WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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◈ Got a Gallery in the Wild ◈
Chapter 207: There's Space Behind the Pillar (1)
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Thankfully, we didn't end up in a fierce battle with the Guardian.
Just as every material had different properties, Guardians seemed to have different temperaments too.
The Orichalcum Guardian reacted aggressively to mana, while the earth Guardian showed no particular response.
It simply rose from the ground, stared at us, then moved somewhere else.
“Phew...”
I let out a sigh of relief as I watched the earth Guardian leave.
In terms of sheer combat strength, we had a much greater advantage.
There was Ludwig, of course, and I had experience fighting a Guardian myself.
Still, there was no reason to waste our strength, and we might accidentally provoke the creatures around us.
Besides, considering it quietly left even after we were the ones who got on its nerves first, it didn't seem to have a bad temperament.
“...Let's get going.”
“Mm.”
Once things settled down, we started walking again.
This taught me that I shouldn't carelessly touch anything shiny.
Especially if it was buried in the ground.
I headed for the Orichalcum Cave while gathering medicinal herbs along the way.
A few animals appeared as we traveled, but they immediately ran away.
‘There are way more of us.’
I'd always heard that you couldn't beat numbers.
Most of us were pretty capable too, so they probably didn't even want to get close.
“Kyuu! Kyuu! Kyuu!”
“Squeeeak!”
“Come on, you two.”
Of course, that excluded the two weakest members.
I barely managed to stop them from fighting over the rabbit they had just caught.
It looked like they had caught a fleeing rabbit, but there was no point if they were just going to fight like this.
“No snacks if you fight again, okay?”
“Kyuuu...”
“Squeak...”
After making them reconcile, we headed for the Orichalcum Cave again.
Maybe it was because I'd applied bug repellent, or maybe winter was getting closer, but bugs didn't give us any trouble.
‘Come to think of it, isn't this chicken territory?’
I looked around. As far as I remembered, this was the black chickens' territory.
They were nearly as tall as Largo.
Wonmo had run into them during his Strange Adventure, and all sorts of things had happened.
‘There aren't any traces. Did something happen?’
Otherwise, they might have been preparing for the approaching winter.
If that was the case, I thought there was no need to go looking for them.
-Cock-a-doodle-doo!!!
Right then, a chicken's crow rang through the entire forest as if warning us to stay away.
It seemed they were incredibly good at noticing when someone entered their territory.
“Kyuu!!!”
Hearing the sound, Wonmo hurried over to me.
He clung tightly to my leg, apparently still afraid of what happened back then.
Well, he had been surrounded by chicks much bigger than himself. It made sense.
If I got surrounded by chickens, I'd piss myself too.
“It's okay. It's okay. There's nobody around.”
“Kyuuu... Kyuu...”
“$%^#?”
Ludwig tilted his head and asked a question when he saw Wonmo crying.
Seeing Wonmo react to the chicken's crow, he seemed to realize something had happened here.
“Yeah. Wonmo got picked on badly by some chicks.”
“Ch... chicks?”
“The little ones that go peep, peep.”
When I made the peeping sound, Ludwig seemed to get the idea and nodded.
I patted Wonmo's trembling back as we continued on.
Tyrano watched us with a strange expression, but I ignored it.
“Here it is.”
“Hmm.”
After some time, we arrived at the Orichalcum Cave.
Ludwig carefully examined the cave entrance, which looked ordinary from the outside.
While he did that, I took out the Light Crystal Ball KingLeor had given me.
My eyes gave off light, but nothing was better than this for exploring caves.
Besides, there was no guarantee my eyes would shine every time we entered a dark place.
Maybe they only shone at night rather than in dark places. I needed to test that too.
Flash!
After tapping the Light Crystal Ball a few times, it began to glow.
Soon, the Crystal Ball floated gently into the air.
I vaguely heard Ludwig gasp in admiration behind me.
KingLeor had said it was a rather expensive item.
“Come on. Let's go.”
“Mm.”
“We're leaving Largo here, right?”
We left Largo outside the cave because Largo was simply too large.
You might think Largo would run away, but Ludwig didn't seem worried about that.
Still, just in case, I should put a rein on Largo later. The dwarf could probably make one.
Now that everything was ready, I floated the Crystal Ball above us and entered the cave.
Flash!
“Kyuu! Kyuu!”
“Squeak!”
The moment I stepped into the dark cave, my eyes started glowing.
The light moved with my field of vision. It was seriously strange.
At least my eyes didn't hurt. That was a relief.
If they did hurt, I would have done everything I could to figure out how to control it.
‘There could be animals sensitive to light.’
Caves were naturally very dark.
Because of that, many animals had poor eyesight or eyes that had completely degenerated.
This was a fantasy world, so there might be animals with extremely developed vision.
Still, that wouldn't change the fact that they were sensitive to light.
“Let's climb down here.”
The rope I had installed before was still there.
It wasn't a straight drop, so there were places to step along the way.
I had only installed the rope because I was worried it might be dangerous.
“Kyuu. Kyuu.”
“Squeak. Squeak.”
Wonmo and Tyrano hopped down, fitting for their small sizes.
Ludwig, Kkobong, and I slowly descended while holding the rope.
If any of us slipped here, there was a high chance of getting seriously hurt.
“Hup.”
We arrived at the Orichalcum Cave for the first time in a while. It was still pitch-black.
I'd defeated the Guardian beforehand, but I planned to use as little mana as possible just in case.
“$%$...”
“This whole cave is Orichalcum. Take a look.”
I gave Ludwig, who had arrived at the Orichalcum Cave for the first time, a rough explanation.
The entire cave was Orichalcum, and he could take some if he wanted.
He just needed to be careful using mana. You never knew what might come out.
“Crunch! Crunch! Munch! Munch!”
“Kyuu...”
Just like when it had happily eaten Mithril before, Tyrano started eating the Orichalcum.
Wonmo looking at Tyrano like he couldn't understand it was the best part.
From Tyrano's perspective, it probably felt like delicious snacks were scattered everywhere.
‘Nothing shiny in sight.’
Orichalcum was sensitive to mana, but it had almost no energy of its own.
Only Orichalcum with abundant mana seemed to glitter like gold dust.
‘We'll take a quick look around, then leave... Huh?’
Glitter! Glitter!
I had finished the experiment and was just about to leave when I noticed something shining behind an Orichalcum pillar.
It was even much larger than the Core that had been buried in the ground.
It was shining that much despite Orichalcum, which absorbed mana, covering the area?
There was a high chance it contained a terrifying amount of mana.
‘Should I... not go over there?’
Curiosity killed the cat.
Considering everything, going there was dangerous.
I had nearly gotten into serious trouble after disturbing a Guardian just moments ago.
Still, I couldn't ignore that sparkle behind the pillar.
It would be best to hear everyone's opinion first. I called Ludwig, who was fiddling with a stone.
“Mister, take a look over there for a second.”
“Hmm?”
“There's something over there. Should we go?”
Perfect communication was still difficult. Still, he understood to some extent when I used gestures.
When I pointed in that direction, Ludwig turned his head toward it.
He seemed to understand that there was something there and considered it for a moment.
I was planning to decide whether to go based on his opinion.
“@#.”
Ludwig soon nodded and spoke as if saying we should go.
When I asked if it wouldn't be dangerous, he said this.
“Know. Don't know. Difference. Big.”
“...”
There was a big difference between going into danger knowingly and going into it without knowing.
That was probably what he meant. It had that sort of nuance too.
I stared at Ludwig with wide eyes. His Korean had improved dramatically in such a short time.
Were people and animals here generally good at learning languages?
When I asked him that too, he shrugged. He didn't know either.
‘Could it be the Forest of Four Seasons' influence?’
Since Ludwig had hardly been physically affected, maybe he was getting smarter instead.
It was only a hypothesis, but it wasn't complete nonsense.
I was already evolving into something inhuman, after all.
I might need to be careful in the future. Once I finished preparing, I started walking.
‘There's space behind this pillar...’
There was.
It had been cleverly hidden, so I hadn't noticed it until now. The area was surrounded by Orichalcum, and I hadn't examined it thoroughly either.
Orichalcum was so valuable that I hadn't felt the need to explore further, and its flashy appearance had drawn my eyes.
‘We should move the kids to the back, just in case.’
I took the lead with my sword and shield, with Ludwig directly behind me.
Kkobong would protect Wonmo and Tyrano. This was the best arrangement.
Then I went around the dark pillar and slowly looked ahead.
There was quite a lot of space behind it. I had no idea a place like this existed.
“...A chest?”
“...”
And there was a single chest sitting there.
Maybe it was because I was shining my light on it, but it glittered enough to make my eyes hurt.
Why was there a chest here? Just as I wondered that...
“Mimic.”
“What?”
“Mimic.”
Ludwig guessed the chest's identity, his voice slightly stiff.
A mimic. I'd heard of them too.
A monster that disguised itself as a treasure chest and tricked anyone who approached.
Well, a chest sitting alone in the Orichalcum Cave was suspicious to begin with.
“What should we do?”
“Hmm...”
Ludwig thought over my question.
Normally, we would have ignored it and moved on. But it was a mimic.
If we defeated it, something valuable would surely come out.
There was no telling what kind of treasure it might have. It could be gold and jewels, or it could be an elixir.
Gold and jewels weren't especially useful, but an elixir was another matter.
‘And that shine isn't normal either.’
There was a higher chance of it being an elixir than gold or jewels.
Ludwig seemed to understand that too and slowly nodded.
It was a sign that we should take it down. Understanding his meaning, I asked for advice.
“Do you know how to kill a mimic?”
Ludwig nodded at my question.
From his rough explanation, mimics were basically very slow.
Since their true nature was a lump of flesh, they moved incredibly slowly.
Their tongues, on the other hand, were unbelievably quick, and they often stole people's weapons.
That was why ranged attacks were necessary, especially since I could attack from a distance with aura.
“So you're saying I should hit it from far away with aura?”
“Right.”
“Stay back for a moment.”
Now that I knew the strategy, all that remained was to put it into practice.
After telling Ludwig and my animal friends to move back, I circulated mana.
Woooooong!!!
Aura rose up like a pillar.
Maybe thanks to Pumpkin Jack's Inner Core, the pillar was larger.
When would I be able to use Aura Blade?
That thought only lasted a moment before I poked at the mimic like a fencer to provoke it.
To kill a mimic efficiently, it was better to stir up its insides than destroy the chest itself.
Tap. Tap, tap.
“Grrrrrr...”
After touching the chest a few times, I heard a vicious sound. It really was a mimic.
Then I needed to provoke it more. I kept poking it.
Maybe it couldn't endure anymore. The mimic finally reacted.
Splat! Splat!
First, long arms emerged from the slightly opened gap.
Sliiide!!!
Then thick, long legs came out from beneath the chest.
It had a form similar to the Mushroom Man I'd seen a few weeks ago.
Just as I was left speechless by the sight, a huge tongue emerged from the chest.
Sharp teeth rose from the opened lid too, as a bonus.
“Kuaaaaaaah!!!”
“...”
It roared and sprayed filthy saliva everywhere.
The others were behind me, so they were fine, but I got hit head-on.
“...Mister.”
“...”
“Do mimics normally have legs too?”
Before Ludwig could answer that question...
“Kuaaaaah!!!”
The mimic, with two arms and two legs, began crawling toward us like a beast.
Despite what Ludwig said about it being painfully slow, it moved at a terrifying speed, almost like a cheetah.
“Aaaaaaah!!!”
“Hahahahahaha!”
“Kyaaaaaah!!!”
“Squeeeeeak!!!”
We ran for it.
* * *
While everyone was having a rough time in the Orichalcum Cave...
“Peep! Peep!”
“Peep! Peep!”
“Peeep! Peep!”
“...”
Outside the cave, Largo was surrounded by chicks.
Footnotes:
* The title references a Korean internet meme about a parking photo where a car was hidden behind a pillar despite open space being available.
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