NOVEL NEXT Chapter 347
“- If you wait like this, you’ll get a bite. A system message will pop up saying the fishing rod is shaking like crazy. When that happens, just hit the space bar—”
“Bite’s here!”
As the fishing rod shakes, something appears in one corner of the screen.
On a circle that looks like a fishing reel, words like Bad, Cool, Good, Excellent are displayed, and an arrow pointing to them spins wildly.
Having played all sorts of games, I realized just from that: ah, this is a kind of mini-game.
It’s like a roulette wheel, stopping the spinning arrow at just the right moment.
If you hit the space bar on Excellent, maybe you’ll catch a better fish or something.
-Excellent!
– Congratulations! You have successfully caught a D-grade fish, a ‘Loach’!
“Ooh, Teacher. I caught a loach.”
“Great, just keep doing it like that.”
[After all this posing, just a loach?]
[Loaches are kind of a letdown, lol. Meanwhile, others are catching muddy loach and carp.]
[Truly fishing is Camilla’s domain, lol. Loaches are her specialty, haha.]
[But how delicious is loach stew, though!]
[Are they actually ignoring loaches?]
Honestly, viewers never praise you for doing well.
The only time these guys are honest is when they’re showing off their bare chest or getting up close, you know, when they’re trying to stir up some excitement.
“An-sae, I want to catch something like a snapper or a marlin too.”
“Haha, that’s still a bit ambitious. Your fishing rod’s grade is too low, so no matter how well you cast, you’ll only get up to D-grade fish.”
“What kind of fishing rod do you use, An-sae?”
“I have a golden fishing rod. I bought it for a hundred thousand gold in the marketplace, but you can only use it from fishing level 25 onwards.”
Oh, I see. The Taker server seems to reflect the laws of the real world quite well, matching the server master’s tendencies.
The saying that skilled artisans don’t care about tools is outdated; the more skilled the artisan, the stricter they are about their equipment.
Even the god of fishing doesn’t have a miraculous shortcut in this Taker server.
No matter how exceptional their fishing skills are, I can only catch D-grade fish with my F-grade ‘old fishing rod.’
In the end, there’s no shortcut or trick here.
Whether you have a lot of capital or not, whether you have power to boss people around or not, everyone must spend a certain amount of time leveling up their fishing and purchasing fishing rods to catch higher-grade fish.
“An-sae, did you know that?”
“Then you’ve been broadcasting for two years now.”
“The main content is Abyss, right? Oh, so does that mean your tier is…?”
I was fishing diligently while chatting with An-sae beside me.
“Kayak is a Challenger, right? I’m totally in a low tier…”
“It doesn’t matter if your tier is low. I think all tiers below Challenger are the same.”
“Wow….”
[Kayak – All tiers below me are low tier speak]
[This is annoying but cool]
[No offense to others, but I have to admit, the host is right ㅋㅋ]
[I’m Diamond 2, but honestly Diamond and Bronze are the same]
[I’m Master and I got a bit offended]
[If you don’t like it, go get Challenger, haha ㅋㅋ]
[The king among kings, verified by pros, Queen Kayak]
An-sae gasped quietly then opened her mouth.
“I’m… Bronze. I was Silver last season, but I haven’t played much this season…”
“That’s fine, Silver or Bronze, it’s all the same. The person I taught a while back fluctuated between Bronze and Silver too.”
“Ah, I think I saw that broadcast…! You’re talking about Cutie Camilla, right?”
“If you want, I can teach you too, An-sae.”
[Immediate recruitment as a trainee ㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[Kayak teaching Camilla? An-sae your streaming life is going to be hilarious, buddy ㅋㅋ]
[Was this a setup for that?]
[Run away, An-sae!]
[Hellish training begins ㄷㄷㄷ]
[She might decline since she’s not really keen on streaming]
[This person is going to bully newbs again]
[Camilla is totally a pro pick nowadays so it’s tough for a low tier to learn her]
[It was easy and fun to manage when she was getting buffed and the meta was on point]
“Ah….”
An-sae hesitated for a moment before answering.
“Maybe later… if I get the chance. But I haven’t been playing Abyss lately, so I don’t know if I’ll be able to learn. Hehe….”
“Well, that’s fine. Just let me know if you want to.”
She seemed to be subtly refusing. This person is surprisingly perceptive.
As I chatted with An-sae, my fishing level had already risen to 10.
“With fishing level 10, you can equip a D-rank ‘usable fishing rod.'”
“A usable fishing rod!”
“But it costs 5,000 gold, which is quite a sum, so if you buy it, you’re completely deciding to go the fisherman route. Are you okay with that?”
A fisherman, huh? Speaking of which, it’s already been three hours since I logged into the server.
In three hours, all I had to show for it was achieving fishing level 10 and catching a bunch of fish, including loaches.
Considering the harvest ratio compared to the time spent, and whether being a fisherman suits me… I thought about all of that and…
At that moment, I…
“Um, I’ll be a fisherman.”
“Are you really not going to regret that?”
“It’s fine, actually being a fisherman is just a passing job for me.”
“Huh?”
An-sae’s character tilted their head. With a slightly confused look, I added an explanation.
“I’m going to be a ‘Dragon Slayer’. Later on, I’ll catch a dragon and take on the hero class.”
In English, it’s Dragon Slayer. Just the sound of the words fills my heart with grandeur.
But An-sae’s reaction to my story was peculiar.
“Oh, Dragon Slayer… Dragon Slayer, heh. Dragon Slayer sounds good…”
[Are they laughing?]
[It’s absurd, right? LOL A newbie who’s been in the server for just 3 hours thinks they can catch an end-game dragon.]
[The broadcast host got scratched. LOL]
[This won’t do, I really need to catch a dragon!]
“…Are you mocking my grand dream right now?”
I felt a bit hurt. Just when I thought we were becoming friendly, they laugh at my lofty ambitions?
“Oh, oh! No, that’s not it! I wasn’t mocking, it’s just that the way you said it… um, yes. You’re a bit cute, so it made me laugh. I definitely wasn’t mocking!”
Cute, huh? That was nothing short of an insult to me.
Me, who would defeat dragons and reign supreme as a Dragon Slayer, being called cute!
[You are cute, LOL]
[What the host has been doing lately is cute, that’s true.]
[Oh, if you’re upset, go catch a dragon and prove it, LOL]
[But seriously, the host does have good physical ability, so they might actually be able to catch one.]
Really, viewers and An-sae see me as a total joke.
“Just you wait. I’ll catch a dragon and flatten An-sae’s nose.”
“Okay, I’ll be looking forward to it.”
Giggling, An-sae looked at me and asked again.
“So, for now, you’re going with the fisherman class, right? Even if you become a Dragon Slayer later, you’ll need a class to start with.”
“Hmph, it’s only until I gather funds to go catch dragons.”
“That’s right, right! Work hard catching fish to earn equipment-buying money. For now, let’s head to the market, sell the fish we’ve caught, and buy a new fishing rod.”
*
So, following An-sae’s guidance, I went to the market, sold some fish, and bought a fishing rod.
[Gold held: 42]
After all that, I was left with only 42 gold.
“Um…”
“Initially, there’s a bit of an investment cost! The fishing rod is a bit pricey. But if you keep fishing, you’ll gather money in no time!”
Doubtful about whether this was right, An-sae quickly explained it to me.
An-sae quickly explained to me.
However, I knew very well that I was a woman with grand dreams of catching a dragon, and merely earning a decent income wouldn’t cut it.
“When did you start fishing, An-sae?”
“I’ve been at it since the day before yesterday.”
“And how much gold do you have?”
“I have about twelve thousand left right now.”
After fishing for 8 hours a day, An-sae had only twelve thousand gold.
Of course, she must have spent some on upgrading her fishing rod and buying bait to attract the fish, but it was still a disappointing amount.
“To prepare equipment to catch a dragon, you’ll need a lot of money, right?”
“Right…? With weapons, armor, potions… plus those little items.”
According to An-sae, it would easily exceed a million gold.
“Ugh, that won’t do. We can’t stay like this…”
“Well, even if I weren’t a fisherman and farmed instead or mined with a pickaxe, the income would be similar! In fact, a fisherman who can sit still and fish has the least time loss.”
No, no, that’s not the point. It’s not about choosing the wrong profession.
“Even if I chose another job, the income would still be ridiculously low. But I have grand dreams, so I need a lot of money.”
“So…?”
“Fishing is great, but I need additional sources of income. A way for capital to flow in that can help realize my dream.”
People who really want something often hustle through side jobs to gather the necessary capital.
I was no different. I couldn’t just sit around twiddling my thumbs.
‘Is there anywhere money might come from?’
While continuing to fish, a habit I was forming, I pondered deeper.
The characteristics of the Taker server, the flow of population, where the capital is moving…
“I got it.”
After considering all that, I suddenly came up with it.
A groundbreaking new business idea.
“It’s better with two than one, right?”
I needed help, so I turned my head and glanced beside me.
“An-sae.”
“Yes, yes?”
Maybe she was scared by my mumbling to myself, as she stuttered.
Looking at her with significant eyes, I said, “Let’s do a job together.”