Gallery 57 - Dumpster

I Gained a Gallery in the Wild - Eps 57. The tiger died (4)

The number of explosions I've experienced in my life can be counted on one hand.

The first was when I threw a grenade in the military. That's when I realized how powerful grenades are.

Aside from that, there's only one other time: when oil splattered on me while cooking.

Even if it's infinitely shabby compared to a grenade, an explosion is still an explosion.

The reason I'm having these useless random thoughts is simple.

"Cough. Cough. What the..."

Never in my life did I think that instead of oil, a heart would explode.

Good thing I sensed something was off and acted fast. If not, the damage could’ve been way worse.

I coughed hard and looked toward where the heart had been placed.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Despite the explosion, the heart was still beating as if nothing had happened.

On the other hand, the surroundings were quite literally in ruins. Everything was destroyed.

It was fortunate that the jars of meat had been moved to the cave, otherwise I would have burst into tears.

“Kyuu! Kyuu!”

The explosion was so powerful that even Round Fluff was rushed out of the cave.

His wide, panicked eyes were so ridiculously adorable.

I told Round Fluff it was nothing and to go back inside and sleep.

Round Fluff looked back and forth between me and the heart with a puzzled expression before going inside.

“DizSpeed... is fine.”

DizSpeed was already hanging on the barricade.

It seems he prepared in advance, as his ability to sense danger is second to none.

Aside from the chaos around the heart, everything else was fine.

'Fuck. Even Chinese products wouldn't have hearts exploding.'

Even the products from China, where all sorts of things are said to explode, wouldn't do this.

It wasn’t like there was some kind of explosive device rigged to the heart, so I had no idea what went wrong.

What do you need at times like this? That's right, asking the gallery.

---

Title: Heart exploded

Author: WildGrills

(Photo of intact heart and surroundings mess)

I tried to split the heart like AllFather said, and it exploded.

But the heart itself is perfectly fine ;; Does anyone know why this happened?

I’ve lived long enough to see a heart explode ;;

---

ㄴ HeavenlyDemon) This is the first This One have heard of a heart exploding. It may be that it held too much internal energy.

ㄴ WildGrills) Does it explode if it's filled with too much internal energy?

ㄴ HeavenlyDemon) If the vessel can't contain it, it will explode. But considering the tiger was alive and well, that can’t be it. What a fascinating heart.

ㄴ SwordMaster) How did the tiger even manage to contain that heart? Incredible.

ㄴ AllFather) Did you happen to use aura when you split it?

ㄴ WildGrills) It was too tough, so I had no choice. Is that a problem?

ㄴ AllFather) Such a case shouldn't exist, with the exception of a Dragon Heart.... This is strange. Moreover, the range of the explosion is also quite small.

ㄴ WildGrills) What’s the scale of Dragon Heart?

ㄴ AllFather) It varies by individual and growth, but in the case of adults, it can blow up a small city.

ㄴ WildGrills) (⊙﹏⊙);;

Is it a living nuclear bomb or what? I let out a dry laugh.

Unfortunately, the one I caught wasn’t a dragon but a tiger. A tiger the size of a bus.

If a dragon had attacked, I would have died without being able to do a thing.

ㄴ AllFather) But this is strange. That kind of phenomenon only happens with Dragon Hearts, even if the scale is smaller…

ㄴ HeavenlyDemon) Isn't a dragon what we call a yong in the Central Plains?

ㄴ AllFather) Yes. That's correct.

ㄴ HeavenlyDemon) In the Central Plains, there's a idiom ‘When dragon and tiger clash (용호상박(□虎相搏))’. It means evenly matched opponents that are hard to distinguish superiority between. Moreover, tigers are beings called 'mountain lords', so wouldn't it be possible?

ㄴ HeavenlyDemon, you don’t know the difference between a dragon and a yong, do you?

ㄴ HeavenlyDemon) What difference is there? They’re both dragons.

ㄴ (Dragon photo) (Photo of a dragon) This is a dragon, and (Photo of a yong) this is a yong. Do you see the difference?

ㄴ HeavenlyDemon) They do look similar. Are they related?

ㄴ Sigh ;;

ㄴ That person's ignorant, aren’t they?

ㄴ Yeye, seems so

ㄴ AllFather) That's an interesting perspective. As HeavenlyDemon said, dragons and yong do share many traits. In species taxonomy, they’d be considered relatives.

ㄴ Fr? First I've heard of it.

ㄴ Is that for real? It's a highly debated topic even in academic circles.

ㄴ AllFather) It’s like how termites are biologically close to cockroaches or mantises.

ㄴ Ah lmao

ㄴ Explaining it like that makes it totally understandable lololol

ㄴ AllFather) Anyway, as HeavenlyDemon said, if tigers are considered equals to dragons in the Central Plains, then maybe it’s not impossible. My, my, I’m already getting excited down below.

ㄴ Why would that be excited? lol

ㄴ Leave him be. He's a professor. He must have gotten excited seeing a new research topic.

ㄴ For professors, research material is basically porn lmao

ㄴ WildGrills) Then what do I do with this? Just leave it alone?

ㄴ AllFather) This may be presumptuous, but could you lend me that heart for a while? I'll just do research and return it to you.

ㄴ WildGrills) And after you're done with your research?

ㄴ AllFather) I will process it so that you can absorb all the mana contained within the heart. I only need the research material, so you do not need to give me separate payment. Rather, I should be the one to pay you.

ㄴ WildGrills) No. Just take it. I don't want to see that grotesque thing ;;

ㄴ AllFather) Thank you. Thanks to you, Mr. Grills, my life has meaning these days. Hehehe.

I immediately made a trade with AllFather and handed over the heart.

I was afraid to leave it lying around since I didn't know when it might explode, and I had no way to store it anyway.

It's better to just give something like this to AllFather and let them use it for research.

'I got this on the side, too.'

I also received a pill from AllFather that grants resistance to poison.

I had a lot to do today, so I just made do with Byeokgokdan for lunch.

After lunch, I circulated my internal energy cultivation technique as always.

'Strange. It seems faster than yesterday?'

The movement of the mana circulating inside me felt unusual. It felt much faster.

It felt strange, but I couldn’t find anything actually wrong.

In fact, it felt so refreshing that I wanted to keep going.

'Is it because I fought to the brink of death?'

This was just my speculation. Anyway, the important thing was the fundamentals, so I didn't mind the speed.

With the internal energy technique also completed, all that was left for me to do was wait until StarlightPrincess posted something.

‘I barely managed to clean up, but one explosion and I have to start over.’

First, I cleaned up the surroundings that had been turned into a mess by the heart's explosion.

Thankfully, there wasn't any major damage...

"No. Fucking hell, my charcoal!!!"

Now that I looked, all the charcoal I painstakingly gathered had been blown away. I felt like crying.

I managed to gather the scattered charcoal, but about a third was the best I could do.

I felt the urge to just buy more from the auction house, but I resisted.

'Well, I’ll be smoking the meat soon anyway...'

Gotta stay positive. A negative mindset is not good.

Still, I couldn't help feeling bitter. I prepared the firewood with a bitter smile.

How much more work will it take to make charcoal with this firewood?

A sigh came out naturally, but I let it pass thinking ‘so be it’.

'Let's wash the leather and clothes with the remaining charcoal.'

I planned to use the hide as a mat or blanket.

Since it was my first time butchering, the hide quality wasn’t great. On top of that, there's a part that was cut by HeavenlyDemon's sword.

To give this to LongLiveTheSun and receive a new shield? That's shameless.

'I need to cut the hide a bit. It's too big.'

It's inconvenient for washing and drying. Trimming it is essential.

Once I was done roughly cleaning the hide, I logged into the gallery for a bit.

To see if StarlightPrincess had posted anything.

'She did post something.'

It was right at the top of the board. I clicked in without hesitation.

---

Title: How to Smoke Meat (Cold Smoking)

Author: StarlightPrincess

(Photo of a diagram of a tripod being set up)

(Photo of a diagram of a fire being lit under the tripod)

(Photo of a diagram of meat being hung on the tripod)

Hello, Mr. Grills!

As I mentioned earlier, I'll tell you how to smoke meat, or to be precise, how to cold smoke!

The method of smoking meat after adding salt to remove moisture like you did, Mr. Grills, is called cold smoking.

Just set up a tripod as shown in the photos, light a fire underneath, and hang the meat! Easy, right?

However, it would be good to cover the area around the tripod with something like a cloth so that the smoke doesn't escape.

Also, be careful not to dry the meat at too high a temperature. It should just feel warm to the touch.

Please leave a comment if this was helpful. As I always say, thank you so much for saving my life.

---

ㄴ WildGrills) Thank you so much for the information. I'll leave a thumbs-up.

ㄴ StarlightPrincess) Thank you. Hehe, I’m glad it helped! If there’s a chance, I’ll make more elixirs for you.

ㄴ WildGrills) Uh... do you need another Mature Mandrake?

ㄴ StarlightPrincess) No. It's for Round Fluff hehe

ㄴ WildGrills) Ah, yes. I see.

It would be right to give it to Round Fluff, wouldn't it? I was a little taken aback but didn't mind.

Right now, setting up the smoker as StarlightPrincess instructed is the priority.

'I'll need trees of appropriate size. If not, I'll make one myself.’

Logging is no longer difficult. A few swings with an axe and it's done.

I found some logs that were just right and built them into a tripod frame.

I tied the top tightly with rope to prevent it from falling.

I also purchased cloth to wrap the outside from the auction house. It seems like I'm spending a lot today.

Originally, I was thinking of buying a blanket too, but since I had the hide, I just made do with that.

'Just hang the meat here and it's done.'

Finally, I tied the meat with rope and hung it in the center. Everything was ready.

But then I encountered an unexpected problem: the quantity.

Given the enormous amount of tiger meat, I couldn't help but be troubled.

'If I want to preserve it, I have to smoke it all...'

To do that, I needed to set up more tripods.

'Whatever, let’s just do it.'

If I could preserve meat for a long time, what couldn't I do?

I set up about five more tripods. Actually, even that wasn't enough.

But I stopped because of one reason: lack of space.

Crackle! Crackle! Crackle!

I lit firewood under each tripod to create smoke.

Soon smoke began rising in wisps and started enveloping the salt-cured meat.

Covering it with cloth surprisingly contained the smoke well. If I had known, I would have made this long ago.

'It's good that I know now.'

I stared blankly at the meat as it gradually put on a cloak of smoke.

What would have happened if I didn't have the gallery? Wouldn't I have been long dead?

Why was I dropped into the Forest of Four Seasons, and on top of that, granted the gallery?

Unresolvable questions tangled like threads of yarn. But I had no intention of unraveling them. Or rather, I simply didn’t have the energy to.

The important thing right now was survival. Getting out of this place, by any means necessary, came first.

'I can't get used to this.'

I reminded myself not to be deceived by familiarity and lose sight of what’s precious.

Moreover, hadn't I realized through this incident just how safe a place civilization is?

I'm only taking a short break now; my will to escape has not been broken.

'Let's get up. Get up and go dig up the Mature Mandrake.'

The dwarf would offer a trade soon.

Even if I couldn't give him crabs, shouldn't I at least give him the Mature Mandrake?

Since I had just traded with AllFather, I had to wait through the 24-hour cooldown period again.

'I don't know about other things, but I wish they'd reduce the waiting time.'

The mod has such a stubborn personality that it's hard to persuade them.

But bribing them seemed unlikely.

'Is there no way?'

Some way to reduce the trading cooldown even a little.

*****

Kwaaaaang!

A huge explosion erupted with a blue flash.

The scale of the explosion was neither large nor small, but its power was terrifying.

It didn’t completely scorch the area to the ground, but it was a sufficient explosion to cause damage to the surroundings.

"Cough! Cough! Ahem."

Yet the mage who took the blast head-on merely coughed a little and stood unscathed.

Though some soot had appeared on his snow-white beard, it held no great significance.

The mage waved his hand to disperse the smoke.

Then he opened his eyes with difficulty and looked ahead.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

At the epicenter of the explosion was a heart much larger than a human head.

The heart, seemingly unfazed by the explosion, is beating vigorously.

It looked quite confident, as if such things were nowhere near enough.

Kung!

[Lord Kadir! Are you alright?]

[Are you hurt anywhere?! We heard a dangerous sound!]

Several people knocked urgently on the door.

It was a natural reaction since an explosion had suddenly occurred.

"I am fine, so withdraw. I was merely conducting a new experiment."

The mage gently dismissed those who were concerned about him.

Though he could still hear worried voices from beyond the door, the wizard's attention was already focused elsewhere.

"Good heavens...."

The mage gazed at the heart with an expression of awe.

The heart continued throbbing, as if flaunting its resilience.

"What a magnificent heart this is!"

A thirst for knowledge lingered in the mage's eyes.


|Note I'm sorry for noticing it soo damn late. I had noticed it before, but things became hectic and I forgot about it until now after checking the comments. I'm really sorry for this

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