Chapter 24
After earning the nickname Angler Liang.
Whether it was because of Mr. Steelix, the viewer count did rise a little, but my life didn't change all that much.
“Why the hell won't this skipjack tuna bite?”
-For real
-Come on, bite already
-Let's go to the city already, fuck;;
“Shall we try another spot?”
-How many times is this now
-At least move somewhere
-Let's hit the next spotㅋㅋ
Well, we'd only met briefly for one day, right?
We weren't even going to meet again.
I was a fisherman who kept changing spots, and he was a busy man too.
So, pleased by the slight increase in viewers, I enjoyed the server without giving it much thought.
Thus one day, two days, then a week.
Unfortunately, since I had a day job, I couldn't show up every day.
“Yaaawn… I'm here.”
-You said you'd be here at twelve, you fucking bitch
-Do you perhaps not know how to tell time?
-Why are you only here now, fuck
Still, I made an effort to participate in the server whenever I could.
Did these viewers know that I had to crash hard after my morning schedule so I could turn on the stream at night?
“Ahem, sorry. My alarm didn't go off.”
-Did you sleep and just wake up?
-This pattern is legendaryㅋㅋㅋ
-Wow, a true zero-tier streamer
-Resting Youth) I woke up an hour ago too.
…Well, of course they wouldn't know; I hadn't told them.
“For the record, I slept after work, so no comparisons.”
-?
-I just got off work too?
-Fuck, who are you calling unemployed
“Then hurry up and go to bed. You have work tomorrow.”
-Haㅋㅋㅋ
-This fucking bitch is late and picking a fight??
-I'm really going to bed now??
-Eat shitㅗ
“Whoops, sorry. I only just woke up.”
Come to think of it, I had been late, hadn't I? I immediately prostrated myself.
For reference, Wayo's character, which cost a whopping tens of millions, even had a prostration function.
-Yeahㅇㅇ I'll let it slide this once
-You bastardㅋㅋ I can see your crown, so I won't come to work tomorrow
-Haven't seen the prostration in agesㅋㅋ
“More importantly, shall we get to work?”
-Come on, let's fishㅋㅋ
-Are you playing viewer-submitted videos today?
Viewer-submitted videos, huh.
...Honestly, I don't want to play them. You people keep sending weird stuff.
“Viewer-submitted videos? I'll think about it.”
Still, pretending to consider it, I launched the game I'd grown accustomed to.
It had felt a little awkward when I first logged in.
But now that it was my second week, it felt perfectly familiar.
“All right, logging in.”
Once I logged into the server, the familiar scenery came into view.
My black van stood alone at the tranquil fishing spot.
-What's today's goal??
-So, did you catch skipjack tuna yesterday?
“Of course not. Does that thing even spawn? I haven't seen one even once.”
-For real
-It's about time one showed up
-The odds are insanely badㅋㅋㅋ
Honestly, I'd already made enough money.
There were probably all sorts of content I could access in the city, too.
But this damn skipjack tuna.
I wanted to catch one just once.
Then I'd really be able to ascend to heaven.
“If I catch one, I'll really graduate from fishing.”
-Fuck, for real??
-Then what'll you do?
“Rell…?”
-..?
-ㅗ
-Come on, let's leaveㅋㅋ
“I'm joking, I'm joking.”
Saying that, I sat in the fishing-spot chair and turned on the radio.
[Last night, a fierce clash broke out between the Steel Gang and the Rabbit Crew….]
“Things have gotten dangerous lately.”
Maybe the server had finally fully matured.
Whenever I turned on the radio, all I heard was talk of war all day long.
-For real, they're fighting like crazy
-You go too, please
-Mr. Steelix is busyㅋㅋ
For reference, Mr. Steelix, whom I'd seen last time, also appeared on the radio whenever he got bored.
Apparently, he was the boss of the Steel Gang, one of the biggest gangs in the city.
No wonder his name had sounded so imposing.
I'd known he was a gangster, but I hadn't expected him to be the boss.
[...As of this morning, the police have begun a full-scale crackdown on the Steel Gang, which is causing major unrest in society….]
However, after listening to the radio, the situation didn't look good.
A full-scale crackdown, huh.
Even a gang that big would have trouble coming out unscathed.
“Ah~ Is the Steel Gang losing?”
-Are they losing??
-Steelix, hang in there ㅠㅜㅠ
-Aren't you going to go save him?
“If I catch a skipjack, I'll go donate some money.”
-Damn, this bastard is cold as fuck
-Crazy skipjack hound;;
-Is now really the time to fish for skipjack?
-Can you even catch one?
“This seems to have the highest odds, at least.”
For reference, the place I was at now was the lake I'd visited a week ago after going around in circles.
In other words, it was the place where I'd met Mr. Steelix.
I looked around online, and sure enough, this place had the highest odds.
If it was a battle of probabilities where changing spots wouldn't make it appear... I might as well wait at the place with the highest odds.
“Please let one show up today.”
-For real
-If you catch skipjack, let's buy you a new gun first
Anyway, I kept my spot and continued fishing.
[The Steel Gang's boss, Steelix, has finally fled… The members are gathering to make a last stand, but….]
“Oof, bleak.”
-Ah, why'd you turn it off;;
Still, he was someone I had a connection with.
So I turned off the radio that was only reporting bad news about the Steel Gang midway through.
“Whoa, tuna! Ah… bluefin tuna.”
-It sure is a tuna..
-This one's expensive tooㅋㅋㅋ
-Whoa, you can catch bluefin tuna
I even caught bluefin tuna, a fairly high-priced fish even if it wasn't skipjack-tier,
and still enjoyed fishing fairly productively.
-Is it really okay to enjoy fishing alone like this..?
-Are you really not going to the city??
-What a stubborn bastard..
Anyway, now that they'd joined a large server,
the viewers probably wanted the streamer they watched to go to the city, where incidents exploded, and become the protagonist.
Honestly, I didn't think this was bad either.
Wasn't a large RP server a movie and drama whose cast were streamers?
But not everyone could be the protagonist or a leading actor.
Maybe supporting characters located outside the main stream had meaning in themselves sometimes.
“Huh? The Jiraiya-Itachi debate? The answer's obvious.”
-??
-For realㅋㅋ They're still doing that?
-That one's already a settled debate.
Personally, I also liked spending time chatting with viewers like this.
“Obviously, Teacher Jiraiya wins.”
????
-??
-What the fuck is wrong with this guy?
-What a fucking anime illiterateㅋㅋ
“The problem with Itachi fanboys is that they always assume he's healthy….”
Thus, thinking scenery like this was fine, I continued fishing, when.
Rustle, rustle.
A sound came from behind me.
“Huh?”
-What is it?
-Who came?
I stopped the debate I was having and turned my head.
“Master Wolong~ Are you here?”
“Huh.”
-???
-?
-What the hell
Someone who, until just a few hours ago, had been all over the radio.
Mr. Steelix, the boss of the Steel Gang, emerged through the bushes.
**
The Steel Gang had lost.
They had once nearly taken over the entire city, but their rival organization, the Rabbit Crew, and the police had joined hands and launched a sweeping crackdown.
Most of the executives had scattered, and Steelix, their boss, had barely escaped the city after losing his subordinates.
“Ah, we're fucked….”
-For real
-Did they really lose?
-Let's go back to the city
“How are we supposed to get back? We're in the middle of nowhere.”
As he said that, the Steel Gang's boss, Steelix, stuck a cigarette in his mouth.
His car had been wrecked while fleeing the police,
and after rolling once down the hill earlier, it had become a complete wreck, so now he was on foot.
“I don't even have anyone to call….”
Thus, on a road at the edge of the map,
he walked aimlessly, staring at contacts that were no use.
When he had been riding high, anyone he called would come running.
Now, his underlings were probably too busy saving themselves, and everyone else had already cut him loose.
-We're fucked..
-Is this really the end of the Steel Gang?
-Can't you hitchhike?
“Sigh… There aren't even any cars passing through here.”
He didn't go so far as to say, “Honestly, I'm tired.”
It wasn't something a streamer should say.
-But there are still some guys left
-Gather them up
-It'll be doable if you can just get back
-Half the executives are still alive
…But the viewers didn't seem ready to give up.
After all, wasn't this an organization they'd built together over the past two weeks?
It was probably hard to believe it had collapsed overnight like this.
And besides, even he thought that if he could just return to the city, there was a chance to strike back.
But what could he do? He was already alone in this remote place where even the road was merely road-shaped.
“There's just a lake nearby. How am I supposed to get a car?”
Not only were there no cars, but the only thing visible on the map was a lake.
The one saving grace, perhaps, was that he'd been here once before and knew the way.
Why had he come here again? To catch a subordinate who'd fled... Ah.
“Oh, right, Master Wolong. Is that teacher still here?”
While reminiscing about the past for a moment,
he remembered a fisherman he'd met around here.
Her voice was young, but she was strangely easy to talk to, making her an intriguing person.
-Idk?
-Let's go check
-She should be there?
“It's right ahead, so shall we go take a look?”
-What are you going to do there?ㅋㅋ
-Let's just fish
-Are you really abandoning the Steel Gang??
At the thought of that fisherman,
as a streamer of twelve years, a decent story came to mind.
The life of the Steel Gang's boss had been dazzling,
but he'd ultimately fallen, and in the end, become a fisherman—
He'd miss out on the server's protagonist role, but wasn't this still a pretty good ending?
Right. If there was a protagonist, there had to be a villain who exited like this too.
“Tsk, if only the police hadn't joined hands with them.”
And so, trudging along,
smoking the last few cigarettes he had left, Steelix crossed the forest toward the lake.
The odds that Master Wolong would be there were... honestly low, but maybe that kind of misery wasn't so bad either.
Still, just as he was thinking it would be nice if she were there,
-Of course Jiraiya wins; the problem with Itachi fanboys is that they always assume he's healthy….
Fortunately, a familiar voice came from inside.
-??
-What is thisㅋㅋㅋ
-She's actually there
-What the hell is she talking about over thereㅋㅋ
-A Jiraiya stan;;
At the slightly low but pleasant voice, Steelix—no, streamer Kang Seok—laughed.
“Haha.”
He'd hoped for it, but hadn't expected her to really be there.
Why was she fishing here when a war was raging across the server?
If it were him, he'd be hovering around the city looking for YouTube content, but did she have no desire for airtime?
No, perhaps she was simply detached from streaming.
Well, it was more unusual for streaming to be one's life.
“Master Wolong~ Are you here?”
Still, pleased, he stepped into the fishing spot.
The scenery before him was no different from a week before,
with the parked black van, fishing equipment, and iceboxes strewn around.
The vast lake seemed to clear his chest.
“Huh?”
A fisherman who had just risen from her seat.
“What brings you here?”
“Haha! I came to fish.”
“I do listen to the radio, you know….”
At Kang Seok's words, Master Wolong casually pointed at the radio.
“Is it okay for you to be here?”
“...Ahem.”
-Oh no, oh no…
-Pretend you didn't notice ㅠㅜ
-Yeah, we're totally fucked..
“Everything's gone to hell, so I thought I'd learn how to fish.”
“Oh, I see.”
At Kang Seok's declaration that everything had gone to hell, Master Wolong calmly nodded.
“But being a fisherman isn't easy.”
“What in this world is easy?”
“That's true. But what happened?”
Setting up a spare chair, Master Wolong asked.
“I'll lend you a fishing rod, so tell me about it.”
“It won't be interesting.”
“Why wouldn't a story about a rich man going broke be interesting?”
-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-ㅋㅋㅋ
-For real, it'd be interesting..
“...All right.”
Even he thought it was, honestly, an interesting story.
After receiving the fishing rod, Kang Seok spun a yarn about what had happened to the organization.
The police had joined hands with a rival gang,
they'd been overwhelmed by a surprise attack, and he'd fled all the way here,
his subordinates seemed to be making a last stand, but things were already half over, and he had no good way to sneak back into the city.
“Then I thought of you, Master, and came here.”
“Hmm….”
After hearing the long story about how he'd given up everything and come here to fish, Master Wolong was silent for a moment.
Was she thinking about what to say?
If so, he was a little hopeful.
Wasn't she oddly like a peer despite her young voice?
On top of that, she spoke surprisingly sensibly, so he waited, expecting her to say something helpful, but.
“They say a rich man's wealth lasts three generations even after he goes broke.”
“Huh?”
“You have some money left, right?”
She suddenly said something completely out of left field.
…Money?
“What, are you suggesting we start a business with it?”
Was she bringing up the fact that he'd said he was a businessman before?
So he chuckled and said,
“Sadly, I was a nouveau riche, so I didn't save any. Buying one car would clean me out.”
“That's enough.”
“What?”
“It's late now, and this is a remote place, but….”
Saying that, Master Wolong put down the fishing rod.
Then she gave the sunglasses, which had always just rested on top of her head, a little flick. She shook her head and put them on properly.
Bang!!
“How about quadruple fare plus a surcharge?”
She slammed her hand into the parked van.
“...Aren't you a fisherman?”
“I'm a taxi driver.”
…That was a taxi?
Kang Seok stared blankly at the black van.
Yet he didn't hesitate over his answer.
“Are you going to give up?”
There aren't any taxis like this at this hour—
After hearing that, he had too much streamer experience to refuse.