Crab Bro

"Oh? Another Skill Book dropped!"

Li Miao's eyes lit up, and he couldn't help looking at Yuanfang beside him. "By the way, Yuanfang, have you learned the Skill Book you got earlier?"

Yuanfang shook his head slightly. "Not yet, but I'm almost done. A little more practice later should be enough."

As he spoke, he couldn't help pondering, "If the Skill Book doesn't disappear after I learn the skill, that means it can be used repeatedly."

Then he could roughly calculate how much progress his talent bonus actually provided based on the practice progress and time.

"I feel like this thing should be single-use." Li Miao glanced at the faintly glowing Ash Ball.

Yuanfang didn't mind.

Single-use was fine. The monsters on the island would respawn anyway; it would just cost them a little more time and effort.

"Let's divide the loot first."

Yuanfang spoke up.

They were operating as a team now, which made them efficient, but they still had no fixed rules for distribution. They could only judge it among themselves.

Fortunately, everyone was fairly easygoing and didn't fuss over minor gains and losses.

Besides, anyone with sense knew Yuanfang was a massive golden thigh. The stronger he became, the higher the team's overall ceiling would be.

So, the drops were quickly distributed.

The spell Skill Book still went to Yuanfang. The Sandworm Leggings had originally been assigned to Guagua, but she chose to give them to Li Miao.

That made Li Miao feel a little embarrassed. He patted his chest and promised he would be Guagua's frontline meat shield.

Lastly, the Sandworm Meat Bait went to Guagua.

It wasn't that everyone was taking advantage of Guagua. They all understood that fishing required a bit of luck, and luck was the one thing Guagua never lacked.

So, it would probably be most useful in her hands.

Brother Mangzi didn't get any drops, so he received a little extra candle wax.

"I think Brother Yu would really like this..." Guagua blinked.

Most of that veteran angler's interest in the game lay in its ocean, so he didn't have the energy to join the team formed by the others.

And as strangers who had merely crossed paths, they naturally wouldn't force Brother Yu to do anything.

No one felt slighted by it, either. Brother Yu was simply passionate about fishing. Before Fishing Rods appeared, he had spent more than half his time offline, probably fishing in real life...

"Our materials are just about gathered too. How about we make the Fishing Rods first, then go find Brother Yu?"

Li Miao suggested.

The others quickly agreed.

After dragging over Brother Mangzi, who was still smashing bugs, they quickly made their Fishing Rods and began searching the island for Brother Yu.

"Wow, the sky is so much brighter, and the sea breeze is warm too."

Guagua spread her arms and took a deep breath, sighing with emotion.

Li Miao, meanwhile, carried his Fishing Rod with a puzzled expression.

"Huh, where did Brother Yu go fishing? Why can't we find him anywhere?"

He looked around, but didn't see Brother Yu anywhere.

He even specifically checked the place where Brother Yu always liked to space out, but still failed to find him.

"Probably went offline to fish again."

Brother Mangzi said.

"Offline? No way. Could the ocean in this game just be for decoration, with no fish to catch?"

"Or is the fishing system still incomplete, and Brother Yu wasn't satisfied?"

Li Miao was confused.

This was the fishing feature Brother Yu had been longing for. Now that it had finally appeared, why would he go offline so easily if nothing was wrong?

"We'll know if we try."

Yuanfang had already found a decent fishing spot, moved over a rock, and begun baiting his hook.

Li Miao and the others thought that made sense. They temporarily put aside the search for Brother Yu and took out their own Fishing Rods.

"How do we do this? I heard before fishing, you have to... do something first. What was it again?"

Brother Mangzi thought for a long time but couldn't remember the term.

"Chumming. You throw bait to attract a school of fish." Li Miao found it amusing. "Forget it. Why would we chum in a game? Where would we get that much bait? Let's just fish normally."

"Alright." Brother Mangzi finally understood.

"I don't know how to fish. I'll watch you two first and learn."

Guagua moved between Yuanfang and Li Miao, curiously watching their movements.

Rogue, who had been silently lurking and watching, was also fishing in a corner of the island.

The fishing feature was new, and he hadn't tried it before either.

Who knew what they could catch in these coastal waters?

Plop.

Amid the crashing waves, the players' hooks fell into the sea.

The players' Initial Fishing Rods were all crafted from Spirit Candles. They resembled traditional wooden fishing rods, with white feather-shaped floats that looked completely ordinary.

[Fishing...]

Most of fishing was boring.

But because they were in a game, none of them expected to have to wait as long as they would in reality.

Yet after two minutes of waiting, Brother Mangzi was the first to grow restless.

"...Why are fish biting so slowly in this game? There aren't no fish, are there?"

Brother Mangzi frowned slightly.

Though he truly lacked patience, his words also got Li Miao and Yuanfang thinking.

"Hmm... Could this game really make even a secondary activity like fishing feel realistic?"

Li Miao mused.

"Possibly. But judging from the game's setting, we may not just catch ordinary fish."

Yuanfang said as well.

They had seen such elements in the game introduction, but so far, both the content of Spirit Candle and the vaguely implied main storyline suggested that combat and exploration were the core gameplay.

If even fishing required players to spend enormous amounts of time and effort just like in reality... then that really would be a design flaw.

Of course, that was purely from a gameplay perspective.

"What else could we catch besides fish?" Li Miao was curious too, and he laughed. "Goblins?"

"Hey, hey!" Guagua suddenly patted Li Miao on the shoulder and shouted excitedly, "You got a bite!"

Li Miao immediately snapped back to his senses, gripping his Fishing Rod tightly as he began to pull it up.

He had invested quite a few points into Strength as well, so under his forceful tug, the Fishing Rod instantly bent taut.

"Don't pull too hard. Take it slow," Yuanfang reminded him.

Li Miao immediately eased up and began tugging with full concentration.

Fortunately, whatever had taken the bait didn't seem like much of an opponent, and it quickly gave in.

Splash!

Spray flew up, and a lively brown figure soon appeared before everyone's eyes.

Li Miao swiftly grabbed it in his hand.

[You caught: Sea Crab ×1.]

[Sea Crab]

[Type: Item]

[Effect: ? (Can be appraised at a Spirit Candle)]

[Rarity: Common]

[Description: Crunchy, tastes like crab.]

"Oh, it's a crab bro." Brother Mangzi teased.

"...Why was my first catch a crab?"

Li Miao looked at the crab in his hand. He was happy, but also a little speechless.

After taking a look, Yuanfang fell into thought. "New items need to be appraised..."

"I'll go check its effect at the Spirit Candle."

Li Miao quickly put away his Fishing Rod and ran toward the Reef Cave.

A new book sets sail. Please bookmark, recommend, and vote with monthly tickets!

Thanks to "Nicknames Are So Hard to Pick" for the tip, and thanks to all the longtime readers for your support!