Around 7:30 a.m., Charlie arrived at the bridge where he had met Elliott the day before.
He hadn’t seen a single villager on the way.
It was like everyone in town got up at eight sharp.
This early in the morning, there wasn’t a soul around.
Charlie followed the path down from the bridge, and before long, the beach came into view.
There was only one house on the sand.
“This must be Elliott’s home.”
“He’s probably still asleep.
I won’t bother him yet.”
Charlie kept walking, but he didn’t see anyone named Willy anywhere.
He went all the way down to the shoreline before spotting a little building set out over the water.
“Willy’s probably there…”
That was his guess.
He left the sand and stepped onto the wooden planks over the water.
Looking out at the bright blue sea, he felt himself relax.
Standing beside the wooden building, Charlie couldn’t help admiring it.
Living by the sea like this really did seem nice.
While he was still taking it in, a voice called out and broke the quiet.
“Hey there, lad!”
“I heard a new farmer moved into town…
Finally got to meet you.”
The man wore red clothes and a somewhat dirty hat.
If Lewis had a big beard, this man’s beard practically covered his whole chin.
He had a cigarette in his mouth, the same old-fashioned kind Charlie had seen Grandpa smoke.
After taking two hard drags, he walked closer.
“Ah…
I’m still easing myself back in.
I was out at sea for a full month…”
“Had a fine haul, too.
Sold a lot of fish.”
The man kept talking, and Charlie listened before answering.
“Congratulations.”
At that, the man smiled.
“Thanks.
I finally saved up enough to buy myself a new fishing rod.”
Then he stepped up to Charlie and held out the rod in his hand.
“Here.
You can have this old one.”
“For me?” Charlie could hardly believe it.
“But you’ve used it for so long.”
“It must mean a lot to you.”
Willy laughed.
“Mean a lot?
What matters is keeping the tradition of fishing alive.
And who knows?
Once you get interested, you might come by my shop now and then.”
Charlie stared at him, caught off guard.
He took the fishing rod, feeling strangely touched.
“Aren’t you worried that once I learn how to use it, I’ll become your competition?” he asked with a proud little grin.
Willy let out a hearty laugh.
“If someone in Pelican Town can steal my business, then I’d say I’ve found someone worth passing things on to.”
“Besides, lad, if you come up empty-handed, remember to stop by my little shop and buy a few fish to keep up appearances.”
“Hahaha!”
Charlie and Willy laughed together.
Still, the truth was that Charlie really didn’t know how to fish.
Willy glanced at him and immediately noticed he wasn’t even holding the rod right.
“The water here’s good.
All kinds of fish in it.”
“If you catch any, bring them to me and I’ll buy them.
My dad used to say, ‘If it’s edible, it’s sellable.'”
“But don’t try selling me junk.
I won’t take it.”
With that, Willy smiled, pushed open the door, and went inside. This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
Charlie watched him go and smiled.
“What an interesting old guy.”
“Just you wait.
One day, I’ll buy this whole little shop of yours.”
With that, he found a spot and cast his line.
…
Two hours later, Willy was inside the shop, maintaining the new fishing rod he had just bought.
Suddenly, the door opened.
Charlie walked in and headed straight for the counter.
“Willy!” Charlie called.
Willy set down the rod and came over.
“Oh, my friend, what’s the matter?
Did you catch a Tuna?”
“You sound pretty fired up.”
Charlie stared at him, eyes fixed on his face.
A second later, he placed the fishing rod on the counter.
“Can I trade this rod for another one?” Charlie asked, looking pitiful.
Willy couldn’t hold back a laugh.
“Oh, buddy.
Looks like you came up empty-handed.”
Charlie was furious.
“Empty-handed doesn’t even cover it.
This was a full-on disaster.”
“It was all junk.
This thing wouldn’t even give me one tiny fish.”
Willy’s smile only grew wider.
“Alright, alright.
How about this rod?”
As he spoke, he took out another fishing rod.
It was green from end to end and looked much simpler.
“This is the one I use for training,” Willy explained.
“It’s easier to fish with, but the trade-off is that it can only catch basic fish.”
Charlie’s eyes lit up.
“How much?
I’ll buy it!”
“I don’t care if it only catches small fish.
Tiny shrimp would be fine!”
As far as Charlie was concerned, anything was better than catching nothing.
Even if he caught a turtle, he would happily take it home and make soup out of it.
Seeing him like that, Willy handed him the rod.
“25 gold.”
“Deal!”
Charlie stepped out of Willy’s small shop carrying a green fishing rod and a cup of Trout Soup.
While he was buying things, he had noticed Willy selling the soup.
According to Willy, whenever he drank it, he felt much more focused while fishing, so Charlie bought a cup too.
Charlie strongly suspected it might be a sales pitch, but he also felt like Willy wouldn’t cheat him.
He looked at the fishing rod, then at the Trout Soup.
[Training Rod: It’s a lot easier to use than other rods, but can only catch basic fish.]
[Trout Soup: Pretty salty.]
“Alright.
With this magic item in hand, I refuse to believe I can still fail!”
Charlie drank the Trout Soup in one gulp, wiped his mouth, and picked up the fishing rod.
He drew back, cast, and sent the line flying in one smooth motion.
After a few minutes, the bobber sank.
Charlie yanked hard and hooked the fish right away.
“It really is easier to reel in.”
“Alright, little guy, time to come up!”
Charlie wrestled with the fish for a bit, then, when it started to tire, pulled with all his strength.
The fish came flying up with the line.
“A fish!
I did it!”
“I caught a fish!”
Charlie took it off the hook.
The moment it touched his hand, information popped up.
[Sardine (Normal): A common ocean fish.]
Holding the Sardine in his palm, Charlie walked back into the shop in high spirits.
A few minutes later, he came back out looking disappointed.
One fishing rod and one cup of Trout Soup had cost him 275 gold.
One Sardine sold for 60 gold.
Charlie opened the interface to check his balance.
Good grief, he only had 285 gold left.
He had started with 500, and that was money Grandpa had given him.
Charlie refused to accept this.
He kept at it for a few more hours.
Once he got a little more used to it, he even switched back to the Bamboo Pole and managed to catch a few fish with that, too.
By 2:00 p.m., his haul was eight Sardines and three Herring.
[Herring (Normal): A common ocean fish.]
That was it.
Everything else was junk, things like broken CDs and soggy newspapers.
“Not bad.
One last cast.”
Charlie rubbed his neck and walked to the farthest spot.
He put his strength into it, swung the rod, and cast in one clean motion.
This was probably the farthest he had ever cast.
After waiting a while, something bit.
Charlie immediately started fighting it.
This one struggled hard and showed no intention of giving up.
He could feel it.
This had to be a big one.
“Come on, then.
Let’s see if you’re something new.”
After more than ten minutes of back-and-forth, Charlie finally won.
When both sides were worn down from the struggle, he seized the chance and hauled it up with one hard pull.
But when he saw it, he froze.
“Isn’t this still a Sardine?”
It looked exactly like the Sardines in his backpack.
Then Charlie noticed something strange.
There was a treasure chest icon on its body, printed right onto the fish.
Holding it, he got angry.
“What kind of person does this to a fish?”
“They even tattooed it.”
Charlie hated that sort of thing.
Killing was one thing, but tormenting a living creature was against the basic standards of civilized people.
He lifted the fish up.
Sure enough, it was a Sardine.
But then Charlie noticed something different in its description: a large silver star was stamped there.
[Sardine (Silver): A common ocean fish.]
“Is this…
quality?”
He immediately took out another fish and compared the two.
Sure enough, this one was a whole size bigger.
Charlie understood.
The bigger the fish, the higher the quality.
“Then I really made a profit this time!”
His fondness for the fish rose another level.
He reached out and touched the treasure chest mark.
“My poor fish.
How could they treat you like this?”
The moment Charlie touched the mark, white light rose from the fish’s body, and a treasure chest floated into the air.