010. Everyone Loves Otters
Now that I had gathered some courage, I began reading through the more than five thousand comments one by one.
‘The otter is cute.’
That was the most common response.
‘Honestly, I don’t care what you sell at all and I don’t even want to buy anything. I came again today because I wanted to watch the otter playing around the fish farm.’
There were not many comments like this,
but I saw them from time to time.
‘This is the cutest otter I’ve ever seen. Followed the Shop! Please upload at least one video every day!’
That one made me feel good.
‘Owner, stop wandering around beside the otter and move out of the way so we can see it properly.’
‘The owner is handsome, what the hell are you talking about?’
‘If you don’t like looking at him, you leave. I like both.’
‘If the owner gets sulky and stops uploading videos, it’s this bastard’s fault.’
‘Guys, stop fighting and just otter.’
That one made me a little embarrassed.
After reading it, I found myself looking into the mirror and fixing my hair.
Then I got embarrassed by what I was doing and returned to my seat.
‘Otters are wild animals and natural monuments. Isn’t it illegal to keep one like this?’
That one...
made me a little worried.
‘He says he’s Awakened, but filming videos while dragging around an otter instead of a monster is kind of suspicious.’
‘Feels like he just got a pet Asian small-clawed otter and is putting on a show.’
‘He can use the Awakened Shop, so he definitely seems to be Awakened...’
‘I still don’t trust this person. Feels like he threw a few obscure fish-type monsters into a tank and is putting on a show.’
‘Do Gates even open in the ocean?’
‘Never heard of that before.’
‘This needs to be verified by a government organization.’
Hmm.
It was true.
Normally, a Tamer was someone who tamed ‘monsters’ living beyond Gates, not normal creatures.
I had never seen a case like mine, where someone tamed an ordinary-looking animal like an otter.
But that only meant there were no known cases.
It was still a fact that Daldal and I had become Tamer and Partner.
And the farming people refused to believe in was also something I had actually accomplished.
If I continued uploading videos and proving it,
people would eventually believe me.
“Ahem.”
Peeeeep!?
[Translation: Surprise!?]
“You are not allowed to touch the dehydrator.”
Peep...
[Translation: Next time, I will not get caught...]
This little Daldal.
He kept trying to open the dehydrator whenever he got the chance.
I needed to watch him carefully.
I spent the entire evening reading through more than five thousand comments, all the way until bedtime.
Fortunately, comments demanding explanations or doubting us were only a small portion.
Most of them were simply saying that the otter excitedly wandering around the fish farm and sea with me was incredibly cute.
I never expected a day to come when we would receive this much attention.
It actually felt better than I expected.
Of course,
I knew the attention was not really directed at me.
Still, I was glad that so many people liked my Partner.
“Thank you. Please continue supporting us!”
I began leaving replies to every comment from people who had shown us support and interest.
I was determined to reply to all five thousand.
Of course,
sleep eventually overwhelmed me and I stopped halfway without even realizing it...
But I felt genuinely good.
That night, I fell into a deep sleep without even dreaming.
Early the next morning.
“Daldal.”
Peep, peep?
“The time has come to show everyone a new side of you.”
Peeeeep?
Good.
I finished preparing the camera and set up today’s ‘Combat Situation.’
Today’s combat objectives were as follows.
Move the large amount of fish feed I bought a few days ago into the storage room,
and completely repair the remaining tanks that still had unfinished maintenance!
“Ready? Then... let’s go.”
Peeeeep!
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
[Information: Entering Combat Preparation.]
With Combat Preparation activated, blue energy wrapped around Daldal and transformed him into his powerful form.
We could immediately begin working.
But first,
I wanted to enjoy the greatest benefit that was only available at a moment like this.
“Daldal. Immediate hug time.”
Peet-peeeep!
[Translation: Prepare yourself! Dragon King!]
Thud-thud-thud!
Pomf!
Squeeeze.
Haa...
Hehehe...
Everyone.
An otter is hugging me with all his strength.
Ahh.
Warm.
Being hugged by someone really is wonderful.
I wish time would stop right now...
Peet, peet.
[Translation: Near death by suffocation.]
“Oh... Sorry. Let’s finish quickly and eat snacks.”
With great reluctance, I released Daldal and returned to repairing the fish farm.
Oh, right.
Just in case anyone misunderstood something...
This little guy had already eaten breakfast until his stomach was completely full before coming to work.
Following the maintenance manual my father had left behind,
I repaired the tanks and various equipment, painted over rusty areas, and completed all kinds of other tasks.
“Phew.”
At first, my father’s fish farm had looked so gloomy that I almost expected a water ghost to appear.
Little by little, it was returning to its original appearance.
The more work I did,
the more I wondered how Father had managed all of this without even hiring employees.
There had to have been difficult moments.
Had he really been that determined not to show me how hard things were for him?
“Phew. Good work, Daldal. I honestly wouldn’t even have known where to begin without your help.”
Peet-peet-peep! Peeeeep!
“Yeah. Let’s go eat snacks!”
PEEPPEEPPEEPPEEPPEEPPEEPPEEPPEEPPEEP!
Thanks to Daldal’s help, we finished all the work planned for the morning much earlier than expected.
After hard work,
it was only natural that there should be a proper reward.
Apparently, Daldal had been waiting for this moment the entire time he worked.
He ran around the fish farm so quickly that he created gusts of wind.
He was going to hurt himself at this rate.
PEETPEETPEETPEETPEETPEETPEETPEET!!
[Information: Translator error caused by excessive expression of intense emotion.]
“Wait for meee.”
Daldal ran toward the house like lightning.
There was no way human legs could keep up with him.
By the time I returned home while panting for breath,
he was standing firmly in front of the dehydrator with both paws together, performing a ‘ritual.’
Peeeeep. Peeeeep. Peeeeep.
[Translation: Pant. Pant. Pant.]
“Okay, okay. Seriously, just wait a little longer. All right?”
I hurriedly put on oven gloves I had bought from Everything-Is-Here and removed the delicious-looking dried Fairy Croaker from the dehydrator.
Mmm.
A rich, savory smell instantly filled the entire house.
Peep... Slurp...
“Now, if we grind up the dried Byeoljubu’s Rock Seaweed and lightly sprinkle it over the top...”
Finished!
[Information: A new Fantasy Fish Recipe has been registered.]
[Additional Reward: +100P Shop Points acquired.]
Hm?
An unexpected bonus too?
This was already feeling good.
