Got a Gallery in the Wild

The Goddess of War, Aris, had not abandoned me.

The Holy Knight of Eldorado, Ludwig, was convinced of that.

Just as he had expected, the Forest of Four Seasons was a place worthy of being called a demonic realm beyond human comprehension.

First, a three-headed lion had appeared.

Then he encountered an animal with an unbelievably long neck.

And on top of that, all kinds of bizarre creatures inhabited that forest.

The most astonishing thing was that every single one of them possessed terrifying power.

And the most absurd part was that the herbivores were even stronger than the carnivores.

Managing to tame that long-necked animal had undoubtedly been a stroke of luck.

Although that good fortune had not always stayed with him, at least it had appeared at the right moment.

“……”

Ludwig looked at the stump wrapped in thick bandages.

Below his ankle, where his foot should have been, there was now absolutely nothing left.

Until he managed to obtain a prosthetic, walking normally again would be difficult.

But that was far better than dying from septicemia.

‘Fortunately, that sword’s edge was extraordinary.’

An amputation was an extremely difficult operation.

Normally, it would have required sawing for a long time.

Drinking alcohol as an anesthetic also carried enormous risks, but it was the only way to prevent him from going into shock.

The pain caused by an amputation was among the worst a human being could experience.

No matter how strong Ludwig was, enduring it while fully conscious would have been impossible.

‘And I was also fortunate that he still had more elixirs.’

In an operation, not only the procedure mattered.

Closing the wound was equally crucial.

Fortunately, Grills had a good supply of elixirs.

In the worst-case scenario, the wound would have had to be cauterized with fire.

Despite all those misfortunes, he was still alive.

Without a doubt, it was because Aris was still watching over him.

‘What a clean cave.’

Ludwig looked around the interior.

There was even a fireplace, and the place felt quite cozy.

At that moment, Grills had gone to the river to dispose of the amputated foot.

Since Ludwig was completely exhausted and had also lost a foot, resting was his highest priority.

‘If I’d arrived even a single day later, it would have been too late.’

Ludwig had seen Grills on the other side of the river, and that had given him hope.

But having hope and knowing when the scenery along the river would change again were two entirely different things.

That was why he had remained waiting there all that time, surviving on only the bare minimum needed to stay alive.

The giraffe could at least feed on the leaves of trees.

But Ludwig was not a herbivore.

Ever since maggots had infested his foot, he had lost almost all of his mobility.

He couldn’t hunt.

He couldn’t fish.

All he could do was endure through sheer willpower.

‘Besides, there was a bridge, and thanks to the signpost, it was easy to find this place.’

The bridge and the signpost had allowed him to immediately recognize it as the same river where he had seen Grills.

He discovered it just before losing consciousness, so he gathered every last ounce of strength he had left to cross it.

If he hadn’t had that long-necked companion—the giraffe—he probably wouldn’t have made it.

For some time, that friend would literally be his legs.

Until then, he would inevitably have to rely on Grills’ help to adapt.

‘When I only knew his name, I thought Grills must have been someone from the West.’

Judging only from his username in the Gallery, he’d assumed he was a Westerner.

But after meeting him in person.

Anyone would have thought he was someone from the Central Plains.

Moreover, although he wore a thick beard, he looked quite young.

Even he, after devoting countless years to training, had barely managed to survive.

Meanwhile, that young man wasn’t merely surviving.

He was living.

‘He also said he could use mana.’

Inside the Forest of Four Seasons, it was impossible to use mana.

After entering the forest, Ludwig had tried again and again to use it, only to confirm it was completely useless.

Without the sword Grills had given him, he probably would have died long ago.

That was why he was so curious.

How had this man named Grills managed to survive?

And above all.

‘What exactly were those animals? His pets?’

The Sloth hanging from his back.

The Owlbear cub following him everywhere.

And lastly, the white gorilla with a restraining collar around its neck.

He had absolutely no idea what kind of combination that was.

‘I should’ve entered the Gallery sooner.’

Ludwig had only accessed the Gallery for the first time just before entering the Forest of Four Seasons.

With so little time, it had been impossible to understand the full situation.

Receiving that sword had already been nothing short of a miracle.

‘I don’t know about the others, but that Sloth was anything but ordinary.’

They said the strong instinctively recognized other strong people.

Although Ludwig had yet to reach the supreme realm, he possessed exceptional judgment when it came to evaluating strength.

After all, one of his disciples was even a Hero.

And precisely because of that.

That Sloth struck him as extraordinary.

While every other creature desperately struggled to survive in the Forest of Four Seasons.

Only he seemed completely relaxed.

In a place where no one knew who might attack, when, where, how, or why.

‘…Or perhaps the strong one is that young man named Grills.’

He would find that out little by little.

For now, what mattered was resting.

His body had barely escaped the worst possible outcome.

At least it was a relief that he could still circulate his mana cultivation technique.

Even so, it progressed at an extremely slow pace.

The dense mana of the Forest of Four Seasons constantly compressed it.

It was as though his mana were trying to force its way through an incredibly narrow passage.

‘Will escaping be impossible?’

Without realizing it, Ludwig let out a deep sigh.

Surviving in this place was already difficult enough.

And now he had completely lost his right foot.

At this rate, he would only become a burden to Grills.

‘Perhaps it would’ve been better if I’d died…’

One misfortune had followed another.

It was inevitable that pessimistic thoughts would begin to consume him.

Not only was he incapable of helping.

He had even become dead weight.

More than wounded pride, all he felt was guilt.

Even if Grills decided to throw him out of the shelter, he was prepared to accept it without complaint.

Because staying there would contribute absolutely nothing.

All he would do was consume food.

“I’m back.”

It was just as Ludwig was immersed in those complicated thoughts.

Grills returned after disposing of the amputated foot.

Ludwig, who had been quietly leaning against the cave wall, turned his head to look at him.

He was a young man with an honest appearance.

That was exactly the impression he gave.

He had the plain features typical of the people of the Central Plains and an expression that inspired trust.

‘How did a young man like him end up in the Forest of Four Seasons?’

That was precisely why it was even more bewildering.

The Forest of Four Seasons was a hell where only the purged or the worst kinds of criminals, like himself, ended up.

Judging by appearances alone, Grills fit the former far more than the latter.

And besides, someone capable of showing such kindness and compassion could hardly be a criminal.

‘Could it be that he lost a power struggle among the nobles?’

While Ludwig was thinking that, he tried to stand up.

Thanks to his mana circulation technique, he had recovered a little strength.

However, Grills hurriedly stopped him.

“Stay seated. With your foot in that condition, why are you trying to stand up?”

“……”

Those words, spoken in a language that probably belonged to the Central Plains, reached his ears.

It was strange.

He couldn’t understand a single thing.

And yet, for some reason, they conveyed a warm sadness to him.

Ludwig decided to obey without protest.

After all, Grills was the owner of the shelter and the highest authority there.

For someone as upright as Ludwig, obeying Grills’ words was only natural.

‘Now what do I do?’

On the other hand, Grills wasn’t quite sure how to deal with Ludwig either.

He certainly had no intention of throwing him out.

After all, he was the first visitor he’d had in an entire month.

In a place as hellish as this, every human being was incredibly valuable.

Even if he had a mangled foot.

As long as they could communicate, that was enough.

‘I wish I could get him a prosthetic, but…’

He had already asked DwarfPassingBy about it before.

He asked if he could make a prosthetic leg.

The answer was that it wasn’t impossible.

But it was extremely difficult.

When he asked why, the dwarf replied that there were too many reasons to point out just one.

The biggest one was precision.

A prosthetic had to be custom-made for each individual.

And besides, a leg wasn’t like an arm or a hand.

It had to support the entire weight of the body.

If it was made poorly, it would only make the patient suffer even more.

On top of that, with current technology, it was impossible to properly reproduce a joint.

It wasn’t for nothing that most people used simple wooden prosthetics.

‘The foot can wait. First, he needs to recover his strength.’

Just a few moments ago, Ludwig had looked like little more than a walking corpse.

Now he’d regained some color and some of his strength.

At the very least, it would be possible to communicate with him.

Even if they didn’t share a language.

Because Grills had the Gallery.

‘The first thing I need to find out is…’

His name.

His affiliation.

And how he ended up entering the Forest of Four Seasons.

As well as how he’d survived there.

That information would be enough to decide what to do from here on.

[HeroDontThrowAway: (Photo of a sheet written in the Holy Kingdom’s language) Will this work?]

[WildGrills: Yes. Thanks. I know you’re busy.]

[HeroDontThrowAway: It’s nothing! Please take good care of Sir Ludwig! I’ll do everything I can to help!]

[WildGrills: Then why don’t you come help here yourself?]

[HeroDontThrowAway: I’ll consider it too! But I’m far too busy right now!]

Curiously, he didn’t answer that it was impossible for him to come.

Grills was a little puzzled, but decided not to think too much about it.

He carefully copied the translation HeroDontThrowAway had provided onto a sheet of paper and showed it to Ludwig.

After reading it, Ludwig nodded.

“My name is…”

“Ah, one moment.”

Just as he was about to speak, Grills raised a hand to stop him.

Ludwig obeyed without saying another word.

Just as he’d thought before, Grills was the absolute authority in that place.

Grills then opened the Gallery’s recording function and gestured for him to speak.

“My name is…”

And then another bombshell dropped.

***

“Phew…”

Selena let out a deep sigh.

It reflected all the exhaustion that had built up.

The banquet held after the succession ceremony.

Just as she’d expected, it had been a genuine battlefield.

There were no swords or spears.

But the battle had been just as fierce.

‘In the end, I barely got to talk about Grills.’

That was what she regretted most.

Since everything was so closely tied to the Gallery, no one wanted to bring it up.

And besides, real-world issues were far too important, so the conversations naturally revolved around those instead.

‘At least His Majesty reacted positively.’

That meant it hadn’t been a complete loss.

A completely unexpected person had shown interest.

None other than Emperor Arnold.

She had caught a much bigger fish than she’d anticipated.

Although he admitted it would be difficult to provide official support as a state, he considered Grills someone worthy of investment.

Naturally, he pretended to have obtained that information through other means rather than through the Gallery.

But Selena understood immediately.

Arnold also frequented the Gallery.

And he knew Grills’ personality quite well.

‘If the Emperor thinks that way, the information won’t take long to spread.’

All she had to do was wait.

Thinking that, Selena looked ahead.

The Gallery window appeared before her eyes.

At that moment, she was standing on a terrace.

It was the perfect place to be alone with her thoughts, so she’d taken advantage of the break to log in.

[I knew those bastards from the Holy Kingdom would end up like this. LMAO.]

[So what are they going to do now? LMAOO.]

[Ah, Eldorado is finished. Eldorado no longer belongs to the Holy Kingdom.]

[If Eldorado is pathetic, upvote this. LMAO.]

The moment she logged in, she found the Gallery in complete chaos.

It was the first time she’d connected since that morning.

Not even six hours had passed.

‘What happened?’

Puzzled, she opened the featured posts.

There, occupying one of the top spots, was a thread posted by Grills.

It also had an enormous number of recommendations.

Without wasting any time, she opened it.

Title) Video of the Holy Knight Riding a Giraffe

WildGrills

(Video of Ludwig introducing himself)

(Video of Ludwig revealing the Holy Kingdom’s corruption)

(Video of Ludwig talking about his life in the Forest of Four Seasons)

Can someone translate this? I understood that he introduces himself at first, but after that I have no idea what he’s saying.

ㄴHeavenlyDemon) He looks much better than before. I thought he was a walking corpse.

ㄴSwordmaster) I get the feeling he just said something extremely important. Am I wrong?

ㄴI’m sure someone from the Holy Kingdom will translate it soon.

ㄴYeah. I’ve already got my popcorn ready. Hahaha.

ㄴHeroDontAbandonMe) Very briefly! He says his name is Ludwig, that he was the commander of the Holy Kingdom’s Knights, and that basically, the Holy Kingdom is complete trash.

ㄴThat’s way too brief. Can you explain it in more detail?

ㄴHeroDontThrowAway) I’m sorry! It’s so trash that I don’t even know how to write it all!

ㄴIs it really… that bad? My God…

ㄴWhat the hell did he say?

Selena understood the Holy Kingdom’s language to some extent.

Her body had been sick.

Her intelligence had not.

So she carefully listened to the words of the Holy Knight named Ludwig…

‘…My God.’

What they contained far exceeded anything she had imagined.

This wasn’t simply throwing a spark onto the already explosive Eldorado.

It was like throwing an incendiary bomb.

No.

Like dropping a meteorite.

And since it had already spread through the Gallery, it was inevitable that the real world would also be thrown into chaos.

Alarmed, she immediately closed the Gallery and returned to the audience hall.

“…What’s going on? Where did everyone go?”

The hall, which had been overflowing with nobles just a short while ago, was now almost empty.

There were even more servants than aristocrats.

As Selena stood there in confusion, someone approached her.

“They all said they had urgent matters to attend to and left.”

It was Ash.

Selena turned to look at her.

In fact, she was even more surprised that Ash was still there.

But Ash also knew exactly what had just happened.

“I don’t know exactly what happened, but don’t you think you should return as soon as possible as well, my lady?”

“…And what about you, Lady Countess?”

“Me?”

Ash shrugged as she raised the wine glass in her hand.

“Going home is enough for me.”

She said it completely naturally.

As though proudly declaring,

“I’m unemployed, so it doesn’t affect me.”

Hearing that, Selena was speechless for a moment.

Then she let out a quiet laugh.

“I’m jealous.”

And so, a nuclear bomb fell upon the world.

***

“Come on! You just got here, and you’ve already caused a disaster!”

“I didn’t do anything! It stuck to me!”

“I don’t even know what you’re talking about! Just help me push first!”

Grills was having enormous difficulty pulling Ludwig free after his ankle had become stuck to a vein of mithril.

“What the hell did you do to get yourself stuck?!”

“I really… have no idea.”

Although they still didn’t share a language.

The situation spoke for itself.