Chapter 21
Before heading back to the cave, we stopped by the bamboo grove, cut a few stalks to take with us, and returned to the water source.
We needed water to cook the ramen.
"Hmm~ ramen~ ramen~"
Yerin was so excited she was even humming to herself.
Watching her, a question suddenly came to mind.
She could've bought ramen through the API whenever she wanted.
So why hadn't Yerin bought any until now?
Even though she'd blown five million won on a single bottle of sunscreen.
Curious, I asked Yerin.
"There's something I'm curious about."
"What is it?"
"It feels like you haven't been using the API much lately. Why's that?"
Yerin's face turned flustered at my question, and she immediately started stammering.
"U-uh? W-well, it's... because there's something else I want to buy... haha."
Her reaction was a little suspicious, but...
"Really? Okay."
It wasn't my money anyway.
It was money her fans had donated to her.
It probably wouldn't be polite for me to pry into it.
I didn't ask any more and started walking again.
Beside me, Yerin, still clutching the ramen packet to her chest, pointed at the bamboo in my hand.
"But why are you taking that?"
"The bamboo?"
"Yeah."
"We need to boil water."
"...?"
Yerin just blinked, looking like she didn't understand at all.
Is she seriously an airhead?
You obviously need hot water to eat ramen.
"We don't have a pot. We need bamboo if we're going to boil water."
Yerin opened one palm, then smacked it with her fist.
"Ah."
"...?"
"Right!"
Then she spoke with a serious face.
"We don't have a pot."
Well... as long as she's healthy.
If a woman is pretty, being a little empty-headed usually won't make life too hard for her.
After a long stretch of deep thought, Yerin suddenly went pale, like a deer that had just spotted a hunter.
"Rils. W-wait a second...."
"Yep."
"If we don't have a pot, how are we supposed to eat the ramen?!"
Seeing how dead serious Yerin looked, I let out a snort.
"There's a way to eat it, so don't worry."
@
Yerin was naturally quick on the uptake.
Just from how quickly she'd attached herself to Rils and started mooching off her, you could tell how shrewd she was.
Ramen?
If she used the API points she'd built up so far, she could buy as many packs as she wanted on the spot.
But Yerin didn't do that.
The reason was, of course, Rils.
Even when that ten-million-won donation first exploded onto Rils's stream, Yerin had been unsure.
'Did some whale with a fetish for tiny streamers latch onto her? No... you never know how things can turn out.'
This dawn.
Donations started pouring into Rils's stream like crazy.
Seeing that, Yerin became certain.
Something had happened. One hundred percent.
Viewers with all different nicknames were tossing huge sums at Rils like grandpas handing their granddaughters pocket money.
In a case like this, there were usually only two possibilities.
1. She'd managed to attract a herd of thirsty simps.
2. She'd become a superstar.
Number one was... obviously out.
Which meant there was only one option left.
Rils had become a superstar out there.
'I seriously hit the jackpot with this.'
Yerin swallowed dryly.
The kid she'd run into the moment she arrived on the deserted island was a superstar?
Then that meant Yerin was her one and only party member?
'Holy crap!'
One thought in Yerin's head led straight into another.
Why did people like Rils so much?
Of course, part of it was probably that she looked cute.
At a glance, she looked unbelievably soft and squishy.
And there was also the quirky charm of carrying a lizard around.
But that wasn't the core of it.
Rils's actions.
She didn't use the API. She walked around and found water herself, struggled and started a fire herself, and went out herself to gather food.
The viewers had been captivated by that.
Even Yerin, watching it all unfold right beside her, felt like she was dying of curiosity whenever Rils did something.
A cute girl rejecting modern civilization and living self-sufficiently like a primitive.
That was the key point.
'If I start buying this and that for myself through the API here...'
the whole atmosphere we'd built up so far would come crashing down.
Viewers were more sensitive about things like that than you'd think.
'For now, I absolutely can't ruin Rils's vibe.'
For the future, it was far more profitable to go through the hardship together and make good content.
Don't look at the trees. Look at the forest.
But that wasn't the only reason.
Even Yerin herself was surprised by how much fun she was secretly having with this kind of life.
Streamers often feel an emptiness in their everyday lives.
Most of them practically live on psychiatric meds.
Yerin, too, took prescribed sleeping pills whenever she couldn't fall asleep.
When she was streaming, it felt like she was getting more attention than anyone else in the world.
But the moment she turned the stream off,
a silence would settle around her, as though she'd been left alone in the world.
That gap only magnified the depression even more.
But... right now, it was different.
While living together with Rils, Yerin found herself strangely feeling alive.
The passion that had been cooling off over her years of streaming began to stir and come back to life.
She realized how precious the little things she normally enjoyed really were.
Watching Rils walking ahead with an excited face, carrying bamboo in her arms, Yerin thought,
'Well. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to go through a little hardship together.'
@
The ragged-looking man was nowhere to be seen at the water source. He must've washed up and gone back.
I crouched beside the pool and picked up pebbles one by one.
Not too big—just small enough to fit in my palm.
Yerin tilted her head as she watched me dip the pebbles in the water and carefully wash the dirt and sand off their surfaces.
"Why are you taking stones?"
"To boil water. Hand me the bamboo for a second."
"...?"
I carefully cut through one of the bamboo nodes with the knife.
Humans really do need tools. The bamboo that wouldn't budge no matter how hard I smashed it with a rock last time came apart easily now.
This was the power of civilization.
The inside of the bamboo was hollow.
Well, I heard there was some reason for that, something to do with how fast it grows.
Anyway, the hollow space was deep, making it perfect for a simple water container.
I carefully collected the water flowing from the cracks in the rocks in the bamboo tube.
Slosh.
The sound of clear water filled the bamboo. Yerin was still staring at me with a completely baffled look.
"But why do you need rocks to boil water?"
"If you put the bamboo directly over the fire, it could split."
"Ah."
"So I'm going to heat stones and put them inside to boil the water."
Yerin's eyes went round like a startled rabbit's.
"...Wow. Rils, are you some kind of genius? How do you even come up with that? That's amazing."
"You can't just use any stone, either."
"Why not?"
"If you get it wrong, they can explode."
Yerin flinched at the word explode.
"...Explode? They're rocks, not bombs. Why would they explode?"
"Yeah. They really can explode like bombs."
If a rock that has absorbed water is suddenly exposed to strong heat, the moisture trapped inside can make it crack apart.
People who didn't know that would sometimes get hurt trying to look fancy and grill pork belly on a stone slab.
Yerin's expression turned visibly serious at that.
"Now I'm suddenly scared."
"That's why I'm going to heat them slowly."
I gathered the clean pebbles into my arms.
Tonight's dinner was ramen.
@
The streamer forum was currently ablaze with heated debate.
[So in the end, didn't Rils use the API too?]
Posted by: GirlCamLover
She traded the water location for a knife, didn't she
Isn't that basically the same as using the API?
ㄴUpvote if this made you wonder about OP's IQ lmao
ㄴUpvoted
ㄴDon't block him, he's a sucker who sprays donos around
ㄴThe Nogoe Squad crawled out again
ㄴShe didn't buy the knife directly, dumbass
ㄴBut in the end she's still using a modern tool, isn't she?
ㄴThen what, should she use nothing but stone axes like a caveman? I'll cave your face in with one, where you at
ㄴThe Nogoe clowns are reaching so hard these days;;
ㄴStill, Rils getting the knife through trade instead of buying it through the API is kind of delicious
ㄴYeah, barter existed back in the day too
As usual, the Nongnong Squad and the Nogoe Squad were happily grabbing each other by the hair and fighting again today.
[I watch a ton of documentaries, so let me put this controversy to rest]
Posted by: SurvivalLover
Without a knife, you can't make any progress at all
Turn on the TV and put on literally any documentary
Even the experts bring basic gear;;
Conclusion: the Nogoe Squad is forcing it
ㄴHonestly, it would've been frustrating if she kept going barehanded
ㄴIt's way more fun than just clicking the API, yeah
ㄴThat's practically a survival-genre rule
ㄴPutty got water out of it too, so isn't it a win-win?
ㄴIt is a win-win, and it's only day 3
ㄴI really have no idea who's going to be left at the end
ㄴIs our queen actually looking like a winner now?
[They're finally eating real food like human beings!!!]
Posted by: Nongnongnongnongnong
Fuck, finally..
Sniffleㅠ
ㄴMoron lol
ㄴDidn't this dude spend like 25 million already?
ㄴDropped 25 mil and he's getting emotional over ramen lmao
ㄴBut seriously, how rich is he? Share some of that whale cash;;
ㄴRamen on a deserted island has to taste insanely good
ㄴI'd probably cry too after tasting MSG again for the first time in forever
ㄴHurry up and show us the queen's ramen mukbang
ㄴI had no idea you could boil water by heating up rocks
ㄴIsn't Rils actually super smart? Our baby's a genius
ㄴShe needs to join Mensa fr
@
Back in the cave, I carefully set the cleaned pebbles over the dying embers along the edge of the fire pit.
I stepped back a little, just in case something went wrong.
Crackle.
Amid the sound of the firewood burning, the pebbles slowly began to heat up.
Squatting beside me, Yerin stared anxiously at the stones, then bounced her feet impatiently like she couldn't stand the wait.
"Ah, I wish they'd heat up already."
"If I take them out too soon, the water won't boil."
"Then should I at least cheer the stones on and tell them to heat up faster...?"
She looked like she was seriously thinking it over.
Just how badly did she want ramen?
It was hard to believe she was a girl streamer with 300,000 subscribers.
After a little while, shimmering heat finally began to rise from the surfaces of the pebbles.
Using the chopsticks I'd made by shaving down a long branch, I carefully picked up the hottest stone.
Sizzle.
The heat was no joke.
When I dropped the hot stone into the bamboo tube filled with water,
Ssssssizzle!!
A burst of hot steam shot up, and the water's surface boiled violently. I immediately added the other hot stones one after another.
Plunk.
Sssht!
Plunk!
Bubble bubble.
The water inside the bamboo tube gradually heated up, and tiny bubbles began to form.
Hot steam spread through the cave.
Yerin swallowed, looking deeply moved.
"...It's really boiling. I wonder how good it's going to taste...."
Day 3 on the deserted island.
At last, the time had come for us to enjoy the taste of civilization.