WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Got a Gallery in the Wild ◈
Chapter 210: Winter Has Come (2)
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I treated the deer that had brought the Golden Apple as a guest, not family.
All it needed was a warm fire.
So I let it stay in the brick house. Kkobong was tense at first, but soon relaxed.
Kkobong was weak anyway, since it couldn't use mana.
Maybe the deer knew that. Or maybe it was simply laid-back by nature. It didn't seem to care either way.
The next day, after I took the deer in as a guest.
“Ha.”
I sighed at the cave entrance, completely blocked by snow.
“It finally came.”
The cold season, winter, had arrived.
* * *
It hadn't rained yesterday, but the weather had gotten brutally cold, so I had expected this.
That was why I kept the fireplace burning, making sure the chimney wouldn't get blocked.
Fast Sloth had been steadily feeding it firewood, so there wasn't any real danger.
Still, I couldn't just leave the cave entrance buried under snow.
I also needed to check on the brick house next door, where the animals were staying.
“Uncle. Aren't you cold...?”
“Grrr...”
Was it the cold-weather clothes I'd gotten from the dwarf? Or the cozy warmth of the fireplace?
Ludwig, usually an early riser like a proper soldier, was still snoring.
Well, it was only six in the morning.
‘Wonmo's hibernating, but what about Tyrano?’
Wonmo had gone into hibernation after both his fur and body grew nice and thick.
I wasn't sure about Tyrano. It looked like a reptile, but it was a dragon. Maybe dragons didn't need to hibernate.
Either way, clearing the snow came first. I used the emergency exit I'd made for situations like this.
The emergency exit went through the ceiling like a chimney, with a long passage leading outside.
It was for cases where snow piled up abnormally high.
I'd even made the ceiling slope at an angle.
The lid was difficult to make, so I had no choice but to layer it with cloth.
“Hup.”
I climbed the ladder in the passage and emerged outside.
The first thing I felt was the biting cold.
Beyond that was a forest completely blanketed in white snow.
Just like last time, winter brought this much snow.
‘At least the brick house didn't collapse.’
A little snow had piled up on the roof, but it was fine.
Smoke rising from the chimney meant Kkobong was keeping the fire going.
Now that I had a rough grasp of the situation, it was time to get to work.
“Uncle. Wake up.”
“Mmm...”
Ludwig staggered to his feet and came outside to help.
The moment he left the passage, he gaped at the mountain of snow.
He probably hadn't expected this much to pile up overnight.
Still, we had no choice. I handed him a shovel.
“Let's clear it.”
“...$%%$#.”
I think he said, “Trash fallen from the sky.”
I strongly agreed. Why did this kind of garbage have to fall from the sky?
The snow itself was bad enough, but once it froze and turned the ground into ice, hell would begin.
Crackle! Crackle!
Even while shoveling snow, I set up campfires here and there.
The last thing to do was check inside the brick house.
Its entrance was blocked by snow, and there were no windows, so I had no way to see inside.
When I finally stepped inside...
“Grrr...”
“...”
Everyone was sleeping soundly. The deer that had come as a guest was too.
The fireplace was apparently performing exceptionally well. The room was filled with thick, pleasant heat.
“Hey. Wake up. Time for breakfast.”
“Kuung?”
The animals slowly woke up at my words.
The deer raised its head too, then immediately let it droop again.
It seemed to think that, as a guest, it wouldn't be getting food.
“Hey, long-neck.”
“Kuung?”
“Not you.”
There was someone with an actually long neck. I called out to the deer, not Largo.
The deer frowned at me. Its eyes clearly asked why I was calling it.
“Want some food too? You'll be staying here through the winter anyway.”
“...Moo.”
The deer lowered its head again as if to say it was fine.
Then it went back to sleep in an incredibly comfortable position.
Normally, herbivores like deer curled up when they slept.
This one didn't. It sprawled out as if this were its own bedroom.
‘It says it'll find food on its own, so...’
I didn't need to take special care of it.
Besides, the deer didn't normally live in this area.
It had probably come here because it wanted somewhere warm to spend the winter.
The fact that it had personally brought a Golden Apple, something I'd never seen before, made that clear.
“Master. What's for breakfast?”
“Wild boar meat and sweet potatoes.”
With Wonmo hibernating, we had plenty of food.
After a hearty breakfast, I returned to the cave.
There wasn't much to do during winter.
At most, I could train or gather Ice-Snow Flowers.
I wanted to gain resistance to cold energy from an Ice-Snow Flower, but...
‘I'm scared I'll get another weird ability.’
I should talk it over with Starlight Princess first.
For now, I wanted to check something other than the Ice-Snow Flower.
Sparkle! Sparkle!
The Golden Apple the deer had brought late last night.
A Golden Apple that shone as if covered in gold leaf rested in my hand.
Golden Apples appeared often in myths. It was about the size of an ordinary apple.
‘Where the hell did it get something like this?’
The honeycomb full of honey, and now the Golden Apple.
Every time the deer came to my shelter, it brought something incredibly rare.
I didn't know whether it had some special ability or lived near a place like that.
‘First, I should ask what it does.’
I immediately logged into the Gallery.
[Post title] Title) Got a Golden Apple
[Author] Wild Grylls
[Post] (Photo of the deer sleeping comfortably in the brick house)
[Post] (Photo of the gleaming Golden Apple)
[Post] The deer that gave me honey last time gave me a Golden Apple this time.
[Post] It wants to sleep in the brick house in exchange for the Golden Apple.
[Post] I took it for now, but does anyone know what this does? You can tell it's good just by looking.
└ [Heavenly Demon]: It certainly looks like a delicious apple.
└ [SwordTasteMaster]: Isn't the Golden Apple something from mythology? I heard eating one grants an incredible ability.
└ [Heavenly Demon]: What kind of ability?
└ [SwordTasteMaster]: I heard most of them make you younger. You're from the Central Plains, Heavenly Demon, so you know about the Herb of Immortality, right?
└ [Heavenly Demon]: I've heard it is a herb that grants eternal life to whoever eats it.
└ [SwordTasteMaster]: Some say the Herb of Immortality is actually a seed leaf from an apple tree that bears Golden Apples.
└ Why do you know so much about this?
└ Could it be your age...?
└ [SwordTasteMaster]: Please shut up.
└ [Heavenly Demon]: It doesn't particularly interest me. What do you plan to do with it?
└ [Wild Grylls]: I'll eat it first and think about it later. If I get more, I'll share some with you.
└ [Allfather]: If that truly is the Golden Apple of myth... excuse me, but could I have even just the peel?
└ That professor guy is back lol
└ Asking for even the peel means this is legit lol
└ Does the peel have an effect too?
└ It's probably not completely useless?
└ [Wild Grylls]: I can give you the peel, at least. Is there anything besides making you younger?
└ [Allfather]: According to the records, its significance as a symbol is greater than its effects. Golden Apples often appeared when gods gave gifts to one another.
Golden Apples existed in this world's myths too. Interesting.
Either way, I should eat it. I wanted to share it with the registered users, but there was nowhere near enough.
Unlike Golden Mushrooms, whose effects could go to either extreme, this only had good effects.
‘They say a morning apple is worth gold.’
I slowly started peeling the apple with a dagger.
Before long, the flesh beneath the peel shone even more brilliantly.
My mouth was already watering. I was curious about the taste as much as the effect.
“Here. Have one.”
“Thanks.”
“Fast Sloth, you eat one too. Tyrano, you too.”
“Piiiii!”
I divided the apple into eight slices and handed them out.
I even forcibly woke Wonmo from hibernation and put one in his mouth.
Crunch. Crunch.
“Oh...”
“$%.”
“Pii!”
Sweet. That was my first thought after taking a bite.
It wasn't coated in honey, yet sweet flavor and fragrance filled my mouth.
Where had the deer found this Golden Apple? I was incredibly curious.
‘As for the effect... I can't really tell.’
Despite its shine, it hadn't increased my mana much.
Of course, that could be because I already had so much mana. It would be better to check Ludwig's reaction.
“Uncle...”
The moment I saw Ludwig's face, I froze.
Ludwig had an extremely high affinity for mana, befitting his overwhelming strength.
Normally, that would slow aging, but he was a soldier. One who had fought through countless real battles.
He hadn't undergone Body Reforging, so he had plenty of wrinkles like an ordinary person, and the years had left their marks on him.
“...Who are you?”
But look at him now. The person who had looked like a veteran until just moments ago was gone.
Some wrinkles remained, but he looked more than ten years younger.
Ludwig himself kept chewing his apple as if he hadn't noticed the change.
Still, shouldn't he notice his body changing?
“Uncle. Look in the mirror.”
“?”
I kindly handed him a mirror.
Ludwig looked puzzled for only a moment. As soon as he saw his reflection, his eyes widened.
He touched his face, checking it over and over.
“...Oh?”
That was all he said. He clearly hadn't expected this.
Then he stretched and loosened up, checking the state of his body.
Just as his face had grown younger, his body seemed younger too. His joints moved more smoothly than before.
‘His leg's still the same.’
His Mithril foot was unchanged, regardless of his renewed youth.
If Ludwig had gotten younger, what about the other animals?
I checked Fast Sloth first.
“...”
There was no noticeable difference in appearance. The same went for Tyrano and Wonmo.
It seemed that those still growing, or those whose bodies were already at their prime, were exceptions.
‘Or maybe it extends the time you're in your prime?’
That gave me a thought.
‘Don't tell me the deer has been eating Golden Apples like these regularly?’
Despite looking so young, it was always composed, and it possessed tremendous strength too.
Maybe it was much older than I thought.
After thinking about it for a moment, I checked the remaining apple slices.
Even after giving them to everyone except the deer and the raccoon family, one slice remained.
‘The deer said it didn't need one, and the raccoon family declined.’
Who should I give this slice to?
Then someone came to mind.
SwordTasteMaster, the registered user who was particularly sensitive about youth.
Wouldn't that person like it? It seemed like a good idea.
‘First, I'll give Allfather the apple peel.’
After that, I immediately sent SwordTasteMaster a message.
[SwordTasteMaster]: You're giving me a slice of apple?
[Wild Grylls]: Yeah. One happened to be left over, and it seemed like you wanted one.
[SwordTasteMaster]: When did I say that?
[Wild Grylls]: Was I wrong? Then I'll give it to someone else.
[SwordTasteMaster]: Wiat a sec!
They must have been in a hurry to make that kind of typo. I snickered.
[SwordTasteMaster]: Just so we're clear, I'm not some old geezer. Got it?
[Wild Grylls]: I have no intention of insulting someone who's helped me.
[SwordTasteMaster]: You're a good person too. Hurry up and marry me.
[Wild Grylls]: If you're willing to wait until I escape.
Now I could return jokes like that with jokes of my own.
SwordTasteMaster received the Golden Apple slice and thanked me repeatedly.
‘Later, I should ask the deer where it found these.’
Maybe it was because of the freezing winter.
The rest of the day passed peacefully, with nothing much to do.
* * *
Elsewhere, SwordTasteMaster, Ash, had received a Golden Apple slice from Grylls.
“...Ah. Fuck.”
She cursed at the Golden Apple's astonishing effect.
Why curse when the effect was good? One look at Ash's bed would explain it.
Ash already looked close to her mid-twenties, so the Golden Apple hadn't meant much to her.
She had even eaten the honey Grylls gave her recently, leaving her skin clear as well.
That was why she ate the Golden Apple in a good mood.
Creak.
“Hey. What are you... Huh?”
The problem was Ash's heaven-given talent.
Her talent was so extraordinary that even saying it had been bestowed by the heavens would not suffice.
Her swordsmanship was exceptional, but more than that, she possessed an absurd talent for physical ability.
“...Ash?”
“...Yes. It's me.”
“You look... younger?”
Ash's mother asked in a dazed voice. Of course she did.
Just as a flower was most beautiful when it first bloomed, a woman was most beautiful when her beauty first blossomed.
In Ash's case, that was exactly when she was eighteen. She remembered receiving countless marriage proposals then.
Her mother remembered that time clearly too, so she knew better than anyone.
Ash was also quite tall for a woman, which made her beauty stand out even more.
“Yeah. Well...”
Ash, considered the strongest swordfighter on the continent.
“This happened.”
Ash had undergone an unwanted Rejuvenation Reversal.
‘This is actually pretty nice.’
Unlike when she had first cursed, she was very satisfied.
She hadn't just become prettier. She had practically become younger.
‘At this point, maybe age doesn't matter?’
Ash began to imagine a happy future.
* * *
While someone in a corner of the continent underwent an unwanted Rejuvenation Reversal.
“We're here.”
“So... we are.”
The Hero, Asella, had reached the capital.
Footnotes:
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