Chapter 41 - The Swindler (2)

This was enough to baffle a ghost, I thought, staring at the empty box. No matter how many times I searched, the golden mushroom was nowhere to be found. Roundfur hadn't secretly eaten it, either. It was as if the thing had sprouted arms and legs and disappeared on its own. I couldn't make sense of it.

'Did some thief like Speedy steal it?'

I gazed at the speed-sloth. It was nibbling on the fasting pill I'd given it, wedged between its claws. Not that I thought it had eaten the golden mushroom. If anything had eaten it, it would have been some other animal.

The speed-sloth had tried to steal a fish before, though that attempt had come to nothing. Judging by that, there had to be beasts that sought out nutrient-rich plants and animals.

'Even so, isn't a golden mushroom way too risky?'

Even animals tended to leave mushrooms alone. And the golden mushroom's appearance practically screamed, I'm poisonous! Eat me and die! Vivid colors meant deadly poison. Animals knew that perfectly well, too. Even if something had eaten it, there should have been traces. I couldn't solve the mystery.

'Weird.'

Maybe it was for the best. I'd been having trouble deciding what to do with it anyway. Still, someone had wanted the golden mushroom, so I posted on the forum.

Mushroom's gone

Wild Grylls

(Photo of an empty box)

Put the mushroom I found yesterday in a box, but when I woke up today it was gone;;

Thought Roundfur might've eaten it, but nope. This is seriously weird.

└Heavenly Demon: A mushroom fleeing is astonishing indeed. Did it have feet?

└Wild Grylls: I don't know either. I looked around, but there aren't any footprints.

└Heavenly Demon: Surely a mushroom could not perform Void-Stepping.

└Wild Grylls: What's Void-Stepping?

└Heavenly Demon: The art of walking or running through empty air. The pinnacle of lightness arts.

└Wild Grylls: Can you do it?

└Heavenly Demon: I have attained not Void-Stepping, but the realm of Airborne Flight. I can fly freely through the skies.

└Wild Grylls: Whoa;;

└Sword Masta: Aren't you exaggerating a little too much? That would put you at grandmaster level, wouldn't it?

└Heavenly Demon: What does that mean? Explain it plainly.

└Isn't that the Profound Realm in Central Plains terms?

└Probably about there. Has anyone in the Central Plains even reached it?

└So few you'd have to dig through history books to find one, I'd bet.

└Even Transformation Realm is enough to wreck a city. Profound Realm? lol

└Heavenly Demon: I understand. I have reached that very Profound Realm.

└Sword Masta: Yes, yes~ Of course you have.

└Allfather: The mushroom may really have had feet.

└Wild Grylls: Really?

└Allfather: With muscular mushrooms around, a few limbs on a golden mushroom would hardly be extraordinary.

└Wild Grylls: It didn't do anything when I picked it, though.

└Allfather: You'd be mistaken to judge the laws of nature by your own common sense, Grylls. Think of the speed-sloth.

└Wild Grylls: Oh.

The sage Allfather's advice made me realize it. The thing really could have had feet. This was a fantasy world, and the Forest of Four Seasons was a place where even this world's common sense didn't apply. And here I was, struggling to survive in it. Putting it that way was a little depressing.

Whatever happened, I couldn't judge it by common sense. I didn't need to look any further than the sloth that could snatch arrows out of the air.

└Wild Grylls: Guess I'll just have to consider it lost.

└Allfather: A shame. I wanted to study it.

It was a shame, but what could I do? This was the result of carelessness, if you could even call it that. I'd just have to take comfort in the fact that nothing had attacked us during the night. I closed the forum and went over to the hose to wash my face.

TRICKLE...

The stream of water coming out of the hose was weak. The instant I saw it, I knew I'd caught another fish. Apparently at least one got stuck every day. Wonderful.

'Once I get that fish trap from the dwarf, meals won't be a problem.'

It looked like I could stop worrying about food for a while. I planned to set some traps soon, too, so I'd have even more to eat. As long as I learned a decent way to hunt, I probably wouldn't starve.

I'd die of poisoning, disease, or getting eaten by a beast instead. Or I'd step somewhere strange and die out in the wilderness. There were plenty of ways to go.

'... Right. Better than starving.'

I felt depressed for a moment, then shook it off. The fish was what mattered. I gathered the appropriate gear and headed for the river. I didn't forget to feed Roundfur before leaving.

SPLASH! SPLASH!

When I reached the river, a fish was trapped in the narrow passage, just as I'd expected. It was big enough to completely block the hose's inlet. The fish I'd caught so far had been red, but this one was golden.

'... Is this one poisonous too?'

Pufferfish were the only poisonous fish I knew of, and as far as I knew, even those lived in the sea.

'No spines, either.'

More importantly, it didn't have spines. All I could see was a smooth body. It was golden, but not multicolored. After some thought, I decided to take it home as it was. Staying here and running into a golden frog would be a pain.

"Heave-ho."

This one was also big enough that I had to wrap both arms around it. Were all the fish in the Forest of Four Seasons huge? From my perspective, having plenty to eat couldn't be better.

'I should bring a big container from now on.'

Clutching the flapping golden fish, I made plans. A container or a net would make things easier, at least. It wasn't a matter of strength. The fish were so big I needed both hands to hold them.

'Or I could bring the speed-sloth.'

The speed-sloth really was useful. It made a perfect bodyguard. I returned to the cave and started preparing breakfast. I was getting used to cleaning fish, so it didn't take long.

'Another one?'

I searched through the guts just in case and found yet another inner core. This time it was closer to gold than red. Did every fish in the Forest of Four Seasons have an inner core? This wasn't the first or even second time. It was the third, which made me seriously wonder.

'Doesn't that mean you can get stronger just by catching and eating fish? Why is the survival rate so abysmal?'

I stared at the inner core while the fish cooked to a golden brown. Heavenly Demon had said it was more like an inferior spiritual elixir, but an inner core was still an inner core. Eating it would still make you stronger in no time.

'Is it because surviving doesn't mean you can escape?'

That was quite likely. What good was getting stronger if you couldn't get out? It would all be for nothing.

'And I'm an unusual case, too.'

Above all, I was an exception. I could use the forum just fine inside the Forest of Four Seasons. Unlike me, other people couldn't even ask for advice. They had to figure everything out the hard way. If not for the forum, even I would have been torn to shreds by the mad dogs.

'Let's just turn the fish over.'

It was going to burn at this rate. I flipped the fish on the broad stone slab. I could decide what to do with the inner core later. There was no rush. If nothing else, I could list it at auction. Heavenly Demon had advised me to reach at least Peak before eating one.

'Not that I really know what counts as Peak.'

More importantly, my fundamentals were shaky. Right now, putting down roots was what mattered. Eating the core might not do any harm, but I could end up sick for days. For someone focused on survival, a fever could be fatal. The last one had made me feel in danger, too.

'Come to think of it, the auction should be ending soon.'

The thought came to me as I tore off a piece of the deliciously cooked fish. I'd listed it at lunchtime yesterday, so bidding would end in a few hours.

Inner Core: 750 nyang of silver

It had reached quite a price. Bidding had slowed down, so it would probably stay there.

'Trust really does matter, huh.'

The auction house had a review system. You couldn't leave ratings, but reading reviews gave you a rough idea of someone's trustworthiness. Otherwise, the auction house would have become a swindler's paradise. The brutal fees alone made scamming a bad idea.

'Trust is everything for me.'

Once lost, trust was difficult to regain. For someone who got most of what he needed through the forum, that would be devastating. And this wasn't pocket change. It was a huge sum, far too much to laugh off.

'Even if the one I gave Heavenly Demon was an inner core, if the one I put up for auction isn't...'

It was more likely to be an inner core, but I couldn't rule out the possibility of someone lying. You could say I was too distrustful, but I certainly didn't trust anonymous users. When I'd first landed in the Forest of Four Seasons, some had told me to die and become fertilizer. That said it all. People's true malice came out from behind anonymity.

'Let's see how the auction ends first.'

Right now, eating this delicious fish was more important. I gave Roundfur a few pieces and devoured the rest. It tasted much better than the red fish. No exaggeration, it tasted like pork.

"That hit the spot."

Having polished off my big catch, I went inside the cave and practiced my cultivation method, using the fundamentals Heavenly Demon had taught me and Sword Masta's know-how. Perhaps because I'd just eaten the golden fish, I could feel energy like rough waves inside me.

'Rather than waves, how should I put it... a storm?'

The cultivation method Heavenly Demon had taught me was called the Heavenly Demon Divine Art. So a storm probably fit better than waves. Once I'd neatly gathered that stormlike energy, I raised my hand. An extremely faint blue energy was rising from it like a haze.

'It amazes me every time.'

I'd been an ordinary person. Nothing special about me at all. Yet not only had I landed in some bizarre forest, I could now wield mana. I kept reminding myself that this was real, but sometimes I still wondered if I was dreaming. The haze rising from my hand was pure fantasy, which only made that feeling stronger.

'Thinking back to when that mad dog bit me, it's definitely real.'

I extinguished the haze and stepped outside. I planned to spend the morning making traps and exploring. By exploring, I meant checking on the muscle mushroom I'd burned with fire magic (physical) yesterday, and its cave. If the golden mushroom really had run off on two feet, it might have returned there.

Want to make a trap. Advice?

Wild Grylls

Found a spot with rabbits yesterday. Anyone know how to make a decent trap?

They're not normal rabbits, though. Their hind-leg kicks are strong as fuck, so keep that in mind.

└Can't you just buy a bear trap and set it?

└A bear trap would straight-up snap a rabbit in half;;

└Just dig a decent pit and put spears inside.

└Nah, that's dangerous. Aim to catch them alive rather than kill them.

That was the forum for you. They freely shared all sorts of useful tips.

└Why not use yourself as bait? Bet you'd catch something big lol

└That'd be fun lmao

└Fail and you die, succeed and you feast!

That was also the forum for you. Moronic idiots appeared sometimes—no, frequently. Ignoring all the nonsense, I came up with a trap. A pit seemed best: dig a hole and cover it with a panel. Apply enough weight, and it would collapse, dropping the animal inside.

'With kicks that powerful, those rabbits would get straight out of a shallow pit.'

Digging deep enough was one thing, but the panel covering it was crucial. I needed a trap that used weights, not a panel that simply collapsed and stayed down.

'They step on it, the panel opens, they fall into the pit, and the panel closes again.'

That seemed like the best approach, so I settled on it. Choosing a design and building it were two different things, though. I racked my brain to work out the details.

'The panel has to open and close depending on the weight. I need to account for the rabbits' weight, too.'

Securing the panel was essential. I bought large nails from the auction house, intending to use them to fasten one side of it.

'I'll need a counterweight to pull it back up.'

I stood two sturdy branches upright and fitted another between them. Picture a barbecue spit, the kind you turned round and round to roast meat. Since this was a trap, not a barbecue, I fitted an iron cylinder in place of the meat. Finally, I tied on a stone with string to serve as the counterweight.

CLUNK!

When I pressed down firmly with a finger, the panel lowered. As soon as I lifted my finger, the counterweight brought it back up. The trap was perfect. All I had to do now was move it over there.

'Though I'll have to make it a little bigger.'

That would mean a few trips back and forth for everything besides the nails and hammer. I asked the speed-sloth to watch the place and finished preparing: weapons to protect myself, a shovel for digging, an Elixir just in case, and so on. Once everything was ready, I headed to the area where the rabbits appeared.

'After I move everything, I'll check for the mushroom first.'

Unfortunately, the golden mushroom wasn't in the cave. The charred muscle mushroom was still untouched, too. Its aroma apparently hadn't outweighed how unappetizing it looked. With that checked, all that remained was setting the trap. Digging the pit wasn't particularly difficult, either.

A little later, with the trap fully installed, an indescribable sense of pride washed over me. Soon I'd be eating meat instead of fish.

'As for butchering... I'll just have to do it myself.'

I scattered some dirt over the panel and laid grass on top so the animals wouldn't grow suspicious. All that remained was patience. I gathered my gear and returned to the cave.

'Eleven already.'

Time had flown by while I was busy with one thing after another. Wondering what to do until the inner core auction ended, I rummaged in my pocket. Out came the golden inner core. I considered putting this one up for auction, too.

'Let's see how the first one goes before listing it. Before that...'

GRRRR...

My stomach really hurt. This happened every time I ate fish. Before, it had started almost immediately after eating, but today it had taken a while. I'd have to build a toilet soon, too. Digging a hole every time was getting tiresome.

After emptying my bowels and feeling much better, I opened the forum to check the bid on the inner core.

Inner Core: 750 nyang in silver coins

The bid hadn't changed. It had been frozen for six hours. I had a feeling it would end at this price, so I changed the deadline.

Change the remaining bidding time to 30 minutes?

Once changed, the deadline cannot be changed again.

I hit accept without hesitation. Thirty minutes was generous enough. What would I do in those thirty minutes? Practice cultivation. Not blindly, but by following Heavenly Demon's teachings and building a solid foundation. Patching up all those holes would make it easier to achieve an aura blade, sword force, or whatever it was called.

'This is hard. Seriously hard.'

Fundamentals weren't something you memorized. You had to understand them. Since I wasn't from this world, that was the hardest part. I'd grown stronger through something akin to shortcuts, but the fundamentals were still a problem.

'Just thirty minutes of practice.'

It took over an hour. Once I got absorbed in it, I lost all track of time. Besides, without opening the forum, my sense of time inevitably grew hazy. I logged on to see how much the inner core had sold for.

Why Grylls is a swindler

Grylls, explain yourself!

Grylls, explain yourself!

This fucker's just a scammer lol

Bet he's lying about being in the Forest of Four Seasons too

Honestly, I think he deserves a ban

Upvote if you want Grylls dead lmao

"What the hell?"

What on earth had happened to turn the place into this shitshow? And most of it was about me. I couldn't understand it. The easiest way to find out was to check the top posts. Something there must have set this off.

Wild Grylls is a fucking scammer. Don't trust him.

That was the top post with the most upvotes. Naturally, it was about me. This wasn't something I could ignore, so I clicked it immediately.

Wild Grylls is a fucking scammer. Don't trust him.

(Photo of an inner core resting on a palm)

This is an inner core? LMAO what a load of bullshit. It's just an ordinary bead.

I'm a fucking legend for paying 750 nyang in silver coins for this. You can't trust that bastard Grylls.

Take responsibility, you fuck. Give me my fucking money back.

└Didn't Heavenly Demon say it was real?

└You believed that? lmao

└It did seem weird that he found a core every time he caught a fish~

└Definitely buying Grylls's stuff from now on lol

└You never bought any in the first place.

└Exactly lol

└Is this guy a fucking idiot?

└But are we sure this guy bought it?

└Yeah, the number next to him matches the winning bidder.

└Holy shit lol how much did he lose? lmao

└That much? His entire life savings lol

└Poor fuck lol

└Honestly, shouldn't Grylls refund him?

└What about the fees?

└Why should that matter? If he scammed him, he should pay it all back, dumbass.

└Doesn't the admin ban scammers?

└Yep. Permaban at minimum.

I'd hoped it wouldn't happen, but things had played out exactly as I'd feared. Apparently I'd trusted people too much. The silver lining was that I'd more or less anticipated this. I was just about to leave a comment.

Heavenly Demon

Do not worry, my honored friend.

I shall handle this.

What?

Heavenly Demon

That ungrateful wretch needs divine punishment.

Wait.

A one-on-one message had arrived from Heavenly Demon. What on earth was she going to do?

'Is she going to ban him?'

* * *

The Demonic Strategist, the brain and chief tactician of the Demonic Cult, was utterly bewildered by the current situation. Being summoned by the Heavenly Demon, Yu Sowol, was nothing confusing in itself. When Heaven called, he had to answer. But the command Heaven had personally issued was enough to fluster even the great Demonic Strategist.

"Y-Your Eminence. Might I ask... that you repeat what you just said?"

"How peculiar, for you to ask me to repeat myself. In my boundless generosity, I shall give the order once more."

Seated on her throne, Yu Sowol commanded in a voice of feigned anger.

"Log on to the forum."

"..."

"You advanced after consuming the inner core I gave you. You need only post proof of that."

She wanted him to log on and make what people called a "proof post." On the surface, it was a very simple task. But who was the Demonic Strategist? A diehard forum addict who spent his days there bad-mouthing his superior—the Heavenly Demon.

'...I'm f*ed.'

Wi Seorak, the Demonic Strategist, also known as Smart Demonic Cultist.

'I'm seriously f*ed.'

He had found himself in the most desperate crisis of his life.