WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Got a Gallery in the Wild ◈
Chapter 76: Joy of Life (2)
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Everyone lives a hard life in their own way.
Even people who seem to be on top of the world, rich people who look like they never have to worry about money, or people who seem to have everything.
Everyone has their own troubles, so they need some way to unwind.
That’s why everyone needs something they enjoy in life. Otherwise, humanity would never have developed entertainment.
Before I got dropped into the Forest of Four Seasons, my joys in life had been ordinary.
After working all day, I’d get off work and play a game with a friend.
Or we’d all get together for drinks on a day off.
I couldn’t attend university because of my circumstances, but those were still little joys in my life.
“Phew...”
And now, back to the present.
As of today, I think smoking tobacco will become my joy in life.
When I took a deep puff, a refreshing scent filled my lungs.
Smoke billowed softly, as if bringing my exhausting day to a close, and calmed my mind.
‘...This is good.’
I didn’t smoke the cigar all the way down.
I’d promised my late father that I would never smoke for the rest of my life.
Yet this hellish environment had made me break even that promise.
Still... it wasn’t bad. At least I felt at peace.
‘Dad, up in heaven. I’m sorry your unfilial child couldn’t keep the promise.’
Please forgive me this once. I’m really having a hard time here.
Was I getting sentimental because I had a cigar in my mouth despite never smoking before? I let out a quiet laugh.
‘Life sure is bitter.’
It would’ve been perfect if I had alcohol too. Still, I held back.
If I started drinking too, I felt like I’d become as much of a drunk as Passing Dwarf.
Besides, I had other things to do, so alcohol needed to stay low on the priority list.
If I drank and got attacked, I’d be in serious trouble. Tobacco was better.
‘First, I should trade with the dwarf.’
I opened the wooden box holding the cigars to use the ashtray.
After tapping the cigar against the ashtray a few times, I cut off the end with my dagger.
Cigars were meant to be smoked more than once.
One of my friends was a tobacco enthusiast, so I knew at least that much.
‘Didn’t think what they taught me would ever come in handy.’
Well, if it helped, that was good. With a much clearer head than before, I logged into the gallery... no, I didn’t.
Taking care of the crabs wriggling in my backpack came first.
If you forced a dagger into a crab’s mouth and pried it open like turning a key, it died.
Then there shouldn’t be any problem trading them.
‘Fish are one thing since their heads get cut off, but will this work with crabs?’
The Gallery couldn’t trade living things.
That was why I’d always cleaned fish to some extent before giving them away.
But even after having their mouths forced open, crabs took a little while to die.
Just in case, it seemed best to pry their mouths open first and put them in a container.
If I put them in a container of water, their guts would spill out through their mouths, making them easier to clean.
Crack!
I forcefully twisted open the mouth of a struggling crab with my dagger.
The moment I saw brown stuff streaming out of its mouth, I tossed it into the container.
I put the other crab in after doing the same thing.
‘While they puke out blood and guts, I’ll ask the dwarf.’
Ask about what? As I said earlier, I planned to ask how to maintain my sword.
A blacksmith, and a dwarf at that, would surely know all kinds of useful tricks.
After glancing at the crabs in the iron container, I logged into the Gallery.
[Post title] Dwarf. Send a trade request in 20 minutes.
[Author] Wild Grylls
[Post] (Photo of crabs in an iron container)
[Post] These guys need some time to die. Give me some sword maintenance tips while we wait.
└ [Passing Dwarf]: Okay, but there isn’t some secret technique or anything. Good oil, paper, and a whetstone are all you need lol
└ [Wild Grylls]: Is it hard to give me all of th... those?
└ [Passing Dwarf]: I need the whetstone, so that’s tough, but I’ll give you a lower-grade one instead. Though that sword is damn fine, so it should keep well on its own, right?
└ [Heavenly Demon]: What an obvious thing to say. My sword was forged from ten-thousand-year cold iron, so it shall never rust.
└ [Wild Grylls]: Ooh;;
└ [Passing Dwarf]: That’s only half true, so don’t trust it too much. Since it’s ten-thousand-year cold iron, you need to maintain it even better.
└ [Wild Grylls]: So it can rust?
└ [Passing Dwarf]: Rust is one thing, but if it breaks, repairs are almost impossible. Even for me, it’d be a damn hard job that’d take days.
└ [Wild Grylls]: I really need to treat it like a lover then;;
└ [Heavenly Demon]: It bruises my pride to say so, but asking that one for help would not be a bad idea. The blacksmith who forged that sword has already returned to the earth.
Of course I was going to maintain it. I’d be spoiled rotten not to.
With the Heavenly Demon’s Sword covered, I asked about my next piece of equipment.
Not the Golden Shield, but the adamant-whatever shield. The one AllHailTheSun had gifted me.
└ [Wild Grylls]: Then how do I maintain a shield?
└ [Passing Dwarf]: Don’t maintain shields. You’ll only lose out if you try. Structurally, shields are bound to get damaged.
└ [Wild Grylls]: It’s a shield with adamant-whatever in it, though?
└ [Passing Dwarf]: Then the moment that shield breaks is the moment you die;;
└ [AllHailTheSun]: Same thing I told you. Keep that in mind.
└ [Wild Grylls]: Yup.
I asked in detail about the things I currently used often, like my crossbow, axe, arrows, and so on.
For the most part, the answer was simply that they wouldn’t break as long as I oiled them well.
The crossbow string at least needed to be replaced, but Passing Dwarf said they would replace it for me.
└ [Wild Grylls]: Can’t I replace it myself?
└ [Passing Dwarf]: Stop talking nonsense and leave it to a professional.
└ [Wild Grylls]: Okay;;
As we talked, 20 minutes passed.
I checked the crabs in the iron container. They were completely still.
It looked like all their blood and guts had drained out. Now all that remained was the trade.
[System] Wild Grylls has registered trade items.
[You]: Here. Two crabs, just like you wanted.
[You]: Clean and eat them right away.
[Passing Dwarf]: Gotta eat them with alcohol right away lol Hold on
[System] Passing Dwarf has registered trade items.
[Passing Dwarf]: Maintenance tools and oil.
[Passing Dwarf]: It’s suuuper high-quality oil, so don’t use it carelessly.
[You]: Okay.]
[Passing Dwarf]: But do crabs give you a fever if you eat them too?
[You]: Nope. They don’t.
The trade with the dwarf was completed quickly.
I checked the items I’d received.
Last time, they had come in an ordinary wooden box, but this time they were in a toolbox.
The whetstones came separately. There were even different kinds.
‘This one looks like someone stood a millstone upright.’
One was the kind that spun around, while the other was shaped like a rectangular block.
It seemed better to leave them outside instead of inside the cave.
If Wonmo woke up to the sound of me sharpening a blade, that would be a hassle.
‘This is oil... why did they give me so much?’
And it wasn’t an ordinary bottle, either. It looked exactly like a liquor bottle.
Seeing thick oil stored in a brown liquor bottle was, how should I put it...
‘It’s like how Mom used to put soy sauce in cola bottles.’
Something like that. Were all dwarves like this, or was Passing Dwarf just weird?
Still, they gave me plenty, so I had no complaints. Next, I checked the oil paper.
Looking closely, it was less oil paper and more like regular paper.
It looked like they’d given me the paper so I could apply the oil myself.
‘Should I try it?’
Since I had received everything, I decided to maintain the Heavenly Demon’s Sword. It wasn’t like I had anything better to do.
Following Passing Dwarf’s instructions, I slowly began maintaining the Heavenly Demon’s Sword.
The Heavenly Demon’s Sword was a fine blade that could smoothly cut through flesh, hide, and even bone.
But even a fine sword got dirty in the hands of a beginner.
On top of that, I’d slain a Guardian in the morning, then a whole group of Guardians at noon.
‘Didn’t I skip maintenance after killing Mad Dog, too?’
Maybe because of that, the Heavenly Demon’s Sword was a little dirty.
If Heavenly Demon saw this, wouldn’t she fly into a rage?
I pushed away the pointless thought and removed the blood and grime from the blade.
First, apply oil to the blade and gently wipe it with paper...
“Ah! That stings!”
The instant I pressed the paper to the edge, it sliced through both the paper and the hand holding it.
How could it cut the paper so cleanly the moment I pressed it against the blade?
I stared at the blood beading from my finger, then silently brought out the Elixir.
‘I’ve really got to be careful around the edge.’
One mistake, and I could cut my whole hand.
I had even been wearing the World Tree Gloves, yet I still got cut.
It let me confirm the gloves’ regenerative ability, but it also made me realize just how absurd the Heavenly Demon’s Sword was.
‘I really do need to treat it like a lover.’
Not just a little difficult, but incredibly difficult. Even the K2 rifle I used in the military couldn’t have been this fussy.
I devoted myself to maintaining the Heavenly Demon’s Sword.
The blade was so sharp that it gave me a hard time, but I somehow managed it.
I had to sacrifice a whole stack of paper in the process, but there was nothing I could do about that.
‘It’ll get easier once I get used to it.’
I propped the Heavenly Demon’s Sword against the cave wall.
Passing Dwarf said a dry, well-ventilated place was best.
‘I’ll oil the rest of my tools, too.’
My shield, dagger, shovel, axe, and everything else I could oil, I did.
Someone might ask why I didn’t just buy new ones, but this was to prevent them from breaking at a critical moment.
‘Now that I’m done...’
I slowly turned my head and looked at Fast Sloth.
Fast Sloth wore its usual relaxed expression.
Tilt-
When it noticed me staring, it tilted its head.
Even the speed at which it tilted its head was frustratingly slow.
But something else had caught my attention.
“Fast Sloth.”
“...”
“Want your claws maintained?”
Fast Sloth’s vicious claws needed maintenance.
I wasn’t joking. Those claws had saved my life several times.
“Come here. It’s good for you too.”
“...”
Fast Sloth gave me a suspicious look for a moment, then slowly came over.
While it approached, I prepared oil and paper.
‘Wait. Should trimming come before oiling its claws?’
I’d never raised an animal, so I didn’t know.
Besides, there probably wasn’t anyone who maintained a sloth’s claws in the first place.
As I thought it over, my eyes suddenly fell on the whetstone.
Fast Sloth’s claws were hard enough to cut through an iron container. Wouldn’t a whetstone be enough?
‘...No way.’
The size difference was too great. On top of that, Fast Sloth’s claws were packed too closely together.
After thinking and thinking some more, I decided to ask the Gallery.
There were all kinds of people there, so someone probably knew how to maintain animal claws.
[Post title] Does anyone know how to maintain animal claws?
[Author] Wild Grylls
[Post] (Photo of Fast Sloth’s viciously overgrown claws)
[Post] I want to maintain Fast Sloth’s claws. Does anyone know what tools I should use?
└ [Heavenly Demon]: Those are vicious claws. Maintaining them would be a good idea.
└ [Wild Grylls]: It’s my strongest combat asset right now, so maintenance is essential.
└ [SwordTasteMaster]: Fast Sloth is that strong?
└ [Wild Grylls]: It’s fast. I can barely track it with my eyes;;
└ I’ve lived long enough to see someone maintain a sloth’s claws lol
└ Do sloth claws normally look that scary?
└ Don’t they need them to climb trees?
└ [Passing Dwarf]: Don’t ask me. I maintain tools, not animals.
└ [Wild Grylls]: Too bad.
└ [AllHailTheSun]: Are you trying to cut the claws, or sharpen them?
└ [Wild Grylls]: Sharpen them. I’m thinking of making them even sharper than that.
└ [AllHailTheSun]: In that case, I can help a little. I maintain my pet lion’s claws.
└ [Wild Grylls]: You raise a lion?;;
└ [AllHailTheSun]: So what? It’s popular in Setan. From my perspective, you raising a sloth is stranger. Isn’t it?
└ That’s true.
└ Lions are cats too lol
└ Do lions like boxes too, by any chance?
└ I think tigers like them.
This time, AllHailTheSun gave me advice.
They said maintenance methods differed depending on the type of claw.
For animals like lions and tigers, their claws were connected to blood vessels, so you had to be careful.
Sloths, on the other hand, didn’t have that issue, so they were easy to maintain.
└ [AllHailTheSun]: If the claws are packed close together, just use sandpaper. It’ll be easier.
└ [Wild Grylls]: I don’t need tools?
└ [AllHailTheSun]: That won’t work. Use sandpaper.
In the end, I maintained Fast Sloth’s claws with sandpaper.
Maybe Fast Sloth understood I was maintaining its claws, because it quietly held out its hand.
‘It’s strange to call it a hand when it has claws.’
Still, those claws had saved my life several times, so I maintained them carefully.
Finally, I wiped them clean with paper coated in oil, and I was done.
Fast Sloth silently stared at its claws, which were shinier and sharper than before.
Its expression always looked the same, so I couldn’t tell whether it liked them or not.
“Do you like them?”
“...”
Nod- Nod-
Even its nodding was painfully slow.
Footnotes:
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