“I understand, Mr. Kim Deok-Sung.”
“Alright. I will guide you to the base camp site! Kim Deok-Sung!”
In her bikini, Rin confidently places her hand on her chest.
Her large chest bounces around like something out of an animation.
It’s a hell of a light novel world where even bust morphing is a thing.
Anyway, since the animation didn’t show the entire island map, I decided to trust Rin’s judgment for now.
Among the people here, she’s the most reliable.
“Okay, lead the way, Rin.”
“Thank you for your trust. I will definitely repay you with the honor of the Shinozaki family.”
Rin pats her large chest proudly.
“Prince Shinozaki, so cool…!”
Evangeline looks at Rin with sparkling eyes and says.
It’s nice that there’s no fighting, but this is making my stomach churn a bit.
“Let’s go, Kim Deok-Sung.”
Evangeline, who has become boastful from her blind praise, grabs my right wrist and pulls me along.
Just then, completely caught off guard.
“Miss, Miss Kim Deok-Sung, I will go with Prince Shinozaki too!”
Yank.
Evangeline grabs my left wrist with a blushing face.
What in the world is happening right now?
All I can do is sigh.
[Partner. Looks like your luck with the ladies has struck gold. You’ve got flowers in both hands.]
The Black Prince chimes in as usual in my head.
Flowers in both hands?
I’m too exhausted to refute that now.
Think whatever you like.
“Hmph. I can’t understand why such a lowly creature would have such admiration… hic!”
As I catch a glimpse of Beatrice, who’s trailing slightly behind and mumbling something strange, she hiccups when our eyes meet.
Beatrice, with her red eyes peeking from beneath her blindfold, is watching me closely.
She’s truly embodying that fake madness, fashionably edgy character vibe.
With the two burdens of Rin and Evangeline on either side, we finally arrive at a flat area overlooking a creek flowing towards the distant sea.
Beside us, a jungle stretches out.
It might not be the absolute best spot for a base camp, but it’s a decent location.
No wonder it felt familiar; this is where the protagonist set up the tent in the original story.
It’s the same spot that appeared in the animation.
“Here it is. What do you think, Kim Deok-Sung? This is the base camp site I chose.”
With that, Rin releases my wrist and raises one arm dramatically.
“Yeah, good job.”
Gotta give praise where it’s due.
Rin’s face blushes pink at the compliment.
She starts to fidget with her lips.
Nervously, Rin leans in closer and says with a hesitant voice.
“So, um… You’re not going to give me head pats…?”
Head pats?
Who do you think you are, Eri, asking for that?
As I’m trying to gather my thoughts,
The moment I was about to say something wise.
[Partner, just do it already.]
The Black Prince’s voice rings out in my head.
I look into Rin’s eyes.
Her navy blue eyes are trembling.
“Oh… it won’t be okay… indeed…”
She looks like she might burst into tears at any moment.
If she cries here, I’ll be the one in trouble.
‘It can’t be helped.’
[You’re not being honest, tsk tsk.]
Ignoring the Black Prince’s voice, I gently place my hand on Rin’s head.
I mess up her navy hair playfully.
“Good job.”
Rin’s eyes widen.
Her face turns bright red.
She has an image of a cold and aloof noblewoman, but for some reason, she keeps acting like a fool in front of me.
“Th- thank you…”
“Well then, let’s set up the tent first. Everyone, get to it.”
I drop my survival backpack and unfold the tent provided to us.
This time, we received an 8-person tent.
I set up the supports and drive in the pegs.
Nightmarish memories from my training days flash back to me.
Sad memories of cramming six trainees into a cramped A-shaped tent.
I remember the tear-soaked cup ramen we had for dinner that day.
Maybe it’s because I got used to the hell of military camping training, but my body moves reflexively.
“Wow wow wow wow. Kim Deok-Sung’s solid muscles… truly, Kim Deok-Sung! You look amazing even while working!”
Evangeline’s embarrassingly mindless praise wafts into my ears from the side.
After finishing setting up the tent and even completing the drainage work with a shovel, then it happened.
“Now that we’re done with work, why don’t we all enjoy some tea time?”
Rustle.
Evangeline pulls out a fancy bone china teacup from her survival backpack, shaking it while smiling.
Wait a minute. A teacup from a survival backpack?
Suddenly, a foreboding scene from the original story pops into my head.
Evangeline, who packed only tea and a teacup set without bringing her own food.
In the original, because of that, the protagonist Yuji had to go out into the wild to gather food himself.
“Hey, Evangeline. You didn’t seriously pack only tea and teacups in your survival backpack, did you?”
“Indeed, Kim Deok-Sung. Skipping tea time would be unthinkable in England!”
Poof.
Evangeline reveals a survival backpack stuffed with bone china teacup sets, a portable electric kettle, bags of tea, scones, and jam.
There was no food whatsoever inside.
Just a mountain of spicy chicken sauce.
Why the heck spicy chicken sauce?
Oh come on.
Even if you’re British, that’s pushing it.
This is the kind of world that exaggerates national stereotypes to ridiculous levels in a lame light novel universe.
Ultimately, I have to go gather food in the jungle.
“What seems to be the problem, Kim Deok-Sung? Your complexion doesn’t look good.”
Evangeline tilts her head with a finger on her lips.
Her pink eyes shine innocently.
Yeah, this was how it was in the original too.
She was brewing milk tea on a deserted island, enjoying it with scones.
“Yeah, it’s not your fault. Sigh. Let’s have that tea time or whatever.”
The real problem is this damn light novel world and the ridiculous author RIN who created it.
Surrendering, I plop down in my seat.
“Hmph, hmph hmph hmph~♪”
Click.
Evangeline hums a tune while setting up a portable table and chairs.
“Today, especially for you, Kim Deok-Sung, I’ve prepared traditional Korean tea.”
Traditional Korean tea?
Not milk tea like in the original?
What on earth could it be?
“What kind of traditional tea is it? Stewart.”
Rin asks Evangeline.
Evangeline giggles while covering her mouth and replies.
“It’s Ssanghwa tea. Hehe. I learned how to make it from the YouTube channel ‘Korean’s Table.’”
“What? Ssanghwa tea? Is this some retro teahouse from the 80s?”
Olivia, who had prepared cider and boiled eggs for the train ride, was definitely a lady of culture. Unbelievable. To learn such things in a place like this—YouTube’s influence really is serious. Those overwhelming nationalistic videos flooding my eyes are also a real problem. YouTube should be regulated!
Swoosh.
Evangeline pulls out a large silver thermos. “I brewed ssanghwa tea with utmost sincerity for you, Mr. Kim Deok-Sung, since dawn. Hehe.”
Is this really a teahouse?
Slurp.
Steam rises from the thermos, as she pours the ssanghwa tea into a pristine white china teacup. After cracking an egg from her backpack and placing it carefully, she presents me with ssanghwa tea floating with an egg.
“Here you go, Mr. Kim Deok-Sung. You must be careful not to break the yolk when enjoying the ssanghwa tea, for it tastes better that way!”
Is this something you heard from a YouTube channel?
The aroma of ssanghwa tea fills my nose.
Maybe I’ll just take a sip.
Slurp.
I let the ssanghwa tea sit in my mouth. It’s a sweet and slightly bitter herbal taste, surprisingly decent.
“How is it, Mr. Kim Deok-Sung? How does the ssanghwa tea that I put my heart into taste?”
“Well, it’s alright.”
Not bad at all.
“Hehe. Here’s some scones and jam too. Give it a try!”
Evangeline leans close to me, smiling as she splits a scone and carefully spreads strawberry jam all over it.
Scones with ssanghwa tea? What kind of bizarre combination is this that’s neither British nor Korean?
I pop the scone spread with jam into my mouth. The sweet flavor of the strawberry jam and the dry scone blend together, tasting quite good.
Is there any dry snack that isn’t good with jam?
While eating the scone, Evangeline serves ssanghwa tea to Rin and Beatrice as well.
“Hmmm… This ssanghwa tea isn’t half bad. It feels more special because it’s the taste of Korea.”
Rin remarks while sipping her ssanghwa tea. What’s so special about the taste of Korea?
“I’m not really interested in human tea… but this is enough to please the tongue of the ‘Saintess of the Scarlet Lotus’. You pass. Contractor.”
And Beatrice starts rambling on with her unnecessary comments. She’s wearing a faint smile, looking pleased.
The ‘Saintess of the Scarlet Lotus’? What a naming sense.
Slurp.
I drink the ssanghwa tea again.
[Partner, enjoying a tea time with nature, how romantic!]
I don’t know about romance, but the atmosphere does feel nice.
After finishing our leisurely tea time, I stood up.
Just like in the original story, since Evangeline forgot to bring food, we needed to go gather more supplies.
“Now that we’ve set up the base camp and finished tea time, it’s time to start the food gathering activity. We’ll pair up in teams of two: Rin and I will be one team, and Evangeline and Trixie will be another, gathering fruits and mushrooms in the forest.”
Rin’s face flushes red upon hearing my words, while Evangeline laughs.
The reason I chose to team up with Rin is simple. Compared to the middle school syndrome saintess and the pseudo-nationalistic British princess, Rin is far more sensible.
Even in a light novel world, I can’t deal with those two.
“Hmph. I don’t understand why a saintess of the Scarlet Lotus needs to follow the whims of humans…”
“If you don’t understand, shall I make you understand?”
“…but this time, I’ll specially help you. Consider it an honor, human.”
With just one word from me, the saintess with the crimson eyes quickly cowers, and our team distribution is now complete.
Now, all that’s left is to gather food.
“I’ll take the lead again! Kim Deok-Sung! Just trust me and follow!”
With Rin once again grabbing my wrist, I stepped into the jungle.
With Lin in tow, I ventured into the jungle.
And just like that, my hellish week on this godforsaken deserted island began.
Talk about bad luck.
The jungle here was dense.
It reminded me of that Amazon documentary I caught a glimpse of on TV before all this.
In the thick foliage, with no clear path, I was mindlessly following Lin’s lead.
Lin was strutting through the jungle like she owned the place.
“Hey, Lin. You do know where the food is, right?”
I tossed the question out, feeling a bit uneasy about possibly getting lost.
She placed her hand dramatically on her ample chest and replied with a confident grin.
“Of course! Kim Deok-Sung, just trust me. If we keep going this way, we’ll hit a mango grove!”
Her expression was a stark contrast to her usual insecure self—clearly filled with certainty.
That felt a bit suspicious.
“How can you be so sure about that?”
She flinched.
Lin’s body shook at my question.
Her face turned red.
Sure, I knew there were mango trees on this island.
That’s what happened in the original story when the protagonist, Olivia, and Evangelin wandered through the jungle and found them.
But it’s not like an animated map of the island appeared, and I had no idea how to get there.
If this was a video game instead of a light novel, it would be so much easier to navigate.
In a game, the terrain would be laid out on a map.
Damn it.
Why am I the only one stuck in a light novel?
Why can’t I indulge in the sweetness?
“Th-that’s…”
Lin mumbled, quickly hiding the tiny booklet she had been holding in her left hand.
With her eyes tightly shut and her cheeks turning a rosy pink, she shouted, “I-I have a way to know! It’s reliable information, so don’t worry. Just trust me, Kim Deok-Sung…!”
Sigh.
It’s a cliché to see someone hide a suspicious book while fumbling for words in Japanese manga, but I never thought I’d witness it in real life.
I didn’t even need to see what she was hiding to know it was obvious.
Considering that the summer school involved Ichiro, the Association President, who is a total softie for his daughter, he must have given Lin something like a guidebook.
“Okay, whatever. I believe you. Good job, Lin.”
Better than wandering around in the jungle, at least.
“Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha… The effects of my feminine charm are showing! Kim Deok-Sung, truly, I’m the only one who can be your wise and virtuous wife!”
Oh boy, here we go again, more theatrics.
Lin is great, but I wish she could lay off the aggressive tactics and wife talk.
I’m not ready for that kind of commitment.
“Stop rambling and just lead the way. Lin.”
“Okay, got it…”
Lin fell back into her usual shy demeanor.
She lowered her head.
[Partner, that was a bit harsh this time. What kind of manners are those towards a lady? Not very gentlemanly, you know.]
The Black Prince chimes in.
I don’t agree with him, but I’d rather not see her looking so dejected.
“That doesn’t mean you should mope around; it brings me down too.”
“…Ugh?!”
Lin’s face flushed at my words.
She looked startled for a moment, then broke into a goofy smile.
“Th-thank you, Kim Deok-Sung… You really… truly…”
“If you’re grateful, then just lead the way.”
I cut her off before she could start with the cheesy compliments.
“Ah, understood!”
Lin’s face turned beet red at my words as she stepped ahead, a bit startled.
Now I feel like I can breathe a little.
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