Limitless Fortune: I Collect SSS-Rank Skills as Payment-Chapter 173: Mirage Pond!

"Boy, can't you understand what I said? Why are you yelling like a fool?"

The middle-aged man glared at Lucien in anger, putting the fishing rod beside his log before walking slowly toward him.

During the entire process, his overwhelming pressure was directly pressed on Lucien, who lost his strength, making him unable to even talk.

"Didn't I say you'll scare the fish? Are you intentionally trying to sabotage me?"

The more he spoke, the angrier he became, and Lucien saw him readying some kind of spell, intending to attack him right there.

He could already feel the mana gathering around him.

'Damn, where the heck am I? Why is he mad just for a fish?'

Lucien cursed his luck. He never thought the situation would turn out this way after entering the Shadow Kingdom.

Suddenly, he lost all his strength, and now someone powerful was attacking him. He didn't even have the ability to resist.

'What should I do?'

Lucien rapidly thought while skimming through every option that could get him out of this dire situation.

Unfortunately, no matter what he thought, he couldn't come up with anything. He could only look at the menacing man who was about to attack him.

"Martin, it is time for the inspection. Don't leave the fishing rod if you don't want to die."

Just as the middle-aged man was about to attack Lucien, a gruff old voice came from afar, halting him in his tracks.

"Inspection?"

Surprisingly, after hearing about the 'inspection,' the middle-aged man suddenly lost his cool, dissipating the heavy pressure on Lucien.

"Hah… hah…"

Only then did Lucien feel free and take a large breath, realizing his back was soaked with sweat.

This was the second time he felt like this after his transmigration into this body.

But the middle-aged man with a goatee didn't care about Lucien's state.

The moment he heard the word 'inspection,' he immediately returned to his log, grabbing the fishing rod without waiting a second.

From how nervous he looked, it seemed 'inspection' was something even he was afraid of.

"Thank you!"

Lucien finally calmed down, sat on his log, then turned over and thanked the old man sitting on his left side, who had just interrupted the middle-aged man.

Now that he looked at him carefully, he saw that the old man was quite small, hidden within a thick fur coat, with only his beard and eyes visible.

He seemed calm, for even when Lucien thanked him, he didn't so much as glance his way.

He was just like a fisherman, waiting silently for the fish to take the bait.

Lucien didn't care about his behavior.

Instead, like the others, he too grabbed his fishing rod and cast it into the quiet pond without bait.

The line struck the water in a beautiful parabola, stirring the surface for a moment before it calmed once more.

'System, do you know my situation?'

Now that he had finally calmed down, Lucien's mind began to work rapidly.

Although his situation seemed too ridiculous and he lost most of his strength all of a sudden, he suddenly remembered a hint from the system before.

It was about how his system said that his power, with no origin, wasn't his own and could be stolen easily.

Wasn't this situation quite similar?

[Ding!]

[Host is currently going through his class ascension quest, determined by the World of Origin. Due to your high stats and strength at a low class, the difficulty of the quest has increased exponentially.]

[Host is advised to tread carefully and complete the quest as soon as possible. You will gain your strength back once the quest is over.]

[Remember, when there is nothing to rely on, the only strength you have is 'Rules'!]

Sure enough, the moment Lucien asked his system, he heard a robotic prompt in his mind explaining everything.

'Just like I thought, it is indeed a class ascension quest.'

Lucien immediately breathed a sigh of relief after confirming his doubts.

'So, I am inside the World of Origin, huh. But… what is the quest about?'

Lucien thought as he looked at the vast lake stretching beyond sight, its surface still and endless.

A few shadowy figures sat at regular intervals along the bank, right at the edge of the pond, fishing without bait.

To be honest, he was at a loss. Moreover, he didn't understand why his power was stripped away while that middle-aged man could clearly still use his.

Unfortunately, this time his system didn't answer. Whether it didn't know or couldn't say, Lucien had no idea.

But his attention was immediately drawn by the low ringing of bells coming from the fog that obscured his view ahead.

He noticed that the moment the bell sounded, everyone around him became alert and tense. Even the middle-aged man who had irritated him before now seemed… almost scared.

'Where is that sound coming from?'

Zhiran was confused by their reactions, but didn't behave like before. He believed that even if he asked, no one would answer.

Rather, he also acted the same way as the others, keeping a careful eye on the pond from the corner of his gaze.

"Haha… what a wonderful day today. There is a new client in my Mirage Pond. Kek… kek… welcome!"

Just as the pond seemed to fall completely silent, with only the low chime of bells lingering in the air, a loud laugh suddenly echoed across the entire area.

Following the voice, Lucien's eyes caught sight of a long boat emerging from the mist, gliding closer and closer toward him in an instant.

"Welcome! I hope you find my Mirage Pond to your liking, haha!"

At last, Lucien could clearly see the one who had been speaking all this time. Yet the sight of the entity surprised him greatly.

'A frog?'

Surprisingly, the entity that had been talking and laughing all this time was actually a frog.

Only, this was no ordinary frog. Unlike the ones he had seen before, this one was enormous, tall as a person, standing on two legs, adorned in luxurious clothes.

An impressive Cigar rested in its mouth, puffing out smoke, while its large eyes scanned the surroundings with a wide, mischievous grin.

"Alright, that's enough with the greetings. Let's move on to the matter at hand, shall we?"

After glancing at Lucien slightly with a happy look, the frog took the cigar from his mouth, puffed out smoke, and grinned while looking at everyone fishing.

"Folks, time's up, and it doesn't seem anyone managed to catch anything."

"That's sad."

He said this after noticing that nobody had caught anything with their fishing rods; his face twisted into a gleeful grin that clearly didn't belong to someone feeling disappointed about the outcome.

"Well, that's too bad. But folks, rules are rules after all."

"Welp, this round is over. You can choose to continue fishing or leave my Mirage Pond as you like."

The frog spoke while rubbing his hands in glee.

"Pay two Bronze coins if you want to leave, or one if you wish to continue fishing."

"I strongly suggest you stay and wait a bit longer. Who knows, you might catch something this time that could change your future."

He said with a mischievous light in his eyes, just like a merchant trying to sell his goods.

He seemed to hope that everyone would stay and continue fishing even though it seemed like a loss.

After all, he was the owner of this pond.

"I choose to leave. This is the coin you want."

Unfortunately, it seemed his sales pitch wasn't strong enough.

As soon as he finished speaking, multiple people around Lucien stood from their logs, throwing bronze coins directly toward the frog.

It was almost as if they had been waiting for this moment, eager to leave this place.

Lucien noticed that only the short man to his left, the middle-aged man to his right, and a shadowy figure in a far corner remained seated on their logs, showing no intention of standing.

As for him, he had no idea what a Bronze coin was, let alone owning two of them.

He could only remain silent, observing everything carefully and trying to gather as much information as possible.

"Tch… tch… all of you have no spines at all. You don't even have the guts to test your fate. How do you expect to travel far in this world?"

The frog seemed quite annoyed by their eagerness to leave his place, yet his small hands didn't falter a bit, catching the bronze coins thrown in his direction with a big smile.