Got a Gallery in the Wild

The appearance of some unexpected neighbors.

I didn’t know why the raccoon family had decided to move here, but it definitely wasn’t bad news.

To begin with, the raccoon was intelligent and polite.

That alone was enough for me to like him far more than the gorillas.

On top of that, he had great mastery over fire, so if we cooperated in the future, he could be an enormous help.

To make that happen, I first needed to figure out what that family wanted.

‘The most basic thing would be food, though that shouldn’t be a problem.’

The Forest of Four Seasons was a region abundant in food, regardless of how difficult hunting might be.

I didn’t know exactly what raccoons ate, but they were probably omnivores.

Besides, they weren’t a “family” living with me like Sloth and Wonmo.

They were neighbors.

That meant they could take care of themselves in most situations.

It would be enough to help them whenever a real emergency arose.

“Kiee. Kieee.”

“That’s your home?”

Thanks to the raccoon family’s introduction, I was also able to learn where they lived.

It was a tree located very close to the cave.

So close that it could practically be said to be right next door.

In the center of the thick trunk was a huge hollow.

Apparently, they lived inside it.

‘Good thing I never thought about cutting down this tree.’

If it had been inside the area I planned to clear, the situation would have been a little awkward.

But not only was it outside that area, it was also close enough for them to visit frequently.

I watched as the raccoon family entered the hollow tree.

A short while later, the raccoon poked his head out.

The cub appeared beside him as well.

I couldn’t help but take a picture.

I immediately uploaded it to the gallery.

Title) The raccoon family moved here

WildGrills

(Photo of the raccoon family appearing in front of me)

(Photo of the medicinal herb they gave me)

(Photo of the family poking their heads out from their home)

(Photo of the raccoon happily waving his hand)

The family of the raccoon that came to my cave moved nearby.

I don’t know if it’s some kind of moving tradition or what, but they gave me a medicinal herb as a gift.

They live in a hollow inside a nearby tree.

Looks like we’ll be seeing each other quite often.

Honestly, they have much better social skills than those damn gorillas.

I’m happy to have neighbors.

└ HeavenlyDemon: They are adorable neighbors. I hope you get along well.

└ Swordmaster: Wow. I’m jealous. I don’t even have neighbors.

└ HeavenlyDemon: As if you’d ever leave your house. Why would you need neighbors?

└ Swordmaster: Damn it. And do you have neighbors? You never leave your house either.

└ HeavenlyDemon: Mine are not neighbors, but subjects. Every now and then they bring me nice things, just like that raccoon. What about you? Have you ever exchanged gifts with your neighbors?

└ Swordmaster: …No.

└ HeavenlyDemon: You should show yourself once in a while. There are people who are happy just to see you. Though, of course, if you have an ugly face, it might be counterproductive.

└ Swordmaster: I’m beautiful, you know? …

└ Prove it.

└ No proof, no belief hahaha.

└ HeavenlyDemon should verify herself too. Who is she to talk about appearances? hahaha.

└ HeavenlyDemon: I’ve said it before. Back in my day, I received the title of the most beautiful woman under heaven.

└ Swordmaster: Well, if we’re talking about rumors, I’m also famous for being a beauty. Hehehe.

└ What an ego battle hahaha.

└ Who was the most beautiful woman in the world in the Central Plains?

└ In the previous generation, it was Yang Seolhwa. Currently it’s the Heavenly Demon, although the rumors about her are a little terrifying.

└ What rumors?

└ That even covered in other people’s blood, she was incapable of hiding her beauty. That’s what I heard.

└ Wasn’t Blood Flower her nickname before becoming the Heavenly Demon?

└ A flower stained with blood… That’s scary.

└ Damn…

└ HeroDontThrowAway: Mmm! So adorable! But unfortunately, I’m going to ban you for an hour.

└ WildGrills: ??? Why? What did I do?

└ HeroDontThrowAway: There’s no video! A video! If you upload a video, I’ll reconsider!

└ WildGrills: (Video of the raccoon family) How about now?

└ HeroDontThrowAway: I’ll let it slide this time!

└ Just this once…

└ The moderator literally just told the sub-moderators not to abuse their authority, and now he’s doing exactly the same thing hahaha.

└ Hypocrisy has always been a passive skill of moderators hahaha.

└ But they really are adorable hahaha.

└ Is that the cub? I want to hug him.

└ What would happen if Grills took the cub away?

└ Nothing. He’d just be playing at the neighbor’s house hahaha.

└ Ah, right.

└ More importantly, won’t Wonmo try to eat him?

└ Wonmo: I woke up and suddenly I have more emergency rations.

└ Wait. Who was the original emergency ration? Grills? hahaha.

└ He always has been hahaha.

They were joking, but I couldn’t take it entirely as a joke.

Even if I had accepted the raccoons as neighbors, would Wonmo accept them?

At least it seemed that Sloth had accepted them.

But it was impossible to know how Wonmo’s appetite would react.

‘Looks like the weather is improving. Wonmo should wake up soon.’

I looked up at the sky and slowly exhaled.

The temperature had risen enough for me to notice.

Even the vapor from my breath looked fainter.

Tomorrow, the weather would change completely.

Or at least the signs would begin to appear.

‘I’ll know when Wonmo wakes up.’

Wonmo had begun hibernating right when winter started.

So the reverse would probably happen as well.

I watched the raccoon family for a while before returning to the cave.

Since they were experts at using fire, I planned to light a bonfire in the yard for them.

Crackle. Crackle.

I prepared a bonfire for them to use and then entered the cave.

First, I needed to figure out exactly what kind of medicinal herb they had given me.

‘For things like this, HeavenlyDemon usually knows quite a lot.’

HeavenlyDemon was an expert in internal cores and all kinds of spiritual herbs.

And even if she didn’t recognize it immediately, she could quickly identify what kind of energy it contained.

I examined the white ginseng from every angle before sending her a message.

[WildGrills: HeavenlyDemon. Are you around?]

[HeavenlyDemon: Tell me.]

[WildGrills: Do you remember the photo I uploaded a little while ago? The completely white ginseng.]

[HeavenlyDemon: I was looking at it. It seemed like an unusual medicinal herb. If my guess is correct, it should be a Snow Ginseng filled with yin energy.]

[WildGrills: Would you like me to send it to you for examination? I don’t dare consume it recklessly.]

[HeavenlyDemon: Very well. I’ll examine it and then inform you of the results.]

I’ll examine it and inform you of the results.

I sent the Snow Ginseng to HeavenlyDemon.

She probably wouldn’t take long to reply.

Meanwhile, I began thinking about how to get along with the raccoon family.

Maybe a simple bonfire wouldn’t be enough.

‘If they’re this good at finding medicinal herbs, they could become an enormous help.’

If it turned out that the white ginseng’s effects were good,

I would ask her for it directly.

I would give her food, and she would give me medicinal herbs.

Then I could either consume them myself or hand them over to HeavenlyDemon to turn into Bigu Pills.

That’s how mutual cooperation works.

And also how economics works.

Though, without any currency involved, calling it economics was somewhat debatable.

But let’s set that aside.

[HeavenlyDemon: WildGrills. Are you still there?]

[WildGrills: Yes. I’m here. Have you already examined it?]

[HeavenlyDemon: That raccoon truly gave you an extraordinary medicinal herb. It is not an ordinary ginseng. It contains an amount of internal energy comparable to a Thousand-Year Ginseng.]

[WildGrills: Does that mean it’s extremely valuable?]

[HeavenlyDemon: It does not reach the level of the Snow Ginseng Doll or the Ten-Thousand-Year Ginseng King, but it is still a very rare herb. The only problem is that it possesses extremely strong yin energy. However, since you already possess cold energy, it should not cause you too many problems.]

[WildGrills: Could it be used to make Fasting Pills?]

[HeavenlyDemon: It is possible. But it seems wasteful to me.]

I asked HeavenlyDemon to wait a moment and went outside.

There was something I wanted to ask the raccoon.

“Kiee.”

“Kieee.”

“Kiee, kie.”

When I went outside, I found the entire raccoon family gathered around the bonfire.

All of them were holding out both hands toward the fire to warm themselves.

Especially the cub.

Seeing those tiny little hands stretched out toward the flames was incredibly adorable.

‘It’s nice, but…’

I was happy to have neighbors.

However, one day I would have to leave this place.

Even so, as long as I remained here, we would have to coexist.

And since they had been the first to show goodwill, I felt much more comfortable around them.

Until then, it would be best for us to help each other and benefit mutually.

“Raccoon.”

“Kiee?”

The moment I called him, he immediately raised his head.

As if he completely understood that I was talking to him.

The other raccoons did the same.

His mate and the cub also looked up at me.

‘Maybe I should give them names.’

Though perhaps it would be simpler to call him Papa Raccoon.

Either way, I took Papa Raccoon aside.

He followed me without showing any distrust.

I led him into the cave.

More specifically, to the map.

The same map I had gradually completed throughout all my explorations.

“Alright, Papa Raccoon. See this thing you gave me?”

“Kiee.”

“If you find more things like this, could you bring them to me? And in exchange…”

Rrrrk.

I took out the white Snow Ginseng he had given me.

Then I dragged over a metal container.

Inside were still several fish that had been completely frozen.

Fish preserved through natural freezing.

“I’ll give you these fish. They’re frozen right now, but the weather will improve soon and you’ll be able to eat them.”

“……”

“And if you’re not interested in fish, I can give you something else. Before long I’ll be receiving fasting pills. I could give you some of those too.”

Tap.

At that moment, I felt a hand rest on my shoulder.

When I turned around, I found Sloth staring at me.

He seemed to be saying.

“Are you really going to give that away when we don’t even have enough for ourselves?”

Normally, Sloth wasn’t greedy.

But fasting pills were an exception.

Especially after the gorillas had stolen all the previous ones.

“You only eat one at a time anyway.”

“And with the herbs this guy finds, we’ll be able to make more.”

“……”

“He could practically become our supplier of pill ingredients. Be a little understanding.”

Perhaps my words managed to convince him.

Sloth removed his hand.

No matter how abundant the Forest of Four Seasons was in medicinal herbs, I was practically ignorant when it came to that field.

So it was better to leave the searching to an expert.

Or something close to an expert.

And offer appropriate compensation in return.

“……”

Papa Raccoon seemed to consider my proposal for a while.

Perhaps he still didn’t fully trust me.

Or maybe it was because it felt too much like a business deal.

After all, he could end up on the losing side.

He had a family to support.

However, even though the offer involved certain risks, he ultimately decided that I was someone he could trust.

“Kiee!”

The raccoon held out a hand and gladly accepted.

I shook that tiny hand, and the agreement was sealed.

But there was still one thing left to do.

There was some information I needed to pass on to him.

That was precisely why I had brought him to the map.

“Look. See this area and this one?”

“The gorillas live here. They’re extremely hostile toward intruders, so you must never go near them.”

“Kiee.”

“And here is the kangaroos’ cave. See that pig-looking guy? They attacked him the moment he entered. They’re not good people.”

“And farther down is the lake. On the way there, there’s a deer…”

In case something ever happened to him, I carefully explained all the dangerous places.

Maybe he knew the area where he had lived until now.

But not necessarily the surroundings of my shelter.

After concluding the deal with Papa Raccoon, I sent the Snow Ginseng to HeavenlyDemon.

‘I’m glad I managed to get a good neighbor.’

Though perhaps he wasn’t really a neighbor anymore.

Maybe now we were partners.

Either way, as long as we got along well, that was all that mattered.

‘Now that I think about it, should I build them a little house near the bonfire?’

It was something worth considering.

***

At around the same time, in the Heavenly Demon Cult.

“I FOUND A TREASUREEEEEEE!!!”

A cult member shouted at the top of his lungs while holding a snow-white ginseng.

His identity was Wi Seolak.

And resting in his hands was that white ginseng.

A gift that HeavenlyDemon had suddenly given him.

At first, he felt confused.

But it didn’t take long for him to realize that it contained a terrifying amount of internal energy.

‘I-I’m sure WildGrills sent it… but to think he would give away something like this…!’

Its value was equivalent to several years’ worth of budget.

Internal Cores were difficult to sell because their origin was far too obvious.

But ginseng was different.

He could make up any excuse.

“I found it buried behind a mountain,” for example.

And the matter would be settled.

In a world where money and strength were everything, that treasure held far greater value to Wi Seolak than rain after a drought.

No.

Perhaps it wasn’t simply rain.

Perhaps it was the sign that announced a bountiful harvest.

‘HeavenlyDemon is a goddess.’

‘And WildGrills is invincible.’

His opinion of WildGrills began skyrocketing vertically.