Chapter 27

Thief (1)

I stared at the red fish completely blocking the channel.

I had placed stones around the channel to control the current.

Since I had dug the makeshift waterway myself with a shovel, it was not very deep.

It seemed the fish had entered the channel by sheer bad luck and then failed to escape.

The current itself was extremely strong, and its body fit the passage almost perfectly, so getting back out would have been difficult.

‘Why is it so huge?’

It was large enough to fill the entire channel.

When I first saw it, I thought it was a catfish rather than an ordinary fish.

However, aside from its red body, it looked like a perfectly normal fish.

Most fish were relatively narrow, but even this one’s width was enormous.

I would need both hands to lift it.

I did not know much about fish, but I could say with certainty that it was not a catfish.

‘It should be safe to eat, right?’

I watched the fish as it continued to thrash around.

It desperately flopped about in an attempt to escape, but unfortunately, the water was too shallow.

Judging by the way its mouth protruded above the surface and opened and closed repeatedly, it seemed to be having trouble breathing.

Flop! Flop! Flop!

“You’re pretty strong too.”

I wrapped both arms around the violently struggling fish and lifted it.

It was nearly as large as my torso, making it difficult even to keep my balance.

It would be troublesome if it managed to leap back into the river, so I moved as far away from the water as possible.

For now, I planned to carry it back to the cave with both hands and keep it inside the tub.

‘I should run, just in case.’

Running into a wild animal along the way would be a serious problem.

If that happened, I would use the fish as bait and escape.

Fortunately, nothing like that occurred, and I returned safely.

“Kku?”

“No. You already ate.”

Wonmo immediately showed interest when he saw me carrying the fish.

I pushed him back and placed the fish inside the tub.

Since the tub was empty, I did not forget to fill it with water.

Once I added water, the red fish finally calmed down somewhat.

Seeing it like this made its size even more impressive.

The tub was normally large enough for either Wonmo or me to bathe in, yet the fish nearly filled it by itself.

Title: Caught a Monster
Wild Grylls

(Photo of a red fish about the size of a shield)

The water wasn’t flowing properly through the hose today, so I went upstream and found this thing blocking it.

It’s seriously huge.

I already ate breakfast, so I’m planning to have this guy for lunch.

Looks like I’ll finally get to feast again after a long time. Haha.

└ Heavenly Demon) Oh my. It is indeed enormous. Judging only by its size and color, it is comparable to a Sunfire Carp.
└ Wild Grylls) What’s that?
└ Heavenly Demon) A spiritual creature containing the energy of the sun. It is exceedingly rare. However, this lady merely said that it looks similar. The chances of it truly being one are low.
└ Wild Grylls) How do I check whether it’s real?
　└ Heavenly Demon) Thou shouldst first determine whether it possesses an inner core.

└ Seriously, a spiritual creature appears every time he does anything. LOL
　└ Is that actually a Sunfire Carp?
└ Who knows? Grylls has to check.
└ Wasn’t there something similar to a Sunfire Carp too?
└ Heavenly Demon) If thou art referring to the Ten-Thousand-Year Fire Carp, then yes. As the name suggests, it is a carp that has lived for ten thousand years.

└ Starlight Princess) In the past, I would have told you to cut it open immediately, but there is no need for that anymore.
　└ By “the past,” don’t you mean yesterday?
└ Starlight Princess) It feels like the distant past to me. Every day felt like an entire year.
　└ I guess it could feel that way.
　└ Maybe it feels like she was born again?
　└ Waaah. I’ve been reborn. Feed me.

An inner core—wasn’t that something similar to the way oysters produced pearls?

I was not entirely sure, but I imagined it had effects similar to an elixir.

Of course, I did not truly believe this fish was a spiritual creature.

Even if it was, I did not care.

I had already decided that it would be today’s lunch.

└ Starlight Princess) You people never change. You are all such idiots~

But right now, it was my lunch.

No matter what anyone in the Gallery said, this fish was going to become my meal.

That meant it would probably be better to spend the morning repairing the shelter rather than exploring.

Wonmo might eat the fish while I was gone.

Even now, he was staring intently at the metal tub containing it, clearly waiting for an opportunity.

“Hey!”

I warned Wonmo just as he was about to reach for the fish.

Wonmo looked up at me with eyes so wide they were practically bulging.

His expression seemed to ask what he had done wrong.

His innocent face made him look even cuter.

“You can’t eat that. I’ll give you honey after lunch.”

“Kyu.”

“That’s right. Our Wonmo is such a good boy.”

I stroked Wonmo’s head several times and looked around.

If I wanted to build a defensive wall, clearing the trees had to come first.

Perhaps because of that, my chest already felt tight.

How long would it take me to clear all of them?

‘They say small efforts eventually become a mountain. I have to do it.’

Grumbling inwardly, I walked toward a tree.

Why did it have to be so thick?

Still, I felt good today.

I gripped the axe tightly and swung it with all my strength.

After swinging it several times before, I had apparently learned the proper technique, allowing me to use the strength of my waist more smoothly.

Crack!

“Huh?”

The moment the axe struck the tree, a puzzled sound escaped my mouth.

The reason was simple.

The situation was far too different from yesterday.

Yesterday, I had needed to hack at the tree repeatedly before the axe could barely penetrate its surface.

Today was different.

The axe blade sank deeply into the trunk.

Even the sound was different.

‘What is this? Is this tree weaker than yesterday’s?’

The axe could not have changed overnight.

I was in unusually good condition today, and perhaps this tree was also weaker.

That still did not answer all my questions, but since the situation benefited me, I decided not to dwell on it.

‘A good thing is a good thing.’

Crack! Crack! Thunk!

After striking the tree about three more times, I examined the middle of the trunk.

Amazingly, I had almost cut straight through its center.

It looked as though the tree would fall if I only chopped the opposite side.

‘Already?’

Until yesterday, I had spent the entire day swinging an axe just to cut down a single tree.

Then I had encountered the owlbear and nearly lost my life.

It was difficult to dismiss all these doubts by simply saying that this was a different tree or that I happened to feel better today.

However, there was one obvious difference between yesterday and today.

‘Is it really because of the breathing technique?’

That seemed highly likely.

It was the only thing that had changed since yesterday.

There was no downside to becoming stronger anyway.

In an environment like this, physical strength was especially important.

‘I’ll have to practice even harder from now on.’

It was amazing that a single breathing technique could shorten my working time this much.

What a strange world.

The world was a fitting mixture of fantasy and martial arts, and it was filled with superhumans capable of blowing up mountains.

Yet these people refused to believe that a single bomb could wipe out an entire city.

Their very existence was basically equivalent to a nuclear warhead.

‘I really am curious about the outside world.’

The world shown through the Gallery was narrow.

It was also extremely subjective.

Though the poor reputation of Albenheim, the elven nation, seemed to be universal across every country.

After letting my thoughts wander, I moved to the opposite side of the tree.

If I chopped only this side, the tree should fall in the direction I wanted.

Crack! Crunch! Creak!

After several swings, the tree began to sway.

I checked the direction and shoved it with my foot.

The towering tree slowly began to fall with a loud creak.

Boom!

I had felled an entire tree in less than ten minutes.

The work speed was absurdly fast.

I stared at the fallen tree and checked my condition.

I was slightly tired, but not enough to need a break.

‘I’ll do a little more before resting.’

After cutting down one more tree, I finally began to feel somewhat tired.

But it was only a sense of fatigue.

Cutting down another tree would not have been too difficult.

In the end, I felled three trees in total and finished listing them at the auction house.

‘The area is starting to open up.’

Perhaps because I had cut down four trees in total by now, the space around the cave had become noticeably wider.

I smiled with satisfaction for a moment before entering the cave to take a proper rest.

Huff... huff...

When I entered, Wonmo was taking a nap.

As I had mentioned before, Wonmo was still a baby.

He would probably sleep most of the day.

‘The fish is still fine too.’

It remained quiet inside the metal tub, no longer thrashing around.

I set down the axe and accessed the Gallery to see whether anything had happened while I was working.

Nothing particularly notable stood out, but one thing caught my attention.

‘The Moderator has been less active.’

The Moderator, who managed the Gallery, had been unusually inactive.

Normally, posts containing explicit images, grotesque pictures, or excessively abusive language would be deleted immediately, and the users responsible would be banned.

[Photos of Older Sisters]
[All Elves Should Die]
[Warning: Graphic—Photo of My Hand]

Those posts were still up even though ten minutes had passed since they were uploaded.

Normally, they would have been removed instantly.

The users saw this as an opportunity and began unleashing their desires without restraint.

Pretending not to care, I discreetly opened one of the posts too.

Since I was stranded in the wilderness with nothing around me, the Gallery was my only source of entertainment.

Of course, it was not an urgent need.

It was merely something pleasant to look at.

I was too busy struggling to survive to have time for anything beyond that.

[Mr. Grylls, Please Read This.]

After refreshing the page several times, a title caught my eye.

‘Allfather?’

Normally, I might have ignored it, but the author was a familiar named user.

I opened it immediately.

Title: Mr. Grylls, Please Read This
Allfather

The item I promised you is ready. Please initiate the trade whenever it is convenient.

It seemed the medicine he had mentioned before was finally complete.

The medicine made from the Golden Poison Frog.

He had said that consuming it would permanently grant resistance to poison, so I absolutely needed it.

└ Wild Grylls) Have you finished the medicine you mentioned before?
└ Allfather) Yes. I have prepared enough for ten days. I believe I will need more specimens for the remainder.
└ Wild Grylls) I’ll send you another Golden Poison Frog as soon as I catch one.
　└ Allfather) Thank you. I shall await it.

If I gained resistance to poison, my chances of survival would increase dramatically.

To accomplish that, I would need to hunt another Golden Poison Frog.

I had already rested at just the right time, so I picked up the crossbow resting against the wall.

The arrows I had embedded in the owlbear’s head last time were still in perfect condition.

‘It really is strange.’

I had been in such a hurry at the time that I listed the entire corpse at the auction house with the arrows still stuck in its head.

However, the arrows apparently had not been considered part of the corpse, because they had fallen out on their own.

I had nearly lost the arrows and harpoon bolts that I had worked so hard to obtain.

Creak—

I pulled back the crossbow string.

It drew back easily.

Before, I had needed to use all my strength.

Now, all it took was gritting my teeth slightly.

‘My strength really has increased.’

That confirmed it.

I had not simply happened to choose weaker trees.

My physical strength had genuinely increased.

All because of a single breathing technique.

The change was so dramatic that I felt more confused than impressed.

It would be best to post about it in the Gallery soon and ask the Heavenly Demon or SwordMaster for advice.

‘Everything is ready...’

I checked on Wonmo, who was sleeping soundly, and the fish inside the metal tub.

There did not seem to be any problems.

All I had to do now was hunt the Golden Poison Frog.

Just in case, I also took my sword and shield with me.

I did not forget to put several fasting pills in my pocket either.

After finishing all my preparations, I stepped outside the cave.

‘Surely no thief will break in, right?’

With that pointless thought in mind, I headed toward the river.

***

It was after Grylls had left for the river to hunt.

The only sounds inside the cave were the occasional splashing of the fish and the soft breathing of the adorable baby owlbear.

Aside from those noises, the surroundings of the cave were perfectly still.

Birdsong could occasionally be heard, but it was nothing worth paying attention to.

Rustle—

At that moment, a sound came from between the dense trees.

At first, it seemed like nothing more than the wind.

But it was not.

Slowly—

An animal emerged from between the closely packed trees.

Its arms were unusually long compared to its short legs.

Long, vicious claws extended from the tips of its hands.

The creature, covered from head to toe in fur, moved forward very slowly.

Extremely slowly.

Using its long arms to support itself against the ground like a gorilla, it headed toward a very clear destination.

Splash! Splash!

The metal tub containing the fish.

Its advance was painfully slow, but no one was standing guard.

No matter how long it took, it would eventually reach the tub.

The animal moved with the same leisurely pace suggested by its relaxed-looking face.

“What are you?”

That was, had Grylls not returned after realizing he had forgotten the antidote.

The animal had nearly reached the metal tub when it heard his voice and turned its head.

Even the act of turning its head was unbearably slow.

Standing face-to-face with the unexpected thief, Grylls muttered quietly,

“...A sloth?”