I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 838

As soon as I placed my hand on the World Tree where the Wedge had been lodged, a pure white flash of light enveloped me just like before.

Expecting the past to reveal itself as it always did, I waited, half in anticipation and half in worry.

But lo and behold. Things turned out completely different from what I’d imagined.

"Where... is this?"

I thought it would show me heading toward Daejeon.

Instead, an entirely unexpected sight filled my view.

Shelves stood everywhere, densely packed with parchment and books made of crisp white paper.

Thick ancient tomes, thin documents, and even volumes written in strange, unrecognizable scripts.

Every last one was carefully preserved inside this library.

’Where am I?’

Alex’s Library had looked modern.

A stark white backdrop, a sturdy building made of concrete.

Here, though, not only was there no concrete, I couldn’t even spot a stray pebble.

The walls looked like the trunk of a tree, and the ceiling was so impossibly high I couldn’t see the top.

’The scent...’

What was more, a rich, earthy aroma tickled my nose.

I racked my brain trying to place where I’d smelled it before, and the answer hit me quickly.

’It’s the smell of the World Tree, isn’t it?’

The World Tree had no flowers, but the sacred wood itself gave off a unique fragrance.

A natural air freshener that calmed the mind and cleared away surrounding foulness.

It had merely deepened into the hearty aroma peculiar to a tree trunk, but it was still unmistakably the World Tree.

’Don’t tell me this place is inside the trunk of the World Tree?’

It was mind-boggling that such a massive library existed inside its trunk.

Well, the World Tree’s roots were colossal in reality too, so if it worked on the same principle, it made sense.

What, then, was this space, and what did those books record?

Above all, why wasn’t it showing me my lost memories?

"Welcome. It has been a long time, visitor."

Amid the baffling situation, a woman’s delicate voice reached my ears.

Turning my head toward the sound, I was met with an unexpected figure.

"A... person...?"

If it was a person, I could just call it one, but the dumbfounded murmur slipped out regardless.

And with good reason—the person appearing before me was far too tiny and frail to be called human.

It wasn’t small like a dwarf or someone with dwarfism; it was literally the size of a palm.

On top of that, it even had thin, transparent wings like a fairy out of legend.

"Since it has been a long time since your last visit, I must offer my greetings first. My name is Wiki. I am the Head Librarian of GalWiki."

The creature resembling a tiny fairy, Wiki, greeted me politely.

Common courtesy dictated greeting someone back, but I was so thrown off that not a word left my mouth.

’Did creatures like this exist?’

I wanted to ask Allfather right then and there.

Debating whether to start a stream or not, I decided to access the Gallery first.

[Access to the Gallery is unavailable in this region.]

"What...?"

I couldn’t conceal my shock at the message popping up before my eyes.

The Gallery had been accessible from the very moment I opened my eyes in the Forest of the Four Seasons.

A stark contrast to everyone else, who couldn’t even use mana in the Forest of the Four Seasons, let alone connect to the Gallery.

"Excuse me, but to prevent the external leakage of records, access to outside sites is prohibited in this area."

Reading the air, the fairy pointed this out in a polite yet stern tone.

I flinched at her words, glancing around once more.

If outside leaks had to be guarded against to this extent, it meant most of the records here were classified.

I didn’t know what kind of secrets they were, but taking a look seemed like a good idea.

"Sorry. It’s my first time visiting, so I didn’t know there was a rule like that."

"Did you say it is your first time visiting?"

Wiki tilted her head at my reply.

She looked as if she thought she must have been mistaken, which was completely understandable.

Even if I’d lost all my memories, Wiki would still have them on file.

"Circumstances caused me to lose most of my memories. So I don’t remember you."

"I see. Understood."

"Do you know who I am?"

This was the most important part.

I didn’t know Wiki, but Wiki knew me.

And this place was a library—a place where all sorts of information was gathered.

’The only Wiki I know is that kind.’

A website where mountains of information converged. The word "wiki" itself carried that meaning, so this shouldn’t be much different.

"Since you have a history of visiting this place, your information should also be stored here."

Hell yes. I cheered internally at Wiki’s answer.

It was a pity it was data rather than actual memories, but whatever.

That alone was plenty for me. I had to regain my memories one way or another to wash away this suffocating frustration.

"Great. Can you pull it up for me then?"

"Before that, I must verify who you are. Please state your name and briefly activate your mana."

Something like a verification code, I guess.

Readily accepting her request, I followed her instructions.

A moment later, Wiki nodded, then spoke in a mechanical tone.This story is hosted at NovelPing.

"You are Operator rank or higher. To search for information related to an Operator, you must enter your ID and password."

"...?"

I blinked.

Wiki had just dropped a completely unexpected line with a cheerful, beaming smile.

They were nostalgic words that brought back fond memories, but that was precisely why I was so utterly bewildered.

"A-An ID and password?"

"Yes. That is correct."

"Can’t you just let me in?"

"It would be acceptable for a Manager rank or below, but an Operator must enter their own ID and password for security purposes."

"Come on."

As far as I knew, mana carried biometric data, so why the hell didn’t that work?

Yet her answer was so logically sound that I couldn’t even argue back.

"Like I said earlier, I lost my memories. Is it really necessary?"

"Yes, it is."

"What about a ’Find ID and Password’ function? Usually, there’s something like that, right?"

"Of course there is."

"Then I’ll do that first."

Thank god, there was a recovery feature.

Leave it to an Earthling who had enjoyed modern civilization to build something like this.

’If they’d implemented an official digital certificate or something, I would’ve wanted to beat them to death.’

Thinking of mana as the replacement for a digital certificate made things simpler.

With a lighter heart, I looked at the window Wiki brought up.

[Please enter your Mana Registration Number.]

[[6 digits]-[7 digits]]

"...?"

What the hell was this now?

Shouldn’t it normally ask for a Resident Registration Number?

Utterly baffled, I entered my Resident Registration Number anyway.

The number of digits matched perfectly, so chances were high that only the term was different.

[Invalid information.]

[Please enter again.]

"Ah, fuck."

The feeling that I was f—ked hit me first. Come to think of it, all my personal information had been expunged when I operated as an agent for the National Intelligence Service.

Besides, the Chief God tended to hate having his old information spread around.

The odds of him keeping a Resident Registration Number—which revealed practically everything about an identity—were ridiculously low.

Hell, hadn’t he even abandoned his mother tongue, Korean, in favor of English?

Blood couldn’t be hidden, so some parts remained utterly Korean, but he had stripped away as much as he could.

’If that’s the case, the ID I know might be different too, right?’

The ID I usually used was whdgur1234.

And my password was a sensible mashup of my parents’ names.

Someone might think I made it up lazily, but all my friends were the same.

’I used to hack into their accounts and sneak their in-game cash over to mine.’

And then I got hacked in return and got properly screwed over. Birds of a feather really did flock together.

But all of that was useless now.

"What if I don’t know my Mana Registration Number? I lost all my memories, so I don’t know anything."

"Did you suffer severe brain damage?"

It had to be my imagination that that sounded like, ’Are you a fucking idiot?’

Wiki’s expression was so innocent, and the timing of the situation was so exquisite that it just came across that way.

A sudden wave of existential dread hit me, but I swallowed it down and spoke.

"...An acquaintance of mine scattered my memories across the world. That’s all I know."

"A Mana Registration Number is precious personal information. To find it, you must visit the place where that information is stored."

"Don’t tell me that’s the Tower of Babel?"

"Precisely."

"Argh..."

Everything led back to the Gallery server. It was driving me insane.

It was practically telling me to hack it physically.

I couldn’t just back down like this, so I decided to brute-force it.

"If you fail one more time, you will enter Temporary Protection Mode."

And I failed miserably.

I entered every ID and password I had ever used, but every single one was wrong.

If I had more chances, maybe, but with only one attempt left, I couldn’t just throw it away.

"What happens if it goes into Temporary Protection Mode?"

"You will be unable to enter an ID and password for one month."

"A month, huh..."

A period that was long if long, short if short. Either way, I wouldn’t be setting out on a journey for a while because of the residents of Large Field.

So after agonizing over it again and again, I decided to make my final attempt.

"By any chance, do I need uppercase letters or special characters in the password?"

"I cannot disclose that."

"Hhhhh..."

Should I bring Lackey or Elia?

Usually, they tell you things like that when you create a new account.

But the Chief God and the other gods wouldn’t be that sloppy, so I decided to drop it.This story is hosted at novel‌ping.com.

’Alright. Let’s do this.’

Trusting in the me of the past.

Calculating every possible permutation in my head, I entered the ID and password.

"You have failed to log in 5 times. Switching to Temporary Protection Mode."

"Goddammit."

A raging urge to beat my past self to death welled up inside me.

Why the fuck did that Chief God bastard have to change it instead of just using his Resident Registration Number?

Pressing hard between my brows, I lamented inwardly.

’Guess I’ve got no choice but to track down the Gallery server in the end.’

I had to find it anyway, so it didn’t change much.

More than that, understanding exactly what this place was came first.

"Haa... Alright. Then just explain in detail what this place is."

"This place is the main body and server of GalWiki."

"You’ve been mentioning GalWiki since earlier, but what exactly is it?"

"It is the Tree of Records." I listened to a detailed explanation about GalWiki.

The more I listened, the more familiar it sounded, leaving me feeling somewhat hollow, but I soon moved past it.

After all, the Chief God and the other deities had haphazardly gathered all sorts of records scattered across the world.

Because of those records, all kinds of ancient memes were being unearthed even now.

"You said you’re the Head Librarian, right? Was the one who created you Aragon, by any chance?"

"The one who created me is Lord Alund."

"Alund? Ah, the artificial intelligence?"

I knew Alund well.

The master of artificial intelligence and the god slaughtered by Aris.

According to Lucas, there was a high chance he’d transferred his consciousness somewhere else, but I couldn’t say for sure.

"You said this place is the server, right? Then does that mean I can get deeper information than what’s seen on GalWiki?"

"Yes. However, there is a condition."

"Entering an ID and password?"

I was sick and tired of hearing that.

But Wiki’s reaction was quite different. Shaking her head, she answered:

"User information is only required when it concerns Operator rank or above. Anything below does not matter."

A dry laugh slipped out. It felt half-baked, yet the security was somehow thorough.

My login had failed, but that only applied to my personal information.

Looking up anything else wouldn’t be difficult, and there were other fascinating functions besides.

"Then what is this condition? The applicant’s personal information?"

"Mana equivalent to the value of that information."

"...Are you telling me to make a sacrifice or something?"

Knowing the Chief God’s temperament, that sounded like something that would make him hit the roof.

Fortunately, that didn’t seem to be the case, as Wiki immediately countered.

"Living beings are not permitted. Only inanimate objects are accepted."

"So you receive that as the price?"

"That is correct."

They really scrape up every last bit, don’t they.

Having a rough idea of what she meant, I asked:

"Then do you know about Wi Ho-chang?"

The man presumed to have undergone Ascension to Immortality and suffered a kidnapping(?) that wasn’t quite a kidnapping.

If that was how ascended beings worked, would it affect GalWiki too?

"If you pay the price, I can provide the information."

"Oh? So you do know?"

"Information was recently entered into the Gallery server."

Now that’s pretty fresh.

Of course, I didn’t have the slightest intention of pulling up Wi Ho-chang’s records.

’Though I don’t know how it is on the outside.’

Well, aside from accessing GalWiki, there probably wouldn’t be any way to meet Wiki on the outside anyway. Still, just to be sure, I should ask. "To see you, do I always have to make contact with this World Tree?"

"No. Anywhere a World Tree exists, it is possible."

"...What?"

Recovering from the initial shock, I stammered out a question.

"Th-Then even with the World Tree outside the Forest of the Four Seasons? I mean, is this World Tree connected to the one in Alfheim, too?"

"It is possible. However, rather than me visiting in person, an archivist will assist you directly." "So moving there in person is impossible?"

"Data transmission is only possible for inanimate objects."

So it runs on a similar principle to the Gallery.

’Should I test it out?’

Not Wi Ho-chang’s martial arts, but that lost martial art from a certain sect.

They said that person had also ascended to immortality, so finding it shouldn’t be too hard.

’Plum Blossom Sword Technique, wasn’t it?’

Paying the price wasn’t difficult either.

The Forest of the Four Seasons was overflowing with mana, and above all, my house was piled high with inner cores.

And after paying with one of them:

"Here is the original form of the Plum Blossom Sword Technique of Seomun Hyeon, founder of the Mount Hua Sect, as requested."

"Uh..."

I got it way too easily.

Is this really okay?

’I should give it to Yoo So-wol first and have her verify it.’