WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Got a Gallery in the Wild ◈
Chapter 23: Water (1)
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Had I seen the wilderness as a pushover, as easy as water, or had I just been optimistic?
The moment I saw ticks swarming between the teeth of the comb, I realized it.
When it came to hygiene alone, the wilderness was far more dangerous than I'd imagined.
That meant I needed to somehow secure a large supply of water if I wanted to stay clean.
‘Does water have some kind of grudge against me?’
Anyway, washing Wonmo thoroughly came first.
I should take a bath while I was at it.
Thank God I was wearing clothes. Otherwise, the ticks would've gotten me already.
First, I wanted to thank AllHailTheSun and ask for their opinion.
└ [Wild Grylls]: Whoa, what the hell are these ticks? I almost walked right past them;;
└ [AllHailTheSun]: It's fine as long as you noticed them now. Washing with hot water should take care of it.
└ [Wild Grylls]: I'm in an environment where getting water is difficult...
└ [AllHailTheSun]: Then put bug repellent on your body. The best option would be a hot bath, though.
AllHailTheSun explained that an Owlbear's hide was too thick for ticks to bother it.
The problem was that I, with my relatively thin skin, was right next to it.
I took off my clothes, gave them a quick shake, then applied bug repellent all over my body.
Thankfully, there weren't any ticks on me.
‘I’ll have to wear long pants.’
The uniform PrincessChaenggu had given me only had long sleeves.
For the time being, I'd have to rely on bug repellent.
‘No wonder everyone in survival documentaries wraps themselves up in clothes.’
It really drove home how important clothes were. Long sleeves and long pants were essential.
After carefully applying bug repellent everywhere, I looked over at Wonmo.
As if he had no idea what was going on, Wonmo was sleeping soundly.
‘Yeah. It’s not like this is your fault.’
I changed clothes and gave it some thought. Water had become even more urgent than before.
The Golden Frog was still occupying the stream, which made things difficult.
Still, the stream was the closest source of water, so it was hard to give up on it.
‘Should I just dig a water channel? It isn’t that far away.’
It wasn't a bad option. My body would suffer, but that was all.
Like I said earlier, the stream was fairly close, so it probably wouldn't be that difficult.
I had no idea how to dig a water channel, though, so I should ask for advice.
[Post title] Dwarf, help me out
[Author] Wild Grylls
[Post] I'm thinking of digging a water channel. Give me some advice.
└ [Passing Dwarf]: For free?
└ [Wild Grylls]: Want me to give you a frog? It's expensive.
└ [Passing Dwarf]: Just kidding lol
There was a limit to how much someone could joke around. Suddenly, I wondered how old this person was.
Considering how knowledgeable they were, they probably weren't young, but they acted immature.
└ [Passing Dwarf]: Are you planning to live there?
└ [Wild Grylls]: Not really, but getting water is too hard. The frog is a pain in the ass.
└ [Passing Dwarf]: Don't dig a water channel unless you're settling there. The amount of work will be insane.
└ [Wild Grylls]: Is it really that bad?
└ [Passing Dwarf]: Yeah. Plus, if you can't prevent erosion, you'll only get dirty water. Better not to do it.
Erosion meant that phenomenon where rocks were worn away by various factors.
Soil was softer than rock, which didn't exactly need explaining.
More than anything, the part about the water getting dirty bothered me.
└ [Wild Grylls]: Then there's no other way?
└ [Passing Dwarf]: About how far away is it?
└ [Wild Grylls]: About ten to twelve minutes on foot?
└ [Passing Dwarf]: If it's that close, it'd be better to just scoop it up and carry it yourself;;
└ [Wild Grylls]: So I can get eaten by a snake? Sure.
└ [Passing Dwarf]: Hey. Waitwaitwait.
└ They're desperate lol
└ Can't even drink water whenever they want lol
└ Nothing comes easy lol
It wasn't as if I hadn't thought of that.
The problem was, I didn't know what dangers might appear along the way, and even scooping up the water itself was difficult.
The moment I put my hand in the water, Golden Frogs came swarming out. Like I could just casually do it.
I had hands and a brain too. But this was the wilderness.
One mistake could mean life or death, so I had no choice but to make things as safe as possible.
└ [Passing Dwarf]: There is one method, but it'll take some work. You good with that?
└ [Wild Grylls]: Yeah, that's fine.
└ [Passing Dwarf]: First, where's that river? Uphill or downhill?
└ [Wild Grylls]: I have to go uphill.
└ [Passing Dwarf]: Oh. Then it'll be easy. Might be expensive, though. You okay with that?
└ [Wild Grylls]: Could it cost more than my life?
└ [Passing Dwarf]: Good. I'll make a post soon. Hold on.
The Dwarf said they'd make a post, so all I could do was wait patiently.
At the same time, I was worried. If they needed to make a whole post just to explain it, the method had to be pretty complicated.
Could I really secure a steady supply of water? Water kept getting in my way.
[System] Starlight Princess has requested a trade. Would you like to accept?
“Huh?”
I had been idly browsing the Gallery when it happened.
My eyes widened as I stared at the message.
It was Starlight Princess, the registered user who had gone quiet for a while.
I'd been worried something had gone wrong, but the message put me at ease.
[You]: Starlight Princess? Is it really you, Starlight Princess?
[Starlight Princess]: Hello, Grylls! Yes! It's me!
Her energetic personality came through even in the conversation.
Once someone chose a nickname in the Gallery, they couldn't change it.
That meant the person who had requested a trade with me really was Starlight Princess.
I replied with a broad smile.
[You]: Have you fully recovered?
[Starlight Princess]: Yes! Thanks to the gift you gave me, Grylls, I'm completely cured! Thank you so much!
It was a relief to hear that she was fully cured. I felt relieved.
I'd worried myself sick thinking something had happened to Starlight Princess.
That wouldn't happen again. Her incurable illness had been cured.
[You]: That's great. Congratulations.
[Starlight Princess]: It's all thanks to you, Grylls.
[Starlight Princess]: I couldn't make any posts because I was getting checked out...
I had a rough idea of what had happened.
After finally gaining the health she'd yearned for, she probably wanted to get thoroughly checked out.
Still, since she'd come back after just a day, she really must have been cured.
[System] Starlight Princess has registered trade items.
[Starlight Princess]: These are the Elixirs I mentioned before.
[Starlight Princess]: I gave you everything except the emergency supply, so there should be plenty.
[You]: Thank you so much.
[You]: You're not feeling unwell anywhere, right?
[Starlight Princess]: No. If I had my way, I'd be running around already.
[Starlight Princess]: It's a shame my parents stopped me.
[You]: Your parents are worried about you too, so don't push yourself too hard.
[Starlight Princess]: I always think this, but you're really such a kind person, Grylls.
[Starlight Princess]: There aren't many people like you in the Gallery.
I tilted my head at being called kind.
I felt like I heard that fairly often. Considering the Gallery's culture, it wasn't wrong, either.
‘I’m not sure.’
Maybe it meant this world was just that much of a cesspit.
This was an era that would chew up human rights without a second thought.
Add the Gallery's own unhealthy culture on top of that, and no further explanation was needed.
[You]: Helping each other is ultimately helping myself.
[You]: And you're kind too, Starlight Princess.
[You]: You could've ignored me, but you paid me back like this.
[Starlight Princess]: That's a nice way to put it.
[Starlight Princess]: Do you still want to leave the Forest of Four Seasons?
[You]: Yes. I want to get out right now.
[Starlight Princess]: I'll do what little I can to help you get out.
[Starlight Princess]: I'm smarter than I look, you know.
[Starlight Princess]: Or you could come over here instead?
[Starlight Princess]: Ah. That's a little, hehe;;
[You]: What a shame.
Of course, I was joking.
Who would tell someone who'd been at death's door as recently as yesterday to go die?
I'd heard that no one who entered the Forest of Four Seasons had ever escaped.
So it was better for my peace of mind to take Starlight Princess's words as comfort rather than sincerity.
[Starlight Princess]: Oh! By the way, I saw the Owlbear photo.
[You]: Cute, right?
The words came out before I could stop them.
It wasn't because I was a doting fool. He really was cute.
[Starlight Princess]: Yes. But I don't really like the name... What kind of name is Wonmo?
[You]: Did you have a name in mind?
[Starlight Princess]: For a healthy kid...
Starlight Princess stopped typing for a moment, then brought up the name she'd thought of.
[Starlight Princess]: Gym Kid. How about Gym Kid?
Oh...
It sounded like the kind of name that would evolve into Gym Rat someday.
How could every registered user have such terrible naming sense?
As far as names went, Fluffy, the name I'd come up with, was still the best.
[You]: Still, I think I'll have to call him Wonmo for a while.
[You]: There was a vote, and nobody even told me;;
[Starlight Princess]: Can't you just ignore it?
[You]: Heavenly Demon named him, so it'd be hard to casually ignore it.
She was a registered user who'd helped me, and Heavenly Demon herself had given him that name, so I couldn't dismiss it.
If Heavenly Demon got disappointed and distanced herself from me, that would be a loss for me too.
Starlight Princess seemed to understand that. Although she voiced her dissatisfaction, she accepted it.
[Starlight Princess]: That's a shame. So what are you going to do now?
[You]: I think I'm going to set up a way to bring in river water.
[You]: The Dwarf said they'd make a post soon.
[Starlight Princess]: I see. If you need help later, tell me anytime.
[Starlight Princess]: I'll be waiting.
[You]: Thank you.
[Starlight Princess]: You can do it!
My conversation with Starlight Princess ended there.
I felt warmth and bitterness at the same time.
I was happy that Starlight Princess had been completely cured, but nothing had changed for me.
Unless I escaped this hellish place, a normal life was out of reach.
‘Escape... I can do it, right?’
It was a thought I had every day. Could I leave the Forest of Four Seasons?
If the only danger was the deadly plants and animals, maybe I could somehow escape.
But the biggest problem with this forest was that the space itself changed from moment to moment.
Getting lost was dangerous enough, but the space changing too made it feel hopeless.
‘The Elixirs... Whoa. She gave me seven?’
Starlight Princess had gifted me a total of seven Elixirs.
Their colors were all different, so they seemed to be different grades.
I'd heard that lighter colors meant lower grades, so sorting them was easy.
‘Wonmo could break them, so I should hide them.’
I stored the Elixirs in the box the Dwarf had given me before.
Wonmo might rummage through the box, so I pushed it into the farthest corner.
‘Come to think of it, did they make the post?’
Next, I checked whether the Dwarf had made their post.
After refreshing the Gallery a few times, I soon found it.
[Post title] Grylls, look
[Author] Passing Dwarf
[Post] (rough sketch of bringing in river water)
[Post] (photo of a Natural Rubber Hose)
[Post] (photo of a Valve)
[Post] Do it like in the diagram above. Suck on the end of each hose until the water starts pouring out.
[Post] Ah. Don't suck on it while it's lying flat. Hold it upright when you do. Because of the pressure difference, the water will come pouring out.
[Post] Attach a Valve to the last hose so you can close or open it. You get it, roughly?
└ [Wild Grylls]: I get what you mean, but what's that mesh for? Filtering impurities?
└ [Passing Dwarf]: Yeah, you got it.
└ [Wild Grylls]: I catch on quick lol.
└ [Passing Dwarf]: Suddenly don't want to give it to you.
└ [Wild Grylls]: I'm a fucking idiot.
└ LOL
└ That attitude change lol
└ These bastards are hilarious lol
└ You two get along well lol
└ [Passing Dwarf]: Anyway, if you connect each hose properly and adjust the slope well, it won't be difficult.
└ [Wild Grylls]: You said it was expensive. Is the hose expensive?
└ [Passing Dwarf]: Yeah. It's made of rubber, so it's fucking expensive.
I wondered why something made of rubber would be expensive, but the thought soon faded.
Judging from the Gallery posts, this world had only just started operating factories.
Apparently, there were mana-powered locomotives too, though they weren't used often.
‘They said people could just travel through warp gates, right?’
It was fantasy-like in its own way.
Sports like soccer and baseball were popular, but science seemed to lag slightly behind.
Well, it wasn't a huge problem if I thought of magic as making up for science.
Warp gates were expensive, so I heard common people used locomotives instead.
‘The uniform PrincessChaenggu gave me was incredibly expensive too.’
Given the material, it couldn't have been cheap.
After getting various explanations from the Dwarf, I asked the thing I was most curious about.
└ [Wild Grylls]: So how much would it cost?
└ [Passing Dwarf]: If I price it low, 500 gold total? That's including the processed rubber and the Valve.
Five hundred gold was definitely expensive. Still, I had the money Allfather had given me.
But another problem came up: the Gallery's rules.
Once someone made a trade, they couldn't trade again for twenty-four hours.
The Dwarf had traded after lunch yesterday, so they couldn't trade with me now.
└ [Passing Dwarf]: I can list it in the Auction House for immediate purchase, but I'll put it up for 1,100 gold. Is that okay?
└ [Wild Grylls]: Just list it.
└ [Passing Dwarf]: Thx thx
It stung, but it couldn't be helped.
Water was urgently needed, and I couldn't worry about money.
I could worry about the price when it came to walls or fences, but not water.
I immediately entered the Auction House and checked the listing the Dwarf had posted.
[System] Grylls is an idiot
[System] Price: 1,100 Gold
“You bastard?”
I'd deal with them later. I bought it with a hollow laugh.
Someone could snipe it, but the price was too high for that to happen.
Even if someone did take it, I could just buy another one from the Dwarf.
“Now that I'm prepared...”
It was time to get water.
Just in case, I armed myself with my sword and shield.
I slung the rolled-up hose over my shoulder. All that remained was the work.
‘Once I get water, I'll wash Wonmo first thing.’
I looked at Wonmo, still sleeping soundly.
What if he woke up while I was gone?
Wouldn't he come outside looking for me? That would be incredibly dangerous.
‘I need to finish as quickly as possible.’
It was time to put my practical skills to the test.
Footnotes:
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