Chapter 81: Catching a Rare Fish in the Boonie Bears World
This was something Li You had never expected.
’So cartoon worlds are also a type of game instance.’
Boonie Bears. A show Li You quite liked.
Now, he had actually arrived at Bear Ridge.
After his initial shock, he became incredibly excited.
’This is so magical, so interesting!’
The lake before him appeared frequently in *Boonie Bears*. Many stories took place here.
It was clear that Xiong Da and Xiong Er had once again chased Bald Qiang here.
’Am I about to see Bald Qiang, Xiong Da, and Xiong Er in person?’
Li You was filled with anticipation.
’Right, since this is the world of *Boonie Bears*, there shouldn’t be any danger.’
’I can take off my gear.’
"Stop chasing me! I know I was wrong!"
Li You had just taken off his gear and placed it in the Storage Pavilion when he heard Bald Qiang’s voice, which sounded exactly like it did in the cartoon.
Then he saw a bald man burst out from the nearby woods.
Short and stout, bald head, long face, big nose, big mouth—who else could it be but Brother Qiang?
He looked exactly like he did in the cartoon.
After Bald Qiang burst out, he saw the lake in front of him and quickly dug his heels in, leaning back to screech to a halt in a very unscientific pose.
Of course, he was also letting out a sound like, "AHHHH!"
A moment later, two bears also charged out of the woods.
It was Xiong Da and Xiong Er.
Seeing the lake ahead and that Bald Qiang had stopped, Xiong Da and Xiong Er stopped as well.
Then, Xiong Er made a motion of rolling up his sleeves, walked toward Bald Qiang step by step, and said, word by word, "Bald Qiang, you came to chop down trees again. Watch how I’m gonna punish you."
Bald Qiang trembled, slowly backing away as he said, "Hero Xiong, spare me! I know I was wrong."
But soon after, he suddenly stood up straight and stopped trembling. He held his right hand out flat, palm forward, in a "stop" gesture and said, "Wait."
Xiong Er was baffled. "What’s up?"
Bald Qiang gestured for Xiong Er to look toward Li You. "There’s someone over there."
Xiong Er turned his head, saw Li You, and was shocked.
"A human!"
Then he and Xiong Da quickly hid in the nearby woods.
Bald Qiang, on the other hand, slowly walked over, muttering to himself, "How could someone be here?"
When he got closer, he said, "Uh, where are you from? What are you doing here?"
Li You smiled faintly. "Brother Qiang, hello!"
"Brother Qiang?"
Hearing the name "Brother Qiang," Bald Qiang burst out laughing, very pleased with himself. He struck a cool pose and said, "That’s right, that’s right, I am Brother Qiang. No, wait. How do you know I’m Brother Qiang?"
Li You replied, "Who doesn’t know the great name of Bald Qiang of Bear Ridge? I’ve admired you for a long time."
"Is that so? Am I, Brother Qiang, really that famous now? Ah-hahaha!" Bald Qiang laughed heartily again.
After laughing, he asked, "So, are you here as a tourist?"
’Well, I guess you could call it tourism.’
Li You nodded. "I am. Everyone says the scenery here is beautiful, so I came to see it. When I got here and saw this beautiful lake, I thought I’d do some fishing."
"Fishing?" Bald Qiang nodded repeatedly. "Sure, sure, this lake has all kinds of fish. I come here to fish sometimes, too. Back in the day, I was the best fisherman in my village. Oh, right, there are two annoying little bears around here, so you should be careful."
Li You smiled. "Alright, thanks, Brother Qiang."
Bald Qiang continued, "But you don’t need to be afraid. If you run into them, just mention my name, Brother Qiang. The moment those two little bears hear my name, they’ll be so scared they’ll wet their pants."
Hiding in the woods, Xiong Da and Xiong Er heard Bald Qiang’s words and gritted their teeth in anger.
Xiong Er said, "That Bald Qiang is bragging again. He’s the one who gets scared and wets his pants every time he sees us, right? We’re always chasing him all over the forest. I’m gonna go out there and teach him a lesson, see if he dares to brag again!"
With that, Xiong Er was about to go out and teach Bald Qiang a lesson.
Seeing this, Xiong Da quickly stopped him. "Xiong Er, you’ll scare that person if you go out. Since he’s a tourist, we shouldn’t frighten him. Let’s go. We’ll head back for now. Bald Qiang probably won’t dare to chop any more trees today anyway."
"Okay." Xiong Er was still obedient to Xiong Da.
"Oh, right, Xiong Da, let’s go back and eat. I’m hungry."
"All you ever think about is eating."
"..."
「By the lake.」
After repeatedly assuring Li You that he would protect him in Bear Ridge, Bald Qiang also left.
Li You couldn’t help but smile.
’Still, Bald Qiang wasn’t entirely bragging.’
Although the two bears often chased him all over the forest, when he had his gun, he often chased them all over the forest too.
’Though his marksmanship was nothing to write home about.’
’Of course, it was all for the sake of the plot.’
Seeing Xiong Da and Xiong Er and speaking directly with Bald Qiang had left Li You in a state of high excitement.
Amidst his excitement, Li You started fishing.
No matter what, fishing was the most important thing.
He naturally used the Seven-Orifice Fish Bait.
’After I catch a rare fish and complete the mission, I should go find Bald Qiang, Xiong Da, Xiong Er, Jiji, Maomao, Beng Beng, Luobutou, and Tutu.’
He cast his line and began to fish.
A few minutes later, the bobber on the water’s surface twitched.
Li You’s heart leaped with joy. He saw his chance and yanked the fishing rod hard.
A slender fish was pulled from the water.
The fish was about 20 centimeters long and slender, with a small head and a pointed snout, the tip of which was bent downward into a hook-like protrusion.
Its entire body was covered in extremely fine, net-like scales.
Its back was bluish-black. The sides of its body gradually turned yellowish from the top half to the bottom. Its belly was silvery-white, and all its fins were a pale yellow.
The area around its adipose fin was reddish, and there was a cluster of yellow spots above its pectoral fin.
’What kind of fish is this?’ Li You had never seen one before.
And because he had never seen it before, Li You was suddenly quite surprised and delighted.
’Could I have caught a rare fish on my very first cast?’
Indeed.
"Ingredient: Sweetfish.
Quality: High-grade.
Population Status: Rare."
"Congratulations, Host. Side Quest ’Aquatic Fish Ingredient’ has been completed.
Reward Obtained: Spatial Fish Pond unlocked, one lottery chance.
Spatial Fish Pond has been unlocked for the Host. The Host may place living specimens of any fish species within it."
’So this is a sweetfish.’
A rare fish on the first cast. ’The world of *Boonie Bears* is awesome, just as expected.’
Li You was incredibly surprised and excited.
’But wait, aren’t sweetfish supposed to live in river systems that connect to the ocean?’
’How can there be sweetfish in a lake?’
Li You didn’t recognize the sweetfish by sight, but he knew of them.
The sweetfish’s meat is tender and delicious, with a unique flavor and no fishy smell. It also has a fresh scent reminiscent of cucumber.
Its Chinese name even means ’fragrant fish’.
Additionally, sweetfish have a very short lifespan, generally only about a year, which is why they are also called "year fish."
They only live in river systems that connect to the ocean, because their fry must travel to the sea to survive the winter.
’But now I’ve actually caught a sweetfish in a lake. That’s not scientific at all!’
"Host, science does not apply in the world of *Boonie Bears*."
’Ah... well... that’s true.’
In this world, whenever Brother Qiang bought something online, the delivery was always made by Cao Cao. What science was there to speak of?
...