Chapter 20
Among negotiation techniques, there's something called the door-in-the-face tactic.
You deliberately start by throwing out a big demand.
And when the other side refuses it,
-Then how about this?
that's when you bring out the terms you actually want.
That's just how people work.
If the first offer is too big, the second, smaller one feels easier to accept by comparison.
If I'd asked for just the knife right from the start,
that man probably would've offered two packs of ramen.
So I deliberately made the ask bigger by including the fishing rod too.
Of course, I never actually intended to take the fishing rod.
If I took that, what was he supposed to live on?
I'm not that heartless.
The knife, on the other hand, was painful but still something he could give up. And when our reaction stayed lukewarm, he even added ramen.
Tempted by the offer, I turned back and walked over to the ragged-looking man again.
"In exchange for telling us where the water source is."
"...."
"The knife and two packs of ramen."
"...."
"And information on when the tide goes out. Right?"
The man let out a long, heavy sigh. Going by his face alone, it looked like half his soul had already left his body.
"...Ha."
Then he nodded, as if he'd given up.
"Let's do that."
Strictly speaking, I was the one taking the loss. On a deserted island where a bottle of water cost a million won, the location of a water source was incredibly valuable.
But.
I needed a knife.
And I had no intention of using the API to buy one.
The goal was to survive this deserted island through self-sufficiency.
I never thought I'd get a knife for free.
This unexpected windfall put me in a very good mood.
Hehe.
The man looked regretfully at the jungle blade hanging from his waist, then finally handed it over to me.
Clack.
Maybe because I'd gotten weaker, it felt pretty heavy.
I carefully took the knife.
"...Oh."
Now I could hack through brush like an adventurer and make all sorts of useful things.
I'm so excited!
Right away, the man, his hands trembling, handed the remaining two packs of ramen to Yerin.
Yerin's eyes went wide.
"Ramen!!"
She hugged the ramen to her chest like it was a luxury handbag.
She really must not have wanted to eat caterpillars.
The man watched how happy we were and smiled bitterly.
"...Now then, shall we exchange information?"
Then he pointed toward the sea.
In the distance, I could see a rocky outcrop submerged in the waves.
"You see that rock over there?"
"Yes."
"Around the time it starts getting dark, that rock will slowly begin to show."
"...."
"That's the sign the tide is going out. I don't have a watch, so I can't be exact, but usually the water fully recedes about three hours after sunset."
Low tide.
Once the water starts receding, shellfish and crabs buried underwater become easy to catch. If we're lucky, we might even get to eat charcoal-grilled shellfish on this deserted island.
I quietly nodded.
"That's good information."
"Right?"
The man put on an oddly proud expression.
Now it was our turn.
I pointed at the rocky hill visible beyond the forest behind us.
"You see that rocky hill?"
"Yes."
"The water's near there."
A brief silence followed, and the man's expression stiffened a little.
"...Is that it?"
"Yup."
"No."
He looked dumbfounded.
"Isn't that a bit much? You need to tell me the exact location."
"...."
"What if I go by myself and can't find it? I'll just suffer for nothing."
Hmm.
Well, in the end, trust is what matters most in an information trade.
Especially in a situation this extreme.
That man was a potential future sucker...
No. A potential trading partner.
After thinking for a moment, I said,
"...Then I'll take you there. But."
"What now? You're really trying to bleed me dry."
"Let's keep the location of the water source a secret between ourselves."
The man's face instantly brightened.
"Of course. Who would be crazy enough to tell someone else information this valuable? I'd never do that!"
Was this really the same person who'd been on the verge of tears just a moment ago after losing his knife?
He seemed extremely excited by the thought of being able to wash up again for the first time in ages.
I understood.
He practically looked like a wild monkey.
I gave him another quick once-over.
His bushy beard still looked untrimmed,
and he smelled of brine.
Beside me, Yerin muttered under her breath.
"...Wow."
"...?"
"That guy really needs to wash."
It seemed best to wrap up our coastal search here for today.
If we wanted to go forage the tidal flats later, there was a lot to prepare.
More importantly, we'd had an unexpected haul.
Ramen!
The soul food of Koreans, the devil's invention that has addicted modern people's souls with MSG, carbs, salt, and oil.
We absolutely had to eat this today.
Before I knew it, the man had gotten to his feet and clapped excitedly.
"Sounds good! Then let's get moving. I went into the jungle alone on the first day and went through hell, you know? Having you two here makes me feel a lot safer."
Leaving the sound of the crashing waves behind, we headed back into the jungle.
@
Fishing streamer Putty.
400,000 subscribers, 1,200 average viewers.
At a glance, he looked like a friendly older guy, but he'd survived all kinds of ups and downs in the streaming world to make it this far.
His main content was survival fishing.
He'd take a boat to a rocky shore and do overnight fishing trips, or sit there in the pouring rain with a raincoat on, gripping his rod.
Even his stream titles were usually along these lines.
【72-Hour Roughing-It Fishing】
【Typhoon-Day Breakwater Black Porgy Challenge】
【Surviving with Just One Fishing Rod】
So he was confident.
'A deserted island should be manageable.'
Honestly, as long as you could catch fish, you weren't going to starve to death.
But.
There was one problem.
"...Ha."
He'd arrived on the deserted island full of confidence,
but he couldn't find water anywhere.
There was seawater everywhere, but not a drop he could drink.
That was enough to drive a person insane.
In the end, Putty had spent most of the donations he'd received so far on buying water.
If he hadn't asked people he knew in advance to donate before coming to the island, he would've been eliminated long ago.
At first, he'd used the money he'd received to buy a knife and a few packs of ramen.
The knife was essential for cleaning fish,
and the ramen was for content.
If he did a "deserted island ramen mukbang," there was a higher chance he'd at least get a little airtime on Mystery Rich.
After that, he used almost all of his donations to buy bottled water.
Even if he caught fish, he needed water to clean them,
and he needed water for himself to drink too.
Humans needed an absurd amount of water just to live.
'How much is this going to cost if I want to last two weeks...?'
Putty ran the numbers in his head.
Around 15 million won for the knife and ramen.
5 million won on water so far.
And considering how much time was left,
'This is going to cost at least 40 million.'
He was brooding over that while fishing by the shore when Rils and her group appeared in front of him.
And they said they knew where a water source was.
Putty's eyes lit up.
'A sucker.'
Conveniently, the party was just two girls.
And one of them was a little girl carrying a lizard in her arms.
'The party leader must be that blonde woman.'
Young people without much experience usually spilled information easily if you prodded them a little.
But that was Putty's mistake.
That little kid
immediately started throwing absurd demands at him.
"Give me the fishing rod."
"...Pardon?"
"The knife too."
The moment he heard that, Putty's head spun.
'Is this kid a complete bandit?'
The fishing rod and the knife.
Those were core survival tools.
The calculator in Putty's head started spinning like mad.
Fishing set, 20 million.
Knife, 10 million.
Total, 30 million.
30 million for the location of one water source?
He ran the numbers again.
'Hmm. No matter how I look at it, isn't that too expensive?'
The cost of the water needed to survive two weeks was no joke,
but there was still a chance he might stumble across water by luck.
Taking that deal as-is just didn't add up.
Putty tried to negotiate with the warmest smile he could manage.
"Haha, the fishing rod is a little... Maybe just the knife."
"Then we'll be going."
The little kid's reply came back sharp as a knife.
On top of that, there wasn't a shred of hesitation in the way she walked.
She was really about to turn around and leave.
Putty was flustered out of his mind.
Most young people that age wavered if an adult coaxed them even a little.
But this brat was different.
She never gave an inch in negotiations.
She looked like an ordinary kid, but her attitude was strangely cold-blooded.
Even the blonde woman he'd taken for the party leader just went along with the brat's decision.
Only then did Putty realize.
'That brat's the one really in charge of this party.'
In the end, Putty was the first one to crack.
"...Wait!"
He'd already lost the momentum.
They'd acted from the start like people who wouldn't care even if they didn't get the fishing rod or the knife,
but Putty needed water too badly.
That difference decided the negotiation.
"Th-Then let's do the knife and two packs of ramen."
Even as he said it, Putty clicked his tongue inwardly.
'They're no pushovers.'
@
The jungle was extremely rugged.
The ground was damp, and vines tangled in from every direction.
It looked like the kind of place where you'd get lost the moment you let your guard down.
But.
Those two moved through it far too naturally.
Like they were walking around their own living room.
Sweating profusely, Putty stared at their backs as they led the way.
'What the hell happened to them over the last two days?'
Especially that brat.
She was so excited it was hard to believe she was the same kid who'd just been seriously negotiating a moment ago.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
With her newly acquired knife, she neatly sliced through the vines in front of her.
Then she said with a secretly proud face,
"Wow. It really cuts well."
She was even swinging the knife around and showing it off to her companion.
"Yerin, did you see?"
"Mm-hm. Rils, you look so cool."
Looking at her now, she was completely just a kid.
It didn't even feel like she was the same person who'd nearly bled him dry at the negotiating table.
Putty could only let out an empty laugh.
'Seriously, this is ridiculous.'
How long had they walked like that?
After nearly an hour of slogging along in a sweat, they finally stopped.
"We're here."
Putty raised his head, breathing hard.
"...Whoa."
The moment he saw the scene in front of him, awe slipped out.
Clear water was slowly flowing down between the cracks in the rocks.
There was even a small pool formed below.
It was real water!
"W-water!"
Putty practically ran toward the pool.
Splash!
He dropped to his knees and scooped up water with both hands, throwing it over his face.
Splash!
"...Khaaa."
He felt like he could live again.
It felt like finding an oasis in the desert.
The stress of surviving for days on tiny rationed amounts of bottled water washed away all at once.
Putty frantically drank and washed his face again and again.
He poured it over his head and splashed it over his arms too.
Watching him, the two muttered softly.
"...He looks really happy."
"Of course. Do you know how important washing is?"
"True. We wash every day, so I guess we didn't really think about it."
The brat was squatting on the ground, fiddling with her new knife.
She really seemed to love it.
Only after soaking himself for quite a while did Putty finally come to his senses. Then he turned back and said,
"...Thank you. Really."
"Yup."
"If you need anything later, just let me know. I'm Putty."
But their attention was already somewhere else, not on Putty anymore.
"Yerin."
"Hm?"
"Let's go already."
"Ramen?"
"Ramen."
Their eyes sparkled at the same time.
They gave Putty a casual little wave, then disappeared into the jungle.
"Take care, then."
"Ah, right."
"Just in case, make sure you boil the water before drinking it."
"Understood!"
Putty stood there watching their retreating backs for a long moment, then brushed back his wet hair and said,
"...They're seriously strange people."
Putty had a feeling that the most dangerous wild card in this deserted island project might just be those two.