I Am The Fishing King. (1)

Chak!

“Ack!”

Yu Jinsan released the weapon in his hand and tumbled backward in the grass.

His body went limp, and Yu Seol approached him, placing her bamboo stick behind his neck.

“Did it hurt?”

“Where else in this world would one find a granddaughter who hits her grandpa like this?”

“I told you not to look. Should I be gentle now?”

Yu Jinsan, who took a moment to catch his breath, picked up the bamboo stick and stood up again.

“No, continue like that.”

Nothing was more valuable than sparring with a skilled warrior. Thanks to his granddaughter, Yu Jinsan was reaping the benefits of their training.

Pushing oneself to the limit, although difficult, was known to be the most effective training method.

The two stood facing each other, pointing the end of their sticks at one another.

The difference lay in Yu Seol holding the bamboo stick with one hand.

With her free hand, she reached forward.

“Come on~.”

It was a natural and obvious provocation.

Yu Jinsan bristled at the sight of his granddaughter’s arrogance.

“How dare you make fun of Grandpa? I guess I shouldn’t look at you favorably from now on.”

As he spoke, Yu Jinsan initiated a footwork technique.

It was a dazzling movement that blurred the eyes. It was so fast that his form seemed to split into two.

Though it was swift enough to unnerve Yu Seol and make her step back, she remained calm, even as the attack bore down on her.

Pang!

Yu Seol, having released the bamboo stick over her head, immediately closed in on her grandfather’s left side.

It was a clearly visible gap. Her wide-open palm fiercely approached him without hesitation.

Swish!

The Yu family’s Heaven and Earth Palm technique.

At the moment the force from her palm struck his lower back, something odd occurred.

Was Yu Jinsan’s form vanishing from its original spot?

In the blink of an eye, he was smiling at his granddaughter.

‘You got fooled by this, eh!’

It was a rare move that instantly shifted one’s stance. Although useful in real combat, it was a technique that couldn’t be frequently utilized as it put a strain on the blood points with just one use.

This was his long-awaited chance for a counterattack. Yu Jinsan gritted his teeth and struck with his bamboo stick at the back of his granddaughter.

Whoosh!

The bamboo sliced through the wind.

The fast and strong technique possessed enough strength to break a tree, but there was no need for excessive concern about injury. Anyway, this wouldn’t be enough to penetrate his granddaughter’s defense.

But there was one thing he overlooked. She was familiar with all the techniques he used.

Shhh!

Suddenly, Yu Seol’s figure multiplied into dozens. No, it only seemed that way because she was moving so fast.

‘Oh!’

While he panicked, he lost sight of his granddaughter’s movements.

What was more surprising was that this wasn’t the end.

Was it because the flow of qi and blood in her body was unobstructed? Yu Seol began to circle around him, creating numerous afterimages.

It was a sight hard to believe even when seen with one’s own eyes. Before he could regain his composure, the first attack arrived.

Kwaang!

A thunderous sound that shook the earth and sky.

He managed to block the first hit, but he couldn’t let his guard down.

Before he could regain his balance, a shadow approached from behind.

Kwaang!

He successfully twisted his upper body to block it in time, but the real problem began now.

Once the attack commenced, it continued from all directions.

Kwakang! Kwang! Kwakang!

The assault rapidly intensified.

He couldn’t regain his senses from the attacks coming from above, below, front, back, left, and right.

At first, he was shocked by it, but now he has adjusted to it.

He couldn’t believe he was blocking these attacks.

It was a thrill he had never experienced before.

But this didn’t last long because, as he moved, he realized something. He was dancing like a madman right now.

Strictly speaking, he wasn’t blocking. He was merely a plaything for Yu Seol, who was controlling the attacks.

After he noticed this, he was shocked.

“Enough!”

When Yu Jinsang stopped his defensive movements and stood tall, his granddaughter’s attacks ceased as if by magic.

“Uh?”

It had been fun for a while, so she looked disappointed.

Still, he couldn’t simply play with his granddaughter, so he scolded her with a stern look.

“Do you think it’s okay to mess with Grandpa? No, right?”

Yu Seol gently lifted her chin and looked down at her grandpa, who was now smaller than her.

“It’s okay~.”

Despite how much dignity he had lost in his diminished appearance and voice, this felt like a disgrace.

He might have been ignorant, but there was a hierarchy to maintain. He couldn’t let this continue.

Since his strength was lacking, he would have to play his trump card.

“Then, from now on, we will start fasting training, too.”

At that moment, Yu Seol’s attitude changed completely.

The child’s expression turned sullen, as if she couldn’t think of anything worse.

“No…”

Her previously arrogant and joyous expression vanished, and Yu Jinsang smiled at the sight of his granddaughter whining. But he wasn’t going to stop there.

“Patience is part of training, too. Seol, you can easily last a month without eating anything.”

“One month? I can’t last more than three hours…”

“A true martial artist must naturally give up greed. And your body is not weak at all, child.”

Was it the mention of food? Suddenly, Yu Seol’s stomach growled.

“I’m hungry now…”

After a moment’s thought, Yu Jinsang sneakily glanced at the child’s face.

How could such a strong child be brought to tears by hunger?

“Then will you listen to your grandpa from now on?”

“Yes! Definitely.”

Yu Jinsan, who was finally feeling a bit better, stared off into the distance.

A clean water stream was close by. Since this was a mountain basin, it wasn’t visited by many people, so he hadn’t paid much attention to his surroundings.

“After a good training, we should wash our bodies.”

Yu Jinsan ran to the stream and took a dip.

Plop!

“Oh my, so refreshing!”

Yu Seol followed him and splashed water around.

“Hehe. Wash my hair~.”

The stream was deep enough to reach an adult’s waist, but for Yu Jinsan and his granddaughter, it came up to their necks.

“Now that you’re this age, you should get into the habit of washing yourself.”

“I don’t like it~. Grandpa, you do it.”

Yu Jinsan couldn’t refuse her, as she grumbled.

After washing the child, he came out of the water and looked around.

“Seol, you’ve never been fishing before, have you?”

“I haven’t.”

Yu Jinsan gathered suitable materials from the mountains and skillfully made a fishing rod.

He was skillful in peeling the tree bark, attaching strings, and carving strong branches to make hooks.

With everything ready, the two found suitable rocks and sat there, side by side.

“Let’s catch a fat one and then cook it well.”

“Right. But when will it get caught?”

“Don’t be impatient now; just wait slowly. Fishing is about fishing for time. It’s about developing patience and enjoying the wait. That’s the beauty of it.”

“…Wait?”

“Yes. You can catch it easily if you use martial arts, but it wouldn’t be meaningful.”

“……”

Yu Jinsan moved the fishing rod slowly and nodded.

“Try to calm yourself and your mind. And then you can see further things that you couldn’t normally see before.”

Grandpa’s words didn’t even enter her ears.

Yu Seol, whose stomach was already feeling starved, was losing patience.

“Let’s catch it quickly.”

“If you want the fish to bite the bait, you need to wait calmly. And soon it will be caught.”

But this was just wishful thinking. Not only were they not getting caught, but there wasn’t even a single nibble.

As time passed, his lips protruded more and more like a duck’s. His hunger grew, and his granddaughter became increasingly grumpy.

“Grandpa~.”

“Uh?”

“What is that?”

Yu Jinsan looked to where the child’s index finger pointed.

“I can’t see it well. What are you talking about?”

There was only a blunt rock. Nothing about it seemed odd.

Just as they looked around for a moment,

“Ehhh? Did I catch a fish?”

Had she caught a fish in the meantime? When he saw the fishing rod bent, it seemed like it wasn’t a lie.

Soon, Yu Seol lifted the fishing rod and saw the large fish flapping.

“Wow! It looks like our Seol is also good at fishing.”

“Hehe.”

Yu Jinsan, who was removing the fish from the fishing rod, tilted his head.

“But why is the hook stuck in its body? It seems like a fool that got caught just passing by. We must be lucky.”

“Now, I will get you something to eat, Grandpa.”

“Oh my. Go ahead, then.”

Such confident words.

And once she got the hang of it, she couldn’t stop.

As soon as her fishing rod touched the water, she would shout out.

“I caught another one!”

And now, something felt odd.

This time, the fishing hook had gone and pierced the fish’s body.

After pulling out the fish again, he focused his qi into his eyes and examined the water.

“Hmm.”

It didn’t take long for him to discover the truth. A fishing hook stood erect in the water, moving like a snake.

Internal qi was released through the fishing rod, and the hook was manipulated using qi.

Immediately after, it zipped towards a nearby fish at lightning speed and impaled it.

Yu Seol didn’t raise the fishing rod right away but was observing him.

‘How is this possible?’

It was a skill that even he couldn’t manage.

When he glanced at his granddaughter’s face, she blinked her big eyes and pretended to be innocent.

“What?”

“……”

How hungry must she have been to do something like this? As he was deciding whether to say something, he shook his head and decided to act as if he hadn’t seen it.

After an hour or so, his granddaughter had caught five fish all by herself.

“Let’s eat now~.”

Yu Seol, who was beside him, constantly urged him.

Yu Jinsan collected firewood and made skewers by sticking the fish onto wooden sticks.

All that was left was to light the flame. They had no flint, but apparently, that was not an issue.

Yu Seol stretched out her hand and ignited it with internal qi, using the Samadhi of True Flame.

Rumble!

The intense internal qi flame roared to life at the bonfire and burned brightly.

Yu Jinsan squatted across from his granddaughter and mumbled as he turned the skewer.

“Now that I think about it, your father also had a lot of tricks up his sleeve when he wanted things. He never listened to me.”

“My father?”

Yu Seol had no memory of her parents.

Would it have been better that way? Since she had no memory, she felt no longing. Thus, it was a situation where Yu Jinsan could comfortably talk about it without avoiding the subject.

Aside from the details of their family’s secrets, he often told her a lot about her relatives.

“Right, my youngest son. I raised him like Seol. Until he was your age, he couldn’t even stop wetting the bed…”

Yu Jinsan, who was thinking about his children without much thought, couldn’t finish his sentence as he reflected on old times.

“Grandpa, are you crying?”

“Who’s crying? It looks like it’s done. Let’s eat.”

Yu Jinsan said as he held out the skewer.

The delicious smell of the golden-brown fried fish was driving her crazy.

Yu Seol, who was sniffing eagerly, quickly took a bite. It might have been hot, but she didn’t seem to mind at all. Her impatient body was resilient, able to withstand even lava.

“How does it taste?”

“Perfect! Hehehe. So tasty!”

Seeing his granddaughter’s mouth wide open to her ears, Yu Jinsan began to bite into the fish with a happy smile.

“It tastes fine. Grandpa will eat two so that Seol can eat three.”

“But what about Mister Dong-gu?”

Now that he thought about it, it was the day Dong-gu was supposed to come to collect the information, and they had decided to meet.

As expected.

He looked where his granddaughter was pointing with her index finger.

It was about 300 feet down the side of the mountain.

When he looked closely, he saw someone snooping around the meeting place. It had to be him.

Yu Jinsan was curious about the information he might have brought.

“It is good, then. Well, it would have been a shame if only we got to taste this.”