Chapter 329
[The first thing we need to do after finishing the search is hunt.]
[Ryan? Let’s at least decide where to build the camp before we go.]
[The camp site? We’ve already decided.]
[Where is it?]
[We have no choice but to do it here too, don’t we? Hahaha!]
[Oh dear. It seems Ryan wants to have some real fun.]
- The bald guy is laughing!
- He’s not bald.
- Ryanㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ They’re building their houses in places where they can face each otherㅋㅋㅋ
- So crazy people really do understand each other.
The expert team took up a position in a place where Seojun’s crocodile hide was clearly visible.
Then they began taking off their clothes.
They had found traces of wild animals on the island, but they were in a hurry.
They needed to secure at least the minimum amount of food as quickly as possible, then immediately begin building their camp.
[Ooh. For now, there seem to be a lot of crabs. Hm.]
Ryan, stripped down in the wilderness, was formidable.
Coconuts and bamboo.
And crabs.
Ryan began hunting whatever he could get his hands on, while Bear prepared to catch fish.
[There seemed to be a lot of fish earlier. I’m going to catch them with this spear. It’ll be difficult underwater without a rubber band, though.]
Holding a spear made from bamboo, Bear shrugged.
[But it should be doable.]
They immediately changed their goal from demonstrating survival skills to winning the race.
The confidence of Ryan and Bear, who were crawling around on the beach laughing and catching crabs, proved it.
And just like that, the two men’s hunting scene passed in an instant.
- They’re showing how much time has passed in reality too, not just on the broadcast.
- Ooh, an hour has passed and they caught that much ㄷㄷㄷ
- He caught four fishㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
- Too bad there aren’t any big crabs.
“Indeed. There aren’t any big crabs over there right now. But there are spiny lobsters.”
Bear even caught a spiny lobster, and the hunt ended after an hour.
[Woohoo! What a bounty.]
[Exactly.]
[Let’s start a fire right away.]
Ryan took his machete and went to collect the dry leaves he had gathered during the search.
Then, after picking up a hard-looking stone, he placed the dry leaves on the ground and began striking his knife against the stone.
Carefully at first.
Then faster.
Sparks flew.
Ryan’s goal was to transfer those sparks to the dry leaves and create an ember.
It took a little time, and while Bear waited, gathering useful branches, he picked up his binoculars.
[Hey, Ryan.]
[What?]
[The fire over there went out.]
[Aha!]
[There’s no more smoke rising.]
[You really have to look after a fire as carefully as you would a baby. Heh heh.]
Ryan chuckled as he clanged his sword against the stone.
Bear also smiled at the good news.
Bear’s narration began.
[The camp over there will have to spend more time and energy starting their fire again. This is good news. It looks like we may have found a way to catch up.]
His voice was calm.
[There’s no telling how long it will take to find the flag on the island. That’s why we need a camp where we can get sufficient rest, as well as food. Mr. Seojun’s team should have more than enough food. And as you can see, their camp is perfect too.]
Just as Bear said, all of Seojun’s conditions were excellent.
Would they really be short on food after catching a crocodile that size?
[It sounds unbelievable, but I think they smoked it properly? Maybe not, but somehow, I feel like they did. Their camp also appears capable of blocking wind and rain and providing them with a comfortable place to rest. This is a very bad situation for us.]
Soon, Bear’s mouth opened—not in narration, but on the live broadcast.
[He’s still lying on the sunbed, Ryan.]
[That’s fortunate.]
[Yes, it is fortunate. If they’re going to be this relaxed.]
Once again, Bear’s field of vision through the binoculars appeared on-screen, and his narration continued.
[At the time, I thought this: Fighting humans is better than fighting the wilderness. They had already demonstrated incredible survival skills and caught a crocodile, so naturally they could afford to relax. Even so, nature is never something you can let your guard down around. But…]
- But????
- Why againㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
- But did the host not realize how important fire was?
- For realㅋㅋ
- He was probably just sleepyㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ He really looks like he came on vacation, doesn’t he?
- Start a fire, you host from the past!
Seojun merely smiled at the chat’s reaction.
“Think about why this narration appeared at this point.”
Seojun, who had been in Bear’s line of sight, woke up.
He looked around for a moment, then picked up the binoculars and faced Bear.
Then he waved.
- ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ He looks so ridiculously cheerfulㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
- Oh, you guys are here too? That kind of feelingㅋㅋㅋㅋ
- The host gave them an intense welcome with crocodile hide, then went straight to sleep.
- Maybe he’s sleepy because he worked so hard yesterday?ㅋㅋㅋㅋ A camp that good would be enough to keep anyone up all night.
- For realㅋㅋ
- No wonder the fire went out.
Seojun checked that the fire had gone out, then trudged over, picked up the longsword stuck beside it, and returned to where the embers had been.
[Haha. Ryan, Mr. Seojun noticed that the fire went out too. He’s awake and heading over there now. Huh? Huh?]
Then Seojun brought the sword down.
Toward the stone.
Ryan had struck the stone against his knife with precision in order to transfer the spark to the dry grass used as tinder, but Seojun simply swung his sword at the stone.
Sparks flew.
But something about what happened next was strange.
Seojun let go of the sword, picked up the dry grass from the ground, and began waving it around.
He was forcing air into it.
To revive the ember.
Bear’s voice trembled.
[Wait a moment. Don’t tell me… Did the ember catch? On the first try?]
[Huh? Bear? What did you say?]
Whoosh!
Seojun ignited the tinder with the spark from a single swing of his sword.
He hadn’t needed to tend the fire at all.
- Click??????
- ?????
- ???
- Ryan’s next to him clanging awayㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ The host just clicks!ㅋㅋㅋ
- Did he surround the stone with nothing but dry grass? So that no matter where the spark flew, it would catch fire?
- No way. This bastard can just control even the sparks. He simply brought the sword down.
- No… surely not… Is that even human?
[Ah, no. Ryan?]
[What?]
[Get the fire going quickly. I’ll go bring more camp materials.]
[Heh heh. Go ahead.]
Bear began moving quickly. Meanwhile, Seojun yawned in the distance.
- ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Brother Bear doesn’t even bother telling him the truth.
- He even took the binocularsㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
- You mean he’s not telling him the truth.
- Host!!!! The sword is blunt!
[I have absolutely no idea what the hell is happening, but one thing is certain. Something more frightening than nature is right in front of me. Honestly, I was scared.]
- ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ A bastard scarier than natureㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
With Bear’s narration, time turned back to the past.
* * *
“I’ll start the fire as well. You did the hunting, Mr. Seojun.”
Baek Doyul spoke calmly after the butchering was complete.
“Hmm.”
“I’ve never tried it before, but I should be able to start a fire within a few hours. You strike a knife against a hard stone to make sparks…”
Seojun fell into thought for a moment.
‘He seems determined to work hard to surpass me.’
Baek Doyul did not allow his enthusiasm to be dampened.
They said that, thanks to that enthusiasm, he had eventually surpassed Shin Hayeon.
I see.
‘I should cheer him on.’
“All right. While Professional Baek Doyul starts the fire, I’ll begin preparing to smoke the meat.”
“What? How?”
And smoking the meat?
“Like this.”
Seojun placed a pile of dry leaves, which he had quietly prepared to use as tinder, on the ground beside a large stone, then picked up the longsword stuck nearby.
The instant the blade struck the stone, the spark that flew off caught on the dry leaves.
On the first try.
Once an ember had formed, Seojun lifted the pile of leaves and fanned it to let in air and strengthen the ember, then approached Baek Doyul.
“Here. Professional Baek Doyul. This is how you start a fire. In the meantime, I’ll…”
“……”
“Ah. Smoking the meat requires preparing the wood, but I can’t lend you my sword. Let’s practice starting fires later.”
As he spoke, Seojun added firewood to the haystack where the flames had begun to rise.
“……”
Had his spirit been broken?
Oh dear.
That was a mistake.
“……!”
No, it hadn’t been broken.
That was also a mistake.
I won’t explain why that was also a mistake.
“All right. Let’s go prepare the wood, Mr. Seojun! But can we really smoke the meat?”
“Yes. I think we can make charcoal. From the trees around here.”
There was only one sword.
In a situation like this, how could two people build a camp and various smoking facilities?
“Then I’ll find a suitable location. I’ll also do all the logging and turn the trees into firewood when I get back!”
Baek Doyul said this without a sword in hand. His unbreakable determination to do his share was evident.
“All right.”
Seojun nodded. Then he cut down a nearby bamboo stalk.
“Let’s replenish our water first.”
* * *
What a madman.
Back in Korea, Baek Doyul had diligently practiced starting fires with sparks, together with a fire extinguisher.
It could be called playing with fire, but a fire did not simply flare up because a spark touched something.
At most, an ember would be created.
And even that had a very low chance of success.
Yet Seojun had just tossed down a pile of dry grass, struck the stone, and started a fire on his first attempt.
There was no way he wasn’t a madman.
‘My spirit is about to break.’
His heart.
His enthusiasm.
His competitive drive.
He desperately rekindled them. Again and again.
‘Damn it.’
Baek Doyul clenched his teeth and replenished his moisture by drinking the water inside the bamboo he had been given.
“Let’s take a look around! In the meantime, please gather just a little firewood.”
“Yes.”
Meat spoiled quickly.
That was why they needed to smoke it, and smoking meat required charcoal.
To make charcoal, they needed suitable wood.
Fortunately, he discovered that suitable trees were growing all around them.
All they had to do was burn the wood while cutting it off from the air.
It was possible.
But wouldn’t the meat spoil in the meantime?
‘I thought starting the fire would take an hour, but it was over in one try.’
Even so, splitting the firewood would take an hour.
Wouldn’t it take another hour to build something like a furnace?
In the shade, away from the sunlight, the breeze was cool. And since Seojun said they had enough time, Baek Doyul moved quickly, though he wasn’t sure.
They should just grill enough meat to fill their stomachs for today and search for the flag. Why bother smoking it?
Even so, Baek Doyul diligently followed Seojun’s orders.
He knew that it was simply easier on the mind to do as he was told.
After going a little deeper inland, he found a suitable spot.
There was a pool some distance from the camp site.
He wasn’t sure whether the freshwater was safe to drink, but there was mud around it, making it suitable for use as a container for making charcoal.
He tore off some suitable leaves with his bare hands and immediately returned.
And there, he saw it.
The perfectly prepared firewood.
Tree trunks somewhat thicker than a human arm had all been cut and neatly arranged.
“How?”
“With the longsword.”
“……?”
“Trees really do have a grain to them, but let’s go for now. Carry these over.”
A sufficient amount of firewood had been prepared.
Ten minutes?
It had taken no more than that.
It was far too fast.
This was strange.
It was completely unrealistic.
That was a longsword, wasn’t it? Not a diamond axe.
Ah.
‘My heart is about to be broken by fear again.’
Get a grip.