Chapter 45

Scammer (6)

Title: Ditched the Spider Trap

Wild Grylls

I just went to check the pit trap, and there was a spider living inside it instead of a rabbit.

It was even covered in pitch-black hair. It was fucking hideous. Just looking at it scared me so much that I left it alone.

From now on, I think I should use snares instead of pit traps.

Heavenly Demon: Keep your spirits up. If things prove difficult, this lady shall send you some meat.

↳ Wild Grylls: It’s okay. I can still hold out for now.

↳ How big was the spider?

↳ Wild Grylls: I think it was at least a meter long? I almost fainted the moment I saw it ;;

↳ Ugh;; What kind of spider is that freaking huge?

↳ Wild Grylls: I was too scared to even take a picture. I think it’d be better to just ignore it lol.

↳ Why not roast that thing and eat it?

↳ Wild Grylls: It’s not like I didn’t think about it, but even if it has babies... I can’t just kill their mother.

↳ Lmaoooo, look at this fucking saint lmaoooo.

↳ Says the guy who killed Wonmo’s mom?

↳ Wild Grylls: Wonmo’s mom was trying to kill me, though ;;

↳ Lmaoooo, fair point.

↳ What would Wonmo think? The person raising him is actually the murderer who killed his mom... and his mom was someone who tried to kill that very person...

↳ Anyone got a novel like that to recommend? Sounds like it’d be fun.

↳ There’s a whole story premise right there lol. I’m off to write it.

↳ Allfather: What did it look like overall?

↳ Wild Grylls: I ran away the moment I saw it, so I’m not really sure either. It was just a spider covered in pitch-black hair.

↳ Allfather: Hmm. That alone makes it difficult to identify. It sounds like some kind of tarantula, so I recommend that you don’t try to catch it.

↳ Wild Grylls: I was already thinking of just burning it with fire.

Since it lived inside a pit, some oil and fire would probably burn it to death in no time.

But I had no intention of going through that much trouble for no reason. I wasn’t even planning on looking at it again.

Just imagine lifting the cover and seeing a whole swarm of grotesque spiders underneath. It wouldn’t be strange to come away traumatized.

‘Where the hell did that spider even come from?’

Only a few hours had passed, yet it had already turned the pit trap into its habitat.

It was one of those mysteries of nature that somehow made sense and yet didn’t at the same time.

In the end, I had no choice but to make do with a fasting pill for dinner again.

I could only hope that a fish would be caught by tomorrow morning.

‘Would it be better to smoke it instead?’

That wasn’t a bad idea. If I smoked the fish, bugs probably wouldn’t swarm around it as much.

What worried me were wild animals, but honestly, if any were going to come, they probably would have shown up already.

Considering no dangerous beasts had appeared so far, there had to be some reason for it.

‘At least finding owlbear droppings gives me some hope...’

Wonmo’s mother, the owlbear, might have come here to scout the area just like I had.

After all, the owlbear had thoroughly chewed up, torn apart, tasted, and enjoyed the Mad Dog’s corpse.

Since the enemy that had once divided up the territory was gone, she might simply have come to check out its former base.

‘I guess I have no choice but to keep exploring.’

The Forest of Four Seasons was a place where nothing that happened could be considered strange.

So preparing for every possible contingency wasn’t optional. It was essential.

As the sky gradually darkened, I picked up a few pieces of firewood and headed back inside the cave.

When I entered, Wonmo had woken up and was sitting there blankly.

“You awake? Want some food?”

“Kkyuu!”

What a cute little guy.

I bought a huge chunk of meat from the auction house.

I wouldn’t have to worry about money for a while. I’d made an enormous amount from selling the inner core.

The funny part was that the scammer hadn’t even gotten to eat the inner core.

Served him right.

‘Allfather will need the frog tomorrow, right?’

My plan for tomorrow was simple.

I’d explore in the morning and return before lunchtime.

Then I’d hunt a Golden Poison Frog and trade it with Allfather, and if possible, get a fish trap from the dwarf.

If I could get a fish trap from the dwarf, I wouldn’t have to worry about food anymore.

And since it would be made by a dwarf, there was no reason to doubt its durability.

‘The question is whether I should follow the river upstream or downstream...’

There was one of the easiest ways to escape when stranded.

Follow a river downstream.

Since ancient times, civilizations had often begun near rivers.

Even if there wasn’t a country nearby, there should at least be a small village somewhere.

‘The problem is that space is all over the place here, so the river might suddenly get cut off halfway.’

Space being all over the place.

It might sound like a strange way to put it, but I wasn’t wrong.

The land on the other side of the river was literally changing in real time, going from snowy mountains to desert and back again.

Last time, it had even changed into an area completely shrouded in fog. I’d been utterly dumbfounded when I saw it.

So if the river ever seemed to come to an unnatural end, I planned to turn back without hesitation.

‘Nothing is ever easy.’

I sighed.

That was also why I’d made adaptation my top priority instead of escape.

With space constantly changing, escaping was difficult even if I wanted to.

‘At least it’s reassuring that my map is gradually getting bigger.’

I turned my head toward the wall.

A map had been drawn on a large sheet of paper.

With this cave at its center, various points of interest were marked in every direction.

The river where Golden Poison Frogs appeared. The colony of mature Mandrakes. The Golden Mushroom Cave I had recently discovered, and so on.

Since even compasses didn’t work in this place, it wasn’t perfectly reliable, but it was still a huge help.

‘Tomorrow, I’ll follow the river downstream.’

As long as I followed the river, I wouldn’t get lost.

Once the sun had completely set, I lit a campfire.

Warmth slowly began spreading through the cave that had been growing increasingly chilly.

“Nom, nom.”

Wonmo happily munched away when I gave him the meat.

I stroked his head.

He flinched at first, but soon settled down and continued eating peacefully. It seemed like he had become completely accustomed to my touch.

‘It’d be nice if he could just grow out of the cub stage.’

It took several years for an owlbear to reach adulthood. That was what the gallery had told me.

But it didn’t have to be fully grown before it could hunt independently.

If I remembered correctly, I’d heard that it would grow considerably bigger within about a year.

I watched Wonmo happily devouring the neatly butchered raw meat for a while before turning my head.

The Sloth was staring blankly at me with its usual dumb-looking face.

“You’re fully grown, right?”

“...”

“Yeah. Thought so.”

Can’t you tell just by looking?

That was what its expression seemed to be saying.

Of course, that was nothing more than my own guess.

Afterward, I had a simple meal of fasting pills and stepped outside for a moment.

It was better to wash up before going to sleep.

For hygiene.

‘Why does this Sloth hate being washed so much?’

Thankfully, I hadn’t shown any symptoms of anything yet, but you never knew.

Until I managed to wash the little bastard, I had no choice but to keep myself as clean as possible.

After quickly washing up, I went back inside the cave.

‘Oh. Right. The scabbard.’

The moment I saw the Heavenly Demon’s sword propped up against one side of the cave, I remembered.

I was going to be traveling around a lot from now on, so I couldn’t exactly carry it around like this.

I logged into the gallery and opened a private chat with the Heavenly Demon.

She replied in less than a second.

It caught me a little off guard.

[Wild Grylls: By the way, does the sword you gave me before not have a scabbard?]

[Heavenly Demon: It did. However, the blade was so exceedingly sharp that the scabbard ended up in tatters.]

[Wild Grylls: Hmm. That makes sense.]

In truth, a scabbard might not mean all that much.

The Heavenly Demon’s sword already had a record of cleanly slicing a Mad Dog in half, after all.

But if I just carried it around bare, it would inevitably become inconvenient whenever I was moving.

[Wild Grylls: Heavenly Demon, are you there?]

[Heavenly Demon: Speak.]

[Heavenly Demon: If you desire a scabbard, this lady shall command one of my close aides to prepare it.]

[Wild Grylls: No, that won’t be necessary. Do you happen to know Passing Dwarf?]

[Heavenly Demon: Do you mean that drunken dwarf? I have never spoken with him directly, but I know of him.]

[Wild Grylls: I was thinking of asking him. He seems to be an exceptionally skilled blacksmith.]

[Heavenly Demon: It is not a bad idea, but can you not simply carry the sword as it is?]

[Wild Grylls: I could, but I think I’ll still need a scabbard.]

I was talking about situations where I needed to investigate something or use my hands.

That happened fairly often.

Having one would be better than not having one. That was the conclusion I had reached from living here.

[Heavenly Demon: Your way of life differs from this lady’s, so I shall respect your judgment. But I can assure you that it will not be easy.]

[Wild Grylls: You said it was made from something called Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron, right? Is it a particularly good metal?]

[Heavenly Demon: That too, but it was also forged by an outstanding blacksmith.]

[Wild Grylls: Ah.]

So it was a masterpiece among masterpieces.

And the Heavenly Demon had given it to me.

No matter how many times I said I would return it, she adamantly refused.

[Heavenly Demon: If you are thinking of returning it, I forbid it. This lady has already reached a point where she no longer clings to weapons.]

[Wild Grylls: Is there anything you want?]

[Heavenly Demon: If you happen to find another inner core, could you give it to me? It is not for this lady, but for one of my close aides.]

[Wild Grylls: Ah. Of course. Understood. Could you pass along my thanks to them in return?]

[Heavenly Demon: Of course.]

That was where my conversation with the Heavenly Demon ended.

Now only one thing remained.

Asking Passing Dwarf to make me a scabbard.

The problem was, I had no idea whether he would accept.

He was making the fish trap under the pretext that I would provide him with drinking snacks, but a scabbard was another matter entirely.

Unless I found some high-quality mineral, there was a good chance he would refuse.

‘In the end, I need something valuable.’

It looked like I would have to expand my exploration range from now on.

The best places to target would be areas where space became chaotically entangled, like on the other side of the river.

‘Though finding places like that won’t be easy.’

I would just have to put in the effort.

If I wanted to escape, reckless challenges were sometimes necessary.

I took a picture of the campfire and posted it on the gallery.

Title: Day 4 Complete!

(Photo of the campfire)

Good night, everyone! See you tomorrow!

↳ Heavenly Demon: You have done well.

↳ SwordMaster: Good work today.

↳ Starlight Princess: See you again tomorrow!

↳ Praise the Sun: You had to suffer because of some pathetic bastard.

↳ Princess Cheonggu: Bye-bye! Don’t die! I’ll send you some pants tomorrow!

Receiving encouragement from the fixed users and bullshit from the anonymous users at the same time, I closed the gallery.

Now I planned to practice the internal energy cultivation method for a while before going to sleep.

‘It really does feel like my fatigue disappears every time I circulate the cultivation method.’

I was basically forcing myself to sleep, but there was nothing else I could do.

Going outside in the middle of the pitch-black night was practically suicide.

Even if I could technically see ahead, the forest at night was completely different from the forest during the day.

‘Then...’

A good idea suddenly occurred to me.

My fatigue disappeared whenever I practiced the internal energy cultivation method?

Then I could simply keep practicing until I became tired again.

I had nothing else to do anyway, so this was probably the best option for me.

‘If I keep at it, I’ll get sleepy eventually, right?’

With that simple thought in mind, I began circulating the cultivation method.

The mana inside my body gradually began to circulate, accelerating with each breath as though it were being pumped through me.

‘Start slowly from the basics...’

Time was the one thing I had plenty of.

Using that time, I carefully refined the foundation the Heavenly Demon had taught me.

Little by little, I sank into stillness.

By the time Grylls had become completely absorbed in his internal energy cultivation, the gallery was still as active as ever.

The disappearance of a single fixed user was nowhere near enough to bring the gallery to a halt.

However, most of the gallery’s discussion revolved around Grylls.

Title: From now on, I’m buying anything Grylls puts up for auction.

Nothing that bastard sells ever turns out to be bad lol.

At this rate, maybe mithril or something will pop up next instead of an inner core? lol

↳ Mithril, my ass lol. It’s not like mithril is some random rock lying by the roadside.

↳ Then is an inner core just some random marble?

↳ It’s not like it has that huge of an effect.

↳ It’s still an inner core. A second-rate warrior jumped straight to the peak realm after taking one, didn’t he?

↳ I’m telling you, there’s basically no downside to buying one.

↳ The fact that there’s already an entire colony of mature Mandrakes there is broken as hell lol.

↳ Damn it, if it weren’t for that fucking scammer, we could’ve gotten things cheaper.

↳ Seriously, it’s basically because of that bastard that everything has to pass through the fixed users now. Thinking about it is pissing me off again.

Title: Gallery bro is fucked in real time.

My boss told me to somehow build a connection with Grylls.

When I said I didn’t want to, he told me to leave the merchant company if I didn’t like it.

Can’t I do something about this legally? It’s closely connected to my private life ;;

↳ Smart Mind: Do you normally talk shit about your boss?

↳ You don’t?

↳ Smart Mind: I do too. My boss recently told me to reveal my gallery username and I almost got fucked lol.

↳ How’d you get out of it?

↳ Smart Mind: I just bullshitted my way through it. You should ask your boss to reveal his gallery username too. He’ll probably back off then.

↳ Lmao, useful tip.

↳ At this point, I think I’ll believe Grylls no matter what he discovers. What’ll it be next?

↳ I already told you. It’ll definitely be some kind of mineral. I believe it lol.

Title: Honestly, He’s Hard to Trade With

What does Grylls actually need?

Stuff directly related to survival.

He doesn’t really need money.

At this point, it’s basically barter, so isn’t trading with him ridiculously difficult?

Unless you’re willing to hand over some legendary weapon or something.

↳ The fact that threats don’t work on him anymore is huge too. Making even a single trade has gotten ridiculously difficult ;;

↳ Inner cores and elixirs are useless too if he can just eat the ones he finds there lol.

↳ Doesn’t he already have basically all the weapons he needs? What else could he possibly want?

↳ Porn?

↳ Oh.

↳ Ohohoho lol.

↳ That’s what you need, dumbass lmao.

↳ No, seriously, he might actually need it. I’m not even joking.

The gallery burned with what was less an argument and more a prolonged debate for quite some time.

Unlike before, everyone was taking a much more active stance.