The Great Thief

He didn’t even wait for Lu Li to answer and proceeded to say strictly, “You know what I hate the most? People who don’t work for their gains. If you want my fishing equipment, you must use 300 gold coins in exchange, and not one less.”

“Can I have a look at the properties first?” Lu Li asked.

Three hundred gold coins was not a small amount in Dawn; this amounted to around 20,000 or 30,000 dollars. To use that much money on fishing equipment was insanity. Furthermore, 300 gold coins was the price of an exquisite Gold grade equip at that time.

Even NPCs tried to strike bargains.

In Dawn, 80% of the players who were scammed were tricked by the NPCs themselves. The fishing equipment that was placed in front of Lu Li at this current moment was a typical scam.

As soon as any player heard that this is worth 300 gold, they would think that it was incomparably powerful.

However, the truth was that this was only a little better than what could be commercially bought in stores, and it was non-refundable as well.

“Of course…” Nat Pagle hesitated, then said stubbornly, “Of course not! If you don’t want it, then leave!”

“Alright, alright. I want it, but I have a request,” Lu Li said, seemingly without choice. Fortunately, he had a generous amount of coins on him. Otherwise, he would have just turned around and left.

“What is it?” Nat Pagle asked as he nodded his head slightly, thinking about repairing the leak in the roof of his house.

“You must teach me how to fish like an expert,” Lu Li said slyly.

“Teach you how to fish? How do I teach that? Nat Pagle and Hal McAllister both asked at the same time. Although they were fisherman in Southshore, they weren’t experts yet, and no one had approached them for lessons.

“Well, then teach me what you know, like the location of the fish, the abundance of fish…”

“This…well, if you can’t pick it up even after a long time, then what do we do?”

“Then you keep on teaching me, until I know it,” Lu Li said shamelessly. These types of requests were extremely annoying to NPC and players, since they basically said, “You can’t blame me if you’re dumb.”

“Alright, I agree,” Nat Pagle said as he took out a fishing rod, a pair of boots, a hat, and a bag of lure from his bag. In addition to these, he also transferred a book to Lu Li.

There were quite a few items in his bag; Lu Li was beginning to worry about their quality.

He was calm when he saw the rod and the lures, but when he saw the book, he became increasingly excited. The strategy to get this book was right on the money! As long as the player stuck around Nat Pagle and was determined for him to teach the player how to fish, he would give them the book.

The strategy that he had employed for this particular scenario was a little different to what he had expected. Fortunately, the outcome was the same.

If the coins and the book were to be compared in a vacuum, the coins might have been worth more to Lu Li after all. However, if he was a passionate fisherman who wanted to be an expert, then this book had a much higher value. Three hundred gold coins did not take long for him to farm anyway.

Lu Li did not have a lot of time to fish, so this was a little extravagant on his part.

“This book tells you where the fish are. Alright, time for you to go. Don’t intrude in my conversation with Hal,” Nat Pagle dismissed, then turned his head and said, “Hal…”

“What is it, Nat?”

“The other night, I dreamt about that dream again…”

Lu Li, once again, was out of the scene. As a player who had experienced all of this already, he did not bother himself with learning useless information.

Weather-Beaten Journal: Use – Identifies shoals of fish on a mini-map within 300 yards.

After using the item, Lu Li learned how to identify the locations of fish. He tested this by opening the mini-map function, then tried the skill out for himself. After this, he found that there was a yellow sign which indicated the presence of fish around 100 yards from his position.

Lu Li rushed over to the point on the map, and saw that there was a large, dark circle over the water.

When he was about to cast out his original rod, he suddenly remembered the equipment that the book had come with.

Nat’s Lucky Fishing Pole (Special): After equipping, fishing proficiency +50 levels. Requirement: Journeyman level 110.

What? Level 110?

Lu Li was confused, before he quickly realised that the ‘110’ referred to his Journeyman level, and not his actual level.

Nat’s Lucky Hat (Special): After equipping, fishing proficiency +30 levels. Requirement: Journeyman level 80.

Nat’s Lucky Boots (Special): After equipping, fishing proficiency +20 levels. Requirement: Journeyman level 60.

These were some excellent items indeed!

This whole set raised his fishing proficiency by 100 levels! Lu Li was delighted at the fact that he didn’t need to raise his fishing level to 110 to equip all of them.

His current level was at 68, which was considered one of the lowest among players who fished. After all, he did not have that much time that he could invest into it.

Even so, a fishing level of 68 actually allowed him to equip Nat’s Lucky Boots, which then increased his level to 88 and allowed him to exceed the Hat’s requirements. Since his fishing levels were boosted again, he was then able to equip the fishing rod.

After equipping all of the bought equipment, the original beginner suddenly became level 168.

Nat Pagle had also given him a bag of fish lure. However, this was quite common and could be bought in fishing stores, as it was a necessity. The difference between a common bag of lure and this one was in the quality.

The lures that were sold in shops had only cost 5 Copper per bag, and only increased fishing level by 5.

Aquadynamic Fish Lens: +50 Fishing.

There were 10 in one bag, and each could be used for 10 minutes each. Obviously in real life, the lure would need to be replaced after every catch.

Lu Li did not use these lures, not just because of the lack of fish in the area, but also because the fish here did not require high fishing levels to catch.

In Dawn, players could not just cast their rods into the sea blindly. Different maps and towns had different level requirements. According to Lu Li’s memory, the level requirement was 80 in Southshore. Since he was now at level 168. he had far exceeded the requirements.

After casting his rod into the sea, Lu Li began to fish.