Chapter 153

Slave (3)

Let me make one thing clear: discovering his weakness didn’t mean I could take control of the fight.

Even if the albino gorilla was weaker than the leader gorilla, he was still a creature that had survived in the Forest of Four Seasons.

And he had done so despite the immense disadvantages of white fur and poor eyesight that came with albinism.

Either one of those traits would pose a major threat to survival, yet he had survived just fine.

In other words, he possessed something capable of compensating for those disadvantages.

Boom!

When the albino gorilla stomped the ground, a faint tremor spread through the area.

At the same time, his enormous palm flew toward my face.

Fortunately, I narrowly avoided it by turning my head.

However—

Rumble—crash!

The towering trees around us toppled beneath the pressure generated by the strike.

It was less powerful than what the leader gorilla had demonstrated, but still more than strong enough.

If I took a direct hit, my head would explode.

’What is that, the Buddha’s Palm?’

What kind of martial art—no, martial technique—had he learned to leave such devastation in his wake?

The leader gorilla had given me a rough idea of what to expect, but the aftermath was still beyond my imagination.

I clicked my tongue inwardly as I watched the albino gorilla.

Boom!

The moment he finished attacking, he stomped the ground again and threw a punch.

Realizing that his poor eyesight put him at a disadvantage, he seemed to have altered his method of attack to capitalize on his strengths.

He assumed his stance and attacked, then assumed his stance again and launched another attack.

His attacks were both incredibly loud and extremely threatening.

They technically formed a combination, but each strike was so distinctly separated that I wasn’t sure it could truly be called one.

’Still, this won’t last long.’

It was a textbook case of someone relying on the mentality of I only need to land one hit.

If even one of those blows connected by chance, I would be finished.

However, despite the gorilla pushing his body as hard as possible, there was still a noticeable gap between each movement.

Even attempting to overcome his poor vision with a continuous barrage of attacks had its limitations.

If I could exploit that opening somehow, I would be able to counterattack.

’Even if it means breaking my arm, I need to keep my shield raised.’

Against creatures like him, my shield was a means of protecting my life.

I intended to dodge everything if possible, but he might have a hidden trump card.

Besides, I was still more accustomed to wielding my sword with one hand than with both.

I carefully studied the albino gorilla’s attack pattern and waited for my opportunity.

Boom!

The albino gorilla stomped the ground in preparation for another attack.

I seized that opening and slipped inside his reach.

He continued his attack, apparently unaware that I had closed the distance.

In other words, he struck nothing but empty air.

’Just as I thought.’

His weakness remained the same: if his opponent moved quickly right before he attacked, he would miss.

Until now, he had probably fought by constantly pressuring his opponents and never surrendering the initiative.

Stab!

But against an opponent capable of thinking even a little, the method for countering him was quickly exposed.

It was almost miraculous that he had survived this long.

As the albino gorilla struck empty air, I drove my sword into his foot.

The blade pierced straight through the top of his foot and sank into the ground.

That wasn’t all.

Crackle! Crack!

When I released the cold, his foot began freezing.

It didn’t happen gradually. In an instant, the ice spread beyond his foot and reached his knee.

"Uoh?!"

The albino gorilla grimaced from the pain of being stabbed, then jumped in surprise.

Judging from his reaction, he had never encountered an enemy with an ability like mine.

This was the perfect opportunity.

I acted before the gorilla could free himself.

Stab!

I drove my sword into his other foot and froze that one as well.

Naturally, both of the gorilla’s legs became trapped in ice.

Considering the strength he had demonstrated earlier, it seemed as though he should have been able to break free easily...

But that wasn’t the case at all.

’As expected, his lower body is comparatively weak.’

It was a physical limitation of gorillas.

They naturally lived with both arms supporting them against the ground.

No matter how much they behaved like humans, walking entirely upright on two legs was difficult for them.

The leader gorilla was well aware of this and had hardly ever used kicks.

The albino gorilla struggled to escape, but breaking through the ice using only the strength of his lower body appeared difficult.

He would have to deal with the ice encasing his legs first.

He raised his massive arms to smash it.

Crunch!

"Oooargh!!"

But I was one step faster.

I drove my sword into one of his enormous arms.

Just as it had with his legs, the ice spread across his arm until it reached his shoulder.

The ice was remarkably strong, and even he couldn’t break it easily.

Only one arm remained.

Thanks to the gorilla panicking, I was able to subdue that one just as easily.

"Oooaaah!"

"God, you’re loud."

Smack!

He kept struggling to break free, so I struck him across the face with my shield.

He remained conscious after the first blow, so I hit him again.

Only then did he finally quiet down.

The gorilla went limp with his tongue hanging out.

I had struck him with the intention of knocking him unconscious, but the fact that it actually worked was somehow unexpected.

However...

’Would tying him up really be enough to immobilize him?’

I stared at the unconscious albino gorilla and considered the problem.

Like the leader gorilla, this one could use mana.

Moreover, he could perform formidable martial techniques, so ordinary restraints wouldn’t be enough.

Crackle! Crack!

I bound him as tightly as possible with a rope, then froze his entire body except for his head.

I would have preferred to bind him in chains, but there hadn’t been any available at the Auction House.

"Fast Sloth, I need to check something for a moment. Keep a close watch on him."

"..."

"If he looks like he’s about to escape, hit him in the face."

Even if the gorilla attempted to escape, Fast Sloth was here, so I wasn’t worried.

Before connecting to the Gallery, I surveyed the devastation the gorilla had caused.

All the timber I had painstakingly processed had been blown away, and the surrounding area had been wrecked.

Fortunately, the cave remained intact, but my workload had increased considerably.

’I want to use him as a laborer somehow...’

I had already devised a method, but I wasn’t sure whether it would work.

Before that, I should post something in the Gallery.

I had plenty of time to think.

(Photo of the albino gorilla frozen while bound with rope)

(Photo of the devastation caused by the albino gorilla)

This bastard suddenly showed up at my shelter and invited me to fight the leader gorilla with him.

When I refused, he tried to kill me. So I subdued him for now, and I’m trying to decide how he should compensate me.

Title: Caught an Albino Gorilla

Wild Grylls

└ Heavenly Demon: Was he considerably skilled?

└ Wild Grylls: Aside from his extremely poor eyesight, he was strong. If I hadn’t encountered the leader gorilla first, I might have been in danger.

└ Heavenly Demon: He appears to have some connection to that leader gorilla. Did you notice anything unusual about him?

└ Wild Grylls: Nothing in particular, except that his palms were noticeably red.

└ Heavenly Demon: Palms as red as blood... His martial technique does not appear to be of particularly good quality.

└ SwordMaster: I agree. Doesn’t something like that usually mean the user is being consumed by a particular energy?

└ Heavenly Demon: You are well informed. Black discoloration would be related to demonic energy, while red would be connected to blood energy... It appears we will need to interrogate him.

└ Wild Grylls: The leader gorilla’s palms looked normal, though.

└ Heavenly Demon: The situation would be different if he had reached a certain realm. It would mean he possessed a deeper understanding of the technique.

That meant the albino gorilla wasn’t weak.

The leader gorilla was simply absurdly powerful.

The albino gorilla was in a similar situation to mine.

Since I had prioritized survival, I had only skimmed the surface of what I learned instead of studying it deeply.

└ Wild Grylls: Before that, I need to decide what to do with this bastard. Is Princess Cheonggu here?

└ Princess Cheonggu: Why do you need me?

└ Why are these gorillas such assholes? Last time they broke into someone else’s house and stole from him, and now some random nobody has shown up, lmao.

└ Isn’t expecting morality from gorillas the real mistake? These bastards are animals;;

└ Fair point. I accept that.

└ The leader gorilla is pretty kind by gorilla standards. He let Grylls live, didn’t he?

└ Put another way, doesn’t that mean having a rotten personality gives you an advantage in survival?

└ Surviving is what makes you strong, lol.

└ By the way, did that nobody gorilla speak too?

└ Wild Grylls: Yeah. He spoke the language of the Central Plains.

└ What did you say when he started spouting nonsense?

└ Wild Grylls: I cursed at him, and he threw a fit.

Princess Cheonggu must have been watching even though she hadn’t left any comments.

I had planned to send her a private message even if she wasn’t watching.

Since she happened to be reading the thread, I decided to handle everything there.

Besides, I could acquire all sorts of useful information, so I continued through the comments.

└ A time-honored insult involving someone’s mother—even works on animals, lmao.

└ Who the hell taught these gorillas the language of the Central Plains?

└ Ask him when he wakes up. I’m curious too.

└ Wild Grylls: Athletes are strictly forbidden from using mana, right?

└ Princess Cheonggu: Of course. They could accidentally kill their opponent.

└ Wild Grylls: Then does that mean there are tools capable of suppressing mana?

└ Princess Cheonggu: Don’t tell me you’re planning to put one on that gorilla?

└ Wild Grylls: Yes.

└ Holy shit, that’s slavery, lmao.

└ I don’t think that’s a very good idea;; So what if he can’t use mana? He’ll just destroy everything with brute strength.

└ No matter how stupid a gorilla is, it can tear a human apart with ease;;

Most people caused an uproar, saying it was insane and that I would get myself killed.

It was true that a gorilla’s physical strength could tear a human apart like kimchi.

Moreover, this albino gorilla was a mana user. His physical abilities were probably far greater than those of an ordinary gorilla.

In other words, merely fitting him with a mana-suppressing device wouldn’t solve the problem completely.

└ Wild Grylls: Don’t worry. I’m in the same situation anyway.

└ How are you in the same situation?

└ Wild Grylls:(Photo of Fast Sloth) This is my master, bastards. Greet him.

└ Ahahahahahahahaha!

└ Lmaoooooooooo!

└ He really was a slave, lmao!

└ I hadn’t even considered that, hahahaha!

└ Grylls, you bastard... You did this because you wanted a friend, didn’t you?

└ Not a friend. A comrade.

But with Fast Sloth around, the situation was different.

The people in the Gallery took it as a joke, but I was half joking and half serious.

If I didn’t consistently offer tribute(?) to this creature, my life would be in danger.

If the albino gorilla tried to threaten me, I could simply leave him to Fast Sloth. The problem would be resolved in no time.

└ Princess Cheonggu: I do have something similar. It’s an old model, though, so it’s a little extreme. Is that all right?

└ Wild Grylls: What does it do?

└ Princess Cheonggu: First, it can’t be removed without the key. And if it detects mana being used, it sends an electrical current through the wearer’s entire body.

└ Wild Grylls: That sounds incredible. I’ll buy it right now.

└ Princess Cheonggu: You don’t need to buy it. I’ll just give it to you. I’ve been struggling to find a use for it anyway.

└ Isn’t that literally a restraint device?

└ I heard they used tools like that back when slavery still existed...

└ Yeah, that’s right. They’re still used on prisoners. Modern athletic mana suppressors were invented using those as the basis.

I received a mana suppressor from Princess Cheonggu.

Its overall shape resembled a dog collar.

It also had sharp spikes designed to prevent the wearer from forcibly removing it.

[Princess Cheonggu: Put this on the gorilla, then hide the key.]

[Wild Grylls: Thank you. But what is this bracelet?]

Princess Cheonggu had given me not only the suppressor and its key but also a bracelet.

When I asked what the bracelet was for, I received a rather disturbing answer.

[Princess Cheonggu: If the gorilla lays a hand on you, an electrical current will run through him just like before. It’s for your safety.]

[Wild Grylls: Excuse me, but this isn’t actually something that was used when slavery was widespread, is it?]

[Princess Cheonggu: It was invented to protect referees. There used to be a lot of athletes who committed violence against them. It should prove quite useful.]

[Wild Grylls: Thank you. I’ll put it to good use.]

[Princess Cheonggu: And what do you say when you’re grateful? Hehe.]

[Wild Grylls: Chae-U is divine, and Kone is invincible.]

[Princess Cheonggu: Very good! I have another match in two days, so I’ll be counting on you then!]

I didn’t know exactly what she was counting on me to do, but cheering enthusiastically should be enough.

After learning how to use the device, I fastened the suppressor around the albino gorilla’s neck.

"Ugh..."

By coincidence, the albino gorilla regained consciousness just as I put it on him.

I was startled, but the suppressor was already secured, so I decided to see what happened.

The albino gorilla stared at me with a dazed expression.

Because of his poor eyesight, his initial reaction was something close to, Who are you?

That didn’t last long.

"Ooh! Ooooooh!"

He became so enraged that he seemingly forgot how to speak like a human.

The beast glared fiercely at me with his blood-red eyes.

Then his body twitched as if he were attempting to use mana.

Bzzzzzt!!!

"Ookiiaaaah!!!"

Just as Princess Cheonggu had said, a powerful electrical current erupted from the suppressor around his neck.

No matter how powerful an animal was, all creatures were equal before electricity.

After he had been thoroughly shocked into submission, I spoke to him.

"Hey, say that again. What was it about turning this place into your base?"

"Ugh..."

He might not have understood my words, but perhaps he could tell I was mocking him.

The albino gorilla glared at me again, but it was pointless.

Bzzzzzt!

Another electrical current flowed from the collar, subduing him immediately.

After being electrocuted twice in succession, the albino gorilla slumped weakly.

I smiled in satisfaction and opened my mouth.

"What did you say your name was? Wi Baek?"

"Ugh..."

Someone once said that a slave had no need for his former name.

I considered what suitable name I could give him before grinning.

I didn’t know whether he would understand, but it didn’t matter.

I could repeat it until he did.

"From now on, your name is Kkobong. Understand?"

Through the Gallery, I had acquired myself a laborer.