WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Got a Gallery in the Wild ◈
Chapter 73: Vote (1)
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Now that I'd dealt with the Core, which had been almost nothing but a burden, I started preparing lunch.
Calling it lunch was a stretch. All I had to do was head up to the river and check the fish.
If there weren't any, I'd eat smoked meat. If there were, I'd eat fish.
I had no idea how many had been caught while I was fighting the Guardian.
‘Two, if I'm lucky?’
Wonmo had woken up just in time, so we all headed to the river.
Fast Sloth was one thing, but this was Wonmo's first time coming along too.
Still, as long as he didn't cause trouble and stayed glued to my side, there shouldn't be a problem.
Splash! Splash!
“Kyuu! Kyukyu!”
“Yeah, yeah. Just wait a little.”
Luckily, two fish had been caught in the Fish Trap.
They were those strange red fish that never stopped being fascinating. They were huge, but they tasted incredible too.
Even as I pulled up the Fish Trap, I kept a close eye on Wonmo in case he decided to go into the river.
The second he did, the Golden Frog family would jump out, so I had to stay alert.
Rustle.
I had almost finished pulling up the Fish Trap when I heard bushes rustling nearby.
At first, I wondered if Wonmo had touched something, but he was right beside me.
That meant it was probably another animal.
I pretended not to notice and continued pulling up the Fish Trap.
By the time I'd pulled it all the way up and the fish were flopping vigorously inside...
Rustle! Rustle!
The sound from the bushes rang out much louder than before.
I immediately grabbed my sword and shield and turned toward the noise.
Wonmo must have sensed something was off too, because he raised his hackles and went on guard.
“Kiing. Kiik.”
“Kkiing. Kking.”
The animal that emerged from the bushes looked pretty familiar.
A body dark gray all over from being soaked in water.
A face that looked cute but still had plenty of wildness to it.
A long body and vicious claws.
“...Otters?”
Otters appeared before us. Not one, either. Several.
Their clever-looking yet cute appearance nearly made me lower my guard.
But where were we? This was the Forest of Four Seasons, where even frogs were dangerously lethal.
I tightened my guard again and stared at the group of otters.
There seemed to be five or six of them.
‘Why are they so damn huge?’
They were on a completely different scale from the otters I knew.
Maybe they looked bigger because they were standing upright, but even then, they reached above my waist.
Their claws were vicious, and they were moving as a group. I couldn't help being tense.
Flop! Flop!
Only the fish in the Fish Trap flopped around during the standoff.
One of the otters turned its gaze toward the fish. It seemed to have its eye on them.
It looked like they'd come to steal my fish.
‘Look at these bandit bastards.’
Not a chance. I wasn't giving them anything. I activated my mana.
The mana absorbed by the Guardian had already replenished itself.
That was possible because the Forest of Four Seasons was rich in mana.
“Kkieek? Kkeek?”
“Kiiing.”
As I slowly raised my fighting spirit, the otters began getting into position as well.
Two stayed in the back while the three in front lowered their bodies.
“Kyaaaaaa!”
The otter I assumed was their leader bared its teeth at me.
Otters were usually seen as cute, but this one had to be an American otter.
With its teeth exposed, it wasn't cute at all. It felt as vicious as any predator.
Well, otters mainly ate fish, so they were predators.
‘Everything I've met so far was alone, but these guys are a pack. I need to be more careful.’
One wrong move and I could face a coordinated attack.
I had no idea what would happen if those claws or teeth got me.
“Fast Sloth. Protect Wonmo. I'll be fine.”
“...”
The most reliable one here was Fast Sloth.
At my request, Fast Sloth slowly climbed down from my back and got onto Wonmo.
I had a shield, but Wonmo was still inexperienced. He needed Fast Sloth's help.
“Kyaaaaaa!”
The largest otter bared its teeth and charged at me. Its target was clearly me.
Despite its massive body for an otter, it approached at incredible speed.
Then it swung its vicious claws and attacked.
Clang!
But it had no chance. I had the shield AllHailTheSun gave me.
The instant its attack ended, I swung my sword without hesitation.
Whoosh!
“?!”
An unsettling sound reached my ears, and I raised my shield again.
It was a defensive move closer to instinct than reason.
Ting! Tang!
Something hard struck my shield. The impact wasn't very strong.
Still, the fact that something had flown at me mattered. I checked the object that had fallen beneath my shield.
‘A rock?’
It was a rock. A fist-sized stone, at that.
Before I could wonder who had thrown it, the leader otter charged again.
The leader otter leaped high into the air and flew toward my face like it meant to pounce.
It looked like it intended to tear me apart with its sharp claws, but it was too late.
Thump!
I raised my shield and easily blocked the leader otter's pouncing attack.
I didn't just block it. Before the leader otter could escape, I swung my shield hard.
No matter how big it was for an otter, getting shoved away like that meant it had no choice but to go flying.
“Kieeng!”
The leader otter flew away with a scream that didn't match its viciousness.
Before it could return, I planned to deal with the other otters first.
When I looked toward Wonmo and Fast Sloth, I saw quite a sight.
“Kyukyaaaaa!”
“Keeeeeeng!”
One otter had already been split into three pieces, spraying blood, while another had been pinned down by Wonmo.
Every time it tried to resist, Wonmo pecked it with his beak and tore at it with his claws. A complete victory.
It seemed Fast Sloth had really put on quite a performance.
Slash! Slash!
Fast Sloth even casually caught flying stones or cut them apart with its claws.
What an amazing performance. Still, were otters really throwing rocks?
“Keeeng! Keeng!”
“Kyaaaang!”
They really were throwing rocks. The two remaining in the back were hurling stones as hard as they could.
Did otters have a habit like that? I wondered, but this was my chance.
I rushed forward as the otter grenadiers prepared to throw more rocks.
The startled grenadiers hurriedly hurled their stones, but my shield blocked every one.
Once I reached them, I slashed my sword, swirling with aura, from the inside outward.
Slash!
There wasn't even a slicing sound. Only the crisp sound of the wind being cut.
The combination of Heavenly Demon’s Sword and aura could cut through most things.
Thud! Thump!
Since they were standing upright, their upper and lower bodies separated neatly.
That took care of every otter that had been throwing rocks from afar, and Wonmo tore apart the one he had pinned down.
The only one left was the leader otter I had sent flying with my shield. It hadn't returned yet.
Rustle!
Speak of the devil.
The leader otter finally emerged from the bushes when it was already far too late.
But what did it matter? Its companions had already either been cut apart or torn to pieces.
“KIIEEEEEEK!!!”
The leader otter roared as if it couldn't believe the tragedy(?) before its eyes.
Then it glared at me with bloodshot eyes and charged at me.
Its speed was still startling for its size, but it wasn't much of a problem.
A beast that was this worked up was easier to dodge, so I didn't even need to block it with my shield.
Slash!
The leader otter threw itself forward, attacking with its claws. It was an emotionally charged attack.
Before twisting my body aside, I held my sword upside down in the leader otter's path.
Its legs were already off the ground, so it would have no choice but to collide with the sword.
Slice.
Just as I expected, the leader otter's body passed right over the inverted sword.
It then fell flat on the ground. The vertically split body was a bonus.
Charging in so quickly had backfired on it. It had practically committed suicide.
‘That's what you get for trying to steal someone else's stuff.’
I snorted and started cleaning up.
If I left the corpses here, other animals might catch the scent and come over.
I threw the otter corpses into the river and roughly covered the spilled blood with dirt.
Since most of them had already been cleanly chopped up, cleaning up wasn't difficult.
“Let's go.”
“Kyuu!”
“First thing we'll do is clean your claws.”
Both Wonmo and Fast Sloth had blood on their claws.
The river was right in front of us, but it was better to return because of the Golden Frogs.
I returned to the shelter with the fish that were still flopping around.
All that remained was a pleasant lunch. I gave one fish to Wonmo.
Naturally, I didn't forget to remove the Inner Core buried in its guts.
“Eat this, and I'll give you honey. Got it?”
“Nom nom nom.”
It didn't seem like he could hear me over all that eating.
I patted Wonmo's head and prepared my own food.
‘When am I ever going to use all these Inner Cores?’
Inner Cores kept piling up in the Elixir bottle. I had no idea whether I could use them all.
I'd start eating one a day in two days, but I was worried about overdosing.
‘First, I should make a post in the gallery.’
I should let them know I'd attacked some otters.
There had even been rock-throwing grenadiers, so I needed to satisfy my curiosity too.
I'd taken photos of the massacre for exactly this reason. I covered the gory parts well enough.
[Post title] Taught These Bandit Bastards a Lesson
[Author] Wild Grylls
[Post] (Photos of scattered otter corpses)
[Post] These bastards tried to steal my fish, so I personally taught them a lesson.
[Post] Do otters normally throw rocks too? I was a little surprised because they split into a front line and back line;;
└ [Heavenly Demon]: The otters I know do not look like that. This is my first time seeing ones that look so vicious.
└ [Wild Grylls]: I thought they were cute at first too, but I was wrong.
└ [SwordTasteMaster]: Are those really otters? What kind of otters look like that?;;
└ [Wild Grylls]: I think it's because this is the Forest of Four Seasons.
└ [Passing Dwarf]: Didn't Fast Sloth get caught trying to steal fish before? Why did you let them off?
└ [Wild Grylls]: Fast Sloth was trying to sneak some, but these bastards were trying to rob me.
└ [Passing Dwarf]: Honestly, what if each of those bastards was as strong as Fast Sloth?
└ [Wild Grylls]: I'd offer up the fish and run like hell lol
└ [Passing Dwarf]: You have no pride?
└ [Wild Grylls]: (Photo of Fast Sloth's peaceful face) This bastard is stronger than me. My pride got crushed a long time ago.
└ [Passing Dwarf]: lol
└ lol
└ His pride deserves to get crushed lol
└ A bastard weaker than a sloth lol
└ [Allfather]: Otters do have a habit of throwing pebbles. But this is the first I've heard of them fighting by throwing rocks.
└ [Wild Grylls]: So the Forest of Four Seasons really is weird, right? They don't normally act like this?
└ [Allfather]: They are the bullies of the river, that much is true. Despite their cute appearance, they even catch crocodiles.
└ [Wild Grylls]: Otters do?;;
└ [Allfather]: They may be friendly toward people, but that doesn't mean they aren't frightening creatures.
└ Think of Wonmo. That cute guy could eat you too.
└ Don’t treat the wild like a fucking joke.
└ People can die from getting kicked by a deer, let alone anything else lol
I see. Otters were just fucking strong.
If I had gone alone, I probably would have had to give up the fish or die.
Thank goodness Wonmo and Fast Sloth were there. It had actually been a pretty dangerous situation.
‘Nothing's ever easy.’
Even setting the Forest of Four Seasons aside, the wilderness itself was a very dangerous place.
I sighed inwardly and started cooking the prepared fish.
The fish browned nicely in the large cast-iron pan.
It was so big that even the cast-iron pan was enormous.
[Post title] Delicious Lunch
[Author] Wild Grylls
[Post] (Video of fish browning nicely)
[Post] Today's lunch. A lunch I never get tired of, no matter how often I eat it.
└ [Heavenly Demon]: My mouth is watering. Is it really that delicious?
└ [Wild Grylls]: I only season it with salt, but it tastes amazing. It'd probably be even better if someone who knew how to cook properly made it.
└ [Heavenly Demon]: If the chance arises, I would like to ask for one fish. Would that be all right?
└ [Wild Grylls]: If you want one, I can give you one right away. But trades get locked afterward, so I'll give it to you when we trade Fasting Pills.
└ [Heavenly Demon]: But isn't that fish part of your food supply until then?
└ [Wild Grylls]: It is, but it's your request, Heavenly Demon.
└ [Heavenly Demon]: Forget it. It may unnecessarily harm your survival. I take back what I said.
└ [SwordTasteMaster]: Could you perhaps list just one piece on the Auction House?
└ [Wild Grylls]: I'll just send you some when I catch more later;;
└ [SwordTasteMaster]: Then trading will be difficult when I need it. Please list just one piece.
└ [Wild Grylls]: It feels like I'd be selling out my conscience. I'll just give you some later.
└ [Passing Dwarf]: I tried that before. It's fucking delicious. But I got a fever right after eating it.
└ Isn't that bad?
└ [Passing Dwarf]: Nah, nah. The next day, you're overflowing with energy. I'm still overflowing with it now lol
└ The more I look at it, the more I want to eat it. Can't you list it on the Auction House?
└ You can't list living creatures. And it's not like Grylls can cook it for you.
└ Can't he kill it and list it right away?
└ Time still passes even when it's listed on the Auction House;;
Everyone seemed envious. I could sort of understand how they felt.
Sometimes, I came across videos uploaded to YourTube. Videos where people cooked whatever they caught in the wild.
They had a strangely addictive quality, and I had found myself watching them before.
‘All I can do is grill it, but the fish are so big.’
Still, I couldn't help feeling disappointed.
It was nearly impossible to give everyone a piece.
After one trade, I couldn't trade again for twenty-four hours, which made things difficult in a lot of ways.
‘This is a good chance to ask the Head Mod.’
I immediately made a post and asked the Head Mod.
└ [DontAbandonTheHero]: No! It would be one thing to unlock everything, but giving special treatment to just one person is unfair!
└ [Wild Grylls]: Then what about Heavenly Demon?
└ [DontAbandonTheHero]: She’s a moderator! Are you going to become a moderator too, Grylls?
└ [Wild Grylls]: ;;
I was reminded once again that the Head Mod was a young boomer.
Footnotes:
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