Chapter 169 - Treasure (2)

Ambergris, the jewel of the sea. A stone formed from transformed sperm whale feces or bezoars.

It looked like an ordinary rock, but it was worth a staggering sum, just as the name “jewel of the sea” suggested. Apparently, it fetched roughly forty to fifty million won per kilogram, and most pieces were big enough to be worth hundreds of millions.

If even ordinary ambergris back home was worth that much, what about ambergris from a mythical sky whale?

That actually made it unsellable. It was a precious resource for scholars to study, and it was something “mythical,” after all. Not only was it impossible to put a price on, there was no telling how much criticism selling it would bring.

└Wild Grylls) Never mind it being priceless. Its only use is as a fragrance, right?

└Allfather) I'll need to study it further to know, but for now, yes. Since it is sky whale ambergris, it must possess some special power.

└Wild Grylls) The power to attract ants?

└Allfather) Rather than that, we should consider something befitting a sky whale. Perhaps it has powerful purifying properties.

The mention of possible purifying properties got me thinking. Even if it could purify things, I wasn't sure what I'd use it for. It might have other powers, but discovering those would take a long time.

'I can't just leave it sitting around, either.'

I had an extradimensional bag, but it still weighed something, and the bag wasn't infinite. It was certainly a valuable, useful item, but it was no use to me.

After a brief, hollow chuckle at the sheer irony, I decided to deal with it first.

└Wild Grylls) I'll take my time thinking about it for now. Even if I wanted to get rid of it, I'm not sure where I'd do that.

└All Hail the Sun) Can't you give me just a little?

└Wild Grylls) Do you know how to use it?

└All Hail the Sun) As a fragrance. I'm really curious, that's all. Anything you want?

└Wild Grylls) Nothing in particular. I'll just break off a little for you. Just be careful not to attract bugs.

└Grylls, can't you just break it into pieces and list them on the auction house?

└That's not a bad idea. It's useless to you anyway.

└Wild Grylls) Not yet. There's something I want to test.

I still had plenty of time, so there was no need to rush. Besides, there was something I wanted to try. Seeing the ants drawn to the ambergris had given me an idea.

If it attracted swarms of ants, couldn't it attract schools of fish too? You might wonder what one had to do with the other... but you never knew.

Allfather would pound the floor in anguish if he saw, but I didn't care.

└Allfather) You're going to use ambergris as fishing bait? That sounds idi*tic, but I look forward to it.

└Wild Grylls) You're surprisingly not angry. I thought you'd say it was a waste.

└Allfather) I've already received some, haven't I? Besides, I'm curious too. What sort of fish might you catch? I imagine the others feel the same.

└Yeah, who goes fishing with whale shit lmao

└It's not even ordinary whale shit. It's mythical whale shit lol

└What kind of life does Grylls even lead?

└A fly's life?

└You're soooo mean for that lol

└Why? His life really is as cheap as a fly's lol

To my surprise, they seemed curious. Well, I was probably the only person who could do something like this.

I carefully examined the fishing rod I'd received from a sponsor. It appeared to be made of bamboo and had no reel for adjusting the line length. Given the era, there were apparently limits to the technology. Still, it looked sturdy, and that was enough.

Title) Going fishing

Wild Grylls

(Photo of the fishing rod and a photo of ambergris being used as bait)

Gonna try fishing with this as bait. Wonder what I'll catch?

└Heavenly Demon) I predict you will catch a truly enormous fish.

└Sword Masta) You must be the only person who uses whale shit as bait, Grylls.

└Wild Grylls) That's a compliment, right?

└Sword Masta) Your positivity is nice to see.

└He couldn't survive without being positive...

└I'd have gone insane ages ago...

└When you put it that way, I really feel bad for Grylls.

I could never understand the forum's shifts in mood. One moment they were busy mocking me, and the next they were looking at me with pity.

I closed the forum and headed for the river with my animal friends. First, I removed the fish trap and checked the water.

RUSHHHH!

It was no different from usual. Across the river lay a vast desert, too. Nothing stood out, so I got straight to preparing to fish. I also made sure to spray repellent around the area in case bugs gathered.

So what would everyone else be doing?

“Roundfur, play with this.”

“Kyu!”

I gave Roundfur a stuffed puppy. You might wonder where I'd gotten a stuffed puppy, but that was sponsored too. Apparently, it was made from some sort of fabric animals liked. Roundfur really was having fun with it, so I was very satisfied.

“Lackey, when I hook a fish, you help me pull the rod. Got it?”

“...”

“Answer me.”

“Yes.”

That settled Lackey's job: helping me pull the rod. With all the preparations done, I attached a piece of ambergris to the hook. A pleasant fragrance was already wafting up from it. I could see why it was used in perfumes.

'Shit that smells this nice. That's funny in itself.'

With a chuckle, I swung the rod hard. The hook landed in the river with a plop. The current was so strong that I'd worried it would sweep the hook away, but that concern proved needless.

SPLASH-SPLASH-SPLASH!

An enormous number of fish swarmed toward it. At the same time, the rod grew heavy. Startled, I yelled for Lackey to pull, and he obeyed, hauling with all his strength.

Whether it was because several fish were tangled together or because they were simply that strong, it wouldn't budge easily.

“Graaah!”

“Uoooooh!”

But with Lackey and me working together, it was a different story. Straining with everything we had, we hauled the rod up.

SPLAAASH!

A large fish shot out of the water. My delight at landing a big catch was short-lived, giving way immediately to disappointment.

“Huh? That's it?”

The fish I'd caught was no different from the ones in my trap. It seemed ambergris would work better for luring fish into an area than as hook bait.

Still, at least I'd gotten my daily bread. I put my disappointment aside and packed up.

'It's not all bad, since I can use it as bait...'

How should I put it? It felt far too extravagant. Fish practically caught themselves if I set a trap, even without bait. I questioned whether there was any need to use ambergris for it.

Well, Allfather might discover some other properties as he researched it. I handed the flapping fish to Lackey and returned to the shelter.

'The days really are longer in summer.'

Normally it would be getting dark by now, but the sun was still blazing. At least summer gave me more hours to get things done. That would change when the rainy season hit, of course.

'When will the research on the ambergris be finished?'

Even Allfather had never seen it before, and it was excrement left by a mythical being. There had to be something different about it. All I could do to find out what that was was wait patiently.

'But why were the ants trying to take it? Was it just the smell?'

Plenty of insects besides ants liked sweet things. Perhaps the other insects and animals had stayed away because the ants had claimed it first.

After entertaining those idle thoughts, I turned my head toward the cave wall—the one marked with the number of days I'd survived.

'Does today make twenty-six days?'

Three more days would make exactly one month. Time had passed surprisingly quickly. The forum remained my only window into the outside world, and things out there weren't particularly peaceful. Eldorado was halfway into a civil war, and the Blood Cult was making some ominous moves too.

Personally, I just hoped I'd meet Ludwig soon, wherever he was in the Forest of Four Seasons.

'Come to think of it, wasn't the football match today?'

With nothing much to do, I logged onto the forum. Just then, Slutty Princess posted to announce the start of the match. I opened the post and left a quick greeting.

└Wild Grylls) What exactly are today's opponents like?

└Slutty Princess) Our saint is here! We're playing a mid-table team today! What score do you predict?

└Wild Grylls) The defense is still hopeless, so I'll say 3–2.

└Slutty Princess) That's worrying...! But at least we win, so that's a relief!

└King Leor) Hey, what about our Leor? We're playing a weak team today.

└Wild Grylls) You'll be leading 1–0, then concede an equalizer at the end because you're out of stamina.

└King Leor) Oh, come on. That damn stamina problem;; They've rested a week. Shouldn't they be fully recovered?

└Wild Grylls) I've done hard physical work, so I know it takes more than a month, not a week, to shake off accumulated fatigue. Besides, football players fill their free time with training, don't they?

└King Leor) When you put it that way, I can really see it happening. We absolutely have to sign someone next time;

└Does Leor have much money?

└It's not about money. They're getting a new manager next season. We'll have to see then.

└Might as well assume no signings lol

└What about Chae U, then?

└Chae U's a different team now, so honestly I'm excited. The manager properly understands the tactics, too.

└Slutty Princess) Next season we just need to strengthen our defensive tactics! And dump that hundred-billion-yura piece of trash!

└Isn't that a bit harsh lol

└But looking at how bad he still is... he just has no talent.

└For real, even Kone's back in form. What's his excuse?

└You can blame the defense on the line being too high, but that bastard...

Having made a few rough predictions, I waited quietly. It would take a while for the matches to finish, so I might as well practice my cultivation method.

'The cold energy is the size of a fist now.'

My control over cold energy had improved by leaps and bounds over time. What had started out the size of a millet grain was now as big as my fist. And judging by how its growth was slowing, I felt I would soon have perfect control.

'Once I've mastered controlling the cold energy, I'll ask Heavenly Demon for the next formula.'

Perhaps I could ask when I hit exactly thirty days.

I practiced my cultivation method and took care of my other tasks until the football matches ended, then logged onto the forum. It was nearly dinnertime anyway, so I'd taken a moment to check.

[Chae U vs. Cadrol: Full Time! Chae U Finishes 3–2, Just as the Saint Prophesied!]

[Leor vs. Hunin: Stoppage-Time Equalizer Sees Both Teams Finish With a Draw.]

“Oh?”

I'd gotten it right again. Both the scores and how the matches played out. Once or twice, I could brush it off, but getting it right a third time felt strange.

└Slutty Princess) Everybody say it! Grylls is a saint!

└Please let me marry my girlfriend.

└Please let me get a hundred on my academy practical.

└Please let the remaining half of the year be a huge success.

└King Leor) Please let Chae U get relegated.

└Slutty Princess) Who the f*ck are you? Get lost! You only managed a draw lol

└King Leor) So are you making the Champions League? lol

└Slutty Princess) We can if we win all our remaining matches~

And, as though it were only natural, the pilgrimage began. I chuckled at the forum, which was in an uproar over the matches, and closed it. Someone had posted about winning a fortune betting, but I paid it no mind.

Money or no money, my own life came first. Then, when I stepped outside—

Its mouth opening and closing, the fish I'd just caught with the rod was swimming through thin air.

'... What? Is this a bug?'

The world really was going to hell.