I Can Fish Up Everything!

Chapter 173: Chapter 128: Special Item, Various Giant Groupers

’I hope there’s good news when I wake up tomorrow.’ So many days had passed since he’d gotten the fusion stone, and Gu Nan was growing more and more impatient.

If for no other reason, just being able to fish every day without running back and forth would save him a ton of money on gas.

The daily quests at Seven-Star Rock were relatively easy, so Gu Nan chose a route from near to far. He would head to the fishing spot on the Fengqi Coast first, complete the elite quest, and then see if he could catch an elite boss.

Tonight, he would most likely be pulling an all-nighter.

Half an hour later, Gu Nan arrived at the fishing spot.

’No one’s around. Perfect!’

He then took out the Fengqi Fishing Rod and rigged it with a Big Fatty.

Elite Quest One required one hundred three-star fish, and he was only thirteen short. He could easily finish that tonight.

After all, he had accumulated seventy-five guaranteed-hit charges. He could get it done with his eyes closed.

Quest Two, which required fifty Large White Grouper, wouldn’t be hard to complete either. He was only seventeen short.

The delay was mainly because Gu Nan had been bottom fishing, trying to catch as many lobsters and green crabs as possible.

He had already mastered the technique for catching Large White Grouper. He just needed to fish the mid-water column, which would drastically increase his hook-up rate.

He picked up the rod and cast. The Big Fatty went flying out with a WHIZZ, landing on the water’s surface about ten meters away before slowly sinking.

Gu Nan watched the line spool out, and when he estimated it was deep enough, he flipped the bail and began to slowly turn the handle.

He didn’t use a guaranteed-hit charge. ’Using one on a Large White Grouper would be a complete waste.’

Right now, the most cost-effective method on the Fengqi Coast was bottom fishing. The second best was casting for Indian Marlin, but that was not only time-consuming but also exhausting, so Gu Nan rarely felt like doing it.

It could take two hours to land one fish, which would then sell for around 30,000.

But in that same amount of time, he could catch a good number of bottom-dwelling groupers. None of them would be small, and their combined value would definitely be higher than a marlin’s—plus, it was much less work.

Just then, an immense weight pulled on his line. Gu Nan’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. ’What did I hook?’

But regardless of what it was, his first instinct was to yank the rod back hard to set the hook.

The Fengqi Fishing Rod immediately bent into a deep arch, but the tip didn’t move up an inch.

’What in the world is this thing? It feels like I’m snagged on the bottom.’

He was fishing mid-water, so he knew he wasn’t actually snagged. But when a fish digs in, it dives downward; this felt completely different, like pure, dead weight.

Gu Nan strained to lift the rod, feeling as if he’d hooked a massive rock. If he let up for even a second, the rod felt like it would be dragged under.

Suddenly, a thought struck Gu Nan. ’Could it be a ”hundred-thousander”?’

A ”hundred-thousander” was the fishermen’s nickname for foreign sonar devices deployed in their waters. Fishermen occasionally hauled them in, and turning one over to the government would fetch a reward of 50,000 to 100,000. It was a very popular type of ”fish.”

’Every dog has its day. Maybe today was my lucky day.’

Gu Nan was instantly thrilled. A minimum of 50,000—that was worth more than a King-level marlin, and it was supposedly easier to reel in. Of course he was happy.

He braced the butt of the rod against his stomach and, putting his core into it, actually managed to lift the rod bit by bit.

Thankfully, the rod wasn’t making any creaking sounds. ’This means that while it’s heavy, it hasn’t reached the rod’s breaking point yet.’

Still, Gu Nan felt his entire center of gravity being pulled forward and down, forcing him into an uncontrollable lean.

Fortunately, whatever was on the end of the line seemed to be broken; it wasn’t moving at all. Each time Gu Nan lifted the rod, he reeled in a little line, slowly raising the mysterious object.

It took him a full twenty minutes to finally haul the mysterious object to the surface.

But when he saw an ordinary, beer-bottle-sized wine bottle break the surface, Gu Nan almost had an existential crisis.

’All that for a wine bottle? It felt like I was reeling in the Earth itself!’

’No, wait!’

Gu Nan suddenly remembered the new game feature that unlocked after he completed the collection. It had mentioned that special items would appear on the Fengqi Coast map. ’So this wine bottle is a special item?’

Curious, he lifted the wine bottle out of the water.

’How strange. In the water, this thing felt as heavy as a truck, but now that it’s out, it’s just an ordinary bottle.’

As he grabbed the bottle, Gu Nan noticed what looked like a rolled-up piece of paper inside. ’Is this a message in a bottle?’

The hook was caught on the bottle’s cork. Funnily enough, even with all that immense force before, the cork hadn’t come out. But now, Gu Nan pulled it free with a gentle tug.

A string was attached to the bottom of the cork, and it pulled the rolled-up paper out with it.

Gu Nan curiously unrolled the paper, only to find another one tucked inside.

He stared at the familiar stickers, his expression one of utter shock.

They were two sheets of stickers: Rare Fish Stickers and Big Fish Stickers. Each sheet had ten stickers, meaning he had ten uses for each type.

’This is great! This is great! If my luck holds out tonight, I could catch at least seven or eight Legendary-grade fish!’

’So that’s what the special items reward.’ It all made sense now. The number of keys awarded was so small, which meant the sticker drop rate was also incredibly low.

’They aren’t even that rare, so such a low drop rate seemed unreasonable. So this is where they’ve been hiding!’

He stored everything in his game inventory, including the bottle.

[Ding! Old wine bottle detected. Recycle?]

Gu Nan selected ”Yes.” He had been planning to see if the bottle could be recycled anyway, but the game had beaten him to it.