Got a Gallery in the Wild

A bridge that would allow survivors to cross the river more easily.

To properly understand the structure and the principle behind it, I built a model using branches.

Seeing something once is worth more than hearing about it a hundred times, and doing it once is worth more than seeing it a hundred times.

After getting a general idea, I started building the actual bridge.

“…How was I supposed to do this again?”

And I got stuck the moment I started.

More than getting stuck, I felt completely overwhelmed.

I had managed to understand the structure and principle thanks to the model.

But when it came time to actually do it, problems appeared everywhere.

It wasn’t something that could be solved just by planing the wood.

The felled trees had to be cut to a uniform size, and even using the plane was difficult because it was my first time doing it.

‘And it doesn’t help that using aura is difficult for me.’

I still didn’t have proper control over the cold energy, so I tried to avoid using aura whenever possible.

That’s why I only used mana to reinforce my body and did all the work without aura.

Scrape! Scrape! Scrape!

I split the felled tree exactly in half and then split each half again lengthwise.

Since the trunk was incredibly thick, sawing it required an absurd amount of physical labor.

If I hadn’t even had a saw, I probably would have given up already.

‘Every time I do something like this, I respect people from ancient times even more.’

If the only problem had been the sawing, I could have gritted my teeth and endured it.

But the sawdust flying everywhere was even worse.

Breathing itself became difficult, so in the end I had no choice but to put on the veil I had received for protection against sandstorms.

Cut down a tree.

Adjust its length.

Plane it until every detail was uniform.

“Huff. When the hell am I going to finish all of this?”

I had barely finished processing a single piece of wood and already felt like cursing.

Sawing was exhausting.

Dust was flying everywhere.

And the amount of material was absurd.

I considered asking the raccoon family for help, but dismissed the idea.

At the end of the day, they only had the strength of raccoons.

And if they accidentally started a fire, it would be a disaster.

‘Isn’t there anyone around willing to work?’

Doing all of this alone was much harder than I had imagined.

I hadn’t even been working that long, and I was already thinking that.

I leaned against the pile of wood and drank a glass of water.

Even though it was still a cool spring, I was drenched in sweat.

‘And that’s not even considering whether I’ll actually be able to raise the bridge.’

The worry slowly began to grow.

What if, after processing all the wood, another problem arose and I couldn’t build the bridge?

All the work I had done so far could end up being pointless.

Title) Let Just One Person Come

WildGrills

(Photo of the processed wood)

Processing wood is fucking torture. Let someone, anyone, come help me out.

└ HeavenlyDemon: Is it still difficult for you to use Sword Aura?

└ WildGrills: Yes. If everything ends up frozen, it’ll be a headache.

└ Swordmaster: It must be really hard doing it with nothing but physical strength. Though at least it works as exercise, right?

└ WildGrills: I can feel the muscles in my back twisting.

└ Swordmaster: Chopping wood is excellent for building your back. And while you’re at it, I think you should take the opportunity to strengthen your body instead of relying solely on aura.

└ WildGrills: Understood.

└ Every time I see this guy, he’s always suffering by choice…

└ He says he misses people. Let’s be understanding.

└ That’s not searching for survivors. He’s recruiting slaves.

└ You’re right hahaha. He was trying to discreetly hire slaves.

└ And what exactly are they offering if someone accepts the job?

└ What else would he offer? It’d be like becoming a moderator, but in real life.

└ HeavenlyDemon: Hmm. Even I don’t find that appealing. It doesn’t even look like a hobby.

└ Even a moderator refuses to become Grills’ slave. Haha.

└ DwarfPassingBy: Is carpentry really that hard? I have a friend who does it, and it always looked easy.

└ WildGrills: Does your friend use machines?

└ DwarfPassingBy: Isn’t that normal nowadays? Who does all that by hand? Hahaha.

└ WildGrills: Damn it. I want a machine too.

└ DwarfPassingBy: And would you even know how to use it? Or could you at least figure it out if someone gave you one? Hahaha.

└ WildGrills: Sigh… I wish a suitable slave would show up.

└ Look at this shameless guy hahaha. Just a little while ago he was flooring the accelerator because he saw a survivor.

└ I think he’s having an existential crisis. Otherwise he wouldn’t have changed this much hahaha.

└ WildGrills: If this is hard for me, I wonder how much worse it would be for a normal person. I really do respect them more now.

└ At least they don’t do it alone, Grills…

└ Exactly. The problem is that you’re alone.

└ What’s the point of humans having such high potential if they’re only strong when they work together? Hahaha.

└ Doesn’t that apply to the other races too?

└ Why don’t you ask the raccoon family for help?

└ Dad Raccoon is already working. He’s busy searching for medicinal herbs.

└ And what about Mom Raccoon or Baby Raccoon? Try asking them for help.

└ If you do that, you’ll end up getting kidnapped, idiot.

└ Kidnapped to where? There’s nowhere there to take him hahaha.

└ Ah, right. Hey, Grills. Turn the raccoon family into your slaves. Problem solved.

└ StarlightPrincess: You people don’t even seem human. How can you think like that?

└ WildGrills: To be honest, I did think about it, but I discarded the idea because they could get hurt.

└ StarlightPrincess: …Well, at least you still have some conscience left.

└ He has fur, but yeah, it seems like he still has some conscience hahaha.

└ Every time I see Grills, I find a new reason to laugh hahaha.

After complaining a little, everyone said what they wanted to say and went back to their own business.

I didn’t really care either.

I had come in specifically to take a break.

└ What if you ask the gorillas for help? You never know. They might agree if you give them fasting pills.

└ What are they, foreign workers or something? Hahaha.

└ More like animal workers hahaha.

└ They say beastfolk are excellent workers.

└ Should we really call them beastfolk? From the way they act, they seem more like prehistoric men.

└ That’s exactly what beastfolk are.

└ Suspiciously: They’re not beastfolk, damn it…!

└ If they have fur, arms and legs, and can talk, they’re beastfolk hahaha.

└ They really are hahaha.

It wasn’t that I had never thought about hiring the gorillas in exchange for fasting pills.

But the gorillas were the Sloth’s sworn enemies.

They were filled with mutual resentment.

As if they would ever agree to help me.

‘Looks like I’ll have to do it myself.’

I complained inwardly as I continued processing wood.

Cut the logs horizontally.

Then split them vertically.

And finally plane them.

Grain by grain, a mountain is formed.

As time passed, the amount of processed wood slowly increased.

‘If I don’t let it dry, it’ll end up covered in mold…’

Later I could fill the joints with cement.

Or perhaps gradually replace it with a stone bridge.

For now, the only important thing was focusing on finishing the bridge.

“Phew…”

A considerable amount of time had passed, and a good quantity of processed wood had accumulated.

Of course, it was still nowhere near enough, but I carried the planks into the cave anyway to protect them from possible rain.

For a moment, I thought that since I would probably be using a lot of wood in the future, perhaps I should build a separate drying room.

Though I quickly dismissed the idea.

‘That would mean even more expansion work.’

Unless survivors arrived, there would be no need to expand anything.

And even if they did arrive, they might be people with no productive skills whatsoever.

Ludwig was also a Holy Knight—in other words, a soldier.

And soldiers are famous for doing just about anything except producing things.

‘At least the inside of the cave is dry.’

Besides, the weather was still cool, so the fireplace remained lit.

A warm and dry environment.

Of course, one or two days weren’t enough to fully dry the wood.

According to the dwarf, it was a process that required several months at minimum.

It was best to think of it simply as a base structure.

“Wow. The whole day disappeared.”

I let out a remark that was practically a sigh as I checked the time.

I had spent the entire afternoon working after lunch, and evening was already approaching.

The sun slowly descended toward the horizon, as if telling me to wrap things up already.

I had lost an entire day working.

And I still wasn’t finished.

I wondered when all this would end, but if I kept working steadily, sooner or later I would see the finish line.

Before the sun disappeared completely, I went up to the river.

I wanted to retrieve the fish traps and, while I was at it, check the opposite bank.

‘Hmm. That place looks even worse.’

The landscape that had appeared was even more unpleasant than the fog zone.

It wasn’t like it had absorbed radiation or anything, but the entire ground glowed green.

And it wasn’t grass.

The soil itself was literally emitting a green light.

‘What the hell happened there for it to end up like that?’

Please don’t let whatever kind of radiation that is reach this side.

I carefully collected the fish caught in the traps.

Thanks to installing two traps instead of one, I had managed to catch no fewer than five fish.

“Kie!”

Shortly after I returned, Dad Raccoon appeared.

He was carrying a medicinal herb in his hand.

It looked like wild ginseng.

When I asked HeavenlyDemon, she told me it was a ginseng filled with internal energy.

We decided to use it as an ingredient for fasting pills.

By the way, the fasting pills were already practically finished and could be delivered the next morning.

I was happy, but the one who seemed happiest was the Sloth.

He really loved eating.

‘He has an incredible talent for finding ginseng.’

Since he had produced results, he deserved a reward.

I prepared one of the fish appetizingly and gave it to the raccoon family.

It seemed they absolutely loved grilled fish because they devoured it completely.

“Kieee.”

“Kieee! Kie!”

Mom Raccoon was the first to place a piece of fish into Baby Raccoon’s mouth.

Watching her feed her child before feeding herself reminded me that a family was still a family.

‘This makes me a little jealous.’

Until a few years ago, I also used to sit and eat with my whole family around the same table.

A bitter smile appeared on my face.

It still hurt to remember, but now I could keep it as a memory.

If I couldn’t do that, the only one who would suffer would be me.

After having dinner with the raccoon family, I rested inside the warm cave.

Shhhhhh—

I didn’t forget to practice the cultivation technique meant to control cold energy.

Although only a short time had passed, all my efforts were beginning to bear fruit.

The tiny mass of cold energy that had barely been the size of a grain of rice in the morning had now grown to the size of a ping-pong ball.

As with everything, getting started is the hardest part.

Once momentum is gained, growth accelerates rapidly.

‘But concentrating cold energy isn’t the final goal.’

My objective was to use it whenever I wanted, not simply separate it from mana.

Even so, the progress wasn’t bad.

It was only a matter of time.

When I finished practicing, I entered the gallery.

‘They’re still at it.’

The gallery was still on fire with discussions related to Eldorado.

Things like how they were already halfway into a civil war and so on.

I didn’t care much.

Unless Ludwig and I ended up meeting and he revealed some explosive truth, that would probably be the end of it.

‘Besides, they don’t even have a clear leader.’

And that was precisely the problem.

There was nobody capable of leading a civil war.

If the Hero were there, it would be a different story, but…

Well, what did it matter?

I closed the gallery and prepared to sleep.

Wonmo was already fast asleep.

And the Sloth was still staring at the fireplace flames without doing anything else.

‘Just thinking about having to work again tomorrow gives me a headache.’

I wish an excellent worker would fall from the sky.

Thinking foolish things like that, I slowly closed my eyes.

***

Time passed.

Just before dawn.

In the distance, the crowing of a rooster could be heard, and most animals began preparing to start their daily activities.

However, because of the season, the sun had not yet fully risen.

So all the animals were still in the middle of their preparations.

“……”

But someone once said that the early bird catches the worm.

While everyone else was preparing, there was already someone taking action.

Like a certain animal staring intently at the signboard installed beside the river.

“Grrr.”

Among the many languages written on the sign, the one that caught the creature’s attention was the language of the Central Continent.

With its deep red eyes, it silently observed the words.

Then it turned its head and looked toward the place where a column of smoke was rising.

It was the smoke coming from the chimney after the Sloth had been feeding firewood into the fire throughout the entire night.

“……”

The red-eyed creature slowly began walking toward the source of the smoke.

Judging by its appearance and the way it moved with its massive arms supporting its body against the ground, it was clearly a gorilla.

But unlike the other gorillas, its fur was completely white and its eyes were red.

And it wasn’t only its eyes that were red.

“Uuuh…!”

The palms of its hands were also a deep crimson color, as though they had been stained with blood.