I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 806

The horde of water deer had been neutralized by blowing up an entire mountain.

Just in case, I stayed awake all night, but fortunately, they didn’t launch another attack.

However, although my companions said they were sleeping, they had slept with their senses on high alert, so their physical condition wasn’t great.

After recovering with the Empty Sky Stone Milk we had prepared beforehand, we resumed our journey, remaining highly vigilant.

Since even water deer had evolved in such bizarre ways, the thought of what other animals might appear weighed heavily on our minds.

Because of this, the atmosphere was naturally gloomy from the moment we woke up, so Lackey stepped forward to break the ice.

"Master."

"What?"

"My appetite hasn’t returned. This is a disaster."

"Who told you to grill and eat water deer meat in the first place?"

This idiot had insisted on having a water deer meat party.

Thank goodness I had adamantly stopped him, otherwise our mood would have been ruined first thing in the morning.

To make matters worse, Lackey must have thought I was lying, because he sneaked a bite on his own.

In the end, the moment he took a bite, the overwhelming gamey stench and foul odor completely ruined his appetite.

"Wonmo ate until his belly was about to burst, right?"

"Kkyuung?"

For the record, Wonmo was an exception.

Even if he was an owlbear, a bear was still a bear.

Bears are omnivores that happily feast even on rotting carcasses, so the gamey smell of water deer was practically a delicacy to him.

Did he have a tendency to be a picky eater from living at our house? Not at all.

Wonmo just ate everything with absolute relish, so there was no issue.

"That’s because Wonmo has a great appetite. Why don’t you only eat water deer meat from now on too, then?"

"If we marinate it and make seasoned ribs..."

"Shut up before I send you back home."

"Can you actually send me back?"

Was this bastard actually hoping for that?

When I raised my hand as if I were really going to hit him, Lackey scurried away.

Dolsoe, watching his younger brother with a pathetic look, was a bonus. His expression read: When will he ever grow up?

ㄴAllfather) Grylls’s household is always entertaining to watch.

ㄴPrincess Chaenggu) It’s so fascinating that Lackey, who acts so playful now, actually tried to kill Grylls-nim in the past. lol

ㄴDon’t Abandon the Hero) Reforming someone who used to be a thug is indeed a virtue of a god!

ㄴHeavenly Demon) I agree. Mercy is indeed a virtue that the heavens must possess.

ㄴSmart Demon) Can’t you show some of that mercy to your subordinates?

ㄴHeavenly Demon) This lady believes she is showing plenty of mercy.

ㄴSmart Demon) Show a bit more. How about doubling your subordinates’ salaries?

ㄴPassing Dwarf) Every time I see you, I wonder: are you actually a member of the Demonic Cult?

ㄴSmart Demon) Yep.

ㄴDon’t Abandon the Hero) Trying to control people with money! As a member of the Demonic Cult, you should compete with faith!

ㄴHeavenly Demon) You speak the truth.

ㄴSmart Demon) Fuck.

The registered users were busy chatting and playing around in their own ways.

Indeed, it was hard to believe that I had once fought a life-and-death battle with Lackey.

While Dolsoe had entered my hierarchy through a fair fight, Lackey didn’t really have that kind of transition.

"Ah. I want to eat candied sweet potatoes."

"..."

"I want to eat sweet, melting candied sweet potatoes."

Of course, they say people don’t change.

His cheeky attitude hadn’t changed a bit over time.

’Hmm... Confucius said that people change through learning, but are gorillas an exception?’

Sometimes I wondered.

How would sages like Confucius or Jesus reform Lackey?

Especially since I knew that Confucius had reformed Zilu, who was once a ruffian.

As a bonus, Zilu being scolded countless times was a daily routine during that process.

’Confucius aside, the Chief God also raised that uncontrollable Aris into a proper goddess. It should be possible.’

Probably.

Without adding any further thoughts, I moved forward.

Lackey also pacified his mouth with some jerky he had brought along.

"How much further do we have to walk?"

"We were delayed because of the water deer, but we’ll arrive within three days at the latest."

If we had a car, we would have arrived much faster.

But wishing for that was a luxury, and abandoned cars blocked the path here and there anyway.

Above all, transportation wasn’t highly developed in this world yet, so traveling on foot was familiar.

There was no room for complaints, and we only needed to worry about Wonmo, who lacked stamina.Read the latest chapters at nоvelping.com.

’During battle, we can just put Bbareumbo on Wonmo’s back.’

Putting Bbareumbo on Wonmo’s back right now would only drain Wonmo’s stamina even faster.

I handed a Fasting Pill to Bbareumbo and looked up.

A sign indicating a rest stop was right ahead caught my eye.

It was about time for a break anyway, so stopping for a brief rest didn’t seem like a bad idea.

’It’s been a while since I’ve been to a rest stop.’

Heading down the road branching off the highway shoulder, we reached a spacious rest stop.

Amidst the abandoned cars filling my vision, something caught my attention.

"There’s a barricade set up. Did someone use this place as a base?"

Not only were there abandoned cars in the rest stop’s open lot, but sandbags were also piled up like a barricade on the roof. Elia was pointing this out.

It was clear evidence that some group had established a base here.

’Using a rest stop as a base... I’m not sure if that’s a wise choice.’

This was a common trope in various post-apocalyptic works.

A rest stop could serve many purposes, with the biggest advantage being its connection to the highway.

Additionally, it had restrooms, a cafeteria, convenience stores, a gas station, and so on.

Since many essential facilities were clustered together, it was optimized for survival.

’Besides, since they’re located along every highway, they’re easy for survivors to access.’

I looked around the rest stop-turned-base and stepped inside.

Because too much time had passed, there was absolutely no trace of survivors left.

In truth, this was only natural, but I couldn’t help but feel a strange sense of anticipation.

’There are guns.’

The K2 and M16 rifles, which were all too familiar to me, lay scattered here and there.

Setting aside the K2, the presence of the M16 suggested they had been brought from a reserve forces unit.

If so, for what reason did the survivors here completely vanish?

The most likely scenario was that the horde of water deer that had attacked us had swarmed this place.

"Guys. Do you see any ammunition?"

"I looked around, but I don’t see any at all."

"Grylls-nim. What is this gun? It’s huge and heavy."

Just then, Elia brought over a new gun.

Although she looked delicate, she carried it effortlessly, likely because her body was constantly trained with mana.

"Ah, this? It’s an M60, a machine gun with incredible firepower. Looking at how the barrel is missing, its durability must have run out."

"How strong is it?"

"It can basically turn a human into shredded rags."

It wasn’t an exaggeration. They would literally be turned into shredded rags.

"Then is it stronger than the guns that fired mana bullets?"

"In my personal opinion, yes, I think it’s stronger."

Bullets and artillery shells possess a large and beautiful mass, making their base destructive power extremely formidable.

On the other hand, mana had an overwhelming advantage: as long as you had a person, you didn’t need complex manufacturing technology.

To manufacture a single bullet, you had to go through numerous processes, but mana was just there.

’It’s a truly fascinating energy. When controlled directly by a person, it can even block bullets and artillery shells, but the moment the energy infusion stops, it becomes infinitely weak.’

The same went for the lesser gods beneath the Chief God, who wasn’t just freakishly strong by birth.

They all favored mana-related abilities rather than firing guns themselves.

I recalled that their subordinate fleets also condensed mana to fire their cannons.

’Well, things might be different in actual warfare.’

Since I had almost no memories of that, there was no need to dwell on it.

Besides, we weren’t going to use guns right now, and we couldn’t manufacture them ourselves anyway.

’Just making a spring would be a chore.’

If it were Lucas’s Brewery or the Divine Blacksmith in Mountain, it might be possible, but that would require the king’s permission, which wouldn’t be easy.

I thoroughly searched the rest stop to see if there were any remaining records.

Unfortunately, aside from the firearms and other structures, there were absolutely no records left.

A long time had passed, and surviving the four seasons of the Republic of Korea would have been a tall order.

’They fortified this place pretty well.’

Climbing up to the roof of the rest stop, I saw that they had not only built cover with sandbags but had also installed a machine gun.

Penetrating this place would have been impossible without aerial forces or mortars.

However, there were no signs of the defensive line being breached, suggesting they had left for some other reason.

"Master! Look here! There are skeletal remains!"

So they hadn’t left.

The moment I heard Lackey’s shout, I quickly made my way over.

The place where Lackey had found the bones was none other than inside a massive freezer.

The problem was that the skeleton wasn’t intact; it was disjointed, as if it had been butchered.

[I can guess what they did without needing an explanation.]Visit nove‌lping.com for the full chapter.

"Did they eat their own kind?"

Just as Cain and Dolsoe said, it was easy to guess what had transpired.

Indeed, before the past me left for Daejeon in my memories, hadn’t the bastards who ambushed me also practiced cannibalism?

This rest stop must have been a sort of swamp. A literal man-eating swamp.

’Since it was a rest stop, there must have been a lot of foot traffic...’

I looked up.

Looking closely now, hooks were hanging here and there, just like in a slaughterhouse.

Beneath them lay scattered fragments of what appeared to be bones.

"...This is unpleasant, so let’s rest somewhere else."

In the end, we decided to quickly leave the rest stop.

Delaying our rest was unavoidable, but resting in a place where cannibalism had been committed felt incredibly unsettling.

"Come to think of it, this area itself is a bit unusual."

"In what way?"

"There are so many burn marks. Did someone set it on fire?"

Hearing Elia’s words, I looked around carefully once more.

I thought it was just dark inside, but there were indeed prominent signs of a fire.

ㄴDon’t Abandon the Hero) It seems a righteous person couldn’t just pass by this tragedy and leave it be!

ㄴPassing Dwarf) Are you building up to say that righteous person was the Chief God?

ㄴDon’t Abandon the Hero) I didn’t say anything!

ㄴHeavenly Demon) It seems the heavens delivered punishment directly.

The registered users also agreed that someone had intentionally set the fire.

Of course, this was merely speculation; nothing was certain.

Perhaps because of the fire, everything except the firearms and structural elements had been completely burned down.

After checking the restrooms next to the rest stop, I eventually arrived at the gas station.

"Hmm... It looks like someone smoked a cigarette at the gas station."

"I don’t understand what you mean when you say it like that."

"It means smoking in a powder keg."

And the gas station literally bore the scars of an explosion.

Not only had the fuel pumps exploded, but the entire place was charred black.

Perhaps the explosion at the gas station had sent sparks flying over to the rest stop.

"There’s nothing to gain here, so for now..."

Shyaaa—

Just as I said that and was about to leave.

Feeling an inexplicable chill from ahead, I turned my head, and what on earth was this?

A thick, white mist began to billow from the front, rapidly enveloping the entire gas station.

"Grylls-nim!"

"Everyone, prepare for battle!"

The moment Elia noticed the anomaly and cried out, I issued orders.

At the same time, the mist completely wrapped around the gas station, reducing visibility to the point where we could barely see ahead.

"Dad! Where are you, Dad! Dad!"

"Wonmo! Stay still! Don’t go anywhere!"

Moving when you can’t see anything is far more dangerous.

Thus, I ordered Wonmo and the rest of the group to hold their ground.

We had no idea when this mist would recede or what might happen next.

’Come to think of it, wasn’t there a misty zone across the river before?’

Just as I wondered if that misty zone was this very place.

Shyaaaa—

Surprisingly, the mist began to slowly dissipate.

But regardless of its disappearance.

"What? The gas station..."

The gas station, which had been completely exploded and charred just moments ago, was now perfectly intact.

"Master! There are people over there!"

"What?"

Looking where Lackey pointed, there were indeed numerous people gathered. Not only those guarding the turret on the rest stop’s roof, but also people holding guns below.

And...

Buuuuung—

A car drove into the rest stop.

As the car entered, the people guarding the rest stop approached it with gleaming eyes.

Wiiiiing—

Subsequently, the car window rolled down.

"Identify yourself."

"Ah. Well, it’s just..."

A very familiar face revealed itself.