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After sacrificing the bow drill to start a fire, I headed deeper into the island.

Once the fire was lit, the next most important thing was, of course, food.

If I left it to these people, I’d probably starve.

Winter and Yuna would probably just pick a few fruits to fill their own stomachs.

I’ll take care of my own food.

As I went deeper, the grass seemed to grow taller, and tree branches stuck out everywhere, greeting me.

Bugs were a given.

Snakes also seemed to be crawling around.

“Winter and Yuna might get hurt.”

Walking while watching the ground to avoid vines, I might get scratched by branches or accidentally touch a snake.

Most snakes run away when they see people… but the ones that have already established their territory in the trees don’t run away as easily as you’d think.

If they wander around fighting or causing trouble as usual, one of them might come back injured.

“…If they have any sense, they’ll manage on their own.”

They’re not kids. They’re professionals getting paid to film.

People say not to worry about celebrities.

My lunch seems to be the priority.

Even though I’ve come quite far, I don’t see any wild animals.

PD Choi said there would be quite a few wild animals, but why don’t I see a single one?

Are they running away after smelling my scent carried by the wind…?

Still, I don’t want to go through the trouble of covering myself in mud to erase my scent and hunt.

After looking around, I climbed the tallest tree I could see.

Just because I don’t use magic doesn’t mean my physical abilities are gone.

A tree like this is nothing.

But climbing the tree turned out to be a stupid move.

Even though the tree I climbed was the tallest… the surrounding trees were so dense that they blocked my view.

The areas not blocked by trees were covered by tall grass.

“…Unless it’s a bird that nests in trees, I won’t see anything.”

I sighed, wondering if I should jump down or climb down, when…

“Kkigik!”

“…?”

A beast’s sound came from behind.

I turned my head and saw a monkey staring at me from the next tree.

Its expression was quite annoyed, as if criticizing my stupidity.

Today’s first meal is monkey meat.

I’ve never tried it, so I’ll give it a shot.

I moved very, very slowly to avoid startling the monkey.

Even if it ran away, I didn’t think I couldn’t catch it…

But I figured a chase would be less annoying if I got as close as possible.

“Kkiyak! Kkiik!”

The monkey, which was supposed to go “ook ook,” made a sound closer to a scream.

It seems even Korean can’t express all the sounds in the world, like a baby monkey’s cry.

Kwajik—

While lost in thought, I stepped on a not-so-great spot.

Luckily, the tree didn’t break, but the startled monkey turned around and sprinted away.

“Hey! Don’t run!”

Even if you get caught by me, I can’t treat you well, but can’t you just let yourself be caught?

To catch the monkey darting between trees at an incredible speed,

I decided to become a beast myself.

Tadadak! Tat!

Sometimes running on all fours, leaping over trees.

Whoosh!

Sometimes swinging from branches with both arms.

It felt different from flying using magic.

Like the difference between a steel robot and a spider-human.

Pulling a thread while flying looks more fun than just flying.

That’s exactly what I’m doing now.

Enjoying the wild, I was chasing the monkey when…

It suddenly stopped.

“…?”

If it’s sacrificing itself to become my sustenance, I’d gratefully accept.

“Kkigik!”

“Kkiyak! Kkik Kkigik!”

“Kkik! Kkik!”

No way, a monkey wouldn’t have such noble sacrificial spirit.

This little guy lured me into a group of monkeys that looked just like it.

Dozens of monkeys blocked my way, looking triumphant.

It felt like I had become the prey.

For a moment, I was flustered, but thinking about it differently…

‘This is actually good.’

I was struggling to find prey, and it came to me.

They even seemed to have hunted other animals already, as there were remains in one corner.

Are these monkeys the top predators of this uninhabited island’s ecosystem?

They hunt animals much larger than themselves and now target humans.

It’s completely backwards.

I can’t let these corrupted monkeys go.

I’ll fix this ecosystem.

It’s not like I’m excited to go wild thinking about eating meat.

Really.

***

“The most are monkeys, some chicken-like things, birds… what is this, a gift set?”

“That expression is perfect. It’s a gift from the monkeys to me.”

Since the monkeys had hunted the animals and I brought them tied up, it was fair to call it a gift from the monkeys.

But… to the cast listening to Jeong Gyeoul, it sounded different.

Blood was dripping from the animal bundle.

Jeong Gyeoul’s hands were also stained with blood.

Laughing while saying such things made it pure horror.

The sentimental phrase “gift from the monkeys” felt like something a psychopathic murderer would say.

‘It’s good that her abilities aren’t a lie, but she’s a bit weird…’

‘…Is she going to eat us if she gets hungry later?’

‘Is this a hidden camera? Special effects animals… no, that’s real…’

Aside from Jeong Gyeoul being scary,

there was a huge difference between the fruits they picked and the food Jeong Gyeoul caught.

Winter and Yuna had no choice but to hide the fruits they brought wrapped in their clothes.

‘If it was going to be like this, she should’ve said she’d hunt from the start… what’s with this comparison?’

Han Seo-jin and Kim Guk-min weren’t much different.

Jeong Gyeoul lit the fire, Jeong Gyeoul hunted.

All they’ve done since arriving on the island is waste time.

Naturally, they felt their position shrinking.

When Jeong Gyeoul approached the fire, they made way.

Of course, Jeong Gyeoul just gave them a look like “what are you doing?” and didn’t react.

“I couldn’t find a stream to clean this, so we’ll have to wash it with seawater.”

“…That’s fine.”

“Right? Can we call this curing?”

Jeong Gyeoul, holding a knife, made them react like she was threatening them, and they stepped forward to handle the cleaning.

“Are you sure without a knife? I was just going to skin it whole.”

Her casual remark about skinning it whole made the surroundings feel colder.

“…We’ll give one to the production team and borrow a knife or find a sharp rock. You worked hard, so take a break.”

“Okay.”

When Jeong Gyeoul handed the animal bundle to them, they frowned and only reached out to take it.

“…I’ll carry it to the beach for you.”

She lifted it lightly and swung it around, making it look easy, but…

It was a bundle of over a dozen animals.

It was definitely not light.

‘…Does she not think?’

Monkeys range from 5kg to 20kg.

Leopards range from 30-40kg, up to 70kg.

Just the monkeys alone would be at least 50kg.

What confidence made them think they could lift it with one hand? Jeong Gyeoul couldn’t understand.

Rather than risk injuring their arms, she chose to move it herself.

“…”

“What, what is that?”

“I thought the animal bundle was nonsense, but it’s real…”

Before the filming equipment was fully set up,

the production team communicated via walkie-talkies.

They had reported the situation, but no one expected it to be this extreme.

The sight of animals bundled together being swung around was… more grotesque than imagined.

Arriving at the beach, Han Seo-jin and Kim Guk-min, who had stepped forward earlier, were now deep in thought.

They had eaten meat but never hunted it themselves.

At least the animals were already dead, but they had no idea how to clean them.

“…If only we had a knife.”

The plan to give an animal in exchange for a knife failed.

They couldn’t just pick up a rock and start hammering.

While they were pondering what to do,

Jeong Gyeoul, who had wiped the blood off her hands, approached.

“Why did you say you’d do it and make me do it twice? I just cleaned my hands.”

“…Sorry.”

“Come on, step aside.”

Jeong Gyeoul, who had used a lot of energy chasing the monkey,

was understandably annoyed by their dawdling when she wanted to eat quickly.

Squelch—

Splatter—

The scenes that were too brutal for ordinary people continued, and eventually, the camera stopped filming.

 

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