Chapter 3

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

“It’s here!”

Guo Li was delighted. Armed with the experience from two failed attempts, he took his time this time and slowly pulled the fishing rod back.

When the fat fish was finally caught and brought ashore, Guo Li was so excited that he started dancing with joy.

In his excitement, he tried to hug the fish, which worked out just fine… Not!

As the fish was too slippery, Guo Li carelessly allowed it to slip through his grasp and fall to the ground. After bouncing and flailing around for a brief moment, the fish successfully made it back into the lake and escaped.

Guo Li was about to cry. His fish had escaped again!

At this moment, a cold and emotionless voice could be heard in Guo Li’s mind.

[Ding! Congratulations! The host has been selected by the strongest fishing system. Binding process initiated…]

[The system has been successfully bound to the host!]

“System?!” Guo Li was stunned. As a fan of fantasy novels, he naturally knew what the word ‘system’ represented.

The system was the most powerful powerup a protagonist could receive. With the system’s help, anything was possible!

Guo Li hurriedly tried to activate his status panel.

[Name: Guo Li]

[Age: 25]

[Strength: 5]

[Speed: 5]

[Stamina: 5]

[Wisdom: 10]

[Height: 180cm]

[Identity: Island Owner No. 199]

[Resources: Iron ore, copper ore, gold ore (small amount), tin ore, silver ore…]

[Palm trees, banana trees, sago palm trees…]

[Active Skill 1: Hook, line and sinker (Unlocked)]

[Note: Increases the success rate of fishing by a large margin for a specific duration. Can be used 5 times.]

[Active Skill 2: Locked]

[Note: Unlocking Active Skill 2 will require a more advanced fishing rod.]

Guo Li carefully read through the system’s description of the skills and managed to figure out how they worked.

In order to use [Active Skill 1], he had to activate it mentally. The activation of this skill would cast a buff on his fishing rod, which would last for an hour. During this duration, he would catch a fish with every cast of his fishing line.

After figuring out the skill’s mechanics, Guo Li was extremely excited. He immediately picked up the fishing rod and activated [Hook, line and sinker] . After a golden light flashed around him, Guo Li hooked up an earthworm and once again cast his fishing line into the lake.

Within a few moments, the first fish took the bait.

He kept at it and, soon, the second, third, and fourth fishes took the bait in quick succession.

He even managed to snag a golden carp, which could be sold for a high price in the game mall.

Guo Li was extremely excited but, in the end, when he caught the fifth fish, the fishing rod broke because the fish was too big.

Seeing this, Guo Li was stunned.

The fishing rod was too simple and crude, after all. He realized that he had wasted the buff on an ordinary tree branch.

However, Guo Li soon noticed that, although the fishing rod was broken, there was still something hanging on the end of the fishing line, shining inside the lake.

It had to be an incredible treasure.

Guo Li quickly jumped into the lake and grabbed the broken fishing rod.

When he returned to the shore, ignoring the fact that he was soaking wet, he dragged the fishing line back to shore. Taking a quick look at what was on it, he was stunned.

The shining item was actually a paper-thin object that looked like gold, but was not gold. It felt quite light.

“What is this?”

Guo Li examined it carefully. There were words on the object, which clearly spelled out the words ‘Stone Fishing Rod’.

“Wow, that’s pretty unbelievable. You can catch blueprints by fishing in this game?”

Guo Li rubbed his chin and sat on the ground to study it for a while. He soon figured out how to use the design. The blueprint could be used automatically as long as it was inserted into the Tool Synthesis platform, which was rather convenient.

The materials needed were [Flint] , [thick branches]…

After looking through the materials needed, Guo Li sighed.

Flint was a material that had to be mined, and to mine flint, one needed a [Simple Pickaxe].

Checking the Tool Synthesis function again, Guo Li noticed that he would need more tree branches and iron ore to make it.

After Guo Li finished his research, he pondered matters for a while, and then walked toward the forest in the distance.

He remained in deep thought as he walked along.

Tonight, he had to make a fire to roast the fish. Not just any fire too; it had to be a bonfire. After all, he was still unfamiliar with this island and did not know if there were any large wild animals lurking around.

To ensure his own safety, a bonfire was the best choice.

Guo Li began to pick up dry twigs and small branches in the forest. He would need a lot of them to start and maintain the bonfire later.

After going around in a circle, Guo Li smiled bitterly and found that he had collected all the twigs and tree branches on the ground. He did not have enough of them.

Everything on the ground had been collected, so Guo Li had no choice but to set his sights on the big trees in front of him.

After making his decision, he began to climb the tree. When he reached one of the branches, he tried to shake it to see if any of the smaller branches at the end would fall off.

Suddenly, Guo Li, who was trying hard to shake the branch, froze. The moment he did, he saw a black shadow fall from the tree.

Guo Li hurriedly looked down and, lo and behold, there was a monkey there.

The monkey took one look at Guo Li, screeched a few times, then turned tail and ran away.

Guo Li watched the monkey leave. He gnashed his teeth, but did not chase after it. Instead, he continued to shake the tree branch to collect more wood.

He was drenched in sweat by the time he finished collecting enough wood. He clambered down the tree, picked up the fallen branches, and dragged them over to the lake to start a fire to roast the fish.

The process of lighting a fire was also quite difficult. He had no flint or tinder, so Guo Li used a relatively primitive method to start a fire.

He first used a branch and some of the plant fibers to make a bow drill, and then found a dry piece of wood. After half an hour of hard work, he finally got a fire going.

Guo Li, who was almost dying of hunger, used another branch to skewer a fish and placed it over the fire to roast. Soon, the aroma of roasted fish filled the air.

The roasted fish was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, and whetted Guo Li’s appetite to no end. He quickly dug in.

Not only was the skin crispy, but the flesh inside was extremely fresh and tender. It tasted exceptionally good.

“Mmm… it’s really delicious!”

Guo Li devoured it in large bites. Soon enough, the entire fish was gone, leaving a very satisfied Guo Li behind. The fish had been so tasty that he had been tempted to eat the bones as well.

At that moment, a system notification rang out in Guo Li’s mind again.

[Ding! The host has eaten a god-grade roasted crucian carp. Strength +5!]

“What the f*ck?”

After the notification ended, Guo Li quivered. He looked at the fish bones in his hands, stunned.

“Eating god-grade roasted crucian carp can increase my strength?”

Guo Li examined his body. His strength really seemed to have increased. Moreover, his arms had clearly become more toned and defined.

Still struck by doubt and disbelief, he grabbed a nearby tree branch from the ground. He snapped it into two and threw it into the fire.

After Guo Li threw the broken tree branch into the fire, he looked down at his hands with surprise.