Chapter 264: Chapter 165: Brand-New Open Ocean Mode

Gu Nan never would have thought that after the second map fused with his fishing rod, there would be no more maps in the game.

His level had just passed twenty. Based on how things had gone before, he should have been able to unlock the third map.

However, the absence of a map didn’t mean he couldn’t fish. Instead, a new feature called “Far Seas Mode” had appeared.

[Ding! You have completed the novice maps and reached level twenty. Spirit +10%, Recovery Speed +5%]

[Ding! Far Seas Mode has been activated. You can obtain Far Seas fishing rod sets through the Trial Mode. Different rods allow you to catch marine life from different sea regions!]

[Ding! Quest Mode deactivated. Recycle Mode activated.]

[Ding! Trial Tower unlocked. Requires a Trial Card to enter.]

[Ding! Collection Mode deactivated. Appraisal function activated.]

[Ding! Shop unlocked.]

Gu Nan hadn’t expected such a major update. The sheer number of new features and modes was dazzling, so he decided to go through them one by one.

First up were the physical stat bonuses. This time, he only got boosts to his Spiritual Power and recovery speed, bringing his total bonuses for Power, Stamina, Spiritual Power, and recovery speed all to 10%.

’It’s a bit of a shame he didn’t get more Power or stamina. Still, the boost to his recovery speed was a good thing; it would make landing big fish a little easier.’

’I wonder what the future rods will be like,’ he thought. ’But the Fengqi Fishing Rod and the Seven-Star Rock rod set can both drain a fish’s stamina quickly.’

For a big fish weighing over three hundred pounds, the difference in efficiency between a game-provided rod and a real-world one was night and day. Gu Nan could save at least an hour.

Next, he looked at Quest Mode and Recycle Mode. Quest Mode had been deactivated, which meant daily quests, elite quests, and collection quests were all gone.

However, he could still finish the incomplete elite and collection quests for Seven-Star Rock.

Recycle Mode was simple: any unwanted marine life he caught could be sold directly to the game, with the buyback price based on the fish’s value.

Gold Coins hadn’t become useless, either. He could now buy keys for golden treasure chests at ten thousand Gold Coins a piece. These chests could contain tickets to the Trial Tower.

Gu Nan took a look at the Trial Tower and saw it was all about fishing challenges.

On each floor, a game NPC would appear to compete against him in a fishing contest. Whoever caught more fish—or bigger fish—within the time limit would win.

There was no penalty for losing, other than wasting a Trial Card. But if he won, he could take the Far Seas fishing rod from the NPC.

“Heh, now this is interesting!”

Next, with Collection Mode gone, there were no more species restrictions. However, this also meant he would no longer get Gold Coins just for catching a fish.

Thankfully, there was now the Appraisal function. If Gu Nan caught a fish he didn’t recognize, he could use Appraisal to learn about it. It would provide not only its real-world market price, but also its buyback price in Gold Coins.

As for the Shop, the first thing Gu Nan saw when he opened it was the golden keys, followed by all sorts of fishing hooks and lines.

The Trial Tower only rewarded rods and reels; line, hooks, and lures had to be purchased from the Shop and were now consumables.

These were also divided into five tiers: White, Green, Blue, Purple, and Gold.

In terms of line strength, the White-tier line could handle a maximum of fifty-five pounds and cost three hundred Gold Coins.

The Green-tier could handle one hundred ten pounds for six hundred Gold Coins… The specs were identical to before, but the prices felt much lower, likely because they were now consumables.

Leader lines were the same as before—free to use, with all sorts of styles available.

The line could also be extended. For instance, a spool of White-tier line was five hundred meters long; upgrading it to a thousand meters cost an additional six hundred Gold Coins, and so on.

There was a wide variety of lures and hooks. The Bering Sea set, for example, even included a special hook for catching deep-sea crabs—an iron ring wrapped with numerous thin steel wires.

A set of ten regular hooks of any type cost just one hundred Gold Coins.

The special crab hook also cost one hundred Gold Coins, but that was for a single hook.

Lures were priced the same as the special hooks: one hundred Gold Coins each. Overall, the prices weren’t high, but it seemed he’d be replacing his gear much more frequently from now on.

Moreover, this gear wasn’t just for catching in-game marine life; it could also be used in the real world, and it would provide him with stat bonuses when he used it.

Finally, there was the new Far Seas Mode feature.

[Ding! Activate Far Seas Mode?]

“Activate!”

[Congratulations! You have activated Far Seas Mode. Reward: one Bering Sea Fishing Gear Set (White).]

Unlike before, where he had to activate game maps, Far Seas Mode worked differently. As long as he had the corresponding rod, he could catch any marine creature from that region, placing a greater emphasis on his actual fishing technique.

For example, it was impossible for Gu Nan to have caught some of the deep-sea fish from Seven-Star Rock in waters only a few dozen meters deep. The new system was much more realistic.

Therefore, the number of species was no longer limited to thirty-six. However, many of these fish weren’t imported domestically and weren’t on any official list, so he could only sell them to the game for Gold Coins.

He still had an unused Trial Card in his inventory. After a moment of hesitation, Gu Nan decided to do some fishing first and see what he could catch with the Bering Sea set.

The Bering Sea was most famous for its Emperor Crabs and snow crabs, but that didn’t mean it was lacking in fish.

Cold-water deep-sea fish tasted absolutely amazing—even more tender and delicious than their tropical counterparts.

With a thought, a fishing rod materialized in his hands. It was a thick, white boat rod, and the line looked about the same as a size-10 braided line. Tied to the end was a Big Fatty lure.

’Well now,’ he thought, ’does the system know I like using Big Fatty lures, so it prepared one just for me?’

However, this rod lacked the “big fish” and “rare fish” bonuses of his previous two rods. What he could catch would now depend purely on luck and technique.

Still, higher-quality rods were better to use. If he hooked a big fish, there was less risk of the rod snapping.

This type of rod, however, came with a new attribute: Synchronization Rate.

The White-tier rod had a Synchronization Rate of 50%. Gu Nan didn’t know exactly what that meant, but he understood that if he wanted to catch more fish from the Bering Sea, he had to get a higher-quality rod from the Trial Tower as soon as possible.

He wasn’t too upset about losing the “big fish” bonus. His daily guaranteed-catch attempts couldn’t be used in Far Seas Mode anyway, so it didn’t really matter.

Even with the Fengqi Fishing Rod and the Seven-Star Rock rod, their bonus attributes were useless during normal fishing anyway.

’But what exactly does this 50% Synchronization Rate mean?’ Gu Nan had to test it to find out.

Since the line was rigged with a Big Fatty, he tossed a couple of scoops of Antarctic krill onto the water’s surface for chum. Then, he picked up the rod and cast. The Big Fatty lure went flying with a WHOOSH.

He began a slow retrieve, the Big Fatty plowing a wake across the surface of the water.

The odds of hooking a fish on the first cast were always low, so Gu Nan wasn’t surprised when he came up empty.

The Antarctic krill would attract nearby fish, but it would take some time. He cast more than ten times in a row without a single bite.

But those dozen or so casts gave Gu Nan a good idea of just how terrible the 50% Synchronization Rate was.

’No wonder the game advised against activating maps in areas with a Synchronization Rate below 80%,’ he realized.

On both the Fengqi Coast and Seven-Star Rock maps, even without using his guaranteed-catch attempts, he could always hook a fish within a dozen or so casts, and that was without any chumming.

This made Gu Nan realize just how important the Trial Tower was. ’But getting a ticket is going to be tough,’ he thought. ’Ten thousand Gold Coins for a key, and it’s not even a guaranteed drop…’

After a few more casts, he suddenly felt the telltale tap of a fish taking the bait.

Gu Nan quickly yanked the rod to set the hook, only for it to fly upward into empty air. He’d missed the hookset!

He looked surprised. After fishing for so long, he very rarely missed a hookset.

’Just bad luck on that one, I guess.’ Ocean fish were aggressive; when they bit, the signal was usually unmistakable.

An occasional miss was normal, so Gu Nan didn’t dwell on it.

Since he’d gotten a bite, it meant a school of fish had moved into the area. He kept casting. Even if he didn’t catch anything from the Bering Sea, landing a few local fish would be fine.

This time, when he had reeled the line about halfway in, the rod tip twitched again with a faint bite.

Gu Nan stopped reeling and waited. He could feel the fish tentatively nibbling at the lure.

’What kind of fish is this?’ he wondered. ’It’s even more cautious than a Yellowfin Gidai.’

He’d been outsmarted by Yellowfin Gidai before while rock fishing from the shore, but he hadn’t expected to find a fish this cautious out at sea.

There were no shallow reefs around; he didn’t think a Yellowfin Gidai would show up in this deep-water area.

The fish nibbled cautiously a few more times. Then, as if sensing no danger, it finally engulfed the lure.

Gu Nan didn’t set the hook immediately. He waited until he felt the line being pulled away, then yanked the rod up sharply.

ZZZING!

The rod immediately bent double. Fish on!

The rod tip trembled lightly, a sign that the fish wasn’t very big. Seeing this, Gu Nan cranked the reel handle quickly, bringing the fish to the side of the boat.

It was a pinkish-colored sea bream. ’Ah, a Red Seabream,’ he realized.

It was Gu Nan’s first time catching a Red Seabream, but he knew some types of bream were notoriously cautious eaters.

’Not bad at all.’ This one looked to be two or three pounds. He happily scooped it up with his landing net.

Out of habit, he glanced toward where the game’s Collection index would be, only to remember the system had been updated.

’Speaking of which, can the Appraisal function be used on local fish?’

There was no doubt this Red Seabream didn’t come from a game region; he was using the Bering Sea rod set, after all.

’Red Seabream in the Bering Sea?’

Every marine biologist in the world would probably say the same thing: “Impossible. Absolutely impossible!”

With that thought, Gu Nan tried using the Appraisal function on the fish.

[Red Seabream (Pagrus major), also known as Hong Jiaji. A wild Red Seabream from China’s East Sea region. Flavor Rating: 6.5 Stars. Suitable for all cooking methods. Recommended market price for a live, line-caught specimen during the closed fishing season: 230 yuan per jin. Price for a line-caught, chilled specimen: 150 yuan per jin. (Note: Real-world marine life cannot be recycled.)]

He hadn’t expected it to actually work, and the description was far more detailed than before.

This way, Gu Nan could use the Appraisal function on any unfamiliar local fish he caught. He could at least find out what it was, if it was edible, and how much it was worth, which would make selling his catch much easier.

’What about the Aquarium and the Chilled Storage?’

Gu Nan tried to transfer the fish into his system’s Aquarium, but nothing happened.

It seemed that fish not produced by the game couldn’t be stored in its facilities. He gave a slight pout of regret, unhooked the Red Seabream, and tossed it into the boat’s livewell.

The game itself had said live fish were more valuable; there was no reason to just toss it into the foam cooler with the ice.

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