Chapter 11: Reinforcing and expanding
-Joonb.u.m, it’s me, Minsuk. Let’s meet up sometime!-
-Hey, looks like you’re hot these days! Let’s do a joint broadcast!-
-h.e.l.lo Joonb.u.m, this is Sungjoon. Call me when you see this.-
-Long time no see, this is Young-ah Lee, remember me? We did a joint broadcast once. Call me anytime. Let’s do it again!-
-Hi Mr. Joonb.u.m. This is Jihee Seo. Remember me? Please call when you can.-
-Wow, you p.r.i.c.k. You’ve changed because you’re big now, huh?-
-Remember I made you start when you were nothing.-
-My name is Dongil Song. Do you need an editor? Your video looks like it can use some professional help. Let me know.-
-h.e.l.lo. I am Jongil Kim. I was really fascinated by your work. I wish to work with you if possible.-
-I am contacting you from Tai Media Company. We wish to discuss a job opportunity regarding the video.-
-Joonb.u.m, we’re from a commercial…-
‘Ugh, it’s full of emails again.’
He checked his emails and there was a total of 43 emails. Once his videos started gaining popularity, he was always bombarded with emails every time he checked. As for text messages, he couldn’t even check it all because it was just too many. The views were still growing exponentially. The first video, which was uploaded 14 days ago, was now at 1.7 million views. The other videos that followed also had over 1.6 million views and there were about 20 videos in total. He uploaded too much at once, so the views didn’t correlate with the order they were uploaded in.
‘1.4 million subscribers…’
The number of subscribers increased exponentially also. The videos never asked to press the subscribe b.u.t.ton as they didn’t include any voices or words, but almost every viewer who watched the videos subscribed. It was viral.
“So this is what it feels like to be a star?”
Joonb.u.m s.h.i.+vered in excitement and lit up a cigarette to relax. As his mind found peace, he started to think.
‘How should I respond?’
He smirked at thought of the emails. He could’ve felt offended, but he wasn’t.
“So this is what it is like to be a winner.”
A lot of mails contained messages that were enough to offend Joonb.u.m, but instead they just made him laugh.
‘Fool, you were offended by every single thing just a few weeks ago.’
He thought to himself while looking at through the mail again. They were divided into three types. The first type included those who had contacted him before but cut their ties when they were no longer interested in him, now wanting to get into contact again. The second consisted of those big names who were showing off their brands, offering to back Joonb.u.m so that he could grow. If it was in the past, he might have happily accepted.
‘They’re probably out of content.’
He knew this was the sole concern of those big names. Joonb.u.m was aware that they would find his great content to bring to their videos.
“Hehehe.”
He cackled at the messages. The third was messages from media companies. All they wanted was more information regarding the other world videos.
“Well, I can’t accept these and they’re not possible.”
Some even offered a commercial contract with a hefty sum of money.
‘Not just yet.’ Joonb.u.m thought. Just in one month, the number of subscribers would increase to three million and he would have more power over things. He was ambitious.
“Just an hour left now. Galfus, time for breakfast!”
A familiar shout and the sound of chain clattering woke Galfus up. It resisted the pulling of the chain a bit, but soon gave up, silently watching Joonb.u.m.
Joonb.u.m filled a giant basin with water and moved over the meat that contained 50 chickens and one huge pig leg.
“Wait! wait! wait… okay! Eat!”
Joonb.u.m repeated his words to make Galfus wait on multiple orders and pulled the chain while giving the sign that it was okay to eat now. Galfus went straight for the pig leg and started chewing it whole. Joonb.u.m’s smile filled his face at the sight of it.
‘It’s much better now.’
Of course, it did not react to the order. It just seemed like it did, but he hoped that it might learn it if he repeated it endlessly. It still bared its teeth when he got close, but it was much different now. It even wagged its tail a bit when she was fed or being combed. It was not like a dog wagging its tail, and it still had some of its wild side to it that gave Joonb.u.m chills from time to time.
There was one thing Galfus did not ease up on.
‘He gets nervous with the rifle.’
It was hard to feed Galfus. She needed at least fifty chickens for one meal and she needed to be fed at least two times a day. Even then it didn’t seem like it was enough, so it ate more if it could. Joonb.u.m thought it was more like a pig than a wolf now.
When any animals closed in on Galfus in the other world, Joonb.u.m used his rifle to fend them off and those that were killed by the rifle became Galfus’ meal.
‘I guess she’s scared because he’s seen what the rifle can do. What a smart girl.’
Galfus finished eating the last chicken and drank the water slowly and laid down. Joonb.u.m knew what this meant.
“What? You think I’m your servant or something?”
Joonb.u.m mumbled but quickly prepared his tools before walking toward Galfus: a new iron rake and a five-foot-long homemade scratcher stick.
“Let’s see, wounds are mostly healed up. Bones will need a bit more time… looks all good.”
Joonb.u.m used the rake to comb the wolf’s fur.
“This one was a good buy. Good choice.”
It was a farming tool, but Joonb.u.m was using it to comb and scratch the wolf. When he started scratching the side belly, she rolled over to show his bottom. Joonb.u.m smiled.
“You’re like a dog now!”
He gave it a scratch with the rake for a while and then changed to scratcher stick. Galfus seemed to enjoy it quite a bit, moaning strange sounds and twitching from time to time.
“You like it, don’t you?”
The five-foot-long stick kept on scratching the skin under the cast. There was no sign of the gigantic aggressive wolf at all.
“It’s good right? Anyone who has ever had a cast would understand. Right? Haha.”
When Joonb.u.m stopped moving, it even growled angrily, asking for more.
“Okay, it’s about time. We’ll do the rest when we get there.”
Galfus went to the basin for water as soon as Joonb.u.m loosened its chains. It tried to put its head on the leg that had casts on it afterwards.
“It’s coming!”
Galfus tensed at Joonb.u.m’s shouting. The swirling came and swept through, s.h.i.+fting the world. A strange feeling pa.s.sed through Joonb.u.m’s body.
‘Strange.’
Amount of tiredness he felt after s.h.i.+fting decreased every time he experienced it.
‘I even feel lighter. Maybe because I lost some weight?’
He had already lost ten pounds in two weeks. His fat cheek had lost some of its chubbiness also.
“I did a lot of exercise, alright,” Joonb.u.m said, looking at the bottom of the big tree. It was different. The tree where Joonb.u.m had set up his camp before was now surrounded by a wooden fence with the height of about fifteen feet.
“Let’s start a fire first.”
He brought the torch to the fireplace. Dry wood caught fire extremely well and the smell of smoke started to fill the area.
“Fire is the best.”
Its main purpose was for safety. It was hated by animals and monsters alike.
“The fire is up, and it’s time to clean up some p.o.o.p.”
Joonb.u.m energetically got up, but he was let down by what he needed to do next.
“Who told me that the fantasy world was full of treasures and adventures? Here I am shoveling p.o.o.p!”
Joonb.u.m ranted while he came to the pile of feces Galfus created. There were a bunch of bugs ranging from a really small size to the size of a human head feasting upon it. Even the bugs were not something you would see in his world.
“Now that I’m used to it, it’s not even surprising anymore.”
Joonb.u.m commented at the sight of many bugs in front of him and scooped up the feces with dirt onto the cart.
“It stinks! But it works well, so what can I do?”
The reason why he was going through such a ha.s.sle was to use it to mark it as territory. It was necessary to keep his base camp safe.
‘It’s best to avoid any troubles than not handling it.’
Joonb.u.m pushed the cart full of feces and spread around outside his fences. He had already explored the area multiple times, so he had no difficulty moving about.
“I should take care of some of these branches.”
A chainsaw roared as Joonb.u.m started its motor. Galfus reacted immediately.
“Are you scared? Heh, it’s sometimes not helpful to be too smart.”
Galfus seemed very intelligent for an animal. It easily figured out the power of chainsaw and was scared at the sight of it cutting down everything with ease.
Joonb.u.m started to work his way against the branches. Various branches with various thicknesses were taken care off fairly quickly. The forest became noisy, drawing the attention from some the animals while scaring some away.
‘Well, most are scared. At least that helps predators move together also.’
With the help of Galfus’ feces and Joonb.u.m’s hard work, the forest became much safer for him than it was before. Yet he didn’t let his guard down. He always carried his rifle on his back and a jungle knife on his waist. He also wore a helmet and the vest wherever he went. He was also protected by Galfus who originated from this very place.
“Timber!”
A big tree topped over and fell to the ground, making a loud thundering noise as it fell.
“It’s endless! Should I stop about here?”
The area cleared a lot. With all the surrounding trees that had fallen, it provided a better view. But it wasn’t over yet. Joonb.u.m started cutting down the fallen tree branches off. When he managed to cut down all the branches, he then brought a thick rope to tie all the trees around and pushed them to the side.
*vroom*
An engine roared to life as Joonb.u.m started the tractor. He tied the end of the rope that he just used to bundle the trees with to the tractor and started pulling them.
“Bringing the tractor here was the best move!”
The tractor was a major help to his work. Not only moving heavy items, but it was also extremely useful in leveling the ground and digging when needed. After he finished moving trees to where he wanted them to be, he wiped off the sweat and took out some cold water.
“Hah, this is good.”
He never knew how cold water after hard work tasted this good.
‘I never moved much at my place.’
It was hard to even sweat unless he engaged in active exercise. Even on a really hot day, it was hard to find a place where there was no air-conditioning. This place was different. There were no signs of advanced technology. The only things he could use was the stuff he brought himself.
‘It might be good if I can bring a generator in so I can use a fridge or an A/C…’