A metal hook used to fish and gather resources from the sea.

Quality: medium 

Durability: 20/20

Description: A hook rod that is quite decent and may provide better luck?

Seeing this, Ren didn’t feel the need to think further.

"I don't care where this strange system comes from, but since it's useful, I'll use it."

Without wasting time, he walked to the edge of the island and cast the hook into the waves again.

This time, his movements were no longer stiff or hesitant.

With one solid swing, the hook flew straight toward a floating plastic bottle.

Click.

The hook latched on immediately.

Ren pulled it steadily, and in one smooth motion—the bottle was in his hand.

He gave a faint smile, his black eyes reflecting the morning sunlight, sharp and full of focus.

...

On the other side, on a remote island measuring 300x300 meters.

Unlike Ren’s island, which was starting to look livable, this one looked harsh and unwelcoming.

Sharp rocks and iron ore dominated the land, while trees only grew in the center, and even then they were sparse and thin.

Huge waves crashed against the rocks at the shore, pounding with a constant roar.

Among the slippery corals stood a young girl—beautiful but clearly exhausted.

Her hands trembled, her lips were dry, and her breathing was short.

Even so, with all her strength, she threw the hook toward a drifting wooden barrel.

Click—

The hook caught.

The girl’s face immediately lit up, her eyes sparkling with hope.

"I got it—!" she shouted excitedly.

With careful yet eager movements, she reeled in the line.

She tried hard to keep her balance so she wouldn’t slip into the raging sea.

After a while, the girl finally pulled the barrel onto the rocks with difficulty.

She bit her lip, her eyes full of hope as she muttered softly,

"Please—please let it be a bottle of water or at least food."

Her trembling hand reached for the barrel lid. Her breath hitched, as if her fate depended on what was inside.

And after opening the wooden barrel, the girl was disappointed.

She only got: Water Purifier Blueprint (1/3), Plastic Bottle (+2), Wood (+2), Plant Fiber Rope (+2).

The girl felt a deep sense of defeat, and, exhausted, she laid her body on the rock.

...

Even though she was disappointed, she couldn’t let despair take over.

"I... I can’t give up,"

she whispered softly, staring at the blue sky that seemed distant and indifferent.

The blueprint she found—even if just 1 out of 3 parts—still held hope.

If it wasn’t useful to her, maybe it would be to someone else.

With a tired gesture, she sat cross-legged on a flat rock.

Her slender but dusty fingers opened the system panel floating in the air.

[Trade System - Opened]

Item to sell: Blueprint - Water Purifier (1/3)

Offered price: Open to any item (open for offers)

Note (optional):

"Thirsty... need water or food. If you can help, I’ll trade this blueprint."

With hope, the girl waited. But even after more than an hour passed, no one offered anything.

Understandably, almost everyone else was also lacking food and water.

Right now, food and drink were almost like extra lives to survive.

Just when the girl was about to lose hope,

a white notification appeared:

[Someone has offered for your item.]

[User 0741: 1 bottle of water]

[Note: This is all I have, I can’t give more than this]

The girl's eyes widened.

With excitement, she pressed the [Accept Offer] button.

Immediately, the blueprint in her inventory disappeared, replaced by a bottle of water.

Her eyes sparkled brightly as she took the bottle of water from her inventory.

Seeing the water bottle felt like seeing her savior.

Her hands trembled, but she held the bottle as if it were the most precious thing in the world, then drank slowly.

Gulp—gulp—

Her dry throat was instantly soothed by the refreshing fresh water. The girl sipped slowly.

However, she didn’t dare finish all of it, carefully saving half the bottle.

She then reopened her system and sent a friend request to the person who had just saved her.

...

At the same time, Ren had just completed the Water Purifier Blueprint trade.

Suddenly—

[Friend request received from User 0147]

His eyebrows lifted.

"A friend request...?"

After a bit of consideration, Ren accepted the friend request.

He wanted to know the intention of the person who sent it.

Besides, if it was someone annoying or trying to scam him, he could just block them.

He opened the notification panel, reading the short message attached.

[User 0147: Thank you for the water... I owe you my life.]

Seeing this, Ren realized it was the person who had sold the Water Purifier Blueprint.

He didn’t really care, after all it was just a transaction.

Even so, Ren still replied politely.

[User 0741: No problem. I needed that blueprint, so there's no need to be overly polite.]

But the other side replied again.

[User 0147: No, no, I’m really grateful. If not for you, I would’ve died.]

Seeing this, Ren felt bored, not intending to reply again since it was a waste of time.

But then the black stone system suddenly made a sound.

[User 0147 has sent you Plant Seed - Tuber (+2)]

[Do you accept it?]

[Y/N]

Seeing this, Ren was confused why someone would send a gift for free.

Still, he didn’t reject the gift.

He politely thanked them in the chat while asking,

[User 0741: Thanks for the gift. Do you want something in return?]

[User 0147: No, I just wanted to say thanks. That bottle of water was already more than enough.]

[User 0741: Really? Why don’t you plant these seeds yourself?]

[User 0147: That’s because my island is full of rocks and iron ore, completely unsuitable for growing plants.]

[User 0741: Iron ore? Heh, I hope we can work together next time. For now, take this as a return gift.]

[User 0741 has sent 2x Coconut Fruit]

[User 0147: Thank you! I’m sure we’ll be working together soon!]

Without realizing it, Ren smiled faintly as he continued fishing.

.......

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