Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 97

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ Got a Gallery in the Wild ◈

Chapter 97: Plot Hook (3)

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[Post title] Undying King Summary

[Author] Wild Grylls

[Post] Once upon a time, there was a kingdom.

[Post] The kingdom was poor, but it had a kind king and happy people.

[Post] The kind king served his people, and the people always smiled because they knew how hard their king worked.

[Post] Then one day, bad people invaded and began tormenting the people.

[Post] The king loved peace, so he spoke with the bad people, but what do you think happened?

[Post] The bad people ignored the king's request and tormented the people even more!

[Post] Angered, the king asked his remaining people to defeat the bad people.

[Post] The people knew how kind their king was, so they gladly joined forces with him.

[Post] Together, the king and his people defeated the bad people, but can you believe it?

[Post] Then someone even worse appeared among them!

[Post] This even worse person was so strong that even the kind king struggled to defeat them.

[Post] Still, the king refused to give up and fought to protect his people.

[Post] The people also fought without sparing themselves for their kind king.

[Post] After that, the king and his people defeated the even worse person.

[Post] After defeating the bad people, the king and his people headed off to dreamland together, dreaming of a happy future.

[Post] Thinking of the day when they would all smile together……

[Post] That's it, right?

└ [Heavenly Demon]: You have a gift for children's stories.

└ [SwordTasteMaster]: Yeah. Aren't old, cruel fairy tales all like that?

└ [Allfather]: Heh heh heh. If the Undying King saw this post, he'd cough up blood.

└ [Wild Grylls]: He's already dead, so he can't cough up blood lol

└ Wow. Comparing it like this is kind of creepy lol

└ The parts about fighting without sparing themselves and heading off to dreamland are scary ;;

└ He was a kind king from the undead's point of view lol

└ fr, he was a great king for the undead lol

The gallery was in an uproar over the contents of the book I had uploaded.

The Undying King, the Balkan Kingdom, the Holy Kingdom, none of that mattered.

What mattered to me was anything related to survival. Hidden truths and all that were irrelevant.

'There's no point in everyone talking about it on the gallery.'

Even if the fallout reached the real world, I wouldn't care.

There was only one situation where I would need to care: after I escaped the Forest of Four Seasons.

Even if the Holy Kingdom threw a fit over this, it couldn't affect me in the slightest.

'The Head Mod might feel a little uncomfortable, though.'

The Holy Kingdom was a nation that worshipped gods, and the Head Mod was a deeply devout believer.

Facts that shook the Holy Kingdom's very foundation had come to light, so the Head Mod would naturally feel uncomfortable.

If a request came in to take the post down, I was willing to do so.

The information had already spread far and wide, and I had given the book to Allfather.

All I had to do was watch quietly. I had no interest in anything related to the Undying King.

'It's doubtful anyone will even believe it.'

Unless Allfather made the book public, it would be difficult for anyone to trust information that came from the gallery.

It would also depend on the Holy Kingdom's usual reputation.

If its image was bad, this would become a problem. If it was good, people would just dismiss it with, "What kind of bullshit is this?"

'Most groups have some dirt hidden away.'

Just as stagnant water rots, people rot when they gather together.

Even if they started with good intentions, time would eventually make them rot.

Unless they regularly flushed out the old guard, it would be hard for an organization to stay clean.

'Well, that's the same everywhere.'

The people of that country could deal with it themselves.

There was even less reason for someone stuck in the Forest of Four Seasons to get involved.

I watched criticism and condemnation of the Holy Kingdom begin to appear in the gallery, then silently closed it.

It looked like it would take a while to decipher the survival-related sections I wanted.

'At least there's a chance other survivors exist……'

The corpses I had found this time made that clear.

There was a good chance more human corpses existed somewhere in this forest.

Unlike the corpse presumed to have been eaten by an Owlbear, some bodies had remained intact, like the owner of the book.

'If there were people much stronger than me, they must have survived longer.'

The book's owner had been the last scribe of the Balkan Kingdom.

A scribe was someone closer to literary pursuits than martial ones.

They could have grown stronger while living in the Forest of Four Seasons, as I had, but unfortunately, they wouldn't have been able to use the gallery.

I couldn't have guaranteed my own survival without the gallery, either. That made a huge difference.

'I should search places like caves thoroughly from now on.'

People would not have had the leisure to build cabins in the Forest of Four Seasons, so most would have used caves as shelters.

'Other races must have entered here too, right?'

If I was incredibly lucky, I might meet one.

Demonkind and elves, especially, had a much higher baseline than other races.

They could easily invoke the magic humans had to rack their brains to learn.

Even without the gallery, magic would give them a major advantage in survival.

'By this world's standards, I'm too dumb to even dream of learning magic.'

I had given up on magic long ago. What kind of physics did they use to describe fire again?

The moment I heard it was related to mathematics, I gave up without hesitation.

I'd rather just brute-force magic.

'If survivors really do exist……'

The mere possibility of another person was comforting. Until now, I had thought I was alone.

Could I find traces of people? It felt like I had found a small new goal.

If escape was my ultimate goal, finding traces of survivors was a more immediate one.

'Didn't they say most people who entered the Forest of Four Seasons were criminals?'

Criminals who had received the severe punishment of having their eyes gouged out before being sent in.

Or criminals whose horrific records left them with no place in society.

Otherwise, explorers who entered to show off their courage, and so on.

Of course, the chances of meeting any of them were very low.

They said the Forest of Four Seasons was as large as a small country.

'Still, I can't give up.'

It felt like I had found another hope. The hope that, if I was lucky, I might meet someone.

I let out a long breath and stood up.

'I should train instead of wasting time like this.'

There was still time before dinner. Sword training was better than wallowing in misery.

I picked up my sword and shield, gradually working on my shortcomings.

'I don't care who it is, as long as someone's alive.'

It was a very small wish.

* * *

Kadir was someone who wanted to know everything in the world.

It didn't matter whether it was magic, people, or history.

Nothing was as fascinating as a truth veiled in darkness.

That thirst for knowledge sometimes brought ruin, but who was Kadir?

The Wizard King and master of the Mage Tower. A man who had mastered every form of magic.

No matter how great it was, a truth like that was nothing more than a curiosity to him.

"Rais Kraone."

[…….]

Kadir calmly spoke someone's name.

The skull sitting alone before him responded.

A green glow appeared in its empty eye sockets.

As though it had opened its eyes.

"Do you know who that is?"

The skull Kadir was speaking to had originally been kept in a freezer.

Considering it had begged to be killed, it was certainly no ordinary being.

[How do you know that name?]

A chilling yet weighty voice flowed from the skull.

It didn't sound as though it came from vocal cords, but as if it were speaking through mental will.

Kadir, no, Allfather, did not falter at the spine-chilling voice.

"So the contents of the book were true after all."

[I asked how you knew.]

When Allfather did not give the Undying King the answer the Undying King wanted, the skull, no, the Undying King, let out a sound as though pretending to be angry.

At the same time, green energy enveloped the skull and blazed like fire.

It was the undulating aura of death itself. Though only his head remained, the Undying King's power was still there.

"I learned it by chance. It appears that the scribe fled to the Forest of Four Seasons."

[…….]

"If you answer my questions sincerely, I'll also tell you where and how I obtained the information."

The aura of death surrounding the Undying King gradually faded.

It was silent permission to continue.

Allfather wore a broad smile for only a moment before turning serious and asking a question.

"Why did you hide such a truth?"

[Because our kingdom was weak and lost. Is that enough?]

It was a cynical answer, yet one that pierced through the ways of the world.

The weak were bound to lose many things to the strong, and truth was no exception.

Above all, history was written by the victors.

The records of the defeated were bound to be distorted and disappear.

Allfather stroked his beard as if he finally understood.

"I've long known the Holy Kingdom was rotten, but I didn't know it was this bad. Thanks to you, they got one flush-out, and this is supposed to be the improved version?"

[…….]

"No, that can't be right. Yet they still exiled the Hero…… Tsk tsk. I suppose they still haven't learned their lesson."

The reputation of the Holy Kingdom of El Dorado could not even politely be called good.

El Dorado had once held the conviction that it would defeat the Demon King, but that conviction had faded with time.

These days, demonkind had become so immersed in sports rather than fighting that they no longer cared about other nations.

Instead, demonkind had become interested in culture and begun to see the Demon King as nothing more than their king.

An organization that lost its purpose should normally scatter, but El Dorado was a nation.

Trying to hold it together by force had naturally made the water stagnate, and that stagnant water had rotted.

[Now answer my question. How did you learn that fact?]

While Allfather had been talking to himself, the Undying King spoke in a grim voice.

Allfather snapped his fingers. A book appeared in his hand.

"This. A record left behind by the Balkan Kingdom's last scribe, Rais Kraone."

Swish-

Allfather kindly showed him the first page of the book.

Even without eyeballs, the Undying King's gaze followed the page.

Then, seeing his native language for the first time in a long while, the Undying King let out a startled breath.

[I cannot believe it. I gave the order for the scribe to flee to the Forest of Four Seasons.]

"I got it from that Forest of Four Seasons."

[Impossible. The Forest of Four Seasons is a labyrinth from which no one can ever escape.]

"That is true. But I did not find it myself."

Allfather briefly explained everything that had happened.

Grylls had fallen into the Forest of Four Seasons and gained the ability to use the gallery.

After enduring hardship upon hardship, Grylls had happened to find the corpses and books.

The Undying King listened silently, then spoke.

[I cannot believe it.]

"Everything is true. So, what do you want to do?"

[What do you mean?]

Allfather fluttered the book, which had now been fully deciphered, and explained in detail.

"I mean, do you want to hit the Holy Kingdom where it hurts? I am not especially fond of them either."

[…….]

"The previous Hero who perished alongside you was a close friend of mine. The Holy Kingdom's pressure led to their mutual destruction, so they were essentially murdered."

[Do as you please. On one condition.]

"A condition?"

Allfather raised one eyebrow at the mention of a condition.

Then the Undying King stared at Allfather and made a request in a voice close to resignation.

[Kill me.]

"Later."

[Damn.]

At Allfather's flat refusal, the Undying King muttered a small curse.

It was mild as curses went, but considering he had once been king, it was quite strong.

"Any other request?"

[I want to know who found the records.]

"I told you I got them from the gallery."