Taking pictures was a must-do while travelling.
“I’ll take a picture of you.”
Seo Yoon took picture of him with the sea as the background.
In the photo he seemed like an awkward tourist stuck on a beautiful scenery.
“Ok, now it’s your turn.”
Lee Hyun received Seo Yoon’s camera and pressed the shutter.
Every time her picture was taken, it was a like a photo shoot.
She just stood still like Lee Hyun but it was a whole different kind of images.
He felt like the sands were shining and a gentle breeze coalescing around her.
She didn’t smile or held many poses but she looked great with the winter sea as the background.
There were also many tourists at the seashore.
Lee Hyun asked the tourists for a favor.
“Excuse me… Do you mind taking a picture for us?”
It looked like they were on a graduation trip.
“Sure, I don’t mind.”
These men took a picture of Lee Hyun and Seo Yoon standing together.
SNAP!
They put their focus right on Seo Yoon, blurring out Lee Hyun!
‘What an unmatched couple.’
‘That guy must have saved the universe in his past life.’
Going to several places while riding in their car, they went to popular tourist spots and took photos.
They spent plenty of time together in Royal Road but this was different, no hunting, no quest, it was like two of them were dating.
Soon, it became dark.
The temperature dropped fast after sunset so they began looking for a place to stay.
“I’ve found a place… Was it this way?”
After roaming around in their car, they arrived at the camping site.
With minimum price, they were able to use this place freely.
There were groups of families having set up their tents already.
“We are late. We better hurry.”
Lee Hyun took out the camping equipment from his large bag.
He borrow it from Ma Sungbum from the dojo,
After setting up the tent, he took out the burner to boil water, which he was able to obtain in the camping site, and prepare dinner.
While Seo Yoon was washing the raw rice for cooking, Lee Hyun grabbed a fishing rod and head to the coast.
“I’m going to catch some fish for dinner alright?”
There were middle age men concentrating on fishing while their wives and daughters watched on.
“Geez, not a single fish.”
They wanted to show off in front of their families but unless you were some natural-born fisherman, it wasn’t easy.
Lee Hyun opened a small container.
These energetic worms were caught directly from his yard this morning.
Every time he threw his fishing rod with the baits on, he was able to catch the fish quickly.
63cm flatfish!
“What a waste of worm.”
49cm rockfish!
“I needed something for fish stew. This will do nicely.”
The rockfish were known delicacy of this area.
“Aren’t you guys tired? Stop taking my baits.”
Fish were crowded in the bucket Lee Hyun brought.
Middle age men comforted themselves thinking about their wives and daughters.
‘As long as I have a happy family…’
‘Even if my wife nags often, the joy of going on a trip with her is…”
Lee Hyun murmured holding his fishing rod.
“I should be getting back for dinner… It would be nice if a black porgy took my bait. What are they doing, geez.”
The men thought in their heads.
‘Hey kid, black porgy isn’t some kind of carps that you can just catch easily.’
‘I’ve been here for twelfth time now and even I haven’t seen it.’
At that moment, Lee Hyun’s float sank a little bit.
Picking the right spot was the heart of fishing, shaking your fishing rod slightly and make it look like the worm was wriggling was advanced skill!
And with that, another fish took the bait.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t a black porgy. It was a sea eel.
“This will be nice when roasted.”
When Lee Hyun was about to return, Seo Yoon came out from the tent.
“Did you catch a lot?”
“Not enough in my life time. I caught just enough to be full.”
After Lee Hyun and Seo Yoon went back to their tent, the men’s eyes were moist with tears.
“Daddy, there are so many mosquitoes biting. I don’t like it here. I wanted to watch TV at home.”
“Honey, can’t you do this hobby of yours alone?”
They could barely get to talk with their daughters after school and their wives left their home frequently to take a trip with their friends.
These men reminisced their golden age when they were in high school or university.
‘Sigh… If only I could go back.”
____________________________________________________
With his nimble hands, Lee Hyun made charcoal fire and placed a grill on top of it.
Until the fire was stable, he made doenjang soup and when the fire was hot enough, he roasted, not pork of beef, but variety of fish!
“Do you want to trade for a rockfish?”
Roaming the other tents, he traded for clams, crabs, sausages and even some cheap wine.
Flipping the fish, he also boiled fish stew.
With gentle crashing of waves in the background, they saw stars shining from the clear sky.
“Let’s eat.”
Eating fish outside was excellent.
After the filling dinner, Lee Hyun even cleaned the dishes.
“You want some coffee?”
“Sure.”
They sat on the beach, savouring a cup of coffee.
When it was completely dark, they could hear chirps of crickets.
All other tents had turned their lights off.
“We should go to sleep as well.”
It was a tent for four so there was sufficient place for two people to sleep in.
Despite that fact, it still felt cramped.
Once in their sleeping bag, they could hear each other’s breath coming from the other side of the tent.
Seo Yoon’s nervous heart was beating fast.
Even in the tent, in a separate sleeping bag, it felt like they were sleeping in the same room.
Seo Yoon was worried that her heartbeat might be heard along with the crash of waves and chirps of crickets.
However, she could soon hear snoring from Lee Hyun.
______________________________________________________
Lee Hyun woke at dawn to the sound of bird chirping.
Even in an unfamiliar place, he didn’t toss and turn. Rather, he slept soundly.
Lee Hyun turned and found Seo Yoon was still asleep facing in his direction.
Getting out of his sleeping bag, he went outside quietly.
‘Should I make some crab stew for breakfast?’
Lee Hyun preped the ingredients and waited for Seo Yoon to wake up.
Thinking Seo Yoon was still exhausted from the travel, she didn’t wake up even after sunrise.
But the truth was, Seo Yoon slept late staring at Lee Hyun’s sleeping face.
Her first impressions of him, the thoughts she had every time seeing him in Royal Road, the appreciation of going on a trip together.
She opened her heart out and speak about it, but Lee Hyun had no clue as he was busy snoring in his sleep.
“Maybe I should take a walk.”
Lee Hyun walked alonged the sandy beach breathing in the fresh morning breeze.
‘The weather is really nice.’
Birds were chirping as they looked for foods.
And there were a gathering of childrens on the beach, building a sand castle.
‘I want to give it a try.’
Anyone who went to the beach did it at least one time or another.
Lee Hyun never did have a chance to do it but it would be nice way to kill some time.
Ten minutes later the other kids were gathering around and looking at Lee Hyun.
The sand castle he was building was becoming life size reaching about 1.5 meters.
Adults came as well as they watched the ramparts and towers getting built.
This was all thanks to the skill he had mastered in construction sites and sculptures in Royal Road.
An hour later, the sand castle was complete.
People around him complemented him for the perfectness, but their words didn’t reach him.
‘Not like I can trade this in a real estate… or get money from it.’
A complete utilitarian!
Once the tides came, it would collapse and get wiped out.
It was just a sand castle that would fall even against a little bit of strong wind.
With the sand castle finished, people left one by one, leaving for breakfast or going home.
Lee Hyun watched the coming tides and the sand castle in vain.
“We’ve gone on a trip together now… But someday, she’s going drift apart to the point where I can’t even get close.”
Lee Hyun was willing to let her go for her own sake.
All the time spent with her will remain as memories later.
That was why he wrote something under the castle.
Lee Hyun and Seo Yoon’s house.
__________________________________________________
When he came back to the tent, Seo Yoon was cooking with the prepared ingredients.
After a filling breakfast they planned to take a look around North Sea a little bit more, before take a train going back home in afternoon.
Lee Hyun packed his stuff and spoke to Seo Yoon as he was tidying up the space.
“I’ll take care of this. Why don’t you get some rest?”
Seo Yoon walked toward the sandy beach.
Once she got back to the city, she would most likely will not be able to see it anymore.
As she barely went outside she decided to pick up some kind of small souvenir, such as conches or pebbles.
“After today, I’ll be going back to my normal life.”
Walking on the sand, she noticed a particularly giant sand castle.
She had no idea who built this but it was a very well-made and sturdy sand castle.
Seo Yoon headed toward it.
_________________________________________________
Four armies from the Undead Legion advanced toward Morata.
But only two army’s worth made it to the one week distance away from Morata.
Due to some of them having no legs and walking uncomfortably, majority of them were coming late.
Not to mention some of the Undead going off the main route, falling into a well, or circling around a forest.
Because Undead armies disperse a lot when they are on the move, more self inflicted casualties arose.
And with the many ordinary monsters in the north, they disappeared as monsters like goblins, trolls or ogres protect their territories.
“An Undead army is coming this way.”
Players on adventures and hunting ground spotted the Undead army and raised the alarm in Morata.
It was a huge event for the novices and merchants.
The church knight from Freya order was dispatched right afte