WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ Got a Gallery in the Wild ◈

Chapter 152: Slave (2)

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Hello! A strong and mighty morning![1]

If you ask me, I'm Grylls!

Scrape! Scrape! Scrape!

And a slave to life, hard at work the moment I wake up!

“Ugh. Fuck.”

Every time I sawed, I cursed at the clouds of dust flying everywhere.

I'd started processing lumber first thing in the morning. The cursing never stopped, but the pile of lumber was slowly growing.

‘I should've just asked the dwarf to do this.’

I'd figured it would be better to do it myself since I needed to account for the width.

That judgment had been insane. Doing this alone was impressively inefficient.

What annoyed me more was that everything was proceeding exactly as I wanted.

You might wonder why that would make me angry when things were going according to plan.

If I screwed up, I could at least use that as an excuse to quit. But if I was doing well, I couldn't even do that.

In the end, I worked past stubbornness and into resignation, processing wood like a machine.

“Kyuu! Kyu!”

“Kiiing!”

While I worked my ass off, Wonmo and the baby raccoon were busy playing in the yard.

Wonmo seemed to understand raccoons well enough now and played nicely without causing any trouble.

For a moment, I wondered why they got to play comfortably while their owner was working so hard.

‘They're kids, though.’

It would be weird to scold kids for playing.

Besides, this was work I'd decided to do myself.

If I got angry for no reason, I'd just be the weird one, so I had to hold it in.

‘It's enough that I can work without any interruptions.’

Honestly, I could only do work like this because I had some breathing room.

If I'd been desperately fighting to survive every day, I wouldn't have been able to work on something like this at all.

Also, winter had completely ended yesterday, so I needed to keep an eye on the animals.

Right before winter ended, the raccoon family had been attacked by a giant snake.

‘This peace might only last until today.’

The Forest of Four Seasons was a place where it was impossible to know exactly what animals lived there.

I'd seen quite a few animals already, but new ones could always show up.

A unicorn might actually appear, or something even stranger.

I hoped nothing like that happened, but that was wishful thinking.

All I could do was keep working and prepare if I got a bad feeling.

Snap!

Just like now, when the sound of a branch breaking rang out especially loudly.

That wasn't all. The atmosphere of the forest itself had gone silent.

There should've been at least the faintest little noises, but a heavy silence hung in the air.

“...”

I stopped working and focused on the sound.

To make sure I hadn't misheard, I checked how the others reacted too.

“Kyuu?”

Wonmo, who had been happily playing, suddenly froze and looked around.

He even leaned back slightly after sensing something was wrong. He was on guard.

“Kkiing?”

“King. Kiiing.”

The baby raccoon, perhaps because it was still young, just kept tilting its head.

The mother raccoon, who had more experience, took the baby away. That made it clear this was a dangerous situation.

‘Who is it?’

I slowly backed toward the cave while keeping watch.

We'd already noticed the intruder, yet it still wasn't showing itself. It was probably watching our reactions.

I entered the cave and armed myself. Fast Sloth must've realized the severity of the situation too, because it climbed onto my back.

Rustle. Rustle.

Once I was fully armed, the bushes toward the river shook violently.

Then the intruder slowly emerged. It didn't seem to have any intention of hiding.

Rustle.

“...”

“...”

The intruder finally came into full view. The first thing that caught my eye was its fur.

White fur that contrasted completely with its surroundings. It wasn't the soft, fluffy fur of a baby animal. It was simply white.

The fur alone made it stand out, but its eyes were even stranger.

Its blood-red eyes felt vicious just to look at.

‘...A gorilla?’

The animal with those unusual features was a gorilla.

An albino gorilla, with white fur and red eyes.

It was a mutation that appeared not only in animals, but in humans too.

I was only briefly surprised by the albino gorilla before remembering something Allfather had told me.

‘Rais Kraone was attacked and killed by an albino gorilla.’

Whatever the reason, that gorilla had a history of hurting people.

Naturally, I had no choice but to be even more cautious.

There was one more thing I needed to check: Fast Sloth's reaction.

It had even frowned, a rare sight, when it saw the Chief Gorilla. Yet it wasn't reacting that way toward the albino gorilla.

Its reaction was closer to, What the hell is that thing?

Had it never met this one before?

‘If it isn't attacking and showed itself openly...’

Was it lost, or had it simply come to scout the area?

If it was lost, I planned to threaten it and drive it away.

The albino gorilla thoroughly looked over my shelter before staring directly at me.

“Ha piria pazzah.”

“...”

“Ni Wild Grylls iya? Wa bini Wibaek.”

Just like the Chief Gorilla, it spoke in the language of the Central Plains.

I'd seen the Chief Gorilla speak before, but it was still far from something I was used to.

Of course I was flustered.

‘...Do I need to learn the language of the Central Plains too?’

I was even having thoughts like that. In the meantime, the albino gorilla kept talking.

It was all in the language of the Central Plains, so I couldn't understand a word.

I asked Heavenly Demon to translate it for me directly.

Heavenly Demon gladly accepted and kindly interpreted for me.

[Heavenly Demon]: What a fine house. Are you Wild Grylls? My name is Wibaek.

[Wild Grylls]: ??? It was introducing itself?

[Heavenly Demon]: It seems so. Like the Chief Gorilla, it uses quite archaic speech.

The albino gorilla had introduced itself as Wibaek. The fact that it even had a name was ridiculous.

That also meant the Chief Gorilla had a name...

The atmosphere had been so hostile back then that I hadn't even considered asking.

While I thought that, Wibaek kept speaking in a mild tone in the language of the Central Plains.

I asked Heavenly Demon to translate again.

[Heavenly Demon]: It says it saw the sign and came here. It will lend you its strength, so you should lend it yours.

Had it mistaken the sign for a help wanted ad?

If a stranger, especially an animal, saw it, it was understandable that they might misunderstand.

Still, who would've expected there to be another animal besides the Chief Gorilla that could read?

My mind almost stopped working, but I asked Heavenly Demon something.

[Wild Grylls]: Could you write down a message asking what it wants help with?

[Heavenly Demon]: Wait.

Just like with the Chief Gorilla, I got Heavenly Demon's help and wrote what I wanted to say on the ground.

The albino gorilla stared intently at the words I'd written.

“...”

It spent a long time reading with its brow furrowed. It even craned its head forward.

For a moment, I wondered if it couldn't read after all, but thankfully that was just a needless worry. It opened its mouth.

I asked Heavenly Demon to translate that too.

This process kept repeating.

[Heavenly Demon]: It says a hypocritical brother is leading the troop. It appears to be the Chief Gorilla's brother.

[Wild Grylls]: Oh... And?

[Heavenly Demon]: It says that if you help it, it will defeat the Chief Gorilla. If you refuse, it will defeat you and make this place its base.

They say you should never take in a black-haired animal, meaning an ungrateful person, but this white one was no better.

I'd thought it was fortunate that it could speak, but a beast was still a beast.

The Chief Gorilla was better. At least it recognized my territory.

I snorted and asked Heavenly Demon something.

[Wild Grylls]: Thanks. Could you tell me how to say “go fuck yourself”?

[Heavenly Demon]: I could write down the worst insult in the Central Plains.

[Wild Grylls]: What is it? I want to say it myself.

If I was going to do it, I wanted to say it out loud instead of writing it.

It took a little time, but I somehow learned the pronunciation.

Then the words came out of my mouth.

“Cao ni ma.”

“...”

It was the nastiest insult involving someone's mother in the Central Plains. Every time I heard it, it sounded a lot like Chinese.

I could put up with a lot of things, but I didn't like it trying to crush me through force.

Someone might say, What do you expect from an animal? But since it was an animal, I could curse it out as much as I wanted.

‘It has already hurt people too.’

That was the deciding factor. It had a history of hurting people, so cooperation my ass.

On top of that, it was trying to start a war with the gorilla troop. It had no grasp of reality.

Maintaining the status quo was best for me right now, and it wanted to shatter that balance.

Snort. Snort.

The albino gorilla's nostrils flared after being thoroughly cursed out.

It looked ready to rush at me at any moment. Then again, it was hard to ignore someone insulting your mother.

Still, it was the one that crossed the line first. Being an asshole had limits.

The albino gorilla's proposal, no, its coercion or threat, went far beyond them.

“Zui xing si bu.”

It took a fighting stance and spoke. It probably meant something like, You are courting death.

I snorted and held my sword and shield out in front of me.

At the same time, I carefully watched its movements.

Until now, both its fists had been planted on the ground, so I hadn't noticed. But when it assumed a stance, I could see its palms.

For some reason, they were bright red like blood. Just looking at them made me uneasy.

‘Its stance, its palms... It might be as strong as the Chief Gorilla.’

It wasn't an opponent I could underestimate. Rushing in carelessly would be dangerous.

At least I had the advantage of information. I'd already been thoroughly beaten by the Chief Gorilla once.

That meant I knew how to respond to some degree, while it knew nothing about me.

Thump!

The albino gorilla charged at me while I was thinking.

There was a fair distance between us, but it closed it in an instant with a single leap.

A huge palm flew toward my face next. A palm as red as blood.

‘I can't block it!’

Even if I blocked it, I wouldn't be able to deflect all that force. I'd either fall over or leave myself open for its next attack.

That was knowledge I'd gained from fighting the Chief Gorilla.

When the palm came right up to my face, I quickly ducked beneath it.

Then I cleanly thrust my sword into its exposed torso.

Crack! Thunk!

Along with the sound of something breaking, the tip of Heavenly Demon’s Sword barely pierced its abdomen.

Normally, it should've pierced through instead of simply sinking in.

But the albino gorilla's hide seemed much tougher than I'd expected.

Shhhhh-

Blue energy scattered from where the sword had pierced it.

I'd expected it to use mana, and it looked like it had used a defensive technique.

Heavenly Demon’s Sword was absurdly powerful, so another sword probably wouldn't have even scratched it.

“Uuuuh!!!”

Perhaps the albino gorilla hadn't expected its body to be pierced either.

It screamed in surprise and jumped back.

The wound wasn't particularly deep, but it seemed deeply shocked that its body had been injured at all.

That only lasted a moment. The albino gorilla rushed at me again with an even angrier expression.

Its attack was another palm strike, just like before. Surprisingly, its attacks were simple.

But...

Kwakakakakak!

“Ah, fuck.”

The destructive power behind that simple attack was terrifying.

I barely avoided the strike, but I couldn't ignore the aftermath.

The lumber I'd processed from early that morning shattered in a cascade from the force of its palm strike.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

A flurry of wild attacks followed that palm strike. Aside from the first strike, its accuracy was terrible.

It was clearly using martial arts, but every attack missed.

It was so much like it was thinking, Just let me hit you once, that it was almost anticlimactic.

‘What? What's wrong with this thing?’

It got funnier whenever I put some distance between us.

After the distance widened and some time passed, it would run in and launch a palm strike.

But its accuracy was quite good during those attacks, which made my blood run cold.

Of course, every attack after that was pathetic.

‘It's like it's blind with its eyes open...’

The moment that phrase came to mind, I stared at the albino gorilla.

It was actually furrowing its brow, but it didn't look angry. It looked like it couldn't see properly.

‘What if the accuracy of that first attack came from focusing with everything it had?’

What if its later attacks were terrible because it was worried about my counterattacks?

Most of all, it was an albino. An animal with white fur and red eyes.

And one trait of albinism was...

‘Very poor eyesight.’

I'd found the key to defeating it.

‘I shall graciously make you my slave.’

I'd teach it pain worse than death.

I slowly sped up the mana circulating inside my body.

The cold energy that had condensed into a bead fully seeped into my mana.

Shhhhh-

It was time to subdue it.

Footnotes:

[1] A Waldo-speak game-localization parody, with Grylls substituted for Waldo.

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