Chapter 164

Wild Horse (1)

I had even reinforced the bridge supports with concrete.

Now that its sturdiness had been improved, it was safe enough to crawl across.

The Gallery showdown was over as well, so there was nothing else I needed to keep an eye on.

Aside from teaching Kkobong Korean and training, everything I could and needed to do had been completed at once.

I’m gradually getting the hang of controlling the cold.

This was how I had learned to use it:

Normally, I kept the cold separated and used it only when necessary.

It took time to gather it back together, but once I became accustomed to it, that process would probably grow faster too.

What should I do now?

Simply waiting for the environment across the river to change and for people to arrive was not necessarily a bad idea, but it would waste far too much time.

The Forest of Four Seasons—the wilderness—changed from one moment to the next. Doing nothing here and merely waiting for something to happen was practically the same as saying I wanted to die.

Should I ask Kkobong to train me?

One might wonder what kind of training I could possibly receive from a gorilla, but what I wanted to learn was martial arts.

Kkobong’s martial arts were exceptionally advanced.

Although his cultivation was lower than the leader gorilla’s, he possessed a solid foundation.

And me?

Forget knowing how to throw a proper punch—I did not even have the foundations.

As someone had put it, I was growing stronger like a complete idiot, so I had managed so far, but I was empty inside.

I had only been able to defeat Kkobong because he had not known about my ability to use cold.

Didn’t they say that, of mind, energy, and body, I overwhelmingly lacked energy?

Even the Heavenly Demon and SwordMaster had been unable to teach me about “energy.”

To emphasize it again, it was not that they had refused to teach me. They simply couldn’t.

SwordMaster’s post had also meant that its effects could only be maximized if one already possessed the proper foundation.

That was why I asked Kkobong if he could teach me something simple, but—

“No.”

“Why?”

“You. Don’t like.”

“....”

I gave up immediately after hearing Kkobong’s sulky answer.

There was no point threatening him. If he deliberately taught me something wrong, the consequences might be irreversible.

In conclusion, now that I had finished the bridge, I suddenly had plenty of free time.

Maybe I should go exploring.

That thought crossed my mind.

If I’m going to do that, it would be better to remove Kkobong’s restraint....

But then he would immediately run away. I did not even need to see it happen to know that.

At the very least, I had no intention of removing the restraint until we could completely trust each other.

Or should I just use him as a porter?

That seemed like the best option.

The spatial backpack could not reduce mass, so its contents still weighed the same.

If I made Kkobong carry all of it, exploring would become much easier.

Since he was a gorilla, he should be able to carry heavy loads too.

The more I think about it, the better it sounds.

I had never realized how valuable gaining a single worker could be.

Excellent.

After slowly formulating a plan in my head, I examined the map.

If I brought Kkobong with me, the one place we obviously needed to avoid as much as possible was the gorillas’ territory.

No one knew what sort of conflict might arise if we entered it.

In particular, if we encountered the leader gorilla, Kkobong might have another fit.

Come to think of it, there was not much time left until evening.

We could explore for an hour or two and then return.

It did not matter if we revisited somewhere I had already been, since the season had changed.

I needed to determine how the terrain changed with each season.

I should also check the place with that enormous tree.

The gigantic tree that had stood alone.

Would Kkobong know about it?

It might be worth asking Father Raccoon as well.

“Kkobong, do you know a place where there’s a tree much bigger than all the others?”

“Don’t know.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

Kkobong answered fluently, even though it had not been long since I started teaching him Korean.

If even Kkobong, who had probably lived as a wanderer, did not know, I would ask Father Raccoon.

“Kyeng?”

“You don’t seem to know either. Thanks for the medicinal herbs.”

Since neither of them knew, I had no choice but to find it myself.

However, reaching that place would take at least a day, perhaps even longer.

Compasses did not work in that region, so one mistake could leave me lost forever.

Carving marks into trees probably wouldn’t be enough to serve as reliable signposts.

It would be better to keep making signposts and install one whenever I entered a new area.

Without a compass, that was my best option. I had a worker now anyway, so transporting them would not be a problem.

“Kkyuu?”

I was still considering where to explore when Wonmo cautiously approached me.

Apparently, he had seen my expression and come over because he thought something bad had happened.

I stared at Wonmo’s adorable face for a moment before suddenly lifting him into the air.

He had lost some weight over the winter, so his formerly chubby build had become pleasantly plump instead.

His fur fell out in no time too.

It was not just his weight. He had also shed a tremendous amount of fur. Cleaning it all up had been quite a chore.

Still, his overall body continued to grow steadily.

“All right, Wonmo. Pick somewhere you want to go.”

“Kkyuu?”

“You can choose anywhere.”

Since I could not decide, I would leave it to Wonmo’s luck.

Rather than thinking of it as exploration, I could consider it a walk that would let Wonmo get some fresh air.

Wonmo was clever enough to understand me and stared intently at the map.

Then he flailed his adorably short forelegs before finally pointing at a particular spot.

“Kku!”

“Here? This place is....”

It was completely blank.

I had never explored it before.

It lay near the path the leader gorilla had personally made for me.

I had always intended to visit it someday, but one thing after another had come up, preventing me from going.

After thinking about it, I nodded.

It should be fine as long as we returned quickly.

“All right. Let’s go. But we’re coming back soon, okay?”

“Kkyuu!”

Wonmo smiled brightly when I gave him permission to go outside.

How could he possibly be this cute?

I rubbed my cheek against Wonmo’s adorable face before gently setting him down.

The moment his feet touched the ground, he began running around and bouncing excitedly.

He must have really liked going outside.

“All right, Kkobong. You carry this.”

“Ook.”

I entrusted Kkobong with the tools and miscellaneous supplies. I carried important items such as the elixir myself.

Once I placed the fast sloth on my back, we were ready to leave.

Since someone might break into our home while we were away, I did not forget to set up the CCTV cameras.

Title: Exploring Again After So Long
Wild Grylls

(A photograph of Kkobong transformed into a porter)

I’m going exploring for the first time in ages. We’re only checking out the area right in front of us, so we should be back soon.

The photo is Kkobong after being turned into a porter. Having an extra pair of hands makes things unbelievably convenient.

└ Heavenly Demon) He certainly looks gentler with glasses on.

└ SwordMaster) He looks absolutely full of complaints, though. Lol.

 └ What’s he going to do about it if he’s unhappy? Lol.

 └ Seriously, what can he do besides grumble? Lmao.

 └ Wild Grylls) Kkobong curses in Korean now. Says he learned it from me.

 └ Look at that learning ability. Isn’t he smarter than most people?

 └ The more I see him, the more I think so. Lol.

└ All-Father) You are venturing outside, I see. What do you think you will discover this time?

 └ Wild Grylls) If I find a unicorn or something, I’ll upload a photo immediately.

 └ All-Father) If possible, I would appreciate its horn. Hoho.

 └ Wild Grylls) Is it valuable?

 └ You won’t come to your senses until a unicorn runs you through with its horn.

 └ Countless hunters have been gored to death trying to catch unicorns. Just leave them alone.

 └ They have vicious tempers too. Avoiding them entirely is your best option.

I had only been joking, yet a flood of comments appeared trying to dissuade me.

Judging by their reactions, unicorns must have even fouler tempers than I had imagined.

I should have known from the moment I heard all that nonsense about how only pure maidens could ride them.

Unless they had utterly fucked-up personalities, they would not behave like that.

Well, that only matters if I actually encounter a unicorn.

I headed toward the path the leader gorilla had personally made for me.

Wonmo took the lead, while Kkobong followed at the very rear.

We would probably maintain this formation for the foreseeable future.

Nothing should be particularly different—

I had assumed that beyond the path cleared by the leader gorilla lay an utterly ordinary forest.

But I was wrong.

The area felt far more desolate than overgrown.

It was almost as though the entire region had been painted gray. The fallen leaves were gray, and so were the trees.

Scorched marks remained here and there.

Had there been a forest fire recently?

No. If there had been a forest fire, everything would have burned away completely.

Instead, it looked as though all the moisture had simply been drained out, turning everything gray.

Something about this place was ominous.

I continued forward cautiously.

“Hey, Kkobong. Do you know why this place is like this?”

“Fire.”

“Fire?”

“Fire.”

When I asked Kkobong, all he would say was “fire.”

Apparently, fire was responsible for turning this forest gray, but I did not know the specifics.

Fortunately, it was far from our shelter. Otherwise, I might have suffered considerable damage too.

What in the world could be related to fire strongly enough to transform the entire area like this?

It was not as though the space itself had changed, like the land across the river.

It simply felt as though “fire” had claimed this entire region as its “territory.”

I carefully checked between the fallen leaves for venomous insects as I continued forward.

Whoooooosh—

“....”

Then we encountered a cave that filled me with foreboding the moment I saw it.

My instincts told me that something was inside.

I had a feeling we should not disturb the cave’s owner.

I was just about to turn around quietly when—

“Kkyuu!”

Wonmo charged ahead, excited to discover a new animal.

In an instant, he vanished into the cave’s darkness.

The moment I saw that, I jumped in alarm and prepared to rush after him.

Fwoooosh!

“Kkyaaaaah!”

A massive blaze illuminated the entire dark cave.

The instant Wonmo realized how ominous those flames were, he turned tail and bolted.

He hid behind my legs and trembled.

Wonmo was normally fearless, so if even he was this frightened, whatever lived inside must be extraordinary.

Clop—clop. Clop—clop.

Before long, the flames burning inside the cave began slowly drawing closer.

The tremendous heat forced me to stumble backward.

At last, I understood why the entire forest had turned gray and why no moisture remained anywhere.

Shhhhh!

I stirred the energy within my body, preparing to unleash my cold at any moment.

Tap!

“....”

Finally, the owner of this territory emerged from the cave and revealed itself.

A... horse?

The animal wreathed in flames was a horse—and a remarkably large one at that.

It stood tall enough that I had to tilt my head back slightly to look at it.

Flames flickered where its mane should have been.

Its eyes also blazed as though engulfed in fire.

Its entire body was pitch-black, giving it an overwhelming presence.

“Prrrrr.”

The flame horse snorted as though demanding to know why we had disturbed its nap.

I slowly edged backward, trying to show that I had no intention of fighting.

Wild horses generally had nasty tempers, so provoking it further would accomplish nothing.

Slowly. Just keep backing away....

As I retreated, a stone suddenly flew over the flame horse’s head.

A moment later, it landed directly on the horse’s head with a sharp tap.

Fwoooooosh!

At that exact moment, the flame horse’s fire blazed far more fiercely than before.

As if to prove how furious it was, the flames gradually changed from red to blue.

“Fucking great, isn’t it?”

“....”

The culprit who had thrown the stone was grinning broadly.

Apparently, Kkobong had done it deliberately to screw me over.

He seemed to have decided that it would be great if I died, and that he could simply run away if things became dangerous.

“You fucking bastard!”

Just wait.

I’m putting a lock on those glasses later.

***

Shortly before Grylls’s battle with the flame horse began, on the grasslands—

Ludwig was still riding atop the giraffe.

His foot was currently so badly injured that even walking was difficult.

He had searched for the most useful medicinal herbs he could find and administered emergency treatment, but even that had not been enough.

Will I have no choice but to amputate it?

He could clearly feel the injured area undergoing necrosis.

Whenever he circulated his mana, it felt as though that particular part of his body had vanished entirely.

Keeping the worst-case scenario in mind, Ludwig stared across the river.

At present, the opposite bank was a barren rocky region devoid of anything else.

—Kkuooooooo!

—Uooooooo!

And there, two enormous creatures were fighting each other.

They possessed tough outer shells that made them look like armored elephants.

Their legs were much thicker than an elephant’s, giving them remarkably stable balance.

Finally, their tusks had transformed into blades.

They were terrifying creatures even at a glance.

Is this what they mean by watching a fire from across the river?

Ludwig quietly watched the two creatures fight.

“Hot! Hot, hot, hot, hot!”

Meanwhile, someone else had fallen straight into the fire.