Chapter 422: It's Time to Show Some Real Skills
"I want a goldfish, Hikki..."
Seeing the pitiful look on this silly girl's face, Hachiman couldn't help but show an indulgent smile.
"No problem, leave it to me."
Upon hearing Hachiman's confident words, many boys around him sneered.
Even the middle-aged shopkeeper kindly reminded, "Young man, catching goldfish isn't that easy. Why don't you buy a few more nets just in case?"
"Thanks, but I'll give it a try first." Hachiman smiled and declined the shopkeeper's offer, then turned to the girls. "Does anyone have a spare net? Give me one."
Yukino handed him a net. "I have one here."
Taking it, Hachiman squatted beside the tank and asked Yukino, "Which one do you like?"
"Huh? Can you really choose?" Yukino was surprised.
Hachiman smiled confidently, "Of course, whichever you like, I'll catch for you."
Yeah right, catching whichever one I like?
I'll believe it when I see it.
Hearing Hachiman's words, some of the boys nearby couldn't help but disdain.
"Well... then I'll have this one." Yukino pointed to a red goldfish with black and white patterns on its body.
"No problem." Hachiman nodded and began his move.
The net spun lightly on his fingertips before tracing a perfect arc in the air, dipping directly into the water.
Seeing Hachiman's seemingly unnecessary action, one of the boys preparing to mock him blurted out.
"He's doing such unnecessary moves; the net must have broken."
But before the guy finished, Alice retorted directly.
"Hachiman-kun just started, how do you know the net broke? Are you cursing him!"
For the current Alice, there was no room for anyone to say anything bad about Hachiman.
Not only Alice, but the other girls also showed varying degrees of hostility towards the boy who spoke.
They could joke about Hachiman themselves, but they wouldn't allow outsiders to speak ill of him.
Especially Saeko, her eyes narrowed, and she emanated a killing intent typical of a master of kendo as she unhesitatingly pressed towards the boy who spoke up.
Feeling the tension in the air, the boy who had spoken up seemed to envision a daunting scenario, his legs trembling as he involuntarily took a few steps back.
Meanwhile, Hachiman paid no heed to the earlier taunts. With a fluid motion, he positioned the net under the goldfish Yui had chosen. With a deft flick of his wrist, he lifted the fish from the water and gently deposited it into the bowl.
The fish, still acclimating to its new surroundings, continued to swim within the confines of the narrow bowl.
Witnessing Hachiman's success, the boys who had anticipated a spectacle were left speechless.
"It must be luck..."
"Yeah, definitely luck!"
Several murmured under their breath.
Alice was once again displeased, "Why is it that when Hachiman-kun succeeds, it's attributed to luck? If you can't do it yourselves, it's because you're incompetent, not someone else's fault."
Hearing the girl's straightforward remark, many smirked.
They hadn't anticipated such blunt honesty from someone as outwardly charming as Alice.
Although they remained silent, they still believed Hachiman's success was merely luck.
Ignoring the sour comments from the boys, Hachiman handed the bowl containing the goldfish to Yui. "Here, Yui, for you."
"Wow, thank you, Hikki." Yui's face lit up with a happy smile upon seeing the goldfish in the bowl.
The middle-aged shopkeeper also smiled, "Didn't expect this young man to be so skilled. Here you go, young lady, let me wrap up this goldfish for you."
"Thank you." Yui nodded and handed over the bowl containing the goldfish.
Taking the bowl, the shopkeeper sealed it in a plastic bag, forming a water bubble, and handed it back, "Here you go, young lady."
"Thank you." Accepting the water bubble, Yui's smile widened even further.
Observing this, Alice felt a pang of envy and turned to Hachiman.
"Hachiman-kun, I want one too."
Her tone, unlike her previous scolding of the boys, was filled with a gentle coquettishness, as if she were speaking to a lover.
Hachiman naturally didn't refuse. "Of course, no problem, Alice, which one do you want?"
"Hmm... let me see." Alice lightly bit her lip, then pointed to a mostly white goldfish. "I'll take this one. Thank you, Hachiman-kun."
"It's nothing, leave it to me." Hachiman smiled faintly, preparing to try again.
Unfortunately, this time, even the stall owner didn't have much faith in Hachiman. Apparently, he also thought Hachiman's previous success was just luck.
However, as Hachiman was a customer, the shopkeeper couldn't openly mock him. So, he could only smile and watch Hachiman's next move.
But soon, the smile on the middle-aged man's face froze.
Hachiman, using his incomprehensible method once again, successfully caught another fish.
"Wow, Hachiman-kun, you're amazing!"
Seeing Hachiman successfully catch a fish for her, Alice cheered. She took the bowl containing the fish from Hachiman and handed it to the shopkeeper.
"Shopkeeper, please wrap it up for me."
Taking the bowl, the middle-aged shopkeeper began to question his life choices.
Once might be luck, but what about twice?
Seeing this young man was truly a hidden master, he realized. He had been running this goldfish stall for many years and had never seen anyone catch fish like this.
But just as he finished wrapping up Alice's fish, he heard Hachiman speak up.
"Let me catch one for each of you. You pick, and I'll catch."
Then, he watched as Hachiman, under the direction of the girls, once again caught fish after fish.
One, two, three...
Hachiman's movements were decisive and fluid. He dipped the net into the water, gently lifted, and the fish chosen by the girls immediately flew out. What was even more surprising was that despite being soaked multiple times, the net remained intact.
Oh, this...
Seeing this scene, the middle-aged shopkeeper nearly popped his eyes out.
Could this be some kind of magic? Never before had anyone caught so many fish with just one net.
Hachiman wasn't performing any magic tricks; after all, he was a cheater.
Catching goldfish relied on skill and muscle memory. Once mastered, controlling the force becomes second nature.
Despite not having caught many goldfish before, with his maxed-out "Physique" module, Hachiman had no problem controlling his body.
As long as he could perfectly control every ounce of force, catching goldfish was a piece of cake.
In no time, Hachiman had caught over a dozen fish, with almost everyone getting one, including the previously successful catches by Saeko and Raphiel.
Just as he was about to help Ebina catch one, an unexpected event occurred.
The paper net, made of rice paper, would eventually break if soaked for too long.
Seeing the broken net in Hachiman's hand, the middle-aged shopkeeper breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed to be finally over, and he had no intention of selling nets to Hachiman again.
Ebina smiled calmly, "It's okay if it's broken; I'm fine without it."
Clearly, she also guessed that the shopkeeper wouldn't sell Hachiman another net.
Seeing the broken net in his hand, Hachiman raised an eyebrow.
"This won't do. Since we came out to play together, how can we leave out your share, Ebina?"
He didn't intend to buy another net from the shopkeeper and continued using the broken net to dip into the water.
"Huh? Is he planning to continue using this broken net?"
"It's impossible. The net is already broken; how can he catch anything?"
"I think he's just unwilling to give up."
Seeing Hachiman trying to catch fish with a broken net again, the crowd murmured.
Ignoring their words, Hachiman found the fish Ebina had chosen earlier. Seizing the opportunity, he flicked his wrist, and to everyone's astonishment, the fish was lifted out of the water by the circular frame of the broken net.
"Thunk."
With the sound of the fish hitting the water, it landed securely in the bowl in Hachiman's hand.
"Finished!"