Chapter 35
While Reels busily grilled the snake meat.
Yerin beckoned to Kim Woong, who was standing blankly by the fire pit. Then she silently mouthed to him.
Ju-st. Co-me. he-re. fo-r. a. se-c.
Seeing that, Kim Woong almost had PTSD kick in.
It brought back unpleasant memories of being dragged into an alley by school bullies back when he was a skinny runt.
For some reason, he straightened his posture and followed Yerin over to a corner of the cave.
Yerin lowered her voice so Reels wouldn't hear and said,
"Kim Woong-ssi."
"Yes."
"You know I'm a proper senior here, right?"
"......? I mean, I'm only in my third year of streaming, but...."
"No."
Yerin cut him off with a fed-up look.
"What are you talking about?"
"Pardon?"
"I'm talking about in this party."
Kim Woong blinked stupidly.
Yerin cleared her throat once, then folded her arms with a haughty expression.
"Ahem."
"...."
"I joined up with Reels the moment we landed on this deserted island."
Then she asked meaningfully,
"What do you think that means?"
Kim Woong pondered for a moment, then carefully opened his mouth.
"...You got lucky?"
"Haa... that's true too, but that's not the point."
"Then...?"
"I'm Reels's closest aide."
"...."
"No, I mean I'm her right hand."
Only then did Kim Woong nod as if he understood.
"Ah! Now I get it."
"You know what I mean, right?"
"Yes!"
In other words, Yerin was warning him that she ranked above him in the party, so he should treat her with proper deference.
Kim Woong felt like a junior soldier getting smacked around by an army senior.
Yerin nodded in satisfaction, then lowered her voice as much as possible and whispered again.
"You're seriously lucky."
"...Yes?"
"You hit the jackpot meeting Reels. You're basically set to coast. Got it?"
"Honestly, I'm not really sure what you're trying to say, Yerin-nim."
Clicking her tongue, Yerin explained the situation to him.
"Tsk. Looks like you don't really know what's going on outside since you don't have a smartphone right now."
"...."
"Reels is a total superstar out there right now, you know?"
Kim Woong's eyes widened a little.
"Is that so?"
"Yep. If I had to guess, it's on a whole different level."
"But you don't have a phone either, Yerin-nim. How do you know what's going on outside?"
"Come on, have you only been watching streams for a day or two? Can't you tell at a glance?"
Yerin pointed a finger toward the fire pit where Reels was.
Reels, unaware of anything, was seriously flipping the snake meat like a blacksmith reforging a sword.
Kim Woong thought to himself.
'...Hmm. If she's our benefactor, I guess that would make sense.'
Even he had to admit she was impressive.
She looked like a soft little rice cake.
But she was sharp, skillful with her hands,
and somehow had a charm that drew people in.
Just then, Yerin lowered her voice even further and spoke.
"But."
"...?"
"You know what's the most dangerous thing in a case like this?"
"What is it?"
"You know. Hyenas."
At the word hyenas, Kim Woong's expression hardened.
Hyenas.
Cunning animals that covet what belongs to others.
Humans were the same.
As soon as someone got famous, old classmates they were never even close with would start reaching out,
shady brokers would start calling,
and there were always shameless people asking to borrow money.
"When someone suddenly blows up, all kinds of weirdos start swarming around them."
"...That's true."
"The kind of people who try to latch on somehow and mooch off the crumbs."
That kind of story was common in the streaming scene.
The reason streamers had applied for Mystery Rich's content
was to pick up scraps from streamers with a bigger platform than their own.
Yerin whispered with a confident look on her face.
"So."
"...?"
"We need to make sure Reels knows how dangerous the world is."
Kim Woong nodded confidently.
"Understood."
"...."
"Our benefactor is a pure soul."
"She still doesn't know how filthy the world can be."
The two of them looked toward Reels at the same time.
In front of the fire pit, Reels was flipping the snake meat while talking to herself.
"Oh."
"...."
"Snake. Looks tasty."
Yerin looked at Reels with a pleased smile, like a mother watching her child.
"See? She's pure because she hasn't been tainted yet. Ah, right! And API use is banned in our party, so remember that."
Kim Woong silently nodded.
@
Sizzle.
A savory smell rose from the snake meat as it browned to a golden color.
It was glistening with oil.
I turned the well-cooked meat with a branch and said,
"Even if snake meat looks cooked, you need to cook it all the way through before eating it."
"It really is okay to eat, right?"
"Yep."
Wild snakes carry a lot of parasites. So you have to cook them with enough heat to kill every last one.
My man from the documentary ate it just fine, though.
Still, once this content's over, I should probably take some deworming medicine.
Meanwhile, Yerin still looked dubious. But her reaction was completely different from before.
She'd been acting like I was asking her to drink poison, saying there was no way she could ever eat it.
But now that it was actually time to eat,
"Hmm... the smell isn't bad."
that was what she was saying.
As expected, hunger beats everything.
I picked up a piece of thoroughly cooked snake meat and held it out to Yerin.
"Try it first."
"M-me first?"
"Yep."
It wasn't like I was using her as a test subject or anything. She just looked curious about how it tasted.
The snake meat looked decent enough that Yerin didn't recoil the way she had with the caterpillar. After hesitating for a long while, she squeezed her eyes shut and put it into her mouth.
Munch munch.
"...How is it?"
"Hmm. It's not as bad as I expected. Compared to the caterpillar...."
"...."
"It is a little fishy, though."
"...."
"Weirdly enough, it kind of tastes like chicken too."
I took up a skewer and bit into the snake meat myself.
Nom nom.
Mm... but the texture was a little strange.
It was dry like chicken breast, but at the same time it had a chewy quality like fish.
The problem was the fine little bones running along the spine.
I kept chewing on bony bits in my mouth.
"Ptooey."
Frowning, I spat the little bones out of my mouth.
"Ugh. This is annoying to eat."
Before I knew it, Yerin was expertly stripping the meat off the bones like someone with a certification in removing tiny bones.
Munch munch.
The absurd sight made the words slip right out.
"Yerin-nim. Earlier you were saying it was too gross to eat."
"That was the past."
"...?"
"This is now."
She really was shameless by nature.
Then again, I guess that could be called part of her charm.
Kim Woong also cautiously took a bite of the snake meat.
"...Oh."
"...?"
"It really does taste similar to chicken breast."
Then he suddenly muttered with a moved expression,
"Not only am I no help, I end up owing my benefactor yet another debt...."
No.
Baby caught this, not me.
Anyway, it was nice to see everyone eating well.
Yerin was already on her second bite of snake meat.
"Reels."
"Yep."
"I think it would've been even better with some seasoning."
"...?"
Considering she was complaining about seasoning in a situation like this,
she must have been pretty satisfied with life on the deserted island.
@
[Confirmed No. 2 in the Reels Party.gif]
Author: BabyMom
(GIF of Baby utterly wrecking the snake in a one-on-one)
Just cool as hell, that's all there is to it
Those golden eyes make it feel royal too
The king-god-general-emperor-majesty-gorgeous-precious-beautiful-high-class-elegance-luxury-classic-genius-wonderful-lovely-world-top-class of the lizard world
Upvote if you agree
ㄴUpvote LOL
ㄴIt was seriously cool as fuck
ㄴIt woke up and immediately twisted the snake's neck
ㄴRank 1: Reels
ㄴRank 2: Baby
ㄴKim Woong <- boiler guy
ㄴYerin <- freeloader
ㄴBoiler guy and freeloader lmao, whoever came up with that nailed it
ㄴBaby smacking the snake's head with its tail was cool as hell
ㄴI went to the playground near my house earlier and kids were begging their parents to buy them lizards LOL
ㄴHonestly, how are you supposed to resist?
ㄴI asked my mom to get me one and got smacked on the back ㅠ
ㄴWhy?
ㄴShe said she can't raise two beasts in the house
ㄴㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
[Are documentary fangirls all like that?]
Author: Nongnongnongnongnong
(GIF of Reels cleaning the snake)
If I watch documentaries too, can I become like Reels?
How does she even know how to dress a snake?
ㄴIdiot, documentary fangirls don't even exist in the first place
ㄴKids these days are too busy posting try-hard pics on Insta
ㄴMy little cousin is in elementary school and she's already wearing makeup;;
ㄴBut can you really eat snake?
ㄴApparently our parents' generation ate it surprisingly often
ㄴHow do you know?
ㄴMy grandpa used to catch snakes
ㄴHe said if you lay out a tarp or something on a rainy day, snakes all crowd under it to avoid the rain
ㄴI'm reporting you
ㄴPlease just let this one slide
ㄴㅇㅋ
ㄴIf watching documentaries made you like that, everybody would already be the strongest humans alive
[How do you even eat snake? That's gross too]
Author: GirlCamFan
I was eating chicken and beer while watching the stream
and now my appetite's completely gone, fuck
ㄴShut up, hag squad bastard
ㄴLOL this dumbass is basically a Reels fan now
ㄴAt this point he's basically the dark knight uniting the fandom
ㄴFor real LOL
ㄴThe funniest part is that Yerin, the girl streamer, is eating it better than anyone else, fuck
ㄴ1 hour ago: Eek, gross!
ㄴ1 hour later: munch munch
ㄴHumans really do adapt fast
ㄴHonestly, it looks tasty if you're only watching it on screen
ㄴIf you're hungry, you'll eat anything lol
ㄴIt's a survival situation, what are you gonna be picky about? ㅇㅇ
ㄴPeople actually used to eat snake stew back in the day
ㄴMy grandpa said he even grilled frogs
ㄴPeople still eat that these days
ㄴ?
ㄴReels really has no hesitation
ㄴThe way she checked whether it was venomous had serious expert vibes
ㄴReels: You can usually tell from the head shape and the fang structure
ㄴThe average documentary addict is cracked ㄷㄷ
@
Shaaah.
The rain still showed no sign of stopping as water poured down from the sky.
Outside the cave entrance, the foggy spray was so thick it was hard to see anything.
Today was a lost cause too.
Having been forcibly turned into a "resting survivalist,"
all we could do was rest.
Rather than forcing ourselves outside and wasting stamina, it was better to get plenty of rest and work off the fatigue that had built up.
Yerin was lying on her stomach atop the bamboo bed, lazily swishing her legs.
Baby was curled up beside her, nodding off.
Kim Woong was by the fire pit, poking at the firewood so the fire wouldn't die.
Everything was peaceful.
Yerin, lying on the bamboo bed and listening to the sound of rain, suddenly spoke up.
"Hey, Reels."
"Yep."
"Have you thought about what you'll do after Mystery Rich's content ends?"
Hmm....
What would I do? I hadn't really thought about it.
The viewers had donated me a lot, so maybe I'd do something with that money?
"...I'm not sure."
"Huh? You're not going to keep streaming?"
"Mm. I'm not really sure being a streamer suits me."
At my answer, Yerin's face crumpled badly.
"Reels."
"...?"
"Are you serious right now?"
I shrugged.
"Yep."
Kim Woong, who had quietly been listening to us from the fire pit, spoke up.
"If you start streaming, Benefactor, you'll definitely make it."
"...."
"I guarantee it."
Why was he so certain?
Somehow, it felt like these two were more interested in me than I was.
All I wanted was to order a whole chicken and catch up on the documentaries I'd been putting off.
Yerin stared fixedly at me for a while, then suddenly sprang to her feet.
"This won't do."
"...?"
"Reels."
What's with her now?
I suddenly had a bad feeling about this.
Yerin stood in front of me with a solemn expression.
It was the same expression she'd worn when she said she'd teach me reactions last time.
"Big sis will kindly teach you how to stream, Reels."