WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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◈ Got a Gallery in the Wild ◈
Chapter 205: Jack-o'-Lantern (2)
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Putting aside Pumpkin Jack's Inner Core and its byproducts, figuring out what this thing was took priority.
I had no idea what Father Raccoon had given me, but I needed to question him too. There was a lot to do.
First, I should discuss it with Ludwig. I asked him what this thing was.
Jack-o'-Lantern was just a name I'd made up. It had to have a real name.
"Pumpkin Jack."
"Pumpkin Jack?"
That was the name he gave me. I immediately got the general idea.
A name similar to Jack-o'-Lantern, but different. It was intuitive too.
Now that I knew its name, I should ask the Gallery for more details.
I'd happened to take a few photos and videos already.
So many bizarre things kept happening out of nowhere that recording them had become a habit.
[Post title] Title) What's a Pumpkin Jack?
[Author] Wild Grylls
[Post] (Photo of Pumpkin Jack smiling wickedly)
[Post] (Video of Pumpkin Jack leaping into the sky)
[Post] (Video of Pumpkin Jack regenerating)
[Post] (Photo of Pumpkin Jack's Inner Core)
[Post] I planted the seeds Father Raccoon brought me, and they suddenly turned into this thing;;
[Post] I kept cutting off that pumpkin head, but it just kept regenerating. I barely managed to find the roots and kill it.
[Post] It spat out this weird Inner Core too. Does anyone know what it is?
[Post] Ludwig says it's called a Pumpkin Jack, but the name alone doesn't tell me much.
└ [Heavenly Demon]: A yokai with a pumpkin for a head. Considering there are egg ghosts, perhaps it isn't that strange.
└ [Wild Grylls]: Egg ghosts really exist?
└ [Heavenly Demon]: They are common in places thick with yokai energy.
└ [Wild Grylls]: So they're similar to monsters.
└ No, no, no. Their essence is different. Monsters existed from the beginning, but yokai are humans who have been corrupted.
└ A changgwi is also a yokai that was killed by a tiger. That's why they fight like hell whenever they see a tiger.
└ Aren't yokai a level above monsters?
└ Usually. More people die fighting each other in the Central Plains than from monsters.
└ What are you talking about? lol They'd all die to a dragon anyway.
└ Humans can kill dragons too, so yokai are stronger;;
└ [SwordTasteMaster]: Pumpkin Jacks are extremely rare monsters. How fascinating. They only appear during certain times, and only at night.
└ [Wild Grylls]: Only at night? It fought right in front of me during the day, though?
└ [SwordTasteMaster]: That's why it's fascinating. I might be mistaken.
└ [Starlight Princess]: It may be because they're easier to find at night. They glow then.
└ [Wild Grylls]: Instead of just glowing, it fired seeds at me like arrows.
└ [Starlight Princess]: I don't know that much. They're such rare monsters that little is known about them.
└ [Allfather]: There is a day called the Day of Wraiths. Pumpkin Jacks often appear on that day.
└ [Wild Grylls]: That sounds ominous just from the name.
└ [Allfather]: It is a day when wraith-type monsters appear in especially large numbers. Vengeful spirits, Dullahans, ghouls, zombies, liches, and so on.
└ [DontAbandonTheHero]: That's when priests are busiest! I took part once long ago!
└ What did you kill?
└ [DontAbandonTheHero]: A Death Knight!
└ Damn;; You took down a seriously tough one.
└ Isn't a Death Knight about as strong as a high-ranking knight?
└ Undead monsters get hard-countered by divine power, so they're surprisingly easy to kill.
└ [AllHailTheSun]: What are you going to do with that Inner Core? It's huge, so it looks hard to eat.
└ [Wild Grylls]: I'll store it for now. If it doesn't work out, I can ask Starlight Princess.
└ [AllHailTheSun]: Really? Then what about the pumpkin? Are you going to eat all that by yourself?
└ [GrowGrow]: For reference, pumpkins become incredibly delicious if you harvest them in autumn and let them ripen through the winter.
└ [Wild Grylls]: Apparently so?
└ [AllHailTheSun]: Then give me a little when that time comes lol
└ [Passing Dwarf]: Me too lol
└ [Wild Grylls]: I'll give you all some.
└ You mean you'll put it on the Auction House, right? Thanks, thanks.
└ I'm already drooling so hard~ lol
I hadn't said anything about putting it on the Auction House.
Either way, it was definitely a rare monster. I had no idea how Father Raccoon found it.
After checking everything, I called him over. He couldn't have brought it here just to mess with me, so why had he brought it?
"Keng! Keeeng! Keng!"
"I didn't know. Seeds smelled good. Thought they'd be good to eat."
"Mm."
Listening to Father Raccoon, he'd never considered that I would plant the seeds.
Animals ate seeds if they looked tasty, but humans planted them in the ground.
Father Raccoon had only recently seen my vegetable patch too.
This was the result of how differently we thought.
'Still, the result isn't bad.'
I'd obtained Pumpkin Jack's Inner Core, as well as a massive amount of food.
I was worried bugs or other animals might eat the pumpkin.
I could handle bugs with repellent somehow, but there was no way to deal with animals other than fighting them.
Knock, knock.
'It's tough, at least.'
The one consolation was how hard the pumpkin's skin was.
Ordinary teeth wouldn't make a dent.
'I'll eat the pumpkin growing from the roots for lunch.'
Pumpkins weren't root vegetables. Yet somehow, the main body attached to the roots was a pumpkin.
Kkobong had beaten it until it lost consciousness.
All its vines had been removed, leaving only the main body behind.
It was smaller than the giant pumpkin, but there was more than enough for us to eat.
It might wake up again, so I needed to deal with it quickly.
'I should steam this.'
Lunch was approaching, and after all that work, I was hungry.
Before getting lunch ready, though, there was one more thing to prepare.
"Yes. Stack them like that."
"Here?"
"That's right. Think of it as stacking them symmetrically."
That was making another oven. With more mouths to feed, productivity had become important.
Preparing ingredients didn't take long, but cooking took too much time.
Making another oven would reduce that time.
'While I'm at it, I'll make it bigger.'
I made it larger than the last one, just in case.
Naturally, I got the iron plates from Passing Dwarf.
When I said I'd give them pumpkin to have with drinks later, they gladly handed them over.
With Ludwig's help, we finished it quickly and got straight to preparing the meal.
'Let's see. Steamed pumpkin...'
It would have been easier with a steamer, but unfortunately, I didn't have one.
Still, steaming wasn't difficult. Pour water into the bottom of a pot, then secure the pumpkin above it.
That was easy too. All I had to do was place a small bowl inside the pot.
Since pumpkin was sweet, I planned to serve it as dessert.
"All right. Let's eat."
"Kyuuuu~"
"Pii! Pii!"
I started steaming the pumpkin around the middle of the meal.
This way, it would be done by the time we finished eating.
As soon as the meal ended, I took out the steamed pumpkin.
Sparkle! Sparkle!
"Oh..."
It had definitely been orange until I removed the seeds.
After steaming, though, it gleamed gold. I hadn't even brushed it with honey.
The steamed pumpkin looked sweet enough for anyone to see. Everyone was drooling like crazy.
"Hold on. You can't. It's hot, so wait."
"Kyuuuu..."
"Pii..."
The kids stared at it desperately after I stopped them.
It was like they were silently demanding, Give me that steamed pumpkin already!
But I was the cook. Before serving it, I tasted it first.
Steam rose from it since it had just come out of the pot.
Munch, munch.
"Whoa!!"
The moment I took a spoonful, I couldn't help exclaiming.
Was this pumpkin or honey? Honey pumpkin was the perfect description.
After seeing my reaction, the kids went even wilder.
Wonmo, who had a voracious appetite, was outright scratching at my knees with his front paws.
"Okay, okay. Here."
"Kyuuaaah!"
"Piiii!"
I gave each of them steamed pumpkin. Equal portions for everyone.
"Kyuah! Kyua!"
"Piak! Piaak!"
"Hot! Hot!"
Ah, right. I'd forgotten to tell them to eat slowly because it was hot.
Once they got used to it, though, they ate happily.
Ludwig was the same. He answered by giving me a thumbs-up.
Lastly, Fast Sloth...
"..."
With its usual slow movements, it ate at its leisure.
The interesting part was that its hands were moving faster than usual.
It was still painfully slow to everyone else, but I could tell it was much faster than normal.
'Nice.'
Wonmo went into the cave for a nap, and Tyrano followed him in, apparently planning to sleep deeply too.
The rest of us finished cleaning up. Pumpkin Jack had caused such a mess, after all.
When everything was cleaned up, I took the Inner Core out of my pocket.
It was still glowing orange and was quite large.
'Should I just eat it?'
I'd consumed a great many Inner Cores so far.
Thanks to that, my aura grew stronger every day. Ludwig having a hard time dealing with that was a bonus.
If I ate this one too... what would happen? It would be hard to swallow, but worth trying.
"Should I eat this?"
"..."
Nod.
When I asked Ludwig for advice, he unexpectedly seemed fine with it.
I fought through sheer physicality anyway, so having even more of it couldn't hurt.
Aura Blade could wait. I should keep building up my raw power.
With even Ludwig approving, there was no reason to hesitate any longer.
'It bothers me that it's big enough to be hard to swallow...'
Still, I had to force it down.
If I crushed it before eating it, the Inner Core would become smaller, but its effect would be halved too.
I nodded and immediately sat cross-legged.
When Ludwig saw me sit down, he silently raised his sword.
He seemed to be guarding me in case someone intruded.
'He's so reliable.'
I smiled briefly, then let out a long breath and put the Inner Core in my mouth.
Then I tensed my throat as hard as I could and forced it down.
The feeling of a giant ball sliding down my esophagus was far from pleasant.
Still, it somehow reached my stomach, and I could relax.
'The energy of heaven...'
The moment I swallowed the Inner Core, I recited every mnemonic verse Heavenly Demon had taught me. I remembered those verses clearly.
Each one was long, but that wasn't a problem.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
The Inner Core's energy began slowly spreading through every corner of my body.
Pumpkin Jack's Inner Core contained far more energy than the fish's Inner Core.
No matter how much I absorbed, it barely seemed to decrease.
Thanks to that, my dantian filled with Internal Energy. I wondered if it might burst at this rate.
'Just in case, faster...'
Growing anxious for no reason, I circulated my cultivation method more intensely.
If it hadn't been for the mnemonic verses Heavenly Demon taught me, it might have been quite dangerous.
Eventually, after absorbing all the Inner Core's energy, I slowly opened my eyes.
Once I did, it felt as though the world was much brighter than before.
"Mm."
Ludwig seemed to realize I had woken up, and he relaxed his guard.
I gave him a deep nod of thanks.
Looking around the cave, the kids were gone. I could only hear them playing outside.
When I stepped out, the sun was already setting.
The days had become shorter as winter approached, but I had also spent a long time absorbing the Inner Core.
'I don't notice anything different.'
Other than having much more mana in my body, there weren't any noticeable changes.
Still, it was definitely good that my raw power had increased.
Happily, I made a post on the Gallery.
Most people were happy for me. The Anonymous Users were jealous, though.
└ Aren't you going to go boom and explode someday?
└ Aren't there people like that?
└ There are people whose whole bodies crack because they have abnormally large amounts of mana.
└ [Heavenly Demon]: That happened to this lady once. But thanks to your help, I was able to live.
Apparently, that's how it worked. Since night had come, I started preparing dinner.
And then...
"What is this now?"
"Kyuuuu! Kyukyu!"
"Piiiiik!"
I only realized Pumpkin Jack's Inner Core's effect at night.
I could see as clearly as if it were morning. The problem was my eyes and mouth.
A powerful light shot out wherever I looked.
Even when I turned my head, the light followed.
"Now I'm a human lantern?"
Light was coming from my eyes and mouth. Extremely bright light.
I had become a human lantern.
I could shoot light from my eyes. This was totally...
"Laser beeeeam!!!"
"Kyuuuuuu!!"
"Piiii! Piii!"
It was dumb as hell, but it was fun.
Footnotes:
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