Fishing in Class

In the early morning, Chen Ming tucked Di Qiu'er into her Poké Ball, exited My World, pulled out his Efficiency V diamond pickaxe to mine away the obsidian, and then climbed out of bed.

The morning class was History, a large lecture course where two or three classes were combined, feeling much like a university setting.

Chen Ming looked toward the back rows, only to find them already occupied! He had no choice but to sit further toward the front, especially since his three roommates had skipped class due to how boring History was.

The three of them had taken off, leaving Chen Ming to attend the lecture alone, though he wasn't exactly by himself.

Di Qiu'er had complained about feeling stifled in the Poké Ball, so she had changed into one of Chen Ming's spare male school uniforms to accompany him to class.

As the two sat together, Chen Ming slid a history textbook over to Di Qiu'er and said:

"Textbook."

"No way. I already know the entire history of the Douluo Continent from the Martial Soul Hall era to the present—all forty thousand years of it. I'm not studying this!"

Di Qiu'er crossed her arms. Ever since she shared memories with Chen Ming, she had gained all that knowledge in an instant, a process one might call "binge-watching in a second."

However, these memories were temporarily stored away, requiring Di Qiu'er to organize and sift through them herself, which was a massive undertaking.

Lately, Di Qiu'er had been immersed in low-quality, trashy novels, completely neglecting to browse through those memories.

To this day, Di Qiu'er hadn't even found any important memories; she had only been digging through bizarre, niche fiction.

"Then why did you come?"

"To keep you company, obviously! This young lady is here to keep you from being all alone, so you should be grateful."

"Oh..."

Chen Ming didn't pay it much mind and began flipping through a book on elemental control. Di Qiu'er's presence was quite eye-catching, primarily because her appearance was far too striking.

Even though it looked a bit strange for her to be wearing men's clothing, beauty was justice, and since this was a large lecture with three classes combined, the professor couldn't possibly remember every face, so she wouldn't be discovered.

"Hey, classmate, can I sit next to you?"

Just then, a male student walked over, hoping to sit beside Di Qiu'er. Her playful expression instantly shifted into a cold, indifferent mask.

"No."

The student stiffened, but could only retreat awkwardly. When she turned back to Chen Ming, Di Qiu'er's face lit up with joy again.

"Chen Ming, did you bring anything to pass the time? Give it to me."

"Read this mecha design manual."

Hearing this, Chen Ming stacked a book on top of the history textbook in front of Di Qiu'er. The little spirit beast's expression immediately soured as she muttered:

"Why do I have to study again!"

"Study hard; it's for your own good. Look at how lazy you are—you'll get swindled by someone before you know it."

"Why are you acting like my uncle? Nagging me about this and that every single day..."

Di Qiu'er slumped onto the desk, depressed, using the two books as a cushion. Chen Ming reached out and tapped her on the head.

"No manners. Call me brother."

"I'm older than you! Why should I call you brother?"

"If you don't, I'm throwing you back home."

Hearing that she might be tossed back into the Poké Ball, Di Qiu'er immediately caved and obediently complied.

"My mistake, brother..."

"Heh... I actually preferred the way you were acting so rebellious just a moment ago. Please, go back to that."

"You guy..."

Di Qiu'er was indignant, secretly planning that if she could ever find Di Tian, she would definitely make her Uncle Di Tian give this guy a sound thrashing!

Just as the two were chatting, the bell for class was about to ring, and two more figures approached.

"Classmates, can we sit here? There are no other seats left."

Di Qiu'er glanced at them—two girls—and scanned the room. The remaining empty seats were all next to male students, so she gave a slight nod.

"Sure, sit. Chen Ming, scoot in a bit."

Di Qiu'er nudged him, forcing him to move further inside, and Chen Ming had no choice but to shift over one seat.

They were sitting against the right wall in the fourth row from the back. There were four seats against the wall, and while the two had originally been sitting in the middle two, Chen Ming was now squeezed into the innermost spot.

"Chen Ming..."

Upon hearing the name, the newcomer murmured it to herself, then took a glance at Chen Ming, who was wearing glasses and reading, before quickly looking away and sitting down.

As the bell rang, the lecture began. The boring material made Di Qiu'er feel drowsy, and she nearly collapsed right there in her seat.

"Chen Ming... I'm about to be defeated by the professor's hypnotic attack... do something..."

Di Qiu'er leaned toward Chen Ming and whispered a plea for help. He remained silent for a moment, considering what he could use to pass the time, and then snapped his fingers.

A cup appeared in his hand. A flash of purple crossed Chen Ming's black eyes as he converted ice elements into water elements to fill the porcelain cup.

"Let's go fishing."

Chen Ming handed a fishing rod that had been shrunk to twenty centimeters to the other person. Upon hearing this, Di Qiu'er took the rod and glanced at the teacher lecturing on the podium.

Fortunately, there were people blocking the view in front of them, so she gently flicked the fishing line, let it land on the water cup, and began to wait.

After about five seconds, the bobber suddenly sank, and Di Qiu'er immediately lifted her hand slightly to reel in the line, pulling out a diamond.

[Better Fishing Mod loaded successfully!]

At the same time, the notification for the mod loading appeared in the chat channel. Chen Ming glanced at the diamond in her hand—what the hell?

"This is fun! Chen Ming, come fish with me!"

Di Qiu'er whispered excitedly. Seeing this, Chen Ming had no choice but to take out another water cup, fill it with water, and hold the small fishing rod in his left hand while flipping through a book with his right.

About ten seconds later, the two of them reeled in their lines one after the other; Di Qiu'er caught an emerald, while Chen Ming caught rotten flesh.

"Your luck isn't very good."

"Mm, yeah, my luck really isn't great."

Just as the two of them were fishing, the two female students sitting to Di Qiu'er's left were stunned.

They looked at the emerald on the fishing rod, then back at the small porcelain cup... was this some kind of ghost story?

"What are you two playing? Can you include me?"

The young girl couldn't suppress her curiosity and spoke up. Hearing this, Di Qiu'er pushed the water cup toward her and handed over the fishing rod as well, saying:

"Sure, just reel it in whenever you see the hook sink."

After saying that, Di Qiu'er snatched Chen Ming's fishing rod away, then took over his water cup to continue fishing.

Hearing this, the two girls exchanged a glance and carefully examined the pure white little water cup. They peered inside a few times, but other than water, there was nothing there. How was that even possible?

Then they turned their heads and saw Di Qiu'er's hook twitch. She immediately reeled it in, and a strange black metal was pulled out.

"Look, it's Netherite!"

"Mm."

Di Qiu'er immediately showed her achievement to Chen Ming. He nodded slightly and continued reading his book.

The two girls looked at the fist-sized cup, then at the palm-sized piece of strange black metal in her hand, hearing her call it an alloy.

Had she just fished out some kind of smelted alloy they didn't recognize? Was it really that absurd? If it hadn't happened right before their eyes, they truly wouldn't have believed it.

ps: The fourth update for February 23rd, totaling 8,000 words. The other book has 9,000 words, for a total of 17,000 words. Actually, these are pre-written chapters, hehe!