Chapter 49
Before I knew it, the beach had grown dark.
The only thing emitting light in the thick darkness was the campfire, crackling away.
The salt and coconut flesh we’d dried earlier were already safely stored in bamboo tubes.
Hmm.
Better start getting ready.
According to the information Putty gave me before, the tide would be completely out in about three hours because of low tide.
I picked up my machete and scraped away the empty coconut shell.
Fluffy brown fibers spilled down to the ground.
Seeing that, Yerin asked,
“Rils. What are you doing now?”
“Making wicks.”
“Wicks?”
“I’m going to put them in the torches.”
I scooped up a handful of the coconut fibers on the ground and showed them to her.
“These are more useful than you’d think.”
“It just looks like a ball of fur.”
“They catch fire well, but they also burn slowly.”
Yerin fiddled with the coconut fibers in fascination and muttered,
“There really isn’t anything you can throw away with coconuts….”
Making a torch was simple.
First, prepare a usable stick. We were going to use bamboo. Then cut a slit in the end of the stick to stuff in a rag.
Kim Woong tore the rag he’d picked up from somewhere into an appropriate size, stuffed the coconut fibers inside, and rolled it up.
Then slather on plenty of pine resin, and you’re done.
“This should do.”
I looked down at the finished torches.
Three per person.
Nine in total.
That should be enough for the amount of shellfishing we’d be doing tonight.
Splash.
The waves washed up onto the shore and then receded again.
The shoreline had pulled back quite a bit compared to a moment ago.
Kim Woong, who had been examining the torch I’d made, had a more serious expression than usual.
Was he worried about something?
He spoke in a low, solemn voice.
“Benefactor.”
“Yep.”
“If I happen to pick up a lot of turban shells or clams today….”
“Yep.”
“Would I be able to get three more praise stickers from you?”
“…….”
No. Why was this guy so serious about praise stickers?
I stared at Kim Woong with an incredulous expression.
His expression was like that of 300 Spartan warriors just before setting out to hold back the Persian army.
Of course, we were just going shellfishing.
I couldn’t understand why he was being so grave about it either.
Well, it’s a good thing if he goes around gathering diligently.
I gave a light nod.
Then Kim Woong clenched his fist as if filled with resolve.
“Today I will definitely get three praise stickers from you.”
Yes, yes. Go ahead.
But even more ridiculous was that Yerin, who had been quietly listening from the side, was now burning with competitive spirit too.
Her eyes were blazing.
What is wrong with these people?
@
The sea is a treasure trove of food.
Because roughly 15 to 20 percent of the animal protein eaten by humans worldwide comes from seafood.
In countries closely tied to the coast or in island nations, that percentage becomes overwhelmingly high.
The same went for survivors living on a deserted island.
Everyone knew that finding food in the sea was more efficient than hunting animals in the jungle.
A YouTube channel dedicated to shellfishing, HaeruTV.
600,000 subscribers, 2,500 average viewers.
A unique channel run by two men in their thirties.
Park Junho and Kang Taesik.
Their main content was simple.
They traveled all over the East Sea, West Sea, and South Sea, shellfishing, cleaning, and eating what they caught.
A powerful beam shot out from the flashlight in Park Junho’s hand.
“As expected, on a deserted island you have to move at night.”
Kang Taesik chimed in.
“Right. If you live under the scorching sun during the day, you’ll sweat yourself to death. People really do need to use their heads.”
They had one trait that set them apart from the other participants.
They moved at night rather than during the day.
They judged that moving at night would use less stamina than wandering around in the daytime and sweating buckets.
A reasonably rational strategy.
And so far, that strategy was working pretty well.
After all, they were in the top ten.
Splash.
Park Junho stopped walking along the shore because an unfamiliar light appeared in the distance.
“Huh?”
Kang Taesik, standing beside him, also turned to look.
“That’s a person, right?”
“Looks like it.”
“So there were smart participants besides us.”
What they found were three people sitting in front of a campfire.
And since they had even prepared torches, their purpose was obvious.
They must be planning to go shellfishing for food.
Park Junho naturally sized the three of them up.
‘So those three are a team.’
There were currently ten survivors left.
Excluding themselves, eight remained.
One pretty, well-built decorative extra, one cute little kid who looked useless, one big man, and one lizard.
What kind of combination was that supposed to be?
‘That big man must have his hands full.’
Park Junho thought it must be a setup where the big man alone had to carry the rest of the party.
Then,
The woman who looked like a decorative extra waved first.
“Oh? Rils, there are people over there. Hello.”
“Yes. Hello.”
After a brief exchange of greetings, Park Junho’s gaze naturally drifted to the torches laid on the ground.
Heh.
A laugh escaped him before he knew it. How did they expect to wander around the night beach with things like that? It was reckless beyond belief.
“Are you going shellfishing?”
“Yes, yes.”
“That’ll be tough with torches. The night sea is so dark that shellfishing is hard even with a flashlight, you know. You could even get hurt walking around with torches.”
“We can’t help it. We don’t have flashlights.”
Park Junho’s mind raced quickly.
‘Are these guys useful or not?’
The calculation didn’t take long.
They were clearly a party that would be eliminated soon.
From the start, everyone in the party except the big man looked useless.
There was no reason to go out of his way to show them kindness.
“Well, do your best. It won’t be easy with torches, though. We’re heading out first.”
Park Junho shrugged and walked toward the exposed shoreline. Kang Taesik followed behind him, saying,
“Well then, good luck, everyone~”
@
Hmm.
Those guys are seriously obnoxious.
I really don’t like the way they’re acting all smug while carrying that cheat-tier item called a flashlight.
And to make matters worse, they’re even dismissing my masterpiece torch.
Of course, it’s true that the flashlight, a product of modern technology, was far brighter than a torch.
Give credit where it’s due.
But that doesn’t mean I have to feel good about it, does it?
“We’re heading out too.”
I held the torch up to the campfire.
Whoosh.
The cloth soaked with pine resin erupted into flame in an instant.
“Oh.”
This is better than I expected.
Its performance definitely wasn’t bad.
“Hmm.”
“Why?”
“It’s not that bright.”
Compared to the flashlight, the light it gave off was weak.
You could see ahead, but it couldn’t illuminate a wide area around you.
“Then what do we do?”
“Split up and search. Kim Woong, take the right.”
“Yes!”
“Yerin, take the left.”
“Okay.”
“And if you find anything you’ve never seen before, don’t touch it. Tell me right away. It’s dangerous.”
And so the three of us split up and began searching the exposed shoreline.
The exposed ground was wider than I’d expected.
Thankfully, it wasn’t a mudflat, so walking wasn’t inconvenient.
Male voices could be heard nearby.
“Hyung! There’s another turban shell here.”
“Nice!”
It was the same people I’d seen earlier.
The same two men who’d been showing off with their cheat-tier flashlight.
Every time the flashlight beam swept across, plump turban shells and clams revealed themselves.
“Wow.”
“It’s a gold mine. A total gold mine.”
Its efficiency was clearly on a completely different level from a torch.
‘Yeah, gear really does make a difference….’
Then a good idea suddenly occurred to me.
Did I really need to suffer walking around with a torch?
I quietly moved toward them.
One of the men, brimming with excitement, shone his flashlight on the ground.
“Oh.”
Under the pouring light,
a fist-sized turban shell came into view.
“Awesome.”
Just as he bent down and was about to touch the shell,
Swish.
I darted in and snatched the turban shell first.
“Woo-hoo. Yerin! Kim Woong! I got the turban shell!”
“……?”
@
‘This kid is really annoying.’
Park Junho clicked his tongue inwardly.
At first, he let it go, thinking it was just a coincidence.
But then.
Once, twice, and finally a third time, Park Junho’s patience was reaching its limit.
By now, it wasn’t a coincidence anymore; it was obvious sabotage.
Park Junho bit his lip and said,
“Kid.”
“I’m Rils.”
“Uh… right.”
Park Junho forced a smile and said gently,
“Rils.”
“Yep.”
“Go do it over there.”
“Why?”
“We’re shellfishing here, aren’t we?”
Rils thought for a moment, then tilted his head.
“The sea doesn’t have such a thing. Finders keepers.”
“…….”
He had a point.
The sea didn’t belong to anyone in the first place.
Even going shellfishing at famous spots in Korea meant competing with the people around you, which was common enough.
That didn’t mean it felt any less annoying, though.
Park Junho clicked his tongue softly.
What was the point of arguing with a kid?
‘Fine. So that’s how you want to play it? Let’s see who wins.’
He just wouldn’t shine the light toward the kid’s side.
He began searching while deliberately avoiding the direction where Rils was.
“Hyung. There’s another one here.”
Kang Taesik found another turban shell,
and Park Junho shone his flashlight on it.
And the moment he bent down to pick up the shell,
Swish.
“Yes! I got another one!”
Rils appeared and snatched the turban shell away.
“…….”
This time, it was a clam Kang Taesik had found.
Rils again picked it up with lightning-fast hands.
“Oh. I’ve never seen this kind of clam before.”
It was as if the ghost of some shellfisher who had died on the job had attached itself to the kid.
The moment they tried to pick something up, he would appear like a ghost.
Even with his small frame and a lizard on his back, he moved incredibly fast.
“Hyung.”
Kang Taesik muttered,
“What is that kid?”
“I don’t know either.”
Kang Taesik pointed ahead with a finger.
“Wasn’t he definitely over there just a moment ago?”
“He was.”
“Then why is he here?”
“Beats me. Maybe he teleports or something.”
At some point, Park Junho and Kang Taesik realized something strange.
If they picked up three, Rils picked up two.
If they picked up four, Rils picked up three.
Considering the difference in performance between torches and flashlights, it was an unbelievable result.
“…….”
Park Junho stared blankly at Rils’s small back as he foraged for shellfish in front of them.
That kid.
Why was he so good at pissing people off?
This is seriously fucking infuriating.
This is seriously pissing me off.