-Chapter 1. Deserted Island-
TL: Hanguk
My name is Seo Baek Ho, I'm 23 years old, and I'm semi-unemployed, having been discharged from the military for ten months.
The reason why I call myself semi-unemployed, despite being jobless, is that I have a job but I'm not making any income from it yet.
I am a YouTuber.
A small YouTuber with 6,200 subscribers.
My main content is 'Catch and Cook', in which I gather food ingredients through fishing or foraging, cook it, and upload the video on YouTube.
The reason why I became a YouTuber is simple.
'I want to make a lot of money.'
Then those who are overly concerned will say this.
It may seem like YouTubers make money easily, but they have their own struggles, and it's a highly competitive world, so it's not easy to succeed.
This is actually a line I've heard from many friends.
But whenever I hear that, I always respond like this.
'Sorry, but I know that. When did I ever say I wanted to become a YouTuber because I wanted to succeed easily?'
Where can you find a business that allows you to succeed easily without competition?
They are all difficult.
But there are always those who try to measure everything.
Even though I measured everything and then challenged myself to be a YouTuber.
'Success brings considerable benefits, and unlike other businesses, it doesn't require a lot of initial capital, and the risk of failure isn't high either, right? Isn't that a tremendous advantage in itself?'
And I believe there is a clear formula for success on YouTube.
In particular, two conditions must be met: 'Editing skills' that can add fun to the video and 'content' that viewers find interesting.
Fortunately, I have some video editing skills.
I have been studying it since I was in the military, and I honed my practical skills by working as an editor for another YouTuber for six months.
The problem is the content, and after a lot of thought, I chose 'Catch and Cook' as my main content.
It's a popular genre in Korea, but above all, I judged it was easy to create English subtitles.
'The moment I add English subtitles, my target audience expands from Koreans to people all over the world. Then are must be more people interested in my content than if I just targeted Koreans.'
Fortunately, such considerations seem to be working to some extent.
Despite the naysayers around me who seem to wish me to fail, my channel is steadily growing.
The number of viewers who check out my videos as soon as I upload them is increasing, and the view count is quite high considering the number of subscribers.
Although I am still small-scale now, I am confident that I can skyrocket at any moment given the right opportunity.
"Hello, YouTube viewers! The content I'll be doing today is! Surviving on a deserted island for a week!"
The theme of the video I chose this time is 'Deserted Island Survival'.
This is a content that I have ambitiously prepared, thinking that I need an exciting punch to attract attention.
"The deserted island where I will be staying is the 'Wolgwangdo¹' island located in Taean, Chungnam. At one point, 20 households lived there, but in 2004, the last resident left for the mainland, and it is now a deserted island."
Survival, a higher tier genre of Catch and Cook, is a traditional content that consistently attracts interest.
But despite its popularity, not many people take on the challenge because the preparation process (such as getting permission from the local government) is tricky, and filming costs are not negligible.
"Wolgwangdo is an island with an area of about 727,272 square meters and has a fairly large mountain. It is said that there are many wild animals such as wild boars, hares, and pheasants on the mountain."
For this shoot, I brought two action cameras, two mirrorless cameras to use as stationary cameras, and a drone to shoot the overall view of the island.
Of course, as the number of cameras increases, so does the amount of batteries and memory cards consumed, and if you plan to shoot outdoors for a week like me, you need to bring a small generator.
Even though investments are necessary in the early stages of any business, the costs are high for a small YouTuber to bear.
That's why most YouTubers who try to attract attention with deserted island survival content typically upload footage from day trips or one-night stays.
"The reason why I insist on shooting a survival video on Wolgwangdo, where traces of human presence remain, is to proceed with 'abandoned house experience' at the same time! A village abandoned for nearly 20 years without human touch... Isn't it thrilling just to imagine?"
If you've invested a lot, you have to get the return.
So I racked my brains to extract two pieces of contents, survival and exploring an abandoned village, out of one shooting.
"The only item I will have when I start survival is a single jungle knife. I have to find all the other items, but I will try not to find in the abandoned houses. You would all want that, wouldn’t you?"
I also brought along plenty of medical supplies such as first aid kits and antibiotics for safe shooting.
But I didn't feel the need to disclose this.
Safety measures are a given, but there might be people who find them off-putting.
"Shall we start exploring the island then? Let's go together! Ready!"
With that, the opening shot ended.
I moved the cameras to the next shooting location.
If you're a large YouTuber, you might employ staff for such work, but a small YouTuber like me has to do it all alone.
"The beach is full of trash, typical of an uninhabited island. Who knows, there might be an item we could use."
A little later, I scoured the beach and found tools necessary for survival.
From the piles of trash, I collected ropes, waste nets, and vinyl.
"I found clear vinyl. If used well, it can be used to start a fire easily. If you fill it with water and make it round, it's possible to start a fire using sunlight, just like using a magnifying glass."
"And if you have vinyl, it's easy to distill seawater into drinking water. We've found a useful item from the start."
I continued moving along the shoreline.
Then suddenly, I felt something strange...
"But, it seems like the island is bigger than expected? Is it really 727,272 square meters?"
If it's 727,272 square meters, it's half the size of Everland².
It's not small, but it doesn't feel that vast.
"It feels much bigger than Jebudo³, where I used to visit often when I was young. It's strange because Jebudo is definitely a bigger island, and it's not like Wolgwangdo could have grown..."
So, I had to continue shooting while expressing my doubts.
"There are a lot of mussels and oysters attached to the seawall. In October, there's no need to worry about shellfish toxins, so I think it'll be fine to cook them after starting a fire."
"Ah! I found a pot lid! It seems like I've found a plate and frying pan that I can use for the next seven days."
After briefly exploring the beach, I moved past the abandoned village and started heading towards the mountain.
"I see a lot of arrowroot vines, but I don't have any tools to dig the ground so I'll pass. It would just waste energy."
"Huh? Those look like jujube⁴, right? Yes, they are. They are wild jujube. They are small in size, but they taste quite good. I'll pick as many as I see and take them with me."
"I see wild raspberries right next to them. The fruit looks like, and also tastes similar to a kiwi."
There were a fair amount of edible things in the wilderness in October.
I saw persimmon and chestnut trees in the distance, but it would reduce the fun if I gathered too much food from the start, so I pretended not to notice them.
I chose survival content because I was confident, but seeing the rich food resources on the island, I thought the shooting would be easier than I expected.
"But the charm of survival is more about hunting than gathering, right? Since I'm on the mountain, I'll try setting up a trap using the net and rope I picked up earlier."
I found a terrain where a lot of wild animals seemed to pass frequently and quickly built a capture frame using the discarded net I brought.
"Just for your information, not anyone can catch wild animals in our country. Even if it's harmful, if a person who hasn't received permission conducts hunting activities, it ultimately becomes poaching."
"Then you guys might wonder, 'Knowing that, you are poaching?' But you don't need to worry. Ta-da! Because I've obtained a hunting permit for today!"
"I want to let you know that I have received permission from the local government in advance to hunt some wild animals such as wild boars, hares, pheasants, and ducks."
Isn't it quite passionate to get a hunting license for the content?
If you want to succeed, you have to make at least this much effort.
By the way, the type 2 hunting permit does not allow the use of firearms.
Instead, it allows hunting using bows or nets, and I plan to make a bow later.
If I succeed in hunting with a self-made bow during survival, I'll be able to attract a huge amount of attention.
"I think I've explored enough of the mountain. Now, I'm going to move to make a base camp."
It's a wild mountain where you can't know where a wild boar will jump out, so it's dangerous to go in too deep.
I didn't risk mountain climbing, as my goal was to get familiar with the terrain through exploration.
So, I was packing up the filming equipment to go down the mountain...
-"Kiiaaaaak!"
"What, what is it?"
A sharp cry, like a scream, pierced my ears.
It sounded like it was echoing from a close distance of less than 100 meters.
"Is it a water deer⁵?"
A water deer on the island.
Although it's absurd, it's not impossible.
There are wild boars and rabbits, so it wouldn't be strange if there was a water deer.
Someone might have released it.
I hope that's the case.
Because I don't want to think about the possibility that the sound is not from a roe deer.
"Huh?"
I descended the mountain quickly while trying to stay calm.
But the uneasy feeling got stronger when I arrived at the starting site.
"······."
The neatly stacked luggage was scattered as if someone had rummaged through it.
Since it's a deserted island, I left my stuff without worrying about it. But, what is happening?
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1) The name of the island translates to 'Moonlight' in Korean. So let me know which you prefer in the comments, either the Korean romanization or the translated name for future chapters.
2) Name of the largest Theme Park in South Korea, More details here -> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everland
3) Jebudo is an island in South Korea, More details here -> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jebudo
4) More details here ->https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jujube
5) More details here -> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_deer
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