WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ Got a Gallery in the Wild ◈

Chapter 151: Slave (1)

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A bridge that would allow survivors to cross the river with ease.

To properly understand its structure and principles, I made a miniature out of branches.

Seeing something once is better than hearing about it a hundred times, and doing it once is better than seeing it a hundred times.

Once I had a rough grasp of it, I got to work building the bridge.

“...How am I supposed to do this?”

I hit a wall as soon as I started. Or rather, I just felt completely overwhelmed.

Making the model had helped me understand the structure and principles.

But once I actually started, everything became a problem. It wasn't as simple as planing some wood.

Cutting the felled trees down to a certain size was one thing, but even using a plane was difficult since it was my first time.

‘It doesn't help that using aura is hard right now.’

My control over cold energy was still poor, so I was avoiding aura whenever possible.

I used mana only to strengthen my body and processed the wood without aura as much as I could.

Scrape! Scrape! Scrape!

I sawed the felled logs precisely in half, then sawed them lengthwise again.

The logs were so thick that sawing them took an incredible amount of effort.

If I didn't even have a saw, I would've given up long ago.

‘Every time I do something like this, I respect people from the old days even more.’

If it had only been sawing, I could've gritted my teeth and powered through it somehow. The flying dust was worse.

Breathing became difficult because of it, so I had no choice but to put on the face covering I'd received for yellow-dust storms.

After cutting a single tree, trimming it to length, and planing even the fine details evenly...

“Ugh. When am I ever going to finish this?”

I'd barely finished processing one log, and I nearly started swearing.

Sawing was exhausting, dust kept flying everywhere, and there was just so much wood.

I considered asking the raccoon family for help, but decided against it.

They were only raccoons, and I was worried they might accidentally start a fire.

‘Is there anyone around who can work?’

Doing all this alone was far harder than I'd expected.

I'd only just started, yet I was already having thoughts like that.

Leaning against the pile of wood, I drank a cup of water.

Even though it was still a cool spring, sweat poured down my body.

‘Processing the wood is one thing, but can I even build the bridge?’

Worry was already starting to creep in.

What if I finished processing everything, ran into another problem, and couldn't build the bridge after all?

Everything I'd done so far could end up being meaningless.

[Post title] Please, Someone Come Help Me.

[Author] Wild Grylls

[Post] (Photo of processed wood)

[Post] Processing wood is fucking hard. Please, someone come help me.

└ [Heavenly Demon]: Is it still difficult to use Sword Aura?

└ [Wild Grylls]: Yes. It'd be a huge pain if everything froze.

└ [SwordTasteMaster]: It must be incredibly hard doing it all manually. Still, isn't it good exercise?

└ [Wild Grylls]: My back muscles are twitching.

└ [SwordTasteMaster]: Chopping firewood is great for training your back muscles. While you're at it, don't rely solely on aura. You should improve your raw physical ability too.

└ [Wild Grylls]: Got it.

└ Every time I see this guy, he's always going out of his way to suffer;;;

└ He misses people. Let's cut him some slack.

└ Isn't he looking for slaves, not survivors?

└ True lmao he was low-key recruiting slaves this whole time lmao

└ What do you get if you work there?

└ What would you get lmao You're basically an assistant moderator in real life.

└ [Heavenly Demon]: Hm. I'm not particularly tempted either. That doesn't even qualify as a pastime, does it?

└ Even the assistant moderator rejects being Grylls's slave. Terrifying.

└ [Passing Dwarf]: Is woodworking that hard? It looks easy when I watch my friend do it, but I guess it isn't.

└ [Wild Grylls]: Does that person use machines?

└ [Passing Dwarf]: Isn't that a given in this day and age? Who does it by hand lol

└ [Wild Grylls]: Fuck, I want a machine too.

└ [Passing Dwarf]: Do you even know how to use one? Or could you use it if I gave you one? lol

└ [Wild Grylls]: Sigh. Couldn't a suitable slave just fall out of the sky somewhere?

└ Look at the nerve on this guy lmao He floored it when he spotted a survivor lmao

└ Think reality finally hit him hard. No other explanation for him changing like this lol

└ [Wild Grylls]: I'm having a hard enough time. How much harder must it be for ordinary people? I respect them all over again.

└ At least those people don't do it alone, Grylls...

└ That's because you're alone, yeah.

└ What good is the potential of shitty humans? They're only strong when they stick together lol

└ Isn't that true for other races too?

└ Why not make the raccoon family do it?

└ Papa Raccoon's already working. Digging up medicinal herbs.

└ What about Mama Raccoon or the baby? Try asking them.

└ They're gonna get taken away, you bastard;;

└ There's nowhere around there to take them away to though lol

└ Oh, right? Grylls. Make the raccoon family your slaves. Problem solved.

└ [Starlight Princess]: You people aren't even human. How can you think that?

└ [Wild Grylls]: I did think about it, but I scrapped the idea because they might get hurt.

└ [Starlight Princess]: ...At least you have a conscience.

└ His conscience may be hairy, but at least he's got one lmao

└ There's something crazy about this Grylls guy every time I see him lol

It wasn't quite a lament, but everyone said what they wanted to say and that was the end of it.

I'd gone in to rest anyway, so I didn't think much of it.

└ Try asking the gorillas. Who knows? They might do it if you give them Fasting Pills.

└ They're not foreign workers lol

└ Not foreign workers, animal workers lol

└ I hear beastfolk are great workers.

└ Should we even call those guys beastfolk? From how they act, they're closer to cavemen.

└ That's what beastfolk are, then what else would they be?

└ [SuspiciouslySo]: They're not beastfolk, you bastards...

└ They've got fur, arms and legs, and they speak human language. They're beastfolk lol

└ For real lol

It wasn't as if I hadn't considered making the gorillas work in exchange for Fasting Pills.

But the gorillas were Fast Sloth's enemies.

They were both full of bad feelings toward each other. Like hell they'd agree.

‘I've got no choice but to do it alone.’

Grumbling to myself, I kept processing the wood.

I cut the logs crosswise, cut them lengthwise again, then finished with the plane.

Little by little, a mountain grew. As time passed, the number of processed timbers gradually increased.

‘Mold will grow if I don't dry them, but...’

Later, I could fill the gaps with cement or gradually replace the bridge with a stone one.

For now, I needed to focus on building the bridge.

“Whew.”

A long time passed, and a decent pile of processed lumber had built up.

It was still nowhere near enough, of course.

Preparing for rain, I carried the lumber into the cave.

It occurred to me that I might use a lot of lumber from now on, so maybe I should build a drying room.

That thought was rejected soon after.

‘Then I'd have to expand the cave even more.’

Unless survivors came, there would be no expansion work.

Even if they did, they might not be people suited to productive work.

Ludwig was a holy knight, in other words, a soldier.

Soldiers were famously not in a productive line of work.

‘At least the inside of the cave is dry.’

The weather was chilly, so the fireplace was going too. It was hot and dry inside.

Naturally, I couldn't dry lumber perfectly in just a day or two.

Passing Dwarf said it took at least a few months.

It was easiest to just think of it as material for the framework.

“Wow. An entire day just disappeared.”

I checked the time with a sound closer to a sigh.

I'd eaten lunch and done nothing but work, yet evening was already approaching.

The setting sun looked as though it were urging me to hurry up and finish.

The entire day had vanished while I worked. I wasn't even done yet.

I wondered when I'd ever finish, but if I kept at it, I'd eventually see the end.

Before the sun completely set, I headed up to the river. I had to retrieve the Fish Traps and, while I was at it, check the other side of the river.

‘Hm. What an even shittier area.’

The environment there was worse than the fog zone.

It looked like the place had been soaked in radiation, because the entire ground was green.

And I mean the ground was literally glowing green, not that it was covered in grass.

‘What the hell happened there for it to end up looking like that?’

I just hoped that radiation-like stuff didn't affect this side too.

Carefully, I collected the fish caught in the traps.

Since I'd set up two Fish Traps, I caught a whole five fish.

“Keng!”

Not long after I returned, Papa Raccoon came by.

He was holding a medicinal herb that looked like wild ginseng.

I asked Heavenly Demon about it, and she said it was wild ginseng packed with Internal Energy. I decided to use it as an ingredient for Fasting Pills.

She also said the Fasting Pills were nearly complete and that she could give them to me tomorrow morning.

I was happy too, but Fast Sloth was the happiest of all. It really loved food.

‘He's really good at finding wild ginseng.’

Since he had brought me something valuable, I should give him a reward.

I cooked one of the fish until it looked delicious and gave it to the raccoon family.

The raccoon family seemed to like the grilled fish too, and cleaned it right up.

“Kiiing.”

“Kkiing! Kking!”

Mama Raccoon was the first to put a piece of fish into the baby raccoon's mouth.

Seeing her feed the baby before herself, I realized that family really was family.

‘I'm a little jealous of that.’

Just a few years ago, I ate together with everyone around one table. A bitter smile came to my face.

It hurt to think about, but now I could keep it as a memory. Otherwise, I would only make things harder on myself.

After having dinner with the raccoon family, I rested in the warm cave.

Shhhhhh-

I didn't forget to go through the cultivation method for controlling cold energy.

Though I had only been practicing for a short while, all my effort had made controlling cold energy easier.

The cold energy that had been the size of a grain of millet that morning had grown to the size of a ping-pong ball.

Everything was hard at first. Once I gained momentum, my growth quickly picked up.

‘Condensing cold energy isn't the end.’

My goal wasn't simply to separate cold energy, but to use it whenever I wanted.

Still, my progress wasn't bad, so all I needed was time.

After finishing the cultivation method, I accessed the Gallery.

‘Same as ever.’

The Gallery was still ablaze with discussion about El Dorado.

People were saying it had practically entered a civil war, but I didn't pay much attention.

Unless Ludwig and I met, and Ludwig dropped some massive revelation, this would be the end of it.

‘There isn't anyone to lead it either.’

Most importantly, there was no one to take the lead, no central figure capable of guiding a civil war.

Things would be different if the Hero were around, but... what did it matter?

I closed the Gallery and got ready for bed.

Wonmo was already sleeping soundly, while Fast Sloth was zoning out by the fire again.

‘Thinking about working again tomorrow is suffocating.’

Couldn't a great worker just fall from the sky?

Thinking another pointless thought, I slowly closed my eyes.

* * *

As time passed, it neared dawn.

Roosters crowed in the distance, and most animals began preparing for the day.

It was still not fully light outside because of the season.

The animals each went about getting ready to move.

“...”

But someone had once said that the early bird caught the worm.

While everyone else was preparing, someone was already taking action.

Like the animal currently staring intently at the sign set up near the river.

“Krung.”

Of all the languages written on the sign, the one the animal focused on was the language of the Central Plains.

The animal silently stared at it with crimson-red eyes.

Then it turned its head toward the place where smoke was rising.

It was smoke billowing from the chimney, after Fast Sloth had kept adding firewood throughout the predawn hours.

“...”

The red-eyed animal slowly headed toward the source of the smoke.

Its appearance and the way it moved forward with its huge arms planted on the ground made it unmistakably a gorilla.

Unlike the other gorillas, though, its fur was white, and even its eyes were red.

And its eyes weren't the only thing that was red.

“Uuuh...!”

The gorilla's palms were crimson too, like blood.

Footnotes:

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