Chen Mo dropped out of his senior year and worked as an operator for a sales company.
His daily work consisted of:
Making calls, getting hung up on, making more calls, getting hung up on again.
The work was so monotonous that he could see the end from the beginning.
He always felt that if he worked hard and saved enough money, his life would eventually change.
Now, his life had finally changed.
He was pulled into the All-People Sea Survival game.
But what he didn't expect was that even in an All-People Sea Survival game,
His work was still exactly the same:
Cast the rod, reel it in, cast again, reel it in again.
【Xuanwu (Juvenile) Hunger: 98.6% → 98.4%】
【Xuanwu (Juvenile) Hunger: 98.4% → 98.3%】
【Xuanwu (Juvenile) Hunger: 98.3% → 97.9%】
The numbers on the light screen continuously decreased with each reel-in, and Chen Mo's fishing movements were trained to be as precise and numb as a robot's with each cast.
In this monotonous, repetitive work,
The only pleasure left was peeking at the screen:
【Regional Channel (Hua Nation Sea Area 101, All Anonymous Mode)】
"Haha! I killed a sea snake! It dropped sea snake meat and sea snake skin! Awesome! A speedboat is what a real man should drive! 【Includes speedboat photo】"
"Big shot upstairs, please take me with you! My small wooden raft is about to fall apart, boohoohoo."
"Anyone want to team up? It's too slow to collect trash alone."
"The coordinate system hasn't even unlocked yet, who are you teaming up with?"
"Everyone! After collecting materials, prioritize making a solar engine! Especially those whose vehicles don't have automatic navigation! Repeat, prioritize making a solar engine! I've calculated that if your initial vehicle's surface area doesn't exceed four units, then with just two solar engines, you can ensure normal navigation at night, and a speed of 9 knots is on par with a tsunami, so you won't be caught!"
"Thanks for the advice, big shot, I'm going to make an engine now."
"By the way, have you guys found the novice supply box? I found it in the first wooden box I salvaged, and it gave me a bottle of water, an apple, and three small pieces of bread. 【Includes food photo】"
"I also got it from the first wooden box, but I only got a bottle of water and a baguette 【Includes a baguette gnawed into the shape of a long sword】"
"No, where did you all find them? Why can I only salvage rotten wood and torn rags? Is it because of my ship? 【Includes trash recycling ship photo】"
"Hahahahaha, upstairs, you have a trash recycling ship, what good stuff do you expect to salvage? I'm dying of laughter."
"If you want to salvage supply boxes, you first need to pick up ropes and palm leaves in the sea to make a fishing net. Only after making a fishing net will there be a chance for wooden boxes to spawn!"
Chen Mo watched the slowly scrolling regional chat.
So envious.
He really wanted to happily pick up trash with them on the sea.
Unfortunately, conditions didn't allow it.
Chen Mo continued to cast his rod, waiting for a fish to bite.
Just then, the scrolling speed of the regional channel chat bar suddenly quickened.
Chen Mo scrolled up a few messages and saw:
"Help! A shark is gnawing on my rubber dinghy! Someone save me—!!! 【Includes photo, likely taken in extreme panic, the photo is very blurry, only a vague black shark silhouette can be seen】"
"You're being bitten by a shark and your first thought is to take a photo? You're something else."
"Oh my god, there are sharks in this sea?! Didn't they say the initial sea area was relatively safe?"
"Do you know what 'relatively safe' means? It means this shark is already the safest thing in this sea area!"
"Quickly use the rotten wood you picked up to make a wooden spear and stab it! Sharks don't move when they're biting the boat, so aim for its eyes. One stab is sure to hit, and three will make it run away!"
"Thanks for sharing, big shot upstairs, I learned something! Although I haven't encountered a shark yet, I need to hurry and salvage wood to make a wooden spear."
"Wooden spears can indeed be used against sharks. I also encountered a shark just now, but I didn't stab its eyes, I stabbed its head. It took several hits before it ran, and one of my boat planks was bitten off. It will cost a lot of materials to repair! 【Includes screenshot of damaged boat plank】"
"Oh my god! Thanks for sharing, big shot!"
"Thanks for sharing, big shot!"
Sharks that bite boats?
Chen Mo's heart skipped a beat.
Would it bite the Little Turtle?
Chen Mo wasn't to blame for being nervous, because he couldn't spare his hands to salvage wood for a wooden spear right now.
But he would know the answer soon.
Because not far away, three slick black triangles emerged from the water, rushing towards him at an extremely fast speed!
Black fins—they were sharks!
And there were three of them!
However, before Chen Mo could even feel scared, the Little Turtle suddenly looked up.
"Awoo—!"
Unlike its previous high-pitched, coquettish cries, a deep roar like a whale's song erupted from the Little Turtle's mouth, and the surrounding seawater rippled.
The three shark fins visibly shivered, then abruptly turned around.
They quickly disappeared from Chen Mo's sight, moving faster than when they arrived.
The Little Turtle turned its head, rubbing affectionately against Chen Mo's neck, its long eyelashes fluttering, looking at Chen Mo expectantly.
Chen Mo immediately understood.
He gave a thumbs up.
"You're too strong, Little Turtle!"
"Is this the power of the Xuanwu bloodline? It's truly amazing!"
"I declare you the most amazing Little Turtle on this sea!"
The Little Turtle happily let out two 'awoo' sounds, its four limbs joyfully flailing, and its cruising speed even briefly increased by 0.1 knots.
If only it wasn't so greedy.
Chen Mo complained inwardly.
Then he continued to fish.
Chen Mo didn't know how long he had been fishing, only that the sun had already set from east to west.
The panel finally showed:
【Xuanwu (Juvenile) Hunger: 91.9% → 91.8%】
He was only 1.8% away from completing today's goal!
It was quite incredible to think about, fishing half a ton of fish in a day, which would be completely illogical in the real world.
But this was All-People Sea Survival.
Who cared if it was logical or not.
At this point, since the start time,
Seven hours had already passed.
The topics in the regional channel had changed again and again:
"Has anyone salvaged food? The novice supply box stuff doesn't seem to be enough to eat."
"No, I suspect you can't salvage food at sea at all. So far, I've salvaged over a dozen wooden boxes, and there's nothing but some planks, plastic, and ropes inside!"
"Me too, all basic materials, but I did salvage two waterlogged batteries!"
"I salvaged it, I salvaged it—I salvaged a pile of poop! 【Includes image】"
"Ah! My eyes! My eyes!"
"Are you sick? Posting such a picture in a public area, I'm blacklisting you!"
"By the way, has no one tried fishing? I've been lurking for a long time, just trying to compare which yields more, fishing nets or fishing rods. Why is no one discussing it? Are all the fishing enthusiasts getting nothing?"
"Getting nothing is impossible, look at my new catch 【a waterlogged old sock】"
"What's that compared to mine? Look at this 【a fluorescent face-kini】"
"No, what is all this nonsense? Where are the fish?"
"Attention! Attention! Fishing rods are a trap! Fishing is a scam! There are no fish in the sea at all! Not even materials! I fished for half an hour, and all I got were smelly socks and rotten vegetable leaves. Not only did it waste my time, it also wasted my stamina. System, I f***ing hate you, do you hear me, I f***ing hate you."
"As a seasoned fishing enthusiast, I agree with the statement above."
"I am also a seasoned fishing enthusiast, and I agree with the statements of the two above."
【Competitor with ID CN-8745632 has been muted for one day for verbally abusing the system and violating regulations.】
The system's appearance was like cold water dropped into a hot oil pan, instantly igniting the competitors' chat enthusiasm, though most people were just gloating.
The entire sea surface was suddenly filled with cheerful air.
And the discussion about fishing earlier ultimately concluded with: "Fishing in the early sea area is a waste of time; it's better to salvage more trash for steady development."
However, this conclusion didn't seem to apply to Chen Mo.
By now, Chen Mo himself couldn't remember how many sea fish he had caught.
Perhaps it was because of the setting that the Little Turtle needed to eat fish to replenish energy?
Chen Mo wasn't sure.
He just kept fishing.
He opened his status bar and took a look.
【Survivor: Chen Mo】
Status: Dehydration (mild), Fatigue (mild), Finger abrasions
Stamina: 55 / 100
Spirit: 80 / 100
Energy: 55 / 100
Hydration: 40 / 100
In these seven hours, Chen Mo only lost 35 points of stamina, 35 points of energy, and 45 points of hydration.
It had to be said that having Endurance as a core skill was indeed quite beneficial in this environment.
With the novice supply box as a fallback, Chen Mo wasn't in a hurry to find food.
It was already dusk, and the system had said it was best not to fish at night. Chen Mo didn't want to take risks.
Anyway, the system didn't say he couldn't collect trash at night.
So, choosing the lesser of two evils, Chen Mo decided to fish until the Little Turtle's hunger reached 90% first.
Another hour passed like this.
【Xuanwu (Juvenile) Hunger: 90.3% → 90%】
Finally fed!
Chen Mo let out a long sigh of relief, a huge weight lifting from his heart.
He glanced at the sun, which was about to sink below the horizon.
"Time to collect trash!"
He stretched, and because he had been holding the same position for a long time, he could hear his entire body's bones cracking.
Just as Chen Mo was about to get up, he suddenly heard:
【Xuanwu feels full today! It happily flapped its fins!】
As soon as the words fell, the Little Turtle let out an 'awoo' and then swam happily.
The surrounding seawater splashed loudly, startling the fish in this area, causing them to scatter and flee.
Chen Mo looked at the Little Turtle's paddling front and hind limbs.
No, buddy.
You call these fins?
Is that accurate?
【The surrounding fish schools have been disturbed and temporarily fled this area. Below the fish schools, some unknown treasure seems to be hidden!】
【You have gained a limited-time BUFF: Gold Miner.】
Chen Mo immediately lost the urge to complain. He clicked on his character panel and, sure enough, at the bottom of the 【Status List】, he saw a flickering BUFF.
【Gold Miner: Probability of catching sea fish reduced by 1000%! Probability of catching treasure chests and special items increased by 100%! Aside from fish, a fishing enthusiast can catch anything! Duration: 30 minutes】
Chen Mo immediately dropped the broken rope, tied with fish bones (leftovers from the Little Turtle), that he had prepared to hook trash.
Collecting trash?
What trash to collect?
The most important thing for a person is not to forget their roots!
Fish!
F***ing fish!