Jie had the feeling she'd been given this chat group a very long time ago.
She couldn't quite remember how long she'd slept in that hazy, formless chaos — how much time had dissolved away in the dark.
But something like a force had reached in and pulled her from death's slumber. When she came back to herself, a vivid blue holographic screen had appeared before her eyes.
Along with four unfamiliar names.
Along with the knowledge that she was dead — and the knowledge that this thing called a chat group existed.
Well. That she was dead wasn't exactly a surprise.
As a soul now, Jie found herself in an awkward predicament: unable to draw on the powers she'd wielded as a Sui Shard, stripped of nearly every sense she'd ever known.
But if you asked whether she wanted to come back to life — of course she did.
It was just that resurrection felt impossibly, hopelessly far away. Dwelling on it now would only be getting ahead of herself. So Jie, almost without thinking, turned her attention to what was right in front of her.
And what she wanted most, right in front of her — was to see her brothers and sisters again. To find out whether they were doing all right without her.
To see how her little brother's restaurant was getting along. Whether her eldest and second brothers had grown any closer. Whether her eldest sister had finally put down the drink. Whether everyone was still living under the shadow of Sui's threat...
So the first thing she did after regaining consciousness wasn't to pay attention to the chat group. It was to try, with everything she had, to reach the outside world.
As for the chat group — she'd given it a cursory glance and set it aside for now. At the end of the day, the people in here were strangers.
Nearly a full day passed. Jie's attempts had been entirely fruitless. She gave up, at least for the time being.
Right at that moment, an important push notification arrived from the chat group.
Something called... a Check-In feature had been unlocked.
Jie pressed it.
[You have received 25 Points.]
[Congratulations — you've hit the jackpot! You have received Item · Taijun's Glass Fishing Rod.]
What on earth is this?
Jie's soul drifted in boundless, featureless chaos. She stared at the strange glass fishing rod that had materialized before her, expression flickering with puzzlement.
After sitting with the mystery for a moment and getting nowhere, Jie finally let out a quiet sigh and sent her first message to the group.
She shared the item's description at the end.
......
Out on the Primordial River, Anthony stared at the group panel and read the item description Jie had shared.
[Taijun's Glass Fishing Rod]
[Origin: Terraria]
[Category: Fishing Rod]
[Effect: Provides auxiliary support to fishing-type skills. The specific direction of effect is determined by the corresponding skill's properties.]
[Description: In Terraria, a fishing rod that's not especially great — but not bad either.]
[Recycle Value: Items obtained through Check-In have no recycle value.]
He wanted it.
He really, truly, absolutely wanted it.
Anthony felt like his eyes had gone completely round and wide. He cursed himself for being tethered to the Primordial River, unable to leap straight to Jie's side and rip that rod right out of her hands.
Sure, back when he'd played Arknights, he'd always had a soft spot for Jie's character design and personality... but come on. This wasn't the time for that. This was a fishing rod that could boost his fishing skill.
I am the man destined to become the Fishing King Who Never Goes Home Empty-Handed. Women are a complication I do not need right now!
[The Angler] was Anthony's Soul Ability — a genuine, bona fide fishing-type skill. He didn't even need to think about it; he knew on pure instinct that [Taijun's Glass Fishing Rod] would give him an enormous boost.
With this rod, would he never blank again? Would the big fish practically fight each other for the privilege of biting his hook, filling a bucket in half an afternoon?
If someone had handed him this back when he was still alive in his previous life, he could've laughed non-stop for a solid week.
Anthony felt like he had a lot of very bold ideas.
It took a very long time before he managed to rein in the wild, frantic longing clawing at his chest. He tore his gaze away with visible reluctance and typed:
[Lord of the White Holy Throne: Just to state the obvious — you're in soul form right now, right?]
[Lord of the White Holy Throne: If you can't fish, it won't activate. Check-In items are already low-probability to begin with, and getting one that actually suits you is rarer still.]
[Lord of the White Holy Throne: Anyway, back to your earlier question. Points have many uses — right now, primarily unlocking new chat group features, and those features will also likely need Points to operate. And of course, based on current speculation, the most important use for Points is as a necessary ingredient for resurrection.]
[Wordsmith of the Great Yan: Ah, thank you for the explanation.]
[Wordsmith of the Great Yan: What a shame — sounds like this thing won't be of any use then.]
[Lord of the White Holy Throne: It'll be of use to me.]
The chat group went quiet.
A good while passed before new messages appeared.
[Founder of the Golden Spirit: Anthony really is... remarkably candid.]
[Lord of the White Holy Throne: I'm not joking. When I saw that fishing rod, I felt like I was looking at the rod of my dreams. I genuinely want it.]
[AAA City Female Ghost: Does it actually help with what you're trying to do right now?]
Carmen asked the question casually.
Based on her impression of Anthony, he was someone who valued efficiency above almost everything else. For him to ask so openly and directly, whatever this was had to be genuinely, substantially useful to him.
[Lord of the White Holy Throne: It does. To be precise — everything I'm doing right now, helping all of you, acquiring items — all of it is carried out through fishing.]
[Lord of the White Holy Throne: I think once I say that, it explains itself.]
[AAA City Female Ghost: Then yes, it really would be useful — but there's no way to get it into your hands right now, is there? You'd need at least 1,000 Points to unlock the Resource Exchange feature first.]
[Lord of the White Holy Throne: Exactly. Which is why I'm basically dying of impatience over here.]
Jie read Anthony's messages, and something about the exchange carried a light, easy feeling — the kind of casual banter between friends. But as she looked more carefully at the words, she couldn't help but stop.
She scrolled back through the chat history. She found the 'help' Anthony had mentioned. And then she found the description from group member [Let Night City Burn] of what it had felt like to receive that help...
The calm, serene smile that usually graced her face quietly took on a shade of something urgent.
[Wordsmith of the Great Yan: You would be Anthony, yes? @Lord of the White Holy Throne — if you want it that much, giving it to you is no trouble at all. Though from what everyone's been saying, that's not possible just yet?]
[Wordsmith of the Great Yan: Ah — I've gotten sidetracked. In any case: this ability of yours, letting the dead briefly return, letting a soul come back to the living world for just a moment — is that something you can do again? More than once?]
[Let Night City Burn: That part I can confirm firsthand — it's real.]
[Wordsmith of the Great Yan: ...I'm sorry. I know it may be presumptuous to say this to a stranger. But there are people I need to see again, no matter what.]
[Wordsmith of the Great Yan: So I want to ask something of you. If it's at all possible — could you give me one of those chances too?]
____
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