Chapter 9
[‘Camping Man’ channel subscribers: 4,087]
Thanks to the aggro being properly pulled, the number of channel subscribers jumped up by 4 times.
To be honest, it was because the potato aggro was properly pulled rather than the camping itself.
Although good and bad comments are facing each other at a ratio of half and half, I’m used to the bad comments.
And as time goes by, the arrows of condemnation will disappear.
Although it had an aggro-inducing title, the effects of the potato are real.
Woo-jin decided to turn off his mind and focus on the scenery in front of him.
Shoo–
Woo-jin, who came over the open space, set up his spot in front of a lake with a waterfall pouring into it.
The water from the waterfall became a lake and flowed under it.
It was a lake with a different charm from the lake he had seen from above.
“Hyung, if a beast comes by any chance, let me know!”
“A beast? Why, are you going to drive it away or something?”
“Of course. Don’t you know I’m Hwansu?”
“Arthur. A guy who can’t even properly hunt a single animal, what…”
There are no beasts around here.
Having experience hunting monsters, I have the habit of checking my surroundings when I arrive at a place.
Even if a beast does show up, there’s no need to worry.
Woo-jin’s physical abilities have already surpassed those of humans.
Even if he has no combat skills, he can deal with beasts up to C-rank with his brute strength alone.
“I didn’t catch that on purpose!”
Khan was quite upset.
If I don’t appease him, this could drag on for quite a while.
“Oh really? Then I guess there’s nothing to worry about if a beast attacks, right?”
“Of course! I’ll drive them all away.”
The rascal’s expression quickly softened as he giggled.
Just what is giving him such confidence to act like that?
“There really is no place better than this.”
I felt it on my first car camping trip, but the scenery of the Leaflet Forest elicits admiration that can’t be expressed in words.
Especially with the addition of the waterfall lake, the quality has doubled.
“Ah, it feels so nice to have this cool breeze.”
Khan lay down in front of the lake and enjoyed the sunlight.
“Woo-yoo, what are you going to do?”
Woo-yoo, who still wasn’t close with Khan, was nestled in Woo-jin’s arms.
As if not wanting to fall, he rubbed his head against Woo-jin’s chest, acting cute.
“Then shall we walk around a bit more together?”
“Garlingleung.”
Woo-yoo responded with a happy cry, seeming to like the idea.
“Khan, are you going to stay here?”
“Huh? Where are you going?”
“I’m going to go into the forest a bit.”
“Then I’ll go with you.”
Khan got up from his spot and ran over here.
“Kyaahk.”
Woo-yoo was wary of Khan, and Khan seemed shocked as he stopped his running footsteps.
“Ugh… I didn’t even do anything.”
“You came running over too suddenly.”
“I wasn’t trying to go to him!”
“I know, so be quiet and follow me.”
Woo-jin went into the woods with Khan following.
Unlike the fantastical trees seen from above the waterfall, these trees gave off a haunting atmosphere.
After walking a bit further, some more familiar-looking trees appeared.
“Cherry blossoms?”
It was a tree with pink leaves blooming vibrantly, making it easy to mistake for a cherry blossom tree.
Captivated by the beauty of the tree, Woo-jin stared blankly at it.
“Hyung, hyung! We have to take that!”
Beside him, Khan was extremely excited, pulling on Woo-jin’s clothes.
The tree Khan was pointing at was a twisted, withered tree far from the beautiful tree.
“What? That tree?”
“No! The fruit on that tree!”
As Khan said, a fruit similar to an apple was precariously hanging from a tree branch.
A fruit that looked like it could fall to the ground at any moment.
What on earth kind of fruit is that?
Interestingly, among the trees resembling cherry blossoms, the only tree bearing fruit was that one.
Moreover, there was only a single fruit on it.
“What kind of fruit is that?”
“It’s called the fruit of twilight! It’s said that this tree of purification bears only one fruit in its lifetime. That’s the fruit right there!”
“Then we should take it.”
Woo-jin approached the tree.
Then Woo-yoo, who was in his arms, climbed up the tree.
“Oh? Woo-yoo! It’s dangerous!”
Although Woo-jin urgently called out, Woo-yoo had already climbed up the tree and was slowly crawling along the tree branch with the fruit on it.
Worried that he might fall, Woo-jin paced around under the branch, watching Woo-yoo’s actions.
“The, the branch won’t break, will it?”
Khan also looked at Woo-yoo with uneasy eyes.
Just then, Woo-yoo snapped up the fruit from the tree branch.
Then he turned back around and gracefully climbed down the tree.
“Nyahng.”
Woo-yoo ran to Woo-jin and spat out the fruit he was holding in his mouth.
As he rubbed his head against Woo-jin, as if wanting praise, Woo-jin scolded Woo-yoo instead.
“That was dangerous! What would you have done if you got hurt?”
“Nyahng…….”
Woo-yoo’s ears drooped down.
Woo-jin stroked his head.
“Don’t recklessly move around next time. Got it?”
“Nyahng.”
Only then did Woo-yoo lift up his ears again and bury his face in Woo-jin’s arms.
“Khan, so what are the effects of this fruit?”
“…Aren’t you only praising Rainer too much?”
“Huh?”
“No… I was the one who found that fruit….”
Could he be wanting praise?
Woo-jin stroked Khan’s head as well.
“Right. You did well too.”
“Hehe.”
Only then did Khan’s expression also brighten.
“So what did you say the effects of the fruit were?”
“It’s a fruit that heals any illness.”
“…Really?”
The tree of purification lives for over 1,000 years. Its habitat is the Leaflet Forest, and it resembles a cherry blossom tree.
Among these trees, only an extremely small number bear fruit once in their lifetime. And they do so by squeezing out every last bit of their remaining lifespan.
The fruit borne by sacrificing its entire life purifies the body of the one who consumes it.
Woo-jin decided to store this fruit separately. He plans to use it when the time of need eventually comes.
He had only gone into the forest to film it, yet obtained an item beyond his imagination.
“Shall we start preparing now?”
Woo-jin returned to the camping box and set up the table. It was time to make dinner.
Today he planned to make tempura. Although the cleanup is a bit tricky, he wondered what kind of taste tempura would have in this scenic spot. He thinks tempura is a dish with no regrets, with even fried shoes being called delicious.
“What are you trying to make?”
“Tempura.”
Woo-jin took Khan outside the camping box, sat Woo-yoo in the passenger seat, then came back and opened the window.
The tempura ingredients for today were: 600g pork tenderloin, 3 live squids, potatoes, green peppers, and lotus roots. 5 ingredients total.
First, he used a peeler to peel the potatoes and lotus roots. He threw the peels into a black trash bag beside him.
Next, he took out a cutting board and knife set, and covered it with parchment paper to prevent stains.
He sliced the potatoes and lotus roots into bite-sized pieces. Then he rinsed the sliced potatoes, lotus roots, and green peppers in cold water.
Now it’s time to prepare the squids.
He placed 3 squids on the cutting board.
You make an incision on the belly and open it up right?
Following what he had studied earlier, he cut open the body of the squid then detached the legs. Carefully cut out the innards so the body doesn’t tear.
What’s next?
Ah, have to peel off the skin.
As taught, he grabbed the body with his hand and peeled off the skin.
This leaves just the white squid body.
He sliced this body into pieces for eating.
He prepared the remaining squids the same way.
The pork tenderloin was already sliced thin for frying when he bought it at the butcher shop, so there was no need to cut it further.
Next he should make the batter right?
With all ingredients prepped, it’s time to make the tempura batter base.
To make the tempura batter, he added a mix of flour and tempura batter mix, then poured in cold water to adjust the consistency.
Woo-jin took out the gas stove and put a pot on top of it.
Next, he poured in the right amount of refined soybean oil to use for frying.
He turned on the fire and waited for it to reach 180 degrees.
“You can’t come too close, it’s dangerous.”
After warning Khan, he waited for the oil to start boiling.
After a short while, the oil thermometer showed 180 degrees.
Now it’s time to start frying.
First up is the lotus root.
He coated the lotus root in flour, put the frying batter on it, then dropped it into the pot.
Sizzle sizzle.
The sound of the fries frying filled the vehicle.
Next was the potato.
Similarly, he put the frying batter on it the same way and dropped it in.
He fried them in order – green pepper, squid, pork tenderloin.
He used tongs to take the finished fries and put them on a plate with napkins laid out.
“Let’s have a little taste test in the meantime.”
While waiting for the next batch to finish frying, Woo-jin picked up a finished lotus root fry and took a bite.
The outside was crispy while the inside was hot, and even without any sauce, the taste was outstanding.
Next, he took out the soy sauce dispenser and poured out the prepared soy sauce, in order to taste the finished green pepper fries.
He dipped them in the sauce and bit off half.
“Wow! It’s so delicious!”
If the green peppers are this good, how amazing would the squid be?
With that anticipation, he popped a whole squid fry in his mouth.
The crispy fry combined with the chewy, savory flavor of the squid, making him exclaim in satisfaction.
“Squid fries really are delicious no matter when you eat them.”
Next was the potato.
He tasted the potato especially slowly, because of the ad video that had come up earlier.
“The potatoes are extremely delicious too.”
As expected, the potatoes he grew himself were superb in flavor.
Eating them as fries made them taste even better.
The last was the pork tenderloin.
He fried the 1 pound of meat in batches.
As you’d expect from pork, the flavor was amazing, but honestly, the squid and potatoes he ate earlier were the most delicious.
I should have only done half a pound of meat and gotten 7-8 squid instead.
He regretted it a little.
After taste testing them one by one, it was time to give some to Khan.
“Khan, were you waiting?”
“Yes! I waited a really long time.”
Drool was already dripping from Khan’s mouth.
They must look extremely delicious.
Woo-jin smiled and gave the piping hot fries to Khan.
* * *
After finishing the camping trip and returning home, Woo-jin headed straight for the room with the computer.
Of course, his uncle was there as usual.
Wearing nothing but white briefs and a black tank top, he was watching dramas while drinking beer.
“Uncle, could you please move?”
At Woo-jin’s words, his uncle paused the video he was watching.
“Oh? What is it? Why are you back so early?”
“Early? It’s 3pm right now. Anyway, did you not go to work today?”
“I took the day off.”
“A day off?”
“Yeah. So, do you reaaally need the computer right now?”
“Yes. I need to edit videos and then immediately go take care of the crops.”
“Ugh. Can’t be helped.”
With a regretful expression, his uncle got up from his seat.
“By the way Woo-jin, did you upload a video on YouTube selling potatoes?”
“Yes. Why?”
“Oh, I didn’t log out of YouTube so I read some of the comments.”
“…You didn’t do anything weird, right?”
A ominous feeling suddenly loomed over him.
His uncle slightly lifted up one corner of his mouth and said,
“Why would I? I left comments saying I’d smash the heads of those bastards leaving bullshit comments about my beloved nephew.”
“With my account?”
“Yeah, I told them to come find me if they have a problem. They swarmed like bees when I told them to bring it on.”
When bad customers show up at his auto shop, my uncle receives them first before dealing with them.
Thinking about that side of my uncle, it didn’t seem like he was lying.
This damn uncle is really going to cause problems.
Woo-jin propped his forehead on his hand.
“Sigh…uncle.”
What should I do about this uncle?
As I was seriously contemplating, my laughing loudly.
“Hahaha! I’m joking, joking!”
“Huh?”
“I’m kidding. Haha. Why would I make some war declaration like that?”
“…….”
“S-sorry. Was my joke too much? Ugh, drinking beer made my stomach hurt a lot. I need to use the bathroom.”
After reading Woo-jin’s expression, his uncle dashed out of the room as if running away.
This damn uncle.
“I guess the bigger victim wasn’t Khan but me instead.”
Woo-jin sat down and logged into YouTube.
As his uncle said, he was still logged in.
“The aggro is pulling well.”
If I post another sales ad, it’ll probably sell out instantly right?
Woo-jin smiled and pulled up the camping box footage from the camera.
