I Can Fish Up Everything!

Chapter 120: Chapter 110: Chance Encounter with Dolphins, Activating a New Map

This Spotted Rockfish wasn’t very big, just a little over a pound.

The price gap between a live fish and a dead one was substantial, so Gu Nan couldn’t afford to keep fishing. He immediately took the fish back to the boat, bringing a small bucket with him.

There was a large bucket on the boat, filled with freshwater they used for washing up.

This was the same small bucket he always brought when he went fishing. Back then, he’d used it to fill the tank with seawater. Now, with his gleaning supplies stowed on the boat, he could fill it with a little water to keep valuable fish like the Spotted Rockfish alive.

Hurrying back to the boat, he emptied the small bucket’s contents into the tank, tossed the Spotted Rockfish into the livewell, and then, grabbing a small aerator, Gu Nan took the inflatable dinghy back to the island.

As he passed Ye Jing and An Jun, he glanced at their catch—all spotted scats and black porgies.

”If you guys catch any more expensive fish like the Spotted Rockfish, bring them over and put them in the bucket. That way they stay alive and don’t lose their value.”

The two of them nodded in understanding, and he returned to his previous spot to resume fishing.

Unfortunately, a dream fish is called a dream fish for a reason—it’s incredibly rare.

Catching one didn’t guarantee he could catch a second.

Of course, with extreme luck, you could run into a small school and land quite a few in a row.

By the time the bite gradually died down, Gu Nan still hadn’t caught anything else of particular value.

An Jun and Ye Jing did alright as well, each catching over a dozen fish. However, they only caught black porgies and spotted scats, not even a single Yellowfin Gidai. Their luck was just so-so.

”Let’s go. The bite’s off, and it’s getting late. We should head back for now,” Gu Nan said, picking up his rod, the bucket, and the aerator. The dozen or so fish he’d just caught were already in the bucket.

There were surely more fish, but the catch rate was so low that he couldn’t be bothered to continue.

Ye Jing and An Jun had no objections. Their stomachs weren’t as full anymore, and they’d caught more fish. They were very satisfied with the evening’s activities.

This time, the three of them took the inflatable dinghy back to the fishing boat together. The other two stayed on deck to count their haul, while Gu Nan went into the cabin to start the engine, weigh anchor, and head for home.

With the boat on cruise control, the three of them chatted in the cabin.

Just then, a pod of dolphins unexpectedly appeared alongside the fishing boat.

They seemed to be rushing in one direction, and several of them leaped from the water.

An Jun and Ye Jing immediately ran outside; they’d never seen a sight like it.

Gu Nan was also surprised. To encounter a pod of dolphins this close to shore was rare. He’d just seen more than a dozen of them leap from the water—that was no small number.

’Why are they in such a hurry so late at night? Did they find a huge school of fish?’

When the bite was slow, Gu Nan didn’t like fishing for local species—the efficiency was too low. A massive school of fish, however, was an exception.

Besides, the opportunity to run into a massive school was incredibly rare. He immediately took manual control of the fishing boat, turned it around, and gave chase.

The dolphins were incredibly fast, and Gu Nan lost sight of them within minutes. Clearly, something was up.

If they weren’t in a hurry, he wouldn’t have had trouble keeping up with their usual swimming speed.

Even though he’d lost them, Gu Nan kept sailing in the same direction.

”Ah Nan, what are you doing?” Ye Jing and An Jun had come back from the deck, confused as to why Gu Nan was chasing dolphins.

”There might be a huge school of fish, so I’m following them to take a look.”

”How do you know?”

”I don’t. It’s just a possibility. If I’m wrong, all we’ve wasted is a little time and gas money.”

Gu Nan had no idea how far the dolphins’ destination was. In any case, he motored on for half an hour without seeing any sign of them.

Either the place was very far away, or he was going in the wrong direction and had already lost them for good.

Gu Nan decided to keep going for another ten minutes. If he didn’t find anything by then, he’d give up.

As it turned out, just five or six minutes later, three small reef islands, just breaking the surface, appeared before him in the boat’s lights.

The three small reef islands were very close to each other, so the lights illuminated all of them at once.

Gu Nan’s eyes lit up. ’This place looks good. The three reefs must be connected underwater, forming a large reef zone. A perfect sanctuary for fish.’

He moved closer and stopped, then tried to activate the game map.

[Terrain detected. Similarity to Seven-Star Rock: 89%. Threshold of 60% exceeded. Seven-Star Rock map successfully activated. Synchronizing with reality.]

[Congratulations, Host, on activating Seven-Star Rock. Unlocking Seven-Star Rock special attributes: Stamina +10%, Power +10%, Stamina Recovery Speed +5%.]

[Note: The daily guaranteed-catch uses provided as a game bonus can be used in the Seven-Star Rock map. Exclusive equipment from other maps cannot be used here. Host may use the gifted starter gear or purchase the exclusive Seven-Star Fishing Rod Set from the Shop.]

Gu Nan was overjoyed. He never expected that chasing some dolphins would lead him to such a perfect fishing spot. He had not only activated a game map, but its similarity rating was a whopping 89%—even higher than the Fengqi Coast.

’Too bad it’s just 1% shy of 90%,’ Gu Nan thought. He had a feeling that ninety percent was a major threshold, and that exceeding it would likely allow him to catch even more game-exclusive fish in the future.

Still, managing to activate it was what mattered most. Otherwise, he had no idea how much time he would have wasted searching.

Moreover, after he unlocked the map, the game gave his physical attributes a boost.

His base stats weren’t high, but Gu Nan could clearly feel more power in his body, and the slight fatigue he’d felt before had vanished completely.

A 10% boost might not seem like much.

But if future map unlocks came with similar attribute bonuses, then sooner or later he’d be able to single-handedly challenge giant fish weighing seven or eight hundred pounds.

It couldn’t be helped; Gu Nan’s base physical stats were what they were. Even if they doubled, he still couldn’t compare to those world-class monsters of sport fishing.

But that wasn’t the most important part. To him, the increase in his stamina recovery speed was even more useful than the other two bonuses.