Chapter 12
Even before the age of hunting and gathering, humans had already formed groups.
Because being in a group was far more efficient than being alone.
The streamers stranded on the deserted island were no different.
Where Rils and Yerin had left.
A sturdy-built man was being nagged by two women.
"Oppa, I think you're being a little inconsiderate."
The long-haired woman said it in a voice full of dissatisfaction.
"Isn't it normal to ask for our opinion too? It's not like you're living alone."
"Exactly."
The bob-haired woman beside her chimed in.
"And maybe Yerin is one thing, but that kid Rils just looks like dead weight. Why bring him into the group? It's not like a nobody streamer like him is going to pull any donations."
"Ah...."
The man scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
"Sorry. I'll ask next time."
He apologized readily on the surface, but inwardly he was cursing them out.
'You two aren't any help either. If anything, the kid who eats less and shits less would be better.'
Honestly.
Up to now, those two hadn't lifted a finger.
Yesterday, they couldn't build a shelter, so they had no choice but to sleep out in the open.
They whined so much about being cold
his ears were about to bleed.
'If they're going to be like this, why the hell did they even sign up for this content?'
The man's name was Kim Woong.
He was a fitness YouTuber.
He had 800,000 subscribers.
His main content was uploading fitness-related videos and inviting girl streamers on to test their big three lifts.
Surprisingly, the views were enormous.
Provocative thumbnails and reactions from girl streamers.
The solid, dependable image typical of a gym rat.
With that combination, Kim Woong had blown up.
He knew the two women he was with now through content work as well.
But.
Now that they were actually on a deserted island, their personalities were a complete mess.
'They seriously won't move at all....'
Even so, Kim Woong didn't show much dissatisfaction.
That was just how he was.
Women, children, and the elderly should be protected.
Men should do the harder work.
Honestly, it was a pretty old-fashioned mindset.
Even in 2026, the ideas deeply rooted in the world hadn't changed much.
Back when he was a student, if a boy so much as argued with a girl,
the teachers would always scold the boy.
-What kind of guy picks a fight with a girl?
The boys were always the ones carrying the heavy stuff too.
Even after becoming an adult and entering society, those attitudes weren't all that different.
That men should be considerate toward women.
Kim Woong readjusted the load in both hands and let out a sigh.
"Let's get moving for now. We can't keep buying water forever. We need to find drinking water first."
At that, the long-haired woman frowned.
"Ah... can't you just go by yourself, oppa?"
"Huh?"
"I'm seriously exhausted. My legs are killing me after walking all day since yesterday."
The bob-haired woman beside her immediately chimed in as well.
"Yeah. I feel like my skin's about to completely freak out."
"...."
Kim Woong couldn't say anything for a moment at their shameless attitude.
They were practically treating him like some servant from the Joseon era.
And yet he was the only one doing any actual work.
'...Hang in there.'
Kim Woong took a long, deep breath inwardly.
There's nothing to gain from fighting with women.
If he acted emotionally, it'd only damage his image.
He forced a smile and said,
"It's because it's safer if we move together."
"Ehh...."
"Just bear with it a little longer."
The two women grumbled with displeased looks, but in the end they started following him.
Meanwhile, Kim Woong's patience was slowly being worn away.
@
Feeling the burning stare from behind, I had no choice but to turn my head around.
Yerin was trailing right behind me, her lips stuck way out.
"Why are you pouting?"
"I-I'm not pouting, okay? Who said anything? Hmph."
She sounded obviously, incredibly pouty.
Maybe it was because I'd gotten caught trying to make a run for it in the bamboo grove earlier.
In any case, she was clearly upset.
I'm bad at situations like this.
Worse than surviving on a deserted island.
Ever since I was little, I'd been closer with documentaries than with friends.
I wasn't used to dealing with people.
Since she was upset, apologizing was probably the right move.
I scratched the back of my head and said,
"...I won't do that again."
At that, Yerin's pouted lips twitched slightly.
"Really?"
"Yes."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
Only then did Yerin's expression soften a little.
'She's pretty simple.'
Before I knew it, we'd left the bamboo grove and started walking deeper into the jungle again.
As the scenery changed all at once, a yellow wave greeted us.
Grasses far taller than my now-smaller height stretched out endlessly.
A vast field of grass swaying gold in the sunlight.
Silver grass.
Every time the wind blew, a soft shaaah rolled over us like waves.
But this grass.
Despite how it looked, it was actually a pretty troublesome plant.
"It'll be hard to just cross through it."
"Why?"
I lightly pinched and tugged one blade of silver grass nearby with my finger. The leaf's edge flashed in the light.
The edges of the silver grass blades were densely lined with tiny sawlike ridges.
It was basically a natural razor blade.
My brother complained about this a lot when he was filming documentaries too.
If you shoved your bare skin through grass like this, you'd turn into a hedgehog in no time.
"Can't we just brush it aside with our hands and go?"
When Yerin absentmindedly tried to push the silver grass aside with her bare hand and step forward, I immediately caught her wrist.
"You'll cut yourself like that."
"Huh?"
"These things are really sharp."
Startled, Yerin quickly pulled her hand back.
"Why is grass this dangerous...."
"Nature's like that."
If we'd had a machete, we could've hacked our way through the thick grass.
But we didn't.
So cutting our way through the silver grass was practically impossible.
That meant we had no choice but to use another method.
I picked up a long branch nearby, then gave Yerin a demonstration.
"You do it like this."
Swoosh.
Using the long stick, I pushed the silver grass down, then pinned it with my weight so it couldn't spring back up.
"If you do it like this and step over it, you can get through."
With the grass pinned down so it couldn't scrape against our bodies, it was much safer.
Yerin carefully followed behind me.
"Oh... it's easier than I thought. Did you see this in a documentary too?"
"Yes."
"Just how much do you love documentaries?"
I shrugged.
Dramas and movies about things that would never happen in real life were fun too, but I preferred documentaries that showed reality as it was.
Please respect my tastes.
Anyway, today's objective was clear.
Find a decent place to settle.
And start a fire.
As for food, it'd be nice if we happened to find some while looking for a campsite.
We could come back to the bamboo grove later, once I had a knife.
By then, I'd probably be able to make a water container and a bunch of other things too.
@
[Gwaaaaargh]
Author: (183.22)
I'm a Kim Woong fan, and this is pissing me the hell off
I thought things might finally get better once he met up with Rils's group,
but those catty bitches, holy shit
They don't help at all and just keep stirring up shit
Rils is 9,999,999 times more useful than you are
ㄴlol dumbass, just switch to Rils's side
ㄴI got fed up watching other streamers and now I only watch Rils
ㄴIsn't Kim Woong basically the world's biggest sucker? No one's more of a doormat than him lol
ㄴ(Author): He's seriously rage-inducing to watch;;
ㄴAt this rate he's gonna snap soon
ㄴNah, but Kim Woong is nice too. He's been busting his ass alone since yesterday
ㄴHe's not nice, he's stupid
ㄴfr the girls found themselves a perfect sucker and are just working him to death. Since he's the one taking the lead himself, nobody can even call them out on it lol
ㄴStill, I'm jealous he has a machete
ㄴIf Rils got that, he'd probably be able to kill a jaguar with it
ㄴYou dumbass, what is the forum fave, some kind of Heavenly Demon? You're telling him to kill a jaguar with a machete
ㄴThe forum fave was going for a solo run from the start anyway
ㄴThen why's he bringing Yerin around?
ㄴHe just picked up a stray cat, that's allㅇㅇ
ㄴA girl streamer with 300k subscribers became a stray cat lmao
[The forum fave picked up a magic sword and is crossing the grass field]
Author: Nongnongnongnongnong
(GIF of Rils pressing the silver grass down with a tree branch as he moves through it)
Seriously impressive bb
ㄴㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
ㄴWhat the hell is that now
ㄴHe really feels like some endgame veteran, holy shit. If it were me, I'd have just shoved the grass aside with my hands and gone through
ㄴI just learned today that silver grass has serrated edges
ㄴApparently if it scrapes your skin it stings like crazy
ㄴHow do you even know stuff like that?
ㄴApparently the forum fave is a documentary stan
ㄴThat gap is insanely charming
[But seriously, not using the API all the way through is hardcore]
Author: GirlStreamerFan
He's cheap as hell
Just buy something already lol, it's driving me nuts
ㄴYou're on another baby Rils hate train again, huh? You bitch
ㄴWhy don't you donate and buy him a machete yourself
ㄴ(GirlStreamerFan): He wouldn't use the API even if I donated anyway
ㄴㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
ㄴThat's actually hilarious
ㄴBut Yerin's keeping up pretty well too
ㄴAt first I thought she was just a whiner, but she's holding out better than I expected
ㄴRils takes good care of her
ㄴIt was cute when she slept in Rils's arms yesterday. They looked like a mom and daughter
ㄴUrgh urgh urgh urgh
@
Shaaah.
How long had we been making our way through the silver-grass field?
Behind me, Yerin was speaking in an almost absent-minded voice.
"Rils."
"Yes."
"We can find somewhere to stay before today ends, right?"
"Probably."
I gave a vague answer as I surveyed the terrain around us.
Once we'd crossed the silver-grass field, the ground started rising little by little. And there were more rocks.
Higher ground drained well too.
Water naturally flowed downhill.
It was also less damp than terrain with a lot of soil.
More importantly, it somewhat limited the paths animals could use to approach.
I slowly walked along the rocky area.
"...Huh?"
Then I noticed something.
At the foot of the rocks.
A gap large enough for one person to fit inside comfortably.
It was a naturally formed cave.
More precisely, it was closer to a small rock shelter.
"Oh."
My eyes lit up as I inspected the inside.
It wasn't as deep as I'd expected, but even this would be enough to block the rain and wind.
The floor was more stone than dirt, so it wasn't soggy.
The entrance wasn't too wide either, which made it look good for blocking out the night air.
We could always make a door and hang it later.
Yerin spotted the cave too and belatedly widened her eyes.
"Wow. It's a real cave? That's amazing."
I carefully stepped inside and looked around.
No traces of animals.
No carcasses, no droppings, and the cave's characteristic stale smell wasn't too strong either.
Even the rock ceiling looked more stable than I'd expected.
There were hardly any cracked sections,
and although there were traces here and there of rainwater leaking in, it wasn't severe.
For the first time today, it felt like we'd found a proper candidate for a home base.
But there was one problem.
"There are quite a few bugs on the floor and walls."
Small insects wriggled here and there across the cave floor and walls.
Maybe because it was the jungle, there was a wide variety of bugs too.
The moment Yerin saw them, she recoiled in disgust.
"Ugh."
"This is actually on the better side."
"How is this the better side?!"
Instead of answering, I carefully set Baby, who had been tucked against me, down on the ground.
"Go on."
Flick.
As if it had been waiting for that, Baby flicked out its tongue and immediately started prowling around the cave.
And then.
Flick.
Chomp.
Crunch.
It began indiscriminately slaughtering bugs.
"...."
Yerin and I blankly watched Baby butcher the insects.
When one bug clinging to the wall tried to flee,
Baby lunged like lightning and crunched it down on the spot.
Crunch crunch.
"Wow...."
Yerin muttered with a sickened look.
"It really works hard."
"On a deserted island, it has to take care of its own meals."
I nodded in satisfaction.
As expected.
Bringing Baby to the deserted island was definitely the right call.
Better than most people.