“Cough- Cough- Ack!”
The poor victim that just got fished out at his last breathe didn’t look grateful at all, but Yu Zhiye didn’t care and simply strolled off whistling a merry “harmony brings wealth” tune.
Left behind was a bunch with unhappy faces.
“Boss… are we really letting him off the hook like this? Should I go teach him a lesson?”
Kwan Minhwoo’s glasses flashed with a dangerous light, but when he glanced at the others nearby, he smirked.
“No need. He’s just a powerless profiteer. Let him do whatever he wants for now. Once his rod becomes obsolete, it’s not too late to settle accounts.”
“Brilliant, Boss!”
The others overhearing this sneered, but none disagreed... at least out loud.
As for what they think inside, who knows.
At least Yu Zhiye doesn’t, nor does he care.
The only thing he cared about was the fact he made profit! Big time.
Under pressure, the price bar got set pretty steep.
Not only did he earn a “supply quota” that includes a full water bottle plus a packet of ramen or chips, everybody there also contributed 3 cobblestone blocks per person!
That’s a total of 18!
Know that it’ll take more than a few hours of wandering around to collect that much alone!
This was the power of the masses! No wonder those at the top like exploiting the people.
Of course, doing so must’ve given everybody a negative impression of him, if not hostile.
Then why go through all this trouble? Well...
Though it didn’t seem like much of a problem now, Yu Zhiye was clear that a base can’t be constructed solo.
Once the resource requirement scales up, can he still gather everything himself?
If he spends all day gathering resources, then there would be no time for earning fishing points, and vice versa!
And he can’t give up either. To upgrade his base, both basic resources and core energy is required!
But core energy was something he must earn on his own. Nobody can help him there.
So the only choice left was to outsource the resource-gathering task.
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That’s where these other survivors come in. That’s why he chose to reveal his fishing rod even though it would’ve been better to hide and avoid attracting attention.
Like that four-eyes likes to say: it was all for the greater good!
Of course, they probably don’t feel that way now.
“But hey, I’m the only one here who can fish people out. So they should all be glad I’m not charging them all a premium! Haha.”
For now, this job was basically monopolized by him. So he’ll wring out all the benefits as long as it lasts.
“Eh. Let’s head back, and go pick up my free share of supplies by the way.”
Do as he says. Yu Zhiye returned to the store and unceremoniously went up to grab a bag of chips and a bottle of water.
The timid Mob Character A, Emo Dumbo, watched from a corner and said nothing, but Miss Yoona, who apparently volunteered for supply guard duty, looked like a mother hen who had her chicks stolen.
But she didn’t try to stop him because he already announced the reason.
Both of them knew there’s no way he would make things up since such a lie could easily be seen through once the rest of the group returns.
And Yu Zhiye wasn’t worried those three teams will renege on their debt either, unless they don’t want to be saved next time.
“Heh. The map works in my favor…”
Yu Zhiye hummed a happy tune all the way and soon returned to his base.
Then, it was time to unload all the resources he collected.
“Eighteen cobblestone, sixty-four blocks of sand… oh dang, the shed’s almost overflowing. Won’t be needing sand anytime soon.”
Back in the shack, Yu Zhiye tossed an empty bottle to the corner. That was the cost for fishing out there from morning to noon.
As for the harvest?
Six sandfish, two sticks, and surprisingly, even a cliché old leather boot! Just a single lefty though.
“Sweet stars above, what a game-like and unrealistic fishing loot table. It’s borderline magical.”
“Perhaps that’s why this fishing rod is graded the same rarity as that Park guy’s supernatural transformation skill.”
“Seems touching this magical-realm is the standard for rare grade… Then, what can purple-grade bring? What about… beyond?”
Yu Zhiye looked at the purple cube that was just floating there on the altar thanks to some mystical force.
“Fisherman’s hideout… black-grade, huh? The future should be interesting…”
And that future shouldn’t be far off!
Yu Zhiye went up to touch the cube. His consciousness arrived back in overview mode, allowing him to check the core.
[Main Core (Lv. 1)]
The core of this pocket dimension that stores all energy collected.
[Core Energy Units] x9
[Upgrade] x10 core energy
“Huh? Nine core energy? Eight is from fishing, so the extra point should be from… the altar’s daily passive income?”
Looks like the income cashed in sometime during the day while he was out.
As for when exactly? There were some guesses...
“Maybe right at the time of our transmigration? Or in game terms, our spawn time onto a new game map.”
Still unconfirmed, but shouldn’t be hard to. Not a priority though. The priority in any type of base-building game was obviously…
Upgrade, upgrade, upgrade!
“And I’m just one point away from doing so! Cool. Cool.”
Licking his lips, Yu Zhiye packed a bottle and a half of water then set out.
“Back to fishing! Tonight… will be the night!”
While a fisherman went back to try his fishing luck…
Further out at another place in the desert, a scruffy uncle led a bored girl on a straight path forward.
Xiao Shuling looked around at the sandy landscape and pouted. “Eih! How come there’s nothing out here? Not even a scorpion or rattlesnake.”
Jack chuckled. “Little missy, you should be happy we didn’t bump into any of those.”
“Hum? Why not? Little Ling’er thinks they’re quite cute, ehehe—fuue?!!!”
The skipping girl stumbled and fell flat onto the sand.
She quickly pushed herself back up while spitting out sand. “Fuu! Fuuu! Fuuuu! What blind thing dares to trip this Miss?!”
Jack glanced back over his shoulder and laughed. “Bwahaha! Little missy, it’s just sand all around. There’s no shame in admitting to being a little clumsy!”
“Uncle! I’m not clumsy! Believe me! There really is something hard in the sand!”
“Yeah? Could it be a rock?” Jack doubled back and used his foot to dig around where the little lady was stomping around angrily.
“Aight. See? There’s nothing he—huh? This is...”