WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ Got a Gallery in the Wild ◈

Chapter 104: Territory (3)

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Territory was an extremely sensitive matter, whether for beasts or humans.

For humans, on a broad scale, it meant a country or its land. On a smaller scale, it meant a home.

Food, clothing, and shelter were all important, but shelter was what provided safety in everyday life.

Without a home, you were never truly safe from natural disasters or other accidents.

That was why territory was necessary for both humans and beasts to live safely.

Even people became wary or hostile when a stranger entered their home. Beasts would be even worse.

I hadn't set out to scout the gorillas' territory for nothing.

'But it seems there are territorial disputes over both the Owlbear's and Mad Dog's territories too?'

I'd set out boldly enough, but I had plenty to worry about.

First, what would happen to the territories of the now-vanished Owlbear and Mad Dog?

I'd thought about it several times, but I hadn't noticed anything unusual so far.

There had been a kangaroo in the cave where the Owlbear stayed, but it had run away when it saw me.

Now I could feel it firsthand. Other animals could move in to claim vacant territory.

The Saber-Toothed Tiger was a monster I had barely managed to defeat with Fast Sloth's help. If I'd been alone, I would've died several times over.

'If something can force its way into what used to be a Saber-Toothed Tiger's territory...'

Maybe it had challenged the Saber-Toothed Tiger while it was still alive.

Or perhaps it had already become the ruler of this entire area.

'I've been marking my territory consistently too, though.'

Of course, I wasn't serious. I just pissed wherever.

Still, I figured that counted as marking out at least a little territory.

'This is the Owlbear's cave.'

Following my memories from yesterday, I reached the Owlbear's cave.

Originally, I had planned to explore from here.

“Kyuu! Kyuu!”

That was before Wonmo rushed into the cave.

I urgently called for Wonmo, but he'd already gone inside. Shaking my head, I entered after him.

“Kyuaaah! Kyuaaah!”

Before long, Wonmo came running back outside.

Judging by his terrified expression, something was in there.

After barely calming the trembling Wonmo, I cautiously peeked inside.

“Whoa.”

I could see why Wonmo had been scared. What was inside wasn't ordinary.

The kangaroo I'd seen yesterday was hopping around inside.

The problem was that there wasn't just one. There were several of them, and it looked like they'd claimed this place as their territory.

What I'd feared had happened. A group of kangaroos had taken over in place of the Owlbear.

'But can kangaroos even live in an environment like this?'

Maybe it was just my prejudice, but on Earth, where I used to live, kangaroos usually lived in Australia.

As long as there was food like grass and trees, I supposed they could survive...

Still, it felt pretty random.

Putting my feelings aside, I decided to quietly retreat.

There was nothing for me to gain from fighting them now, and I still had a lot of places to check.

'If I want to escape, I'll have to pass through animal territories...'

That bothered me too. I would inevitably have to trespass through other animals' territories.

If I was unlucky, I might have to fight several battles in a row against the animals that ruled them.

That was why I needed more information to prevent it.

'Wait. Now that I think about it...'

I turned back and looked at the entrance to the Owlbear's nest.

I was thinking about Rais Kraone, the owner of the book I'd found here.

'How could that person have lived in an Owlbear's nest? Did they live here before the Owlbear came?'

Allfather would probably tell me about that later too.

I looked at what had now become the kangaroos' cave, then moved on.

I still couldn't tell where the gorillas' territory was.

Using the point where I started heading upstream along the river as a reference would be convenient, but even that was vague.

'The river itself might be their territory.'

It was easier to think of this as both exploration and territorial scouting.

If I found droppings along the way, I could stop immediately.

I had an excellent tracking dog, no, tracking bear, so finding them would be easy.

“Sniff, sniff.”

“Hey, Wonmo. That's yucky. Yucky.”

That didn't mean I was telling him to look for mushrooms.

I hurriedly stopped Wonmo in case he tried to eat one.

After that, I explored while carefully marking my path so I wouldn't get lost.

As I did, I gradually realized that the terrain was changing.

'This isn't a forest. It's practically a jungle.'

The leaves were becoming a deeper green, and moss was growing everywhere.

There had been plenty of places in the forest where the ground was stone instead of dirt, but at some point, it became filled with nothing but tree roots.

Even the air had changed enough for me to notice, especially the humidity.

It had been a little dry just moments ago, but now it was damp.

'I didn't feel like the space itself changed, though.'

It didn't feel foreign like the other side of the river had.

It just felt like I'd wandered into a jungle at some point.

I considered turning back, but decided to explore a little farther.

“Holy shit.”

Not long after that thought crossed my mind, I found a new species.

A creature was crawling steadily ahead, though I had no idea where it had come from.

It looked exactly like a snail, but its size was the problem.

Even its shell was much bigger than I was, so there was no need to mention its actual body.

'Is this what a MapleStory snail feels like?'

Seeing a snail as big as a person crawling along was horrifying.

At the same time, I was puzzled. Wouldn't something that big get eaten right away?

'It must have a reason for surviving, right?'

Let's not touch it just to find out. The best thing was to let it go on its way.

I passed the snail, which crawled as slowly as a Sloth.

Before long, I understood how it had survived.

Sssizzle-

“...”

The grass on the ground the snail had passed over had all melted.

As if that wasn't enough, even the soil had melted, and smoke rose in wisps.

It was either poison like the Golden Frog's or some kind of acidic substance.

Considering it was a snail, maybe its whole body was poisonous and acidic.

If you ate that thing, your body would melt into liquid.

'...I'll call it an Acid Snail.'

It wouldn't spit liquid from its mouth like the Golden Frog, would it?

Just in case, I stayed far away from the snail.

I searched all around the jungle but found nothing unusual, so I eventually turned back.

'Do the gorillas not live here?'

Either they lived farther in, or I had gone the wrong way.

Wonmo hadn't found anything either, so it felt like we'd made the trip for nothing.

'There's... still plenty of time.'

When I checked the gallery time, it was only two thirty.

I'd planned to explore until five at the latest, so I could keep looking a little longer.

Still, I didn't enter the jungle again. It would be a disaster if I ran into the gorillas.

“Hm?”

As I was deciding to head back, I noticed something strange.

It was a tree with a deep indentation in its center.

Considering all kinds of fights broke out in the Forest of Four Seasons, it wasn't strange for a tree to be scarred.

But the mark carved into this tree stood out.

'Could this be... a palm print?'

A palm print had been clearly stamped into it.

I couldn't say much else, but it didn't seem to be from a human hand.

I didn't know which primate it belonged to. I wasn't an expert.

There were only two things I knew. It was much bigger than my hand, and its proportions were different.

The palm was much larger than the fingers, and the overall size was more than twice that of my hand.

'...This might be a territorial marker too.'

I looked at the mark, large enough to fit my entire hand inside, and guessed.

If a gorilla had really left this mark, it would be best to leave immediately.

I might get attacked if I carelessly wandered around.

'Are there any other marks besides this?'

Still, I wanted to be more certain about the territory.

I couldn't get scared over a single handprint and fail to do anything.

Just as I was about to turn my head...

“Huh?”

My fingertips brushed against another indentation.

There was another mark beside the large palm print.

The tree was so thick that I had nearly passed it by.

But that wasn't why I was surprised.

'This... really looks like a human palm print?'

A palm print much smaller than the one beside it had been carved there.

It was still larger than my hand, but not unusually so.

I wondered if it belonged to an immature gorilla, but that didn't seem right either.

'The fingers are long.'

The fingers were unusually long. The difference was obvious when I compared the two marks.

Could it have belonged to Rais, who had been attacked by the gorillas? That didn't seem right either.

I didn't know why, but the two marks seemed intimate, as if their owners had left them to show off their bond.

I carefully studied both palm prints, then took a picture. I planned to post it on the gallery later.

'They look pretty old... I don't know.'

I couldn't tell whether these were marks left by a survivor or by a mutant.

Filled with questions, I headed out of the jungle. I couldn't stay any longer.

'I have a lot to think about. I should go back to the shelter.'

I wanted to explore more, but I changed my plans.

I'd found what seemed to be a survivor's mark.

And not Rais's, but another survivor's.

'Why did they leave palm prints? And with a gorilla, too?'

Mulling over a question I couldn't solve, I returned to the shelter.

The moment I got back, I felt all my tension snap away.

“Hm?”

Something was strange, though. I felt an odd sense of discomfort.

What was this feeling? I couldn't figure it out at all.

It was familiar, but something felt off. It was as if things had been moved around.

'Why is the laundry on the ground? Did I secure it badly?'

The first thing I noticed was the laundry that had been hanging on the clothesline, now scattered across the ground.

The metal drum seemed to be in a slightly different spot, and something was off about the charcoal container too.

Signs that someone had been here were everywhere, making me wary.

'There's no one inside?'

I peeked into the cave, but nobody was there. For a moment, I thought there was an intruder inside.

Rubbing the back of my neck, I put away my weapons and entered the cave.

The moment I stepped inside, I felt an even stronger sense that something was wrong.

No. It wasn't just a feeling.

One item had disappeared completely.

“Huh?”

I was the type to keep things organized so I could find them easily.

That was why I immediately knew what was missing.

“What? Where did the Fasting Pills go?”

The Fasting Pills were gone. The whole bag.

Fast Sloth mainly ate Fasting Pills, so I tended to keep them all in one place.

But if they were gone... there was only one explanation.

Someone had broken into my shelter and taken them.

I wondered if there were thieves in the forest, but it wasn't that strange.

Hadn't a raccoon dog stolen Fasting Pills during the last downpour?

Of course, that raccoon dog had gotten thoroughly taught a lesson by Fast Sloth and ended up in Wonmo's stomach.

“...”

Maybe Fast Sloth was shocked that the Fasting Pills were gone.

Fast Sloth hurried down from my back at the fastest speed it could manage outside of battle.

Then it stared dejectedly at the spot where the Fasting Pills had been.

I could clearly feel Fast Sloth's despair and rage.

Who the hell had stolen the Fasting Pills? They hadn't even touched anything else.

'Maybe there are footprints?'

Criminals always left traces.

Leaving Fast Sloth quietly fuming, I went outside.

Soon, after carefully inspecting the ground, I found footprints that hadn't been there before.

'I'll post this on the gallery.'

I had no idea who they belonged to, though.

'I've never seen Fast Sloth this angry before.'

Whoever did this had nothing but death at Fast Sloth's hands waiting for them.

* * *

At the same time, somewhere in the jungle.

“Ooh hoho! Ooh!”

“Ooh! Ooh hoho!”

An unexpected gorilla feast was underway.

Footnotes:

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