(Anonymous 1): ….. So now Eric is the one shaking us down instead of Jinwoo?
(God of Rain and Sunlight): ….. This is unexpected.
“What are you just standing there watching for? Your lord was almost in danger. Send support immediately.”
(Anonymous 1): No, Jinwoo, you’re stronger than you think, okay? You have stars every second. You didn’t even die without him anyway.
Honestly, I agree with that. I looked at Eric, and Eric quietly shot me a glance.
‘……!!’
I figured out Eric’s bigger plan. He’s trying to shake down the Constellations for support! Eric knows that both Byul and I are pretty strong. No matter how powerful the villains are, he must know they can’t even harm Byul.
“The villains were strong. I know you’re powerful, my lord, but it could have been dangerous.”
Even though he knows the strength of Byul and me, he keeps insisting like this because he wants to use this incident as leverage to extort support from the Constellations. Fine, then I’ll play along with Eric’s help.
“… Now that I think about it, it really could have been dangerous. Honestly, even if I’m an A-rank Hunter, it’s not like I got here by my own strength. I became an A-rank Hunter with the help of the Constellations. I practically had nothing on my own.”
I put on my best pitiful, weak act.
“There’s only a year and three months left… I almost got into serious trouble. Almost lost my family too. It’s all because I’m weak…”
(Anonymous 1): No, damn it, you’re strong!
(God of Rain and Sunlight): Jinwoo, are you ignoring Byul’s power?
“Byul is kind-hearted and can’t fight others.”
(Anonymous 1): Don’t you remember how Byul shredded those monsters like a blender?
I pretended not to hear and changed the subject.
“Anyway, I was so weak I almost got into serious trouble. What would’ve happened if Eric wasn’t here? I would’ve died with the stream off.”
(Father of Crops): You’re not weak. Get a grip.
(Endless Waiting): ….. Looks like this really worked.
(Liberated Swordsman): That’s right. The stage is perfectly set.
(Receiver of Cheongha): Jinwoo wouldn’t ignore a perfectly set stage.
Ha Baek knows me well. I shot a glance at Eric. Ready!
“My lord, or perhaps you should just not turn on the stream. The Constellations don’t seem inclined to help you. Just trust me.”
Eric seemed to think there was no other way and switched to a more threatening approach.
(Anonymous 1): I lost, I lost. Damn Eric. I lost, stop it.
(God of Rain and Sunlight): Fine, I lost.
(Father of Crops): Yeah, I’ll support. Stop it.
All the Constellations sent support at the same time. The coin pouch in my coin shop swelled. Now I had 2,000 coins in my possession.
[Constellation, Anonymous 1 has donated an item!]
[Grade B Item, ‘Proficiency Book’ acquired!]
– Description: Increases proficiency of skills Grade B and below when used.
I used the proficiency book to raise the proficiency of Fireball. Originally, Fireball was Grade C, but using the proficiency book instantly boosted it to Grade B.
‘Lucky.’
This support-receiving project was definitely successful. I had gathered 2,000 coins. Not only that, but I had also accumulated a lot of stats and skills while clearing the gates.
‘Skills like Water Shield, Stealth, Sword Energy, and Fireball are all good, and now Fireball’s grade has increased.’
I smiled contentedly.
“At this rate, I won’t be dying at the hands of anyone anytime soon, hehe. Thank you all!”
Soon I would go shopping again with coins. I could buy more proficiency books or even new skills with the coins.
I could buy items too. Happy with my thoughts, I lay down on the camper bed. It seemed the fatigue from walking around the market a lot earlier in the morning still hadn’t fully gone away.
“Eric.”
“My lord, please give me your orders.”
“I’m going to take a nap. Take Byul and Baekgu for a walk around the campsite, then wake me up later.”
“Understood.”
(Anonymous 1): Eric does like walks.
(God of Rain and Sunlight): Do we really have to watch Jinwoo take a nap?
(Anonymous 1): We can just watch Eric’s screen.
(God of Rain and Sunlight): …..! That’s an idea.
(Father of Crops): I thought we were just shaking wallets, but Merrick actually turned out to be useful.
“If you know, then be quiet and just watch the stream.”
Eric’s sharp words silenced the Constellations. I chuckled softly and lay down, closing my eyes.
“See you later, my lord.”
“‘Bye! Dad! See you later!”
– Bye!
I waved to Eric, Byul, and Baekgu. Eric smiled, clearly enjoying the walk, and Baekgu wagged his tail as usual.
“Hehe.”
Byul giggled, shaking her chubby cheeks, looking absolutely adorable.
*****
Eric held Byul’s hand as they strolled through the campsite. Byul held his left hand, and Baekgu trotted alongside on his right, wagging his tail. It had been so long since I had properly enjoyed such peace and happiness.
(Anonymous 1): That bastard Eric has a smile blooming all over his face. It pisses me off.
Since Eric was a hometown friend who had spent a long time with Anonymous, he knew that was just Anonymous’s way of showing affection.
One day, the time would come to tell Jinwoo and the other Constellations about the days Eric fought with Anonymous.
“Uncle!”
“Hmm?”
Byul asked Eric, who was lost in old memories.
“What’s that?”
Looking at the people sitting by the river with their fishing rods lowered, Byul asked.
“That’s called fishing. You catch fish.”
Now that I noticed, this campsite was designed to allow fishing. You could enjoy the nature of the mountains, and at the campsite’s private fish farm, you could pay to fish.
Splash!
At that moment, another guest caught a fish with their rod.
“Wow…”
“Want to try?”
“Really!”
Eric, the Constellations, and Baekgu looked around. Byul wanted to try fishing, but the problem was there was no money. You had to pay the campsite to fish.
(Anonymous 1): Just wake Jinwoo up.
“How could I wake him? He said to wake him in about an hour. It hasn’t even been ten minutes yet.”
(God of Rain and Sunlight): You stubborn bastard!
(Anonymous 1): But Byul wants to fish! Does Jinwoo’s nap even matter?
(Father of Crops): Hmm, Jinwoo’s nap isn’t a big deal. Maybe tell him to eat some golden garlic for fatigue relief and get up.
(Endless Waiting): I would have sided with Jinwoo originally. I owe him my new life.
(Liberated Swordsman): Me too, thanks to Jinwoo I’m living a new life. So originally I wouldn’t have woken him from his nap.
But…
(Endless Waiting): Byul wants to fish!
(Liberated Swordsman): Right, and Byul doesn’t have any money!
Byul stared at the fishing scene with eyes about to burst into tears. Seeing Byul like that, all the Constellations yelled as if they were her fathers.
(Anonymous 1): Jinwoo’s going to get mad if he finds out you didn’t wake him! Wake him before Byul cries!!
It had been a while since Eric had seen Anonymous get this urgently angry, and he chuckled softly. Then he rapidly explained why he hadn’t woken me.
*****
“Ah, good job. You’re fully awake now. Next time this happens, wake me immediately, okay?”
“Understood.”
I scooped Byul up in my arms.
“Byul, do you want to fish?”
“Really!”
Back when I first became a streamer for the Constellations, I had tried fishing once. That was before Byul was born.
“Great, let’s go fishing!”
Tonight’s dinner was decided: fish dishes. After deciding, I asked Eric.
“Eric, can you enter the pendant for a bit now and come out later?”
“Yes, that’s possible.”
“Then you can come out later and stay for two hours, right?”
“Yes, that’s possible. The cooldown only starts after my summon time ends, so if my summon time hasn’t ended, I can be summoned without cooldown.”
“Alright, then go inside now. I’ll summon you when dinner is ready.”
“!”
Eric looked touched, understanding my intention.
“Let’s eat dinner together later.”
“Understood, thank you, my lord!”
With that, Eric entered the pendant, and Byul, Baekgu, and I headed toward the campsite store run by the owner.
“Oh, you’re the young man who checked in today, right?”
“Yes, sir. Hello.”
“What brings you here? Buying snacks?”
“My daughter wants to fish.”
“Oh, really?”
The owner hurried out of a room. Inside, I saw fishing equipment, so he must be a fishing enthusiast.
(Anonymous 1): The room’s full of fishing rods.
(Receiver of Cheongha): This campsite was probably opened for fishing.
I bought a four-hour ticket for fish farming fishing, which both Byul and I could use together.
“Usually, we charge for fishing rod rentals, but since such a cute child wants to fish, I’ll lend you one for free!”
“Oh, thank you!”
“Hehe, thanks!”
Byul followed me, bowing politely. She had grown noticeably, now looking around three to four years old. A small fishing rod, about the size of an adult male’s forearm, perfectly suited to Byul’s height, was in her hand.
“So cute.”
The words slipped out without me realizing. The chat flooded with comments agreeing that she was cute. Little Byul carrying the small rod on her shoulder and giggling was truly adorable.
We were assigned a room by the fish farm.
In this room, we could watch TV and relax, or go out on the terrace to cast fishing lines into the fish farm. After fishing, we could cook the fish in the shared kitchen.
‘Nice facilities. No wonder it’s expensive.’
I thought that as the owner explained the fishing rules and told us there were plenty of fish in the farm after baiting us.
“Like this?”
“Good! That’s how you do it!”
The owner focused on teaching Byul how to fish. It seemed he hoped the little girl would grow up into a fishing enthusiast.
When the owner finished his enthusiastic lecture and left feeling proud, we finally began fishing.
We simultaneously baited our hooks with clumps of bait. Then we cast the lines into the river and waited. The sun was still strong, making it a bit warm, but the cool mountain breeze kept us comfortable.
“Hehe.”
Byul laughed happily for some unknown reason.
“You have a very cute child.”
While quietly watching Byul, a family fishing in the next room spoke to me. I smiled and replied.
“Thank you, your child is very cute too.”
The boy next door was adorable as well, and we began chatting while waiting for a bite.
“Are you a Hunter?”
“How did you know?”
“That dog is a spirit, so I figured. I’m a Hunter too.”
The father, who had come fishing with his young son leaving his wife at home, smiled broadly.
(Endless Waiting): These chance encounters are part of the fun of fishing. I’m looking forward to it!