Free Web NovelChapter 50: Chapter 50: Simple? Ouch, It Hurts
She walked to the edge of the lake, picked up a stone, and tossed it in. Aside from the initial PLUNK and the ripples that spread across the surface, the lake quickly became calm again.
Faye Yardley walked a lap around the lake, chose a relatively flat spot, took out two fishing rods, and cast the lines into the water.
’It would be a total waste not to fish when there’s water right here.’
The fishing rod from the system showed no reaction, but the special rod got a tug very quickly.
Reeling it in, she saw it was a small fish that shimmered with a multitude of colors, sparkling under the sunlight.
’The fish is small, but who could possibly dislike one that’s so beautiful and shiny?!’
[Acquired Mysterious Fish x1]
"System, does this fish have any special properties?"
’After all, the system didn’t even prompt that it could be deconstructed. That means it doesn’t need to be specially processed and must be uncontaminated.’
But the stingy system gave no reply.
"It must be something good! Hmph, I don’t need you to tell me."
She placed the small fish in her backpack and continued to fish.
Then she discovered that only the special fishing rod could catch anything from this lake; the other rod was completely motionless, without the slightest reaction.
In half an hour, she had caught four Mysterious Fish and one Talent Stone.
’So Talent Stones are real.’
Faye Yardley took out the Water-Repelling Pearl, put away her fishing rods, and went straight into the water.
The lake water parted before her automatically, and she descended step by step.
But the lake contained nothing but water; she couldn’t see a single fish, not even a strand of waterweed.
She walked all the way to the bottom, but it was just ordinary mountain rock. There wasn’t a single Talent Stone in sight.
’She had originally thought that since she could fish for Talent Stones, it would be faster and more efficient to just dive to the bottom and collect them by hand.’
’Who would have thought... there’s nothing to see in the lake at all. It’s so pure it’s despair-inducing.’
After walking a full circle on the lakebed, Faye Yardley resigned herself to the facts and returned to the shore.
She checked the countdown: 04:12:54 remaining.
"I believe this Lake of Talents right here is the greatest opportunity on this island."
It seemed as though Faye Yardley was also saying it to give herself strength and affirmation.
So, she took out the special fishing rod and started fishing again.
She mentally calculated the time needed to return to the pier; she really didn’t want the system to kick her off the island and randomly drop her into the ocean when the timer ran out.
’’Random’ doesn’t mean I’ll land next to my raft. What if I’m thousands of miles away?!’
In addition to Mysterious Fish and Talent Stones, Faye Yardley also fished up a few other different items.
[Acquired Lost Silver Coin x3]
[Acquired Lost Copper Coins x108]
[Acquired Talent Skill Book x1]
’This was too weird. A Talent Skill Book?’ Faye Yardley paused to think. ’I don’t remember reading about anything like this in the novels I’ve read.’
’As expected, the ancestors weren’t wrong. Believing everything you read is worse than not reading at all!’
Since she was actually living in a place like The Survival World, she certainly couldn’t treat it as just a story.
She picked up the Talent Skill Book, and a system prompt appeared: [Are you sure you want to use the Talent Skill Book? Friendly Reminder: Using a Talent Skill Book allows you to choose one Talent.]
[You already possess a Talent and can no longer use this Talent Skill Book.]
Faye Yardley froze. ’What’s this about? Can everyone only have one Talent? Once you activate one, you can’t get a second one?’
’So a Talent Stone activates randomly, and whether the Talent you get is good or bad is left to fate, while a Skill Book lets you pick the Talent you want?’
’Is the gap really that big?’
’Or does using the Talent Skill Book just give you a few random Talents to choose from?’
Faye Yardley felt her last thought was more in line with the survival system’s usual crappy style.
"I already have a Talent. Even if my brother doesn’t, I now have a Talent Stone and a Talent Skill Book. Since I can’t use them, what am I still doing here?"
With that thought, even the possibility of fishing up Gold Coins didn’t interest Faye Yardley much anymore. ƒreewebηoveℓ.com
After all, she had no idea what her savings were even good for yet. Worrying about things in the distant future wasn’t her style.
"I’ll catch two more things, then I’m going to explore somewhere else."
After catching two Mysterious Fish in a row, Faye Yardley decisively reeled in her line. Picking up her dagger, she chose a direction and headed from the lake into the forest.
The countdown now showed two hours remaining, so Faye Yardley didn’t bother picking any more mushrooms in the woods.
However, even after choosing a new direction, she still hadn’t encountered a single living, moving creature.
Her steps were uneven, and the further she walked, the more unsettled she became.
A pitch-black cave appeared before her.
"A cave? Should I go in?"
After a moment of thought, she said, "Well, I’m already here. It’d be cowardly not to go in. Besides, there are no living creatures around. What’s there to be afraid of?!"
She took a torch she had made and stored long ago from her backpack. Holding it aloft, she approached the cave. The firelight drove back the darkness, bringing with it warmth and courage.
The cave wasn’t very large, and no bats suddenly flew out. A stone she tossed inside produced a rumbling echo.
The rock walls inside were very hard; Faye Yardley scraped at them twice with her dagger but could only leave shallow marks.
It was very dry inside, and the light from the torch was limited.
She had expected the cave to be deep, but surprisingly, she reached the end after just five minutes of walking.
A gleaming Silver Treasure Box lay there silently, as if urging any visitor to hurry up and open it.
Faye Yardley didn’t go straight for it. Instead, she crouched, picked up a piece of broken stone, and threw it at the box. ’Good, it’s solid,’ she thought. ’But is it really not dangerous?’
’A Silver Treasure Box, this easily obtained?’
’There’s got to be a catch!’
But she wasn’t willing to give up just like that.
Holding the torch, she circled the Silver Treasure Box completely. After a moment’s thought, she took out her High Level Fish Spear, prodded the box, and even managed to flip it over.
Nothing unusual happened when the Silver Treasure Box tipped over, which made Faye Yardley much bolder.
She rushed over and instantly stashed the Silver Treasure Box in her backpack.
But the moment the Silver Treasure Box entered her backpack, the entire cave began to shake violently, and rubble started falling from the ceiling.
Without a second thought, Faye Yardley broke into a dead sprint toward the cave entrance.
The falling rocks grew larger and more numerous, and the ground beneath her feet shook with increasing violence.
The torch she was holding was quickly smashed and extinguished by the falling stones.
Faye Yardley instantly whipped out a Luminous Pearl; the darkness in the cave made her heart pound, filling her with a sense of immense dread.
’Run, run, run!’
’It had only taken a few minutes to walk in, but even though she was sprinting out at top speed, it felt like she’d been running for five or six minutes and was still being pelted by stones!’
’This is absurd!’
However unwilling she was, Faye Yardley kept running.
Her incredibly high Luck Value allowed her to avoid being hit by any of the large boulders; only small bits of rubble rained down on her, saving her from serious injury.
She lost track of how long she had been running. Finally, she saw a sliver of light ahead and pushed herself to accelerate one more time, charging toward it.
She burst out of the cave, fell to the ground, and rolled twice before coming to a stop.
Damn!
Faye Yardley’s face was grim, covered in bumps and bruises, but she was still happy to have obtained a Silver Treasure Box so easily.
It’s just... so painful~
