Chapter 90

Eel (1)

After briefly coming to terms with the fact that my writing skills had remained stuck at an elementary-school level, I started browsing through the gallery.

I wanted to look through everything I'd posted there so far.

After all, I'd realized that the gallery had essentially served as my diary until now.

But the gallery had plenty of shortcomings if I wanted to use it as a database or field guide.

It'd be too much work to write down everything that's already happened, so I'll just add brief descriptions of Wonmo and the Sloth.

My writing skills might have been atrocious, but everyone had at least one thing they were good at.

For me, it was drawing.

I was actually decent enough that even a rough sketch of Wonmo was immediately recognizable as Wonmo.

Wonmo might look easy to draw because he was so round, but he was surprisingly difficult. So I focused on capturing his most distinctive features.

As for the Sloth, he was basically just a sloth, so I drew him roughly.

Still, I made sure to include the features unique to him.

The Sloth possessed all the usual characteristics of a sloth.

Long arms compared to his short legs.

A subtly hunched posture.

A face that somehow looked both laid-back and stupid at the same time.

His claws, however, were vicious.

They looked even sharper now that I'd been taking care of them.

And underneath, I'll add a simple description.

For Wonmo, I wrote that he was an Owlbear cub who had started living with me after I killed the adult Owlbear.

The Sloth, meanwhile, I described as a little thug who stole my food.

If the Sloth ever found out, he'd probably smack me, but that was impossible.

At least in this world, I was the only person who knew Hangul.

And there's no reason for anyone to go out of their way to learn writing from another world.

I didn't want to go through that much trouble just to leave something behind.

It was enough for someone to know that a person like me had once existed.

The dead lived on in the memories of the living.

That alone had value.

At least, that's what I think.

Even after my parents passed away, my memories of them remained vivid.

I missed them, so every year on the anniversary of their deaths, I held memorial rites for them.

Even when I was short on money, I did my best to remember the foods they'd liked and somehow managed to prepare them.

Otherwise, it would've been hard to endure.

At least until I was finally able to let them go, I'd intended to continue holding those rites.

I don't even know if I should keep doing the memorial rites now that I'm here.

But now that survival rather than money was the issue, I wasn't sure.

Forget remembering my parents—I might end up joining them myself.

Their death anniversary was still a long way off, but you never knew.

Come to think of it, how do they even count dates here?

A different world might have a completely different way of measuring dates.

I could simply number the days in my diary, but I was curious.

Ah, forget it. I'll just use the year I'm familiar with as my standard.

My parents' death anniversary had been one week before the date I'd fallen into the Forest of Four Seasons.

During that week, I'd gone drinking with friends and met up with people I knew.

I remembered having a harder time than usual.

It had been especially difficult to meet my friends.

With everyone busy finding jobs, it had become difficult to see one another.

I wonder if they're doing all right.

Those bastards were probably struggling in their own ways too.

Though I was the one suffering like crazy over here.

I chuckled and began jotting down what had happened today.

The octopus tentacles that had burst out of the sand.

The transforming turtle.

I'd gone through a lot today after encountering one bizarre animal after another.

Still, I got something for all that trouble.

I'd even obtained a turtle egg as large as an ostrich egg, so I'd received more than enough compensation for the day.

I quietly closed the diary, now filled with various drawings, and stepped outside the cave.

It was almost evening, so it was about time to start preparing dinner.

Before that, I should check whether anything got caught in the fish trap.

Wonmo happened to be awake too, so we all headed up together.

Splash! Splash!

"Kkyuu! Kkyuu!"

"You happy? Me too."

There were no fewer than three fish caught in the trap.

I returned with Wonmo, who was practically bouncing with excitement.

Having plenty of food put me in an incredibly good mood.

Maybe this was my reward for everything I'd gone through today.

But how am I supposed to clean this thing?

I looked not at the container holding the ordinary fish, but at the other one.

Inside was an eel as huge as a python.

I was gradually getting used to cleaning ordinary fish, but an eel was different.

Its entire body structure was different, so I had no idea where to even begin.

Should I knock it out like a normal fish?

I'd probably get knocked unconscious by its tail before that happened.

Its body wasn't especially bulky, but it was so long that I needed to be careful.

I crossed my arms and stared at the eel for quite a while before opening the gallery.

Times like this, asking the gallery was definitely the best option.

Title) Need some tips on cleaning an eel

Wild Grylls

(Photo of an eel inside a metal container)

I'm planning to eat this guy. Can anyone give me some tips on how to clean it?

└ Eels are harder to clean than ordinary fish, so be careful.

└ Don't you need to nail its head down first to keep it in place?

└ Wild Grylls) I have to put a nail through it? ;;

└ Eels are slippery and thrash around like crazy, so they're hard to handle.

└ Wild Grylls) What if I just smack it on the head and knock it out?

└ You'll end up hitting your own hand. Better to pin it to a cutting board with a nail.

└ If that doesn't work, sever the spinal cord. That should make things easier.

└ Passing Dwarf) Hey. Once you're done with that, give me one bite. I'm curious what eel tastes like.

└ Wild Grylls) Yeah, sure.

└ Praise the Sun) Think I could get some too?

└ Wild Grylls) Yes.

└ Allfather) Might I have a bite as well?

└ Wild Grylls) Sure, I guess... I don't mind.

└ King Leor) I know it's shameless of me, but could I have some too...?

└ Wild Grylls) Sir?

└ Smart Demon) I've prepared a storage container. But would it be possible for me to have just one bite as well...?

└ Wild Grylls) ;;;;

└ SwordMaster) Why is everyone begging for one bite like a bunch of paupers? I don't get it.

└ Probably because it's eel.

└ They're definitely all men lol. Look how shamelessly they're begging.

└ SwordMaster) What's so special about eel?

└ It's good for stamina.

└ Yeah, very good for men lol.

└ And it was caught in the Forest of Four Seasons? No man could resist that lololol.

└ SwordMaster) ;;

Right.

As a man, I could understand.

But this is supposed to be my dinner, you people.

I might share once I'd eaten enough to fill myself up, but I needed to put a stop to this before it got out of hand.

└ Heavenly Demon) I shall wield the ban hammer against anyone who becomes too forceful, so keep that in mind.

└ Booo. Tyrant!

└ Heavenly Demon's really throwing her weight around now that she's a sub-mod lololol.

└ Heavenly Demon) What did you say?

└ I said you're the most exalted person in the entire world.

└ Heavenly Demon) A lie. Face the wall and reflect on your actions for one gak.

└ Fucking bitch.

└ Heavenly Demon) Half a sijin.

└ LOLLLLL

└ What's one gak, and what's half a sijin?

└ It's a Central Plains way of measuring time. One gak is fifteen minutes, and half a sijin is one hour.

└ Isn't that way of measuring time becoming pretty uncommon these days?

└ Older people still use it pretty often.

Fortunately, Heavenly Demon immediately stepped in to keep everyone under control.

Still, I intended to share with the people who had asked politely if possible.

The eel was so huge that I doubted I could finish it all by myself anyway.

Let's get everything ready first.

Since the eel was so long, I bought an extra-long cutting board.

Just as the gallery had advised, I drove a nail into the edge of the board to secure the eel.

Naturally, I hammered it in from the other side so that the pointed end stuck upward.

Even nails are kind of expensive.

All that remained was getting the eel out.

Wearing the World Tree Gloves, I pulled the eel from the metal container.

Maybe the World Tree Gloves had some kind of anti-slip effect, because I couldn't feel its usual sliminess at all.

SMACK!

"Urgh!"

Instead, it slapped me with its tail.

The thing was much stronger than an ordinary fish, so even getting it onto the cutting board was a chore.

But before a knife, all fish were sashimi.

I used my dagger to sever the spinal cord behind its head.

The thing was as thick as my forearm, so even cutting through it was work.

Twitch! Twitch!

Once I'd cut almost halfway through its neck, its thrashing noticeably weakened.

Without wasting any time, I pinned its head down with the nail.

That should stop it from going berserk again.

God, this was exhausting.

I wonder if this thing has an inner core too.

Judging by its size, there was a good chance.

Every fish I'd eaten so far had contained one.

I slowly began cleaning the eel, which had almost completely stopped moving.

First I neatly split the body open, then removed the bones.

My dagger was already sharp, but I even used aura to make the process more efficient.

Done. Now I just need to rinse it and cut it into pieces.

Once I'd roughly finished preparing the eel, I thoroughly washed it with water.

Twitch!

"Eek!"

Every now and then, it twitched as if it were still alive and scared the hell out of me, but it really was only occasional.

Finally, I poured a little vegetable oil into a large pan and placed the eel, cut into appropriately sized pieces, on top.

Oh, and for the record, there was no inner core.

Apparently, not every fish contained one.

Sssssizzle!

The grilled eel gradually turned golden brown.

I gulped.

This was a delicacy I'd never even tried back on Earth.

Even the friend who had treated me to beef had found eel too expensive.

They say this stuff is really good for men, right?

But I don't even have anyone to use it with.

I suddenly felt depressed.

The gallery was a place where people indulged all sorts of desires, so pleasant-to-look-at pictures were posted fairly often.

And when it came to particularly exotic races like elves or demons, sometimes I'd find myself hitting save before I even realized it.

Of course, if something was too explicit, the head mod deleted it without hesitation.

Still, for me, those posts were like rain after a drought, so I made good use of them.

Though sometimes I get hit with a bomb.

I still remembered it vividly.

The time I'd entered the gallery only to immediately get hit with one of those "bombs."

The head mod and sub-mods had to personally look at that stuff before banning whoever posted it.

No wonder they said it'd give them inner demons.

While I was distracted by those thoughts, the eel had turned beautifully golden brown.

Oil practically poured from the meat.

There hadn't been any need to add cooking oil in the first place.

This must be high in calories.

The amount of oil made that obvious.

Out of all the pieces of meat, I picked up a piece from the tail.

I'd heard that the tail was the best part of an eel.

Now it was time to find out.

Crunch—crisp.

Crispy on the outside and moist on the inside.

It had cooked astonishingly well.

The oil from the meat was especially rich, almost sweet in flavor.

There wasn't any fishy smell either.

I'd only sprinkled on a little salt, yet there wasn't even a hint of it.

Even the bones are all soft.

I'd heard that the tiny bones were one of the biggest annoyances when eating eel.

But this one didn't even have that problem.

With a blissful smile, I began devouring the eel.

There was so much that I occasionally gave pieces to Wonmo and the Sloth as well.

It was naturally very fatty, so they both loved it.

Wonmo especially.

[Passing Dwarf: Damn. This is fucking delicious lol]

[Wild Grylls: If it's that good, give me a barricade lol]

[Passing Dwarf: lol sure. I'll make one when I wake up tomorrow morning, so wait.]

I wonder where that eel came from.

After finishing my internal energy cultivation method, I started cleaning up.

By the time I was done, pitch-black darkness had settled over the area.

I wrote a diary entry to wrap up the day, then made a post in the gallery.

There had been so much eel that I'd been able to share it with the others too.

Besides, it was greasy food, so overeating could easily give me indigestion.

And so, after finishing my feast of one of the finest delicacies I'd had in ages, I immediately began practicing the internal energy cultivation method.

Maybe it's because it was eel, but I feel like I have more energy than usual.

It could've just been a placebo effect, but it genuinely felt that way.

When people said eel was good for virility, that ultimately meant it was good for your basic "vitality."

At worst, it couldn't hurt.

Title) Good night, everyone!

Wild Grylls

(Video of a blazing campfire)

See you tomorrow!

Anyone I promised a trade to earlier, let's do it tomorrow!

After posting, I exchanged a few words with some of the registered users and the anonymous users tossing around their usual jokes.

Seeing the gallery as lively as ever made me chuckle.

Don't rush.

Starting today, I'd decided to take the long view.

It was time to follow the saying that the more hurried you were, the more you needed to slow down.

Well, technically, the Forest of Four Seasons had forced me to slow down, but that didn't matter.

As long as even the faintest thread of hope and possibility remained, nothing in the world was truly impossible.

I slowly planned out what I'd do tomorrow, then quietly closed my eyes.

I'll survive until the very end.

Until the very end.

And so, time passed.

The next morning—

"Ah, seriously. Is this some kind of joke?"

The moment I opened my eyes and saw the situation I was in, I couldn't help but get irritated.

What I saw was a tent.

A tent standing tall and proud, as though it feared neither heaven nor earth.

It was proof that I was an extremely healthy man.

The problem was that it had been going on for far too long.

Seriously, nothing in this place knows the meaning of moderation.

The eel I'd eaten yesterday was definitely to blame.