Ggobongi (1)
[Photo: An albino gorilla glaring murderously with a suppressor collar clamped around its neck]
Here is Ggobongi, our new worker recruited through entirely legitimate, above-board channels. Please treat him kindly going forward~
All in all, everyone seemed broadly supportive of Ggobongi, the shelter’s newest addition to the workforce. A few commenters had casually suggested thrashing him with a whip whenever he stepped out of line, but I let that pass. As hardened as my temperament had become out here, I wasn't that sadistic. Besides, the very second he tried to step to me, Fast Tree Sloth would take care of business before I even had to lift a finger.
First things first, though... I need to patch him up.
I glanced down at Ggobongi, who was glaring daggers at me while half-frozen in place. Being frozen solid was bad enough, but he was also trussed up tight in bindings. On top of that, he had taken a sword through the flesh, so leaving him untreated was out of the question.
"Hey. Ggobongi."
"……."
"I’m talking to you, Ggobongi. I told you earlier, right? Your name is Ggobongi from now on."
Seeing no reason to cater to him in Zhongyuan, I simply pressed forward in Korean. That martial dialect might have been his native tongue—if you could even call it that for a beast—but I was a modern Korean man. What’s more, the bastard had tried to slaughter me and pillage the shelter I had poured blood, sweat, and tears into building. I had zero intention of accommodating his comfort, so Korean would be our sole language of communication.
"……Wi Baek."
"What?"
"$#%$ Ggobongi, #5#! Wi Baek!"
I had no clue what he was squawking about, but he shrieked with indignant fury. Reading the room, it was obvious enough: he was demanding I address him as Wi Baek instead of Ggobongi.
WHACK!
"Gaaah!"
"What kind of gibberish is that? Speak Korean. And I told you, your name is Ggobongi from here on out."
Annoyed by his attitude, I boxed his ears with a sharp smack. Given that he had tried to take my life only moments ago, any expectation of tender care was absurd. Misbehave, and you get hit; follow instructions, and you get rewarded. That was the law of the camp. It was up to me to apply enough diligent "effort" until he learned how to listen properly.
"Hey. Look me straight in the eyes."
I crouched down, bringing my gaze level with his. Ggobongi scowled, his face contorted in sheer rancor as he stared back.
"See this key? This is the key to that suppressor collar clamped onto your neck."
"@&#$!"
"Don't make me smack you again."
People need to learn to listen until a sentence is finished. When I raised my palm, Ggobongi flinched visibly. Having already tasted defeat at my hands, followed by a few corrective strikes while restrained, the reality was beginning to settle into his bones. It was basic conditioning—carving the futility of resistance directly into his survival instincts.
"As I was saying, you need this key if you ever want to get that thing off your neck. But I am never giving it to you."
"……."
"You know the score, don't you? Stripped of that precious martial prowess you're so proud of, surviving out here in this forest is next to impossible."
Ggobongi was an albino gorilla, and albinos carried an abysmal survival rate in the wild. His stark white coat stuck out like a sore thumb against the wilderness, while congenital poor eyesight dulled his reaction speed. In the past, his monstrous cultivation had compensated for those glaring biological defects, but with the mana inhibitor locking him down, he was effectively nothing more than an ordinary ape.
"And take a good look over there."
I pointed across the clearing toward the timber structures. There lay the wreckage of my half-finished carpentry, smashed to splinters during Ggobongi’s earlier rampage. My plan was to work him to the bone until every single piece was restored.
"From this day forward, you're going to assist me with woodworking. Understand?"
It was always best to start with polite instructions. What if he couldn't understand Korean? No problem at all. If he didn't understand, I would simply discipline him until comprehension dawned. Granted, dealing with a wild beast rather than a human foreigner meant the training curve would be steep, but...
That's his problem, not mine.
I stared down at Ggobongi, who maintained a stubborn silence. His life would be vastly easier if he simply fell in line, yet he seemed entirely blind to that truth. Ideally, I would have broken his pride on the spot, but my practical options were limited.
I don't have the stomach for actual torture... which leaves forcing him to accept reality on his own.
He was smart enough to recognize his predicament. Without removing that collar, survival in the Forest of the Four Seasons was a pipe dream. Until he managed to get his hands on the key, his best odds of staying alive lay right here in this camp.
Time to get him out of those ropes.
The frost encrusting his bulky frame had begun to soften. I dragged a small fire pit closer to accelerate the thawing process. The first limb to break free of the ice was his right arm. The instant his shoulder loosened, Ggobongi lunged, driving his thick hand straight toward my forearm in a desperate bid to seize me.
Unfortunately for him...
BZZZZZZT!
"GRAAAAAGH!!!"
He had practically begged for that one. The moment his fingers grazed my skin, the suppressor collar discharged an agonizing surge of high-voltage lightning. That little shock therapy ought to have taught him another invaluable lesson: physical contact with me meant instant electrocution.
I snorted derisively at the dazed ape, whose fur stood on end from the current. "I told you that you should have given up, didn't I?"
"Urrrgh……"
Watching his pupils dilate and constrict in a hazy daze, it was clear my words had bounced off his scrambled brain. It appeared the collar discharged an even heavier jolt through physical contact than it did when merely suppressing mana circulation.
Since it powers itself entirely off the wearer's own latent mana reserves, I never have to worry about the battery running dry.
One way or another, Ggobongi was bound to this shelter for the foreseeable future. While the rest of his frozen limbs thawed by the fire, I turned the brass key over in my fingers. Leaving it on my person was an unnecessary risk; even with the shock collar active, there was always the danger of an ambush.
One might argue the shock ward made carrying it safe enough, but...
The bastard managed to survive in the Forest of the Four Seasons. His sheer tenacity shouldn't be underestimated.
Taking chances out here was a fool’s errand. I had clawed tooth and nail through hell just to stay alive, and this albino ape had undoubtedly walked a similar bloody path. Adding in the fact that he possessed a mind every bit as cunning as a human's, contingency planning was non-negotiable. Which raised the question: who was best suited to hold the key?
"Ppareumbo. This is yours to guard."
"……."
I decided to entrust it to my venerable master and undisputed sovereign of our camp, Fast Tree Sloth. First, I twisted tough wood fibers harvested from our carpentry into a sturdy cord. Threading it through the key’s loop, I tied it securely around Ppareumbo’s neck. Done. Now, retrieving that key was an impossibility. And if Ggobongi ever tried to pry it away by force?
Well, then he gets a front-row seat to a masterclass beatdown.
Leaving Ppareumbo on guard, I ducked into the cave while the last traces of frost melted from the gorilla's pelt. Since I needed him operational as manual labor immediately, medical treatment was mandatory. Treating severe frostbite was beyond my current resources, but the puncture wound from my sword was entirely manageable.
"All right. You can walk now, right?"
"……."
His body had completely thawed, and the deep puncture wound was cleanly sealed. Ggobongi stared at his hands and feet, flexing his fingers in stunned disbelief. Judging by his wide eyes, he was floored by the miraculous restorative potency of the Elixir.
"Enough gawkng. Time to earn your keep."
"……."
"Look at this guy. Keep ignoring me and I'll—"
"Kaishi."
The instant my hand began to reach toward him, Ggobongi blurted out the clumsy Zhongyuan phrase in a frantic rush. Proud martial beast or not, the dread of another electric roasting clearly ran deep. Satisfied by his prompt retreat, I laid out his assigned duties without further delay.
"Your job is simple. You're going to process these logs down to exact dimensions."
"……?"
Ggobongi merely tilted his massive head, his expression completely blank. He wasn't mocking me; he genuinely hadn't understood a single syllable, which brought an abrupt wave of weary exasperation crashing down on me.
Do I really have to teach this ape Korean from scratch?
Learning Zhongyuan myself was out of the question—I had neither the desire nor any earthly reason to bother. Suppressing a heavy sigh, I decided that demonstration was superior to verbal instruction.
"Watch closely. If you can't mimic this, prepare to get fried again."
"……."
Perhaps the threat struck the right chord, because Ggobongi uncrossed his bulky arms and leaned forward with tentative focus. The resentment lingering in his crimson gaze was plain as day, but that sullen defiance wouldn't last forever.
"See this? This is called a saw."
"……."
"And you hold it like... Ah, forget it. Just watch and copy what I do."
I shook my head, realizing I was essentially reciting scripture to a cow.
Humiliation. Bitter, unspeakable humiliation.
Such were the thoughts boiling within the albino gorilla who had just been saddled with the absurd, degrading moniker of "Ggobongi" by the human Grylls. One might dismiss the idea of a mere beast experiencing disgrace, but even beasts possessed emotions. More importantly, Ggobongi was an extraordinary specimen whose intellect was keen enough to comprehend human speech. His capacity for emotion far exceeded that of common wildlife, and the burn of shame cut deeper than any blade.
I will escape. One day, I swear it.
Ggobongi glared toward Grylls. His naturally compromised eyesight prevented him from making out the human's features in sharp detail, but one truth remained etched into his memory.
Cast out and despised by his own troop simply for being born different, he had once encountered a human who harbored no prejudice against his white coat—a master who had taught him language and the profound depths of martial arts. The memory of that revered figure had sparked an initial curiosity toward Grylls, but every shred of goodwill had evaporated through their brutal clashes. Humans were not all cut from the same cloth; past encounters had taught him that plenty were treacherous monsters. Thus, the only sentiments he harbored toward this captor were burning rancor and a thirst for vengeance. He had bowed his head for now out of necessity, but he would break away the first chance he got.
This foul contraption... It must be removed.
To secure his freedom, unlocking the suppressor collar around his neck was the primary objective. Though he hadn't grasped Grylls's strange language, the context made it glaringly obvious: that key was the sole path to liberation. At present, that very key hung around the neck of a bizarre, sluggish creature—the tree sloth. Which meant that to shatter his chains, the sloth had to die.
"I'm heading upriver for a moment," Grylls called out, grabbing a waterskin. "Keep a close eye on Ggobongi."
"……."
The opportunity presented itself far sooner than expected. Wi Baek—no, Ggobongi—fixed his crimson gaze upon the tree sloth. The creature was pint-sized and wore a perpetually vacant, dopey expression. Its polished, razor-sharp claws were somewhat unnerving, but so long as he remained vigilant, avoiding them would be trivial.
Every movement it makes is painfully slow and clumsy.
It was an undeniable truth observed during his battle against Grylls. Yet at the same time, a question nagged at the back of his mind: why had Grylls fought with this creature strapped securely to his back? Was it merely to scale trees more effortlessly using those wicked claws? Curious though it was, an ape was still an ape. Deprived of the higher abstract reasoning of human scholars, Ggobongi’s thoughts quickly collapsed into brute certainty.
I will slaughter it.
With resolve hardened, action followed in an instant. Ggobongi closed the distance toward the tree sloth with quiet, deliberate strides.
Flinch!
"……?"
Something felt desperately wrong. A shiver rippled through Ggobongi’s massive shoulders, arresting his advance. With every step he took toward the slumbering creature, an inexplicable, suffocating dread coiled around his chest. What was this premonition? He snapped his head left and right, scanning the perimeter. Had Grylls doubled back to watch him from the shadows? No, the human was nowhere in sight.
……Something is deeply amiss.
Governed by feral instincts far sharper than any human intellect, Ggobongi’s senses screamed a shrill, primal warning: whatever lurked behind that creature's benign exterior, it was lethal beyond measure. Yet would he retreat? Never. If anything, the creeping fear convinced him that this deed required an immediate, overwhelming strike. Swelling with terrifying bloodlust, Ggobongi flared his demonic presence and loomed over the diminutive beast.
"……."
The tree sloth merely blinked back, its face bathed in that trademark, utterly serene smile. From every angle, it radiated a complete, harmless docility. Who in their right mind would ever deem such an indolent herbivore dangerous? The real mystery was how something so painfully sluggish had managed to survive in this forest at all.
I almost feel a twinge of guilt.
A flicker of pity brushed against Ggobongi’s conscience. But this was the Forest of the Four Seasons—a brutal hellscape where survival demanded any cruelty. Slowly, his massive fist, dense as an iron warhammer, rose high into the air, blotting out the canopy above the sloth’s head. The sloth slowly tilted its chin upward, tracking the descending arm with agonizing languor. The motion was so agonizingly slow that even a beast found it excruciating to watch.
Blame your master for your fate.
Whispering the silent curse through clenched teeth, Ggobongi brought his crushing fist roaring downward—
SHRRRIIIP!
A snow-white head parted from its body and went flying through the air.