Nathan woke up with a killer headache. He reached his hand up and grabbed his head.

“What the heck happened last night?” he said. “Why was the System box doing backflips?”

He popped open his menu and noted the new achievement.

[Highest Level]

Reach new “highs” through questionable means. I’m not sure if this is what I had in mind…

+5 Luck

Nathan blanched.

Did… did I smoke Fantasy world LSD?

Nathan removed one of the leaves from his inventory and used [Basic Inspect].

[Funny Leaf]

Does exactly what you think it does. Also helps relieve pain in smaller doses, and has legitimate medical uses. You just don’t qualify for any of those uses.

Nathan stuffed the leaves into the inventory and tried to ignore his worsening headache. He looked at his stat sheet. He now had 48 Luck. When he’d gotten his first batch of loot, it’d been a mere 27 Luck.

He also double-checked his [Cast] (Diamond+) upgrade. Only about a thousand casts left.

His eyes widened. He could get that in an hour. Nathan picked up his fishing rod.

For the next hour, he repeatedly cast his fishing rod in and out of the water. The number ticked upward higher and higher until…

[Quest Complete: CAST (Diamond+)]

He reviewed the skill.

[Cast] (Diamond+)

+10% Cast Speed. +20% Accuracy.

Modifier: Hunter’s Instinct

You’ve spent so much time fishing that you can practically smell fear in the water… or maybe that’s just the fish. When you Cast, your accuracy increases by an additional 30% if the target is even slightly wet (thanks to water, rain, or an unfortunate soup spill). At all times, you have a vague sense of where the creature is.

Nathan picked up his fishing rod and threw out an experimental cast. Unlike his previous casts, his hook made a high-pitched whistling noise even though he didn’t put very much strength into it. The hook smashed into the rock and carved a line of destruction across it. A cloud of rubble kicked into the air. Nathan let out a cough.

By the end of it, it looked like Nathan had taken explosives to the stone.

Ok… well, that’s interesting. Um, what about my new Hunter’s Instinct?

He stepped over to the water and blinked.

It was an odd thing, suddenly getting a new sense. Nathan could feel the fish in the water. He knew where they were clustering and what locations they were avoiding. There wasn’t any rational reason as to how he knew. He just… knew.

Not only that, but he could sense… something else in the water. A non-fish. A physical object. He walked along the lake for a minute before pausing.

He cast his rod out into the water. Instinctively, he knew that he’d missed. He pulled it out and cast again. Once more, he knew that he’d failed.

He cast a third time. After a few seconds, he felt the hook latch onto something.

Nathan pulled back, revealing a gleaming metal reel.

[Enhanced Metal Reel] (E+-rank)

Equipment Type: Fishing Gear

Durability: High

Weight: Moderate

Expertly crafted by a blacksmith who clearly didn’t realize this was for fishing, the [Enhanced Metal Reel] is the pinnacle of over-engineering. Made from reinforced steel and enchanted to withstand extreme tension, this reel is as tough as it gets for E-rank fishing gear. It is capable of reeling in fish and foes and designed for anyone who believes that no catch is too big—or too aggressive.

Nathan pulled out his fishing pole and put the reel next to it. He stared at the two for several moments.

“Wait, but how do I put them together?”

Nathan did not have access to a screwdriver.

After some thinking, he ended up using the tip of his harpoon to unscrew his old reel. Thankfully, whatever metal they were using was ridiculously durable and he didn’t damage any of the screws.

He threw his newly upgraded fishing rod into the air and let it drop into his hand.

Even heavier.

Nathan wondered what the fishing rod was made of. Tungsten?

Before Nathan could continue the line of thought, he sniffed something.

It was a wet, grassy smell. Fresh and new. He followed the scent along the cavern, heading into the dark.

He didn’t pull out his phone, the light of the lake providing illumination even into the deep caverns. The smell got stronger and stronger until he came to a stop.

On the ground, a cluster of green mushrooms had taken root from a patch of soil. Nathan reached down and picked them out of the ground.

How did I know where these were? Did I ever check what my new skill actually did?

He opened up the [Suspicious Gathering] skill.

[Suspicious Gathering] (Copper)

Description: Your sense of smell has reached an uncanny level, allowing you to detect the presence of herbs, mushrooms, and other foragable goodies. Is that rosemary behind a rock? A rare truffle under a bush? Or just your boots that haven't seen soap in weeks? You’re not quite sure—but you’re willing to check, even if everyone else thinks you’re being weird about it.

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

Nathan blinked. The skill enhanced his smelling skill?

He looked at the mushrooms in his hand. There was some sort of rule about mushrooms, right? Like, red is bad, and brown is good? Or was it the other way around?

…

The mushroom was green, though.

Nathan walked back to his fire. After a moment, he shrugged and took a bite out of the mushroom. It had a surprisingly tangy flavor, with a lemon-like backdrop behind it. The texture was soft. Nathan rubbed his chin. It needed a little extra flavor. Fish would go well with it.

Wait, he had a quest for cooking, right? What were the requirements?

[Fundamental Cooking] (Copper)

Requirements:

Cook five hearty meals. (0/5)

Nathan pulled out his fishing rod and got to work. Once he’d caught the fish, he laid them out on the stone and turned his attention to the fire.

“…I don’t have a pan.”

After several minutes of thinking, Nathan grabbed a stick and pierced it through a fishes mouth. He’d do it campfire style, like how the people in the survival movies did it!

As for toasting the mushrooms, the best he could do was put them next to the fire and hope that would be enough. He cut up the mushrooms using the Jeweled Sword, then plopped them next to his soon-to-be fire.

Nathan started the fire, arranged his food, and waited quietly. After several minutes the fish seemed to have browned along with the musrooms.

Nathan didn’t have a plate. After a moment of thinking, he cut apart the fish and tossed the mushrooms on top of the fileted fish parts.

He took a bite, then frowned. The fish was only halfway cooked while the mushrooms had burned.

Maybe eating them raw is better?

He took a glance at the quest requirements.

Cook five hearty meals. (3/5)

Nathan cooked two more fish-mushroom meals. Neither of them were very tasty, but he could feel the EXP click up internally, so that was nice.

Cook five hearty meals. (5/5)

In a few short days, he’d come to prefer eating fish raw, overcooking it.

It finally hit Nathan that he was basically a caveman at this point.

Nathan put that thought out of his head. It didn’t matter. He’d meet up with other people soon enough, and then get back to normal. This was all temporary.

Nathan glanced through his quest list. He only had a few side quests left. Catching the Phantom Minnow, getting Poor Crafting, and getting a class-up. The Phantom Minnow reward only offered a question mark as a reward, along with a level-up.

He still didn’t know how to give an offering to the sea for his class-up.

Nathan sighed. Why had the requirements changed? It still frustrated him that it had done so.

This class-up—whatever it was—might’ve been just what I needed to face down the Gliding Eel.

He took a look at the requirements for his crafting quest.

[Poor Crafting] (Copper)

Requirements:

Craft a spear (0/1)

Craft a knife (0/1)

Craft a hand axe (0/1)

Nathan decided to finish up this side quest. If he was lucky, it might just give him enough EXP to level up.

He didn’t invest too much time in the quest. He already had a knife, essentially, with the Jeweled Sword. His harpoon made for a more powerful spear than he could ever make himself. And as for hand-axe—uh, well, he didn’t really have anything like that, so maybe it would come in handy.

For the spear, found a moderately long stick that he’d been intending to use for firewood. He chipped a rock with another rock, then tied the sharpened tip to the wood using some of the vines from his plants above the ground. He did something similar with the knife and hand axe.

The quest dinged. He felt a rush of power—

But no level-up.

He looked up toward the entrance of the cavern.

I’m going to have to head outside again.

Nathan didn’t want to hunt any more monsters if he could avoid them. His goal would be to catch the Phantom Minnow. Maybe, in the process, he would get clues as to how to get a class-up.

And maybe, just maybe, that’ll be the edge I need to defeat the Eel.

A shiver ran down his spine at the thought. The pain of having his arm crunched hadn’t quite left his mind.

But he had to be brave. There was time to freak out later. Once he was out of this mess, he could break down crying and curl up into a little ball.

Until then, he had to keep it together.

He walked toward the entrance.

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He exited out of the cavern and searched the skies. No Gliding Eel.

Nathan let out a sigh of relief and stood to his full height. Nothing around for miles except dead bushes and dead soil—just the way he liked it. This time, he went to the northwest. Before long, the bushes cleared away, revealing nothing but bare soil for mile after mile. Nathan trudged forward, his fingers tapping against his hip on the inside of his suit pocket.

“What I wouldn’t give for someone to talk to,” he said. “I feel like I’m going to lose my mind.”

A light breeze kicked up and ruffled his clothes. Dust flew through the air. Nathan shut his eyes.

“Damn it,” he said. “Seriously?”

He paused and sniffed, there was something on the tip of his nose. Something sort of…

Fishy? Literally.

It had a fish smell.

The dust cleared away. He opened his eyes and walked in the direction where the wind had come from. Dust storms kicked up every couple of minutes. Each time, the smell got stronger and stronger.

Up ahead was a grove of dead trees. Off to the side of the trees, there was a giant green ogre over twice Nathan’s height.

Nathan ducked to the ground. His fishing rod rattled in his hands.

The green ogre stepped to the side, revealing a silver pond behind it. Beside the silver pond, green grass had sprung up.

Plant life?

So it wasn’t poisonous like the Blackwater. Nathan’s eyes wandered over to the green ogre. Before he got to check the water out, he’d need to kill its apparent guard.

Nathan crawled forward. After a minute, he’d gotten next to one of the trees. He sidled up behind it and stood to his feet. The ogre grumbled and moved around, shaking the earth.

Nathan wanted to inspect the monster, but he knew that it would spot him once he did. Did he want to give up his chance at a stealth attack to get more information?

He took a deep breath and nodded. No, he’d go for the stealth attack first, then he’d inspect.

Nathan stepped to the right and trained his eyes on the ogre. The ogre’s body flinched.

Nathan swung his fishing rod as hard as he could.

The hook flew through the air and slammed into the ogre’s skull. It went directly through, smashing the head to bits and sending gore all over the ground. A bit of flesh landed on Nathan’s cheek.

[You’ve leveled up!]

“Wait, seriously? That was it?” he said.

After a moment, he shrugged and stepped over to the pond. He looked down into the water.

He could already tell thanks to his new [Cast] modifier that there was a single fish down there. It was a small thing, barely as big as his hand.

But it was a fish.

On the surface.

Nathan scratched his chin. What if this was the Phantom Minnow?

What were the odds of just running into it here? Maybe that luck stat does more than I thought.

He threw his hook into the water. Nothing happened. He could tell that the fish wasn’t even slightly interested. He frowned. Did he need to try something else?

On instinct, he opened up his inventory.

Bait.

He’d forgotten about that. You were supposed to use bait when fishing. He’d just never bothered because his skills were normally enough to take care of things.

Nathan reeled his hook back in and pulled out the Scythian Worm. The smell was atrocious. He scrunched his nose up and tears came to his eyes. After a moment of thought, he ripped a segment of the worm off and hooked it. The rest of the worm, he saved in his inventory.

As soon as the hook fell into the water, the fish rushed upward and grabbed onto it. A moment later, it tugged and the fishing rod was ripped out of Nathan’s hands.

----------------------------------------

Nathan reached out and grabbed onto the fishing rod; he pulled back as hard as he could.

What the hell!? How is it so strong?

Nathan had just killed a goddamn ogre with a single toss of his fishing rod, but this tiny minnow was about to kick his ass!

The fishing rod tugged downward suddenly. Nathan held on tightly and took a step backward. Some of the pressure was relieved. Nathan grabbed his reel and spun it. The fish started pulling again and Nathan stopped.

This is just like Fishing Sim 2500. I’ve done this hundreds of times.

Except for the fact that Fishing Sim 2500 was a video game from 2003 and this was real life.

The back-and-forth continued for almost ten minutes. Nathan could sense that the fish was getting closer and closer to the surface. As if it knew that same fact, the fish fought harder the closer Nathan was to victory.

Sweat dripped down Nathan’s body. His clothes were soaked to the brim. He pulled as hard as he could for the last stretch.

The fish flew into the air. Nathan reached into the air and grabbed it. Two dings echoed to the side, indicating that a System window had popped up.

He breathed heavily and stared. It was a tiny thing, barely filling out his hand.

“You’re a lot of trouble,” Nathan said.

A muffled male voice rang out.

Nathan started backward.

“Hello?” he said. “Is someone there?”

The voice cried out again. Nathan looked down at the fish.

Wait… it couldn’t be.

Nathan grabbed the hook and pulled it out of the fish’s mouth. As soon as he did so, the fish let out a grumble.

“Should’ve known it was too good to be true,” the fish said. “But that damned scent was so delicious!”

Nathan’s fishing rod dropped to the ground. He stared at the fish for several seconds.

“Wait a second,” he said. “You can talk!?”