Ch. 3 - You call this a fish?

Today's Weather: The sky is clear. Not a cloud in sight — perfect weather for fishing!Location: Sea of Origins

Remaining Daylight: 5 hours

Temperature: 12~20°C

Wind Strength: Level 1

Yang Yi took a deep breath and checked his status.

Sanity: 100/100

Energy: 90/100

He used the simple crafting function in the logbook to create a basic spear with 5 pieces of wood, just in case. He secured the flintlock pistol at his waist. That way, if he caught something big later, he could subdue it by force.

As the logbook said, bait would improve efficiency but wasn’t a strictly necessary requirement for fishing.

All preparations were complete.

Now...let's fish!

Yang Yi cast the line. The hook traced an arc as it landed in the sea. He wasn't very skilled at fishing; however...he had plenty of time to learn!

After fifteen minutes, the float remained motionless. Yang Yi opened the global chat channel to see what other fishermen had caught, to set his expectations.

"Did you guys know I had a bite? 100cm!"

A photo of a large bass accompanied the message.

"Who asked you?!"

"I caught a big one too!"

"How big?"

"Huge. Couldn’t even reel it in!"

"Then why say anything at all?"

…

Yang Yi scrolled up and finally found an interesting message.

"Be careful when fishing. If something seems off, cut the line immediately. There's no penalty as long as you don't lose the rod. The line regenerates infinitely."

"What did you catch?"

"It looked like a person. I cut it right away."

"A mermaid, perhaps? You released your wife!"

"That thing was definitely strange. You can tell by looking at my rod."

【**Name: **Refined Carbon Fiber Fishing Rod】

【Type: Tool】

【Grade: Premium】

【Description: An excellent fishing rod that can be passed down to your grandchildren.

Increases fishing efficiency, reduces energy consumption, and slightly raises the chance of catching something unusual.】

"Nice rod! Mine’s just a standard one."

"Be grateful! I’m a seasoned fisherman, and I don’t even have a rod yet. I’m still using a grappling hook. A basic fishing rod needs ten pieces of wood to craft!" Sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ NøvᴇlFirᴇ(.)nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

"Quit being jealous! Check out my boat."

【**Name: **Fisherman's Boat, Level 1, Durability 345/400, Capacity 500 Units, Speed 25 knots】

【Skill: None】

【Description: It’s not sturdy and lacks skills, but it makes you look like a real fisherman.】

Seeing the small boat with a speed of 25 knots, half the people stopped being envious.

"Why is your boat’s durability down?"

"I just pulled up a three-metre great white shark; it nearly swallowed me… Now, I cut the line on anything big. You never know who’s going to eat whom!"

...

Yang Yi kept scrolling and discovered that fishing here could yield not just fish but also other strange items, including treasure chests, freshwater, and more.

"I caught a treasure chest!"

"A treasure chest? What’s inside?"

"Secret!"

"You guys are catching fish, and I haven’t seen a single one yet! All I’ve caught are socks, a farmer’s punch, and even a balloon."

"A farmer’s punch…?"

"Is this balloon legit? It better not be used!"

...

Yang Yi was prepared — if something unusual surfaced, he would cut the line.

A few minutes later, the float finally started to move as if something was biting. Yang Yi held his breath, focusing intently. He had a spear and a pistol on hand, so as long as it was a fish, it would be fine...

The float sank. Now! Yang Yi yanked the rod, his eyes fixed on the deep blue sea.

He didn’t see any large shadows, and with a quick pull, the catch was hauled out of the water effortlessly, offering little resistance.

What he pulled up was a small fish, about the width of his thumb. It was about three centimetres long, streamlined like an ordinary sardine.

However, it was odd. It sported four long legs, about five centimetres each, on its sides.

“Is this...a fish?” Yang Yi was shocked, locking eyes with the strange creature that was standing upright in front of him.

【You discovered a strange fish. Sanity decreased by 2 points.】

A beat after, the fish used its long legs to try and escape back into the sea, but Yang Yi quickly struck it dead with his spear.

【Name: Long-Legged Sardine】

【Type: Food】

【Description: A species from the abyss. It’s said that eating it regularly can give you long legs. Edible, non-toxic, and delicious, but consuming it requires courage as it might lower sanity.】

Yang Yi picked up the fish, which weighed less than 100 grams. Its four pale, long legs were already broken. With a structure identical to human legs, they felt springy to the touch.

“Can this be eaten?” Yang Yi recalled the ship’s skill — Curse of the Angler: You will not catch normal fish.

He used the logbook to take a picture of the fish and shared it on the global channel.

“Has anyone else caught a fish like this?”

A single stone stirred up a thousand waves.

“Whoa, what is that thing? Mental pollution! Sanity -8.”

“You call that a fish?”

“Why did you hurt my eyes? Sanity -10!”

“Blocked!”

“Blocked!”

“Never want to see it again!”

Yang Yi was instantly blocked by over a billion people, all of whom lost some sanity. However, someone sent him a private message.

“Is the sea around you black? Leave quickly, or you might get attacked by some unspeakable creatures!”

Yang Yi glanced at the bright blue sea beneath his boat, feeling somewhat speechless.

“No, my ship is a ghost ship...”

“Wow, impressive! Let’s be friends!”

Captain Xu Da of the Swift Wind sent a friend request.

Yang Yi accepted; making friends didn’t cost anything.

“You shouldn't post pictures like that again. My sanity is down to 54. Any lower, and I’ll go mad.”

“Got it.”

Yang Yi also realised the seriousness of the situation, but for the sake of food and water, he had to keep fishing!

【You caught a Long-Legged Sardine.】

【You caught a Long-Legged Sardine.】

【You caught a Long-Legged Sardine with a missing leg.】

“SHIT!”

【Your sanity decreased by 1.】

Yang Yi felt like the system gave him an abnormal ship on purpose. Fishing these god-forsaken creatures would have already driven other people mad.

After three hours, he had only caught a total of eight Long-Legged Sardines, and hadn’t seen a drop of freshwater!

Where’s that farmer’s punch everyone mentioned?

Without food, a person can survive for over a week.

Without water, a person will die in three to five days, unless...they drink their own urine!

Yang Yi simply didn’t want to reach that point!

And so, with a new-found resolve, he grabbed a Long-Legged Sardine to use as bait and began his next round of fishing.