Welcome To (3)

Language.

The alpha and omega of civilization.

If one applied purely human standards to beasts, one could say that beasts have no language at all. But what if we defined language as communication itself? Could we truly still say they lack it? It would simply be that they never developed a system of speech as complex and fragmented as ours.

The greatest difference between man and beast is intelligence, and that gap reveals itself in full through language. And that difference makes all the others.

A human exposed to a foreign tongue can, with enough effort, come to understand it to a reasonable degree. A beast cannot. Language only realizes its full worth when it is not merely memorized but perfectly understood — so one might say the beast simply never crossed that threshold.

And every one of those common-sense assumptions came crashing down, all at once, from the mouth of the Chief Gorilla.

"……"

So this is what it feels like to have a universe unfolding inside your skull.

Human speech, pouring from a gorilla's mouth. Language, not the cry of a beast.

Could whoever taught it martial arts have taught it language as well? But that wasn't the point — the point was that it had acquired a human way of communicating at all. The banana offered as an apology. The polite bow of its head. The Chief Gorilla, without question, possessed intelligence rivaling a person's.

Now that I look closely, its face is covered in wrinkles, too.

More than any other gorilla I'd seen — which meant this one carried years of experience. So who on earth was the mysterious teacher who'd given it language?

I deliberated for a moment, then decided to start by picking up the banana. Given the courteous tone and the whole atmosphere, it was unmistakably an offering of apology — and even if it were some kind of feint, I had Fast Tree Sloth standing by. No cause for worry.

"Ni chou na ri la?"

"……What did you just say?"

The moment I picked up the banana, the Chief Gorilla produced human speech again. But I couldn't understand a word of it — not a single language of this world.

From the intonation, it sounds something like Chinese……

This world had the Central Plains — a country straight out of a martial-arts novel. If the murim I knew was the real deal, then speech resembling Chinese wouldn't be strange at all.

That didn't change the fact that I had no idea what it meant. And this was exactly the moment the Gallery existed for.

I connected to the Gallery and started recording a video. This was going up.

"Um…… could you say that again for me?"

Asking it to repeat itself, I waved my hand in a slow circle. I'd slipped into formal speech without even noticing, but I decided not to sweat it.

Luckily, my hand-waving seemed to get through. The Chief Gorilla stared at me intently, then repeated the same words as before.

"Ni chou na ri la?"

"One moment, please."

I uploaded the recorded footage straight to the Gallery. Please, let it be the Central Plains' language. If it was, the Heavenly Demon would translate it on the spot.

In less than a single minute, a flood of comments had piled up. Most of them declared the whole thing unbelievable, or accused me of ventriloquism — all manner of speculation. But for me, this was simply reality.

Come to think of it, it asked where I was from, didn't it?

Time to answer. Keep it waiting too long, and I risked ruining a first impression. The trouble was, I had no idea what words the creature actually knew.

Heavenly Demon. Heavenly Demon. Could you help me out here?

While the Heavenly Demon was writing the word out, I attempted small talk with the Chief Gorilla. Naturally, the creature responded only with expressions of profound confusion, and I got nowhere. It was, after all, merely a stepping stone to buy time — so I waited with all the patience I could muster.

I copied the script from the photo the Heavenly Demon had sent directly onto the ground. My heart wanted me to write it in my notebook back at the cave, but who knew ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠what might happen in the time it took to fetch it.

As I began tracing the letters into the dirt, the Chief Gorilla's gaze shifted down toward them. It tilted its head, puzzled, then lifted it again and addressed me.

"Bu-chi tta-o."

I recorded that too and sent it straight to the Heavenly Demon, who informed me it meant I don't know.

Well, of course it wouldn't know. The Republic of Korea is a country from another world entirely.

"Yao. Sha-bi?"

"Bu."

"Kai. Dzama. Ju-ber?"

"Jyun-dza tung-per."

And with that, the Chief Gorilla turned to converse with the spear-wielding one beside it. Judging by the dynamic, the spear-bearers were something like a royal guard. Unlike the Chief Gorilla's fluent delivery, they spoke in clipped, halting fragments.

I recorded their entire exchange and sent it to the Heavenly Demon.

The bodies of his kin. He must mean the ones I killed yesterday.

Then again — teach an ape a language, and an ape it remains, apparently, because it discussed all this right in front of me without a shred of discretion. Or perhaps it was speaking deliberately, so that I would hear. Either way, I waited for its reaction.

"Szu-chi do-len-ma?"

The Heavenly Demon's interpretation: Where are the fallen kinsmen?

I wasn't exactly thrilled to help out the guy who'd stolen my food. Worse, one careless word and it might start underestimating me — so caution was in order.

Shff — shff.

I drew characters into the ground. Something along the lines of: And what if I'd rather not tell you?

The Chief Gorilla studied my handiwork with great care, then spoke.

"Hwei-oo-rul-se-da."

There will be blood…… — so the translation went.

The threat was baked right into the tone, so I'd more or less seen it coming. It uses figurative language too? Figurative speech was one thing, but the fact that it could convey tone was genuinely astonishing. Just how high was this creature's intelligence?

I met the Chief Gorilla's fierce, narrowed glare for a moment, then glanced sideways. Let's assume the Chief Gorilla is about as strong as Fast Tree Sloth… In that case, counting the royal guard, the other gorillas numbered roughly five. I was badly outnumbered. A fight meant a guaranteed loss, and low-odds fights were best avoided whenever possible.

Especially since the Chief Gorilla had thrown that banana — a clear sign it had every intention of settling things peacefully.

Avoid the fight.

I set my terms: it could search for its kin, but in exchange, it would leave immediately. When I traced the offer into the dirt, the Chief Gorilla nodded its assent. Whether it would actually keep its word, I couldn't say — but reaching an agreement here was better than nothing.

"They're over here."

When I showed the gorillas where the bodies were buried, the Chief Gorilla gave a slow nod. At that, a gorilla — one of the rank and file, judging by its lack of spear — stepped forward and began to dig.

With its bare hands, no less. But when a gorilla's specs were those specs, it dug like an excavator. In short order it was hauling buried gorilla corpses out one by one. They'd only been in the ground since yesterday, so there wasn't a trace of decay on any of them.

This should about do it, right?

As I watched the gorillas carry the bodies off, I stole a glance at the Chief Gorilla. It didn't move an inch — simply stood rooted in place, watching, until the last of its subordinates had vanished into the forest. Only then did it speak to me.

"Shin-cha."

"Hm?"

"Shu-shin pan-ger lao-te-ra."

No idea what that meant either, of course. But the Gallery is always on standby.

I sent the creature's recorded words straight to the Heavenly Demon.

Don't tell me I'm about to fight this thing. I began backing away, slowly, one step at a time. The Chief Gorilla watched my reaction, then opened its mouth with utter placidity.

"Chin-pa-li lyu-shi uh-mon kwo-er."

"……"

"Shun-dz shi bi-la. Ni shu-e jung-pan-der."

The trespass was our fault.My grandson gave offense.You were in the right.

"Ger-shu ban-tzao jaoin shwen-shin. Hai-o so kong."

But "This Sovereign" is the head of the troop. And the grandfather of that grandson.

The instant I heard it rendered as "This Sovereign," I nearly lost my soul on the spot. The Heavenly Demon was evidently no different, for the moment the translation came through, she laid her feelings utterly bare.

Meanwhile, the gorilla's aura was growing steadily more ominous. Its royal-guard escorts were edging backward as well — everything about the moment said a fight could break out any second.

I set the mana in my body into a slow circuit and poured aura into the Heavenly Demon's sword. Unless I struck first, I doubted I could bring down the Chief Gorilla any other way.

"Tsai."

In that case—

"Na jo-i ik-ber."

One arm shall suffice.

The moment the Heavenly Demon's translation finished, I charged. Aura rose from the sword like heat haze — no, far beyond any ordinary shimmer. Flame. The blade's aura rippled like a roaring inferno. If ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I brought this down on the Chief Gorilla now, its body would be cloven in two.

Don't call it cowardice. This was the best I could do. To survive, what wouldn't a person do? The strong are those who live.

All right. Got him, dead to rights!

Even as the blade closed to point-blank range, the Chief Gorilla showed no reaction at all. Perhaps it simply hadn't registered the danger in time. This was my chance. If I cut through ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠its torso right now—

Tup—

That was not what happened. Instead, an impossible scene unfolded before my eyes. Aura blazing like fire — and the Heavenly Demon's sword wreathed in it. A single stroke that could shear through beast flesh and bone at a mere touch.

"……"

The Chief Gorilla caught that blow. Casually. Not with its whole hand — with just three fingers. Thumb, index, and middle.

Just as I was reeling from the sheer absurdity of it, the Chief Gorilla spoke, its face perfectly calm.

"Hao chi ler."

I had no idea what it meant. But of one thing I was absolutely certain.

The Chief Gorilla was stronger than anything I had imagined — and then some.