Gallery 22 - Dumpster

I Gained a Gallery in the Wild - Eps 22 Owlbear (3)

Once the name was decided, all that was left was to get close to Round Fluff.

Raising his favor with honey worked well, but a baby's still a baby.

He can't tell right from wrong yet, and with his mother gone, I'm the one who has to look after him.

But here’s the biggest problem.

‘How am I supposed to raise it?’

I never kept a pet even at home.

I was barely scraping by, so what pet?

At least I’ve seen dogs and cats around before, but an Owlbear is on a completely different level.

Aside from knowing that they have an extremely strong appetite and are ferocious, I don't know anything.

'It's important to make him recognize me as his master...'

I watched Round Fluff scurry around inside the cave.

Perhaps because he’s still a baby, he’s extremely curious.

"Sniff. Sniff, sniff."

It lingered for a while at the spot where its mother died.

Seeing he sniff, he seems to remember his mother's scent.

However, the Owlbear has already gone to the United States... no, to the auction house.

Bids were still coming in steadily, so a fat payout was on the way.

'And this tiny thing grows to that size?'

The mother Owlbear was, with slight exaggeration, the size of a house.

But look at Round Fluff. This round creature is the size of a medium dog.

Judging by the light color of his fur, as the gallery said, he's barely just born.

"Kueeeck!"

"Oh my."

It’s way too curious.

Why on earth would he try eating the Byeokgokdan in the sack?

With his keen sense of smell, he must have noticed the bitter scent, so I wonder why he ate it.

"Kuaaack!"

Schwack!

But even though it was a cub, its ferocity was still there.

Round Fluff swiped his claws and tore the sack.

I was shocked when the Byeokgokdan inside scattered out.

"Hey! Park Round Fluff! You can't do that!"

"Kyu- Kyuu?"

“No matter how bad it tastes, that’s not okay!”

I scolded Round Fluff while quickly dealing with the situation.

I laid the torn sack on its side to prevent the Byeokgokdan from spilling.

Then I bought a sack of appropriate size from the auction house and transferred them over.

‘But didn’t they say Owlbears even eat rotten corpses?’

How bad must Byeokgokdan taste for them all to react the same way?

For me, I'm fine because I'm used to it, but apparently not for animals.

'First, I need to make him recognize this as home...'

There’s one thing I’m curious about.

Why did the mother Owlbear bring her baby here?

Being a territorial animal, they're extremely sensitive about their territory.

It means they generally don't invade another animal's territory.

Even if it was going around for scouting purposes, it would not bring its cub, especially newborn ones.

'Did something take over their original territory?'

No. That can't be.

The mother Owlbear had been in peak condition when we faced off.

Moreover, she didn't immediately try to tear me apart, but started explorating.

Should I just consider it a simple relocation...? I'm not sure.

To find out properly, the best way would be to locate their nest.

'That's difficult right now.'

Look at that fur ball staring at me with those round eyes.

The way he sits plopped on a straw mat, blankly staring at me...

"Chuu, chuu. Come here."

"Kyuu."

It's driving me crazy how cute he is. How can something be this adorable?

I showered Round Fluff with affection to my heart's content, scratching his chin, petting his head.

Yeah. How can I leave this little one behind?

Even if I wanted to leave, I can't carelessly empty the place until he recognizes this as home.

'Which means the best option is to repair the cave...'

It’s a bit of a shame, but not a bad choice.

But the biggest problem is still 'water'.

I can manage my own hygiene, but not this little one's.

I have no idea what kind of disease it might bring in, so regular baths are a must.

'Washing him in the stream would be... difficult.'

Not because of the Golden Poison Frogs, but because I have no clue what Round Fluff might do.

Especially if he crosses to the other side, that would be a major accident.

If the terrain shifted at the exact moment he crosses, it would be a disaster.

‘Is there a good method?’

I silently hugged Round Fluff as it stared blankly at me.

How could I not have named him Fluffy with fur this soft? I'm sorry, little one.

As if sensing my feelings, he nuzzled his face against me.

Grrrrowl—

Then a strange sound reached my ears.

Definitely not my stomach.

I slowly set Round Fluff down and stared at him.

"Kyuu...."

"Hungry?"

"Slurp."

Why are you licking your lips at me? That’s unsettling.

I hurriedly went into the auction house before Round Fluff went feral.

The auction has all sorts of stuff, so I can buy some decent meat.

'They even sell monster meat?'

Orc, goblin, knoll, troll, and so on.

No idea why someone would list that.

Monster meat is tough and tasteless, so people don't eat it unless in dire situations.

Probably they put it on the auction because they couldn’t deal with it. It’s relatively cheap too.

"Here you go."

"Sniff, sniff, sniff. Sniff."

I bought orc meat and placed it in front of Round Fluff.

He sniffed curiously, then took a huge bite.

"Chomp, chomp, chomp."

"Is it edible?"

"Chomp, chomp, chomp, chomp. Kwack! Kwak!"

He eats it well. As an Owlbear, his eating habits seem close to those of bears.

I placed a bowl of water next to Round Fluff and went outside.

It'll take him some time to finish all that, so I'll continue my remaining work.

Thwack! Tak!

I kept chopping away with an axe, and eventually it started to budge a bit.

The sound isn't dull but similar to the sound of chopping firewood.

I checked the cave’s position, then gave the tree a strong kick.

Eventually, the tree slowly tilted and fell with a crack!

Kuung!

It was so big that just falling caused quite a racket.

Hope this doesn't attract other animals.

Fortunately, the biggest threat that’s the Owlbear already went to the auction.

'Should I roughly cut it into three parts?'

I walked over to the fallen tree and roughly eyed its size.

With this size, it seems like I could easily make 3-4 barrier walls.

The problem is that I need to split and trim this thick wood.

'...Why did I do this again?'

They say there's a mountain beyond a mountain, and there's still a lot of work left.

I should have just learned internal energy techniques first, like I originally decided.

Feels like I've created more work by doing something pointless because I had nothing else to do.

I let out a deep sigh and decided to start by clearing the smaller branches first.

There are so many branches that I won’t have to worry about firewood for a while.

After roughly cutting off the small branches, I plan to split the tree again.

'I can't do it with a sword, right? I’ll have to buy a saw...’

Just thinking about sawing already makes me dizzy.

But that doesn’t mean I can give up.

Before buying a saw, I went into the cave to rest.

"Gororong...."

When I entered, I saw Round Fluff sleeping on the mat.

The monster meat I gave earlier was completely devoured.

No matter what animal, cubs tend to sleep all day.

I watched Round Fluff curled up like a ball and then silently went into the gallery.

---

Title: Our Round Fluff is sleeping

Author: WildGrills

(Photo of Round Fluff curled up like a ball and sleeping)

Isn't he really cute?

---

ㄴ Ahhh... This is healing...

ㄴ Moarrr! I want more!

ㄴ Really looks like a ball lolol

ㄴ Round Fluff seems a well-chosen name no matter how I look at it

ㄴ I really want to hug him

Most comments were favorable.

Anyone whose heart isn’t melted after seeing that isn’t human.

While looking at the gallery comments with satisfaction, there was one comment that caught my eye

ㄴ PassingDwarf) Is that emergency food? Looks delicious.

ㄴ WildGrills) You crazy?

ㄴ PassingDwarf) I passed out drinking last night and just woke up. What’s up?

It was a PassingDwarf. Seems like he just woke up after drinking.

How could anyone look at Round Fluff and call it emergency food?

I thought this guy was an idiot in many ways, but the gallery users outdid him.

ㄴ Round Fluff isn't emergency food, but Grills is Round Round Fluff's emergency food lol

ㄴ PassingDwarf) Really? Serving the master.

ㄴ He's the butler lmao

ㄴ Ah lololol when he gets hungry he'll eat you first lolol

ㄴ WildGrills) These crazy bastards ;;

Yeah. This is the gallery, alright. I let out a hollow laugh.

Since PassingDwarf happened to be here, I decided to ask him a question.

ㄴ WildGrills) Hey Dwarf, can you hook me up with a good saw?

ㄴ PassingDwarf) A saw? Oh, you cut down a tree?

ㄴ WildGrills) Yeye, but thinking about sawing it makes my balls tremble.

ㄴ PassingDwarf) Unless it’s made of adamantium, one saw’s about the same as another. You’re better off starting with an axe and then sawing.

ㄴ WildGrills) That’s too much work.

ㄴ PassingDwarf) You thought it’d be easy? That’s usually a two-person job.

This is shitty but I've got nothing to say. Nothing comes easy.

The best method would be learning internal energy techniques from the HeavenlyDemon.

If I could use mana, wouldn't things somehow get better?

Until then, there's no choice but to shape it with sheer effoooooort.

ㄴ PassingDwarf) Or sell the wood at the auction house and buy fences or barriers. That should work, right?

ㄴ WildGrills) Didn’t see any?

ㄴ PassingDwarf) Why wouldn't they?

Good question, why wouldn't they? I checked too but found nothing.

They did have some fence-type stuff, but nothing in the form I wanted.

ㄴ WildGrills) Why are you asking me that? ;; If it's not there, it's not there. And isn't it expensive?

ㄴ PassingDwarf) Even if it’s expensive, it’s cheaper than the raw wood you cut. Don’t you know how good trees from the Forest of Four Seasons are?

ㄴ WildGrills) Of course I don't. I told you I'm from another world?

ㄴ PassingDwarf) Wasn't that just drunk nonsense?

ㄴ WildGrills) Fucking asshole lol

ㄴ Totally unreliable lmfaooo

ㄴ lolololololol

No. Why is everyone... untrustworthy.

But that's not the only strange thing.

ㄴ WildGrills) Why didn’t you tell me sooner instead of now?

ㄴ PassingDwarf) Wanted you to struggle a bit lol

ㄴ WildGrills) You son of a dog

ㄴ PassingDwarf) It's not over with just sawing. You also gotta get rid of the moisture and grind it too. Anyway, there's lots to do lol

ㄴ WildGrills) What happens if I don't remove the moisture?

ㄴ PassingDwarf) Mold breakout!

ㄴ WildGrills) Ha (·•᷄‎ࡇ•᷅ )

ㄴ Looks like reality hit? lololol

ㄴ Still, you learned something. Have a drink!

I really do feel like having a drink.

Had I known this, I would've just posted something instead.

As the dwarf said, maybe I should just auction the logs.

‘In that block world, they built things so easily.’

(D: Probably Minecraft.)

That's because their protagonist was ridiculously OP.

Whenever they had the materials, they could whip up a sword or pickaxe in no time, that’s amazing.

Why did I get dropped into this hellish world with zero abilities?

It was a situation that only drew sighs, but thank goodness there's at least a gallery.

'Should I ask the dwarf?'

Although it's vexing, no one is as excellent in this field as dwarves. At least among the people I know.

I thought about it for a second, then asked PassingDwarf:

ㄴ WildGrills) So if I give you the log, can you make a decent barrier?

ㄴ PassingDwarf) Told you to just buy it from the auction house? I saw a few earlier. It takes weeks to dry.

ㄴ WildGrills) Auction doesn't have what I want so

ㄴ PassingDwarf) Well, I don't know about fences, but they won't sell barriers alright. I'll try to get one.

ㄴ WildGrills) You're not joking, right?

ㄴ PassingDwarf) I don’t joke about this stuff.

That's a relief then.

ㄴ PassingDwarf) Except when drunk lol

ㄴ WildGrills) What are you holding in your hand right now?

ㄴ PassingDwarf) Beer

ㄴ WildGrills) You fucking...

ㄴ PassingDwarf) It's a soft drink for dwarves, got a problem?

ㄴ Fact lolol

ㄴ Brutally accurate lolol

ㄴ lmfaoo

ㄴ lmao

I feel dizzy. What kind of alcoholic is this.

At least he doesn’t seem to be joking around, so I checked the auction.

As expected, there's no barrier in the form I want.

Barriers themselves aren't in high demand since you only need to make them once.

Even if someone does need one, they would probably just chop and process the nearby trees rather than buy it.

'First I should put up the logs.'

I registered the fallen logs outside on the auction.

I'm not sure how much it'll go for, but I hope it's expensive like the dwarf said.

If it’s expensive, all this trees will basically become my savings.

'Guess I'll have to wait for the barrier.'

The dwarf said he'll put them up soon, so I'll just buy them.

In the meantime, I plan to tidy up around the cave one step at a time.

'It's not like I'm going to live here permanently but...'

First, I marked the trees that need to be chopped with an axe.

I’m planning to dig a moat after setting up the barricade.

After roughly marking them with the axe, I went back into the cave to rest.

Round Fluff was still off in dreamland. So adorable.

I smiled warmly and logged into the gallery.

By the time I checked, there were many new comments.

Among them, the familiar fixed-nickname LongLiveTheSun's comment stood out the most.

ㄴ LongLiveTheSun) Hey. Have you brushed Round Fluff?

ㄴ WildGrills) Why brush him?

ㄴ LongLiveTheSun) Furry animals need brushing. Or bathing. Try brushing once.

I'm not sure what it's about, but I'll just do what I'm told.

They seem to be someone who raises animals like me.

I bought a fine-toothed brush from the auction house and Round Fluff.

Then I carefully started combing Round Fluff's lush fur to not wake it up.

"...What’s this?"

I think I understand why LongLiveTheSun brought that up.

Something wiggled between the combs. It looks absolutely disgusting.

"T- Ticks?"

I desperately need water.

Right now.

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