“Young man, we’ve arrived at your community gate.”
The driver’s voice sounded in Lin You’s ear. Lin You turned off his phone, slipped it into his pocket, and then got out of the car, holding his umbrella.
At that moment, his phone chimed “ding-dong.” Lin You guessed it was the automatic deduction from the ride-hailing app.
Because it had been raining for the past two days, there weren't many people in the community at night. The few Food delivery guys who occasionally appeared would hurry past.
Since encountering some strange things recently, Lin You now felt that whenever there was an unlit area within his line of sight at night, it felt peculiar.
However, the streetlights in Lin You’s community were quite bright, so even without a flashlight, he could clearly see the way home.
Walking on the main road illuminated by streetlights, Lin You felt a bit melancholic.
He missed his family a little.
That’s right, unlike most transmigrators, Lin You had a family before transmigrating.
After transmigrating, everything about him remained unchanged, except for his family.
In this world, information about Lin You’s family seemed to have been forcibly erased by something.
Lin You had asked his mentor to investigate before, and in his more than 20 years of life, the concept of “family” had never appeared.
“Sigh.”
Lin You sighed and continued walking forward.
Ahead of him was an artificial fountain, the kind every community installs to boost property values.
Lin You noticed that next to the fountain, a figure was standing with his back to him.
A streetlight happened to illuminate this artificial fountain, and under its glow, Lin You could clearly see the back of the figure standing by the artificial fountain.
The man was dressed in a worn-out raincoat, holding a simple fishing rod that appeared to be DIY-ed from a bamboo pole and fishing line. He stood by the fountain as if no one else was around, using the fishing rod in his hand to tease the ornamental fish in the fountain.
Fishing Enthusiast
Or perhaps he was being teased by the ornamental fish.
Lin You knew that the ornamental fish in the fountain were extremely cunning. How could a Fishing Enthusiast who seemed a bit mentally unstable possibly catch a fish here?
Thinking this, Lin You suddenly realized a problem.
Including the time before his transmigration, he had lived in this community for several years, and in all those years, he didn't remember there being such a seemingly deranged Fishing Enthusiast in his community.
Realizing this, Lin You quietly shifted his feet and slowly began to retreat, wanting to distance himself from this strange Fishing Enthusiast.
However, Lin You was shocked to find that although his steps were moving backward and he intended to distance himself from the Fishing Enthusiast, no matter how he walked or thought, the distance between him and the Fishing Enthusiast only grew shorter.
Lin You’s gaze narrowed slightly, and golden light swirled in his left eye. In an instant, he felt dizzy, his eyes stung immensely, and his head spun uncontrollably.
“Fishing,” “Never Empty-Handed,” “Karma,” “Puppet,” “Pain Transfer”...
Countless bizarre and twisted tadpole-like characters flashed before Lin You’s eyes. If the “Sorrow” characteristic possessed by the crying mona lisa was like a single tree in Lin You’s eyes, then this Fishing Enthusiast before him was an entire forest in Lin You’s eyes.
The strange abilities were countless; just a glance made Lin You feel dizzy and lightheaded, and the patterns on his left hand surged significantly.
“Do you eat fish?”
Just as Lin You was in a trance, a calm voice sounded in his ear.
Unbeknownst to him, the Fishing Enthusiast was already standing in front of Lin You, or perhaps Lin You had unconsciously walked in front of him.
At close range, Lin You could clearly see the Fishing Enthusiast’s appearance.
He was a typical Fishing Enthusiast: a young man in his thirties, with a dark complexion and slightly sunken eyes, clearly the result of constant exposure to sun and wind.
Looking at the calm-faced young man before him, Lin You was very clear that beneath his calm exterior, countless strange and terrifying characteristics were hidden.
However, what relieved Lin You was that at least this terrifying Fishing Enthusiast didn’t suddenly attack him with a face-exploding move.
Even when they stood face to face, the Fishing Enthusiast remained calm, with no intention of suddenly making a scary face to frighten him.
“I don’t want to eat fish, can I?”
Lin You asked cautiously, quietly moving backward as he spoke.
The Fishing Enthusiast said nothing more, simply extended the hand not holding the fishing rod and clamped onto Lin You’s arm.
“What kind of fish do you eat?”
The Fishing Enthusiast spoke again, this time changing the way he asked, directly removing Lin You’s chance to refuse.
Lin You tried to pull his clamped arm, but finding it useless, he gave up on escaping.
Looking at the fountain in front of him, which was used to raise the community’s property value, and the ornamental fish swimming within it, Lin You was silent for a moment:
“Bluefin… Tuna?”
Fishing Enthusiast: ...
Hearing Lin You’s request, the Fishing Enthusiast said nothing, merely staring at him with his calm, dead-fish-like eyes.
“Gulp.”
Lin You swallowed.
Although the Fishing Enthusiast didn’t speak, Lin You could guess what he was thinking. Lin You admitted that his request was indeed a bit too difficult to fulfill.
But he couldn’t do anything else. Against a strange existence like the Fishing Enthusiast, Lin You couldn’t fight him, nor could he run away, so he could only use this method to extricate himself.
The two stared at each other for about half a minute. During this time, the Fishing Enthusiast’s eyes remained fixed on Lin You.
Lin You, not to be outdone, glared back with his own eyes, adopting an attitude that he only wanted Bluefin Tuna, and if he couldn't catch it, then the Fishing Enthusiast should let him go immediately.
“Good.”
Suddenly, the Fishing Enthusiast spoke.
His answer was slightly unexpected for Lin You.
Faced with Lin You’s unreasonable request, he actually agreed.
After agreeing to Lin You’s request, the Fishing Enthusiast released the hand that was restraining Lin You. Then he turned, cast his rod, with the demeanor of a fishing grandmaster, his movements fluid and seamless.
Lin You was initially intimidated by the Fishing Enthusiast, but upon closer inspection, he realized that the so-called fishing rod in the Fishing Enthusiast’s hand was nothing more than a worn-out bamboo pole, a transparent thin line, and a rusty hook.
The entire fishing rod didn’t even have a bobber.
If this fishing rod appeared in someone else’s hand, Lin You might think the person was an idiot.
But with it in the Fishing Enthusiast’s hand, Lin You actually felt an illusion of “this is normal” deep down.
After watching behind the Fishing Enthusiast for a while, seeing that the Fishing Enthusiast seemed completely engrossed in his fishing endeavor and wasn’t paying attention to him, Lin You’s courage slowly grew.
He quietly retreated backward, and after reaching a certain distance, Lin You immediately bolted home.
Along the way, Lin You had already made up his mind: when the authorities came to transfer the “bronze jue,” he would try to get in touch with the official personnel.
At that time, with the official personnel on the job, dealing with a small Fishing Enthusiast would be a piece of cake.