Chapter 23: Water (1)

Did I underestimate nature too much?

Or was I simply too optimistic?

The moment I saw the ticks swarming between the teeth of the comb, I understood.

When it comes to hygiene, nature is far more dangerous than one imagines.

Therefore, to maintain hygiene, I need to obtain a large amount of water somehow.

‘Do water and I have some kind of enmity?’

In any case, the first thing is to wash Wonmo properly.

While I am at it, I should also bathe myself.

Good thing I was wearing clothes, because otherwise I would surely already be full of tick bites.

First I wanted to thank SunForEver and ask for his opinion.

ㄴWildGrills) Wow, damn… what are those ticks? If I had not seen them it would have been a disaster;;

ㄴSunForEver) As long as you discovered them now it is fine. If you wash him with hot water it should be fine.

ㄴWildGrills) The problem is that I am in a place where getting water is difficult…

ㄴSunForEver) Then put insect repellent on your body. Although the best thing is still bathing with hot water.

According to what SunForEver explained, owlbears have skin so thick that ticks cannot do anything to them.

The problem is that my skin is much thinner.

I took off my clothes, shook them quickly, and then spread repellent all over my body.

Luckily I did not have any ticks.

‘I will have to wear long pants.’

The uniform DemonPrincess gave me only has long sleeves.

For now I will have to endure with repellent.

‘No wonder in every survival documentary they cover their entire body with clothes.’

Thanks to that I understood the importance of clothing.

Long sleeves and long pants are essential.

After applying the repellent well everywhere, I looked at Wonmo.

As if he knew nothing about what was happening, he was still sleeping deeply.

‘Yes. It is not your fault.’

I changed my clothes and thought.

Now water had become even more urgent.

But the golden poisonous frog still dominates the stream, which is a big problem.

And since it is the nearest water source, I cannot simply give up either.

‘What if I dug a water channel? The distance is not that great.’

It is not a bad option.

The only problem would be the physical effort.

As I said before, the stream is quite close, so it should not be an impossible job.

But I do not know how to dig a channel, so I will have to ask for advice.

Title) Dwarf, help me

WildGrills

I am going to dig a channel. Give me advice.

ㄴDwarfPassingBy) Just like that, without anything in return?

ㄴWildGrills) Do you want a frog too? They are expensive.

ㄴDwarfPassingBy) I was joking haha

You also have to know how to joke in moderation.

Suddenly I wondered how old this guy might be.

From the amount of knowledge he has he does not seem young, but he behaves like a child.

ㄴDwarfPassingBy) Are you going to live there?

ㄴWildGrills) No, but getting water is very difficult. The frog makes it a hell.

ㄴDwarfPassingBy) If you are not going to live there, do not dig a channel. It is a brutal amount of work.

ㄴWildGrills) Is it that serious?

ㄴDwarfPassingBy) Yes. And if you do not prevent erosion, you will only have dirty water. Better not do it.

Erosion?

That is when rocks wear down due to different factors.

If even rocks erode, then dirt does not stand a chance.

Besides, the part about the water getting dirty worries me.

ㄴWildGrills) Then is there no other way?

ㄴDwarfPassingBy) How far away is it?

ㄴWildGrills) Walking about 10 or 12 minutes.

ㄴDwarfPassingBy) Then it is better to go get it and bring it directly…

ㄴWildGrills) So a snake can eat me? OK

ㄴDwarfPassingBy) Hey, wait wait wait.

ㄴWhat urgency hahaha

ㄴHe cannot even drink water peacefully hahaha

ㄴNothing here is easy hahaha

It is not like I had not thought about it.

But I do not know what dangers might appear on the way, and besides getting the water itself is difficult.

Just putting my hand in the water makes the golden frogs jump everywhere.

I have hands and a brain.

But this is nature.

One single mistake can cost you your life, so I have to prioritize safety.

ㄴDwarfPassingBy) There is a way, but you will have to work. Does it work for you?

ㄴWildGrills) Yes, it does not matter.

ㄴDwarfPassingBy) First, is the river higher or lower?

ㄴWildGrills) You have to go up.

ㄴDwarfPassingBy) Oh, then it is easy. It might be expensive, do you mind?

ㄴWildGrills) Will it be more expensive than my life?

ㄴDwarfPassingBy) Good. I will post a post. Wait.

If he said he will post a post, all that remains is to wait.

At the same time, I was worried.

If he needs to write a whole post to explain it, it means it is something complicated.

Will I really be able to get water without problems?

Water always ended up complicating my life.

[StarLightLady has requested a trade. Accept?]

“Huh?”

I was checking the gallery when the message appeared.

My eyes widened.

It was StarLightLady.

A veteran user from whom there had been no news for a long time.

I had been worried thinking something had happened to her, but seeing the message reassured me.

[WildGrills: StarLightLady? Is it really you?]

[StarLightLady: Hello, Grills! Yes, it is me!]

Just from the way she wrote you could feel her energy.

In the gallery you cannot change your name once you choose it.

That means the one who sent me the request really was StarLightLady.

I smiled broadly while replying.

[WildGrills: Have you already fully recovered?]

[StarLightLady: Yes! Thanks to the gift you gave me I am completely cured! Thank you very much!]

I was glad to know she had recovered.

I had been very worried thinking something bad had happened.

But now everything was fine.

Her incurable disease had been cured.

[WildGrills: I am glad to hear it. Congratulations.]

[StarLightLady: It is all thanks to you, Grills. I could not write in the gallery because I was undergoing medical checkups…]

I think I understand what happened.

After recovering the health she had longed for so much, she probably wanted to get every possible examination.

But if she already came back in one day, then she really was cured.

[StarLightLady has registered an item for trade.]

[StarLightLady: It is the elixir I mentioned before. I left one for emergencies and the rest is for you, so it should be enough.]

[WildGrills: Thank you very much. Do you really no longer have any discomfort?]

[StarLightLady: Yes. If it were up to me, I would run outside right now out of happiness. But my parents will not allow it.]

[WildGrills: Your parents must also be worried, so do not push yourself too much.]

[StarLightLady: I always think this, but you, Grills, truly are a very kind person. It is not common to find someone like that in the gallery.]

When I heard myself being called kind, I tilted my head curiously.

I feel like I hear that quite often.

Although, considering the culture of the gallery, it also makes sense.

‘I do not know.’

Perhaps that only means this world is that miserable.

In a time like this, human rights are probably eaten up without a second thought.

And if you add the unhealthy culture typical of the gallery, it does not even need explaining.

[WildGrills: Helping others in the end is also helping oneself. Besides, you are also a good person, StarLightLady. You could have ignored it, but you still returned the favor.]

[StarLightLady: What beautiful words. Do you still want to leave the Forest of the Four Seasons?]

[WildGrills: Yes. If I could, I would leave right now.]

[StarLightLady: It may not be much, but I will try to help you get out. Even if it does not seem like it, I am quite intelligent.]

[WildGrills: Or you could also come here.]

[StarLightLady: Ah… that would be a bit… haha;;]

[WildGrills: What a shame]

Of course it was a joke.

Who would tell someone who was on the verge of death just yesterday to come here and die?

Besides, they say no one who has entered the Forest of the Four Seasons has managed to leave.

So what StarLightLady said was probably more a way to comfort me than something literal.

[StarLightLady: Ah, by the way. I saw the photo of the owlbear.]

[WildGrills: Isn’t it adorable?]

The words came out automatically.

It is not that I am an obsessive fan. It is just that it really is adorable.

[StarLightLady: Yes. Although the name… I do not like it very much. What is that Wonmo?]

[WildGrills: Do you have any name in mind, Lady?]

[StarLightLady: Something that means healthy child…]

StarLightLady fell silent for a moment and then said the name she had thought of.

[StarLightLady: Hellini. What about Hellini?]

[WildGrills: Oh…]

It sounds like a name that would later evolve into Hellchang.

How is it possible that none of these users has any sense for names?

No matter how much I think about it, the best name is still Bakseol, the one I had thought of.

[WildGrills: Even so, for now I think I will have to keep calling him Wonmo. They held a vote without me knowing;;]

[StarLightLady: Could you not just ignore it?]

[WildGrills: HeavenlyDemon chose the name, so I cannot ignore it so easily.]

She is a user who helped me a lot, and besides HeavenlyDemon personally chose it.

If I ignore it and HeavenlyDemon gets disappointed and distances herself from me, in the end the one who loses would be me.

StarLightLady seemed to understand. Although she expressed her dissatisfaction, she finally accepted it.

[StarLightLady: What a shame. Then, what will you do now?]

[WildGrills: I think I will try to bring water from the river. The dwarf said he will post something soon.]

[StarLightLady: I see. If you ever need help, tell me. I will be waiting.]

[WildGrills: Thank you very much.]

[StarLightLady: Good luck!]

The conversation with StarLightLady ended there.

I felt warmth and bitterness at the same time.

I am glad that she completely recovered, but I am still the same.

As long as I cannot escape this hellish place, I will not be able to live a normal life again.

‘Escape… will I be able to?’

It is a thought I have every day.

Will I be able to get out of the Forest of the Four Seasons?

If there were only dangerous plants and animals, maybe somehow I could escape.

But the biggest problem in this forest is that space constantly changes.

Getting lost is already dangerous, but if space itself changes, it becomes hopeless.

‘The elixirs what? She gave me seven?’

The elixirs StarLightLady gave me were seven in total.

Since each one has a different color, they seem to be of different ranks.

I had heard that the clearer the color, the lower the rank, so I could classify them easily.

‘Wonmo might break them, I better hide them.’

I stored the elixirs in the box the dwarf had given me before.

And just in case Wonmo rummaged through the box, I pushed it to the farthest corner.

‘By the way, did the dwarf already post?’

Then I checked if the dwarf had already uploaded his post.

I refreshed the gallery several times and soon his post appeared.

Title) Grills, look at this

DwarfPassingBy

(drawing of how to bring water from the river)

(photo of a natural rubber hose)

(photo of a valve)

Do it like in the drawing.

At each end of the hose suck with your mouth until the water starts to come out.

Ah, when you suck do not do it lying down, do it with the hose raised.

Because of the pressure difference the water will start to flow strongly.

In the last hose connect the valve so you can open or close the flow.

Do you understand more or less?

ㄴWildGrills) I understand what you say, but what is that mesh? To filter impurities?

ㄴDwarfPassingBy) Yes. You know quite a lot.

ㄴWildGrills) Of course haha

ㄴDwarfPassingBy) Suddenly I do not want to give it to you anymore.

ㄴWildGrills) I am an idiot.

ㄴHaha

ㄴInstant attitude change hahaha

ㄴThese two are always funny hahaha

ㄴThey get along well hahaha

ㄴDwarfPassingBy) Anyway. If you connect the hoses properly and adjust the slope, it is not that difficult.

ㄴWildGrills) You said it was expensive. Is the hose the expensive part?

ㄴDwarfPassingBy) Yes. It is made of rubber, so it is extremely expensive.

A rubber hose that expensive?

The doubt crossed my mind for a moment, but then disappeared.

From what can be deduced from the gallery, in this world “factories” are only just starting to operate.

There are also trains that run on mana.

Although they are not used very much.

‘Did they say people normally travel using teleportation gates?’

Quite fitting for a fantasy world.

Sports like soccer or baseball are very developed, but science seems somewhat behind.

Although if magic replaces science, it is not really a big problem.

Teleportation gates are expensive, so ordinary people use trains.

‘The uniform DemonPrincess gave me must also be extremely expensive.’

With that material, it cannot be cheap.

After hearing several explanations from the dwarf, I asked what interested me the most.

ㄴWildGrills) Then how much would it cost?

ㄴDwarfPassingBy) If I calculate it cheaply, about 500 gold. Including the processed rubber and the valve.

500 gold was definitely expensive.

But I still have the money Allfather gave me.

However, the problem appeared somewhere else.

The rules of the gallery.

After making a trade, you cannot trade again for 24 hours.

The dwarf had traded yesterday after noon, so he still could not do it.

ㄴDwarfPassingBy) I can upload it to the market with instant purchase, but I will put it at 1100 gold. Is that fine?

ㄴWildGrills) Upload it.

ㄴDwarfPassingBy) Thank you thank you.

It hurts, but there is no other option.

I urgently need water, so I cannot start arguing about money.

For things like the wall or the fence I would look at the price.

But not for water.

I immediately entered the market and checked the item the dwarf had uploaded.

[Title: Idiot Grills]

[Price: 1100 gold]

“This bastard…?”

We will settle accounts later.

I let out a dry laugh and bought it.

Someone could snatch it from me, but the price is too high.

And even if someone did, I would only have to buy it again from the dwarf.

“Well, now that everything is ready…”

It is time to go get water.

To be prepared, I equipped the sword and the shield.

I rolled up the hose and hung it over my shoulder.

All that remained was to do the work.

‘As soon as I have water, the first thing will be to bathe Wonmo.’

I looked at Wonmo, who was still sleeping deeply.

What would happen if he woke up while I was not here?

Would he go outside looking for me?

That would be really dangerous.

‘I have to finish as quickly as possible.’

It is time to test my abilities.