The wooden boat was moved with Ras’s help.
While the boat was being built, the children who had come earlier had all gathered.
They were now able to participate in the launching ceremony together.
Even Jung So-yeon, who had come to see Seon-ah and Romrom, was now attending the launching ceremony.
“When did you make something like this again?”
Seon-ah admired the boat as she gazed at it.
Honestly, since it was made by the cats and Bell, a “Wow!” came out automatically.
Of course, the design was done by Father, and he helped to some extent, so although we say Father made it,
“Wow, you made this in a day?”
“Technically, it was five hours.”
At Jung So-yeon’s amazement, Father proudly answered.
Mother was watching from one side while holding Cheong in her arms.
And finally, Ras launched the boat into the sea.
Splash!
Sprays of water flew up, and the nearby mermaids laughed as they backed away.
“Careful, careful!”
“Wow.”
The boat safely settled into the sea.
But as soon as we saw it, we were faced with one problem.
“But how do we get on?”
When Seon-ah pointed out the problem, Father scratched his head awkwardly.
“Oh no, I forgot to make the dock.”
“Ah!”
Come to think of it, we should’ve built a pier first to board the boat.
It seemed we rushed into building the boat too quickly.
Still, there was no issue today.
After all, we had the Seven Deadly Sins members, as well as Level 10 and 9 Awakeners.
Everyone was transported onto the boat one by one.
Even that was done in a flash, and once we boarded, it really sank in that we were on the boat.
“It’s all wobbly.”
Ara seemed fascinated by the feeling of standing on the boat and joyfully dashed from one end to the other.
“We haven’t even attached the motor yet, now that I think about it.”
“Right. Let’s just enjoy being onboard for today.”
But then, the boat suddenly began to move forward.
“It’s going!”
“We don’t even have sails—how is it moving?”
We all rushed to the stern and looked below.
There, countless mermaids were attached, pushing the boat eagerly.
“The boat’s gliding forward!”
—Ah, what a refreshing breeze. Shall we recite poetry with this noble one?
Luckily, Father had brought along all the fishing gear just in case and boarded the boat.
And I, who had prepared some just in case, took out my own fishing tools from Bokkeum.
With the mermaids’ help, we stopped at a spot full of fish.
“Normally, you’d use sonar to find fish, but here, it’s like having a biological radar.”
“Right? It might even be more accurate than sonar.”
Thus began our group fishing competition.
From the Seven Deadly Sins kids, to the parents, Seon-ah, Jung So-yeon, and even Kyler and his daughter.
Everyone held a fishing rod and eagerly cast their lines.
By the way, Father had already stocked up on dozens of electric reels in preparation for a moment like this.
“Depth’s around 70 meters.”
With the mermaids’ help, we confirmed the depth at the fish gathering spot.
We immediately used the electric reels to lower the lines 70 meters down and slowly moved the rods.
And within less than a minute, someone got a bite.
“Ah!”
“Oh, if it feels like it’s caught, just press the button.”
Father ran over, unable to even prepare his own rod, as he was busy helping everyone else.
The first one up was Emily.
Her technique was clumsy, but Emily always had a knack for catching fish, and she did it again this time.
“Wow, this is really convenient.”
Emily, using an electric reel for the first time, smiled as she watched the automatic line being reeled in.
“But you’ll have to reel it in yourself for the last 10 meters.”
“Okay!”
Father readied the net.
Meanwhile, bites began coming from everywhere.
“It’s here! Hiyah!”
—I got one too!
Ara and Mammon followed one after the other.
Then Ashu received a signal too, and surprisingly, even Bell was reeling in a catch.
Only Ras and I—
Just the two of us had no signs at all.
Oh, and Kyler too.
“Wow, look at this, So-yeon!”
“Amazing! I caught one this big.”
Even Jung So-yeon and Seon-ah caught fish, and Mother too.
And the three of us were just catching time.
“Ungh!”
“Oh! That’s your third one!”
I wasn’t jealous. Not at all.
I pulled myself together and focused on fishing.
Yeah, if I could just catch one huge fish, I’d turn the tables.
The contest was based on size, after all.
—This noble one can endure.
“Why isn’t anything biting…?”
At least Ras and Kyler were still empty-handed, just like me.
We looked at each other with shared sympathy, silently waiting for a bite.
While the others had five catches minimum and some caught as many as fourteen,
A traitor finally appeared.
—Hngh!
Ras suddenly raised his rod with a tense expression.
For a moment, I worried his monstrous strength might snap the rod, but it held.
“R-Ras, not you too…!”
I trembled in betrayal, locking eyes on Ras.
Then Ras briefly smiled and began turning the electric reel.
“Grrr!”
“Mr. Kyu-seong.”
“Huh?”
“It seems you’ll need to step up your game.”
Wondering what that meant, I turned around…
Whirr—
Kyler was also reeling in a fish.
Wh—why am I the only one left behind…!
“This… this can’t be. We promised not to do this to each other!”
“Mr. Kyu-seong, sometimes one must ride the waves of opportunity. It’s just that your tide hasn’t come yet.”
“How could this be…?”
These traitors.
Fine then—I’ll catch the biggest fish and win this in one shot.
With renewed resolve, I focused on the movements of the rod.
I heightened all my senses as an Awakener to catch even the faintest nibble.
‘No choice.’
In the end, I resorted to a forbidden technique.
The dignity of the Grand Lord!
[Activating Diamond Body for 30 minutes.]
“N-no.”
The ability that never appeared when I wanted it most—
Of all times, it came out now, and it was utterly useless for fishing.
Maybe today just wasn’t my day.
As sighs of disappointment grew, the time we had set was slowly running out.
“Lee Kyu-seong, Kyu-seong.”
“Yeah, Ara. How many did you catch?”
“Ten!”
Ara spread both hands wide as she answered.
As expected of our Ara. She caught a lot.
“I didn’t catch even one. Sigh.”
“Yes! Because you can’t catch one!”
“Huh?”
“Right now, under Lee Kyu-seong Kyu-seong’s fishing rod is Levi. Because of Levi, the fish can’t come near!”
“N-nooooo!!”
I knew it! I knew it! It wasn’t because I was bad at fishing!
Levi showed up unexpectedly, and I felt a bit deflated.
Apparently, Levi, who liked me, was just happily swimming nearby.
“Heh.”
Well, can’t be helped.
This was partly my fault too.
I should’ve brought Levi onboard from the start.
And just when I was feeling a bit regretful—
Snap!
A sudden heaviness struck the rod.
Not just heavy—it almost dragged me along, but my body, strengthened with Diamond Body, barely held on.
“W-what is this?”
“Oooh!! It’s a super huge fish!”
Ara, who could see underwater, shouted excitedly.
“Levi brought it over!”
“Levi! I knew I could count on you!”
That rascal Levi! So all those trials were for this moment, huh?
But wait.
Ruuuumble—
“Uh?”
Not only was the electric reel not working…
Wasn’t the boat moving too?
“THE BOAT’S BEING PULLED AWAYYY!”
“S-so it wasn’t my imagination?”
The boat was definitely being dragged.
Honestly, at this point, I was more shocked by how strong the fishing line was.
“What the heck?! What are you catching?!”
“I-I don’t know, Dad!”
Everyone noticed something was wrong and gathered around.
And the boat was still slowly being pulled.
“Hey! The boat’s gonna get wrecked!”
“Ugh.”
As I dug my feet in and held on, the deck made from the World Tree creaked as if it might snap.
But Mammon, standing beside me, calmly reassured us.
—It’s coated with admiral metal! It’s even stronger now!
Even the World Tree wood was already tough, so it won’t break!
“If that’s the case—!”
Father shouted something at the mermaids below the boat as if he had made up his mind.
“Pull the boat in the opposite direction! Let’s fish by sailing with the boat!”
“Ehh?”
No, Dad—! That’s not the problem!
What if the fishing line snaps?!
But the mermaids understood Father’s command and quickly swarmed the boat.
Then they started pushing it against the pulling direction.
—Heave-ho! Heave-ho!
We heard their chants, and everyone on board cheered them on.
“You’re doing great!”
“Let’s reel in a monster fish!”
“No, seriously—just how big is this thing?! I’m starting to get scared!”
Jung So-yeon and Emily cheered.
Meanwhile, Seon-ah clung to one of the pillars on the boat, looking teary.
“Uwooooh!”
I mustered all my strength, trembling, and tightened my abs to keep the rod steady.
Even my legs were cramping up from the effort.
“I’ll help!”
Ara grabbed onto my back.
Ras also stepped up beside me and supported the rod slightly.
Honestly, Ras could’ve just yanked the rod up with his strength,
But if he did, both the rod and the line would definitely snap.
‘Wait… is this even possible?!’
Seriously, I didn’t know what it was, but the fact that something strong enough to drag a whole boat was on the line—
And the rod and line were holding—was unbelievable.
Still full of doubt, I finally heard Father murmur beside me.
“As expected, the cats’ engineering is the best in the world.”
“What do you mean, Dad? I thought this rod was store-bought.”
“The cats and Bell modified it after seeing the store-bought rod.”
“Don’t tell me… even the fishing line was made by the cats?”
“Didn’t you notice when you touched it? That’s a metal fishing line. You think I’d call the cats’ tech the world’s best for no reason?”
Wait—metal fishing line?!
No wonder it wouldn’t snap!
When I asked if Ras could pull it up instead, Father shook his head.
“No, still can’t do that. Even now, the line is at its limit. Can’t you feel it too?”
“…Yeah, I can.”
So in the end, I’d have to hold out until we reached shore.
Because the mermaids had dragged us quite far out in search of a good spot, I used every ounce of my strength to endure.
And finally—
“We’re almost there!”
“Dad! Just a bit more!”
Mom and Cheong shouted with all their might.
“Raaaghh!”
If it weren’t for Ara and Ras helping me, I would’ve collapsed long ago.
Instead of replying, I just let out a wild roar.
Kyler and his daughter, along with Jung So-yeon, watched the scene with oddly satisfied expressions—and I kind of resented them for it.
Creakkkk—
At that moment, the boat touched land.
Normally this would be a problem, but we decided to secure the boat on the beach and repair it later.
“It’s done!”
“Let’s reveal the catch!”
The mystery fish that had been dragged ashore.
We finally disembarked to check what it was.
“…But something’s weird.”
“Yeah, you’d think we’d be able to see it by now.”
“Wait, is it actually small?”
I thought it was at least a 10-meter-long monster fish,
But if that were true, we should’ve seen it by now.
However, the mysterious fish had never once revealed itself during the tow.
“Uhh… just in case, you don’t think Levi bit the hook, right?”
I asked Ara cautiously.
Ara immediately shook her head and shouted, “If Levi bit it, the boat would already be destroyed!”
“Oh… yeah, that’s true.”
I wasn’t sure of Levi’s exact strength, but as one of the Seven Deadly Sins, it could probably wreck this boat without even trying.
So something definitely was on the line…
“What is this?!”
Just then, our ever-curious and cowardly Seon-ah took a peek and screamed.
I exchanged looks with everyone and rushed over.
What the heck did I catch?!
Cliche Novel 