Chapter 73: Voting (1)

Now that I had also solved the core problem, it was time to prepare lunch.

Though calling it “lunch” was a bit of an exaggeration.

Basically, I just had to go up to the river and check the fish traps.

If there was nothing, I’d eat smoked food.

And if there were fish, then I’d eat fish.

I had no idea how many had gotten caught while I was fighting the guardian.

‘Hopefully there’ll be two.’

Just then Wonmo also woke up, so we headed up to the river together.

It was the first time Wonmo came with me.

Well, as long as he didn’t cause trouble and stayed close to my side, nothing should happen.

Splash! Splash!

“Kyuu! Kyukyu!”

“Yes, yes. Wait a little.”

Fortunately, two fish had been caught inside the trap.

Those strange red fish still fascinated me.

Not only were they huge, but incredibly delicious.

While lifting the trap, I constantly kept an eye on Wonmo.

Just in case he tried to go into the river.

The moment he entered the water, the golden frog family would appear, so I had to be careful.

Rustle—

It was just when I had almost finished pulling out the trap.

I heard the sound of bushes moving.

I thought maybe Wonmo had touched something, but he was beside me.

That meant it was probably another animal.

I tried to act as if I hadn’t heard anything and kept lifting the trap.

And just as I finished pulling it out and the fish started flapping violently.

Rustle! Rustle!

The sound from the bushes was much louder this time.

Instantly, I grabbed my sword and shield while turning toward the source of the noise.

Wonmo also sensed something was wrong and puffed up his fur while taking a defensive stance.

“Kiing. Kiik.”

“Kkiing. Kking.”

The animal that came out of the bushes looked pretty familiar.

Completely soaked dark gray body.

A face that looked adorable and wild at the same time.

Long body and brutally developed claws.

“…Otters?”

There were otters in front of us.

And not just one, but several.

For an instant, their cute faces almost made me lower my guard.

But what kind of place was this?

The Forest of Four Seasons, where even frogs were dangerous.

I immediately heightened my vigilance while observing the group of otters.

There were about five or six of them.

‘And why are they so huge?’

They had nothing to do with the otters I knew.

Maybe because they were standing upright, but even so they were taller than my waist.

With those monstrous claws and moving in a group, it was impossible not to tense up.

Flap! Flap!

In the middle of the standoff, only the fish trapped inside the net kept thrashing around.

Then one of the otters shifted its gaze toward them.

It seemed to be looking at them greedily.

They had probably come to steal my fish.

‘Just look at these bandits.’

No way in hell I was giving them away.

I activated my mana.

The mana absorbed by the guardian had already recovered.

That was possible thanks to the enormous amount of mana present in the Forest of Four Seasons.

“Kkiek? Kkek?”

“Kieee.”

As I slowly released my presence, the otters also began preparing themselves.

Two stayed behind while the other three lowered their bodies.

“Kyaaaaaaah!”

The otter that seemed to be the leader bared its teeth threateningly.

Normally otters gave off a cute image, but this one looked like an American river otter.

Once it showed its fangs, it no longer looked like a cute animal, but a carnivorous beast.

Well, technically otters were carnivores, considering they ate fish.

‘Until now, everything I fought was alone, but these move in groups. I need to be more careful.’

If I made a mistake, they could all attack me together.

And I had no idea what would happen if those claws or teeth hit me.

“Sloth. You protect Wonmo. I’ll be fine.”

“……”

And the most reliable one here was, without a doubt, the sloth.

The sloth slowly climbed down from my back and got on top of Wonmo.

I was protected thanks to the shield, but Wonmo was still inexperienced.

He needed the sloth’s support.

“Kyaaaaaah!”

The largest otter bared its teeth and charged straight at me.

Despite its enormous body for an otter, it moved incredibly fast.

And then it attacked with its huge claws.

Clang!

Not a chance.

I had the shield SunForEver gave me.

As soon as its attack ended, I immediately slashed with my sword.

Whoosh!

“?!”

I heard a strange sound next to my ear and instantly raised my shield.

It was more instinctive than rational.

Ting! Tang!

Something solid struck the shield.

The impact wasn’t very strong.

But what mattered was that it had flown toward me.

I looked at the object that fell near the bottom of the shield.

‘A rock?’

It was a rock.

And quite large, almost the size of my fist.

I barely had time to wonder who had thrown it before the leader otter lunged at me again.

It jumped very high and launched itself directly at my face.

It seemed to be trying to tear me apart with its sharp claws, but it was already too late.

Thunk!

I raised the shield and easily blocked its aerial attack.

And not only that.

Before it could escape, I forcefully swung the shield.

No matter how big it was for an otter, if it took a hit like that, it would inevitably be sent flying.

“Kieeeng!”

The leader otter flew away while letting out a squeal that absolutely didn’t match its ferocity.

I planned to deal with the other otters first before the leader returned.

Then I turned my gaze toward Wonmo and the sloth, and witnessed a rather incredible scene.

“Kkyukyaaaaa!”

“Keeeeeng!”

At some point, one of the otters had already been split into three pieces and was spraying blood everywhere, while another had been completely subdued by Wonmo.

Every time it tried to resist, it got pecked by his beak and slashed by his claws.

A perfect victory.

It seemed the sloth had truly shown its abilities.

Slash! Slash!

It even easily caught the rocks flying toward them or cut them apart with its claws.

It was really performing impressively.

Though the otters were throwing rocks?

“Keeeeng! Keeng!”

“Kyaaaang!”

They really were throwing rocks.

The two that had stayed behind were frantically hurling them.

Did otters have a habit like that?

While thinking that, I saw an opportunity.

I ran toward the bombardier otters just as they were about to throw another rock.

Startled, they hurriedly threw the stones, but all of them were blocked by my shield.

And when I got right in front of them, I swung outward from the inside with the sword covered in aura.

Slash!

Not even the sound of flesh being cut could be heard.

Only the clean whistle of the wind.

The combination of the Heavenly Demon’s sword and aura could cut through practically anything.

Thud! Thud!

Because they were standing upright, the upper and lower halves of their bodies separated cleanly.

With that, I eliminated all the ones throwing rocks from afar, and Wonmo also tore apart the one he had subdued.

Only the leader otter remained, the one that had been sent flying by my shield.

It still hadn’t returned.

Rustle!

They say if you speak of the tiger, it appears.

And just like that, the leader otter emerged from the bushes.

But it was already too late.

Its companions had already been sliced apart or torn to pieces.

“Kieeeeeeeeeek!!”

The leader otter roared as if it couldn’t believe the massacre before its eyes.

Then it looked at me with bloodshot eyes and charged directly toward me.

Despite its enormous size, it was still incredibly fast, so it caught me slightly off guard, though it wasn’t a major problem.

An attack fueled by the rage of a beast was much easier to dodge, to the point that I didn’t even need to use the shield.

Slash!

The leader otter leaped toward me with its claws extended.

It was an attack filled with emotion.

Before moving to dodge it, I placed the sword upside down directly in the path of its charge.

Since both of its paws were already off the ground, it would inevitably crash into the sword.

Shhk!

Just as I expected, the otter’s body completely pierced through the inverted sword.

Then it fell heavily to the ground.

The fact that it ended up split vertically was just a bonus.

It had charged so fast that it practically committed suicide on its own.

‘That’s what you get for trying to steal what belongs to others.’

I snorted in contempt and began cleaning up the scene.

If I left the corpses there, other animals might come attracted by the smell.

I threw the otter bodies into the river and covered the spilled blood with dirt.

Since most of them had already been cut into pieces, cleaning everything up wasn’t difficult.

“Let’s go.”

“Kyuu!”

“As soon as we get back, we’ll need to clean those claws.”

Both Wonmo and the sloth had claws covered in blood.

The river was right beside us, but because of the golden frogs it was better to return.

I headed back to the shelter carrying the fish that were still flapping around.

And now all that remained was to enjoy lunch.

I gave one of the fish to Wonmo.

Of course, I didn’t forget to remove the internal core buried among the entrails.

“Eat that and then I’ll give you some honey. Got it?”

“Nom nom nom.”

It seemed he wasn’t even listening because he was so focused on eating.

I patted his head and started preparing my own food.

‘By the way, when am I going to use all these internal cores?’

The cores kept piling up neatly inside the elixir bottle.

I wasn’t sure I’d be able to use them all.

I was planning to start consuming one every two days, but I was worried about overdoing it.

‘First I should post something on the gallery.’

I felt like I had to talk about the otters.

Besides, I needed to solve the question about the ones throwing rocks.

There was a reason I had taken pictures of the massacre.

Of course, I hid some of the more graphic parts.

Title) I taught those thieves a lesson.

WildGrills

(Photos of the otter corpses scattered across the ground)

These bastards tried to steal my fish, so I personally taught them a lesson.

But do otters normally throw rocks too? I was surprised they were divided into a vanguard and rear guard ;;

ㄴHeavenlyDemon) The otters I know don’t look like that. I’ve never seen such ferocious ones.

ㄴWildGrills) I also thought at first they were cute, but nope.

ㄴSwordmaster) Is that really an otter? What kind of otter is that? ;;

ㄴWildGrills) I think it’s because this is the Forest of Four Seasons.

ㄴDwarfPassingBy) Last time the sloth tried to steal your fish and you let it slide. Why him but not them?

ㄴWildGrills) The sloth only tried to steal. These bastards tried to mug me.

ㄴDwarfPassingBy) But honestly, what would you have done if they were all as strong as the sloth?

ㄴWildGrills) I’d hand over the fish and run like hell hahaha

ㄴDwarfPassingBy) Don’t you have any pride?

ㄴWildGrills) (Photo of the sloth’s calm face) This bastard is stronger than me. My pride was destroyed a long time ago.

ㄴDwarfPassingBy) Hahahaha

ㄴLol

ㄴNo wonder he lost his pride hahaha

ㄴA guy weaker than a sloth lmao

ㄴAllFather) Otters do have the habit of throwing pebbles. But this is the first time I’ve heard of ones fighting by throwing rocks.

ㄴWildGrills) Then it really is the Forest of Four Seasons that’s weird, right? Normally they don’t do this, correct?

ㄴAllFather) Yes they’re the bullies of rivers. Even though they look adorable, they also hunt crocodiles.

ㄴWildGrills) Otters? ;;

ㄴAllFather) Even if they become attached to people easily, they are still terrifying creatures.

ㄴThink about Wonmo. That adorable being could also devour you.

ㄴDon’t underestimate nature.

ㄴEven a deer’s back kick can kill a person hahaha

I see.

The otters were simply absurdly strong.

If I had gone alone, I probably would have had to abandon the fish or die.

Thanks to Wonmo and the sloth, I managed to get through it, but it truly was a dangerous situation.

‘Nothing here is easy.’

Before the Forest of Four Seasons, nature itself was already an extremely dangerous place.

I sighed inwardly while beginning to cook the fish.

The fish slowly browned over a huge iron pan.

It was so large that even the pan looked gigantic.

Title) A delicious lunch

WildGrills

(Video of the fish slowly grilling)

Today’s lunch.

My lunch that I never get tired of no matter how much I eat it.

ㄴHeavenlyDemon) My mouth is watering. Is it really that delicious?

ㄴWildGrills) I only add salt and it still tastes incredible. If someone actually knew how to cook well, it would probably taste even better.

ㄴHeavenlyDemon) If the opportunity presents itself, I would like to ask you for at least one. Would that be alright?

ㄴWildGrills) If you wish, I can give you one right now. Though it would be troublesome if the trade gets blocked, so I’ll give it to you when we exchange the fasting pills.

ㄴHeavenlyDemon) But before that, isn’t that fish part of your food supply?

ㄴWildGrills) It is, but it’s a request from HeavenlyDemon.

ㄴHeavenlyDemon) Forget it. It might end up negatively affecting your survival. Forget what I just said.

ㄴSwordmaster) Could you at least upload a piece to the auction house?

ㄴWildGrills) It’d be better if I just send it later when I catch another one ;;

ㄴSwordmaster) Then it would be difficult to trade whenever needed. Please upload at least a piece.

ㄴWildGrills) It feels like I’d be selling my conscience, so I’m not too convinced. I’ll just give it to you later.

ㄴDwarfPassingBy) I tried it the other time and that thing tastes fucking amazing. Though the moment you eat it you get a fever.

ㄴIsn’t that bad?

ㄴDwarfPassingBy) Nah nah. The next day you feel full of energy. I’m still like that hahaha.

ㄴThe more I look at it the more I want to eat it. Can’t you upload it to the auction house?

ㄴYou can’t upload living things. And it’s not like Grills is going to cook it.

ㄴCan’t he kill it and upload it immediately?

ㄴEven if you upload it to the auction house, time still passes ;;

Everyone seemed pretty envious.

I think I roughly understand the feeling.

Sometimes videos appear on YouTube.

Videos where people cook things they caught directly in nature.

They had something strangely hypnotic about them, to the point where I also ended up watching them without realizing it.

‘Even though I just grill it, the fish is so big that it still grabs attention.’

But even so, I couldn’t help feeling a bit sorry.

It was practically impossible to distribute a piece to every person.

After one trade, you had to wait 24 hours, so it was troublesome in many ways.

‘I’ll take the chance to ask the moderator.’

So I immediately made a post and asked the moderator directly.

ㄴHeroDontThrowAway) It’s not possible! Even if you don’t release everything, giving privileges to only one person would be unfair.

ㄴWildGrills) Then what about HeavenlyDemon?

ㄴHeroDontThrowAway) She has a moderator badge! Are you also thinking of becoming a moderator, Mr. Grills?

ㄴWildGrills) ;;

Once again, I was reminded that the admin was a young man with the mindset of a grumpy old man.