Chapter 3
Doppelganger
The next day, the scorching sun was high in the sky, approaching noon. After Roger got up and freshened up, he had a meal downstairs and then sat down at his computer desk. After typing a few words on the keyboard, he couldn’t help but pause.
“Should I take a day off today?”
What excuse should I use? Friend’s wedding? Already used it. Girlfriend’s birthday? Not possible, those Sherlock Holmes-like readers have already deduced that I don’t have a partner…
Hemorrhoid surgery? Seems like I used that last month.
Roger’s brain spun quickly, but sadly, he couldn’t think of a good reason to take a day off. In the end, Roger could only sigh and reluctantly continue typing on the keyboard.
Actually, it’s not that he doesn’t enjoy writing novels. It’s both Roger’s job and his hobby. But every time he sits down to write, laziness takes over.
“Finally finished!”
After finishing the chapter, Roger felt revitalized and instantly became energetic. He then picked up his phone, jumped onto the bed, and opened the game “Mystic Seas”.
“The weather is beautiful today, and the sea god seems to be extra lenient towards newcomers.”
Roger skillfully controlled his character to the bow of the ship and took out his fishing rod. As the float bobbed up and down, a new day began.
“You caught: Sea Fish x1.”
“You caught: Coconut Shell x1.”
“You caught: Red Coral x1.”
“Fishing skill experience increased, current level: lv4.”
Roger patiently continued fishing. Although the items he caught were not particularly valuable, the joy of reeling in one fish after another was already satisfying. The effect of the Master Angler skill seemed to have a low activation rate. Roger had successfully fished nearly fifty times, but hadn’t caught any special items.
“When will I be able to encounter extraordinary powers?”
Roger clicked his tongue in frustration.
“Wait a minute.” When it came to extraordinary powers, he suddenly remembered his character’s talent. “I think I have a talent that allows me to control other creatures?”
Roger slapped his forehead, realizing that he had forgotten such an important thing. He then searched for nearby creatures and found a lazy orange cat.
“…I’ll let you go.”
Roger smiled. Of course, he wouldn’t use his talent to possess the orange cat, as it was his only companion for now. After thinking for a moment, Roger took out an unlucky sea fish from his inventory. Shouldn’t this count as a creature?
[Sea Fish]
[Type: Creature]
[Quality: Common]
[Level: 1]
[Rank: None]
[Description: A plain sea fish.]
Using his talent, Roger silently commanded. With the command given, the character’s gaze was fixed on the sea fish, and soon, a wisp of purple mist entered the fish’s body. At the same time, feedback information appeared in Roger’s mind, providing him with some information about his talent.
Once it was over, Roger controlled his character to throw the sea fish back into the ocean. With a thought, the game interface quickly changed. The screen now showed a deep blue sea, with the sea fish in the center.
“This talent is amazing!”
Roger couldn’t help but get excited. If he had realized this earlier, he wouldn’t have been bored fishing all this time. Roger began to control the sea fish and explore the surroundings. After all, he could disconnect from the fish at any time, and encountering predators in the sea didn’t matter. He could just switch to another fish.
First, Roger explored the area around the small boat and didn’t find any danger. Then, the sea fish swam downwards, encountering various marine creatures along the way. After swimming for about two to three minutes, Roger saw irregularly scattered rocks and some sand at the bottom.
It seems that this area of the sea is not in the deep sea region.
The fish sways its tail fin and continues to explore.
Before long, a striped big fish appeared on the screen, staring fiercely at Roger’s little fish.
Roger felt that the situation was not good, but still symbolically controlled the fish to swim desperately.
But clearly, the speed was no match for the big fish.
The fish was swallowed, and Roger’s screen returned to the boat.
“Damn, let’s try again!”
Roger was a bit frustrated, but not discouraged, took out another fish.
Anyway, he had plenty of fish on his boat, even the little orange cat was getting tired of eating them.
Soon, Fish No.2 arrived at the bottom of this shallow sea again.
This time, luck was good, and it wasn’t eaten.
“Let’s see if there are any sunken ships or treasures nearby.”
Roger thought to himself.
Fish No.2 swayed its tail and started searching around.
Whether it was because the sea was too shallow or the fish had good eyesight, the underwater scenery was quite clear.
Roger searched for a long time.
But along the way, all he found were either rocks, corals, or marine creatures.
There were a few close calls with the camouflaged Old Six-Chin Fish attacking.
“It seems quite difficult to find sunken ships or something.”
Roger felt a little disappointed, as it seemed he had gained nothing from this exploration.
After thinking for a while, he decided to go back to continue fishing.
But just as he was about to return, a special object buried in the sand caught his attention.
What is it?
Fish No.2 stopped and swam towards the object.
After getting closer, Roger saw the whole picture of the object.
It turned out to be a human skeleton.
Is there a sunken ship nearby?
Roger subconsciously thought.
With this in mind, he eagerly had Fish No.2 dig around the surroundings.
As a result, there was nothing, and the fish couldn’t dig through the sand.
Roger was speechless.
It seemed like this was an unlucky fellow who had been abandoned, and there was no sunken ship nearby.
With this in mind, Roger’s enthusiasm waned.
“…I wonder if the game character can come down and take a look.”
After thinking for a while, Roger decided to let his game character give it a try.
Who knows, maybe there’s a treasure hidden in the sand?
After saving the game, the perspective returned to the boat, and the character jumped into the sea with a splash, took a deep breath, and dived towards the seabed.
After diving deep into the sea, the bubble value on the side started to decrease at a fast pace.
Fish No.2 led the way.
Before long, the character arrived in front of the human skeleton.
Indeed, this area of the sea is not deep.
At this time, the bubble value was almost half consumed, leaving Roger with little time.
The character started searching quickly.
Sure enough, some things were buried in the sand.
[You have found: Rusty Knife.]
[You have found: Damaged Fire Gun.]
[You have found: Iron Badge.]
[You have found: 2 Silver Coins, 8 Copper Coins.]
A fruitful harvest.
While Roger was happy, he also noticed that the remaining bubble value for the character was running out, so he quickly controlled the character to resurface.
“Phew!”
The water splashed open, and the character took big gasps of air.
Glancing around, he found that the boat had drifted a distance.
Roger quickly swam closer and climbed back onto the boat.
“I can’t stay too long next time, otherwise, I won’t be able to find the boat.”
Roger felt a bit scared, as the boat didn’t have an anchor and would drift away on its own.
If he lost the boat in this vast sea, the game character would be close to death.