Deserted island survival, day 5.
I've been chilling, eating, and upgrading my setup.
First, the shelter.
My once-shabby lean-to is now sturdy and cozy.
It needs more work to withstand the late-game typhoon, but for now, I'm thrilled!
Made some exercise gear too.
A pull-up bar from wood and rusty pipe.
A wooden bench I carved and smoothed.
A log for a barbell.
It's not heavy enough for serious lifting, but without my hero strength, it feels just right.
Explored the forest and scored useful tools from chests:
A hatchet for chopping, gloves, binoculars, cooking gear…
Thanks to these, managing my cozy island villa is a breeze.
This morning, I checked the fish trap and nearly jumped.
"Lobster?! Hey!!! Is this a damn seafood restaurant?!?!"
I'd caught plenty of fish, but lobster? Unreal…!
Grinning ear to ear, I prepped breakfast.
Steamed lobster to start the day strong!
"The yield's insane?! Not a single gap in this meat!!!"
Dipped the plump, white claw meat in rich innards.
One bite.
"Hey…!"
Mind-blowing flavor…!
This is the romantic life I dreamed of!!
While I savored my feast—
Grrrrrrumble- Grumble! Grumble-!!
Lena's stomach roared like a construction site.
Freshly awake, she stared at me with hollow eyes.
Lena still hadn't done the sow declaration.
Her diet? Tree fruit and some yams from a chest.
No fire, so she's been gnawing raw yams.
She started building a shelter a few days ago, copying me, but hers is a crooked mess.
No surprise—I studied pro videos; she's just winging it.
Lena's situation is grim.
Compared to her, I'm living in a five-star hotel.
The bigger issue? Hecate.
"Child of darkness… My ink's fading again… Bring me the gems of moon and darkness…"
Her energy's dipping.
"Got it. I'll find something today, I swear…"
Lena grabbed a shoddy stone knife—more like a caveman rock—and scarfed a raw yam for breakfast.
Can that thing even cut branches?
She seemed ready to head into the forest but lingered, fidgeting.
I figured out why when my meal ended.
Lena approached.
"K-Kim Taeyang…"
"Huh? What? Starting a fight first thing?"
"No, it's not that… Are you throwing that away?"
She pointed at my leftover lobster shells.
What, she's gonna lick my scraps?
Didn't think she'd fall this low so fast…
Just do the sow declaration and get some food!
"Hey, you scavenging food trash? Got no human pride left?"
"…There's meat in the whiskers and legs. If you're tossing it, I'll take it."
Going for the scraps, huh?
I wasn't gonna bother with those…
"What's with the sneaking, you freeloading chick?! Pay a fair price!!!"
"Trade for one yam…"
"You kidding? Who's the shameless one now, offering just one?!"
"Two…?"
"All you got!"
"That's too much!"
Hmm. Even I thought that was harsh.
We settled on three yams.
Trading trash for yams? Jackpot!
Steamed yams! Gonna be delicious!!
Lena couldn't eat in front of me, so she hid in her rickety shelter to nibble the lobster.
I heard a faint "Wow…!"—probably marveling at the taste.
Then—
Whoosh!
A sudden gust blew through.
Crash!
Lena's shelter collapsed.
"Hey! Bandit sow! You okay…?"
From the rubble, Lena's arm shot up, trembling.
In her hand? A lobster whisker.
"I curse… the wind…"
Talk about tenacity…
She didn't seem too hurt, at least.
Alright then.
Time to prep for today's event!
***
"Kim Taeyang found another artifact, didn't he…? Seems like he's digging up three or four chests a day…"
As usual, Lena trekked through the forest.
Hecate, tucked in her chest pocket, wouldn't shut up.
"Just looking at his eyes, I can tell. Like he's got a black sun inside him, blazing with intense flames of darkness…"
Mostly, it was praise for Kim Taeyang.
That alone stressed Lena out, but Hecate went further.
"My child, how many chests have you found so far?"
"…One."
"Tch. Truly a useless sow."
'Now she's openly comparing me…! Why do I have to deal with this…?!'
Lena was seething but couldn't lash out.
"Today, I'll find more chests than Kim Taeyang. Trust me."
"Why not just do that sow declaration thing…?"
"No way! That guy's the jerk who tormented me! Like when we were kids, he'll toy with me and steal you too…!"
"Hm… He's got potential as a child of darkness, but he didn't seem that low…?"
"You don't know his true nature, Hecate-nim!"
Lena stuffed the pen back in her pocket.
She didn't want to hear any more.
"Found it…!"
At sunset, Lena finally uncovered a single chest.
"Hecate-nim! Look! Food and a mana stone!!"
The chest held a slice of cake and a mana stone the size of a pinky nail.
Hecate's reaction wasn't great.
"Child, grab it and get out. I've been feeling off since earlier…"
"Wait, I'll fill your mana—"
Thwack-!
An arrow from nowhere struck the chest.
The cake and mana stone splattered into the mud.
'No! My cake…!'
Lena loved and respected Hecate.
As the constellation granting her stigmata, it was only natural.
But human instinct was stronger.
When the chest tipped, her eyes locked on the cake.
The tiny mana stone? No clue where it went.
"Child…! Grab the mana stone and run…!"
"W-Wait! Where's the mana stone…?"
Whoosh!
An arrow grazed her arm, tearing her uniform and drawing blood.
'What the hell?! This isn't a deserted island?!'
She dove behind a tree.
She knew where the arrow came from.
C'12 o'clock. Primitive wooden arrow, no fletching. Goblin? Kobold?'
Her guess was off.
Emerging from the bushes was a frog-like humanoid.
A variant.
'A variant, of all things…!'
Unlike common monsters, variants have unique traits.
No known strategies, so you have to fight blind—tricky.
Lena's only weapon? A crude stone knife.
No hero abilities or stigmata. Running was her best bet.
She bolted.
Unfortunately, the ground was a swampy mire, slowing her down.
"Child! Run faster! Use cover! We're gonna die…!!"
"Urgh…! I'm trying my best…!!"
Lena wasn't used to this kind of fight.
She was a support, usually in the back.
"If you'd just done the sow declaration, this wouldn't be happening!!!"
"I said I'm not doing it!"
"With Kim Taeyang's physicality, he'd crush that thing easily…! Why didn't you work out more?!!"
"You're not helping…!"
Whoosh!
Arrows kept coming, relentless.
They were getting closer—one just grazed her hair.
'The bushes…!'
Tall grass ahead.
If she could dive in, she might dodge the arrows.
As Lena lunged for the bushes—
They parted, revealing another creature.
'It's over…!'
Too late to stop.
No turning back.
Gripping her stone knife, she swung hard at the enemy's heart.
Thud!
"Urk…?!"
Her frail arm was easily caught.
Luckily, it wasn't a monster.
"You trying to eat me or what?"
"K-Kim Taeyang…?"
The muscle-bound, physical genius, Kim Taeyang.
"Watch out! The variant's shooting arrows…!"
Thud!
A dull sound rang in her ears.
Lena shut her eyes tight and clung to Kim Taeyang.
"Stop oinking, Stone Age sow. Unlike you with your caveman rock, I'm pretty well-armed."
'A shield…?'
Shockingly, Kim Taeyang had a wooden shield strapped to his arm.
Pushing Lena aside, he marched toward the frogman.
"Hey, frog dude. You look pretty tasty, huh?"
"Ribbit-?"
The frog monster puffed its cheeks and drew its bowstring.
Thwack!
An arrow hit the shield.
Kim Taeyang kept advancing.
The frog fled at a much faster pace, firing arrows.
'It's over! He's way outmatched in mobility!'
Lena bit her lip.
Close-range versus long-range.
In this swampy terrain, mobility was a lost cause.
Kim Taeyang was doomed to take a beating.
Lena decided to step in.
"Kim Taeyang! I'll try to draw its attention—"
"YAMERO───────────────────!!!!!!!"
Kim Taeyang shut her down.
"W-Why?"
"Don't butt in and get hurt. Stay put, useless sow."
"Urk…"
Thwack! Thud…!
Kim Taeyang kept blocking arrows.
Dozens were embedded in his shield.
Suddenly, he lowered it.
"Hey. You done?"
"?"
Lena realized it then.
The frogman had run out of arrows.
'He was tracking its arrow count…?'
When facing a variant, reading its traits was crucial.
Easier said than done.
Lena herself had been too busy fleeing to notice the arrows, consumed by fear of death.
'This is the difference in mental strength…'
Kim Taeyang's insane bravado was already proven.
That craziness shone even in a crisis.
Swish-
The real fight was just starting.
The frogman grabbed a spear from its back, tipped with a stone point.
It was ridiculously long.
In a range fight, Kim Taeyang stood no chance.
And yet—
Plop.
He dropped his shield and knife.
"Kim Taeyang? What are you doing?! Pick up your shield and knife! This isn't the time for bravado!"
"Hey, hey! Shut up and stay put!!"
"Block with the shield and read its patterns! Find an opening, and you can close the distance!"
Lena had her share of experience.
It wasn't a great plan, but it seemed the best option.
Kim Taeyang ignored her.
As Lena tried to warn him again—
"Child, be quiet."
"Hecate-nim…?"
"Don't you see the wanderer's eyes? The black sun blazing… He has a plan…"
Lena racked her brain.
But she couldn't think of any way to fight barehanded.
'What the hell's he planning?!'
All she could do was watch, heart pounding.
"Come on…!"
"Ribbit!"
The frogman launched forward, thrusting its spear.
Kim Taeyang crouched low, arms spread wide.
The stone spear pierced his abdomen.
Thud…!
'He's hit…?'
It wasn't a full penetration, but it definitely landed.
Kim Taeyang grabbed the spear with both hands, though he couldn't completely block the attack.
But from that moment, the fight turned.
"Your strength's pathetic! Not even close to piercing my abs!!!!"
"Ribbit?"
Kim Taeyang yanked the spear.
With his monstrous strength, the frogman was helplessly dragged forward.
"Hand it over!!! This spear's mine now!!!!"
"Ribbit! Ribbit!"
"Hey, hey!!!! A weakling like you doesn't deserve a spear like this!!!!!"
Kim Taeyang wrested the spear away.
Blood dripped from his stomach, but it wasn't fatal.
"Yo! Die quietly!! Get stabbed by your precious weapon!!!!"
Without its weapon, the frogman was no match.
It tried to counter with its long tongue, but it wasn't enough.
Screeech-!
With a bizarre scream, it collapsed.
Lena was overwhelmed.
'Taking a stone spear to the gut on purpose…? No, did he even figure out the spear wasn't that sharp? Even so, that raw strength to subdue a monster so easily…'
If it were Lena, she wouldn't have caught the spear.
Even if she had, she'd have lost the strength contest and ended up frog food.
Then it hit her.
'Men are fundamentally different creatures from women…'
Male strength.
It was impossible to match.
'Men's bodies are far superior to women's.'
Kim Taeyang defeated the enemy in a way Lena couldn't have imagined.
It wasn't because she was weak.
It wasn't because she didn't try.
'Kim Taeyang's a strong male, and I'm a useless female.'
It was due to innate sex and genetics.
A female could never beat a capable male.
'Our roles were decided at birth…'
A beam of light seemed to shine in Lena's mind.
The light of realization.
'It's nature's law for females to follow superior males…!'
Kim Taeyang, done with the fight, grabbed the weapon and checked the frog's corpse.
"Tch. Too slimy to eat."
Losing interest, he moved on.
Lena could only stare at his bulging, adrenaline-pumped muscles.
"Hey! Primitive sow!"
"Oh, yeah!"
"Let's move! The sun's setting!"
"Got it…!"
"Huh? No thank you?! You bandit sow!!"
"T-Thanks! Really! I'd have been in deep trouble without you…!"
Instinctively, Lena's tone softened.
Politeness in the face of overwhelming strength was pure instinct.
She followed Kim Taeyang's broad back.
On the way back to camp,
Lena obsessively checked her face in her dead smartphone.
She was fixing her appearance.
'To survive as a female, you've gotta be desirable.'
She'd awakened to her role as a female.