I Was Stranded on a Deserted Island, but It's a Harem♡

* * *

Day 16 stranded on a deserted island, 10:11

Mmm…

I woke to the bright sunlight in the jungle. I felt strangely refreshed, but it looked like I'd slept in.

Everyone else was already up and moving around. I felt like I was the last one to get up.

I glanced at my wristwatch and was startled.

No one had woken me even though it was already this late?

Judging by the Assistant Manager, who was already up and doing something, it seemed less like everyone had simply forgotten and more like I'd been given special treatment.

I hadn't even been on watch last night…

I slowly sat up and looked around, then flinched.

Right in front of me, a big butt was wiggling in circles.

"Ah, you're awake?"

────

A woman in dolphin shorts stood in front of me, her pale, plump butt jiggling so conspicuously it was embarrassing.

Her breasts spilled out of her tank top, and she didn't seem to have any intention of covering them. Her back was almost completely bare, too.

For a moment, I wondered whether I should look away. In the end, I decided to keep watching.

Yuna was mopping the floor.

She was polishing the platform until it gleamed.

She'd already cleared away all the bedding, and it looked like she'd cleaned everywhere except the spot where I was lying.

She was cleaning, then. Nothing weird about this, right?

"Sorry, am I disturbing you while you sleep?"

"Not at all. I'm fine."

I was just a little surprised because I wasn't used to seeing her face.

We'd picked up that college-girl duo yesterday…

Yuna seemed to be in charge of cleaning, crawling around on all fours as she mopped the platform. Had she not noticed me staring just now?

Even with my morning wood standing up shamelessly, Yuna smiled kindly at me.

"I'll finish mopping in a little bit, then come down."

"Okay."

No, I mean… please, keep going!!

Watching a twenty-year-old college girl mop the floor had given me morning wood.

But instead of making a fuss, Yuna turned her back to me and kept cleaning with all her might.

Am I the only trash for imagining something like this?

Maybe Yuna wasn't thinking about anything at all.

Maybe those dolphin shorts and that tank top were simply all she'd been given to change into…

Even if it felt cooler here, there was nothing strange about dressing for summer.

Maybe my mind was just rotten.

…I thought that, then looked again.

Yuna still didn't seem to care that she was sticking her butt out as she mopped.

She was pretty defenseless.

Looking around the camp, I was reminded what an incredible sight it was.

The Assistant Manager, sweating as she prepared breakfast with her huge breasts visible under her braless top.

Manager Han Jia clapping as she watched Miryeong give a spiritual reading. Beneath her thin clothes, the curves of her side-boob and butt were plain to see.

Luka was showering and playing in the stream, still wearing her bikini.

─────

Ah, just two more women and this place already smells like a harem!?!

I was grinning to myself, imagining all sorts of happy things this early in the morning.

Wait, while Kim Woojin was sleeping, all these pretty, busty women were working for me?

Was I dreaming?

If it was a dream, I hoped I wouldn't wake up.

I watched Yuna stick out her butt as she mopped the floor.

What incredible hips…

She's so well-developed…. Hehe.

"Ah."

Our eyes met.

Had I looked like some perverted, sexually harassing old man?

Yuna smiled sweetly.

"We said we'd go look for that place where the grass grows today, right? I'll get ready right away."

"Sure."

"You can drop the formalities, Oppa Woojin."

Oppa Woojin… I liked the sound of that.

Now I think I understand why Luka had been so wary.

Yuna's horn-rimmed glasses gave me a familiar feeling. She had the approachable vibe of a college girl you might see studying in a library.

But if you looked closely at her face, she was just as pretty as Miryeong.

And her figure was more impressive than I'd expected—she'd been hiding her assets.

"Then I'll speak casually."

"Yes!"

As usual, I took a deep breath and checked the natural circulation of mana.

Hmm, it's going smoothly.

Most of the impurities in my body had been whittled away, and my muscles were visibly more defined.

I hadn't tested it, but my stamina had definitely improved, too.

It was reassuring to know my stamina kept getting better on a deserted island.

"Mr. Woojin~."

Manager Han Jia called out to me.

"Yes? Manager!"

I jumped to my feet.

"Assistant Manager Kang says breakfast is ready. Wash up and come eat~."

"Got it!"

Even while I showered, I kept thinking about Luka last night and Yuna's butt, and my cock wouldn't stop getting hard.

……

Having good stamina in this environment was pretty rough in a different way.

I couldn't help showing everyone that my cock was constantly getting hard, without a moment's rest.

There was nothing I could do about it. A man's arousal was hard to hide.

I was grateful that everyone pretended not to notice.

"Here, enjoy your meal."

After washing up, I sat at the edge of the platform to catch my breath. Seoyun and Jia handed out bowls to everyone.

No soup dish today?

"Did you sleep well? You were out cold."

There it was.

If the Assistant Manager didn't point out that I'd slept in, she wouldn't be the Assistant Manager!

Part of me was glad to hear it.

"I was dreaming about you, Assistant Manager. I didn't want to wake up."

I answered with my usual nonsense.

Then she'd tell me to quit talking rubbish…… Huh?

"……"

The Assistant Manager walked past without saying a word.

What was that? That wasn't the prickly Kang Seoyun I knew.

"I simmered the wild boar until it was tender."

Seoyun continued describing the menu in a slightly trembling voice.

I poked the meat with my chopsticks.

"It's so tender."

There was hardly any gamey smell, either. It was almost as if she'd cooked freshly butchered meat…

Well, it was freshly butchered meat.

Thanks to <Preservation>, the meat was still fresh today.

Seoyun smiled as she watched me smell it.

"To get rid of the gamey smell, I blanched it in boiling water and poured out the first batch. It's the sort of cooking method you can only use in a camp with plenty of water."

Yuna, who'd been listening, said in wonder,

"How do you have so much water? It's amazing."

"Oh, don't you know yet, Yuna? Mr. Woojin is…"

Seoyun passed the explanation over to me.

I knew the easiest way to explain it in a situation like this.

"I'm a wizard."

But hadn't I shown her how I made water pouches when I rescued them?

I'd had plenty of chances to demonstrate it on the beach, too…

"A wizard??"

Yuna's eyes widened.

She really seemed to be hearing about it for the first time.

Ah, right.

Knowing magic might exist wasn't common knowledge.

Even if I showed her directly, she'd probably just wonder, 'What is this?'

She'd only understand once I told her it was magic.

"Like this."

I conjured a water pouch again, right out of thin air.

Bloop

"Wow!!"

Miryeong and Yuna both reacted at once.

It was the very same ball of water that had saved them. Of course they recognized it.

Bloop, bloop

I made two more water pouches.

Stacked together like a snowman, they looked like a water spirit.

"So magic really does exist──."

"Maybe the spirits knew…! I can feel an incredible spiritual energy coming from my Husband!"

"Really?"

I shouldn't ask why she hadn't known until now, should I…?

At first, I thought she was an amazing shaman, but now she seemed like a friend about Yuna's age.

Just an ordinary college girl.

With a slightly unusual worldview?

‘But the spirits might really answer sometimes.’

Before, I wouldn't have believed in any of that.

The reason I didn't believe was pretty funny, too. My mom had spent money at all sorts of shamans' houses.

She'd basically asked when her wayward son was going to get a job.

The shamans told her that once I was old enough to have finished my military service, I'd get my act together and find my own path.

According to Mom, that's why she let me laze around for three years without saying anything.

She figured I'd sort things out on my own…

But when I didn't turn out the way the fortune-tellers predicted, Mom started fretting and went to Dad for advice.

And I, who'd done nothing but fool around, ended up as a contract worker for a cosmetics company, a job that had never been in my plans…

The rest is history.

Now that I'd learned magic, I could believe there might be mysterious powers in the world that I didn't know about.

Those shamans probably weren't the real deal, though…

If anything, I might believe in the Spirit of the Five Grains a little more.

"This camp has become more comfortable in all sorts of ways thanks to Mr. Woojin's magic."

Seoyun summed it up neatly.

"The temperature and humidity are much more comfortable, there's plenty of water, and we can shower and use the bathroom whenever we want…"

When she listed it all like that, I sounded like some historical figure…

Feeling awkward, I scratched my nose.

"And we have this meat thanks to Mr. Woojin, too."

"You're amazing, Oppa Woojin…. We nearly starved to death while exploring the island."

"Uu, Husband, you're so wonderful…."

Luka didn't understand what we were saying, so her eyes just darted around.

……

I let out an exaggerated sigh on purpose and said,

"今、ソユンさんが俺のことすごいって褒めちぎってるんだけどさ。そこまでじゃないって、ルカからも言ってやってよ。

(Right now, Assistant Manager Seoyun is praising me like crazy, saying I'm amazing. Tell her I'm not that amazing, Luka.)"

Luka's face lit up.

"えー？ だって、お兄ちゃんがすごいのはガチじゃん！ (Huh? But it's a fact that you're amazing, Big Brother!)"

The Assistant Manager looked at me as if she'd realized something, then smiled like she was saying, 「Not bad」.

Gasp.

I couldn't stand this atmosphere where everyone's opinion of Kim Woojin was suddenly skyrocketing.

I'm really not all that.

"Come on, let's eat before it gets cold!"

I bit into a glistening piece of meat.

!

Ghh. I see.

Yesterday's hot pot had been gochujang-based. Today's was savory soy sauce.

Now I understood why Seoyun had been staring so intently at the pot all morning. She'd been making sure the meat was cooked to perfection.

'It's just right. She picked a cut with some fat on it.'

She must've thought lean meat alone wouldn't have enough flavor or the right texture…

Is the Assistant Manager a genius? The more I chewed, the more easily it fell apart along the grain. The fat around the edges melted on my tongue along with the hot juices.

Every bite brought a rich, almost overwhelming meaty flavor.

I never knew wild boar could get this tender if you simmered it long enough.

Pork with soy sauce as its best friend was invincible.

It delighted my tongue with a different flavor and tenderness from yesterday's meal.

"It's delicious. Sniff. It's so delicious…."

"Waaah. Yuna, I'm glad we survived."

Yuna and Miryeong were nearly crying as they ate again today.

Seoyun watched my reaction closely.

Cough.

Was she going to ask me for another review?

"How is it, Mr. Woojin?"

Come to think of it, Seoyun always checked with me.

"It's delicious. It'd be perfect if we had rice."

"Huh?"

"白いご飯があればいいなって言ったんだよ。 (I said it'd be nice if we had white rice.)"

"ルカもめっちゃわかる……！ (Luka totally gets that, too…!)"

And it wasn't just Luka, the Japanese girl.

In cultures like ours, where rice is a staple, meat alone always feels like it's missing something.

In other words, carbs.

Everyone seemed to agree, even if they didn't say it.

"Still, rice on a deserted island would be such a luxury."

Seoyun said it with regret, as if it couldn't be helped.

"Should we try farming?"

"How long are you planning to stay here…?"

"I'm kidding."

I didn't know enough to farm, anyway.

Besides, starting a farm would be more or less the same as settling here until harvest──

We'd put it on the back burner for now, but it didn't seem like something to consider while we were looking for a new place to settle.

"Still, that shows how much we're longing for rice. I feel the same."

"Uuung…. That's right. It's a luxury problem, but I wish we had rice~. The better the meat is, the more I miss it."

Manager Han Jia sucked on the tip of her chopsticks, looking wistful, too.

We'd seasoned the meat lightly, knowing we had no rice, but it still made me think of it.

Maybe I shouldn't have brought it up.

Maybe I'd stirred up everyone's longing for rice too much.

After we finished eating, Seoyun gathered the exploring gear and showed up in front of me as if it were a matter of course.

"Mr. Woojin, let's go gather some edible grass today."

"……"

"Come on, hurry up and get up."

Aaargh, I don't want to work!!

I wanted to howl, but I still put on a grown-up front.

How did everyone manage to live so diligently?

"Oh, Mr. Woojin."

Manager Han Jia came over to me as I prepared to leave.

"Yes?"

"Could you check if the rescue team has come today?"

The rescue team?

Han Jia twisted bashfully from side to side.

"I got a spiritual reading that they might come today…."

"Okay."

The Manager liked fortune-telling, too, huh.

Even if the chances were low now, it was still worth checking once in a while.

Seoyun nodded solemnly, too.

"I'll bring back something useful today, too."

"Good luck, Assistant Manager Kang. And you too, Mr. Woojin and Yuna!"

"Okay!"

Survival came first.

I wanted to survive as lazily as possible, but sometimes things went the way everyone else wanted.

Going with the flow was part of being Kim Woojin, too.

Just as we were all about to leave the camp, we found Miryeong waiting for us with a worried look.

"Husband."

Last night, Miryeong had said she'd come along, but Yuna had said she'd guide us on her own.

「I'm just going to show them the patch of plants we found, that's all.」

In other words, Miryeong didn't need to come along, and we mostly agreed.

They'd been given time to rest, but after starving for so long, Yuna and Miryeong still hadn't fully recovered their strength.

"Do you want to come with us?"

"No…! It's not that. Something worrying came up in your reading, Husband."

────Phew.

Here it comes.

I felt a little dizzy and wanted to pretend I hadn't heard it, but now that I had, I couldn't just not ask what it was.

"I'm sorry. The spirits suddenly brought it up──."

"It's fine. If it's something bad, we just have to avoid it. So, what did the spirits say?"

"The thing is, even I don't really understand it."

Hmmm?

Even the shaman who received the reading doesn't understand it?

What on earth could it be?

"I'll pass it on exactly as they said it."

Miryeong steadied her breathing and said,

"

Something that is a deer, but isn't a deer

—that's what they told me to beware of."

??

What kind of riddle was that……

"Do they mean I should beware of something that looks like a deer?"

"Yes, but the spirits clearly said it wasn't a deer."

Beware of something that's a deer, but definitely not a deer?

The spirits' contradictory wording seemed to bother Miryeong, too.

Hmm?

Well… I'll keep that in mind for now.

"Husband, please be careful."

"Thank you, Miryeong."

Yuna strode confidently into the jungle.

"This way."

"Have a good trip, Yuna! You too, Husband and Seoyun Unni. Be careful~!"

Miryeong waved goodbye to us.

We followed Yuna downstream along the valley, moving more leisurely than usual to match her pace.

A deer, but not a deer.

That strange spiritual reading lingered in my mind.