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Chapter 149: The Old Man and the Sea

The Golden Salmon dived deeper underwater. The sound of the splash finally woke Ben up from his reverie. He had no time to be in a daze! He quickly rummaged around in his boat for his net. Once he found his net, he spread it a little before throwing it out into the waters.

Shwaaaaaa!

A big net unfolded into the sea.

"Heave-ho!"

After quite some time, Ben decided to pull the net up to check if he caught it. However, Minhyuk shook his head at the side. Just as Ben thought,?‘I did not catch it.’?the net came up empty.

'Crazy...!'

Minhyuk’s eyes narrowed sharply as he stared at the red circles all over the place. There were plenty of red spots scattered throughout the sea. However, he was quite surprised. One, the red spot that marked the Golden Salmon was as small as a needle. This spot was not even big enough for Minhyuk to throw his bait at. Two, the speed of this needle-like red circle was hard to follow, as it was extremely fast.

The other spots that represented the other fish were also moving around, but they were either moving slowly, or were big enough for a bait to be thrown into. On the other hand, the Golden Salmon's circle had a much smaller radius, and was too fast for him to throw his bait or cast his line.

Minhyuk quickly moved his hands as he cast his line over the fast moving circle.

Shwaaaaa!

As if the circle was mocking him, it swam straight out of his line.

‘How should we go about this?’

"Grandpa! Spear! The spear!"

Ben was one of the Pinnacle Strong Men and could wield the Ghost Spear. If they could not catch it, then the next best thing would be to poke right through it. However, not long after, Ben said something that placed Minhyuk in a desperate situation.

"A dead salmon...can't lure out a great predator like the Clam Golem."

"..."

Minhyuk's brows creased in frustration. He thought deeper about it, ‘If Ben were to throw his spear and directly hit the Golden Salmon…even if it’s bigger than a normal fish, it will still be blown to pieces.’

There was only one thing that Minhyuk could do right now.

‘Cast my line!’

Krrrrrrrrrr!

The punk got away.

‘Cast it again!’

Krrrrrrr~rrrrrrr!

So Minhyuk kept on casting his line, reeling it in, and casting it again. He had no other choice but to do this over and over again, since the bastard was moving around like crazy. It did not even bother leaving the vicinity of the boat, as if it was mocking and teasing them. An hour soon passed and still, Minhyuk kept on casting and reeling his line.

[You have gained 1 DEX.]

Nevertheless, he still had not caught the Golden Salmon. After quite some time, it leisurely disappeared as if it had become tired of playing with them.

"..."

"Goddamn!"

Ben looked at the water desperately. He had been looking for it for five years straight, but he was still helpless and lost it in the end.

Then, Minhyuk said, "We're not done yet."

"..."

"We can find it again."

Based on the direction of the red dot, Minhyuk pointed to a place as he urged Ben to move. He said, "Let's go, once more!"

The boat set sail once more and arrived at the area where the Golden Salmon was. ?They cast their lines. The bastard escaped. Cast. It escaped. Minhyuk believed that there was nothing in the world that he could not eat if he put all of his efforts into it.

‘He who does not work, shall not eat! No pain, no gain. The food will taste more delicious after working hard!’

In addition, his will was burning ever so brightly. He had caught a glimpse of the Golden Salmon earlier, and it looked truly delectable. He could eat it deliciously after using it as bait! So, Minhyuk kept on casting his line in hopes of catching the elusive fellow.

Two hours went by just like that.

[You have gained 1 DEX.]

[Your Skill: Will has been triggered.]

[All skills and abilities related to DEX will increase by 27% temporarily.]

As he heard the notifications, it seemed like the tiny dot that represented the Golden Salmon grew a tiny bit bigger. Minhyuk's will had grown stronger. He kept on casting his line for an hour, two hours, four hours, seven hours. He kept at it even until the sun set, and throughout all night. ?When the new morning dawned on them, Minhyuk was still chasing and casting his line over and over again.

[Novice Fishing has leveled up.]

Ben had taught Minhyuk his fishing skills. In fact, Minhyuk could already be considered an amazing fisherman with just his DEX alone. However, without learning the skill, he would not be able to receive the additional privileges that he could get from leveling up his skill from novice to intermediate, then to master. So, Minhyuk decided to learn the skill first. Right now, his Novice Fishing skill had already reached Level 8. Oblivious to all that, Minhyuk continued to cast his line.

Ben looked at him with admiration and appreciation in his eyes.

‘F…for the sake of my child’s revenge...!’

To think that this young man that he had only just met recently was trying his hardest, for the sake of his son’s revenge. Minhyuk kept on casting his fishing line, all the while with a solemn expression on his face. He did not even take a single wink of sleep. Sweat was dripping down from his forehead as he tapped his sore back before casting the line once again.

However, unbeknownst to Ben, the thoughts running through Minhyuk’s mind were completely different.

‘I want to catch this fellow quickly so I can eat something delicious!’

Trapped in his own illusions, Ben thought,?‘I’m willing to do anything for him...!’

In truth, Ben had nothing left to his name. After his son had died, he had given up all the power and riches that he used to have, turning his back on everything. Part of it was also because he strongly believed that his son had died like that due to him, so he gave up everything and focused his all on fishing here. Ben left behind all of his gold, treasure, power... everything that he had.

‘Because of that, I have nothing. If only I had something…’

Ben looked down at his callused hands.

***

Genie, Khan, Locke and the rest of the guild members of Legend Guild were all looking for quests all over the Northern Continent.

“Is there anything I can do for you?”

“Keuhahaha. My heals can treat you. Would you like me to give you a treatment?”

“Are there any girls who look like Robin here? I’m Ace that beat the red-footed Jeff from Dongha Elementary!”

All of them were looking for quests that had some things in common. One, it should be a shareable quest, and two, it should be a quest that could give them a vassal.

Vassal. In other words, a faithful and loyal subordinate. A vassal was an essential being for guilds, especially because NPCs were people who lived in this world. It was very important for them to capture the heart of a loyal and influential vassal that would be able to take good care of the people in their territory once they gained the title. They needed someone that would fully support the person that would receive the title for their guild.

“Why isn’t Minhyuk answering our whispers? It’s not even turned off, right?”

When Genie sent a whisper to him, this was what she sent.

[Genie: Minhyuk, do you want to be a nobleman?]

Of course, Genie could also fill in her work and increase her REP. However, it would take longer for them to expand their territory and establish such a position as their own. Rather, it would be more efficient for the GM, Genie, to step back and yield to Minhyuk. However, Minhyuk had not replied to any of their whispers at all.

Not long after, Genie saw Khan running forward to where she was. He said, “I found a good vassal!”

Genie grinned widely and said, “Oh?”

“He used to be one of the Heavenly Spear Masters in the continent?”

“Wow. It’s really true, right?”

They had all checked the rewards in the shareable quest and had clearly seen the Heavenly Spear Master as part of the list. They had estimated his level and they believed that he was at about Level 400. A level on par with the current top rankers!

“We really need to have such a vassal!” Genie said, grinning happily. Now, the only thing that they needed to do was share the quest with Minhyuk once he came back.

Then, Khan said, “But, for some reason... Why do I feel like Minhyuk will ask the vassal to do plenty of chores when we’re away?”

“Huh?”

“Like picking lettuce or maybe cooking ramyeon?”

Genie grinned at his words. She said, “Eyyy. There’s no way~”

***

Ben made coffee for the still struggling Minhyuk, who slowly savored the scent of coffee before sipping it. However, once he tasted the coffee, his forehead suddenly crumpled. He said, “Why is the coffee so bland?”

“...I…is it?”

“It’s really too bland. Eyyyy. Ah! You got the amount of water wrong!”

‘I, I’m the Ghost Spear Ben, but I’m being criticized for making bland coffee...!’?Ben thought, his expression blank. He wanted to make coffee for Minhyuk since he was tirelessly working hard for his sake! The only problem was... He drank one cup, and then two, three, four cups! It did not stop there.

“As expected of Maxhim Coffee~”

After drinking his 150th cup…

[You have become addicted to caffeine.]

[Your heart will beat fast and you won’t be able to fall asleep.]

[You have an invincible body that can ignore and resist all abnormal states.]

[You have resisted an abnormal state.]

“Yeah. It’s zero calories if it’s delicious~” Minhyuk said, drinking 200 cups of coffee in one sitting. Then he continued to say, “Right! You’re good at measuring the water now!”

“Hohoho! And you’re good at drinking coffee! Hohoho!”

“Just keep on doing it like that! You’re doing it right!”

“Hohoho. Right. I’ll work hard on making coffee!” Ben said. Then, he suddenly tilted his head in confusion, and wondered,?‘Huh? What’s this, why am I so happy with such compliments?’

He did not know the reason, but he strangely felt happy. It had been two days since they had started this chase and cast strategy. By now, Minhyuk knew that catching it was impossible with what they had. There had to be another method. They needed to find another way.

Ben kept on refilling the coffee in his cup. Minhyuk thought hard while he downed the coffee in his cup. At that moment, Minhyuk finally thought of something!?‘...Why didn’t I think of this earlier?’

He relied too much on fishing! Minhyuk quickly looked down at the energetic salmon that was teasing them in the water.

‘Create a Recipe...!’

There was no guarantee that the ‘Create a Recipe’ skill would work on beings that were not human-like. However, this skill would show him what the being would like to eat the most. What about fishing? Fishing required plenty of waiting and patience as one waited for the fish to take their bait. In other words, he wanted to make use of this skill to lure the Golden Salmon into taking the bait voluntarily.

After that? Perhaps catching it would be easier than what they were doing now. Minhyuk quickly put his thoughts into action. He looked at the Golden Salmon that was happily swimming in their vicinity. The Golden Salmon had already come up to the point where the bastard could mock and tease them leisurely. However, no matter how hard Ben tried, the punk was still too fast for him to catch.

‘Create a Recipe!’

(Shellfish Bait Recipe for Golden Salmon)

Required Ingredients: Fantastic Flower Crab, Faded Shrimp, Giant Lobster...(omitted)

Expected Dish Grade: Rare ~ Epic

Expected Effects: An increase in the special points.

“...It worked!” Minhyuk exclaimed. He had tried it just in case, and it really worked!

“We need some Fantastic Flower Crabs, Faded Shrimps and Giant Lobsters!”

“...Is that so? Then, let’s quickly catch them!” Ben said, casting his line immediately. He did not have a shred of doubt about Minhyuk’s plans.

[You have acquired a Squid.]

[You have acquired a Giant Lobster.]

[You have acquired an Angler Fish.]

[You have acquired a Fantastic Flower Crab.]

They were able to fish for all of the ingredients in just six hours. Once Minhyuk had collected all of the ingredients, he began to ground all of the shellfish. In addition, his Food God’s Acquisition Skill also helped him in making the shellfish bait. After he completed preparing the bait, he hung a fist-sized amount at the end of his fishing line.

Minhyuk made eye contact with Ben. He could see the tension and anxiety in Ben’s eyes as he threw the line carefully towards the needle-sized spot.

Plop!

The bait went into the water with a loud splash. Once again, he could see that red dot moving quickly towards where they were. Minhyuk kept on chanting?‘Please catch the Golden Salmon!’?in his head. This was how the both of them waited. They waited and waited for an hour, then two hours, then five hours.

“Eyy. I guess it’s too smart to take the bait...”

“...Phew. I guess there’s still a fish that is smart in front of the bait that they want the most.”

The two of them sighed. They were on the verge of giving up. They just talked mindlessly, grumbling about their bad luck. Minhyuk did not even notice the red dot that was quickly approaching the bait. Then, at that moment…

Twang━

…the fishing line suddenly went taut!

“...!”

Minhyuk’s eyes widened as he quickly reeled the line in. Ben also looked at the water nervously. Not long after, the huge body of the Golden Salmon was pulled out of the water.

Puhaaaaaa!

Along with it, a series of notifications rang in Minhyuk’s head.

[You have succeeded in catching one of the Legendary Fish, the Golden Salmon.]

[You have acquired the Title: Fishing King, Kang Taegong.]

1. Spent the first half of his life fishing. He fished as a hobby to revive his vitality. Being called Kang Taegong meant that one had enough patience to wait for a fish or someone that was irresponsible, passive and lazy that they only care about fishing and not do any other chores