"Let's tally up the loot."
Next, it's the familiar loot tallying stage.
[Rusted Knife]
[Type: Weapon]
[Quality: Gray]
[Attack Power: 2]
[Durability: 4/10]
[Explanation: A small knife soaked at the seabed for a long time.]
[Damaged Firearm]
[Type: Weapon]
[Quality: Gray]
[Attack Power: 0]
[Durability: 1/10]
[Explanation: A firearm corroded by the seawater, it's barely in one piece and can't be used anymore.]
[Iron Badge]
[Type: Equipment]
[Quality: Gray]
[Special Effect: None]
[Explanation: A plain iron badge with a gang's symbol, not much use.]
Finally, two Silver Coins, eight Copper Coins.
In this game, item quality is ranked from low to high: gray, white, green, blue, purple, golden, red, chaos.
Gray indicates it's close to breaking.
In summary, it's just a pile of junk.
Rogel felt a bit speechless.
He thought the Damaged Firearm could still be useful, turns out he was mistaken.
At least the small knife is usable, so there's a weapon and some money.
It's barely manageable.
After all, he currently has nothing.
Next, Rogel continued using the Sea Fish to explore the seabed.
But the sea area ahead became deeper.
The clone was already struggling in the shallow sea area, let alone the deeper sea region.
So Rogel decisively recalled the Sea Fish.
But he didn't let the Sea Fish idle, instead letting it swim in another direction to scout ahead, maybe find some land or island.
The clone kept on fishing.
After a while, the clone reeled in the fishing rod.
The Fishing Master talent still hadn't triggered that incredibly rare effect, he only caught some small fish, prawns, and rotten wood boards.
The leveling speed also slowed down.
"Maybe need to catch something high-grade."
Rogel pondered.
After making the clone eat some food to restore energy, Rogel continued fishing.
He had nothing else to do, so he fished while monitoring the Sea Fish's perspective.
Time passed slowly.
It seemed that clouds were pressing down, shadows were cast, and the game world darkened.
Plop.
A raindrop fell into the sea.
It was followed by a countless dense rain.
It's raining.
Howling sea winds made the waves rise and fall.
The small orange cat extended its paw curiously to try and catch the rain.
But feeling its fur getting wet, it quickly ran into the boat shelter.
Rogel didn't plan to fish anymore, letting the clone return to the boat shelter to rest.
"Just hope not to encounter a tsunami or something."
Rogel felt a bit worried.
His small boat, if it really encounters a tsunami, would probably be wrecked instantly.
Thankfully, after a while, it was just chilly rain and sea winds, nothing like a tsunami.
Rogel also breathed a sigh of relief, controlled the Sea Fish to continue exploring.
"Wait a minute, is that...?"
Feeling slightly bored, Rogel was just about to grab a snack, but then he noticed a slope appearing in the Sea Fish's view, rising towards the sea surface.
There's land!
Rogel's spirit lifted, quickly saved the game, and immediately had the Sea Fish swim towards the slope's edge.
Upon confirming there was indeed land and a dock ahead, Rogel used the connection from the clone to confirm the direction.
Thus, he quickly controlled the clone to pick up the oars and paddle desperately towards the land.
Not long after, the small boat docked.
The clone leapt and landed on the wooden dock, picking up a rope nearby to tie the small boat.
"Better carry the important items with me."
Aside from the Lucky Pearl given by his mother, Rogel didn't have any particularly precious items.
The small orange cat seemed reluctant to go in the rain, staying behind instead.
Rogel considered it and decided not to force the small orange cat, leaving it to watch over the boat.
By the dock was a small wooden house, beside it a small shed with sunflowers planted, the house lights were on, indicating someone might be living there.
Rogel controlled the clone to go up and knock on the door.
Not long after, the wooden door creaked open, revealing an elderly man with a hat, hands behind his back.
[Young man, what business do you have?]
Words appeared above the elderly man's head.
Rogel pondered, letting the clone open its mouth to reply.
[Hello, I'm an Explorer, I've just arrived at this island, could you tell me where this is? Is there a town nearby?]
Upon hearing Rogel's words, the elderly man glanced at the small boat nearby.
[Ah, so you're a young man who's just set out to sea...]
[This is Sea Serpent Island in the Harmony Sea Area, if you want to go to the town, just follow the main road beside here.]
Having obtained the information he wanted, Rogel didn't leave immediately.
[Thank you for the directions, I'm Rogel, could I know your name?]
The elderly man was originally turning away to close the door.
But seeing Rogel speak again, he reluctantly turned back.
[...]
[You seem to have quite a few questions.]
[Come in and we'll talk.]
The elderly man took two steps, leaving the door open for Rogel.
Rogel was a bit pleased upon seeing this.
The characters being able to speak freely is great.
Looks like this game world is quite realistic indeed.
Rogel didn't hold back, expressed his thanks, and walked into the house.
The wooden house's interior was simple, with a fireplace, a table, two chairs, a bed, and some storage boxes.
On the bedside, hung a photo.
A man in a sailor suit looked shy, behind him stood a long-haired woman looking cheerful and vibrant.
The elderly man looked after Rogel, allowing him to sit down, and poured him a cup of water from the kettle.
[I'm Nelson, as you can see, my job is to watch over the dock at Sea Serpent Island.]
Old Nelson sipped the water.
He then looked at Rogel, conveying the meaning of getting to questions quickly.
[Mr. Nelson, do you have a world map, or could one be bought in the town?]
Words appeared above Rogel's clone's head.
[... World map?]
[There might be one in the town; I only have a map of Harmony Sea Area here.]
With that, Old Nelson got up, rummaging through a box, pulling out a map and placing it on the table.
Rogel clicked the interact button, and a map of the Harmony Sea Area enlarged on the game interface.
Rogel hurriedly took a screenshot with his phone.
[Seems like you were quite flustered when setting out, didn't prepare well.]
[Take this sea map, it's yours.]
Old Nelson said, gifting the sea map to Rogel.
[Thank you for your generosity, Mr. Nelson, this is greatly helpful to me.]
Rogel expressed gratitude to Old Nelson, after storing the sea map, he asked another question.
[I found an Iron Badge during my voyage, do you know its origins?]
Rogel took out the Iron Badge, wondering if he could trigger a hidden plot.
Old Nelson examined the Iron Badge carefully.
[Oh, so it's the badge of the Black Brick Pirate Gang...]
Old Nelson returned the Iron Badge to Rogel, continuing.
[The Black Brick Pirate Gang was notorious in the Harmony Sea Area over ten years ago, but they have long disappeared, maybe punished by the Sea God.]
[Where did you find this thing?]