Chapter 23
[Haebin: Wayo, you fucking bitch]
We said we'd be cops together, but you didn't.
-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-Haehwangㅋㅋ
-Is this for real??
[The taxi union's current situation..]
(Scene in front of the taxi company)
They're on strike and protestingㅋㅋㅋ
-Why are they protesting?
ㄴ They're protesting to get the base fare raised
ㄴ Taxi drivers make the least on the server right now
ㄴ Ahㅋㅋㅋ
[The Wayo Emperor's foresight is insaneㅋㅋ]
They figured out taxi driving sucked in just thirty minutes and changed jobsㅇㅇ
This is so Wayo.
-For real
-They really cut their lossesㅋㅋㅋ
-So what? They're holed up alone anyway, fuckㅋㅋ
[Number of people the Wayo Emperor met over three days]
A mere five
-Ah..
-Oh my god..
-Why the fuck did they join the large server??
ㄴ For real;;
[Who taught the Wayo Emperor fishing, fuck]
If they'd joined the union, they'd be at 2,000 viewers by now
-For real
-This bastard just has no instinct for streamingㅇㅇ
ㄴ That's part of what makes Wayo;;
[Didn't you say the Wayo Emperor was a collab-carry machine, you Wayo hounds]
I've watched them for three straight days and all they do is fish
-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-You're still watching??
-Fishing is surprisingly entertaining
ㄴ Eat it yourself, assholeㅗ
[But can they really act like that on a large server??]
They're just fishing without meeting anyoneㅋㅋ
-It's an RP server, so it doesn't matter
-They're only hurting themselves, dumb bitchㅋㅋ
ㄴ For real
ㄴ They should be meeting people and leeching their viewersㅋㅋ
[The person getting the most tilted in real time..]
Obviously Haebin<<<
They lured the other two in because they wanted to recreate the Peach Garden Oath,
but the Wayo Emperor became a fishing hound and the bunny girl joined a gang..
-You mean Yeongukno, the bunny girl?
ㄴ Yep
ㄴ “Bunny girl,” my assㅋㅋ
-Bunny girl joining a gang ㅗㅜㅑ
[The Wayo Emperor's fishing is gourmet??]
They stream Just Chatting for five hours when they usually only do one, so what are you hating onㅋㅋ
-For real
-There must be a reason the Just Chatting walkers hold the line
[Honestly, upvote if you're a turret secretly relievedㅋㅋ]
Yeah, stay a small streamer, you bitch
-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-The Wayo hounds finally took off their masksㅋㅋ
-Wow, fuck;;
[So how much is the tuna]
How expensive is it that they're doing this all day??
-Catching a skipjack tuna earns what a taxi driver makes in a month
ㄴ For real??
ㄴ But even if you fish for a month, one won't show up
ㄴ Ah
ㄴ ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
ㄴ In the first place, why the fuck would tuna show up thereㅋㅋ
**
“Ugh, shall we move now?”
-Yeah
-This spot sucks, fuck
After fishing for a reasonable while, I got up from my spot.
I came because they said sea fishing was good, but it's really not.
Even after fishing all day, I can only catch sardines.
-So where are you going now?
-I heard there's a fishing crew at the lake next to the city
“A fishing crew? …Why do people gather together to fish?”
-...?
-It's a large server, for fuck's sake
-They're hobbyists too, though
“Are there no full-time fishermen?”
-Yeah, like that'd happen??
-A hobby should stay a hobby, fuck;;
Weird. It actually makes decent money.
I'd even upgraded my equipment with what I'd earned lately.
“Wow, a car really does need to be big.”
Saying that, I loaded the equipment into my new car.
It was the same pitch-black car as before, but it was a full-size van.
-This is a taxi..?
-Wow, they're using a van as a fishing vehicle
-The company isn't saying anything??
“The whole fleet's sitting idle since everyone's on strike.”
Apparently all the taxi drivers had gone on strike, leaving cars to spare.
So I rented the full-size van cheaply too.
-The only guy working is out fishing..
-There are practically no taxis left in the cityㅋㅋ
-If they take calls now, it'll be easy pickings. Should they do it??
“With the car like this, do you think any passengers would get in?”
Saying that, I pointed to the inside of the van.
It was packed with fishing gear, coolers, expensive fishing rods, and all the rest.
It smelled so fishy that no passenger would want to get in.
-At least you know that much
-Yeah, just become a fisherman already, you
At this point, it was obvious the viewers were slowly giving up too.
Had everyone been expecting too much? Well, sorry about that.
Still, wouldn't it be awkward to suddenly start hanging out with people I didn't know?
And honestly, a big reason I'd joined was because this was an RP server where I could act like this.
It was a server where you could do whatever you wanted, right? That's why I'd joined without a care.
Of course, I hadn't planned on becoming a fisherman.
"All right, off we go~"
Anyway, just as I was about to set off in the van with all that equipment loaded inside,
[Thanks for the 1,000-won donation, ㅇㅇ!]
Wayo, please, can't you go into the city for once?? It looks like a war's about to break out
Perhaps unable to hold back any longer, one viewer donated to tell me what was happening inside the city.
Needless to say, that was forbidden.
“Oh, if you say things like that, you'll get banned.”
-We won't forget your sacrifice, rip..
-It's because you never watch the news;;
-A righteous young man.
-Can't you at least listen while you do it??
“Oh, should I? I'd forgotten about that.”
Come to think of it, I'd bought a radio when I bought the equipment last time.
With a quick motion, I turned on a radio station from the back seat.
[This is… Yes, next, we'll hear some dissatisfied voices from inside the city….]
-Oh, a voice
-Kyaㅋㅋㅋ
-Who is that??
Then I heard the voice of a polished announcer.
That person was probably a streamer too, right? Announcer was on the occupation list, after all.
[Some are voicing concerns that this may be the spark that ignites a war….]
And as luck would have it, the announcer was talking about a war.
From what I could tell, a real war was about to break out inside the city.
Well, there were gangs operating openly, after all.
Whether it was between gangs or against the police, they were bound to fight eventually.
-Should we go take a look too??
-Even taxi drivers have to do their jobs
-Let's go shoot some guns, please
“Are you people insane…? If there's a war, we should stay here—why would we crawl in there just because it's fun?”
-This is peak Wayo, fuck
-Go broadcast it and dieㅇㅇ
-Fuck, maybe they're right..?
“War is all pointless.”
Even our teacher Han Seonghwa always went around protesting against war.
What did he say again? The only thing left afterward is people, but if no people are left, it's the most pointless thing you can do.
“You understand?”
Anyway, after telling the viewers that, I arrived at the spot I'd marked in advance.
-This bastard naturally ended up at another fishing spot
-Don't hide behind facts;;
-Teacher << What the hell does he do??
-Ah, I don't care, let's go shoot peopleㅋㅋ
“Besides, it's still the early days of the server, so there's no need to rush.”
Since it was a supermassive server, it had a long run ahead of it, so why were they in such a hurry?
“I'm not fishing for fish; I'm fishing for the right moment.”
Saying that, I sat down and cast my fishing rod.
Maybe because I'd paid good money for it, the rod made a smooth arc as it set the float down in the distance.
-Are you Jiang Taigong??
-This is truly peak Wayo
-You're fishing to make money, you bastardㅋㅋ
“For now, let's just focus on the skipjack.”
-Fishing hound, fuck
-Oh, sure~ Fish for the rest of your life
-Let's just have an anime waifu war here
“It's not a waifu war, it's a wholesome analysis.”
Anyway, enough about the war.
It was just when I was about to continue the Mishang battle I'd been doing earlier.
Rustle, rustle.
-??
-Someone came?
Even though this was an utterly remote part of the server,
I heard someone moving around behind me.
“Who….”
“Huh? There are actually people out here.”
I turned my head, and a man emerged from the bushes behind me.
“Who are you?”
-??
-Wait, who is he
-Whoa, what
Someone actually came all the way out here.
When I stared at him as if fascinated, the man chuckled and said,
“I'm Busan Steelix. What are you doing out here?”
“It's a skipjack spot….”
“Huh?”
-It really is a place where they show up??
-Info) This is indeed a skipjack spot
-Crazy fishing hound bastard..
“Uh, um… Have you seen anyone here? Someone kind of thin and wearing glasses.”
“I haven't seen anyone like that.”
“Damn... Guess I came to the wrong place. What's your name?”
The man's slightly gravelly voice made him seem somewhat older.
Definitely not in his twenties—mid-to-late thirties, maybe?
“I'm Wayong.”
“Oh, Mr. Wolong? So you're the Chancellor.”
“Ah, yes.”
-I think he got the wrong idea;;
-This guy is a chancellor..?
He seemed to have misunderstood my name, but… I didn't bother correcting him.
Wolong wasn't a bad-sounding name, anyway.
“More importantly, are you a fisherman?”
“Not really, but I do it as a hobby.”
“For a hobby, you seem pretty serious.”
At my words, Mr. Steelix gestured around us.
Nearby were my fishing supplies: coolers, spare fishing rods, and so on.
“Oh, this.”
Hmm. It was all stuff that had piled up as I bought things little by little.
“Would it do to neglect a hobby? Even if my heart is light, my conduct should be weighty.”
I said that thinking of the number of viewers I'd once seen fall to 150.
It had felt like my lifeblood was draining away back then, but
by staying put and fishing with a heavy heart, everyone had gathered back together.
“Ah…! As expected of Master Wolong….”
The man marveled for a moment at my words, then gestured to the side.
“Is fishing fun?”
“It's worth doing.”
“This is a fateful meeting and all—could I borrow one of your spare fishing rods?”
“I don't see why not, but….”
Tsk, this wasn't cheap.
I looked at him suspiciously, then reluctantly handed one over.
**
“Wow, this is kind of fun.”
After trying fishing together,
Mr. Steelix, sitting beside me, was, as expected, somewhat older.
Late thirties, maybe?
Well, maybe he was deliberately speaking like an old man for his RP, but he was probably around that age.
“Fun, right?”
“I see why you do it.”
-Fuck, no
-Add another fishing houndㅋㅋㅋ
-Is it really that fun??
-Wait, they're fishing with that guy;;
“It's really hard making a living these days. Why is the economy so bad?”
We talked about this and that while fishing.
From what I heard, he was running a business, but things didn't seem to be going well.
Well, he was probably in a gang, right? There were no business owners on this server.
“It is hard making a living~ There isn't much work these days, either.”
-???
-You were the one who didn't take calls, you bitchㅋㅋ
-Info) He's abandoning work to fish
For reference, Mr. Steelix and I got along very well.
Maybe it was because our mental ages matched?
Our characters were oddly similar too, making us good conversation partners on an RP server.
“I'm telling you, I'm getting burned out these days. I keep wondering how long I can keep doing this.”
Usually, Mr. Steelix would complain and I'd respond.
Listening to him, he seemed to be having a hard time and feeling tired lately—in other words, he seemed to be suffering from the commonly known condition of burnout.
“Work is hard?”
“That too, but I'm getting worn out.”
-Uncle Steelix..
-For real, he looks exhausted
-Why is he acting so wellㅋㅋ
“Really?”
I glanced at Mr. Steelix.
The chat called it acting—but I wasn't sure. It didn't feel like acting to me.
Seventeen years in the workforce in this life alone—or was it eighteen now?
With that much experience under my belt, it seemed his RP-related complaints had become mixed with genuine feelings.
How could pretending to be a thug in a game cause burnout?
Maybe fishing had relaxed him enough to let his true feelings slip out.
Or maybe he was simply committing to an incredibly realistic character.
“I know how to solve that.”
Still, what I had to say was obvious.
“Hmm? How?”
Click, creak.
I said as I threaded bait onto the hook.
“Try getting up at six in the morning.”
“Ah, a regular routine? That….”
“No. Put on sneakers you don't wear anymore and clothes you don't mind getting dirty.”
“What?”
“Go to a day-labor office.”
-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-For real, that really is the answerㅇㅇ
Work's hard? You're getting burned out?
Do you know what you think about after carrying bricks under the blazing sun?
Ah, there's a bottom beneath rock bottom-
Right, I'm ditching this job today and never coming back.
How many newbies have I sent on their way like that?
Burnout is something I'm a true expert in.
*
After that day.
"As expected of Master Wolong... He's no ordinary Angler Liang."
-Angler Liangㅋㅋ
I gained a strange new nickname.