the rise of otaku

Chapter 7 Fisherman

After the kids got out of the water, they didn’t return home. Instead, they were playing in Zhou Yu’s yard.

This place used to be the kids’ playground. However, after Zhou Yu came back, they hardly ever came. The first reason was that Zhou Yu hardly ever came out of the house, they were not familiar with him. The second reason was that seeing a guy that never came out of his room scared them a little bit. Now that after seeing Zhou Yu next to the river a few times, they realized that Zhou Yu actually wasn’t a bad guy. So they started to play around in this place again.

The Pavilion of Wind and Rain, which was newly made, was a very popular site amongst those kids. It was clearly just a pavilion, but it was so small, that as if it was made for Lilliputians. Not only was it very pretty, but the tiny tables and chairs inside were also very extremely exquisite. There would always be some kids, wanting to take them out to have a close look, but eventually, they would all be told off by Zhou Hao. Because those things were made from his family’s tree.

The old village also specially came by to have a look at those things as well. Even he was also amazed by Zhou Yu’s skill. Originally, he thought that Zhou Yu was just messing around, but he didn’t expect that he really had this kind of skill.

Just this pavilion, many carpenters in the village didn’t have the skills to make one. So his impression of Zhou Yu instantly improved a lot.

Whenever Zhou Hong talked about this son, his face was always filled with disappointment. But now, it seemed like the kid was not as bad as he said was. Perhaps, his expectation was too high.

………………………

Having given the Boing Boing fish to the beaver and sold other fish, plus the quest reward, he received 125 Moe Coins in total. With the coins that he had saved before, he was able to continuously use the gashapon machine ten times this time. However, he did not know whether if the machine had mechanisms like some browser games, where after he used it for a certain period of time, he would get some building boxes. Otherwise, it would be very disappointing if he could only get materials.

Upon finishing the quest, the old dragon king also suddenly appeared. “Hahaha, little Zhou, it is truly great that you could catch 20 Boing Boing fish so fast. You surely did not disappoint me. Now, I can finally perform my summoning ritual!”

Summoning Ritual? Say what?!

After beaver handed 20 Boing Boing fish over to the old dragon king, they happily went to the stage of the village together.

The stage was a big open square. Whenever there was a festival, the village would invite some troupes to come over to play. Zhou Yu did not expect that in the ACG world, this place was an important altar.

Acting like a priest, the old dragon king drew a strange Yin Yang fish pattern in the center of the stage. After he put Boing Boing fish on the black spot, he began to recite some words quietly to perform the summoning ritual.

Zhou Yu was watching the old dragon king performing as if he was watching a big show. After a while, Yin Yang fish began to shine and quickly started to rotate. As if the Boing Boing fish were the sacrificial offerings of the ritual, they began to disappear. But at the same time, a blurry figure began to form in the white spot, and it was getting more and more clear.

When the Yin Yang fish stopped rotating, that figure could also be seen clearly. It was a new anime creature – The Cormorant Fisherman

So this was the method of increasing the population of the ACG world?

The cormorant fisherman was an old cormorant bird. However, it had a white beard. It was wearing a conical hat on its head and a straw cape. There was a fishing rod under its wings, and a bamboo fishing-hamper on its back. No matter from which perspective, it had a full set of fishing equipment. However, the only question that Zhou Yu had was, that wasn’t the cormorant bird supposed to catch fish by diving into water?

Uh… What else could he say? This was the setting of this ACG world…

The new villager also brought a new quest – he needed a house to shelter him. Moreover, this creature’s eyes were bloody sharp. The Red Sandalwood plant in Zhou Yu’s yard instantly caught his fancy as soon as he arrived at Zhou Yu’s place.

……

Half a month had passed, although the idol flower had not opened yet, it already had the basic shape.

Checking the characteristics of its branches and leaves on the Internet, it seemed like it was Camellia japonica. Fortunately, it was not some unknown plants with exaggerated appearances. Otherwise, if there were any flower enthusiasts in the village, it would freak them out.

In terms of other plants, he had already planted five of them. Recently, all he got from the gashapon machine were plants, other than that, he also got some ore that didn’t sound like they would be worth a lot. So he could only keep them in the storeroom.

The other plants grew very fast. Although they were planted later than the idol flower, they already formed their shapes. All of them looked like miniature potted trees. The Beaver had also checked them before, he said that all of were the good materials for building houses.

There was another interesting thing about those plants. It was that their names didn’t match their appearance.

For example, when he checked the pot that labeled The Red Sandalwood plant online, he found out its appearance looked like a pot of Buddhist pine. It was clearly just trying to deceive consumers! But it was actually better this way. Otherwise, If he had some rare and expensive pot plants in his home, it would only bring unnecessary troubles.

Although he didn’t know plants very well. But Sandalwood sounded like an expensive type of plants. Therefore, wasn’t it a very extravagant thing to use this type of wood to build a house?

Moreover, after those plants formed their shapes, they were as pretty as those pot plants that someone especially took care of. Cutting them down was both a waste and an extremely unpleasant scene to see. Fortunately, he didn’t need to build anything at the moment. So those pot plants were still in his yard.

But if he could keep the new villager, wasting a pot plant was still a good deal. Because he would be able to get the daily quest from him, so what more could he say? Therefore he agreed to let Beaver modify the Red Sandalwood plant.

For a God-level carpenter, building a house was not a difficult thing. It only spent him an afternoon to complete it.

In the small pot, the miniature red sandalwood tree seemed very big. Underneath its branches, appeared a small and exquisite fisherman’s house, there was even a small country yard as well. There was also a wooden cormorant fisherman, fishing next to a small fake river. This was a sign. Meaning that someone had already taken this place, and Zhou Yu shouldn’t hack it down.

Having had a house, the cormorant fisherman formally became the citizen of the village. After it went around the village to familiar with the surroundings, he began to fish next to the small river near Zhou Yu’s house.

In just one day, Zhou Yu suddenly noticed that his Moe Coins had increased a lot. It was almost 400. Originally, he wanted to use the gashapon machine 10 times. But now he changed his mind. It was mainly that he was scared by the machine. Especially the things that had brackets after their names, such as the high-quality magical imitation comic studio, and the temporary farmer’s hut, which could only be used for one month. It was not as good as the original version.

So he’d rather not to depend on his luck, but to save his coins to buy the building boxes from the vending machine.

The farmer was indeed very good. Not only could it take care of the plants, but it could also go to the flower fertilizer re-spawning point by itself to gather the fertilizer once a day.

The pot plants needed someone to trim them, the Camellia japonica also needed someone to look after it.

It was not something that Zhou Yu, who didn’t have any plants knowledge, could do. So he needed another farmer. The farmer he had now, only had half a month left. In order to avoid having any disruptions, it was better for him to get a permanent farmer’s hut first.

A farmer’s hut would cost him 300 Moe Coins. Gritting his teeth, Zhou Yu decided to buy one.

However, when he opened the building box that had a farmer’s hut, he was blindsided. He thought that he would get something like the temporary farm’s hut, but the permanent one. But he didn’t expect that he would only get a blueprint. If he needed one, he still needed to find someone to help him to build one.

The carpenter beaver was staring at Zhou Yu with both of its eyes shining with excitement.

The labor would cost 100 Moe Coins, the material fee was not included. The first-tier material such as the fragrant rosewood or the red sandalwood would cost 200 Moe Coins! It was clearly a rip-off!

But the hut that was made of the better material, would allow the farmer that lived inside to level up more easily. There was also a greater probability of learning new skills when leveling up.

The red sandalwood pot was already taken by the cormorant fisherman, otherwise, he would be able to create the highest-tier farmer’s hut. In terms of the rest of the pot plants, the highest-tier one was the violet rosewood. Hence he decided to use it to practice his skill.

If there were any plants enthusiasts here, what happened next would make their hearts bleed.

An extremely rare pot plant, that was also in a very good condition was forcibly pulled out of the pot. Then it was chopped into small pieces by an axe.

The skill of cutting wood, which was taught by the carpenter couldn’t be used on the real trees. But it was very effective on those plants that had the ACG world’s attributes attached to them. He just needed to swing the axe lightly, the violet rosewood was automatically split into different types of wood pieces. It was just like what he usually see in games.

In the end, he received 20 pieces of wood, it just happened to be enough to build a farmer’s hut.

Since the material was ready, then let the construction begin!

Chapter 7 Fisherman

After the kids got out of the water, they didn’t return home. Instead, they were playing in Zhou Yu’s yard.

This place used to be the kids’ playground. However, after Zhou Yu came back, they hardly ever came. The first reason was that Zhou Yu hardly ever came out of the house, they were not familiar with him. The second reason was that seeing a guy that never came out of his room scared them a little bit. Now that after seeing Zhou Yu next to the river a few times, they realized that Zhou Yu actually wasn’t a bad guy. So they started to play around in this place again.

The Pavilion of Wind and Rain, which was newly made, was a very popular site amongst those kids. It was clearly just a pavilion, but it was so small, that as if it was made for Lilliputians. Not only was it very pretty, but the tiny tables and chairs inside were also very extremely exquisite. There would always be some kids, wanting to take them out to have a close look, but eventually, they would all be told off by Zhou Hao. Because those things were made from his family’s tree.

The old village also specially came by to have a look at those things as well. Even he was also amazed by Zhou Yu’s skill. Originally, he thought that Zhou Yu was just messing around, but he didn’t expect that he really had this kind of skill.

Just this pavilion, many carpenters in the village didn’t have the skills to make one. So his impression of Zhou Yu instantly improved a lot.

Whenever Zhou Hong talked about this son, his face was always filled with disappointment. But now, it seemed like the kid was not as bad as he said was. Perhaps, his expectation was too high.

………………………

Having given the Boing Boing fish to the beaver and sold other fish, plus the quest reward, he received 125 Moe Coins in total. With the coins that he had saved before, he was able to continuously use the gashapon machine ten times this time. However, he did not know whether if the machine had mechanisms like some browser games, where after he used it for a certain period of time, he would get some building boxes. Otherwise, it would be very disappointing if he could only get materials.

Upon finishing the quest, the old dragon king also suddenly appeared. “Hahaha, little Zhou, it is truly great that you could catch 20 Boing Boing fish so fast. You surely did not disappoint me. Now, I can finally perform my summoning ritual!”

Summoning Ritual? Say what?!

After beaver handed 20 Boing Boing fish over to the old dragon king, they happily went to the stage of the village together.

The stage was a big open square. Whenever there was a festival, the village would invite some troupes to come over to play. Zhou Yu did not expect that in the ACG world, this place was an important altar.

Acting like a priest, the old dragon king drew a strange Yin Yang fish pattern in the center of the stage. After he put Boing Boing fish on the black spot, he began to recite some words quietly to perform the summoning ritual.

Zhou Yu was watching the old dragon king performing as if he was watching a big show. After a while, Yin Yang fish began to shine and quickly started to rotate. As if the Boing Boing fish were the sacrificial offerings of the ritual, they began to disappear. But at the same time, a blurry figure began to form in the white spot, and it was getting more and more clear.

When the Yin Yang fish stopped rotating, that figure could also be seen clearly. It was a new anime creature – The Cormorant Fisherman

So this was the method of increasing the population of the ACG world?

The cormorant fisherman was an old cormorant bird. However, it had a white beard. It was wearing a conical hat on its head and a straw cape. There was a fishing rod under its wings, and a bamboo fishing-hamper on its back. No matter from which perspective, it had a full set of fishing equipment. However, the only question that Zhou Yu had was, that wasn’t the cormorant bird supposed to catch fish by diving into water?

Uh… What else could he say? This was the setting of this ACG world…

The new villager also brought a new quest – he needed a house to shelter him. Moreover, this creature’s eyes were bloody sharp. The Red Sandalwood plant in Zhou Yu’s yard instantly caught his fancy as soon as he arrived at Zhou Yu’s place.

……

Half a month had passed, although the idol flower had not opened yet, it already had the basic shape.

Checking the characteristics of its branches and leaves on the Internet, it seemed like it was Camellia japonica. Fortunately, it was not some unknown plants with exaggerated appearances. Otherwise, if there were any flower enthusiasts in the village, it would freak them out.

In terms of other plants, he had already planted five of them. Recently, all he got from the gashapon machine were plants, other than that, he also got some ore that didn’t sound like they would be worth a lot. So he could only keep them in the storeroom.

The other plants grew very fast. Although they were planted later than the idol flower, they already formed their shapes. All of them looked like miniature potted trees. The Beaver had also checked them before, he said that all of were the good materials for building houses.

There was another interesting thing about those plants. It was that their names didn’t match their appearance.

For example, when he checked the pot that labeled The Red Sandalwood plant online, he found out its appearance looked like a pot of Buddhist pine. It was clearly just trying to deceive consumers! But it was actually better this way. Otherwise, If he had some rare and expensive pot plants in his home, it would only bring unnecessary troubles.

Although he didn’t know plants very well. But Sandalwood sounded like an expensive type of plants. Therefore, wasn’t it a very extravagant thing to use this type of wood to build a house?

Moreover, after those plants formed their shapes, they were as pretty as those pot plants that someone especially took care of. Cutting them down was both a waste and an extremely unpleasant scene to see. Fortunately, he didn’t need to build anything at the moment. So those pot plants were still in his yard.

But if he could keep the new villager, wasting a pot plant was still a good deal. Because he would be able to get the daily quest from him, so what more could he say? Therefore he agreed to let Beaver modify the Red Sandalwood plant.

For a God-level carpenter, building a house was not a difficult thing. It only spent him an afternoon to complete it.

In the small pot, the miniature red sandalwood tree seemed very big. Underneath its branches, appeared a small and exquisite fisherman’s house, there was even a small country yard as well. There was also a wooden cormorant fisherman, fishing next to a small fake river. This was a sign. Meaning that someone had already taken this place, and Zhou Yu shouldn’t hack it down.

Having had a house, the cormorant fisherman formally became the citizen of the village. After it went around the village to familiar with the surroundings, he began to fish next to the small river near Zhou Yu’s house.

In just one day, Zhou Yu suddenly noticed that his Moe Coins had increased a lot. It was almost 400. Originally, he wanted to use the gashapon machine 10 times. But now he changed his mind. It was mainly that he was scared by the machine. Especially the things that had brackets after their names, such as the high-quality magical imitation comic studio, and the temporary farmer’s hut, which could only be used for one month. It was not as good as the original version.

So he’d rather not to depend on his luck, but to save his coins to buy the building boxes from the vending machine.

The farmer was indeed very good. Not only could it take care of the plants, but it could also go to the flower fertilizer re-spawning point by itself to gather the fertilizer once a day.

The pot plants needed someone to trim them, the Camellia japonica also needed someone to look after it.

It was not something that Zhou Yu, who didn’t have any plants knowledge, could do. So he needed another farmer. The farmer he had now, only had half a month left. In order to avoid having any disruptions, it was better for him to get a permanent farmer’s hut first.

A farmer’s hut would cost him 300 Moe Coins. Gritting his teeth, Zhou Yu decided to buy one.

However, when he opened the building box that had a farmer’s hut, he was blindsided. He thought that he would get something like the temporary farm’s hut, but the permanent one. But he didn’t expect that he would only get a blueprint. If he needed one, he still needed to find someone to help him to build one.

The carpenter beaver was staring at Zhou Yu with both of its eyes shining with excitement.

The labor would cost 100 Moe Coins, the material fee was not included. The first-tier material such as the fragrant rosewood or the red sandalwood would cost 200 Moe Coins! It was clearly a rip-off!

But the hut that was made of the better material, would allow the farmer that lived inside to level up more easily. There was also a greater probability of learning new skills when leveling up.

The red sandalwood pot was already taken by the cormorant fisherman, otherwise, he would be able to create the highest-tier farmer’s hut. In terms of the rest of the pot plants, the highest-tier one was the violet rosewood. Hence he decided to use it to practice his skill.

If there were any plants enthusiasts here, what happened next would make their hearts bleed.

An extremely rare pot plant, that was also in a very good condition was forcibly pulled out of the pot. Then it was chopped into small pieces by an axe.

The skill of cutting wood, which was taught by the carpenter couldn’t be used on the real trees. But it was very effective on those plants that had the ACG world’s attributes attached to them. He just needed to swing the axe lightly, the violet rosewood was automatically split into different types of wood pieces. It was just like what he usually see in games.

In the end, he received 20 pieces of wood, it just happened to be enough to build a farmer’s hut.

Since the material was ready, then let the construction begin!