Chapter 153 - Slave (3)

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

The albino gorilla might be weaker than the gorilla chief, but he had still survived in the Forest of Four Seasons. And he had done it despite the enormous disadvantages of an albino’s white fur and poor vision. Either one would pose a serious threat to his survival, yet he had managed just fine. That meant he had something that could make up for those handicaps.

THUD!

The albino gorilla stamped his foot, sending a faint tremor through the ground. At the same time, his enormous palm flew toward my face. Thankfully, I just barely avoided it by turning my head. But then...

CRAAASH!

The towering trees came crashing down under the pressure of the blast. It wasn’t as powerful as what the gorilla chief had shown me, but it was still plenty strong. Taking that head-on would have burst my skull.

'What is this, Buddha’s Palm?'

What kind of martial arts—no, what kind of mystical martial arts had he learned to leave that sort of destruction? My encounter with the gorilla chief had given me some idea of what to expect, but the collateral damage was beyond anything I’d imagined. Clicking my tongue inwardly, I watched the albino gorilla.

THUD!

Right after that attack, he stamped the ground again with a thud and threw a punch. With his vision putting him at a disadvantage, he seemed to have switched to an approach that played to his strengths. Set his stance, attack. Set his stance again, attack. The attacks were as threatening as they were deafening. Technically they were consecutive attacks, but the sharp breaks between them made it hard to call them a combination.

'He can’t keep this up for long, though.'

A classic case of “just let me land one hit.” If one happened to connect, I was done for. But even with the gorilla pushing himself, there was still a fair gap between his movements. There was only so much he could do to compensate for his poor vision with a continuous offensive. If I could exploit one of those openings, I could counterattack.

'Even if it breaks my arm, I have to keep holding this shield.'

Against opponents like this, the shield was my lifeline. I’d dodge everything if I could, but he might have a trump card hidden away. Besides, I was still more comfortable swinging a sword with one hand than two. I studied his attack patterns closely, waiting for my chance.

THUD!

The albino gorilla stamped his foot to launch another attack. I seized that moment to dart inside his reach. Apparently unaware that I had moved in, he continued his attack. In other words, he hit empty air.

'Just as I thought.'

His weakness still held: if his opponent moved quickly right before he struck, he would miss. Up until now, he had probably used that relentless pressure to keep his opponents from taking the offensive.

SHUNK!

But anyone with even a little brains would quickly figure out how to counter him. It was almost a wonder he was still alive. As the albino gorilla struck empty air, I drove my sword into his foot. The blade pierced the top of his foot and sank into the ground. And that wasn’t all.

CRACKLE! CRACK!

When I added cold energy, his foot began freezing over. And it wasn’t a slow process: in an instant, the ice spread past his foot and up to his knee.

“Urrgh?!”

The albino gorilla grimaced at the pain of his impaled foot, then jolted in alarm. Judging by that reaction, he had apparently never encountered an enemy with this ability. This was my golden opportunity. I moved before he could break free.

SHUNK!

I drove my sword into his other foot and froze it as well. Just like that, both his legs were locked in ice. Given the strength he had displayed earlier, you’d think he could easily break free... but not at all.

'His lower body really is weaker by comparison.'

It was a physical limitation of gorillas. They naturally moved with both arms planted on the ground. However much they lived like humans, fully bipedal movement was difficult for them. The gorilla chief knew that too, which was why he rarely kicked.

The albino gorilla struggled to escape, but breaking out of the ice with his lower-body strength alone didn’t seem easy. He would have to deal with his frozen legs first. He raised his massive arm to smash the ice encasing them.

CRUNCH!

“Uaaaaargh!!”

I was a step ahead of him, though. I plunged my sword into his massive arm. Like his legs, it began to freeze, ice spreading all the way to his shoulder. The ice must have been quite strong, because even he couldn’t break it easily. That left just one arm. With him flailing around in panic, subduing it was easy.

“Uaaaaah!”

“God, you’re loud.”

WHACK!

Since he kept struggling to break free, I smacked him in the face with my shield. He stayed conscious after the first blow, so I hit him again. Only then did he quiet down. The gorilla slumped, his tongue hanging out. Sure, I had hit him to knock him out, but seeing him actually lose consciousness was a little unexpected.

But...

'Will simply tying this guy up really keep him from moving?'

I pondered that as I looked at the unconscious albino gorilla. Like the gorilla chief, he knew how to use mana. On top of that, he had displayed some incredible martial arts. Ordinary restraints wouldn’t cut it.

CRACKLE! CRACK!

So I bound him as tightly as I could with rope, then froze everything but his head. I would have preferred chains, but there weren’t any in the auction house.

“Speedy, I’m going to check something for a bit. Keep a close eye on him.”

“...”

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

Even if he did try to escape, the speed-sloth was here, so I wasn’t worried. Before logging onto the forum, I surveyed the devastation he had caused. All the timber I had worked so hard to prepare was gone, and the surrounding area was in ruins. The silver lining was that the cave was intact, but now I had even more work to do.

'I really want to put him to work somehow...'

I had already thought of a method, but I wasn’t sure whether it would work. First, though, I needed to post on the forum. I had plenty of time to think.

Title) Caught the albino gorilla

Wild Grylls

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

(Photo of the devastation caused by the albino gorilla)

This bastard suddenly showed up at my shelter and asked me to help fight the gorilla chief.

When I said no, he tried to kill me. So I subdued him for now, and I’m thinking about how to get compensation.

└Heavenly Demon) Was he reasonably skilled?

└Wild Grylls) He was strong, apart from his terrible eyesight. I think I would’ve been in danger if I hadn’t met the gorilla chief first.

└Heavenly Demon) There seems to be a connection between him and that gorilla chief. Did you notice anything unusual?

└Wild Grylls) Nothing besides his palms being noticeably red.

└Heavenly Demon) Palms as red as blood... That does not sound like a particularly wholesome martial art.

└Sword Masta) Agreed. Doesn’t that usually mean a particular type of energy has corrupted them?

└Heavenly Demon) You know your stuff. Black would suggest demonic energy, while red suggests blood energy... You will need to interrogate him.

└Wild Grylls) But the gorilla chief’s palms looked normal.

Heavenly Demon) Things would be different upon reaching a certain level. It would mean he has a deep understanding of that martial art.

So it wasn’t that the albino gorilla was weak. The gorilla chief was just ridiculously strong. The albino gorilla was in a similar position to me. Since survival came first, I had only skimmed the surface of what I’d learned rather than studying it in depth.

└Why are these gorillas such assholes? Last time one broke into his house and stole stuff, and now some random punk turns up lol.

└Isn’t expecting human decency from a gorilla your first mistake? These fuckers are animals.

└Fair point. I’m convinced.

└The gorilla chief is pretty nice, tbh. He let Grylls go instead of killing him, didn’t he?

└Doesn’t that basically mean being an asshole improves your survival chances?

└Nah, surviving is what makes you strong lol.

└Anyway, could that random punk gorilla talk too?

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

└What did you say when he started spouting bullshit?

└Wild Grylls) I swore at him and he lost his shit.

└LMAOOOO

└LMAOOO

└The time-honored mom insult. Works on animals too lmao.

└Who the hell taught a gorilla the language of the Central Plains?

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

└Wild Grylls) First I need to figure out what to do with this bastard. Is Slutty Princess around?

└Slutty Princess) Why do you ask?

Apparently Slutty Princess had been watching, just not commenting. I would have sent a private message otherwise, but since she was reading this now, I might as well take care of it here. Besides, I could pick up all sorts of information this way, so I stuck to the comments.

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

└Slutty Princess) Of course! They could end up killing their opponents.

└Wild Grylls) Does that mean there are devices that can control mana use?

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

└Wild Grylls) Yes.

└Fuck, that’s slavery lmao.

└Doesn’t sound like a great idea. So what if he can’t use mana? He’ll smash everything with brute force.

└However stupid a gorilla is, it can still tear a person apart with ease.

Most of them kicked up a fuss, calling it insane and saying I would get myself killed. And yes, a gorilla was strong enough to tear a person apart like kimchi. Besides, this albino gorilla was a mana user. His physical abilities would be greater than an ordinary gorilla’s. Simply putting a mana suppressor on him wouldn’t solve everything.

└Wild Grylls) Don’t worry. I’m in the same boat anyway.

└What do you mean, the same boat?

└Wild Grylls) (Photo of the speed-sloth) This is my master, you bastards. Say hello.

└Oh LMAOOOO

└LMAOOOOO

└He really was a slave lmaooo.

└That never even occurred to me lmaooo.

└Grylls, you bastard... You just wanted a friend, didn’t you?

└Not a friend. A fellow sufferer.

But having the speed-sloth here changed everything. The forum users took it as a joke, but I was only half joking. My life would be in danger if I didn’t keep making offerings(?) to this guy. If the albino gorilla tried threatening me, I could leave him to the speed-sloth and it would be sorted in no time.

└Slutty Princess) I do have something like that. It’s an older model, though, so it’s a little harsh. Is that okay?

└Wild Grylls) What does it do?

└Slutty Princess) For starters, you absolutely can’t remove it without the key. And if it detects mana use, it sends an electric current through the wearer’s whole body to shock them.

└Wild Grylls) That sounds fucking great. I’ll buy it right now.

└Slutty Princess) No need to buy it. I’ll give it to you. I’ve been struggling to get rid of it anyway.

└Isn’t that an actual restraint device?

└I heard they used devices like that back when slavery was still around...

└Yep, that’s right. They still use them on prisoners. Modern sports suppressors were developed from those.

I received a mana suppressor from Slutty Princess. Overall, it looked much like a dog collar. It also had sharp spikes to prevent anyone from forcing it off.

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

[Wild Grylls: Thank you. But what’s this bracelet for?]

Slutty Princess had given me a bracelet along with the suppressor and key. When I asked what it was for, the answer was rather disconcerting.

[Slutty Princess: If that gorilla lays a hand on you, it’ll shock him too. It’s for your safety.]

[Wild Grylls: Um... Excuse me for asking, but this really isn’t something they used back when slavery was thriving, is it?]

[Slutty Princess: It was invented to protect referees. There used to be so many people getting violent. It should come in pretty handy.]

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

[Slutty Princess: And what did I tell you to say if you’re grateful? Hehe.]

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

[Slutty Princess: Very good! There’s a match in two days, so I’ll be counting on you then too!]

I didn’t know what she was counting on me for, but cheering hard would probably do. After learning how to use it, I put the suppressor on the albino gorilla.

“Uuugh...”

As luck would have it, the albino gorilla woke just as I fitted the suppressor. It startled me, but the device was already on him, so I decided to see how things went. He looked at me groggily. With his poor eyesight, his initial response was something like, “Who are you?” But that didn’t last long.

“Ooh! Oooooh!”

He was so agitated he had forgotten how to speak human language. He glared fiercely at me with bulging, blood-red eyes. Then he started squirming, apparently trying to use mana, but...

BZZZZZT!!!

“OOKYAAAAAA!!!”

Just as Slutty Princess had said, a powerful electric current erupted from the suppressor around his neck. However strong an animal might be, all were equal before electricity. Once the thorough zapping had quieted him down, I spoke to the albino gorilla.

“Hey. Say that again. You’re going to make this your shelter?”

“Uuugh...”

Even if he couldn’t understand my words, perhaps he realized I was mocking him. He glared at me again, but it was pointless.

BZZZT!

Another current surged from his neck, subduing him in no time. After two consecutive zappings, the albino gorilla hung limp. I spoke with a satisfied smile.

“What did you say your name was? Wi Baek?”

“Uuugh...”

Who was it that said a slave didn’t need his old name? I considered a suitable name, then spoke with a broad grin. I didn’t know whether he would understand, but that didn’t matter. I could keep saying it until he did.

“From now on, your name is Lackey. Got it?”

After gaining the forum, I’d now gained a worker too.