WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Got a Gallery in the Wild ◈

Chapter 98: Firewood (1)

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There was a word called bait.

Usually, it referred to something used to lure fish.

Because it lured fish, the word was often used in other contexts too.

The gallery was no different. Throw out a huge piece of bait, and the fish would come swarming in.

The bigger the bait, the more fish it drew, and sometimes, you even reeled in a trophy catch.

If you want the Holy Kingdom to go under, upvote lol

The Undying King is pitiful too.

So El Dorado was the real Demon King lol

Demon Kings aren't born.

When's the Holy Kingdom going to respond?

‘When is this going to die down?’

As time passed, dinner drew near.

I watched the gallery continue blazing over the Undying King bait and wondered.

Was it because the incident had happened relatively recently? Or because the Holy Kingdom was just that disgusting?

One thing was certain. There was no sign of it dying down anytime soon.

I think I understood a little of what I had done.

‘As long as they make a proper statement tomorrow, it'll be fine.’

I closed the gallery. It was time to head to the river.

The outside world could handle its own problems. All I had to do was survive in my own way.

Irresponsible fun? What could I do when I couldn't take responsibility even if I wanted to?

Besides, I hadn't posted it for fun. I did it to improve my chances of survival, even a little.

I never imagined things like the Undying King or the world's ills would be hidden in there.

‘Though I would've posted it even if I'd known.’

What did I know about this world?

I woke up in the Forest of Four Seasons before I had the chance to learn anything.

I had the gallery, but you couldn't learn about the world through an online community.

‘Will I run into trouble if I ever get outside?’

That would require one condition. The Head Mod would have to reveal my address in real time.

Otherwise, no one could possibly find me.

‘Ugh. Forget it. There's no point thinking about this.’

I should just wait and see what the Holy Kingdom said tomorrow.

I sighed inwardly as I arrived at the river.

There were exactly two fish in the Fish Trap.

Another feast today. Delighted, I pulled up the trap.

Wriggle, wriggle.

“Huh?”

The Fish Trap had caught more than fish.

An octopus from who knows where was wriggling around inside.

Its body wasn't glowing blue, so it didn't seem venomous. It was just an ordinary octopus.

It also didn't look nearly as monstrous as the octopus I'd encountered on the sandy beach before.

‘Did the sea flow back into the river or something?’

Ever since the downpour, it felt like I had been catching every kind of creature imaginable.

Well, more food was good news for me.

Besides, it was my first time eating octopus in this forest, so trying it once wasn't a bad idea.

‘Wait, were octopus tentacles this thin? Maybe it's a long-arm octopus.’

For now, I took the entire trap with me. It was small, so I planned to eat it right away.

I figured I could boil it or stir-fry it.

Octopus or long-arm octopus, it was still my dinner. That hadn't changed.

I returned to the cave and was about to transfer the food from the trap into a container.

Whoosh!

“Huh?”

The thing that might have been an octopus or a long-arm octopus wrapped itself around my arm.

It was so fast that I froze for a moment. Then its tentacles wrapped around somewhere else.

Squeeze!

“Ghk! Cough!”

My neck.

I couldn't breathe.

I desperately tried to pull off the tentacles strangling my neck.

But they were so strong that I couldn't pry them loose.

Worse, something felt like it was sticking to me. Its suckers must have latched onto my throat.

“Ghk...! Cough...!”

At this rate, I was definitely going to suffocate.

As my consciousness began to fade, I fumbled around with my hands.

The dagger I'd set out to prepare dinner. My hand found it.

Slice! Slice! Slice! Slash!

I desperately cut through the tentacles, and before long, my throat was free.

But the octopus didn't seem willing to give up. It tightened its remaining tentacles around me even harder.

My vision was starting to dim. I circulated mana through my body and cut away its tentacles.

Snap! Riiip!

I severed every tentacle that had been choking my neck.

Finally, I grabbed it by the head and forcibly tore it off me.

The octopus was still desperate to kill me, but all its tentacles had already been cut off.

“Cough! Cough! Hah... Urgh.”

I coughed, then glared at the octopus in my hand.

It only had one tentacle left.

It was ridiculous how it thrashed around, trying to cut my neck with that one pathetic tentacle.

Smack!

I had no mercy for animals that tried to kill me. I executed it immediately.

I slammed the octopus onto the cutting board, then drove my dagger into its head.

Maybe I hit a vital spot. The octopus quickly turned white before going limp.

“Ugh. Seriously.”

Pop! Pop!

I pulled the tentacles stuck to my neck off.

The suckers had latched on so tightly that it felt like peeling off blue duct tape.

“Phew...”

Even after I put the tentacles on the cutting board, they were still twitching.

They looked so disgusting that I wanted to get rid of them immediately.

‘What kind of octopus strangles someone's neck?’

Since it hadn't sprayed ink, maybe it wasn't an octopus after all. Maybe it really was a long-arm octopus.

Either way, that had been dangerous. I couldn't let my guard down just because something was small.

‘I’ll make sure to chew you nice and thoroughly.’

They were the tentacles that had wrapped around my neck, but I didn't care. Such “minor” hygiene concerns weren't a problem.

While I was at it, I could write down what I learned about long-arm octopuses in my diary. I'd gotten a lot out of today.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle, sizzle.

Eating it alive felt wrong, so I decided to grill it in a pan.

There was such a thing as stir-fried long-arm octopus, but I didn't have any sauce.

It would be enough to toss it in with the fish while I cooked.

Chew, chew.

“Mmm. Tasty.”

It had that distinctive fishy seafood smell, but its savory flavor covered all of it.

And I was eating fish alongside it.

The umami of the fish blended perfectly with it and made my taste buds happy.

“Wonmo, you can have the head.”

“Kyuu!”

I gave the head to Wonmo. Naturally, I cut it up and grilled it first so he wouldn't choke.

Fast Sloth stubbornly refused it. Well, it made sense. Fast Sloth was an herbivore.

I finished another filling dinner. There had been a crisis in the middle, but I think I got through it well.

‘The smaller they are here, the more dangerous they seem.’

Until now, big monsters had threatened me.

But thinking about it now, the bigger they were, the worse it seemed for their survival.

Fast Sloth was smaller than me, yet absurdly strong.

Especially the Saber-Toothed Tiger that held the Dragon Heart. Its regeneration was powerful, but its large body gave it too many openings.

The Orichalcum Guardian was the same. Smaller creatures were more dangerous.

‘...I'll make an exception for crabs and crayfish.’

Those guys suited the word “monster,” so it was best to treat them as exceptions.

After finishing all the cleanup, I entered the cave to write in my diary.

Scratch, scratch. Scratch, scratch.

The corpses were important too, but the long-arm octopus was the most important thing. I carefully wrote down everything I knew about it.

I'd gotten a harsh lesson today, so I probably wouldn't fall victim to a similar attack again. Still, keeping records was essential.

I could hit my head and lose my memories someday.

‘I'm done with the diary. Time to practice my cultivation method.’

I was getting used to the cultivation method too. All I had to do was close my eyes and focus a little to vividly feel the mana inside my body.

I should consume an Inner Core tomorrow or the day after. I'll start with one.

After finishing all my training, I connected to the gallery. I wanted to see whether it was still burning over the Undying King bait.

‘It's the same.’

Nothing had changed much. The gallery was still on fire.

It was strange that it could burn for so long without anyone adding more firewood.

Even the Head Mod wasn't stopping it. They had said posts provoking conflict between nations were prohibited.

‘Is it because it's a conflict between nations?’

The countries currently being mentioned were the Holy Kingdom of El Dorado and the Balkan Kingdom.

The Balkan Kingdom had been destroyed long ago. There couldn't be any conflict.

Mephisto, the nation of demonkind where the “Demon King” existed, was occasionally brought up, but only barely.

Most posts criticized and insulted El Dorado.

‘I should ask the Head Mod and Heavenly Demon, just in case.’

I wasn't worried about El Dorado. I felt indifferent toward it.

How terrible must its usual image have been for everyone to jump at the chance to insult it?

Still, if posts like this kept pouring in, the moderators would get tired.

I wasn't worried about El Dorado. I was worried about the people who would have to work because of it.

[You]: Heavenly Demon. Are you there?

[Heavenly Demon]: I am always waiting to speak with you.

Heavenly Demon was the first to respond.

The Head Mod occasionally disappeared, so I planned to ask later.

[You]: It looks like the gallery is in chaos because of me.

[You]: I was wondering if you're busy...

[Heavenly Demon]: I understand what you mean.

[Heavenly Demon]: You need not worry too much. Things like this happened often enough before.

[You]: This happened often?

[Heavenly Demon]: Yes. Whenever something happened in the world, the gallery tended to burn like this.

[Heavenly Demon]: Sometimes the trouble spilled into reality, but that was exceedingly rare.

[You]: So if we just leave it alone, it'll die down on its own.

[Heavenly Demon]: Unless the Holy Kingdom adds more firewood, that is.

In the end, I wouldn't know how things went until tomorrow.

I had already guessed as much, so I wasn't too concerned.

[You]: What if the Holy Kingdom gives a weird explanation?

[Heavenly Demon]: Then it will burn even hotter.

[Heavenly Demon]: That is when we will become busy.

[You]: I hope that doesn't happen.

[Heavenly Demon]: Are you worried?

[You]: Of course.

[You]: My posts might get buried.

[Heavenly Demon]: Hmm. A matter of the utmost importance.

The post turnover was insane right now. If I closed the gallery and reopened it, one or two new pages had already appeared.

For someone as dependent on the gallery as I was, this was a very serious problem.

At least person-to-person trades were possible. Otherwise, it would've been a headache.

[Heavenly Demon]: Even if I must seek them out, I will read your posts. Do not worry.

[Heavenly Demon]: I will always support you.

[You]: Thank you.

After being comforted by Heavenly Demon, I contacted the Head Mod, DontAbandonTheHero.

The Head Mod was probably the person with the biggest headache in the gallery right now.

They were the one who had even given me authority, so I felt even more sorry.

[You]: Head Mod. Are you there?

[DontAbandonTheHero]: Yes! I’m here!

[DontAbandonTheHero]: What is it?!

Luckily, the Head Mod seemed to be connected to the gallery.

I thought about what to say before asking about the current situation.

[You]: You've dealt with situations like this a lot, right?

[DontAbandonTheHero]: It happens often!

[DontAbandonTheHero]: And it’s always a hassle!

I felt guilty for causing that hassle.

[You]: I didn't think it would turn out like this. I'm sorry.

[DontAbandonTheHero]: You have nothing to apologize for!

[DontAbandonTheHero]: I don't think you posted that with such intentions, Grylls!

[You]: Thank you.

[You]: But what happens to me after the bait dies down?

[DontAbandonTheHero]: It would be different if you'd acted with malicious intent, but since you didn't, Grylls, you should be fine!

[You]: That's a relief.

[DontAbandonTheHero]: Besides, if we deleted it now, the gallery might burn even more!

That was probably true. I had heard of how trying to hide something only drew more attention to it.

In the end, I would have to wait until tomorrow to see whether the bait died down or not.

[You]: I'm sorry for causing you trouble without meaning to.

[You]: I'd like to apologize again.

[DontAbandonTheHero]: No!

[DontAbandonTheHero]: If the Holy Kingdom did something wrong, then it did something wrong. If it didn't, then it didn't!

[You]: Are you from the Holy Kingdom, Head Mod?

[DontAbandonTheHero]: Yes! It is a country blessed by the gods, especially the Goddess!

Patriotism practically dripped from that answer.

If those atrocities were true, wouldn't the Head Mod become disillusioned?

[DontAbandonTheHero]: Like I said, you don't need to apologize, Grylls!

[DontAbandonTheHero]: There must be some misunderstanding!

[You]: You think so?

[You]: I hope they explain it properly.

That way, my posts wouldn't get buried.

I ended my conversation with the Head Mod and browsed the gallery.

Most of it was Undying King bait, so there wasn't a single interesting post.

A few people tried to exploit the gap, but their posts were deleted before long.

‘I should practice aura until bedtime.’

The gallery wasn't interesting, so I practiced controlling aura.

As time passed, my aura kept increasing on its own and became harder to control, but I still had to practice.

I poured mana into Heavenly Demon’s Sword and generated aura. It wavered like a heat haze.

My first task was to shape it into something sharp.

‘...’

As expected, it wasn't easy. It must have been a matter of talent.

I extinguished the aura and tended to my equipment.

‘Without the gallery, there isn't much to do.’

There was especially nothing to do before bed.

Even training could become poison when overdone.

‘I only smoke tobacco when things are rough. I should just practice the Inner Energy Cultivation Method.’

Until I found a suitable hobby, it looked like I would have to pass the time with the Inner Energy Cultivation Method.

The eventful day passed, and the next morning came.

Since morning had arrived, the gallery bait should have cooled down somewhat.

Unless someone had added more firewood, it should have died down at least a little.

[Post title] Holy Kingdom of El Dorado: Here’s What Really Happened.

“?”

I was already getting nervous.

Footnotes:

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