Got a Gallery in the Wild

Summary of the Immortal King.

Once upon a time, there was a kingdom.

That kingdom was poor, but it had a kind king and happy citizens.

The kind king devoted himself to serving his people, and the citizens, recognizing his efforts, always smiled.

But one day, some bad guys invaded the kingdom and began tormenting the people.

The king loved peace, so he tried to talk to the bad guys, but guess what happened?

The bad guys ignored the king’s pleas and started mistreating the citizens even more!

Furious, the king asked the people to help him defeat those bastards.

The citizens also knew how kind the king was, so they gladly joined forces.

Thanks to that, the king and the citizens managed to defeat the bad guys, but what horror!

It turned out there was someone even worse among the bad guys!

He was so powerful that even the kind king could barely fight against him.

Even so, the king never gave up and continued fighting to protect his people.

And the citizens also fought without caring about sacrificing their own lives for their noble king.

After that, the king and the citizens defeated the most evil villain.

And then, dreaming of a happy future, the king and all his citizens departed together to the world of dreams.

Thinking about the day when everyone would smile together once again……

That’s more or less how the story would go, right?

└HeavenlyDemon: You have talent for writing children’s stories.

└Swordmaster: Yeah, old cruel fairy tales used to be like that, right?

└AllFather: Hahahhah. If the Immortal King saw this text, he would cough up blood.

└He’s already dead, so I don’t think he can cough up blood hahaha.

└Wow. But comparing it like this gives me chills hahaha.

└The parts about “fighting without caring about their lives” and “departed to the world of dreams” are terrifying;;

└Well, from the undeads’ perspective, he really was a kind king hahahaha.

└Literally a great king for the undead hahahaha.

It was right when the gallery was in complete chaos because of the contents of the books I uploaded.

The Immortal King, the Valkhan Kingdom, the Holy Kingdom none of that mattered.

The only thing important to me was information related to survival.

Hidden truths did not interest me.

‘Even if the gallery makes a huge fuss, that changes nothing.’

Even if this issue ended up spreading into the real world, I did not care.

There was only one situation where it would actually affect me.

When I managed to escape the Four Seasons Forest.

Even if the Holy Kingdom caused a massive uproar over this, they would not be able to affect me in the slightest.

‘Though maybe the head moderator feels a little uncomfortable.’

The Holy Kingdom was a nation that worshipped gods.

And the head moderator was an extremely devout believer.

So seeing a truth that shook the very foundations of the Holy Kingdom would surely make him uncomfortable.

If they asked me to delete the posts, I planned to do it without complaint.

After all, they had already spread everywhere, and besides, the books were already in AllFather’s hands.

I only had to quietly observe.

I had no interest in the Immortal King.

‘Though I also doubt people will believe it.’

Unless AllFather officially made the books public, it would be difficult to trust information that came from the gallery.

Besides, it would depend heavily on the Holy Kingdom’s public image.

If the kingdom’s reputation was bad, this would become a huge problem.

But if its image was good, most people would probably react with, “What kind of nonsense are you talking about?” and move on with their lives.

‘Most human groups always hide something rotten.’

Just as stagnant water eventually rots, people also become corrupted when they gather together.

Even if they begin with good intentions, over time they inevitably rot.

Unless they constantly renew their members, it is difficult for an organization to remain clean.

‘Well, that happens everywhere.’

That was a problem for the people of this world.

And I, trapped inside the Four Seasons Forest, had even less reason to get involved.

I silently watched criticism and attacks against the Holy Kingdom begin appearing in the gallery before closing it.

It seemed it would still take a while for them to decipher the survival-related sections that truly interested me.

‘Either way, that means there is at least a tiny possibility that other survivors exist.’

The corpses I found this time allowed me to understand that.

There was a high probability that more human remains were hidden somewhere in this forest.

Unlike the corpses that seemed to have been devoured by the Owlbear, there were also people who remained relatively intact, like the owner of those books.

‘If they were people stronger than me, they surely survived much longer.’

The owner of the book was the last scribe of the Valkhan Kingdom.

A scribe was someone closer to letters than martial arts.

Maybe he became stronger by living in the forest just like me, but unfortunately they would not have been able to use the gallery.

Even I could not guarantee my survival without it.

The difference was enormous.

‘From now on, I’ll have to carefully record places like caves.’

There was neither time nor resources to build cabins inside the Four Seasons Forest.

Most people probably used caves as shelters.

‘And it probably wasn’t only humans who entered here.’

If I were incredibly lucky, maybe I could even encounter someone.

Especially races like demons or elves, whose base level was far higher than humans.

They could use magic easily, something humans needed to study until their heads broke to achieve.

Even without the gallery, having magic would give them a huge advantage for survival.

‘Though according to this world’s standards, I’m way too stupid for magic.’

I gave up on magic a long time ago.

I remember they explained fire using something similar to physics.

And the moment I heard mathematics was also involved, I gave up without hesitation.

I preferred physical methods over magic.

‘But if there really are other survivors……’

Just knowing other people existed was already a huge comfort.

Until now, I had thought I was completely alone.

Could I really find traces of humans?

It felt as though I had found a new goal.

Escaping was still the main objective.

But finding traces of survivors became a secondary objective.

‘They said most people who entered the Four Seasons Forest were criminals, right?’

Criminals condemned to lose their eyes before being sent here.

Or delinquents so dangerous they no longer had a place in society.

Or even idiot explorers who entered just to show off their bravery.

Of course, the possibility of finding them was extremely low.

After all, they said the Four Seasons Forest was the size of a small country.

‘Even so, I can’t give up.’

It felt like a new hope had been born.

The hope of finding another person if I was lucky enough.

I let out a long sigh and stood up.

‘Instead of wasting time thinking, I should train.’

There was still quite a while before dinner.

It was better to practice swordsmanship than continue wallowing in thoughts.

I picked up the sword and shield, and slowly began correcting my weaknesses little by little.

‘No matter who it is, I just hope they’re still alive.’

It was a very small wish.

***

Kadir was a person who wished to know everything in the world.

It did not matter whether it was magic, people, or history.

There was nothing more fascinating to him than the truths hidden within darkness.

That thirst for knowledge sometimes led to destruction, but who was Kadir?

The Mage King.

The owner of the Magic Tower.

The man who mastered all magic.

No matter how enormous the secret was, a “mere” truth was nothing more than a curiosity to him.

“Rice Craone.”

[…….]

Kadir calmly mentioned someone’s name.

At that, the skull placed in front of him reacted.

A green light appeared inside its empty eye sockets.

As if it had opened its eyes.

“Do you know who that is?”

The skull Kadir was speaking to was originally an existence stored inside a freezer.

But considering that it had requested to be killed, it was obvious that it was not an ordinary existence.

[How do you know that name?]

A dark and heavy voice came from the skull.

It was not a voice produced by vocal cords, but rather as if it spoke through mental will.

Kadir, or rather AllFather, did not flinch despite that chilling voice and opened his mouth.

“So what was written in the book was true.”

[I asked how you know.]

Not receiving the answer he wanted, the skull no.

The Immortal King let out a sound as if irritated.

At the same time, a green energy covered the skull and began burning like flames.

It was the very energy of death wavering.

Even though only his head remained, the Immortal King’s power was still present.

“I discovered it by chance. From what I can tell, it seems the scribe escaped into the Four Seasons Forest.”

[…….]

“If you answer my questions honestly, I will also tell you where and how I obtained that information.”

The death energy surrounding the Immortal King slowly began to weaken.

As if silently saying, “let’s hear what you have to say.”

AllFather showed a faint smile for an instant before asking with a serious expression.

“Why did you hide a truth like this?”

[Because our kingdom was weak and lost. Does that answer your question?]

A cynical answer, but one that directly pierced the logic of the world.

The weak inevitably lose many things before the strong.

And truth was no exception.

Above all, history is always written by the victors.

The records of the defeated inevitably end up distorted or disappearing.

AllFather stroked his beard as if he finally understood.

“I already knew the Holy Kingdom was rotten, but I never imagined it was rotten to this extent. Even after there was a purge once because of you, this is still the result?”

[…….]

“No. And despite that, they still expelled the Heroine tch tch. It seems they still haven’t come to their senses.”

The image of the Holy Kingdom of Eldorado could not be considered good even out of courtesy.

Originally, they possessed the conviction to defeat the Demon King, but over time that faded away.

Even recently, demons had become more obsessed with sports than fighting, to the point they no longer paid attention to other countries.

Instead, they began taking interest in culture, and the Demon King started being viewed simply as the king of demons.

A group that loses its objective usually ends up collapsing.

But Eldorado was nothing less than a nation.

As they tried to forcefully hold it together, the water eventually became stagnant.

And that stagnant water rotted.

[Now answer my question. How did you discover that truth?]

While AllFather muttered to himself, the Immortal King spoke in a dark voice.

At that, AllFather snapped his fingers.

Then, a book appeared in his hand.

“This. The record left behind by Rice Craone, the last scribe of the Valkhan Kingdom.”

Shhk—

AllFather even kindly showed him the book’s first page.

Even though he had no eyes, the Immortal King’s gaze followed the pages.

And then, seeing his native language again after such a long time, he let out an empty exhale.

He spoke in disbelief.

[I cannot believe it. I gave the order to escape into the Four Seasons Forest.]

“And that is exactly where they obtained it.”

[Impossible. The Four Seasons Forest is a labyrinth no one can ever escape from.]

“That is also true. But I was not the one who found it directly.”

AllFather briefly summarized everything that had happened so far.

That Grills had fallen into the Four Seasons Forest and could use the gallery.

That after countless hardships he accidentally found a corpse and the books.

The Immortal King listened silently to the story before speaking.

[I cannot believe it.]

“But everything is true. So what do you wish to do?”

[What do you mean?]

AllFather waved the book, which he had already finished deciphering, and explained in detail.

“I mean whether you want to strike a blow against the Holy Kingdom. I do not like them very much either.”

[…….]

“The previous hero who died alongside you. That man was my friend. And moreover, that joint death happened because he could not withstand the pressure from the Holy Kingdom in practice, he was murdered.”

[Do whatever you want. But I have one condition.]

“One condition?”

Hearing that, AllFather raised an eyebrow.

Then the Immortal King stared directly at him and spoke in a voice close to resignation.

[Please, kill me.]

“That will be afterward.”

[Damn it.]

At that answer, which left no room for doubt, the Immortal King cursed quietly.

It was not a particularly harsh insult, but considering he had been a king, it was still fairly intense.

“Any other request?”

[I want to know who found those records.]

“Did I not tell you it was through the gallery?”

[Allow me access to that gallery.]

“What nonsense are you saying. You clearly are……”

AllFather fell silent halfway through the sentence.

Suddenly, an interesting idea crossed his mind.

Normal undeads do not possess egos.

Their will is too weak, making them closer to monsters.

But the Immortal King was an exception.

Even though his entire body had disappeared, his consciousness remained intact.

Then perhaps he could also access the gallery?

[You just made quite a perverted expression.]

“Ah. Sorry. I just thought of something interesting.”

[Then, will you help me?]

“Of course.”

[Even knowing that I could reveal where I am?]

It was a question close to a threat.

And at the same time, a ridiculous question.

AllFather let out a small laugh and answered logically.

“The story that the Immortal King, who terrorized the continent, is being stored inside a refrigerator. Who would believe something like that?”

[…….]

“I have no intention of ever releasing you. I am only saying you can use the gallery.”

After remaining silent for a long time, deeply thinking about AllFather’s words, the Immortal King finally made a decision and spoke in a calm voice.

[Please, kill me.]

“Afterward.”

It was an impossible request.