I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 98

There is a word: ’Discussion Topic’.

Usually, it refers to bait used to lure fish.

Due to its characteristic of attracting fish, the word is quite often used with another meaning.

The Gallery was no different. Throw out a juicy discussion topic, and the fish come swarming in crowds.

The bigger the topic, the more fish gather, and occasionally, a giant catch is hooked among them.

Upvote if you want the Holy Kingdom to fall lolol

The Immortal King is pitiable too.

The real Demon King was El Dorado all along haha

Demon Kings aren’t born.

When is the Holy Kingdom’s response coming out

’When is this going to cool down?’

As time passed, dinner time approached.

I wondered as I watched the Gallery still burning ablaze with the Immortal King discussion topic.

I didn’t know if it was because it happened relatively recently or because of the Holy Kingdom’s ugliness.

What was certain was that it showed no sign of dying down anytime soon.

I felt like I realized a bit of what I had done.

’As long as I make my stance clear tomorrow, everything will be fine.’

I closed the Gallery. It was about time to go up to the river.

Affairs outside would be handled outside; as for me, surviving on my own was enough.

Pleasure without responsibility? What can I do when I can’t take responsibility even if I wanted to?

In the first place, it couldn’t even be called pleasure since I shared it just to raise my survival rate even a little bit.

I had no idea that things like the Immortal King or the world’s deep-rooted corruption were hidden inside it.

’Even if I knew, I still would have posted it though.’

What do I know about this world anyway?

I woke up in the Forest of the Four Seasons before I could learn anything.

Even if I had the Gallery, one doesn’t learn about the world through an online forum.

’If I go outside, will it cause some trouble?’

There was a condition for that too: Orange Badge doxxing my real-time location.

Short of that, it was impossible for people to find me.

’Sigh. Whatever. It’s meaningless to think like this anyway.’

’Let’s just spectate what the Holy Kingdom says tomorrow.’

Sighing internally, I arrived at the river.

The number of fish caught in the fish trap was exactly two.

Feasting again today. Joyfully, I pulled up the trap.

Kkumul- kkumul-

"Huh?"

Fish weren’t the only things caught in the trap.

An octopus from who-knows-where was squirming inside.

Its body didn’t glow blue, so it didn’t seem venomous. Just an ordinary octopus.

It didn’t look monstrous like the octopus I encountered on the sandy shore last time, either.

’Is it because the sea surged into the river?’

Ever since the torrential rain poured down, all kinds of creatures seemed to be getting caught.

Well, from my perspective, having more food is great.

Besides, it was my first time eating octopus in this forest, so trying it wouldn’t be bad.

’Were octopus legs always this thin? Maybe it’s a long-arm octopus.’

Let’s just carry the trap whole. It’s small, so I plan to eat it right away.

For cooking, boiling it in water or stir-frying it should be enough.

Whether octopus or long-arm octopus, it was ultimately my dinner. That fact remained unchanged.

Soon, upon returning to the cave and just as I was about to put the food from the trap into a container...

Chwareureuk!

"Huh?"

The thing—whether octopus or long-arm octopus—wrapped itself around my arm.

It was so fast that while I froze briefly in surprise, its legs wrapped around another spot.

Gkwaaak!

"Keo-eok! Keok!"

Right around my neck. I couldn’t breathe.

I strained with all my strength to pull off the octopus legs strangling my neck.

Yet its grip was so insanely strong that it wouldn’t budge easily.

What’s more, there was a sensation of something adhering to me. The suckers had latched onto my neck.

"Keo-eo-eok...! Keo-geok...!"

At this rate, choking to death was guaranteed.

As my consciousness grew faint, I fumbled with my hands.

The dagger I had brought out for butchering. That dagger fell into my grasp.

Seogeok— seogeok— seogeok— chwaak!

Desperately hacking at the octopus legs, it didn’t take long before my neck felt relieved.

However, as if refusing to give up, the octopus constricted me even tighter with its remaining legs.

My vision was turning yellow. I circulated the mana inside my body as I chopped away the legs.

Ddududuk! Jjwaaa-ak!

I severed all the tentacles that had been tightly strangling my neck.

Finally, I grabbed its head with my hand and tore it off by force.

The octopus was desperate to kill me to the very end, but its tentacles had already all been chopped off.

"Cough! Cough! Haaah. Kheu-euk."

Coughing hard, I glared down at the octopus in my hand.

Only a single leg remained attached to the bastard.

Seeing it struggle to sever my neck with just one leg left was downright ridiculous.

Kwaak!Read this novel at novelpin‌g.com for the best experience.

I have zero mercy for animals that try to kill me. I executed it on the spot.

Slamming the octopus onto the cutting board, I plunged the dagger into its head.

Having accurately struck its vital point, the octopus rapidly turned pale before going completely limp.

"Ugh. Seriously."

Ddododok! Ddodok!

I peeled off the suckered tentacles stuck to my neck.

The suckers were attached so tightly that it felt like peeling off duct tape.

"Phew..."

When I placed the severed legs on the cutting board, they were still squirming.

Just looking at them was hideous; I wanted to get rid of them right away.

’What kind of octopus strangles a guy’s neck?’

Considering it didn’t spit ink, maybe it was a long-arm octopus instead of a standard octopus.

Either way, it was a dangerous moment. As expected, I couldn’t let my guard down just because something was small.

’I’m going to chew you up into extra fine pieces.’

They were legs that wrapped around my neck, but I didn’t care. Such "trivial" hygiene wasn’t an issue.

I could write down records of the octopus in my journal while I was at it. I gained quite a lot today.

Jigeul-jigeul-jigeul-jigeul—

Eating live long-arm octopus was a bit much, so I decided to grill it in a pan.

Stir-fried octopus exists, but it’s not like I had seasonings or sauces anyway.

Tossing it in alongside the fish as I cooked would be plenty good enough.

Umul— umul—

"Mmm. Tastes good."

Though it had the distinct fishy smell of sea creatures, the savory richness completely covered it up.

On top of that, I was pairing it with fish.

The savory umami of the fish meat harmonized to bring joy to my taste buds.

"Wonmo. You eat the head."

"Gkyuu!"

I gave the head portion to Wonmo. Naturally, I cut and grilled it carefully so he wouldn’t choke.

For the record, Speed Sloth firmly declined. Well, considering he’s a herbivore, that makes sense.

I polished off a heartening dinner today as well. Even with a crisis midway, I handled it smoothly.

’In this place, the smaller they are, the more dangerous they are.’

Until now, I’ve been threatened by giant monsters.

But looking at it now, it seems the larger the physique, the more disadvantageous it actually is for survival.

Speed Sloth right here is smaller than me, yet ridiculously strong.

Especially the Saber-toothed Tiger that possessed a Dragon Heart. Its regeneration was strong, but because of its massive build, it had plenty of openings.

The same goes for the Orichalcum Guardian. The smaller ones are more dangerous.

’...Let’s leave crabs and lobsters as exceptions.’

Those guys fit the title of "monsters" too well, so keeping them as exceptions is better.

I finished cleaning up and entered the cave to write in my journal.

Seuk-seuk-seuk— seuk-seuk—

The corpses were important, but the long-arm octopus was paramount. I meticulously recorded information about it.

Since I got burned badly today, the chances of falling for a similar surprise attack are slim. Still, documentation is essential.

Just in case I suffer a head injury and lose my memory.

’Now that the journal entry is done, time to operate my Mental Cultivation Method.’

I was getting used to the cultivation method. Even closing my eyes and concentrating slightly allowed me to vividly feel the mana inside my body.

I should start consuming the Inner Cores starting tomorrow or the day after. I’ll begin with one pill first.

After wrapping up all my training, I logged into the Gallery to check if it was still blazing with the Immortal King discussion topic.

’Still the same.’

Nothing much had changed. The Gallery was still burning hot.

It was fascinating how it burned for so long without anyone throwing in extra firewood.

Even Orange Badge wasn’t cracking down. And that’s despite the rule prohibiting posts inciting conflict between nations.

’Is it because it’s inter-nation conflict?’

The nations currently being mentioned are the Holy Kingdom of El Dorado and the Balkan Kingdom.

And the Balkan Kingdom here collapsed long ago. There couldn’t be a conflict.

Though Mephisto—the Demon Race nation where the Demon King resides—was occasionally brought up, it was at a negligible level.

Most posts were criticisms and condemnations directed at El Dorado.

’Just in case, I should ask Orange Badge and Heavenly Demon.’

It wasn’t that I was worried about El Dorado. I was just indifferent.

How trashy must their usual image have been for everyone to jump at the chance and bash them?

However, if these kinds of posts popped up like mushrooms, the moderators would get fatigued.

I wasn’t worrying about El Dorado, but about the mods who’d have to deal with the workload.

[Wild Grylls: Heavenly Demon-nim. Are you around by any chance?]

[Heavenly Demon: I am always awaiting a conversation with you, sir.]

The first person I reached out to was Heavenly Demon.

Orange Badge vanishes from time to time, so I planned to ask her afterward.

It seems like the Gallery is in chaos right now because of me.

I was wondering if you were busy...

[Heavenly Demon: I understand what you mean.]

You need not worry overmuch. It has often been like this from the beginning.

[Wild Grylls: It’s often been like this?]

[Heavenly Demon: Indeed. Whenever something breaks out in the world, it tends to catch fire like this.]

There are rare cases where issues spill over into reality, but it is extremely sparse.

[Wild Grylls: So if we just stay still, it’ll quiet down on its own.]

[Heavenly Demon: Provided that nation called the Holy Kingdom does not throw in more firewood, that is.]

So in the end, we won’t know the outcome until tomorrow.This chapter was copied from novelping(.)com without permission.

This was something I had already guessed, so I didn’t pay it much mind.

What if the Holy Kingdom gives a bizarre explanation?

[Heavenly Demon]

Then it will burn even hotter than now.

From that point on, things will get busy.

[Wild Grylls: I hope no such thing happens.]

[Heavenly Demon: Are you worried?]

Of course.

My posts might get buried.

[Heavenly Demon: Hm. That is a most grave matter indeed.]

The refresh rate right now was no joke. If I closed and reopened it briefly, 1 or 2 pages had already passed.

For me, who heavily relied on the Gallery, this was a very serious situation.

Thank goodness peer-to-peer trading was possible; otherwise, it would have been a massive headache.

[Heavenly Demon: Do not worry, as I will seek out and read your posts regardless.]

I shall always root for you.

Thank you.

After receiving comfort from Heavenly Demon, next was Orange Badge, Don’t Abandon the Hero.

Wouldn’t the person with the biggest headache in the Gallery right now be this Orange Badge?

Since she was the one who even granted me permissions, I felt even more apologetic.

[Wild Grylls: Orange Badge-nim. Are you there?]

[Don’t Abandon the Hero: Yes! I am here!]

What is the matter!

Fortunately, she seemed to be logged into the Gallery.

Pondering what to say, I asked about the current situation.

[Wild Grylls: Orange Badge-nim, have you experienced situations like this often?]

[Don’t Abandon the Hero: It happens frequently!]

And it’s a bothersome chore too!

Having created that bothersome chore myself, I felt guilty for no reason.

[Wild Grylls: I didn’t know it would turn out like this either. I’m sorry.]

[Don’t Abandon the Hero: You have nothing to be sorry about!]

I don’t think Grylls-nim posted it with that kind of intention!

Thank you.

[Wild Grylls: By the way, what happens to me once the topic cools down?]

[Don’t Abandon the Hero: If you had malice, that might be one thing,]

But Grylls-ssi had no malice, so there won’t be any problem!

That’s a relief.

[Don’t Abandon the Hero: Besides, if I delete it now, the Gallery might catch fire even worse!]

That’s certainly true. I’ve heard of that before.

The effect where trying to hide something ends up attracting even more attention.

Ultimately, it won’t be until tomorrow that the discussion topic cools down or doesn’t.

I’m causing you trouble unintentionally.

[Wild Grylls: I would like to express my apologies once again.]

[Don’t Abandon the Hero: No, not at all!]

If the Holy Kingdom did wrong, they did wrong; if not, then they didn’t!

[Wild Grylls: Orange Badge-nim, are you from the Holy Kingdom?]

[Don’t Abandon the Hero: Yes! It is a country blessed by the gods, especially the Goddess!]

It was an answer dripping with patriotism.

If those atrocities turned out to be true, wouldn’t she lose affection for it?

[Don’t Abandon the Hero: I’ll say it again, Grylls-ssi doesn’t need to apologize!]

There must be some misunderstanding!

Right?

I hope they clarify things well.

Only then would my posts not get buried.

After concluding my conversation with Orange Badge, I browsed the Gallery.

Because most were posts about the Immortal King, there wasn’t a single interesting post.

Occasionally, there were guys trying to capitalize on niche posts, but they were soon deleted.

’I should practice controlling aura until I go to sleep.’

Since the Gallery was boring, I practiced aura control.

As time passes, aura spontaneously increases, making it difficult to control, but I still had to do it.

I channeled mana into the Sword of the Heavenly Demon to generate aura. Aura surged like a heat haze.

Shaping this sharply was the first task.

’....’

As expected, it wasn’t easy. It seems to be a domain of innate talent.

I snuffed out the aura and maintained my equipment.

’Without the Gallery, there isn’t much to do.’

Especially right before going to sleep, there’s way too little to do.

Even with training, too much of anything becomes poison.

’Cigars are meant for hard times too. Let’s just practice the Internal Cultivation Art.’

Until I find a suitable hobby, I’ll have to pass the time with the Internal Cultivation Art.

Thus an eventful day passed, and the next day dawned.

With the new day, the Gallery’s hot topic should have cooled down to some extent.

Unless someone threw in more firewood, it should have withered a bit.

Holy Kingdom of El Dorado: The truth is as follows.

"?"

I’m getting anxious already.