WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Got a Gallery in the Wild ◈
Chapter 178: Arena (4)
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There were a few things I learned from this Arena.
Why casinos gave travel fare to people who had lost everything.
It was all part of the casino's scheme.
They had already squeezed enough out of them, and they gave them the fare so they would come back next time.
I had it even easier. I didn't need to prepare a thing. All I had to do was show people the Arena.
A lot of people gathered because kangaroos fighting each other was apparently quite a novelty, even by this world's standards.
It also helped that I was a registered user making quite a name for myself on the Gallery.
‘Did I make a lot...?’
I checked the Ladder Points I had earned from fees alone.
Points poured in every time I announced the kangaroos' match results.
I had earned a whopping 300,000 points from that alone. Even after giving disaster relief funds to the people who had gone broke, I still had this much.
‘Not that having a lot of points would help me much.’
They could only be used on the Gallery.
What could I do with them? Nothing.
They were basically a toy. That was probably why even people who were not registered users could trade them.
You might wonder whether anyone would pay cash to buy them, but that had been blocked from the start.
If they could be traded for cash, their value as pure Gallery currency would fade.
‘They're just decorative, really.’
Still, it was strangely addictive.
Why were they so addictive when they were difficult to get and had no real-world value?
[Post title] Title) Why Do We Collect Points?
[Post] Simple. Because they're fair.
[Post] Do you people know the feeling of watching your points pile up bit by bit?
[Post] Do you know the feeling of losing every point you painstakingly saved through one bad choice?
[Post] Do you know how it feels when the fucking points you swore you'd never collect again start flashing before your eyes?
[Post] You can't buy this with money. Why don't you get it?!
[Post] You think they're nothing? Yeah. They're nothing in real life.
[Post] But on the Gallery, they're everything, and they're the fairest system there is. Do you have any idea how valuable that is?
[Post] You don't? Then give me your points. I'll help you understand.
└ Why does this bastard's whole post lead to that conclusion? lol
└ So the point is that he wants points lol
└ He's begging so confidently that I have nothing to say.
└ So how much did our beggar lose?
└ My entire fortune.
└ Why aren't you buying newspapers to sleep on? Oh, right. You can't even afford newspapers, can you?
└ You fucking bastard!
└ LOL
└ LMAO
└ LOL
It was because they could only be obtained through pure effort and luck. There was almost nothing from real life that could affect them.
All those reasons combined made users obsessed with them.
Of course, that also created a mass of future gambling addicts.
Still, it was far better to lose everything on the Gallery than in real life.
[Post title] Title) Trading Cash for Points Is Strictly Prohibited!
[Author] DontAbandonTheHero
[Post] Unless it is a donation, anyone found trading cash and points will be banned immediately!
[Post] Let's all enjoy pure Gallery culture!
└ Head Mod, didn't you say you were clergy?
└ [DontAbandonTheHero]: Yes! I used to be a holy knight! Why do you ask?!
└ I think clergy should distribute points to the needy.
└ Yeah, Head Mod. I'll stop you from giving cash to other people, but I'd gladly accept points.
└ Head Mod, release all the points you have!
└ Open up the rich family's granary!
└ Give us points!
└ [DontAbandonTheHero]: (Photo of points showing 0) You're right! Hurry up and ask the rich people for points!
└ ??? Why is this bastard at zero too?
└ Head Mod, don't tell me...
└ [DontAbandonTheHero]: I want to strangle the kangaroo that threw that kung fu kick!
└ LOL
└ LMAO
└ LOL
└ The Head Mod was a victim too lol
└ A system where everyone is truly equal lol
The Head Mod was no exception.
Gambling did not suit a member of the clergy, but this was the Gallery.
Like I said before, it was fine as long as she stayed away from it in real life.
‘And points are easy to earn, too.’
According to the Head Mod, she planned to use the old system for earning points.
The old system was posts, comments, and recommendations.
You earned one point for every post and comment.
You also got one point whenever someone recommended your post.
With that system, points would pile up quickly. Especially for me.
Every time I made a post, recommendations flooded in, and my posts easily became featured posts.
Since people from all over the world could access the Gallery, the number of recommendations was terrifying.
The Arena posts alone already had over ten thousand recommendations.
[Post title] Title) These Disaster Relief Funds Are So Niceee
[Author] PrincessChaenggu
[Post] Could I possibly have some more...?
└ [Wild Grylls]: ??? No. How long has it been since I gave you some? You lost it again already?
└ [PrincessChaenggu]: I only meant to do it one more time, but...
└ [Wild Grylls]: I definitely gave you plenty, though?
└ [PrincessChaenggu]: Hehe;;
└ [Wild Grylls]: Good grief;;
└ So this is why casinos give people travel fare before sending them home.
└ People like that should be banned from entering, seriously;;
Hmm. Should I stop making Arena posts?
So many people were losing that I started feeling sorry for them.
Maybe it would be better to start posting them after the Head Mod properly put some policies in place.
Or I could keep handing out disaster relief funds as part of a cycle.
While I was thinking that, I looked over at the Arena. The kangaroos were still locked in a fierce fight.
“Sniff.”
“Wonmo, does it still hurt?”
“Sniff. Kkyuu...”
Wonmo had burst into tears with a loud wail and was still clinging to my leg.
He seemed a little better now, but his big tears were still falling.
How could he be this cute? I stroked Wonmo's head.
“Uoooooh!”
The kangaroos' fierce fight ended in the meantime. I posted the whole thing as it happened.
My posts had become a gathering place for get-rich-quick types and people who had lost everything, but I decided not to care.
Then it occurred to me that, aside from wins and losses, I needed to understand how the Arena worked.
‘The kangaroos are one thing, but what are those guys?’
The kangaroos fought over females. The winner got the female they wanted.
But that only applied to kangaroos. I had no idea about those other animals.
Bears, raccoon dogs, deer, and more. I wondered if they had come to watch like I had.
‘Can animals not resist entertainment either?’
These were not ordinary animals, but animals from the Forest of Four Seasons. They were incredibly intelligent.
There was a story that dolphins, which had the intelligence of children, enjoyed drugs.
Not actual drugs, but supposedly they enjoyed hallucinations from pufferfish poison.
‘But from the bear's perspective, aren't they all prey?’
It was a truly confusing place. A place where common sense meant nothing.
What was even funnier was that the kangaroos brought food to those animals.
It looked like they were providing all kinds of services to VIPs.
‘I should look around some more.’
I decided to stop broadcasting for now and look around the Arena.
The moment I posted that, people raised hell, telling me not to and demanding that I continue the broadcast. But it couldn't be helped.
I needed to find out how this Arena was structured and what effect it had on the forest.
More than anything, I needed to know whether it would negatively affect my shelter.
“Hey, hey. Get a hold of yourself. We're moving now.”
“Watching that.”
“Watch later. We need to figure out where we are first.”
“Um... okay.”
I moved with Kkobong, who had been completely absorbed in watching the kangaroos fight.
They said the most entertaining things in the world were watching a fire across the river and watching people fight.
Kkobong had fought plenty for survival, but this seemed to be Kkobong's first time experiencing pure entertainment, so Kkobong was utterly absorbed.
‘Are the other animals the same?’
Maybe the animals in the VIP section were watching because it was their first time experiencing pure entertainment.
Unlike the kangaroos, they were different species, so perhaps they had been separated to prevent any trouble.
If that was the case, Kkobong and I should be able to go there too.
“Wonmo, don't you think you can let go now?”
“Kkyuu...”
Wonmo had been clinging to my leg, so I carried him instead.
Maybe his first loss(?) had become a trauma, because the moment I picked him up, he wrapped his arms tightly around me.
Patting Wonmo's back, I headed toward the other animals.
“Grrong?”
No kangaroos stopped me along the way. Thanks to that, I arrived easily.
The moment I got there, a huge black bear looked at me as if to ask what I was doing there.
The other animals were the same. Their gazes were anything but friendly.
I was not sure if it was because of Kkobong or the sloth clinging to my back.
Still, it was not like they were outright hostile. They just seemed wary because a new face had arrived.
“Prrrk.”
“...Huh? Don't tell me.”
The deer was a face I knew well.
You could say all deer looked alike, but creatures important enough to be leaders tended to have distinctive features.
“The campfire. You're the one I gave the campfire to, right?”
“Prrrk.”
“That's right.”
It had been during the freezing winter, when even the river had frozen solid.
That deer was one I had met after going down to the river for a while.
A strong creature that had knocked out a Bull Shark that leaped from the river with a terrifying back kick.
I had no idea why it was in the kangaroo cave.
‘Is this really some kind of meeting plaza?’
I did not know how the kangaroos had recruited them or why they had come here.
Just as I was left dumbfounded by the incomprehensible situation, I noticed something on the ground that I had not seen from afar.
‘What is this...?’
There was more than just grass that looked like medicinal herbs.
There was also a honeycomb, perhaps brought by the bear. It was dripping with honey.
The honey was not ordinary yellow. It sparkled as if someone had sprinkled it with gold dust.
The honey alone looked expensive, but the other things were no less impressive.
[Post title] Title) What Is This?
[Author] Wild Grylls
[Post] (Photo of various animals gathered together)
[Post] (Photo of honey, medicinal herbs, and ginseng laid out on the ground)
[Post] (Video of golden glowing honey)
[Post] I came to a place that looks like a VIP section, and this stuff was on the ground.
[Post] The honey is one thing, but does anyone know what the other medicinal herbs are?
└ [Heavenly Demon]: Golden honey. It looks as though they have brought a Bee King's honeycomb.
└ [Wild Grylls]: A Bee King? The king of bees?
└ [Heavenly Demon]: Ordinary bees serve a queen. Yet there is a king that rules even over that queen. That is the Bee King.
└ [Wild Grylls]: Just hearing about it makes it sound like an incredibly rare insect.
└ [Heavenly Demon]: Rare indeed. It is difficult to find, and harvesting its honeycomb requires one to risk one's life.
└ [Allfather]: You mean a King Bee. It is an insect that possesses not a legion, but an army.
└ [Wild Grylls]: An army?
└ [Allfather]: Yes. I have heard that even its honeycomb is the size of a small village. If that truly is a King Bee's honeycomb, that is.
└ Since a bear brought it, that makes it pretty credible, doesn't it?
└ Ask them. You can have Kkobong interpret.
└ That aside, what are the other things? They all look like insanely expensive medicinal herbs.
└ [Allfather]: It seems so. Just from the photos, I can see Sun Herb, Snow Ginseng, belladonna, and more. Nothing but things that would cause a huge commotion if they appeared on the market.
└ Why put all that on the ground? Are they planning to make bibimbop out of it?
└ If they eat that like bibimbap, they're going to get sick;;
└ They won't just get sick. Their bodies might explode.
One thing was certain. I should not touch it.
The moment I did, I might lose an arm instead of just receiving stinging looks.
So I decided to watch for now, to find out what they planned to do with all this.
“Puooh!”
It seemed another match had ended. I looked toward the arena.
Maybe because this was the VIP section, I had a good view of the arena(?).
“Grrr.”
I was watching the match when the bear, which had been sitting still until now, slowly rose.
I wondered why and looked over, only to see the bear striding toward the center of the arena.
Just as I stared in shock, the other animals began moving as well.
‘Is it over now?’
There was no other reason for them to move. Questions welled up inside me.
“Puo. Puuuh.”
“Uh, huh? D-don't push me.”
To make things worse, a kangaroo that seemed to have appeared from nowhere pushed against my back.
It tried to shove me into the middle of the arena, but I barely managed to avoid it.
I made it back to the stands, utterly confused about what was happening.
“Kuooooh!”
“Prrrk.”
The bear and deer that had only been watching from the VIP section collided.
The deer charged with its sharply rising antlers, while the bear grabbed those antlers and began a contest of strength.
It was a sudden event match. No, maybe it was the main event.
Thud!
“Guhk?!”
Either way, the deer won.
The deer's antler charge struck the bear squarely in the solar plexus, knocking it out cold.
But the next match was even more surprising.
It was a fight between a raccoon dog and a kangaroo, rather than a bear and a deer.
“Keeeng!”
The kangaroo won. The weight difference was far too great.
After that, various animals fought each other, and winners and losers began to emerge.
What stood out was that the same contestants entered several matches.
Unlike before, only very strong kangaroos participated as well.
Then time passed...
Crack!
“Guhk!”
The deer's back kick struck the kangaroo in the jaw.
The kangaroo passed out from the terrifying blow, tongue hanging out.
The final winner was the deer.
“Puooh!”
“Uoooooh!”
The kangaroos cheered enthusiastically, while the defeated side reluctantly accepted the result.
Then the deer, enjoying the feeling of victory...
“Nom nom nom. Nom.”
“...”
“Munch munch. Munch.”
Ate its spoils of victory, the honey and medicinal herbs, to its heart's content.
Watching that, I realized something.
‘It really was an Arena?’
Not as a figure of speech. It was an Arena in the truest sense of the word.
Footnotes:
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