“Come here.”
Roy, feeling sorry again for Ber’s dejected appearance, cradled him in his arms and was the first to get out of the car.
The sea breeze, thick with the scent of salt, washed over his face. The harbor was already bustling with people heading out to sea, even in these early morning hours.
Ordinary people would still be lost in sleep at this time. The passion of those who began their days ahead of others naturally brought a smile to anyone watching.
Roy shook off the gloom that had settled over him because of Ber’s earlier mishap.
“Alright, everyone, please change into these clothes.”
PD Shimjun handed out waterproof overalls to the Red Team, the kind that looked like waders. They were all-in-one suits, connected to rubber boots at the bottom.
At this point, it was impossible not to guess what the “special experience” was about.
“So, this special experience is…”
“Yes! Today, we’re going to try fulfilling the dream of a bountiful catch together with these folks!”
Shimjun answered Kim Jaewoo’s cautious question with a beaming face.
Behind Shimjun, fishermen of all shapes and sizes appeared.
“This is the captain of the Mansonho.”
“……Nice to meet you.”
His skin, weathered by the sea breeze, was the color of dark chocolate. After the middle-aged man, introduced as the captain, the crew of the Mansonho also greeted them one by one.
“Wow, I never thought I’d ride a boat with celebrities. Please take good care of us!”
“Just trust us. Believe it or not, this work actually requires a lot of know-how.”
No matter how infested the sea was with monsters, there was no way Koreans would give up their craving for seafood.
Roy recalled reading an article once that the Republic of Korea had the highest per capita seafood consumption in the world.
The rankings might have changed since, but the fact that Koreans especially loved seafood was unchanged.
Thanks to that, the Republic of Korea government had supported fishermen nationwide by providing boats equipped with artifacts that drove away monsters.
Although seafood prices had skyrocketed compared to before monsters appeared, it was still what allowed Koreans to keep enjoying seafood.
“I’ve never been fishing before. I’m excited.”
Yoo Jaeri, who until just a moment ago had been blinking sleepily, greeted the fishermen, unable to hide her excitement.
“Listen to them carefully. Don’t try to do something on your own and get into trouble.”
Han Honghyun warned Yoo Jaeri, who—if she had a tail—would no doubt be wagging it furiously.
Memories of cleaning up after Yoo Jaeri’s various mishaps flashed through his mind. That was why he was already worrying about trouble that hadn’t even happened yet.
“……Here, wear this.”
Lee Doha picked up two sets of clothes and handed them to Roy and Kim Jaewoo. The clothes had a strong, distinctive sea smell.
“Roy, this one’s smaller. Let’s swap.”
Kim Jaewoo quickly exchanged the outfit Roy had been holding with his own.
‘……Isn’t there an artifact that makes you taller somewhere?’
At times like this, Roy couldn’t help but feel a sting to his pride.
Even in that other world, Roy’s comrades teased him for being short, and here too, being tall seemed to have its advantages.
‘It always hurts whenever I’m called the shortest member.’
Roy let out a deep sigh and started wriggling into his work clothes.
The size was so loose that it was hard to tell whether Roy was wearing the outfit or the outfit was wearing Roy.
“Should I tighten this for you?”
Unlike Roy, the clothes fit Lee Doha perfectly. He came over and grabbed Roy’s baggy waistband.
……
“..No, it’s fine.”
Fortunately, the shoulder straps kept the outfit from slipping off.
But if seawater splashed in, it would probably go straight down into the work clothes.
‘Arra, could you keep my clothes dry inside?’
“Poruru.” (Just leave it to me. I’ll make it perfectly waterproof.)
But there was no need to worry. With Aqua’s help, Roy could stay perfectly dry even while in the sea.
“Everyone done changing? Then please board the Mansonho.”
Shimjun, also in a similar work suit, continued directing. Roy followed after Lee Doha, who was leading the way.
Yoo Jaeri and Han Honghyun had already boarded the ship and were busily exploring every corner.
“Then let’s set off!”
When Shimjun signaled the captain that all the cast members were ready, the captain nodded heavily and started up the ship.
“Fia—.” (The sea breeze feels great.)
Lys stretched his head out from atop Roy’s head and let out a happy cry.
The white foam churning out from the engine blended into the sea and vanished, so refreshing it felt like it cleared his head.
“How much do you have to catch for a ‘full catch’?”
At Kim Jaewoo’s question, a crew member, as if to say seeing was faster than explaining, showed them the storage hold connected to the boat’s deck.
“We have to fill all of this.”
“……That’s a lot to catch.”
Looking at the completely empty hold, Kim Jaewoo swallowed nervously. But it wasn’t fear or reluctance he felt.
If he was going to do it, he wanted to do it right.
“We’re all strong, so just tell us what to do!”
As he said, he was confident in physical labor.
“Then help me spread this out nice and wide.”
“Yes!”
Kim Jaewoo crouched down and began untangling the net. Soon enough, Lee Doha and Roy joined him to help.
“What should we do?”
“For now, please help fix this broken fish trap. Watch me and follow along.”
Yoo Jaeri and Han Honghyun also joined in, their faces focused as if they were on stage.
Tuduk—
“Uh…”
Roy looked awkwardly at the net he’d just been handling.
He’d only given it a tiny bit of force, but the net snapped as if it were made of thin hair.
“……I’m sorry.”
“Hahaha. No worries. Hunters do that all the time. It’s actually harder not to use your strength.”
The crew member teaching Roy how to mend nets laughed heartily.
Roy continued the work, doing his best to keep his strength in check. It was an ironic situation where he had to actually exert effort in order not to exert strength.
About thirty minutes passed as the ship sailed on.
They arrived at the spot where the net had been cast the previous day.
“Is that all the net stretched out over there?”
“Of course. This is called stationary net fishing—we set up a giant net shaped like a fish trap to catch the fish.”
Roy gazed around in awe. It was still before sunrise, so the light was dim, but there was no problem seeing.
The net, easily 200 meters long on each side, was so massive it made his chest swell with excitement.
“Now we just have to haul it in. Normally, you’d need two boats, but since Hunters are with us today, it’s just ours.”
Apparently, they usually even brought a crane.
“I’m really confident in jobs that need strength.”
“Me too.”
Yoo Jaeri flexed her arm to show off her muscle. Not to be outdone, Roy moved to help pull up the net from another side.
“Alright, let’s haul on the count!”
The crew, perhaps finding it novel to work together with Hunters, all wore bright expressions.
“Everyone, focus and pull!”
Only after the captain barked the order did the crew put on the faces of seasoned veterans and began hauling up the net.
“It’s heavier than I thought.”
Lee Doha strained so hard the veins stood out on his arms.
“Wow, it’s really working.”
A crew member looked on in awe. The day before, it had taken a crane and twenty strong men to lift this net.
Even then, it had taken forever to get it up, and by the time they’d almost hauled it to the surface, their chests had been heaving with exhaustion.
“Everyone keeps talking about Hunters—guess they really are built different.”
The crew member gave a thumbs-up toward the camera.
One of the production staff held up a sketchbook reading “Hunter Idol, not just Hunter,” but to the crew, “Hunter” sounded more familiar.
“Wow… That’s all fish, right? What kind are they?”
“Yellowtail.”
The captain answered Yoo Jaeri’s question in his gruff voice.
Sunlight burst through onto the writhing mass of fish, shimmering brightly.
“Looks delicious.”
Kim Jaewoo licked his lips at the sight of the huge, powerful yellowtail.
After getting up at dawn and using all his strength on the boat, his stomach was audibly rumbling.
Thunk—
“Captain, is this enough water?”
“Yeah.”
It was as if the crew member had read Kim Jaewoo’s mind as he brought over a huge cauldron.
Inside, clean water sloshed gently.
“Por.” (If you’d asked me, I could have filled it right away.)
Arra seemed troubled that the crew had gone to such effort. Roy reached out to pat Aqua on the head.
Honestly, when Roy had first summoned the Spirit Kings, they hadn’t been all that friendly toward humans.
To spirits who loved nature, humans were just a species that destroyed pristine nature to satisfy their own greed.
It was only after spending time with Roy that they began to express empathy so naturally like this.
“Other than yellowtail, the small fish aren’t worth selling, so we just boil them with ramen like this.”
Various cleaned fish plopped into the huge cauldron.
“Biiiii—.” (That looks delicious…)
After getting scolded for following a suspicious person earlier, Ber had been sulking, but before long, he flew over to the crew member preparing ramen.
“Biiik!” (I can stoke the fire for you!)
“Ber, wait.”
Roy caught the excited Ber. As Ber flapped as if to say ‘let me go,’ the crew member watched him curiously.
“Is it okay if Ber helps with the fire?”
With so much in the cauldron, it looked like it would take a while to boil.
“Sure, go ahead. It’s rare to see a spirit stoking a fire. Lucky day for us.”
The Mansonho crew were generally warm and easygoing, a stark contrast to the captain, whose only expression was the occasional twitch of his eyebrow.
Fwoooosh—
With permission, Ber lit a clear, powerful flame.
“Not too much. You’ll melt the cauldron at this rate.”
The flames leapt as if about to devour the whole pot, so Roy quickly reined Ber in.
If this kept up, the pot would melt and fuse with the ramen.
“Bii.” (Okay. Leave it to me.)
Ber puffed out his little chest and concentrated on controlling his power. The flames gradually subsided, and soon, bubbles began to rise to the surface.
“Wow. That’s really fast. Normally it’d take a few more minutes.”
As the water began to boil, the crew member tore open a packet of soup base and dumped it in.
“I’ll help too.”
There were so many people that there were at least fifteen ramen packets stacked nearby. Roy rolled up his sleeves and helped the crew mix in the soup base.
“Captain, your knife skills are amazing…!”
Meanwhile, the captain was expertly butchering a yellowtail.
It almost looked like the knife was moving by itself as he worked, flesh and bone separating with a few deft movements.
“Ah, that looks good.”
Han Honghyun also licked his lips, watching the yellowtail being filleted. That was when his sense for energy detected something.