I Gained a Gallery in the Wild - Eps 47 Lakeside (2)
I didn't encounter any dangerous animals while following down the
river.
Usually, various animals come near rivers, but whether it’s
because of the strong current or the golden frogs, I didn’t see any.
That
said, I didn't avoid animals entirely. Occasionally I would meet small
creatures.
Title: Is this a lizard?
Author: WildGrills
(Photo
of an enormous lizard)
What species is this? The size is no joke?
It's
a small animal by the standards of the Forest of Four Seasons.
The
lizard also scurried away as soon as it saw me.
It's good that I
avoided a fight, but I was curious, so I asked the gallery.
ã„´
HeavenlyDemon) An exceptionally large lizard. Why not catch and eat it?
ã„´
WildGrills) Good idea, but it already escaped.
ã„´ HeavenlyDemon) Hmm.
It seems it instinctively fled knowing that thou are strong.
ã„´
WildGrills) I don't think that's it lol ;;
ã„´ AllFather) By the looks
of it, it's an iguana. It seems to have grown a lot in the Forest of Four
Seasons.
ã„´ WildGrills) Is it an herbivore?
ã„´ AllFather)
Yes. It is a herbivore, so you do not need to be on guard. Still, given its
size, please be careful.
ã„´ WildGrills) How does it taste?
ã„´
AllFather) It’ll probably taste like ordinary meat.
What a waste. I
should’ve caught it instead of taking a picture.
But regret is always
too late. I pushed aside my disappointment and moved on.
Joljoljoljol—
Going
downstream along the river, the current gradually became slower.
The
width of the river also became considerably wider, so this seems to be the
downstream area.
There were no situations where space became
distorted or the environment changed drastically midway.
Buzzzzzzz—
The
problem was the giant mosquitoes flying around instead.
At first, I
thought it was just a weird sense of perspective.
But I realized it
was a monster only after the guy threatened me with his pointed snout.
Ting!
I
barely managed to block it with my shield in panic.
My golden shield
is dented because of the Muscle Mushroom, but it's still very useful.
As
soon as I blocked it with the shield, I immediately drew the sword from my left
waist.
Swish!
I swung the sword at the mosquito which was
the size of my head.
The mosquito was so big that it was neatly cut
in two.
I was dumbfounded when I saw it twitched on the ground.
‘Did
I get dropped into a dark fantasy world?’
I shook my head. It's
better to believe that this forest is just strange.
But there's
something I'm worried about. This giant mosquito.
Then what about
wasps? How big would the wasps that form numerous colonies be?
Just
imagining wasps the size of my head attacking in groups is horrifying.
'Thank
goodness there are no wasp nests near the cave.'
I thought as I
passed the mosquito corpse.
As I walked a few steps, I heard a sound
of 'Shashashak!' from behind.
I couldn't help but react sensitively
to even small sounds, so I jumped in fright and looked back.
I didn't
forget to raise my shield as I turned.
Rustle!
The iguana
I saw earlier was running away with the mosquito corpse in its mouth.
I
stared blankly at the guy fleeing at high speed.
This is a place you
just can't get used to.
'There must be something even weirder than
that?'
I wonder how many more bizarre things I’ll see. I’m actually
looking forward to it.
I continued down the river silently. Now, with
my sword ready, I was prepared to counterattack at any moment.
How
long had I been following the river? It felt like an hour, but nothing
particularly noteworthy appeared.
Splash!
The only thing
that stands out is the fish. Sometimes a big fish jumps out.
It might
be my imagination, but they seemed much larger than what I had caught.
Since
this was the downstream area with slower currents, more fish must live here.
‘If
I set up a trap here…’
Swoooosh!
It wouldn't be bad to set
up a trap here. Just as I was thinking that,
Something a bit too
small to be a whale, yet too large to be a fish, shot up from downstream.
Its
black body gave off a terrifying sense of intimidation just by looking at it.
Splash!
The
water rose as the huge body plunge back into the river.
I could only
stare blankly at the scene.
'....Do whales live in rivers too?'
My desire to return immediately grew stronger.
I could
probably handle most beast, but I could never catch that thing.
But I
couldn’t give up without confirming the end of the river.
As I
silently went down the river with a nervous heart.
"Ha. Fuck."
I
let out a groan that welled up from deep within my chest.
It was less
a sigh and more of a stunned exhale, born from sheer disbelief.
"Is
this the sea or a lake?"
At the end of the river stretched a vast
lake.
A lake so shallow it barely even qualified as one.
The
water was so clear I could see straight to the bottom.
‘It's
basically stamping a seal that says, 'You can't leave.''
My heart was
slowly breaking. I sighed and posted a post on the gallery.
I felt
down, so I wanted to post something in the gallery and see the reactions.
Title:
Found a pretty lake
Author: WildGrills
(Photo of a vast
lake)
Followed the river down and there's a lake. Pretty, huh?
How
should I escape? Hahaha huhuhu
ã„´ HeavenlyDemon) What a beautiful
view. I’d love to row a boat and write a poem.
ã„´ WildGrills)
Master?
ã„´ HeavenlyDemon) Is there a problem?
ã„´
SwordMaster) Please read the room. Would Mr. Grills have the leisure to row a
boat?
ã„´ HeavenlyDemon) Hmm. Thou art right. This One apologize. It
seems I was momentarily captivated by the beautiful scenery.
ã„´
WildGrills) No, it's fine. That can happen...
ã„´ But it really is
pretty lol
ã„´ Gotta draw a picture of that~
ã„´ There are
quite a few rocks in the lake.
ã„´ Grills, it’s hot. Why not dive in
and cool off?
ã„´ WildGrills) It's too shallow, if I dive my head will
crack ;;
ã„´ A lake but shallow? Is it really a lake?
ã„´
WildGrills) Don't know either. It’s too big to be a pond, and too shallow to be
a lake.
ã„´ Usually that kind of thing would be a swampland.
ã„´
WildGrills) Lots of pebbles so it's not a swamp.
ã„´ PassingDwarf) Are
your shoes any good? You'll need combat boots to get through there, right?
ã„´
WildGrills) That's why I'm troubled. I want to ask you for a favor, but it feels
like I'm asking too much, so I'm thinking of asking someone else.
ã„´
PassingDwarf) Yeah, I'm not confident with shoes either. Maybe for my kind, but
among humans there are plenty who are better than me.
ã„´ WildGrills)
Guess I’ll need to get some shoes later too.
Now that I think about
it, I was so focused on getting clothes that I neglected shoes.
For
someone like me who has to walk long distances, shoes are really important.
I
want to ask the dwarf, but like I said, I feel like I’m depending on him too
much, so I’ll pass.
The dwarf also advised that for shoes, it's
better to ask someone else.
‘I thought I wouldn't wear combat boots
unless I was a reservist.’
To think I'm looking for combat boots
after coming here. You really never know about life.
But more than
military boots, waterproofing is more important in cases like this.
Wearing
shoes soaked in water for a long time will not only make you sick, it’ll swell
up your feet.
'Rubber in the auction house is... not there. Should I
just endure today?'
I'm debating whether to endure it for just today
or to return now.
It would be fine to go back now, but I felt a sense
of disappointment.
It’s not like I’ve hit a dead end, so it felt
wrong to give up just like this.
'Right. I could build a boat to get
across, so let’s investigate a bit more.’
I plan to return right away
if the water gets even a little deeper.
I nodded and wandered around
the shallowest part of the water.
It felt like I was circling around
the lake, but I was able to get some results from this.
'If I go like
this, might be able to pass the lake?'
It seems I can reach the other
side of the lake without necessarily taking a boat.
However, there
were puddles here and there, so getting my shoes wet was unavoidable.
While
I was walking around being vigilant like that.
"Kkururuk.”
"Kkuruk.
Kkuruk."
"Huh?"
A bizarre sound was heard. It was right in
front of me.
I looked ahead and saw a bunch of large rocks.
It
didn’t take long to realize they weren’t rocks but living creatures.
'Crabs?
Why are there crabs?'
They were crabs. Crabs that walk sideways.
It
was even bigger than a lobster. It was about the size of my upper body.
The
crabs were bobbing their antennae-like eyes and moving their pincers. I
approached them cautiously.
Even as I approached, they seemed to have
no wariness and were busy moving their claws.
“...Fish?”
Fish.
The crabs were eating fish carcasses.
I vaguely remembered hearing
that crabs act as nature’s cleaners.
Still, I had no idea why there
would be dead fish here.
‘The water is so shallow it would be hard to
swim. Was it just unlucky?’
Let me first take photos to identify what
species they are.
I took photos of the crabs eating deliciously and
uploaded them to the gallery.
Title: Anyone know what species of
crabs these are?
(Photo of crabs having a delicious meal)
Spotted
these guys eating while wandering by the lake.
Roughly the size of my
torso, does anyone know what species they are?
ã„´There are crabs in
lakes too?
ã„´ Yeye, those guys are masters of adaptation. They eat
anywhere as long as there’s water.
ã„´ Heard crabs are super tasty.
ã„´
They look ordinary, so probably fine to grill and eat?
ã„´ AllFather)
These are edible Gopher crabs. Originally they're creatures about the size of a
fist.
ã„´ WildGrills) Are there any parasites or anything like that
inside?
ã„´ AllFather) Nothing that survives fire.
So I
just have not to eat it raw. Perfect.
I think I’ll bring one back
with me when I leave.
‘It won't be too hard, right?’
Just
in case, I stabbed it with HeavenlyDemon’s sword.
Crunch!
The
shell was pierced with a refreshing crack.
The crab with its shell
pierced by the sword flailed its claws and legs.
The other crabs
couldn’t care less about their dead comrade and just kept eating fish.
‘As
expected of HeavenlyDemon’s sword. Never doubt it.’
I shook off the
sword and dropped the crab.
The crab with the pierced carapace
flipped over and then trembled violently for a while.
The slight
feeling of guilt I felt was brief.
"Kkururuk."
"Kkuruk.
Kkuruk."
Crabs started gathering from elsewhere. Heading toward the
one whose shell had been pierced.
I watched quietly, wondering what
these creatures were up to.
Soon, the other crabs surrounding the
crab raised their large pincers.
Kwajik! Kwajijik!
The
crabs brought down their pincers toward their overturned kin.
The
shells shattered with each strike of the pincers.
In the end, the
crabs stopped even trembling. It had died.
The dead crab was reduced
to a single meal for its own kind.
"...."
Nature truly is
cruel. I shook my head and moved on.
Countless crabs inhabited the
lakeside. Almost all the same type of crab.
Usually lakes are home to
various forms of life, so I couldn't help but feel puzzled.
'How did
the crabs take over the lakeside?'
Even though their pincers are
powerful, these guys are weak individuals.
With that question in
mind, I came face-to-face with a strange rock. A rock much bigger than me.
It
was odd how a rock was suddenly sticking out so tall, but I could just go around
it.
"Krruruk."
"Huh?"
Then the boulder made a
strange noise. The same sound the crabs had been making earlier.
I
stared at the rock with doubt.
Kugugugugugu—
With a slight
vibration, several legs shot out abruptly from under the rock.
Then,
two enormous pincers unfolded from either side.
What was already a
massive boulder now loomed even larger.
So much so that I had to
crane my neck all the way up.
"Kkuruk. Kkururuk."
"...."
The
antenna-like eyes looked directly at me.
I couldn't help but retreat
hesitantly at the sight.
The rock, no, the huge crab, stared at me
for a while and then moved its legs with a scuttling sound.
Fortunately, it wasn't approaching me but turned its body around.
Seemed like it lost interest.
'...Wait a minute.'
Don't
crabs move sideways when they move?
Just when I had that thought.
Whoosh!
A
giant pincer fell on my head.
Again, crabs play the role of
'cleaners.'
Kwaang!
"Uwak!"
Which means they're
omnivores.
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