Got a Gallery in the Wild

The very first thing I did after the trade restriction was lifted was give a small bribeno, a gift to the fixed-account users.

And when I say gift, I just mean giving them chunks of fish on skewers.

The fish was so huge that even after handing it out like that, I still had plenty left to eat.

[WildGrills: How does it taste?]

[HeavenlyDemon: It is excellent. A true delicacy among delicacies. I believe this is the most delicious food I have ever tasted.]

[WildGrills: You’re flattering me too much. I’m really glad you liked it haha.]

[HeavenlyDemon: It is not an exaggeration. For something prepared so simply to have this kind of flavor makes me wonder how it would taste if it were cooked properly.]

[WildGrills: Once I have more breathing room, I’ll cook it for you properly. Once I have breathing room.]

[HeavenlyDemon: You do not know how long that breathing room will last. I am fine as I am.]

As expected, HeavenlyDemon absolutely loved it.

It felt like no matter what I gave her, she would happily accept it.

Even so, hearing her praise made me feel pretty good.

[Swordmaster: Why does this fish taste like meat? I envy the fact that you get to eat this every day.]

[WildGrills: Want to come here?]

[Swordmaster: But my mom’s cooking is still the best.]

[WildGrills: It’s been so long since I had homemade food that I wouldn’t know.]

[Swordmaster: Ah sorry. I’m really sorry.]

[WildGrills: I was joking haha. But I guess it really is that good.]

Swordmaster praised it too. I honestly felt satisfied.

I had only salted and grilled it, yet it still tasted incredible.

[DwarfPassingBy: Hey. Give me more. It’s not enough to drink with.]

[WildGrills: You shameless bastard.]

[DwarfPassingBy: Giiive me moooor.]

[WildGrills: Your messages already smell like alcohol, just go to sleep;;]

Well, the dwarf was still saying ridiculous things without any shame whatsoever.

Judging by the way he typed, he seemed completely drunk.

Still, he didn’t seem intent on squeezing me dry, so he dropped the subject there.

After that, I shared some with DemonPrincess, StarlightPrincess, AllFather, SunForEver, and the other fixed-account users who had helped me.

Most of them reacted positively, and that made me feel proud.

And finally, even the Moderator.

That was how the distribution event(?) ended.

‘By the way, the Moderator really does seem religious.’

While talking with her a bit, she asked whether I had any intention of believing in a god.

It felt like someone trying to evangelize me, so I was a little uncomfortable, but since she didn’t push further, I didn’t respond badly either.

She just seemed genuinely curious about why I insulted the gods.

So I simply answered honestly.

Krrrraaaash!

And it seems I’m now witnessing the consequences of insulting the gods.

I couldn’t help sighing as I watched the rain fall even harder than before.

There was definitely no exploring today anymore.

The weather had gotten even worse.

With thunder and lightning included, it looked like the sky itself was performing a ritual to stop me from going outside.

‘This is getting ridiculous.’

Thankfully, I still had plenty of supplies stored away.

And I had also managed to finish the drainage while the rain had briefly stopped.

If I hadn’t done that, the trench probably would’ve filled up or overflowed with water.

And cleaning everything afterward would’ve been far worse.

‘Just in case, I should install more bars too.’

This very morning, right after the rain started, a raccoon had shown up inside the cave.

Not only did it come to warm itself by the fire, it even tried to steal a fasting pill.

That one ended up becoming Wonmo’s snack thanks to the sloth, but I still needed to stay alert against other creatures.

‘And that was only a raccoon. If it had been something else, it could’ve been dangerous.’

Even the raccoon was dangerous.

If it had been rabid, things would’ve been serious.

Though now that I think about it, the sloth was dangerous too, but since he hated bathing, there wasn’t much I could do about it.

I looked at the torrential rain covering my entire field of vision and shook my head.

Losing an entire day put me in a bad mood.

“Wonmo. Come here.”

“Kyuu?”

Well then, I’ll heal this bad mood by hugging Wonmo.

He looked like a fluffy little furball, and every time I hugged him, I felt my mind calming down.

Wonmo didn’t resist either and simply let himself be hugged.

‘This guy will probably end up much bigger than me someday too, right?’

Wonmo’s mother, the Owlbear that ended up being sold at the auction house.

Though saying “sold” sounded weird, technically she really was sold.

Anyway, that Owlbear had been as huge as a truck.

Which meant Wonmo would also eventually grow to that size.

‘I’d rather that not happen while we’re still in this forest.’

I had heard that an Owlbear needed at least three years to fully mature.

Considering that a normal bear took around ten years to fully grow, that speed was terrifying.

‘Though they also eat monstrous amounts of food.’

Owlbears were creatures that sacrificed everything for rapid growth, gaining monstrous appetites in return.

Thankfully, the Forest of Four Seasons had plenty of food, and I still had a decent amount of money loaded into the gallery.

Shhhhhhhhhh!!

The problem was still the rain.

If it kept falling like this, my survival would start becoming difficult.

Not only because the river could overflow, but also because unexpected situations could happen, like that raccoon entering the cave.

Even though I had installed bars, there were probably creatures in this forest capable of easily breaking through them.

Others wouldn’t even need to break them, like the lizard currently trying to climb over them.

Tap tap tap tap—

Of course, anything trying to get through would also receive punishment.

“Wonmo. Want to eat that too?”

“Kyuu!”

The lizard trying to climb the bars ended up becoming Wonmo’s snack.

With the rain, all kinds of animals were trying to get into the cave.

I couldn’t explore, and there wasn’t much else to do either.

But relaxing wasn’t really an option.

‘Rather than sleeping, I should practice the internal circulation technique.’

When I had nothing to do, practicing the technique was perfect.

It also completely removed fatigue.

Just as I was about to sit down cross-legged and start breathing, I saw the sloth standing in front of me.

That guy was staring at me with his usual calm expression.

I stared back at him for a moment, and suddenly, a brilliant idea came to mind.

‘This guy seems to understand what I say, so what if I teach him the internal circulation technique?’

Anyone who heard that would probably think I was an idiot.

Which was exactly why it was worth trying.

And at the same time, it would also be a chance for the sloth to become even stronger.

He was already strong as it was, but if he also learned an internal circulation technique.

That was far too tempting.

Though first, I should ask in the gallery.

It was worth confirming beforehand.

Title) Can animals also use internal circulation techniques?

WildGrills

(Photo of the sloth staring at me)

I want to teach an internal circulation technique to this idiot. Can animals do it too?

He’s already faster than me, so I don’t think it would be bad if he became even stronger.

ㄴHeavenlyDemon) Grills. I hope you are not thinking of teaching him the technique I passed down to you.

ㄴWildGrills) Even if I teach him the verses, he wouldn’t understand them anyway.

ㄴHeavenlyDemon) Hmm. That is also true. Though he does seem fairly intelligent, doesn’t he?

ㄴWildGrills) Intelligence and wisdom are two different things, Master.

ㄴHeavenlyDemon) Now I understand. Even so, I have never heard of an animal using an internal circulation technique.

ㄴSwordmaster) Not mana training techniques specifically, but there are similar cases. There are relatively intelligent monsters like orcs, goblins, or gnolls. Though liches are an exception since they were originally living humans.

ㄴWildGrills) So they can use mana?

ㄴSwordmaster) Yes. Though rather than specialized training, it would be closer to a mutation. But the important point is that they can use mana.

ㄴWildGrills) So normal animals don’t exist.

ㄴSwordmaster) Among the monsters I’ve seen, no. If they did exist, it would be a massive sensation.

ㄴAllFather) There are ancient records of attempts to teach mana techniques to monkeys and primates. But there was never a single successful case.

ㄴWildGrills) So it would just be pointless effort?

ㄴAllFather) I don’t know about that either. Like Swordmaster said, a “mutation” could be different. And if you think about it, the sloth is also a kind of mutation, so it’s not impossible.

ㄴHey. What if he becomes stronger and ends up killing you?

ㄴHe’ll kill you and then steal all your fasting pills.

ㄴHonestly, he really does seem capable of it.

That last comment sounded a little terrifying.

As soon as I read it, I turned to look at the sloth.

He had that face that practically screamed, “I’m a totally harmless animal~”.

But hidden behind that face were terrifying claws.

“Sloth.”

“……”

“Even if you become stronger, you won’t kill me, right?”

Nod— Nod—

Incredibly enough, he seemed to understand and nodded.

Rather, he reacted like he was saying, “Why would I kill you? I’d only lose benefits.”

ㄴWildGrills) I asked him and he said he won’t kill me.

ㄴAnd how do you know that?

ㄴWildGrills) He nodded his head. I saw it.

ㄴYou can tell from a mile away he’s lying lmao.

ㄴIt just means he’s waiting for the right moment to betray you lmao.

ㄴYou really trust an animal? That’s how you get stabbed in the back.

ㄴWildGrills) If he’s already stronger than me, what would even be the point of betraying me?;;

ㄴHe’ll kill you once you become strong too. Isn’t it obvious?

ㄴWildGrills) Don’t speak badly about our sloth;;;

Even if that were true, the sloth had already saved my life several times.

I just needed to make sure to keep him happy by giving him plenty of fasting pills.

Anyway, I decided to teach him an internal circulation technique or rather, a mana training method.

Everyone said it was stupid, though it also seemed fun.

ㄴSwordmaster) Seriously, why do you do things like this?;;

ㄴAre you a woman?

ㄴSwordmaster) And what does that have to do with anything?

ㄴThen you wouldn’t understand lmao.

ㄴPrecisely because it’s weird, you have to do it!

ㄴExactly. Exactly.

I set the gallery aside and sat down in front of the sloth.

The sloth simply watched me with that same calm expression as always, without doing anything else.

“Alright, sloth. Try to imitate me.”

“……”

When I sat cross-legged, the sloth slowly began adjusting his posture.

I thought it would be impossible because his legs were so short compared to his long arms, but it wasn’t.

Though absurdly slowly, he managed to sit cross-legged little by little.

Surprisingly flexible.

And he didn’t even fall backward, so he seemed to have quite a bit of core strength.

‘Well, he’s a guy who climbs trees.’

When I straightened my back, he straightened his too.

Now only the breathing remained.

I explained exactly what HeavenlyDemon had taught me.

“Alright. Now you need to breathe. If you focus strength into your abdomen while breathing, you’ll start feeling something.”

“……”

“I’ll show you how to do it.”

I briefly entered the internal circulation technique to give him an example.

It was only a quick demonstration.

When I finished and opened my eyes, the sloth was still staring at me.

“Try it. The important things are the breathing and the abdomen. Understand?”

“……”

“You know where the abdomen is, right?”

Just in case, I explained everything step by step.

And surprisingly, he started imitating my movements exactly.

It hadn’t taken me very long to sense mana.

It also helped that I ate three fasting pills per meal and that the Forest of Four Seasons was overflowing with mana.

Then maybe the sloth could also perceive mana quickly.

With that small hope in mind, I waited patiently.

“……”

“……”

“……”

“Huu…”

“……”

About three minutes passed before he finally inhaled.

Watching him slowly open his mouth was agonizing, but I patiently endured it.

He had already inhaled, so now all that remained was exhaling.

In other words, completing one full breath.

“Huuu……”

“Just stop already.”

My patience had limits too.

Now I completely understood why researchers gave up on studies about sloths.

Even their normal movements were agonizingly slow.

‘Besides, he’s already strong even without this.’

I sighed and sat back down cross-legged.

If this was going to take forever, I might as well train myself first.

‘Giving him enough fasting pills should be enough.’

Thinking that, I focused on the technique again.

***

While Grills closed his eyes and concentrated on his internal circulation technique.

“Huuu……”

The sloth, though absurdly slow, continued “breathing” little by little.

“Huuuu……”

Even if he was so slow that he could drive anyone crazy.

“Huuu……”

It couldn’t be denied that, at the very least, he was improving, even if only slightly.