Got a Gallery in the Wild

The annihilation of a group, like the one Sloth suffered, is not something exclusive to the wild.

It can also be found in civilization.

Foreigners who drove out the original natives and occupied their lands.

History also records how those natives resisted until the very end, only to end up kneeling before the military power of the invaders.

‘So this guy became strong to survive too.’

After understanding Sloth’s past, I began to see him differently.

It wasn’t that he had been absurdly strong from the beginning.

Just like me, he had become strong in order to keep living.

And during that process, he had surely experienced countless conflicts with the gorilla troop that dominated the territory.

‘Judging by how the gorillas trembled in fear…’

There was a high chance he had done something far worse than simply causing trouble.

And he had the power to do it.

Either way, Sloth lived with me now.

I couldn’t feel more reassured.

Of course, that didn’t mean I could let my guard down.

The gorillas might come back in a group as soon as tomorrow.

‘Should I move?’

The idea crossed my mind, but I immediately dismissed it.

That was the last option.

It would mean abandoning all the barricades and tools I had built.

And above all, as long as there was a river nearby, this shelter had to be maintained.

‘I’ll defend this place no matter what.’

So how could I defend it as efficiently as possible?

The best option was to lure them into the narrow entrance of the cave.

The gorillas were enormous.

No matter how hard they tried to force their way in, at most only two could enter at a time.

That would make it easier to defeat them one by one.

‘But will they really fall for something that simple?’

They were intelligent creatures and even knew how to use tactics.

I didn’t know if they would act exactly as I wanted.

Still, doing something was better than doing nothing.

So I began planning slowly.

‘If I want to take advantage of a narrow space like when I killed the Owlbear…’

In the end, I needed a door.

And not just any wooden door.

A truly sturdy door.

The dwarf had said before that there was no point in installing a door because the gorillas would just destroy it.

Then what if I simply built one they couldn’t break?

The solution was ridiculously simple.

Someone might say it would be better to buy a safe, but in that case it would be more practical to use the safe itself as a door.

Besides, a small safe could simply be carried away by the gorillas, so that option was out.

‘There must also be something like CCTV.’

The best option would be to ask the dwarf for the door and ask DemonPrincess about the CCTV.

Though DemonPrincess would probably be happy to give it to me, you never know.

There might be conditions.

After organizing my thoughts a little, I made a post on the gallery.

Title) Does anything exist that can record video? Other than the gallery.

WildGrills

After the gorillas looted my house, I’m thinking about installing security measures.

Isn’t there some kind of item capable of recording images while I’m away? I heard there are transmission orbs too. Couldn’t something be done with those?

And I’m also planning to build a door. A very sturdy one. Does anyone have any advice?

└HeavenlyDemon: Won’t the gorillas just destroy the door anyway?

└WildGrills: Then I just need to build one they can’t break.

└HeavenlyDemon: A simple answer, but a reasonable one.

└Swordmaster: Wouldn’t it be better to just buy a safe directly? An animal like the Owlbear would destroy it with a single hit.

└WildGrills: I’m also considering separate safes. The gorillas could simply carry the entire safe away.

└Swordmaster: Are gorillas really that intelligent?

└WildGrills: Honestly, I think it’s easier to treat them like stupid people.

└DwarfPassingBy: Something like what you’re describing does exist. But it costs a fortune, so it won’t be easy to buy.

└WildGrills: How about 1 kg of orichalcon?

└DwarfPassingBy: This bastard is loaded.

└WildGrills: Ha

└The guy who has an orichalcon mine right in front of his cave;;

└At this rate he’ll end up finding adamantite too.

└Not impossible. Though adamantite is usually found deep underground, isn’t it?

└Who knows. Maybe Grills will end up becoming a miner later on.

└WildGrills: Why the hell would I start mining, idiots?

└DemonPrincess: I have the item Mr. Grills is talking about. Would you like me to give you oneee?

└WildGrills: Then let’s make the trade tomorrow after I return from the orichalcon cave. Does it work similarly to a crystal orb?

└DemonPrincess: I don’t know exactly what kind of orb you’re talking abouttt, but it’s probably similarrr. I can also modify it with orichalcon to prevent overheatinggg.

└WildGrills: Thank you very much!

└DemonPrincess: And how does one properly thank me for something like thiiis?

└WildGrills: Chayu is invincible and Kone is a god.

└DemonPrincess: Kyaaa! Just look at that excellent taste! Wonderfullll!

└He’s really completely gone now haha

└At this level he’s already becoming one of the Chayu followers lol

└I think he’s been fully converted already lol

Using the collective intelligence of the gallery, I discussed how to remodel my shelter.

The first step would be narrowing the cave entrance.

I planned to use bricks, just like when I built the oven.

‘And the dwarf already agreed to make the iron door.’

By the way, it would be a door mixed with orichalcon.

According to him, just as orichalcon absorbed mana, it could also absorb impacts.

Though he clarified that its absorption capability was much lower compared to a mineral called adamantite.

‘Am I really going to end up mining?’

The most tedious task in any block-building game.

Just thinking that I might have to take up mining gave me a headache.

But in the Forest of Four Seasons, if something was necessary, then it simply had to be done.

After writing my plans down in the notebook, I looked around the shelter.

‘Thank goodness they only stole the fasting pills. If they had stolen the elixirs…’

Important items would have to be hidden in places that were difficult to find.

While slowly planning how to reinforce the shelter, before I realized it, night had arrived.

I went up to the river to collect the fish caught in the traps and cooked using the oven.

Today had been an especially exhausting day, so I prepared to end it.

Oh, and by the way, I fed Sloth the few fasting pills we had left.

They were part of the emergency supplies, so at least we’d make it until tomorrow morning.

‘Who knows if the gorillas will come back tomorrow.’

Even if they did, I had no intention of letting myself get crushed so easily.

As I circulated the breathing method, I remembered the gorilla leader I had fought today.

Normally, when using an internal technique, one should not allow unnecessary thoughts to enter.

But strangely enough, I felt like I concentrated better this way.

The breathing progressed unconsciously while, in my mind, the battle against the gorilla leader continued.

‘When he hit my ribs, I didn’t even see it.’

It had been the price of lowering my guard, but the gorilla leader’s final attack had been completely invisible to me.

A strike that came from outside my field of vision.

I definitely needed to be careful about that.

It would be great if I could see the future like in that pirate manga, though I was still far from anything like that.

Little by little, I continued my mental training until I finally focused solely on the breathing method.

“Fuu…”

After completely finishing the circulation of the method, I slowly opened my eyes.

Tomorrow would mark exactly two weeks since I fell into the Forest of Four Seasons.

It felt as though more than a month had passed, but it had only been two weeks.

I suppose I had been living too busily.

There was also the fact that I desperately made use of every single second.

‘Even so, it’s not impossible.’

The Owlbear, the saber-toothed tiger, the orichalcon guardian, and finally the gorilla leader.

Every one of them had been incredibly difficult to face, but I still managed to endure.

Of course, I couldn’t deny that Sloth’s help had been the most important factor.

But what mattered was that I was still alive.

I would survive somehow.

‘No matter what.’

I’ll escape this hell.

***

The next day arrived.

As soon as dawn broke, I immediately started my tasks.

Even though my shelter had been attacked yesterday, that didn’t mean I could postpone what needed to be done.

Besides, I planned to remodel the shelter today, so I needed to move quickly.

“Sloth. This is the last one.”

“……”

“I’ll try to get more somehow, so hang in there eating grass for a while.”

Sloth’s last fasting pill.

He looked at the pill with a sad expression before putting it into his mouth.

He looked rather pitiful, though the fact that I was the one offering tribute made me feel strange.

Still, as long as I kept giving him tribute, my chances of survival increased.

It was completely worth it.

‘HeavenlyDemon also said that making fasting pills would take time.’

I heard those pills were made from extremely valuable herbs.

That’s why she said it would take at least a week.

I didn’t know whether Sloth would be able to endure until then.

If the situation got worse, I would have no choice but to go look for herbs myself.

If there is a colony of adult mandrakes, then there should also be medicinal herb fields.

‘Let’s see should I narrow the cave entrance up to here?’

I began working on reducing the size of the cave entrance.

The entrance had widened because the Owlbear had forced its way through before.

And narrow terrain was precisely an advantage for me.

‘I think it’ll be difficult to go exploring. It’s better if I just go to the orichalcon cave and come back.’

I didn’t know when the gorillas would attack again.

Of course, now that I had made it clear that this was our territory, maybe they wouldn’t return.

Besides, there’s Sloth.

Unless they come in a group.

Rustle— Rustle—

It happened while I was inspecting the cave entrance.

The sound of bushes rustling reached my ears.

I instinctively turned my head, and the noise grew louder and louder.

“……”

Without saying a word, I prepared for combat.

Sloth also sensed something and climbed onto my back, while Wonmo moved to my side.

And when the sound finally became much louder.

“……Puurung.”

It was huge, as large as the gorilla leader.

But everything about it was different, from its posture to its appearance.

While the other gorillas supported themselves with both arms on the ground, the one in front walked upright on two legs.

And above all.

“……Clothes?”

It was wearing clothes.

They were old and torn, practically rags, but they were still clothes.

Yellowed with dirt and faded almost completely white, though traces of black still remained here and there.

And its appearance?

Its left eye bore a scar marked by five deep claw marks.

Compared to the healthy eye, the other one was completely clouded white, making it easy to imagine that it had gone blind.

Rather than strange, it was something completely abnormal.

That was my thought when I saw the new gorilla.

‘Did it inherit human clothing?’

That seemed likely.

Judging by how old and tattered it was, it had probably been worn for more than ten years.

Normally, something like that would carry the meaning of a “legacy.”

But would a gorilla really understand that concept?

‘And they’re carrying spears too? What the hell are these guys?’

And to top it all off, the gorillas accompanying him no longer carried clubs but spears.

Crude wooden spears, yes, but they were still spears.

An evolution almost comparable to humanity’s.

As I watched all of this on guard—

Creak—

I felt strong pressure on my shoulder.

Sloth had gripped my shoulder with his hand.

I turned my head to look at him.

His brow was slightly furrowed.

For someone who normally maintained a completely expressionless face, that was an extraordinary reaction.

‘Could it be because of that scar on his eye…?’

That was when the pieces of the puzzle began to fit together.

The gorilla who seemed to be the leader looked to the side and slightly moved his head.

One of the spear-carrying gorillas then went somewhere.

Shortly afterward, he returned carrying something and handed it to the leader.

Whoosh—

The leader tossed that object toward me.

It didn’t feel like a declaration of war.

Rather, it seemed like he was simply giving it to me.

Thud!

The object finally landed on the ground.

I looked at what it was.

A yellow, elongated fruit.

Not just one. Several of them.

“……Bananas?”

The gorilla leader had thrown bananas at me.

At first, I didn’t understand what it meant.

But considering what happened yesterday, I ended up interpreting it this way.

We’ll forgive what happened yesterday. In exchange, take these bananas.

In other words, it was an apology.

I stared at the gorilla leader with a dumbfounded expression.

And then.

“Dduipuchi.”

The gorilla spoke using human “language.”

I couldn’t understand it completely, but there was no denying that he had spoken actual words.

A gorilla that should only be able to produce grunts couldn’t speak like that.

‘……Damn it. This really is Planet of the Apes.’

A rough voice screamed inside my head.

“NO!!!”