The bobber floated on the surface of his infinite water source, rising and falling with subtle ripples.
Alexei stared at it without blinking, his eyes starting to water from the effort.
In the game, fish would create visible splash effects as they approached the bobber. You'd see the particles, get a warning, know something was about to happen.
Here? Just the bobber, floating. And honestly, he had no idea if catching fish from a three-block pool of clear water was even possible.
Though if this really follows game logic, he thought, one block of water would be enough. I've got two extra. That's overkill.
Thirty minutes passed..
The water remained perfectly.
"Is this not going to work?"
In Minecraft, every successful catch gave you 1-6 experience points randomly. That alone would be valuable. But the loot, that's what he really wanted.
Enchanted books, enchanted bows and fishing rods, name tags, saddles, and dozens of different items that could drop.
And most importantly: tripwire hooks, bows, fishing rods, and leather boots.
With his Deconstruction ability, those items could be broken down directly into iron ingots, sticks, string, and leather. Resources he desperately needed without having to risk his life exploring the murder-forest.
"Another half hour. If nothing bites by then, I'll... I don't know. Try something else."
He was making excuses, he knew. Back on Earth, plenty of fishermen would sit by a river all day, dumping bait and chum into the water, and still go home with nothing to show for it.
At least he wasn't being eaten alive by mosquitoes.
His gaze locked back onto the bobber.
Come on. Just one fish. That's all I'm asking for.
Time crawled forward with the speed of continental drift.
Ten more minutes.
Fifteen.
Then... Ripples appeared on the surface, spreading rapidly toward the bobber.
A shadow moved beneath the water. The rod dipped sharply, line pulling taut.
"Yes! Finally!"
He yanked hard, probably too hard, and nearly fell backward off his stool as something came flying out of the water.
[Pufferfish ×1]
Three or four small experience orbs erupted from the fish and flowed into him. He felt his XP bar jump noticeably, maybe half a level's worth.
The pufferfish floated in his hand, perfectly round, covered in spines, and looking mildly offended to have been caught.
"You're kind of useless right now," he told it apologetically. "But I appreciate you validating my life choices."
He stored the fish in his inventory and immediately cast again, this time with more confidence.
BONK.
The bobber smacked into the wall, bounced, and clattered to the floor at his feet.
"..."
He reeled in slowly, cheeks burning despite being alone.
"Right. Just... place it gently, like a normal person."
The second cast went smoothly, bobber settling onto the water.
And now that he knew fishing worked, the anxiety disappeared. This was doable.
He'd already confirmed which version of Minecraft his abilities followed, Bedrock Edition, the version he'd played most, not Java. The differences mattered.
Bedrock fishing rods had 385 durability. Java only had 65.
In Bedrock, you could catch fish, junk, and treasure from a single block of water. Java required a 5×5×2 open water area, or you'd only get fish.
For once, the universe had done him a favor.
The second catch came much faster, only twenty minutes of waiting before the bobber plunged and he reeled in his prize.
[Raw Cod ×1]
Another rush of experience. He was getting close to level two.
Third catch took about forty minutes.
[Raw Cod ×1]
By evening, his inventory had grown considerably, and his ass had gone completely numb from sitting on a wooden stair for hours.
[Raw Cod ×5], [Raw Salmon ×1], [Pufferfish ×1], [Bowl ×1], [Stick ×1], [Leather ×1]
Each catch had taken anywhere from twenty minutes to just under an hour. Never more than an hour though, which suggested some kind of internal timer or RNG weighted in his favor.
Total experience gained: 44 points.
Every time he hit a full level, he'd immediately spent it, converting three silkspore logs and three dirt blocks into proper MC materials.
The dirt blocks went next to his infinite water source, hoed into farmland ready for planting. He hadn't put seeds in yet, seeds also needed experience infusion to work properly, but the prep work was done.
He was three XP short of his next level when he got another bite.
Twenty minutes of waiting, then a smooth pull that felt almost practiced now.
[String ×1]
"Oh, hey. Bonus."
He pulled the string into his hand and checked it with a thought. The item hummed with that familiar MC energy, it didn't even need assimilation. Same as the stick he'd caught earlier. Items fished up were already game-ready.
He swapped the string for wheat seeds in his inventory, felt a full level's worth of experience flow into them, and planted them in the prepared farmland.
Stretching, he felt his spine pop in several places and let out an involuntary groan. The wooden stair beneath him had gone from "uncomfortable" to "actively hostile" somewhere around hour three.
"Okay. Break time before my tailbone files a formal complaint."
But fishing was kind of addicting? He got why people back on Earth would sit by rivers all day, feeding mosquitoes and staring at water.
The sun was getting low outside, maybe an hour of daylight left.
Not enough time to explore, but too much to waste sitting around.
He headed out to fill in the mineshaft he'd dug.
Filling it was vastly easier than digging it had been. Ten minutes of placing blocks, and the shaft was gone like it had never existed.
He even scattered some dead leaves around to blend the newly placed mycelium in with the surrounding forest floor.
The sunset was still visible on the horizon.
He still had time.
He jogged back to his spawn point and filled in the test hole he'd dug when first discovering his MC abilities. The blocks merged seamlessly with the giant tree, no longer looking artificial.
As for all the other trees he'd harvested, no repair work needed. He'd been careful to mine into the trunks from inside the giant tree's interior, sealing the entrance behind him each time. From outside, the forest looked completely untouched.
He was trying to minimize any signs of habitation. If he had enough experience, he'd even consider assimilating the entire outer wall of his base to make it more secure.
Night fell as he finished his work.
Back inside the treehouse, he sealed the entrance.
But tonight, he wasn't sleeping.
He didn't actually need sleep, that was another MC perk. The last couple nights, he'd only slept because there was literally nothing else to do in the pitch-black darkness.
Tonight though?
Tonight, he was fishing until dawn.
---
Day Five.
When morning light started filtering into his treehouse, Alexei's mood was complicated.
On one hand, the all-night fishing session had been incredibly productive.
He'd caught a bow with about one-third durability remaining and a pair of leather boots that were barely held together.
For him, durability didn't matter. Deconstruction gave the same materials regardless of condition.
The bow broke down into three string and three sticks.
The boots deconstructed into leather that, combined with the piece he'd caught earlier, let him craft a full leather helmet. He put it on immediately, feeling slightly less vulnerable.
He was now only two wool blocks away from crafting a bed. Two wool meant eight more string.
Totally doable.
That was the good news.
The bad news... Well, he was now certain the creature that had prowled around his treehouse on night one had never left.
He'd just been sleeping too deeply to notice before.
Last night, while fishing in silence, he'd heard it. Multiple sets of claws scraping against wood. Not just one creature... several. And they'd been digging.
They'd only left about an hour ago, as dawn approached.
Cautiously, he dug open his entrance and checked his surroundings.
No monsters in sight.
He circled around to the back of his treehouse, already knowing what he'd find but hoping he was wrong.
He wasn't.
Two holes, each about half a meter deep, had been carved into the back wall of his tree. Wood chips and sawdust were scattered across the ground below.
Both holes looked fresh, started sometime in the latter half of last night.
"That's not great."
The good news was that whatever these creatures were, they were weaker than he'd feared. If they were truly dangerous, they could've dug through much faster.
Half a meter in several hours? That was slow. But definitely a threat if left unchecked.
His solution was simple: break the damaged sections and replace them with intact blocks.
Even the thinnest part of his outer wall was around two meters thick. Short of these things working at it for multiple consecutive nights, they wouldn't break through quickly.
He pulled out his axe and mined the damaged wood.
[Damaged Silkspore Log ×1]
The mining time hadn't changed. The block just had a different name now and couldn't stack with regular logs anymore.
"Annoying."
He replaced both holes with fresh logs from his inventory, making sure everything was secure.
Unlike the spider's feeding grounds, this treehouse was his respawn point. His only respawn point. If he died here, if these things broke through while he was inside... He'd respawn right into their waiting claws, until he figured out how to escape or they got bored.
Classic spawn-camping. Except instead of annoying gamers, it'd be monsters trying to eat him.
The fact that they'd found him on the very first night suggested high tracking ability. Smell, maybe? Sound? Heat?
Whatever it was, they knew he was here.
And if he died too many times in the same spot, they might just set up permanent camp. Treat his respawn point like a convenient food dispenser. Though honestly, if these things relied on him for sustenance, they'd probably starve.
Every time he respawned, his corpse disappeared completely. Not even a drop of blood left behind.
"Silver lining, I guess. At least I'm not leaving a buffet for them."