I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 815

Not much time had passed since we parted ways with the gas-masked man.

Following his advice, we exercised caution where needed and searched for what we could as we wandered through various parts of the city.

Due to the dense mist, it was practically like wandering aimlessly, but what we needed right now was information.

The gas-masked man had only given us advice and hadn’t explained in detail what was here.

We could only guess that a group of survivors was somewhere in this city.

"Kwoooooh!"

"Master! That bastard is throwing a car!"

"I see it too!"

In the process, we faced quite a few difficulties.

The flesh giant throwing scrapped cars at us in rapid succession was one such example.

It was much larger than the Butcher Ogre we had faced before, and its defining feature was its upper body.

Compared to its lower body, the muscles of its upper body were abnormally developed, and the veins bulging on its two arms wriggled constantly.

Using those arms, it threw every single object in its surroundings, which was no small headache.

Even if we cut off those arms, they constantly regenerated, making oil jars essential.

Chiiiiik!

"Kuaaaaak!"

Fortunately, perhaps because its basic frame was moving but not actually alive—meaning it was undead.

The moment we splashed Holy Water on it, it was neutralized, so we took that opportunity to quickly finish it off.

Since we had a clear strategy, we could break through smoothly as long as we weren’t caught by unexpected attacks.

"Do you think I... this Moyong Su, will die like this! I will return! I will surely return!"

It was after we subjugated the muscular giant.

Just as it had with the pale woman, Elise, smoke began to drift out, and the past was replayed.

To summarize, a man presumed to be from the Central Plains had committed a serious crime and entered the Forest of the Four Seasons to evade pursuit.

"Why are you exiling me?"

"We have no need for someone as selfish as you, who harms our survival."

And lastly, just like Elise, he had been rejected by the survivor group.

With this, the existence of a survivor group somewhere in this city became an established fact.

ㄴSmart Demon) Looking up the records, Moyong Su was once notoriously known as the ’Mad Demon.’ He is a figure from 200 years ago.

ㄴHeavenly Demon) From his appearance, he seems to have trained in the External Arts.

ㄴSmart Demon) Not at all? He was just a normally strong person.

Shaaaaa-

It was around the time we were gathering information about the giant we had just defeated.

The flashback ended, and the mist also grew noticeably thinner.

"Could it be that these undead were distorting the space?"

"It seems so. Now that the undead are gone, the mist is thinner than before."

It was just as Elia and Lackey said.

Both the pale woman and the giant we had just defeated.

When the two were nearby, we kept circling the same space as if caught in a trap, but after defeating them, everything returned to normal.

Of course, we still didn’t know what role the mist played.

We could only infer that the mist enveloping the entire city was causing problems.

"It’s strange that we’re perfectly fine."

"Still, you never know. We might suddenly turn into those undead too."

One way or another, information was severely lacking.

When contacting the mist from the outside, it projected the past, but now it showed a completely different phenomenon.

’I can’t make heads or tails of it.’

I stared at the still-murky mist.

I didn’t know where this was coming from, or exactly what kind of influence it exerted.

For now, I knew it had a major connection to the ’memories’ emphasized by the gas-masked man, but that was all.

"None of you are suddenly remembering weird things, right?"

"I feel like I’m starting to forget the taste and aroma of candied sweet potatoes."

"I feel like I’m going to forget the joy of planting trees too."

Those two really get along well.

I looked at the two mages with a pathetic expression.

Whether it was to lighten the mood, they didn’t stop joking around.

Well, maybe this was better than falling into a state of panic.

After all, there was no heavier atmosphere than when people who were giggling like fools suddenly went silent.

[Don’t Abandon the Hero: I’ll give you Holy Water right now!]

[Wild Grylls: Thank you, Asella. I’m always imposing on you.]

[Don’t Abandon the Hero: This is nothing for you, Grylls-nim! Since it seems you’ll be using Holy Water often, I’ll keep making it! Teacher Ludwig said he would help too!]

The Holy Kingdom was already getting busier by the day due to the conflict with Alfheim.

In that situation, I felt incredibly sorry that I had no choice but to ask for Holy Water.

She said she was fine, but you never know how people’s hearts might change.

In particular, Holy Water was known to have an extremely difficult creation process.

’Because they have to consume their own power to make it.’

It wasn’t something that could be traded off with Empty Sky Stone Milk or other rare treasures.

While I could just find things as I passed by, making Holy Water was a task that required their own effort.

If she wanted anything later, I was fully prepared to grant it.

"Cain-ssi, you said you can’t make Holy Water, right?"Get faster updates on novelping(.)com.

[It is impossible now that I am in this body. In the first place, if you think about it, I am also technically undead, so wouldn’t it be strange if I could make Holy Water?]

At those words, Lackey, who had been watching us, chimed in.

"So that’s why you have no human rights."

[You don’t have any either, even though you’re alive.]

I chuckled at their banter as they threw one-two punches at each other.

Anyway, now that we had been supplied with Holy Water, we would be able to easily deal with any Manatology we encountered in the future.

Instead, since we needed to gather that much information, we steadily continued our exploration.

Although it was easy to lose our sense of direction in a city shrouded in mist, there were many landmarks.

For example, Sung Sim Dang, which was highly famous as a bakery, or City Hall, and so on.

’I vaguely remember, but I’m not sure.’

My memory of visiting Daejeon remained faint. When was it?

It was a rough memory from when I obtained my memories of my soldier days.

It was when we received intelligence that the enemy was trying to cut the railway lines through sabotage and conducted a defensive operation.

Because it was a covert operation, I couldn’t even eat that famous bread.

"Master."

"What?"

"Shouldn’t we rest soon?"

It was when we were just walking endlessly, barely encountering any monsters unlike before.

Lackey suggested a rest, and hearing those words, a sudden question occurred to me.

’Come to think of it, I barely felt any signs of fatigue.’

Even after consecutive battles with the pale woman and the muscular giant, I hadn’t even caught my breath once.

Normally, it would be natural to feel like I had exerted energy, but right now, I was completely energetic.

Of course, this could just be because my physical stamina was high.

So when I checked the time, lo and behold.

I realized belatedly that lunchtime had already long passed.

"What? It’s already this late? Aren’t you hungry?"

"I’m not hungry."

"Me neither."

Both Lackey and Elia replied that they didn’t feel any hunger.

Then what about Wonmo, our household mascot and glutton?

"I’m not hungry though?"

"You’re not hungry?"

"Yeah. I’m not hungry."

Is this a sign of the end of the world?

Ah, wait. This place is already ruined.

Anyway, hearing Wonmo’s answer, I couldn’t help but be startled.

What kind of animal was an owlbear? It was a creature famous for being difficult for even wealthy nobles to handle due to its monstrous appetite.

And its ferocity was such that if its appetite wasn’t satisfied, it would even eat the family members who fed it.

But now, it said it didn’t feel hunger at all, so I had to be surprised.

"It seems this mist is constantly replenishing our energy."

In the confusing situation, Heukgu was the first to speak.

Heukgu, who had vaguely grasped the nature of the mist at the very beginning, spoke first.

At those words, our gazes naturally shifted toward Heukgu—that is, toward my shadow.

He usually traveled in the form of a shadow, but when attention was focused on him, he changed into a puppy form.

"He’s cute no matter when I look at him."

"I’m not cute! I’m going to grow big someday!"

"But you’re cute right now, aren’t you?"

"Keong-keong! Keo-eong!"

Heukgu threw a brief fit at Elia’s compliment, but let’s move past that.

The important thing was Heukgu’s hypothesis.

"Ugh... Anyway, you must have vaguely realized that this mist itself is mana. Right?"

My companions and I nodded.

"And this is just my thought, but this mist seems close to a phenomenon where mana has been visualized."

"Visualized?"

"Mana contains various information. You know this, right?"

Of course I did. Lucas had said so too.

That mana contained information on par with DNA, and that he had established the Gallery through it.

It was close to a superior version of an identification card, and I knew it was a policy that faced quite a bit of backlash back then.

"That guy wearing the gas mask earlier probably wore it because of this too. The moment you inhale the mist, all sorts of memories rush into your head, naturally causing chaos."

"But we don’t have anything like that happening?"

"Maybe not now, but you experienced a similar phenomenon when you were outside. Unwanted memories of others being replayed."

"If memories aren’t being injected, then consider the possibility that they are being stolen instead. Didn’t you guys just babble about not remembering the taste and aroma of candied sweet potatoes, or not knowing the pleasure of planting trees?"

Feeling a sudden chill, I hurriedly asked Lackey and Elia.

"...Wasn’t that a joke?"

"It was a joke."

"It was a joke."

Realizing that the situation could turn serious, the two answered immediately.

Fortunately, the scenario we feared didn’t happen, but the question remained unresolved.

If it was truly as he said, why were we perfectly fine?Enjoying the story? Read on at nоvelping.com.

The hypothesis for this also came from Heukgu’s mouth.

"Either you have to be here for a really long time, or... it’s because of you."

"Because of me?"

I was quite flustered by Heukgu suddenly playing the blame game.

But Heukgu seemed serious, speaking earnestly in his characteristic puppy form.

"You suck in mana every time you breathe. To be precise, you have a constitution that absorbs mana just by existing, not even through breathing."

"Hmm..."

"So, it means you are sucking it all up before anyone else can even inhale the mist."

"To summarize, Master is a natural dehumidifier."

Why do you have to put it that way?

I was momentarily dumbfounded by Lackey’s words, but nothing was more certain than that.

"Rather than that, wouldn’t a walking World Tree be better! That sounds much cooler!"

"If Master is a World Tree, what about the female?"

"Of course we have to help him bear fruit! And then plant the seeds from that fruit back into the ground!"

ㄴDon’t Abandon the Hero: Someone please plug her mouth!

ㄴHeavenly Demon: The words are clearly normal, yet they sound so vulgar.

ㄴSword Matstar: I already knew she was that kind of person, but she seems to have gotten even weirder;;

Just as Yoo So-wol said, the words were ordinary, but they carried an strangely vulgar nuance.

In any case, it was certain that staying near me was the way to ensure safety.

Of course, we couldn’t stay in this mist forever, so we had to find an escape route.

"Even if you’re right, I don’t know how long I can hold out. We need to make progress while we’re only receiving good influences like this."

"That’s true too. Still, a rest is..."

"Daddy. Daddy."

Just as I was about to say that rest was essential to relieve mental fatigue, not physical fatigue.

Wonmo tugged at my pants, looking up at me with his characteristically round eyes.

I was momentarily captivated by his truly lovely and cute appearance, but soon put my hands under Wonmo’s shoulders and lifted him up.

"What is it, our Wonmo?"

"I smell blood over there."

"The smell of blood?"

I tilted my head at the mention of a bloody scent.

An owlbear’s sense of smell was highly advanced, capable of detecting scents from over 10 kilometers away.

Although bad weather like this would narrow that distance, it was still extremely wide.

Furthermore, since he usually ate good food at our home, his detection range would be vastly increased.

"If it’s the smell of blood, isn’t there plenty around us?"

"It’s the smell of freshly spilled blood."

"He has a better nose than Heukgu."

"I told you, I’m not a dog!"

Ignoring the mutt’s shout, I followed behind Wonmo.

With every step we took, the surrounding buildings grew more numerous, as if we were entering a deep forest.

"-Aaaaak!"

"-$$%%! $#$%!"

Sounds began to be heard.

Along with the urgent shouts contained within those sounds.

We quickened our pace and headed toward the direction of the noise.

Since we heard screams, it seemed like a dangerous situation, so we even readied our weapons.

Thus, we were able to reach a plaza that was presumably a bustling district.

Kkumul-kkumul-

We saw a lanky giant, easily over 3 meters tall, wriggling numerous tentacles behind its back.

Jjuaaaaap!

And we witnessed it extending one of its tentacles long to absorb something.

And the identity of that absorbed ’something’ was...

’...A human?’

It was a human.

But that was only for a moment.

"Uuuu-gh..."

Having all of their nutrients sucked out, the person instantly turned into a mummy.

Soon, the tentacled monster dropped the mummified person to the ground.

"#$%$!"

"$%%@$?"

Seeing this, other people hurriedly shouted.

The survivor group mentioned by the gas-masked man revealed themselves before us.

Though their forms differed, they had horns on their heads like the Demon Race.

Skin close to a reptile’s, similar to the Lizardmen we met last time.

And lastly... vertically slit pupils.

’Lizardmen?’

But they were far too similar to humans to be called Lizardmen.

"#$$%%!"

Kwagawang!

And seeing them easily use magic, I instinctively felt that they were something different.