Chapter 131
I don’t have any particularly good memories of sea fishing.
Fishing itself didn’t really suit me, but more than that, I barely had any experience with it to begin with. Back when I was in college, I was tricked by a friend into going along a couple of times—that was about it.
At the time, my friend had said cheerfully,
“There’s a big flounder fish farm near here. Apparently some of the flounder escaped and drift along the current to this breakwater.”
It sounded pretty convincing.
I didn’t have anything better to do at home, so I figured I’d take the bait and went along… but the result was exactly what you’d expect.
After suffering through the freezing early morning for hours, the only thing the two of us managed to catch was a greedy little creature that didn’t even know how to let go of the bait on the hook.
It was smaller than a 500-won coin. Woojin released it without hesitation.
It wasn’t a particularly pleasant experience.
Maybe… I’m about to add one more bad memory connected to fishing.
That seemed likely. The hunting plan this time was somewhat absurd.
Jonathan explained his idea.
“Let’s hunt the magical beast by fishing.”
It sounded crazy and ridiculous, but when it came to catching big fish, there was no better method than fishing.
In the past, Jonathan had single-handedly reeled in a massive marlin—an enormous fish weighing several hundred kilograms. That had only been possible because fishing was such an efficient hunting method.
“With my experience and Jin’s strength combined, even a magical beast should be possible to reel in.”
“Let’s give it a shot together.”
Jonathan laughed heartily as he said that. Woojin felt slightly uneasy because he had experienced a similar situation once before…
…But I can’t really refute it.
Jonathan’s plan sounded a little loose-screwed, yet strangely convincing.
Since no better method came to mind, Woojin decided to try it. Together with the others, he walked toward the harbor.
They soon reached their destination.
“Look! This is the boat we’ll be taking.”
Jonathan gestured proudly with a grin. Moored at the pier was a handsome small sailing boat.
It had a large triangular sail and a pair of oars. A long pole protruded from the bow, and around it someone had painted the head of a spearfish so that the pole looked like the fish’s horn.
Woojin exclaimed in admiration.
“That’s a fine boat.”
“Right? It’s a bit small, but four people can ride it comfortably.”
Large sailing ships were difficult to control alone. That was why Jonathan had deliberately bought a small sailing boat and made good use of it.
Today’s crew boarded the ship.
Woojin, Jonathan, Arwen, and Claire.
Those four would head out to sea.
“Oppa, can’t I come along too?”
“Uh, no.”
“…Hmph.”
Cindy made a sulky noise, but there was no helping it. This wasn’t a picnic. If something went wrong, someone could get seriously hurt.
If the magical beast smashed the boat, we’d all fall straight into the sea.
Since something like that could happen, only people who could properly take care of themselves were allowed to join this hunt.
Woojin smiled and patted his younger sister on the head.
“Stay here with Coco.”
“Okay.”
The silver sky squirrel, Coco, couldn’t come along either. The little creature was afraid of water.
According to Arwen, Coco didn’t know how to swim. Facing the vast ocean had left it trembling with fear.
“Piiiii…”
Coco, held in Cindy’s arms, chirped impatiently as if urging them to move away from the sea as soon as possible. Cindy smiled and stepped back from the pier.
Now that everyone had boarded, it was time to depart.
Flap—
The triangular sail that had been rolled up unfurled. As Jonathan skillfully rowed, the boat slowly began to move forward, as if pushed from behind by something.
Cindy shouted,
“Everyone, be careful!”
“See you later.”
They waved toward the receding pier. The bow cut through the waves without stopping. Before long, the harbor disappeared beyond the horizon, and the endless sea surrounded them.
Now that they were out in the open sea, it was time to begin. Woojin took a fishing line out of his bag.
It was a fishing line braided from the tendons of a magical beast—an incredibly tough and durable material that could withstand even a magical beast biting down on it.
Claire then cast a spell on it.
“Magis, Fortitudo.”
An enhancement spell.
The fishing line became even stronger—strong enough to endure a contest of strength between Woojin and a magical beast.
Jonathan tied the line to the bow of the boat.
“Why are you tying it there?”
“This makes it easier to exhaust the fish.”
You couldn’t catch a huge marlin using something like a wooden fishing rod. The moment it bit the bait, the rod would simply snap in half.
So they would fish by hand.
A method where you pulled the line with both hands, like a tug-of-war, to catch the fish. Because it required a direct contest of strength, it was far more exhausting and difficult.
Catching a thrashing marlin using only your hands was extremely hard. That was why a trick was necessary.
“You tie the fishing line to the bow and let the fish drag the boat around.”
The sailboat itself was also a tool for catching fish.
Once the fish got thoroughly exhausted from dragging the boat around, you could pull in the line and reel it in comfortably. Jonathan explained this while attaching bait to the hook.
“Do you know how to fish?”
“More or less.”
When the fish swallowed the bait deeply, you had to jerk the line to drive the hook into it.
Jonathan nodded.
“You know your stuff! Come sit over here.”
Woojin obediently approached. When he sat where Jonathan indicated, Jonathan pulled the long fishing line over and draped it across Woojin’s back.
“Your body will act as the fishing rod. Do you get the idea?”
“Yeah, roughly.”
From the looks of it, once a big fish bit the hook and the line tightened, he was supposed to lean his back against the line and use his body weight to fight it.
There were three fishing lines of different lengths. Woojin held them in his right hand, one line placed between each finger.
“Hold them like that. If it feels like a fish is biting, pull that line.”
“Understood.”
He understood the theory.
Now all that remained was to wait leisurely. When would the magical beast come and bite the bait? Woojin yawned and lightly tugged on the fishing lines in his hand.
The rest of the group needed something to pass the time too. Hoping to catch at least small fish, they each picked up a bamboo fishing rod.
They dropped their lines into the sea and chatted idly while waiting.
Standing beside him, Arwen muttered,
“This is my first time fishing.”
“Have you ever been on a boat?”
“No. Actually… yesterday was the first time I ever saw the ocean.”
Since leaving the Demon Realm, everything she encountered was unfamiliar and new no matter where she went.
That too was meaningful.
“Let’s keep having fun living together from now on.”
“Alright.”
While they were chatting like that…
Arwen suddenly blinked.
“…I think I feel something vibrating.”
“Try pulling it.”
At those words, Arwen readily pulled the fishing rod. A palm-sized fish flopped out of the water, wriggling wildly.
Arwen looked flustered for a moment, then carefully picked up the fish and removed the hook.
“What kind of fish is this?”
“Who knows? I’m not that knowledgeable about fish either.”
Maybe some kind of mackerel?
When Woojin muttered that, Jonathan glanced over and gave them a hint.
“It’s a horse mackerel. Pretty tasty fish.”
“Really?”
Arwen stared quietly at the horse mackerel in her hand… then suddenly tossed it back into the sea and let it go. The fish disappeared calmly beneath the surface.
Woojin asked curiously.
“Why release the fish you just caught?”
“Well… I’m not hungry.”
Arwen looked a little hesitant.
“Was I not supposed to let it go?”
“No. You did well.”
When he praised her like that, Arwen seemed pleased and began humming softly to herself.
After waiting for a while…
…I think I feel something.
There was a strange sensation from the fishing line wedged between his middle and ring fingers. It felt like something was lightly tapping it. He wasn’t quite sure.
Woojin waited carefully for the right moment, then suddenly jerked the fishing line sharply to set the hook.
But something felt off.
Did it escape?
Woojin tilted his head in confusion and pulled up the line to check whether the bait was still attached.
What he found was… a clump of unknown seaweed hanging from the hook. Woojin irritably flung the seaweed away, and from beside him came a quiet giggling sound.
Woojin looked toward the source of the laughter. Arwen hurriedly turned her head the other way.
…This is oddly humiliating.
He’d better take it seriously.
After attaching a large chunk of meat to the hook, he tossed it back into the sea. Sitting like a stone Buddha, Woojin focused on the sensations at his fingertips.
Occasionally setting the hook, he patiently waited for a fish to bite the bait…
Flap-flap-flap—!
A strange sound suddenly came from the sea.
When he looked up, he saw a school of sardines. For some reason, they were leaping above the surface. The water splashed violently, bubbles and spray bursting as if the sea itself were boiling.
Hundreds—no, thousands—of sardines were doing this, creating quite a spectacle. But why were they behaving like that? Just as Woojin wondered about it—
Jonathan suddenly shouted.
“It’s boiling!!”
Boiling?
Woojin was about to ask what that meant, but before he could, he felt something. Instinctively, he jerked the fishing line he was holding.
Something latched onto it with a heavy jolt. The line began thrashing violently.
It bit.
Woojin grabbed the fishing line firmly with both hands. A fierce resistance traveled through his fingertips. Something enormous was swimming forward.
Flap-flap-flap—!
The sardine school in that direction suddenly leaped frantically above the water’s surface.
The meaning behind that behavior was obvious.
They were trying to escape a predator.
With a massive predator lurking beneath the water, their only chance of survival was to leap above the surface. It was an instinct unique to fish.
The creature hooked on the fishing line seemed no different. Suddenly the line tightened sharply.
It’s jumping.
The moment that thought crossed his mind—
SPLASH!!
A huge fish burst from the water, thrashing wildly. It had a long spear-like bill like a marlin. The scales along its dorsal fin were black, as though smeared with ink.
It was easily over four meters long. Seeing it, Jonathan burst into wild laughter.
“Wow!! My god, that’s a spearfish!!”
A spearfish—among existing billfish, it possessed the largest body and weight of them all.
But it wasn’t a magical beast.
Just a regular one.
Woojin clicked his tongue in disappointment. At that moment, the spearfish leaped high out of the water again, clearly desperate to escape the fishing line.
It sure had plenty of strength…
BOOOOM!!
A thunderous explosion erupted. A massive splash shot skyward as a shark-like magical beast three times larger than the spearfish burst out of the water.
CRUNCH!
The gigantic shark clamped down on the spearfish’s head in a single bite… then vanished back beneath the sea.
Woojin and the others stared blankly at the scene.
Then the fishing line suddenly grew even tighter. An overwhelming force pulsed through it.
The magical beast had taken the hook.
Jonathan snapped back to his senses and shouted at the top of his lungs.
“Pull!!”
It was time for the tug-of-war.