Scar Tiger stared fixedly at the tuna belly in A-Xing's hand.
A-Xing bent down obsequiously, fawning as he handed the item to Scar Tiger. "Tiger Bro, have a look. I wasn't lying to you. This is really fresh."
Scar Tiger took the tuna belly and immediately felt as if he was gripping a piece of jelly. It had a bit of firmness, and when he shook it slightly, the flesh bounced back. Tuna fat coated the surface, making it a bit sticky to the touch, but this stickiness wasn’t off-putting at all. Rather, it made Scar Tiger’s cravings surge, his appetite impossible to contain.
When he had handed the tuna belly to the Village chief earlier, Scar Tiger had already been drooling for it.
Now, holding it in his hand, he couldn’t wait any longer. He lowered his head and took a big bite, chunks of fish filling his mouth. Scar Tiger wolfed it down without savoring it, simply feeling his mouth overwhelmed by the delicious flavor. He barely had to chew; a large bite melted away on his tongue. The tuna fat was rich but not greasy, and with every mouthful, Scar Tiger felt incomparably satisfied.
Delicious!
Absolutely delicious!
Even though Scar Tiger was the boss of the trash planet, with some cash and resources to his name, he had never tasted such fresh Seafood in real life.
Now, having sampled such a delicacy, he couldn’t stop himself from gorging.
Behind him, the little angel flapped its wings and took to the air.
"Gulp."
Fatty and Skinny Monkey, standing off to the side, both swallowed hard.
Fat Pig’s eyes went red with hunger, drool leaking from the corners of his mouth. "B-Boss, does it taste good?"
Skinny Monkey jeered, "You dumb pig! The boss is eating like this, how could it not be good?"
Fat Pig wiped his mouth and looked longingly at the last bit of fish in Scar Tiger’s hand, his saliva pouring out like a broken faucet. "B-Boss, c-can we have a bite?"
Scar Tiger glanced at the tuna belly in his hand, hesitated for a second, but in the end, his appetite triumphed over reason. He didn’t even bother replying and stuffed the last piece into his mouth.
Hearing the system notification that his Stamina had increased, Scar Tiger’s eyes lit up with delight.
"Fish up! Everyone, start fishing! No matter how much tuna belly is in this River, I want every last bit fished up!" He barked out the order, then turned to A-Xing. "You, too. Get down there and fish for me."
A-Xing hurriedly agreed, obediently entered the River, and quietly took out the last piece of tuna belly hidden in his backpack.
As he surreptitiously placed the tuna belly under the river water, he felt as if his heart were bleeding.
But if you can’t bear to part with a child, you’ll never catch a wolf.
If he wanted Scar Tiger and the others to fall for his scheme, he’d have to let them have a taste first.
Ten minutes later, Fat Pig found a piece of tuna belly wedged under a small rock in the River.
He shouted with joy, but his foot slipped, and he fell straight into the water.
Such a heavyweight falling in made the River splash dramatically. Fat Pig’s butt got wedged between two rocks, but he didn’t even notice the pain. He just stared stupidly and happily at the tuna belly in his hand, as if he were already dreaming of a gourmet feast.
"Fish… tasty… fish—"
Scar Tiger couldn’t take it anymore. He snatched the tuna belly away and tore off a piece for Fat Pig before he could throw a tantrum. Skinny Monkey only got a small bite this time.
A-Xing watched eagerly and stretched out his hand as well. "Tiger Bro, can you spare me a bite too?"
Scar Tiger shot him a cold glance, not bothering to respond. He was just about to pop the last piece of meat into his mouth when an arrow suddenly flew in.
The sharp arrow tip pierced the meat, skewered it clean through, and thunked into a nearby tree trunk.
The tuna belly was about to split in two and fall apart. Everyone panicked.
"No—!"
Without thinking, A-Xing dove forward and managed to grab onto the tuna belly with both hands right under everyone’s horrified gaze.
The meat was saved!
Scar Tiger and his crew breathed a sigh of relief.
But before the breath was fully out, their hearts clenched up once again.
In that instant, a masked figure dressed in black suddenly appeared!
He dashed in like lightning, snatched up A-Xing, and put a gleaming dagger to his throat.
A-Xing panicked. "Bro! Bro! What’s going on?"
This wasn’t part of the script he and Jiang Ye had discussed ahead of time.
A-Xing turned to Scar Tiger for help. "Tiger Bro! Save me! Save me!"
The masked man’s voice was low. "You know him?"
The Scar Tiger trio shook their heads in perfect unison. "Don’t know him, don’t know him. Hero, do what you want. Just take him away."
No kidding!
Just one look told you that this guy’s Level and skill were way higher than theirs!
There was no need to make enemies over a useless A-Xing.
With that, the man in black dragged A-Xing off. Scar Tiger stared at the tuna belly clutched in A-Xing’s fist, unable to help himself—he called after them, "Hey, hero, you can have the guy, but can you leave the fish?"
The man in black shot him a cold glare. Scar Tiger chickened out.
"Safe travels, sir. Take care."
Seeing the man in black and A-Xing walking farther and farther away until they vanished, Scar Tiger’s face changed, turning a bit sour.
Fat Pig was unwilling. "B-Boss, we’re just gonna let him take the fish away like that?"
Skinny Monkey chimed in, "Yeah, boss! And if A-Xing tells him how to get Seafood, what will we do?"
"A-Xing that little bastard, who knows how many grudges he’s got. Damn troublemaker!" Scar Tiger cursed, then kicked Fat Pig and Skinny Monkey’s butts. "Hurry up and get in there to fish!"
Fatty and Skinny Monkey fished for a good while, coming up empty.
Scar Tiger cursed, "Useless idiots!"
He rolled up his pant legs and waded into the River himself.
And so, a unique scene appeared in the newbie area.
Behind the players toiling to complete quests, by the stream and River, three guys stood single-minded and obsessed, fishing intensely. The three cycled through exhilaration, fury, despair, and determination. It was like watching a full-on sitcom.
Some bored player recorded the scene and posted it on the game forum.
[Curious, does anyone know what those guys are doing?”
Original post: [video]]
[1st reply: Not really sure.]
[2nd: Still fishing? I’ve seen them at it for ages.]
[3rd: Maybe it’s a hidden quest?]
[6th: I cleared the West Continent before—on the First Server—and never saw any hidden quest for fishing in the River.]
[7th: Have you ever wondered why a hidden quest is called a hidden quest?]
As this thread got more and more replies, a strange phenomenon spread in the newbie area of the Second Server.
Wherever there was a River in the novice village, there were people wading in, fishing for something.
If you asked what they were fishing for, they didn’t know.
If you asked why, they didn’t know either.
In any case, as long as Scar Tiger’s trio didn’t give up, the other players joining them wouldn’t give up either.
They believed! As long as they kept trying, there would be a hidden quest!
Those three idiots could hang on this long, so how could they lose?
Every time Scar Tiger and his crew wanted to quit after getting nothing, they would see more people joining in and get their morale right back.
Fish!
Keep fishing!
All these people must know something about Seafood! It had to be that the secret was out!
Later, it became an epidemic.
No one knew how, but fetching items from the River before doing anything else in the game became rumored to be part of the initiation ceremony.
Supposedly, every player who entered the River would receive the blessing of the God of Games.
More and more newcomers got talked into joining.
Behind the scenes, Jiang Ye saw the whole trend on the game forum and couldn’t help giving a big thumbs up for interstellar intelligence.
Scar Tiger’s trio fished to their heart’s content, but A-Xing wasn’t so lucky.
From the moment he was snatched by the man in black, he’d been on edge, trying every tactic to chat with him and find out why he’d been taken. But the man in black was cold, didn’t speak, didn’t chat, just dragged A-Xing along before finally dumping him in a wooden hut.
A-Xing nearly lost it.
Why is it always a wooden hut?
He put his hands together in a pleading gesture. "Big bro, let’s talk this out. At least tell me your name, so I can know what’s going on and figure out how I offended you?"
The black-clothed man glanced at him with utter disdain.
A-Xing: ...
Feeling thoroughly insulted, A-Xing was about to press for answers when the system chimed in his ear. “Player A Leaf Boat invites you to join the team. Would you like to accept?”
After accepting, A-Xing discovered the man in black, leaning against the wall and twirling his dagger, now had a label above his head: [Teammate • Yuchi Xi • Level 5].
A-Xing was stunned. "Bro, we’re on the same team?"
Jiang Ye’s voice came through team chat. "Young Master, Yuchi, you’ve met, right?"
A-Xing’s in-game character ID was Young Master With Money. In front of strangers, she and Jiang Ye tacitly avoided calling each other by their real names.
"Yeah, yeah, we’ve met." A-Xing rushed to reply, then asked, "So this hero is someone you know, Little Leaf?"
"Mm, for the time being, you two can move together. Add Yuchi as a friend. If Scar Tiger comes looking for you again, just call Yuchi for help." Though Jiang Ye was on a solitary Island, she had already set everything up behind the scenes.
A-Xing was still confused, so behind Yuchi Xi’s back he poked Jiang Ye in Private Chat.
[Private Chat • Young Master With Money: Xiao Jiang, where did you find this expert?]
[Private Chat • A Leaf Boat: Live stream.]
After Jiang Ye had left the stream, the streamer had reached out to her via Private Chat in the stream room, asking if she was willing to sell Coconut water.
Jiang Ye had simply used Coconut water to rope the person over as a teammate.
You might fool Scar Tiger for a while, but not forever.
Until A-Xing’s own gameplay skills improved, he still needed a strong backer.
So Jiang Ye set up this whole act.
Jiang Ye reminded A-Xing:
[Private Chat • A Leaf Boat: Yuchi doesn’t know I’m in the bug. Don’t spill it.]
A-Xing signaled he understood.
But aside from that, another thing left him very shocked.
[Private Chat • Young Master With Money: I really want to know, how did you reach Level 6 so quickly???]
[Private Chat • Young Master With Money: Are you the one on the level rankings??]