novelraw Chapter 142: Since Everyone Has a Special Skill, I’ll Show Mine Too
Chapter 142: Since Everyone Has a Special Skill, I’ll Show Mine Too
“I’m not fishing for fish. I’m fishing for the mood.”
Leon said this just as the float bobbed. He gave the rod a slight flick, and feeling little resistance, reeled in and lifted it in one swift motion. With sheer brute force, he yanked a smallmouth bass straight out of the water.
The fish arced gracefully through the air, droplets scattering, before Leon caught it with one hand. He quickly unhooked it and tossed it into his System Backpack.
“Where’s the fish?” Haley asked in shock.
She had clearly seen Leon reel in a smallmouth bass and hold it in his hand. Yet in the blink of an eye, it was gone.
“Released it,” Leon said with a straight face.
“But I didn’t see you throw it back into the water…” Haley muttered in confusion.
“That’s because you didn’t get enough rest and were spacing out. Go back and take a nap. Look at you—you’ve got dark circles already.” Leon brushed her off casually.
Haley immediately covered her face and dashed away at a startling speed.
Leon shrugged, baited his hook again, and cast the float into the river. Whether it was the quality of the bait or the rain bringing the fish out for fresh air, the bites came quickly—this was already his second fish in a short time.The third one took longer. Five or six minutes passed without the float moving, and instead, raindrops began to fall from the sky.
Fortunately, Leon had put on his raincoat in advance. He pulled the hood over his head and stood in the rain, patiently watching the float.
“You lied. I don’t have dark circles. And I’m sure that fish really vanished from your hand. How did you do it?” Haley appeared beside him again, holding a small flower-patterned umbrella.
On a normal day, Haley would never be out in the rain. She hated rainy weather and muddy roads, but her curiosity about the vanishing fish outweighed her dislike.
“What fish? Did I catch one? I don’t recall,” Leon played dumb.
As expected, Haley glared at him angrily and stayed put. “Fine. I’ll just see how you deal with the third fish.”
Leon only smiled and focused back on the float.
Interestingly, after Haley’s return, the previously still float began bobbing vigorously. The float was even pulled completely underwater. The tug wasn’t as strong as the catfish he had caught before, but it still had enough fight that Leon couldn’t just brute-force it ashore.
Alternating between letting the line out and reeling it in, occasionally lifting the rod to keep the fish from getting too far, Leon landed it in just over two minutes.
It was a somewhat flat fish with a large head and eyes. Its lower jaw had a pointed lip that fit neatly into a groove in the upper jaw. The back shimmered with a metallic blue-green, while the lower sides were silver-white. It was beautiful, and Leon had never seen such a species before.
As soon as he caught it, the System Prompt revealed its info.
“Pacific herring: Lives in schools in the ocean, but returns to rivers to spawn in spring.”
“So it’s a Pacific herring. Looks a bit different from the one in the game—almost didn’t recognize it with the new skin,” Leon muttered to himself. He gripped its gill, unhooked it, and stored it in his System Backpack.
“It disappeared again! I didn’t even blink this time! Leon, how did you do that?” Haley demanded.
She had been staring at him the whole time, especially when he held the herring, yet she still couldn’t see how he had made it vanish.
“Magic trick,” Leon said nonchalantly.
“…You think I’m stupid? Magic tricks are just sleight of hand. This definitely wasn’t that.”
“Then think of it as magic,” Leon replied.
“Magic? Who are you trying to fool?” Haley shook her head. “Magic’s just fantasy. There’s no such thing in real life.”
“You know about monsters, right?” Leon asked.
“Of course,” Haley nodded instinctively.
“If monsters can exist, why can’t magic? Do you really think monsters are just mutated creatures?” Leon pressed.
“Uh…”
That stopped Haley. She had never really thought about it, spending most of her time on fashion magazines and photography. She knew about monsters, but she rarely encountered those dangerous, ugly things thanks to the Adventurer’s Guild keeping the towns safe.
Leon’s words made her think about it for the first time.
Seeing her thoughtful look, Leon smiled. He found it amusing.
After all, he couldn’t hide his convenient tricks forever. Yesterday, when Maru and Demetrius had seen him retrieve items out of thin air, they had been curious but not afraid. That made Leon realize that people in this world might not be so averse to supernatural powers.
Haley was now his second test subject. If even she could accept it, then he wouldn’t bother hiding the fact that he could store things instantly anymore.
It was annoying to sneak around every time he wanted to stash or retrieve something. He didn’t like acting like a thief. The last time he went fishing with Willy, he’d had to carry the fishing rod from the farm the whole way like some sort of show-off—it was ridiculous.
Especially since he’d noticed that Willy also had a special skill—his small tackle box could hold fish much larger than the box itself, keeping them alive with enough swimming space and air. That was basically its own kind of storage ability.
Since everyone had their own tricks, one more person with a special skill wouldn’t be a big deal. Leon figured it was time to reveal a little.