Chapter 55: The Tiger is Dead (2)

Since I decided to butcher it, I went outside.

As I stepped out, I saw a little pig walking toward me.

It was Wonmo, with his belly completely swollen after devouring the tiger’s corpse to his heart’s content.

From the blood around his mouth, it was clear he had feasted well.

“Wonmo, before you go in, let’s clean your mouth.”

“Kyuu…”

“No. Not like that.”

Before he entered the cave, I thoroughly cleaned his mouth.

Suddenly, I thought that maybe soon I should also brush his teeth.

Then Wonmo, with sleepy eyes, went into the cave.

Meanwhile, I carefully examined the fallen tiger’s corpse.

“It really is huge.”

How the hell did I manage to defeat this?

It was hard to believe.

The sloth saved my life several times, but even so, it felt unreal.

Just in height alone it was much bigger than me, not to mention its length.

“Just the body must be over 5 meters.”

Just as HeavenlyDemon said, it truly deserved to be called the “king of the mountain.”

I looked at it with a mix of awe and respect.

When I reached the neck area, I found a brutal scene.

“Wonmo ate this part.”

The neck that I had pierced yesterday with the sword of HeavenlyDemon was clearly torn apart by Wonmo’s bites.

With the strength of his jaws, it would have been difficult to damage the tiger’s skin.

So he must have found exactly the area I cut and eaten it with satisfaction.

“If I’m going to butcher it, I have to do it quickly.”

At least 6 hours had passed since its death.

Luckily, the forest’s climate was cool, otherwise it would already be completely decomposed.

“Or maybe it already started decomposing.”

But I didn’t care too much.

As long as I could make use of the skin, that was enough.

Besides, Wonmo could even eat rotten corpses, so there was no problem.

First, I uploaded a post to the gallery.

I took photos of the tiger from a certain distance.

“Sloth, stay a bit more to the side.”

“….”

“That’s it, good. Extend two claws… ah, can’t you?”

To compare sizes, I also placed the sloth next to it.

The sloth agreed without any problem. He even seemed proud of having hunted the tiger.

I also found the severed front leg and compared it with my hand.

I prepared everything carefully.

Title) Photos of the tiger I hunted

WildGrills

(photo of the giant tiger’s face)

(photo of the full body)

(photo comparing paw with hand)

(photo of the destroyed golden shield)

This damn tiger attacked me at night. It almost killed me.

If it weren’t for the sloth, I would’ve died at least 3 times.

ㄴHeavenlyDemon) It’s the biggest tiger I’ve ever seen. Worthy of the title king of the mountain.

ㄴSwordmaster) Yeah… I’ve never hunted one that big.

ㄴWildGrills) But you guys hunt things much stronger than that.

ㄴHeavenlyDemon) I fight martial artists more than beasts. I’ve only hunted one once.

ㄴSwordmaster) I’ve hunted many monsters by orders. That one looks at least stronger than an ogre.

ㄴWildGrills) How strong is an ogre?

ㄴSwordmaster) When you face one, you’ll know. But since you use aura, it’ll be easy for you.

ㄴWildGrills) …

ㄴAllFather) From those long fangs, it’s a saber-toothed tiger. They’re known for being extremely violent. Good job.

ㄴWildGrills) Are they usually that big?

ㄴAllFather) They’re half that size. That one is absurdly large.

ㄴIsn’t a saber-toothed tiger the same as a normal tiger?

ㄴSounds the same, right?

ㄴAllFather) No. They’re completely different. They just resemble tigers.

ㄴSunForEver) What happened to the shield I gave you? Is it destroyed?

ㄴWildGrills) Yes. The tiger bit it. Even so, thanks to it I survived.

ㄴSunForEver) Hmm… I’ll give you another one soon. When you finish butchering, let me know. I want that skin.

ㄴWildGrills) It’s my first time butchering and the skin is covered in blood, it’s not in good condition.

ㄴSunForEver) Then I’ll think about it. First receive the shield and then we’ll see. The trade will be tonight or tomorrow.

ㄴWildGrills) Thanks as always. If it doesn’t work, I’ll get you another adult mandrake.

ㄴDwarfPassingBy) I thought it was big, but it’s huge… how did you survive?

ㄴWildGrills) I got lucky. And at the beginning I kept it at bay with the barricade. Without that, it would’ve been fatal lol

ㄴDwarfPassingBy) With that size, it looks like it would break the barricade.

ㄴWildGrills) Yeah, it broke one. At first I didn’t know it could do that.

ㄴHey Grills, be honest. Did you find it already dead?

ㄴWildGrills) (photo of the shoulder scar) What did you say, bastard?

ㄴSorry

ㄴThat scar is scary; I believe you with that

ㄴIf you didn’t have wounds I’d doubt it, but like this your credibility goes up lol

ㄴHonor scar confirmed!

ㄴNow you just need one on your face. Every adventurer needs one

ㄴWildGrills) Gentlemen, I’m not an adventurer, I’m a castaway. You should rescue me

ㄴIt’s actually better not to have scars

ㄴfr

ㄴLook how they change opinions lol

ㄴBut the sloth is really cute lol

ㄴfr, sometimes even more than Wonmo lol

Everyone acknowledged my achievement.

Being recognized in the gallery gave me an inexplicable sense of satisfaction.

I turned off the gallery and looked at the massive saber-toothed tiger.

Now all that was left was to butcher it.

“…Where do I even start?”

Sometimes I had seen videos on YouTube where they deboned pigs or cows.

But even those were already partially processed, they didn’t start from scratch.

Besides, the size of this tiger was ridiculously large, so even the preparation seemed difficult.

“First, I’ll post in the gallery.”

Someone had said it before.

If you asked about butchering, many people would respond very kindly.

They said that butchers, if they weren’t kind, would get fired or something like that.

In this world there are many beasts and monsters like the saber-toothed tiger, so being a butcher had considerable value.

Title) Can someone help me with butchering?

WildGrills

(photo of the dead tiger)

I’m going to butcher this saber-toothed tiger, someone help me.

Do I start by hanging it or what?

ㄴBefore that, skin it. Open the abdomen and rip it off like you’re tearing it.

ㄴWith that size, removing the skin is going to be hell.

ㄴAfter removing it you have to hang it, but can that even be hung?

ㄴWildGrills) I’ll have to make a post or something.

First, remove the skin.

I headed toward the tiger’s abdomen.

I already had the dagger prepared in my hand.

“By the way, it’s still bleeding? Is that normal?”

From the tiger’s split neck, blood was still slowly coming out.

The puddle kept growing, which made me hesitate.

Even so, Wonmo had managed to eat meat without getting his whole body covered in blood.

Anyway, the smell of blood was already starting to spread, so I had to finish quickly.

I stabbed the dagger.

“…It’s so tough.”

Just as I thought, a normal dagger couldn’t pierce the skin.

If it were intact, it could be sold for an extremely high price.

But it was soaked in blood.

I had no choice.

I had to coat the dagger with aura to be able to pierce it.

Riiip—

I cut the skin along the abdomen and began removing it slowly.

At first I tried tearing it off, but when that didn’t work, I went back to using the dagger to separate it little by little.

“Ugh…”

Even turning the tiger’s body over was difficult.

I had to circulate mana throughout my entire body to manage it.

My body hurt a bit, but I could endure it.

Fortunately, there was no rigor mortis yet, so it was easier.

Rip—tear—

Just removing the skin took 30 minutes.

The worst part was cleaning the sections soaked in blood.

Later, I would have to wash it with charcoal.

“It’s heavy…”

At that size, the skin was heavy too.

Before, lifting something like that would have taken all my strength.

Now I could carry it over my shoulder without a problem.

“I’ll leave the skin here.”

Then I looked at the tiger’s body without its skin, exposing its white flesh.

Aside from the half-cut neck that was still dripping blood, it didn’t look that grotesque.

“…Now that I think about it, I should wash myself too.”

When I cut the neck, I had practically bathed in blood.

The dried blood had hardened, and I didn’t know how long it would take to remove it.

As I said before, I planned to hang it upside down to make the process easier.

If I left it like this, other predators might come because of the smell.

“To hang it…”

The tiger’s body easily measured more than 4 meters.

I looked at the tall trees around.

What if I tied the legs and hung it from a strong branch?

For that, I needed help.

“Sloth.”

“….”

He looked at me like, “What do you want?”

I bought a rope from the gallery and tied it to its hind legs.

I didn’t tie them together, but separately to keep them spread.

“This rope on that branch, and this one on the other. Got it?”

“….”

“You climb better than I do. I’ll give you more rations.”

When I mentioned more food, he finally started moving slowly.

The problem was that he was too slow.

I got impatient and ended up helping him climb the tree myself.

Meanwhile, I dragged the tiger into position.

It weighed a ton.

“Can’t you climb any faster?”

“….”

Once that was done, it was time to clean myself.

Immersing myself in warm water felt like heaven.

Everything from yesterday felt like a dream.

I cleaned myself thoroughly, making sure to remove all the blood.

“There are still stains… well, whatever.”

They would go away over time.

I enjoyed the wash and changed clothes.

The uniform, completely soaked in blood and torn apart, I set aside.

“Every piece of clothing is valuable.”

I would wash it later and use it as work clothes.

With that done, I returned to the hanging tiger.

The neck was no longer bleeding, so all the blood had drained.

“Was there really that much?”

I had bought a large container for the entrails, and it was already half full.

Even counting the dirt mixed in, it was a huge amount.

“Hmm…”

Now I had to open the abdomen and remove the organs.

I crossed my arms, thinking.

Because of the height, I needed a ladder.

“Guess I’ll have to buy one.”

Not a normal one, but a step ladder.

And yes, it existed.

It even had good reviews.

I bought it without hesitation.

With the ladder ready, it was time to begin the real butchering.

ㄴFirst, fully open the abdomen and check the condition of the organs. Normally they are washed, but if you’re not going to eat them, you can leave them as they are.

ㄴBefore removing the organs, cut off the head first.

ㄴBy the way, the organs of most animals are really big. Keep that in mind.

Seriously, such kind people.

Following their advice, I started the butchering.

First, I completely opened the abdomen to fully expose the organs.

Just as they said in the gallery, the organs were wrapped in a thin membrane.

Opening the belly didn’t make them fall out all at once.

“Ugh… even so, it’s disgusting.”

After separating the tiger’s head, I began carefully removing the organs.

If any of them burst, it would be a complete disaster.

Luckily, I had the stomach for this.

It didn’t take long before I managed to remove, along with the membrane, the viscera corresponding to the six internal organs.

What remained were the organs concentrated around the ribs, the five main organs.

Those were the most important organs of the animal.

If I removed those, the butchering would be complete.

The moment I brought the dagger closer—

Thump! Thump!

“Ugh!”

The vibration I felt through my hand was so strong I almost fainted.

I nearly fell off the ladder, but managed to regain my balance.

I looked, stunned, at the place where the vibration was coming from.

In all animals, there is only one place where you can feel a “heartbeat.”

“…Gulp.”

I swallowed and carefully brought my hand closer.

It wasn’t an illusion.

I could clearly feel the beating of a “heart.”

It was supposed to be dead so why was it still beating?

It didn’t make sense.

If I didn’t understand it, there was only one option left—to check it myself.

Riiip—

As I cut the membrane, the grotesque interior was exposed.

Huge lungs matching its size.

And.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Right in the middle of everything, a gigantic heart.

The heart of the dead saber-toothed tiger was still beating.