We each attached bait made of fishmeal and gluten, mixed in a 1:1 ratio, to our fishing hooks.
Whether there was a bite or not, I just enjoyed lazing around on the yacht with Professor Cheon.
The natural sounds that could only be heard in the silence are so beautiful.
I had light yet sincere conversations with my dad on various topics.
“Wow, Dad, you’re so handsome. Where are we?”
“In Algeria. At the time, this was the only place in Africa where the Magic Power Plant was operating properly.”
“What about the others?”
“They were either destroyed or fell into the hands of the other side.”
Professor Cheon showed me a photo from when he was deployed in the past for the first time.
“Your rank is Ensign, right?”
“Ensign is a separate rank system distinct from officers and soldiers, but I was treated like an officer. It’s the American way.”
“Ah.”
At that time when he had no achievements yet, a naive feeling was reflected in his eyes.
“Only 26 years old… You were really young.”
After that, Professor Cheon talked about when he received his Ph.D. in the United States, but honestly, it wasn’t that interesting.
Hearing about someone else’s studies doesn’t really resonate.
“Didn’t you have any interesting stories, Na-me?”
“Plenty. So many.”
The most outrageous topic I recently encountered was when a married female manager at Wearsoft was having an affair with company executives and trying to leverage that for a promotion, as reported by her subordinate employees.
On weekends, she allegedly enjoyed drug parties with her husband and children not knowing, having had five abortions, all confirmed by four others.
“Ugh… what happened?”
“Turns out she wasn’t even married in the first place; she was single. Isn’t that shocking from the start?”
I couldn’t fathom how far the rumors could be exaggerated.
She brought a bunch of medical diagnoses to prove her innocence.
She must have been furious enough to bang the ground.
She’d never tried drugs, not even cigarettes, and she even came out as a lesbian.
“Actually, I heard that manager’s real father is the former vice president of Wearsoft. She said she only rode in his car once after work.”
That must have been the source of all those rumors.
It was a case in which a talented A-level employee almost lost her position to false accusations.
I immediately fired the four art team employees who had colluded beforehand and reported it.
The manager, who had cut out the cancer, was so thrilled that she went around spreading the news.
“I heard that she’s also pursuing a lawsuit separately. I’ve never seen anyone with such high self-esteem before.”
“Haha, I’m glad it worked out. But I’m curious about what you would have done, Na-me?”
“I’d probably go somewhere secluded and swipe it all away.”
“Huh?”
“Oh, I mean, I’d clean it up really well.”
“I don’t understand how that’s any different from what you said before.”
“Want me to play you a song? Hehe…”
Ding ding ding-
I strummed my guitar until the suspicious looks regarding my latent violence faded away.
Honestly, who loves peace and is a non-violent activist as much as me?
Of course, I haven’t used force very often.
But if there’s mutual agreement, it’s not violence.
“Yawn. When will I catch something…?”
Cheon Saetbyeol could not bear the boredom and continued her own research by changing the mixture ratio, shape, and size of the bait, and the way it was hooked.
When she got tired of that, she’d ask me to play the guitar or return to the digital world to upload pictures and videos from today to social media.
“Yawn. When will I catch something…?”
“You’ve said that exactly for the seventh time.”
“Oooh, something’s coming? This time it’s real! Wow, this one is huge! This friend has serious strength…!”
Saetbyeol’s fishing line was tautly pulled.
Could she be the first among us to catch a fish?
I secured the fishing rod and approached closely behind Saetbyeol to watch carefully.
“Saetbyeol, lift the fishing rod with a flick of your wrist. Yes, just like that. Is the hook in properly?”
“Yes, yes! It feels like it’s really resisting!”
“If it resists too much, stop reeling in, and if it tires out, slowly reel it back in.”
Flop flop—
Before long, the fish was pulled up to the surface.
It was thrashing its tail like it was making its last-ditch effort.
“Heave ho!”
Splash—!
We all stood speechless.
“Eh?”
“Hmph. Congratulations on catching it. Wow, it’s really big. Should I take a commemorative photo?”
A minuscule piranha came clinging along.
“I swear it was as strong as Hercules…! Shoot, I’ll make sure to make spicy fish stew with you later.”
Saetbyeol blushed and furiously fumed.
Splash—
“Wow, congratulations!”
After that, Professor Cheon showed off his skills by catching a small trout and a bass.
However, there were no remarkable catches.
Psst.
Saetbyeol signaled.
I quietly set the fishing rod down and approached her.
“Sis, shall we execute the operation now?”
“Yeah. Let’s go, Dad! Since Saetbyeol is going snorkeling, I’m going to watch too!”
“Leaving the fishing just like that?”
“Not catching any fish, so I have to see it for myself!”
“Oh dear, is your dad supposed to keep an eye on three fishing rods all alone? Fine then.”
At our age, we typically lose interest in things quickly.
My dad sat down in front of the fishing rod without a hint of suspicion.
“Just wait a bit, I’ll deliver a big one soon.”
Cheon Saetbyeol changed into a thick rash guard and moved to the other side of the yacht.
Using someone else’s aura isn’t an easy task.
However, Saetbyeol’s ability to wield aura is beyond compare.
Moreover, since the base of the Akashic Records was her past life’s body, it would likely resonate well with the aura of erosion.
“Keep your hands linked like this.”
“Like this?”
She clasped her left and right hands together, creating an empty space in the middle.
“Yeah. I’ll pour the aura into your hands, so try to gather it as much as you can, and when you get into the water, let it out bit by bit.”
[Desire: Astarte]
A mysterious pink aura flowed into Saetbyeol’s clasped hands.
“Aura pheromones are pretty cool, huh? Does it not work on people?”
“Not at all, so don’t let your imagination run wild and focus. If you let it all out here, we’re sunk.”
“Okay, okay.”
I fitted her with a snorkeling mask and splashed her into the water.
It took less than 30 seconds for her to disperse the aura widely around the yacht.
“Wohoo, all done. Is this really going to work?”
“I don’t know either. It’s just that if there aren’t many fish in the lake itself, we can’t do anything.”
“Ugh, but the water is so cold. I want to come back up. Huh? Eek!”
Saetbyeol’s hair stood on end, tingling.
She seemed shocked enough to inadvertently reveal her aura.
“What’s wrong?”
“What, what touched my body? Eww, that’s disgusting! Aaaa, it’s happening right now too!”
“Just come out for now.”
Splash splash—
A small fish cautiously peeked out.
It flailed around as if caught on a fishing line.
Then came three fish, six, ten, twenty…
On that day, we came to realize.
That the true ecosystem of Earth lies not on land, but in the sea.
Fwoosh—!
Thousands of fish suddenly erupted, creating a visual illusion as if land had formed.
Saetbyeol sat down in shock and screamed.
“Eeeek, that’s so disgusting!”
“Yikes, we messed up.”
At this scale, the aura of erosion would be depleted in no time.
“Wow! Guys, come quick! There are so many fish here!”
At the same time, we heard Professor Cheon’s voice shouting from the other side.
Running over, I saw him reeling in fish left and right without even bait.
“Saetbyeol, Na-me, look! It’s a fish paradise here, paradise! Hahaha!”
“You seem to be enjoying it; isn’t that enough?”
“Uh huh…”
The fish, coming like a swarm of locusts, quickly dissipated thereafter.
The net used to store the caught fish was already overloaded.
Professor Cheon, feeling reluctant, used a huge trout as bait.
“Could there be an earthquake or volcanic eruption soon? I’ve never seen anything like this.”
“I’ve never seen it before either.”
“Is that a, a, a shark? Look, sis! Dad too!”
“Hey, why would there be a shark in a lake?”
A gigantic shadow loomed near the yacht.
I couldn’t just shrug off Saetbyeol’s remark, thinking it was simply a tall tale.
Thud—
A massive fish collided with the yacht.
The rumble resonated through our feet.
The fishing rod bent to the point of drawing a semicircle.
“This doesn’t seem to be a shark…”
It was holding the trout bait in its mouth.
Professor Cheon was using aura to hold on to the fishing rod that was nearly breaking.
Captain Russo gaped and took off his hat, looking down at the lake.
Splash—!
“It’s a catfish! And an enormous one at that!”
The European Catfish surfaced.
A species notorious for its brutal nature, with reports of a 5-year-old child being eaten alive.
Dad slowly pulled the fishing line to grab the catfish’s mouth and pulled it onto the yacht.
“One heave!”
“Wow!”
“I can’t believe such a monster lives in Lake Como!”
“Dad, Dad, listen! We’ve got to take a picture for proof.”
“Seriously, you want me to hold this alone, Na-me? My back is gonna break.”
Despite that, Dad couldn’t hide his joy as he cradled the catfish like a princess.
Two meters? No, it looked about 10 to 20 cm bigger.
“Hey, everyone, come help!”
“Yes, yes, Saetbyeol, go to the other side.”
“Let’s let the others go as well. Hehe, this is indeed the big catch!”
Saetbyeol lifted her head, and I raised both hands high above my head holding the tail.
It felt like it weighed at least 100 kg.
Click, click—
Captain Russo transformed into our photographer to memorialize our achievement.
“This must be the best birthday gift ever, right Dad?”
“Haha, I don’t think I’ll ever get a gift like this again.”
“Why not? If you look hard, you’ll find something again, hehe.”
“Thanks to my daughters, I’m having such a precious experience. Really, thank you.”
Behind Dad, Saetbyeol and I exchanged high-fives.
‘Hmph, he seems really happy.’
At this rate, I might have to catch a real shark in the Arctic next year to repay him.
*
[NoName Minor Gallery]
[I’m a gallery master, and I caught a catfish 1.75 times my height]
(European Catfish Big Catch Certification Photo.jpg)
To be exact, my dad caught it.
A 2 meter and 20 cm long one.
Beginner’s luck, recognized?
[Comments]
– What kind of photo is this? It looks like it’s not synthesized, but real?
– Seriously, is it really NoName?
– Our Na-me doesn’t talk like that.
– Della Della… Leave the gallery… No, while you’re here, show us a bit more photos.
└ (Author) I have plenty more to show.
└ Hahaha, you’ve been caught!
└ It turns out it was Adella, haha!
└ Wow, what on earth did you catch? Haha! It’s not synthesized, right?
└ Crazy, haha!
– Here, you should note that Na-me’s height is already 126 cm.
└ This. Is. Real.
└ (Author) Your sister is telling you to find your nickname and get banned, haha.
