Chapter 37
Tsk. I thought she'd been quiet lately, but here we go again.
Yerin clicked her tongue inwardly and frowned at Reels, who was preparing to do something bizarre.
Baby was lying quietly in Yerin's arms.
"Reels. No matter how I look at this, it really doesn't seem like a good idea."
"What doesn't?"
"What kind of crazy person sets a trap and then tests how well it works on their own body?"
"Um... me?"
"......"
What made it even more infuriating was how calmly Reels answered, as if she had no idea how worried Yerin was.
Yerin let out a deep sigh.
What if she got hurt?
If Kim Woong were here, he'd have helped stop her, but that little runt was stubborn as hell and wouldn't listen to a word Yerin said.
Reels ignored her and gave the area around the trap one more inspection.
"Testing is essential."
"Why?"
"It's my first time setting one up, so I'm not fully sure it'll work properly."
Reels pointed at the trap with a serious face.
"It might react too fast, too."
"Then throw a rock or something and test it."
"That won't feel like the real thing. Animals struggle like crazy once they get caught in a trap."
"And who exactly tests that with their own body?!"
Yerin shouted in disbelief.
But Reels already looked like she'd made up her mind.
"It's okay. I won't get hurt."
That was exactly the kind of thing that made this even more nerve-racking.
That's the kind of line the first person to die in a movie always says.
—There are no such things as ghosts. Just trust me and follow me.
—Come on, it's just an animal. One bullet and it's over.
—A zombie virus? There's no way something like that exists.
It felt like a textbook cliché was about to play out.
Reels crouched right down in front of the snare.
Then, without a moment's hesitation, she slipped her small foot into the loop.
"Yerin-nim, watch closely. Let's see if the trap works properly."
"Hey. Wait!"
The instant Reels' foot touched the snare and she moved it just a little—
Snap!
The branch holding it in place came loose.
At the same time, the bent branch sprang upward at tremendous speed.
"Aah?!!!"
In an instant, Reels was lifted into the air.
Dangling.
"......"
Yerin stared blankly up at Reels hanging in midair. Reels was spinning round and round with one leg caught.
"...Well, at least it works properly. Yerin-nim, please get me down."
"Are you seriously insane?"
@
[When's the rain gonna stop? This stream is boring as hell]
Poster: (23.144)
Fuck, everyone's holed up in their shelters and nobody's moving
It's not like this is CCTV
ㄴIdiot, can you not see it's raining? How are they supposed to move in that?
ㄴThe rain's coming down way too hard
ㄴJust watch Reels Party's banter, it's funny
ㄴFor real lol
ㄴYerin keeping Kim Woong in line is funny too
ㄴFeels like they just rounded up a bunch of comic relief characters?
ㄴDamn lol Reels and the idiot
ㄴLeave Baby out of this
ㄴObviously, Baby's the competent one
[But does that trap even work?]
Poster: GirlCamLover
(Image of Reels setting a trap near the water source)
Honestly, it looks janky as hell
Can that really catch an animal?
Feels like a waste of time;;
ㄴPrimitive traps are supposed to look like that
ㄴPicking the location is what matters
ㄴLet's test it on Baby
ㄴYou wanna die? You touching Lord Baby? I've got your ID saved
ㄴI'm sorry
ㄴExpert: animal activity goes up after the rain stops
ㄴSo you're saying there's a chance
ㄴYep
ㄴEven if they don't catch anything, who cares lol? It's immersive and fun
ㄴTrue
[Uh-oh, the star of the board is pulling another stunt, holy shit]
Poster: nongnongnongnongnong
(Image of Reels trying to put her foot into the trap)
Yerin is trying to hold her back, at least
Seriously, who jams their foot into a trap they made themselves?
I'm genuinely curious how her brain is wired now
ㄴYerin can't stop Reels by herself
ㄴShe's basically at the top of the party hierarchy to begin with;;
ㄴHoly shit lol she's seriously so random
ㄴHer charm is insane;; does she have that adorably airheaded vibe too?
ㄴNow I see why they sent that bastard Kim Woong off to hunt
ㄴIf Kim Woong were here, he'd probably be grabbing her by the pant leg to stop her
ㄴHe's basically a devoted member of the Reels fan club
ㄴLook at Yerin's face lol she seriously looks like she wants to beat Reels up
ㄴEven a mad scientist doesn't experiment on their own body
ㄴEd oppa?
ㄴTurns out Reels was the real lunatic;;
ㄴThe insanity is unreal fr
[Reels right now.gif]
Poster: ReelsFan
(Image of Reels dangling from a branch)
The trap went off while she was testing it with her own body
This crazy bitch lmaoooooo
ㄴAh, fuckkkkkkkkkkkkk
ㄴI was drinking water and spat it all over my monitor, holy shit
ㄴAh fuck, I spilled my kimchi stew while watching this;;
ㄴWhy did she really put her foot in the trap though lol
ㄴYerin: Are you seriously insane? <- her soul straight-up left her body
ㄴIs testing it with your own body really the right move lol
ㄴReels really does not hold back with her own body
ㄴCouldn't that wreck her ankle if it goes wrong?
ㄴBut the trap works damn well lol
ㄴUnexpectedly, it really is the best way to test it
ㄴ↑ I think you're crazy too
ㄴEven Baby was looking at its owner like she was pathetic
ㄴThe god of variety shows really blessed that moment lol
ㄴNo but her spinning around in the air is so damn funny lol
ㄴAnd in the middle of that she's like, 'Well, at least it works properly' lol
ㄴGotta respect Reels' mental fortitude
ㄴThat's pure madness
ㄴHonestly, that could become this year's legendary clip
ㄴThe Mr. Rich chat got spammed with 'Trap Card Activated!' lol
ㄴAh seriously, this is so fucking funny lol
@
Kim Woong was heading toward the shore with a bamboo spear in hand.
His role was to secure food from the shore.
Up to now, he'd only been on the receiving end of Reels' help.
This time, he needed to prove his own worth!
At the very least, he was confident when it came to physical work.
'This time, I have to be of real help to my benefactor.'
Kim Woong gripped the spear a little tighter for no reason.
He was fairly confident in his swimming.
Swimming is an exercise that uses the entire body.
It trains your endurance, lung capacity, and strength all at once.
For a gym rat, not knowing how to swim was a catastrophic loss of gains.
So Kim Woong had gritted his teeth and learned to swim.
He was already two years in.
By now, water was practically his friend.
Splash.
Kim Woong stepped into the sea without hesitation.
But.
"...Hm."
Things were worse than he'd expected.
Maybe because of how much it had rained, there wasn't even the shadow of a fish near the shallow shoreline.
The fish had all moved a little farther out into deeper water.
After thinking for a moment, Kim Woong let out a faint grin.
'Not a problem.'
If the fish had fled to deeper water, then all he had to do was dive down and catch them.
Splash.
Kim Woong threw himself straight into the water.
His massive body slid down beneath the surface.
And not long after.
Thunk!
The spear tip pierced straight through the body of a fish.
Flap flap!
The fish twisted wildly.
"Oh. Catching them by diving isn't that hard either."
Keeping up the momentum, Kim Woong caught two more fish.
At the sight of three fish hanging from the tip of the spear, the corners of his mouth rose on their own.
'This should earn me some praise from my benefactor, right?'
He could already picture how surprised Reels and Yerin would be.
As he happily caught his breath, Kim Woong spotted a large conch lying by itself on the seabed.
'Oh.'
Kim Woong immediately dove down and picked up the conch.
But then.
"...Huh?"
It was light.
The inside was completely empty.
Something must have already eaten the conch, leaving behind nothing but an empty shell.
'Ah, damn it.'
Feeling oddly disappointed, Kim Woong looked around again for another conch.
At that moment.
Far away, something wriggled between cracks in the rocks on the bottom.
"...!"
It was a creature that looked like a lobster.
He could even see long antennae sticking out.
Kim Woong's eyes flashed.
'That thing is definitely expensive and delicious.'
After all, it looked just like a lobster.
If he caught that and took it back to his benefactor...?
—Wow! Kim Woong-nim, that's incredible! You're an amazing hunter. Reels sees you in a whole new light now.
'Heh heh heh.'
It was the perfect chance to earn a flood of praise from Reels.
Kim Woong immediately took a deep breath, then dived again.
But the spot where they were hiding was deeper than he'd thought.
Maybe because of the buoyancy, his body kept trying to float back up, and he ran out of breath fast.
He barely managed to get close to the bottom and reach his hand into the rock crevice, but
they dodged away so quickly that he could only miss them in frustration.
"...Pwah!"
Kim Woong surfaced and panted roughly.
"Haa... haa..."
He dived again.
But the result was the same.
No matter how many times he tried, the creatures only pulled themselves deeper into the rock crevices and hid.
Floating on the surface with a regretful look, Kim Woong thought,
"...What a waste. Isn't there some way to catch them?"
@
After rinsing the salt off at the spring, Kim Woong returned to the cave carrying three fish.
Reels and Yerin seemed to have finished setting the traps too, and were resting by the fire pit.
"Oh."
Reels' gaze went to the fish Kim Woong had brought back.
"Kim Woong-nim. You're really good at catching fish."
"Haha. This much is nothing to me, Benefactor!"
Kim Woong squared his shoulders proudly.
Yerin stared at the fish too, practically drooling.
"Wow... that looks delicious."
Pleased by Reels' praise, Kim Woong brought up the creature he'd seen in the sea earlier.
"By the way."
"Yup."
"Today I saw something really interesting in a crack between rocks underwater."
Kim Woong used his hands to roughly show the length of what he'd seen.
"It looked kind of like a lobster, and it had long antennae too..."
At that, Reels' eyes lit up.
"Ah!"
"Do you know what it is?"
"It's probably a crayfish."
"Cray... what?"
"Basically, it's kind of like a lobster."
Reels said with an excited look,
"It's a really expensive ingredient."
"...Really?"
"They say it's really expensive at restaurants and places like that. And really delicious too. I've never had it, so I don't know personally."
At the mention of how tasty crayfish were, even Yerin, who had been quietly listening, lit up.
"Is it tasty?"
"Very."
Reels nodded with complete certainty.
"Chewy and sweet... apparently it's as good as lobster."
Seeing how excited Reels was, Kim Woong's face darkened.
"Benefactor. I'm sorry. I really should've caught them...."
"No, it's okay. There must've been a reason you couldn't."
Kim Woong scratched his head as he recalled what had happened earlier.
"They were in deep water."
"Ah."
"I can dive, but it takes too long to get all the way to the bottom, so I run out of breath."
The buoyancy of the water kept pulling his body back up.
At that, a grin spread across Reels' lips.
"If buoyancy's the problem, there's a good method."
"...?"
"It's a very primitive method, though."
Reels trailed off with an oddly meaningful look.
"But it definitely works."