Got a Gallery in the Wild

I was stunned to hear that only monstrously strong people could obtain cold resistance, but it was still too early to give up.

What StarlightPrincess had just explained was only the bad news.

There was still the good news left.

I hoped that good news could give me some hope.

[WildGrills: What’s the good news?]

[StarlightPrincess: That there is no risk of suffering Meridian Blockage. And that the ability will be permanent. Also, there is one more thing. You will never freeze to death again.]

[WildGrills: Didn’t you say I wouldn’t gain cold resistance?]

[StarlightPrincess: That’s a different matter. When you reach the point of hypothermia and are about to freeze to death, your body will react. It will probably enter hibernation on its own and wake up again when the weather becomes warm.]

[WildGrills: Is it the same principle by which Wonmo hibernates during winter?]

[StarlightPrincess: It’s a little different. How should I put it…? Your body is completely focused on survival. Normally, you would die from hypothermia, but instead you will manage to endure it.]

[WildGrills: I guess… that’s a good thing.]

[StarlightPrincess: It’s better than having nothing, don’t you think? That said, be careful. If you lose consciousness in a place like a snowy mountain where the weather and seasons never change, you could remain asleep forever while still alive.]

That sounded hopeless.

I wouldn’t be alive, but I wouldn’t be dead either.

Still, just as StarlightPrincess said, it was an extraordinarily useful ability for survival.

For someone like me, who always had to prepare for the worst possible scenario, I couldn’t ask for anything better.

Although it was disappointing not to gain cold resistance, it was still a huge gain.

[WildGrills: What would have happened if I had eaten the Blue Mandrake?]

[StarlightPrincess: Most likely, you would have become an ice man. Just like that mandrake, your body would have turned pale blue, your hair would have turned white, and you would have looked like an undead.]

[WildGrills: …Thank goodness I added the Elixir.]

[StarlightPrincess: That’s precisely why I instructed you to use the safest method.]

[WildGrills: Thank you very much for teaching me.]

[StarlightPrincess: It’s nothing. Thanks to you, I have expanded my knowledge as well. If you have any other questions, don’t hesitate to ask.]

[WildGrills: What effect does normal Mandrake Essence have?]

[StarlightPrincess: Since it contains yang energy, it has the effect of warming the body. In addition, it greatly increases the body’s regenerative ability, making it an excellent ingredient for Elixirs.]

[WildGrills: Then could Blue Mandrake liquor be made?]

[StarlightPrincess: It’s not impossible, but most likely the alcohol would freeze before the process was completed. And it would also be dangerous.]

[WildGrills: Understood.]

Since the topic had come up, StarlightPrincess gifted me some Elixirs.

And not just one, but two.

After thanking her, I began organizing my thoughts.

‘Now that I’ve more or less sorted everything out…’

It was time to get back to work.

Since the icehouse had lost its purpose, I decided to start designing improvements for my shelter.

The goal was to make it sturdy enough to withstand any natural disaster.

Of course, that was much easier said than done.

Something even worse than an avalanche could happen.

‘Should I reinforce the drainage channels with cement too?’

Thinking about it, that was a much better method.

After all, I was going to mix it with cement, so there was no need to thaw it.

It would be better to mix it directly with hot water.

They say human intelligence tends to show itself too late.

And that was exactly my case.

‘Well. I’ll take it as experience.’

Grumbling to myself, I checked the condition of the sand.

It was still completely frozen solid.

It looked like I could go to the lake for a moment while the sand finished thawing.

Even so, just in case, I cautiously observed my surroundings.

You never knew what might appear.

‘I don’t see anything unusual.’

There was no sign of the giant crab, and the normal crabs were completely frozen.

If someone asked me whether they could be eaten, I would only reply that they had been preserved through natural freezing.

I stuffed several crabs into a sack and then looked around.

The entire lake was frozen and looked like a massive ice road.

‘If necessary, I could explore it…’

But there was no need to take risks.

I collected the crabs and returned to the lower part of the river.

And as soon as I got back, I was greeted by a rather strange sight.

“Fruu.”

“……”

It was a deer.

A deer resting beside the bonfire I had lit.

Could it be the same one that had taken down the bull shark with a single kick last time?

I silently watched it as I cautiously approached.

After all, that kick could be aimed at me.

‘Seriously, it looks like a bully.’

I never imagined it would take advantage of my absence to claim the bonfire for itself.

Even at a glance, it radiated the intimidating aura characteristic of a genuine thug.

It looked like the kind of creature you shouldn’t mess with.

But I needed the sand.

So I moved slowly to show that I had no intention of harming it.

Even when I got fairly close, the deer remained by the fire without doing anything at all.

Thud! Thud!

Even when I started digging up the sand with my shovel, it didn’t react in the slightest.

I didn’t know whether it was because the warmth of the bonfire felt too good or because it had realized that I wasn’t a threat.

‘Confidence befitting the strong?’

This was a forest where herbivores were absurdly powerful.

The sloth.

The gorillas.

And now this deer.

If carnivores were predators, these were simply bullies.

‘I’ve collected enough sand…’

But how long was he planning to stay there?

On top of that, he kept staring at me, which was rather uncomfortable.

Even so, he hadn’t attacked me.

And I had already gotten what I wanted.

Clack. Crackle.

Before leaving, I added several more logs to the bonfire.

It was a kind of signal.

I had no intention of fighting him.

Perhaps he understood my intentions when the flames grew stronger.

He had been watching me the entire time, but finally looked away.

‘That should do it.’

I threw the rest of the firewood into the fire and returned to the shelter.

The deer stayed beside the bonfire until the very end.

And so, after that small incident, I managed to return with good results.

‘The sand goes in the sacks, and the crabs go in the fridge.’

The “fridge” was simply the insulated box filled with ice.

I had decided to call it that for convenience.

And just as I entered the shelter, I noticed something strange.

The sloth was still staring at the fire.

And Wonmo was still hibernating.

Then.

Who was the creature sitting beside the sloth?

‘What the hell…? I’m sure I also put up the fence and the tarp.’

There were no signs that anyone had removed either the tarp or the fence.

That meant it had entered through another route.

However, the sloth showed no signs of alarm.

So it was probably not a hostile creature.

Even so, I couldn’t let my guard down.

I slowly approached to identify it.

“Kieeee…”

“……”

When I got closer, I recognized it.

It was someone familiar.

The raccoon that had approached when I lit a bonfire in the yard.

The same one that had stuck its hand into the fire and then stuffed the flames into its mouth.

‘What’s it doing here?’

I observed it carefully.

Then I noticed wounds on its paws and back.

It didn’t seem like it had arrived while fleeing from a predator.

Nor were there any traces suggesting it had entered through the main entrance.

“Hey. Where did you come from?”

“Kieeh…?”

Unable to understand the situation, I slowly approached and asked.

The raccoon looked at me with a confused expression for a moment.

Then it slowly stood up.

For a moment, I thought it was about to attack me.

But it did something completely unexpected.

“Kiee… kee…”

It brought both hands together in front of itself as if apologizing.

It was a gesture that anyone would interpret as a sincere apology.

With that adorable appearance and those movements, it was impossible not to feel sympathy.

It was certainly far more polite and kind than certain gorillas.

“Keeng… keeng…”

Then it pointed toward the chimney.

Its expression still conveyed a tremendous sense of injustice.

Thanks to that, I more or less understood what had happened.

It had probably entered through the chimney and then fallen inside.

It was almost miraculous that it had only suffered scratches and not burns.

‘It really was unlucky.’

After apologizing like that, I couldn’t kill it.

If it had behaved with the shamelessness of those raccoons from before, it might have been different.

Besides, the sloth also seemed to understand its situation, since he hadn’t done anything.

So I patted its head to reassure it.

The raccoon immediately seemed to relax when it realized I had no ill intentions.

“Wait a moment.”

“Kiee?”

Since it was injured, I should at least apply a little elixir.

I used the animal elixir and treated its wounds.

When they disappeared almost instantly, the raccoon began touching its body with obvious surprise.

It was adorable, though in a different way from Wonmo.

“Well? Feeling better?”

“Keeng! Keeng-keeng!”

It clasped its hands together again and again to express its gratitude.

It was truly incredible.

It seemed that only intelligent animals existed in the Forest of Four Seasons.

As I watched the scene with satisfaction, the raccoon looked around and walked toward the chimney.

And just as I wondered what it was trying to do.

It began its strange behavior.

Swoosh—

It stuck its hands directly into the flames.

And not just one hand like last time.

It put both hands in at once.

I watched, wondering what it was doing.

“Kiee!”

“……What is this?”

Then it showed me both of its hands.

They were wrapped in blazing flames.

Yet it seemed to feel no pain.

While I tried to understand what was happening, the raccoon must have noticed my confusion.

It opened its hands.

Whoosh!

The flames fell to the ground.

As if they were water.

And shortly afterward, they went out.

My attention immediately focused on one detail.

The flames had fallen like water.

If they could behave like that.

Couldn’t they be stored inside a bottle?

With that idea in mind, I prepared an empty bottle.

The raccoon gathered the flames between its hands again and dropped them into the bottle I offered it.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The flames did not go out.

They maintained their form inside the bottle.

Even when I sealed the bottle with a stopper and completely cut off the oxygen, they continued burning.

Looking more closely, I discovered that the fire was wrapped around a small sphere located in the center.

‘What is this?’

A fire that burned without fuel or oxygen.

A phenomenon that shattered everything I knew about science.

What did it mean?

Unable to understand it, I looked at the raccoon.

He seemed to understand the meaning of my gaze and plunged his hands back into the bonfire.

“Ham.”

Then he stuffed the flames into his mouth.

And then.

“Fuuuuuu!”

Fwoooooosh!!!

A gigantic blast of fire shot out of his mouth.

The flames illuminated the entire cave in an instant.

I could do nothing but stand there with my mouth hanging open.

‘No. What kind of forest has ninjas living in it?’

While I was still stunned.

Smack!

“Kieeeh!”

The sloth smacked him on the back.

As if scolding him for playing with fire.