Ark The Legend - Volume 4 - Chapter 7

SPACE 7. Fishing Reel!

“Huhuhu. These guys!”

Ark smacked his lips together with a pleased smile. Ark was looking at a fish from his air board. The size was 50 cm and the large fish jumped up towards the air board. The bottom part was somewhat strange as it looked like a centipede but that was an unrelated problem. Istana was an alien planet. Wasn’t it understandable that the shape of the fish was strange? It was all the same once it entered his stomach.

“This evening is sashimi!”

Ark grinned as he took out the Impact Blade. And seokeok, seokek. The unique fish was instantly cut up.

“Heh, first the Bellos and now this. Isn’t the wasteland a heaven filled with food? Does that mean I filled up my bag with Space Food for nothing? Yes, next time I should buy soy sauce or wasabi.”

Ark muttered as he chewed on the alien fish. But Ark was here to play around. And Ark wasn’t feeling relaxed.

“Today is the 10th day with no results. Not including the 2 days of travelling time, I’ve wasted 8 days here. Well, the hunting grounds are nearby so I can’t complain but……”

A frustrated sigh emerged from Ark’s mouth. He looked around and sighed again. A sigh naturally emerged every time he saw it.

Bbol bbol bbol bbol, bbol bbol bbol bbol.

The air board was flying over water. Was it a huge lake? The sea? He tried to drink some water and it had a bitter taste but wasn’t poisonous so he didn’t know whether to call it a lake or the sea. Anyway, the water stretched out everywhere he looked. This was the reason for Ark’s sigh.
Ark travelled 1,000 km to Marquis Martin’s GPS information only to arrive at a huge lake. Marquis Martin guessed that Charem was hidden in a 100 km range of the lake. Of course there was also some land. However, the land was only 10% of the entire area. No matter how complex the terrain, Ark could investigate the area in a few hours when using the air board. So Ark searched the land first. He spent 2 whole days precisely searching but he didn’t even find a shadow of the city Marquis Martin mentioned.

“In the end it must be somewhere on the lake……”

His eyes returned to the lake that took up 90% of the search area. In fact, the lake was a high possibility when he remembered Marquis Martin’s information about Charem.

-Charem isn’t a normal city. It is camouflaged with a few layers of advanced shields and are equipped with devices to detect movement.

The shield might have some unknown state of the art functions.

“This is key information. It would be strange for a city the scale of Charem to be on land and not be detected. So I wasn’t convinced until I arrived here and saw the lake.  If Charem is on the lake then large aircraft carriers could move freely. It would be possible to quickly escape from Charem if there are hostile federation soldiers nearby.”

Ark was sure of his reasoning. A city like Charem couldn’t be easily moved. Nevertheless, they didn’t leave the area that the federation had already identified. If Charem was a city in the form of a ship then that would settle two questions at the same time.

“Then the problem is simple. On the lake is different from the land. The shield might have state of the art functions but the trail can’t be completely erased. Especially if it can’t move. Huhuhu, finding Charem should be surprisingly simple.”

In fact, he wasn’t worried about looking for Charem before. The range to look for the target was 100 km. But it was still the size of a city. Therefore he thought it wouldn’t be more difficult than finding a lost puppy. Not to mention there was no place to hide in the lake. It was the problem afterwards that he was worried about.

“Charem is a smuggling city that turned its back on the galactic federation. The federation had been allies with the Aschulat and Charem was useful so they left it alone. I don’t know why they’re acting like this now but Charem is now under attack by the federation. Naturally it would strengthen its defences.”

That’s why the secret agent Kara couldn’t leave. That meant it was difficult to enter and leave. Therefore Ark thought the main purpose of the <Charem’s Infiltration> quest was to sneak in

‘But……’

Ark had Stealth. The security couldn’t stop him if they couldn’t see him. If he had Stealth then he could somehow find a way. Ark hid his body using Stealth and started to actively search the lake. Now he just had to find Charem and break in. However…..

It was useless. The electromagnetic power on the surface of the water made it difficult for the air board to move quickly. 15 km/hr was the limit even when he firmly stepped on the accelerator. Thus ark spent two days riding the air board around the wide lake. But the result was a total failure. He checked everywhere and didn’t find a small sailboat let along an aircraft carrier the size of a city. That’s why Ark stopped and spent 6 days hunting the Bellos. He thought it was easy but now he had reached a deadlock. So his mind was preoccupied while wandering around collecting the eggs. And Ark’s worries started then. Although he searched for a few days, Ark couldn’t find the quest destination.

“Did the city fly somewhere else?”

He had that idea but he soon shook his head.

“No. It is impossible for Marquis Martin to not anticipate that. If there was a possibility of the city flying away then he wouldn’t have given the quest. Marquis Martin is still confident that Charem is someone on this lake. He wouldn’t give the quest if he isn’t certain. Yes, Charem is definitely somewhere within this 100 km area. Nevertheless, if I can’t find any traces on the land or on the lake……”

There was only one place remaining.

“Is it underwater?”

Ark hadn’t checked that place yet. The water underneath the lake shone with a brilliant maroon light.

“Charem might be a submarine city moving under the water.”

This was the conclusion Ark reached after a few days of searching. If Ark thought like that then it explained how  the federation didn’t know the location or find it on the radar.

“Yes, there is no doubt. Charem is a submarine!”

Ark was convinced. And his expression instantly darkened. Even if it was only 15 km/hr, he could still search on the air board when it was above the surface of the water. It wasn’t difficult even if the search range was 100 km. But that changed if the search place was underwater. ‘Swim’ or ‘dive’ wasn’t something that required skills. Once again, users going to the Outlands required a body coating to cope with the special environment. There were quite a few places filled with toxic gases or no air at all on the planet. One feature of body coating was that enough oxygen was stored in the body to last for 24 hours. In addition, Ark had specifically received the body coating focused on survival. There was a 50% added bonus to environment adaptation so Ark could last for 36 hours with no air. He could easily investigate under the water.

“It is good up to this point……”

The problem was the air board. The air board couldn’t be used underwater! He needed to search 100 km without the air board. Rather than a few days, it might end up taking a few months. Of course Ark had no intention of spending a few months on one quest. So he continued to worry for a while.

“Yes, there is that!”

This was an item he found in Nabe’s shopping area.

‘But the price is a little……’

70 gold was the price attached to the tag. However Ark closed his eyes and bought it. Of course, it couldn’t be used in women’s restrooms like stated. In fact, Nabe wasn’t the first time that Ark saw the Wire Camera. Tori had used a similar tool in Nephalim when robbing the federation’s museum. The one Tori used was illegally modified through hacking but the normal Wire Camera was still useful. Ark had the thought after receiving the <Charem’s Infiltration> quest.

‘This equipment might be helpful when I’m trying to sneak in.’

The Wire Camera wasn’t only useful for the infiltration quest. The information window meant that it could also be used for ruins investigation. So he endured it! 70 gold!

“But I never imagined that it could be used on this way.”

Ark took out the Wire Camera and connected it to his Nymphe. And the image from the camera appeared on the Nymphe.

“Testing OK. The image quality is better than I expected?”

Ark laughed and dangled the wire underneath the lake. Once he released all 30 metres of the wire, the image of the lake bed appeared on his Nymphe. This was the method Ark came up with. Ark held the Wire Camera and moved around using the air board. He didn’t need to search underwater directly. And…..Bbol bbol bbol bbol, bbol bbol bbol bbol…..

The image changed as the air board moved.

“Ha, isn’t this quite exciting?”

He sat down on the air board and watched the lake through the screen of the Nymphe. He found the new usage of the Wire Camera interesting. But that was only for a few hours. Watching the bottom of the lake wasn’t interesting after a few hours. In addition, this was also hard labour in its own way. His eyes started becoming sore and tired after 4 hours of watching the same screen. So he couldn’t remember how many times he fell off into the lake. But the thing that made him more angry was the search sped. He thought that searching underwater wouldn’t take that long if he used this method. However, it turned out differently once he started. This was the 10th day after leaving Nabe and now it was 4 hours since he started searching with the Wire Camera. Yet he only managed to search 30% of the whole area. The small camera meant he had to go back and forth in the same area several times so it took longer than expected. It might be faster than jumping into the lake and swimming around but……

“This is still taking a lot of time!”

He still needed to explore 70% of the area! A sigh emerged as he looked at the spacious lake. If it was a different NPC then he probably would’ve given up the quest already. But Marquis Martin who gave him the quest was an influential noble of the galactic federation. In other words, he already invested 10 days and received the Hyde Helmet as a reward so how could he give up now? Moreover, Ark hadn’t just been wasting time. Once again, Ark was the type to find some benefits and not just waste time. He would find some monsters to kill or dig up some ingredients.

“Let’s see…..”

He stopped the air board for a meal. Ark operated his Nymphe and changed the screen to his inventory. When he left Nabe, his bag was filled with essential supplies and now it was full of various japtem.  There were the Bellos’ eggs, monster leather, broken equipment and various loot he received from the monsters he killed before beginning the underwater exploration. But there were some items classified separately.

A lake larger than 100 km! He found various things when exploring underwater. There were giant clams, various metal parts from the wreckage of ships as well as buildings from ancient ruins. Every time he saw something in the Nymphe, he would jump into the lake and search every corner. Apart from the Rainbow Pearls, stone dolls or Decrepit Axe, he found 10 other similar items. But it was rarely worth his labour costs. Although the Rainbow Pearl could be made into jewellery, the other items were similar to garbage and would only be sold for a few copper coins. But a few copper coins were still money. Copper would turn into silver and silver into gold.

“My bag is heavy so it isn’t an entire waste of time.”

This was Ark’s unchanging theory.  He continued to dive into the lake even if it was only for a few coppers. Ark was sure that Charem was a submarine or underwater city so he spent some time searching for it. It was also possible he might find a crucial clue to Charem when underwater. So he searched the bottom of the lake generously even if it was for a few coppers. Therefore Ark filled his bag with loot, mostly junk, from the lake. He changed his mind when he got the opportunity for such unexpected income.

“Yes, I can kill some time while looking for Charem. It isn’t a lot but I can get money by searching through the lake. If I continue looking through the lake then I might be able to get some unexpected profits.”

Then something caught his eye. Fish were swimming lazily on the Nymphe screen.

“Oh my god! I’ve been bored for the last few hours so why didn’t I think of that?”

The fish scattered around! There were ingredients right underneath his air board. Of course, Ark was able to obtain food from semi-regularly hunting in the forest. But the more food he had the better. It was good to save it for emergencies. The fish might even give additional effects like the Bellos eggs.

“The fish in the lake aren’t monsters. They will run away the moment they see someone holding a sword. Then……”

Ark rummaged through the bag and pulled out a sharp tooth. It was a hook shaped tooth from the Bellos. Ark used a simple tool from his tool box and fixed a monster’s meat to the tooth using wire. And…..

-Synthesis: Wire Camera + Bellos’ Tooth+ Monster’s meat for bait= fishing!

It was the birth of a plausible fishing rod!

Bump!

It was less than 10 minutes before there was a response. He pulled the wire and a spotted fish was dangling from it.

“Hahaha! It came! It came! It is like I expected.”

Ark whipped out the sword and deconstructed the fish. Then an information window appeared in front of him.

“Eh? What is this?”

Ark’s eyes widened. It was a fish that no users have discovered yet! He never expected something like this. However, Ark started the game immediately after service started so Galaxian was only 4 months old. Most users probably concentrated on raising their level to receive the body coating. Who would head to a lake 1,000 km away from Nabe just for fishing? So it wasn’t strange that Ark was the first one to fish in this lake.

“I can receive a reward if I register with the federation’s database?”

The information was really unimaginable. Anyway, Ark thought about it for a while. Of course, this was the first time it happened in Galaxian but other online games had a similar system. If a new dungeon or hidden village was discovered then registering it would give bonuses. But Ark had never registered the information. He thought it was better to monopolize the dungeon rather than earning some experience or reputation. However, the circumstances were different this time. There was no user who would come just to catch fish and Ark had no intention of monopolizing the fish in the lake.

“Register! The name of the fish is Spotted!”

Ark roughly decided the name of the fish.

200 experience! That was similar to killing 2~3 monsters. He also gained a little bit of fame and adventure points!

“I can also raise my fame and experience in this way.”

Then Ark would suck up as much as possible. Anyway, in this situation Ark already had to search every corner of the lake.

“What else should I do? I can raise experience.”

Thus Ark started to earnestly devote himself to fishing. He attached another Bellos’ tooth to the wire. But he wanted to gain as much experience as possible so he attached 20 different teeth to the wire. He went around the lake and started to continuously catch the fish. 3~4 fish would be pulled up at once!

The experience was no joke. There was almost no traffic here so 90% of the fish caught in the lake were unidentified creatures. He had no time to worry about the name of the fish. Therefore he named the fish after a dog that he used to have and other random thoughts. Ark quickly gained 1 level. But after a few hours, the frenzied fishing slowed down. After a while, the fish that Ark had already caught and registered kept on appearing. Other users would be satisfied and stop at this point but not Ark.

“Isn’t it strange? So far I’ve caught dozens of fish. It might be a lot but it is impossible for them to be the only species considering the size of the lake. When I entered the lake I saw many other types of fish. Why aren’t those guys taking the bait?”

The search for Charem had already lost priority for Ark. Registering unidentified fish was more important than finding Charem right now. Ark was completely immersed in fishing.

“Yes, the bait! Change the bait!”

Bingo!

If he changed to a different type of monster bait then he could catch new fish. Once all the possible fish could be caught, Ark would immediately change the bait. When he used up all the monster meat, he even used nuts and fruits from the forest to catch the fish. He repeated it over and over for a few days and registered dozens of fish species. He also gained some levels.

He finally obtained the fishing skill. He combined various materials to make a fishing rod and managed to successfully learn the skill. Ark was truly an innate survivor.But there was no meaning in getting the skill. He received it after he had already been fishing for 3 days.  He already used all the ingredients available from the vicinity as bait and was now using fish droppings. There were still many unregistered fish species that he hadn’t managed to catch. However, Ark went around with the Bellos’ teeth for one more day but couldn’t catch any new fish. And now……

“I still need to explore……”

Ark filled his stomach with the fish called ‘Sneak’  and looked gloomily at the maroon lake. He had still only explored 30% of the lake. Of course, Ark still dove into the lake sometimes to salvage items but exploration wasn’t a high priority for him due to the fishing. But even if he concentrated on searching, he had only explored 50% of the lake. If he calculated then it would take at least a week to explore all of the lake. It was indeed a gloomy prospect! Ark looked at the screen of the Nymphe and felt his breath being clogged up. However he had already invested more than 10 days.

“I have to see this through to the end.”

Ark sighed and was about to move the air board.

Pang!

The wire tightened again. He hadn’t caught any new species for one day. Therefore Ark removed all the bait and just concentrated on investigating. Yet the hook was still attached so a fish was caught on it.

“Sheesh, I guess I need to remove the hook as well. Eh?”

Ark pulled the wire without thinking and became confused. The sensation he felt through the wire wasn’t ordinary. So far the ‘Elephant’ fish species was the largest one he caught. The pulling sensation felt a lot bigger than the Elephant fish.

‘This might be a new fish species!’

Ark’s face became tense. He had to catch the fish on the hook. If he pulled to excessively then the fishing line or hook would break. He wasn’t worried about the fishing line but about the Bellos’ teeth breaking if he couldn’t control his power. But now Ark had the fishing skill.

“I can’t miss!”

Ark vigourously grabbed the wire.

Cheolseok! Cheolseok! Chwaaaah!

A full-fledged tug of war began. Ark could feel the unknown species struggling desperately but he didn’t rush. Fishing was patience. If he hurried then it would become disadvantageous to him. Right now the urgent thing was catching the unknown fish species.

“I’m someone who managed to play the game after a long time. Okay, I won’t give up even if it takes several hours!”

Ark moved the air board and regulated his power while pulling the wire. So Ark struggled with the unknown fish for 30 minutes. He suddenly felt an abrupt release of tension transmitted through the wire. Ark had experience in fishing so he could instinctively sense it.

“Now!”

Ark strongly pulled the wire at that moment!

“Huk! W-what is this?”

Ark gaped with confusion. He had struggled for 30 minutes so Ark had expected a huge fish. Yet the body hanging from the wire was 1 m 50 cm! But this wasn’t the first time he saw the species. No, this existence couldn’t even be classified as a fish species. The species gasped and pulled out the Bellos’ tooth stuck in its leg. It fell down and glared at Ark.

–You bastard, what are you doing?

It approached and grabbed Ark’s collar.

–Dammit! That hurt! The needle was stuck in me! Damn, do you want to die? Am I a fish?

It definitely wasn’t a fish. The person holding onto Ark’s collar was…..

“Charenjok?”

He had fished up an unexpected thing.