Lackey is doing great work in many ways.

I chuckled softly and stroked Wonmo’s head.

For now, I decided to wrap up the day here and formulated our plans for the future.

Since it was clear we would be targeted by the water deer for the time being, preparing for them was essential.

[Does that animal not have any natural predators?]

"Uh... I don’t know of any besides cars?"

It wasn’t a joke; they were animals that got roadkilled at every opportunity.

Furthermore, while a significant number of tigers and leopards once inhabited the Republic of Korea, they had completely vanished after the Japanese colonial period.

’Come to think of it, I heard they released bears in Mount Jiri, I wonder what happened to them?’

Bears are omnivores, so they would gladly devour water deer.

Moreover, if they had undergone the unique evolution of the Forest of the Four Seasons, they would have become even more powerful.

Of course, it could just be that their habitats were completely different, so I couldn’t say for sure.

As we discussed countermeasures with each other...

"What if we subdue them and ride them around?"

"Be honest, it’s just because you’re too lazy to walk, right?"

"That’s right."

"I like your honesty. You just get ready to be used as bait."

Without coming up with any clever solutions, we welcomed the dark night.

And.

"...Lackey."

"Speak, Master."

"I think I know what those fireflies you mentioned yesterday were."

"Me too."

As soon as night fell, we were surrounded by a massive herd of water deer.

Eyes visible just outside the light we cast.

The sight of glowing eyes, which could only be seen at night, densely packing the darkness.

"Kuooooo!"

"Uooooo!!"

The loud roars of the water deer echoed far and wide.