WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ Got a Gallery in the Wild ◈

Chapter 165: Wild Horse (2)

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Things got complicated from the very beginning, all thanks to Kkobong, the troll of the century.

It had provoked the temper of a Flame Horse that looked extraordinary at a glance.

At first, I thought it had pulled this crap just to mess with me, but...

“Ookiaaaak!”

“Heeheeheeheeheeheeheeing!”

What kind of place was the Forest of Four Seasons?

Even raccoons were intelligent here, while gorillas displayed intelligence on par with humans.

Horses had already been among the smartest animals where I used to live.

Wild horses lived in herds too, despite their image. Naturally, they had to follow established rules, which made them highly social animals as well.

And we already knew exactly what happened when an animal that was naturally intelligent came to live in the Forest of Four Seasons.

Right. This horse was far better at reading the room and grasping the situation than I had imagined.

Fwoooosh!

The flames pouring from the Flame Horse's mouth were aimed not at me, but at Kkobong.

Kkobong couldn't even use mana, so it was too busy trying to dodge to think about fighting back.

The Flame Horse focused its attacks entirely on Kkobong.

Maybe it knew about my “innocence,” or maybe it had caught the culprit red-handed.

Either way, I got to watch from a short distance away. The heat was intense, but not unbearable.

“Neighhh.”

“Here, this is tasty. Eat up.”

While I was at it, I fed the Flame Horse's foals too.

I'd wondered why it had threatened Wonmo the moment it saw him, but it was because it had foals in the cave.

The foals were still young, so their flames weren't as big as their mother's.

Their eyes and manes only flickered like tiny embers.

“Uaaak! Kuaak! Kkueeeek!”

“Wow. It really spins well.”

After a long chase, the Flame Horse bit Kkobong and started swinging it around in circles.

Kkobong was fairly large too, so the Flame Horse's bite had to be incredibly strong.

After playing with Kkobong for a while, the Flame Horse flung it far away.

Its white fur had been scorched black, and it looked completely wrecked.

It twitched now and then, so it seemed to still be breathing.

‘That's what you get for being too clever.’

It had probably planned to ask me to release its suppressor when I got into trouble.

Considering the Flame Horse's strength, that would've been entirely possible.

I could tell it had put some thought into Fast Sloth as well.

Kkobong knew it too.

Fast Sloth was our party's ultimate weapon, only appearing as a last resort.

‘Did it figure that out when I asked Fast Sloth to teach me before?’

It had seen me training too, so it must have started scheming back then.

I had no idea what thought process led it to provoke another creature, but one thing was certain.

Self-defeat. It had fallen into its own trap.

‘Idiot.’

I laughed at Kkobong to myself while cautiously watching the Flame Horse.

The Flame Horse seemed to have vented all its anger and approached its foals.

Then it glanced at me and jerked its head, clearly telling me to get out.

I had no intention of fighting, so I obediently backed away.

We had been the ones to cause trouble first, after all.

“Kkyueeeeng! Kkyueng!”

“Kkuiiing!”

The Flame Horse's foals started crying out as I moved away.

I'd only given them Fasting Pills from my emergency rations and petted them a few times, but they already seemed attached to me.

While the mother Flame Horse calmed them down, I headed over to Kkobong.

Its mouth was hanging slightly open, and it looked half-conscious.

Smoke was even curling out of its mouth.

‘It protected its glasses to the very end.’

The funny part was that it had protected only its glasses.

Apparently, it didn't want to lose its new eyes.

‘It feels wasteful to use an Elixir, but... it can't be helped.’

I gave Kkobong an Elixir.

Only about half a bottle. Using the whole thing would have been a waste.

I didn't care about its fur, so I only healed the worst parts.

Crackle!

“Uooooong!”

Healing was one thing, but it still had to be punished.

When I struck its upper arm hard with my palm, the suppressor activated.

Kkobong flailed in pain as the electric current stung worse than fire.

Given the situation, I gave it just one short warning instead of cursing it out.

“We'll talk when we get home.”

“...”

Kkobong didn't say anything. More like it couldn't.

It might have been cursing me internally, but Kkobong was still undeniably my ‘slave.’

What happened today could have affected my safety too, so I felt that I needed to take this more seriously. I'd changed my mind.

I needed to think harder about what to do with Kkobong.

Even if it was a little harsh, I had to find an efficient and effective method.

Carrots were all well and good, but it looked like I'd need the stick too.

Tap, tap.

I had roughly sorted things out and was about to leave when Fast Sloth, who was riding on my back, poked the back of my neck with its claws.

Wondering what was going on, I turned to look at it.

Swish.

Fast Sloth pointed at itself with a claw.

It seemed to be telling me to leave Kkobong to it.

Like I said before, Kkobong was ultimately a beast.

It could speak human language fluently, but there had to be things beasts understood among themselves.

Since Fast Sloth had stepped forward like this, leaving it to Fast Sloth didn't sound bad.

‘Fast Sloth is the highest-ranking one here anyway.’

Even I had to watch Fast Sloth's mood if I ran out of Fasting Pills.

And Fast Sloth had saved my life several times.

It was lazy every day, but it did what needed to be done. I could trust it with this.

“Kkuiiiik!”

“Wow. Are there nothing but fire-aspected beasts here?”

I needed to finish exploring first.

I stared in amazement at the wild boar whose bristles had been replaced by blazing flames.

A pig combined with fire. Should I call it a Fire Boar?

I immediately understood why this area had turned gray.

“Kkuiiiik!”

“Hot, hot, hot, hot, hot!!!”

Its temper was absolutely rotten too.

I barely dodged the Fire Boar's attack as it breathed fire from its mouth.

Even if I blocked something like that with a shield, I would still get burned by the flames.

I responded by covering my entire body in aura.

I didn't need to absorb all the damage. Blocking even a little would be enough.

“Kkuiiiik!!!”

The Fire Boar blew flames from its nostrils and scraped the ground with its forelegs.

Anyone could tell it was warning me, ‘I'm about to ram you.’

Before long, the Fire Boar charged at me just as it had warned.

Its entire body was wreathed in flames, and the sight of it rushing at me was overwhelmingly intimidating.

Swish.

But that was its mistake. What kind of sword did it think I was holding?

I only had to place my sword in the Fire Boar's path.

The Fire Boar charged into Heavenly Demon’s Sword, slid cleanly across its blade, and crumpled to the ground.

Normally, it should have been split cleanly in two. Instead, the cold had frozen the halves together.

It was as though ice had become glue, holding the severed sides together.

‘At least I won't have to worry about it rotting.’

I decided on boar for dinner and put it into my Subspace Backpack.

Then I headed back. I didn't encounter any other beasts on the way.

“Kkyuiiing!”

“Kkyuhiing! Kkyuhiing!”

The Flame Horse's foals clung to me, though.

I couldn't tell whether they wanted Fasting Pills or wanted me to pet them.

I barely managed to send them back to their mother before returning to the shelter.

‘Come to think of it, was it because animals liked being touched in places they couldn't reach themselves?’

If that was the reason, I understood. I'd also given them Fasting Pills, so they probably saw me as a kind uncle.

I'd have liked to tame them, but their manes were made of flames.

I'd burn all over if I tried to ride one, so I was better off giving up.

‘Even if I absorb fire-related essence, it probably won't make a difference.’

I had gained the ability to control cold, but I had no resistance to the cold itself.

After returning to the shelter, I started preparing dinner.

First, I planned to butcher the boar that had been split apart and frozen back together.

‘...How am I supposed to butcher this?’

The tiger hadn't been cut in half.

This one, though, was already split apart. Its cross section was only frozen together.

In other words, the moment it thawed, the membranes holding its guts in would be gone and everything would spill out.

‘Draining the blood will be hard too. I'll just pick out the edible parts.’

I wanted pork belly for the first time in a while. Too bad. Though I didn't even know if they considered pork belly a specific cut here.

After agonizing over how to butcher it, I eventually made a post on the Gallery.

[Post title] Title) Caught a Wild Boar

[Author] Wild Grylls

[Post] (Photo of a wild boar split in half and frozen back together)

[Post] How do I butcher this? It got split in half and froze back together, so I need advice.

└ [Heavenly Demon]: That is a sturdy-looking wild boar. It has been a long time since I had meat.

└ [Wild Grylls]: I'm looking forward to it.

└ [SwordTasteMaster]: I ate wild boar often when I was a knight too. This brings back memories.

└ [Wild Grylls]: Did you eat snakes too, by any chance?

└ [SwordTasteMaster]: Of course. Back then, I was hungry no matter what I ate.

└ Oof. Butchering that'll be rough if it's split in half.

└ Pull out the guts first and drain the blood. Cut the throat right away too.

└ Looks like only the rib section will be edible.

└ Wild boar is tough, so eat only the tender parts if you can.

└ [Starlight Princess]: That wild boar looks a little strange. Were you not in danger?

└ [Wild Grylls]: Its mane was blowing around like fire, and it breathed fire from its nose too.

└ [Starlight Princess]: That sounds like a Fire Boar?

└ [Wild Grylls]: Is it a rare animal?

└ [Starlight Princess]: It is a beast combined with an element, so of course it is rare. Still, its overall structure is no different from an ordinary wild boar.

Its hide is infused with fire energy, so clothing made from it is said to be especially warm.

She explained that its hide was valuable to people in cold regions for that reason.

‘It's already cut in half, so I can't get a whole hide out of it, and collecting it will be difficult too.’

Still, I had to do as much as I could.

Even if I didn't sell it, I could use it to prepare for winter.

After butchering the boar piece by piece, I put the guts in a container.

I ordered Kkobong to dump the guts from the container into the river.

Unlike before, it followed my instructions without a word of complaint.

I wondered if it had learned something from the Flame Horse incident, but...

‘No. It's a crafty bastard. It could just be pretending to have improved.’

I couldn't let my guard down until the end. I would only get attached after it had truly submitted.

Once I finished butchering the boar, I had a fairly abundant amount of meat.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle.

“Ahh.”

I always thought this, but meat was always right.

Fish was tasty too, but meat was different from its color and aroma alone.

There was plenty of it too, so I could eat well for the whole day.

‘And now I can freeze it for storage too? This is amazing.’

It was going to be a meat party for a while. I still needed to eat fish sometimes.

I handed Wonmo a huge hunk of meat.

Wonmo's eyes sparkled with anticipation.

“Nom! Nom! Nom!”

“Is it good?”

“Kkyuu! Yum, yum, yum!!!”

Wonmo even buried his face in the meat as he ate.

I petted his head and told him to eat slowly.

“Do you want some too?”

“...”

Fasting Pills were enough for Fast Sloth, but it was drawn to the ribs and took a bite.

Fast Sloth chewed slowly and thoroughly, as though it suited its tastes.

That left Kkobong...

“Ooh! Ooh!”

What had it done to deserve a meal? I had no idea why it was making such a fuss, demanding food.

Just as I was looking at Kkobong, thinking how pathetic it was...

Smack!

Fast Sloth shot over at incredible speed and slapped Kkobong across the cheek.

Fast Sloth usually moved so slowly that I couldn't help being startled.

I was shocked, so how shocked must Kkobong have been after getting slapped?

It stared with wide, round eyes, completely dumbfounded.

“...”

Fast Sloth slapped Kkobong's cheek, then alternated pointing at the ribs and me.

It seemed to mean that Kkobong had to respect me first if it wanted to eat.

Apparently, Fast Sloth hadn't liked what Kkobong did to the Flame Horse either.

Wave, wave.

Fast Sloth even gestured for Kkobong to get lost. What could Kkobong do here?

It couldn't run away with the suppressor on. More importantly, food was on the line.

Food was life in the wild. It wouldn't truly die, but it was still a terrifying punishment.

“...”

Kkobong finally grew dejected and slowly backed away.

It glanced in my direction occasionally, but what could it do? It had brought this on itself.

I didn't particularly feel sorry for it. I just hoped it wouldn't lose heart and cause another incident.

Anyway, forget Kkobong. Time to eat some delicious ribs.

‘Why does this taste flame-grilled? It's really good.’

Maybe because it was a boar infused with the energy of fire, it naturally tasted flame-grilled.

I was truly glad I could eat things like this for a while.

Bzzzzz.

After finishing dinner and cleaning up, a bug flew over.

Before long, it landed on the back of my hand.

Good thing I hurriedly caught it before it bit me. Otherwise, I might have caught some disease.

‘Come to think of it, I need to get bug repellent too.’

Summer was coming soon, so bugs would start swarming.

After buying bug repellent, I applied it throughout the cave and shelter.

While I was at it, I prepared for snakes too. Bugs and snakes were targets for extermination, no exceptions.

‘What will happen in summer? I just hope there aren't any mosquito swarms.’

And sure enough...

Bzzzzzzzzzz!!!

The next morning.

I was left speechless by the terrifying swarm of bugs outside the cave.

There were so many that I couldn't see an inch ahead, a sea of black insects filling everything.

What would have happened if I hadn't applied bug repellent?

They would have entered the cave and happily chewed through my flesh.

I was safe because I had put up a tent too.

‘...Is this what they call a Dark Swarm or something?’

At this rate, Plague would be showing up soon too.

“Ookiaaaak! Aaaak!”

“Ah. Right.”

That one had been sleeping outside. I forgot.

Footnotes:

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