In a fascinating use of free will, Old School RuneScape player spent 4,304 hours catching 275,196 shrimp and 257,064 anchovies to max out his fishing skill in the worst way possible

Across the ages, theorists and theologians have wrestled with an irreconcilable question: Is free will an inherent capacity of the human soul, or a misapprehension of things predetermined and divine? Is it a unique function of the human animal, or an illusory quirk of cognition bound by circumstance and necessity?

If free will is indeed a figment of our moral imagination, how then do we account for the rare and heroic few who—by wielding their own agency—ascend to heights that shame those of us left toiling in mundanity and mediocrity? How do we answer for the likes of Old School RuneScape player Bosby, who this week entered the annals of history after successfully maxing out his fishing skill using the least efficient possible method in a grind that took over two years?

Bosby first reported his achievement three days ago on the /r/2007scape subreddit. There, he presented a screenshot of the moment when, after 27 months of grinding skill experience, his account OnlyShrimp99 attained level 99 in the fishing skill by exclusively fishing at the lowest-level, least-rewarding fishing spots in the game.

In his Reddit post, Bosby said he "started out thinking it would just be something funny to do and ended up having the dedication to see it through." After taking up the task on May 11, 2024, the grind demanded a total of 4,304 hours, during which Bosby caught 275,196 raw shrimp and 257,064 raw anchovies, collectively worth approximately 9.5 million gold using current OSRS market prices.

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To be clear, there is absolutely no reason for Bosby, or anyone else, to do this. It's just, you know, a lot of clicking, with being able to say you did it the only reward. But Bosby says he gained plenty along the way: During the grind, he "started a new job, got married, and made lots of friends"—including "a lot of cool people at the Al Kharid fishing spot."

Once rumor of his triumph started circulating on social media, RuneScape developer Jagex offered Bosby its own congratulations: "Congrats on the only small net 99 Fishing, Bosby," Jagex wrote on X. "Our data team has verified your accomplishment." The studio also commemorated the historic feat by posting a little picture of a shrimp on a computer, which is cute.

Bosby, meanwhile, has received his newly-won folk hero status with humility. "This is getting entirely too much attention lol," he wrote on X. "It's tiring."

Glory is a heavy burden. We at PC Gamer send Bosby our own congratulations, and hope that he can soon return to carefree days of posting about cool bug Pokémon and the restorative magic of a good burger.