Everyone's Taking the Bait, Where Can an Angler Run?

The moment Wei Qiang walked into the shop, everyone drinking there turned to look at him and laugh. Some called out, "Wei Qiang, your clothes are covered in cat fur again!" He didn't answer. He told the shopkeeper, "Warm up two bowls of beast milk and bring me a plate of crispy little cakes." Then he set out nine phoenix eggs.

They deliberately shouted even louder, "You must've come back without catching anything again!" Wei Qiang widened his eyes. "How can you just make things up and slander me..."

"What slander? The day before yesterday, I saw you with my own eyes tricking that mountain guardian beast into chasing you around!"

Wei Qiang's face flushed, veins popping on his forehead as he argued, "Petting a dog doesn't count as stealing... Petting a dog! ... Can you really call it stealing when a fishing guy does it?" Then came a string of baffling excuses, like "It came on to me" and "I only took one look," making everyone burst out laughing. The whole shop, inside and out, was filled with merriment.

After transmigrating to another world, Wei Qiang took up his old trade again, grabbed his fishing rod, and headed to the river.

Three seconds later, the line twitched. Wei Qiang, an old hand at catching nothing, was ecstatic. He reeled in a very rare dragon hatchling.

Dragon: QAQ

"I'll release it. That's one more merit for me." Completely uninterested, Wei Qiang tossed it back and continued waiting for a fish to bite.

Half a day later, the line twitched again. This time, it was an almost-extinct cockatiel.

Cockatiel: QAQ

"One more merit."

A day later, the line twitched. Wei Qiang reeled it in without changing expression: a fluffy golden-shaded cat, already as tall as his calf.

"One more merit..."

"Wait, I can't swim!"

Wei Qiang looked at the little animals covering the ground and the completely empty bucket.

Wei Qiang: - _ -

The frustrated angler flung his bait into the water. A swamp puppy that had been refusing food and was close to dying got hit by it. One bite, and it was in: ? Why does this stuff (chomp chomp) taste so good (chomp chomp)?

The crocodile clan, who had been worried sick, finally saw hope. They made Wei Qiang their Immortal of Getting Skunked.

Wei Qiang: Seriously, this other world is unbelievable.

At first, Wei Qiang only wanted to catch a fish to fill his stomach. But later, countless divine-beast cubs suddenly appeared in his backyard. Seeing the compensation payments their parents, or the cubs themselves, handed over, he shamefully found himself tempted. Well, he could raise them casually, at least.

But nobody told him that the beastfolk of this other world, who loved giving people nicknames, would make him some kind of God of Fluff! (Fuming)

Can't he just be an angler who never comes home empty-handed? (Shouting)

The swamp puppy took his hand, the cockatiel pressed against his cheek, and the little dragon wrapped around his waist. Even the haughtiest tiger put on a sweet voice: "How can catching us count as getting skunked? Baby, you're the best chubby little angler in the world."

Wei Qiang: You guys are really into some seriously twisted stuff...

[In the Western Sea there is a god named Wei Qiang, a most benevolent deity. As long as each tribe sends its finest young to the sea every year, the tribe will flourish and enjoy bountiful harvests year after year.

Those chosen by him are healthy and strong, and live long lives. Every person and beast yearns to be among them.

From a diary written long afterward]

Theme: Harmony between people and nature begins with goodwill on both sides.