As a Fisherman, My Fish Can Level Up
Chapter 390 - Chapter 390 Chapter 291 The Competition Begins

Chapter 390: Chapter 291: The Competition Begins Chapter 390: Chapter 291: The Competition Begins Time quickly passed, and before long it was evening, and Chu Mingcheng set up a barbecue grill on the aft deck.

Of course, due to the competition starting tomorrow, the harbor was bustling tonight, with a constant stream of contestants coming and going.

Just on the docks alone, there were about three hundred boats, with the fishing boats and fishing vessels each making up about half, and even among the fishing vessels, there were trawlers and other types of boats, indicating that a fair number of fishermen came to compete.

Based on an estimate of five people per boat, there were at least one thousand five hundred people–a swarming crowd like a middle school morning assembly.

In the afternoon when Chu Mingcheng had just arrived, he hadn’t noticed anything amiss, but now he was starting to sense that something was off.

So he said to Chen Yang, who was helping nearby, “There are so many people. Is the lure of the fifty thousand yuan prize money so strong that it attracted so many contestants?”

“You don’t know?” Chen Yang was surprised.

“What should I know?” Chu Mingcheng also had a puzzled look on his face.

“I mean, don’t you go online?” Chen Yang helplessly took off the disposable gloves, pulled out his phone, and opened a web page to show him.

“This fishing competition has even trended on social media. The organizers didn’t expect it to be this popular, with so many people participating.”

“So the original competition rules and prize money have been scrapped, and the new rules and prize money are said to be announced tomorrow.”

“Ah, I’ve been lying low these past few days, not paying any attention to this stuff. It looks like the fishing competition has really taken off, and the organizers have made a tidy profit!”

Chu Mingcheng hadn’t expected that in the ten or so days he’d stopped following the competition, so much had happened.

He had been wondering, too–there were plenty of fishing competitions, so when did they become this popular?

It seemed that even the organizers didn’t anticipate it, seeing as it was the first time the Golden Spearfish fishing competition was being held domestically; they didn’t think it would attract that many people.

That’s why when that person in charge met Chu Mingcheng and Jiang Luoluo, who were both attractive and specialized in fishing for Golden Spearfish, they went out of their way to mention it.

Normally, who would bother with this?

But all of the organizers underestimated the allure of the original five hundred thousand yuan prize money as well as the anglers’ passion for fishing.

This was further exacerbated when the organizers took the initiative to announce changes in competition rules and increased prize money, which inspired even more people.

As a result, in the following period, the number of fishing vessels quickly multiplied. There were all kinds of boats, big and small; as long as they could head to the Far Sea and were nearby Modu, they were here.

Never mind that boats heading to the Far Sea make money, but the costs are high and the profits must be shared among more people.

Individual fishermen, after toiling hard for a year, would probably earn just around a hundred and twenty to two hundred thousand yuan.

If luck was on their side and they managed to get fifth place, even if the prize was split between five people, it would match their average earnings for three to four months.

After all, those incidents where the nets burst with catch are rare, reserved for a few lucky individuals. Most boats casting nets in the Far Sea don’t actually catch much valuable seafood–that’s the situation for the majority of fishermen.

Of course, fishermen who head out to sea year-round are well aware that purely fishing for Golden Spearfish without netting means the chances of losing money are significantly higher over a month than earning it.

There are only a few places in the East Sea where one can catch Golden Spearfish, one of which is the northeastern side near Japan–where Chu Mingcheng previously took Chen Yang and the others, including the fishing ground and adjacent area.

It’s not that there aren’t other places, but the Golden Spearfish found elsewhere are usually just passing through and won’t stay for long, making the chances of encounter much lower than in those specific areas.

Next is heading to Dongsha or the Southern Treasure Island, but from Modu to the Southern Treasure Island, the fuel consumption is terrifyingly high, and nobody would go back.

Of course, the organizers wouldn’t allow participants to venture that far; this fishing competition is closely monitored by numerous patrol boats and drones, so how could they film if people went too far?

With limited areas, an abundance of boats, and the restriction to just fishing, plus the rules about the weight of the fish,

their participation meant they were betting on, at worst, dropping out whenever and continuing with their regular fishing.

They can’t afford to waste too much time, but committing one week isn’t an issue.

Apart from the vast majority of fishing folk and anglers, tonight at the harbor there were also many social media influencers, men and women alike, but mostly women, making videos and taking selfies, or with photographers in tow.

This bunch wasn’t here to fish;

they were completely taking advantage of the fishing competition’s popularity, the trending on social media, and the high-level attention to boost their own following.

The boats they chartered were just for a few days of sailing before withdrawing from the competition, showing their faces and catching some fame by rubbing shoulders with well-known anglers to boost their online traffic.

And with five people sharing the rental cost of a boat, it wasn’t expensive.

Had it been two or three years earlier, if the organizers set up a Golden Spearfish competition, it wouldn’t have been as hot as now. There’s always some creatures of chaos looking to squeeze in wherever they can.

After understanding the situation, Chu Mingcheng continued to keep busy with his barbecue.

After a satisfying night of eating and drinking, the next day at the harbor was nothing short of lively.

Banners fluttered, and the scene was packed with people amid the thunderous sound of drums and gongs–it was quite the spectacle.

On the already built stage, several middle-aged men with bellies as large as Golden Spearfish themselves appeared, not a single skinny one among them.

The host gave a grand introduction, followed by the middle-aged men taking turns to make brief speeches. The contestants sitting in front of the stage were very accommodating, clapping every time a leader stepped down.

Besides spouting some platitudes, these middle-aged men also explained some of the changes to the rules.

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.