Chapter 46: Into Nature (5)
After analyzing the system’s description, Su Qiong concluded that Together in Love was an extremely well-hidden super-secret quest that individual players could never trigger.
After all, the other players were not bound as lovers, so they would never become mandarin ducks.
The quest was divided into two parts. No matter how he looked at it, the two players in the bonded relationship were supposed to split up and complete one part each.
Yet ERROR had told Su Qiong to wait where he was while he completed the entire quest alone.
“The quest is very difficult,” Su Qiong reminded him. “The system wouldn’t assign an A rank without reason.”
“Are you worried about me?”
“Mm.” Su Qiong nodded.
ERROR was just about to feel pleased when the marshmallow continued, “I worry about everyone around me.”
Fine.
So he was not special.
ERROR was one hundred percent certain that if Yu Qimiao were the one completing the quest, Su Qiong would worry about him just as much.
“Don’t worry,” ERROR reassured him. “I can’t die.”
“But…” Su Qiong still wanted to say something.
“You understand the system. If it arranged such a difficult quest, the reward must correspond to the difficulty.”
“But…” Su Qiong looked at him suspiciously. “Are you sure the system will give you a reward?”
ERROR, who was constantly targeted by the system: “…”
Considering what his unfilial son had done before, he was suddenly less certain.
“In any case, it’s rare to encounter a lovers’ quest. We should complete it first.” ERROR remained fearless. “Even if we don’t receive the proper reward, increasing our intimacy would be enough.”
“Huh?” Su Qiong looked confused.
Was intimacy really that important?
Their intimacy was already thirty percent, and it did not seem to affect anything.
Before he could ask for clarification, ERROR had already disappeared, leaving Su Qiong alone beside the lake.
The visitors who had come to admire the mandarin ducks began discussing him.
“What’s wrong with that mandarin duck? Aren’t mandarin ducks supposed to stay in pairs? He actually abandoned the little one and flew away.”
“Love truly is a luxury. Even mandarin ducks are no exception.”
“Don’t be sad, little mandarin duck! We’ll stay with you.”
“Are they really a married couple? I can’t believe it.”
“Definitely! They were extremely affectionate when they first arrived.”
Su Qiong could hear every word clearly, but he did not quite understand.
Why were the humans trying to comfort him?
Had something happened that required comforting?
No.
Su Qiong returned to the shore and found a relatively quiet place to admire the scenery while waiting for his companion.
In the humans’ eyes, this became “the pitiful little mandarin duck who had fallen into depression after being abandoned by his mate.”
There was simply no way to explain.
The system’s hidden quest truly was extremely difficult.
Su Qiong waited for roughly two hours. The surrounding tourists changed several times, but ERROR still had not returned.
Instead, A, who had been exploring the ecological park, returned with an important clue.
“I believe I found the NPC who stole ERROR’s identity. He’s an employee responsible for managing the animals in this ecological park. Apparently, today was his first day on the job. I couldn’t scan his level.”
A’s level was currently extremely high. After becoming the first player to reclaim his identity the previous day, he had already reached above Level Eighty.
Any NPC he could not scan had to possess at least a three-digit level.
Furthermore, since the employee had only started today, that NPC might also be capable of changing identity cards and transforming alongside ERROR.
“Could he be the Circle Lord?”
“Impossible,” A said with certainty. “I tested him. His level may be hidden, but it isn’t that high.”
During the previous Circle, the apple had told them that a Circle Lord’s level was at least one hundred times the number of the current Circle.
In other words, the Circle Lord of Into Nature had to be at least Level Three Hundred. If A tested someone that powerful, he would undoubtedly be killed instantly.
“That was too risky.” Su Qiong did not approve of his approach.
“I have items. I would have used them if necessary.” After explaining, A added, “I’ll consider things more carefully next time. The question is, what do we do now?”
Although Su Qiong had also transformed into a mandarin duck, his changes followed ERROR’s identity.
ERROR was currently nowhere to be found. With only Su Qiong present, it was uncertain whether he could reclaim their identities.
The NPC was clearly powerful, and his level was unknown. Without ERROR present, challenging him with Su Qiong’s abilities seemed somewhat risky.
“I want to try.” Su Qiong waved his wand. “I obtained an offensive ability! The Circle Lord gave it to me!”
Ever since entering Circle Three, Su Qiong had wanted to test his new offensive item but had never found the opportunity.
He could not exactly use an offensive ability against a player. What if he accidentally killed them for real?
“Fine.” A did not continue stopping him.
Both he and Su Qiong possessed life-saving items, so they could afford to court death a little.
Su Qiong followed him in search of the NPC.
Only on the way did he belatedly realize, “I probably shouldn’t have criticized you.”
Apparently, he enjoyed taking risks too.
Scolding only A made him seem far too biased.
“It doesn’t matter,” A said indifferently. “Being strict with others while lenient with oneself is a normal human mentality.”
“That’s true.” Without realizing it, Su Qiong had already developed a human mentality. He continued chattering, “Now that it’s only the two of us, don’t you think this scene feels familiar?”
Back in the beginner zone, A had chosen a single-player hell instance. Fortunately, Su Qiong had been there to guide him.
“Mm. I remember.”
“Then…” Su Qiong gathered his courage and asked, “May I call you by your name?”
A immediately stopped and turned toward him.
Su Qiong stared back with wide, expectant eyes.
A should have stopped him, but several times, the refusal failed to leave his mouth. In the end, it became a resigned, “Do whatever you want.”
“Yay!” Su Qiong’s eyes curved happily. He called out with delight, “An’an.”
A did not respond.
“An’an!”
Su Qiong called several more times before he finally answered with a muffled, “Mm.”
“Do you dislike your name?” Su Qiong asked curiously. “I remember humans can change their names if they don’t like them.”
“I don’t dislike my name,” A said.
Quite the opposite.
He liked his name.
It was simply too cute.
He liked it so much that he did not know how to face it.
“I see.” Su Qiong nodded seriously. “Your mother and father must have thought you were adorable, so they gave you that name.”
“I’m an orphan. Where would I get parents?” A’s voice remained calm. He felt little emotion about being an orphan.
—How could he feel anything for people he had never met and did not even know were still alive?
“Then who gave you your name?”
A looked directly at him and answered, “My younger brother.”
“Your brother?”
“Mm. He should be three years younger than me.” Rare gentleness appeared in A’s eyes when he mentioned his brother. “My brother was extremely brave and strong. But I didn’t have the ability to protect him.”
Hearing this, Su Qiong remembered A’s current identity and suddenly understood something.
Had A become so powerful afterward—capable of going anywhere and doing anything—because he had failed to protect his brother back then?
Could his brother have…
“He’s still alive,” A interrupted Su Qiong’s thoughts in time. “He must still be alive.”
Regardless of his circumstances or the form of his existence.
His brother had to still be alive somewhere in this world.
“That’s good.” Su Qiong released a breath of relief. “When you said you couldn’t protect him, I thought he had died.”
“…Perhaps that would have been better,” A murmured to himself.
Only then did he explain, “He didn’t die. In fact, he protected me and many others.”
“Your brother really is brave.”
“Yes.” A fell into distant memories. His voice sounded both happy and bitter. “Later, we were given different lives, but my brother never escaped that place. When we separated, he left me this name.”
A—An’an—said, “He wanted me to be safe and live in peace.”
“Wow!” Su Qiong exclaimed. “Your name isn’t only cute. It has a beautiful meaning too. Why won’t you let anyone use it?”
A could not answer.
He refused to let others call his name partly because it was too cute, but even more because…
Every time he heard it, he remembered his brother and his own helplessness.
“A name should be spoken by everyone,” Su Qiong said seriously. “The more often people call you that, the more your brother’s wish will come true.”
“…You’re right.” An’an suddenly understood.
Previously, he had been afraid to hear the name because he was cowardly and feared facing the version of himself who had been unable to save his brother.
But things were different now.
He had become powerful enough to face his brother and accept his love and blessing.
“Since you agree with me, can I keep calling you by your name?” Su Qiong vividly demonstrated what it meant to take a mile after being given an inch.
“Mm.” An’an no longer resisted.
“Yay!” Su Qiong cheered happily and skipped ahead.
His luck was excellent today. Perhaps he could ride the momentum and complete ERROR’s main quest.
“Careful!” An’an caught sight of a red ID flashing in the distance and immediately pulled Su Qiong back.
Before Su Qiong could react, he had already been shielded behind him.
He looked ahead but saw nothing suspicious and nearly assumed An’an had made a mistake.
“Above us,” An’an reminded him. “Since he stole ERROR’s identity, he should be able to fly.”
Mandarin ducks could not only fly but also swim, making them especially difficult to handle.
Su Qiong immediately looked up.
Sure enough, a figure crouched on the roof of a small shipping-container shop nearby. The person stared directly at Su Qiong, clearly recognizing his identity.
Just as An’an had said, Su Qiong could see only the person’s NPC identity—Mandarin Duck—but not his level.
He tightened his grip on the wand.
The moment the NPC prepared to pounce, Su Qiong released his bandages and bound him tightly.
The mandarin duck in midair had no time to defend himself and was instantly restrained.
Before the effect could expire, Su Qiong released his vines too, wrapping the NPC like a rice dumpling.
“I’m amazing.” Su Qiong could hardly believe it. “I defeated an NPC so easily! Now I only have to place my feather…”
An’an watched the scene and sensed that something was wrong.
When Su Qiong bent down and prepared to place the mandarin-duck feather on the NPC, An’an hurriedly drew his long whip and hooked Su Qiong away.
“Careful!”
The warning had barely left his mouth when Su Qiong was dragged several meters back.
The place where he had stood moments earlier was now covered in feathers embedded like concealed weapons.
“Oh my. You actually dodged.” A ghostly voice sounded.
A woman’s face emerged from behind the shipping container, her smile sinister.
“We overlooked something.” An’an reminded him in a low voice. “Mandarin ducks appear in pairs. You and ERROR are two people, so you should correspond to two animals.”
“No wonder.” Su Qiong looked at the feathers that had pierced the floor, still shaken.
If An’an had not intervened, he would have been turned into a sieve.
“So you discovered us.” The male NPC restrained by Su Qiong broke free and slowly stood.
The female NPC moved beside him. The two confronted An’an and Su Qiong before sensing that something was wrong.
“Wait. You aren’t the human whose identity we stole!” The woman reacted first and pointed at An’an. “Who exactly are you?”
“A helpful citizen,” An’an answered perfunctorily.
“His name is An’an. He’s my companion,” Su Qiong kindly explained. “As for the person whose identity you stole, I don’t know where he is right now, but I’ll help him reclaim it.”
“Hah! Dream on!” The woman spat viciously. “Mandarin ducks appear in pairs. He abandoned you to act alone, which means you’ve already lost.”
“A mandarin duck abandoned by its mate is no longer a mandarin duck,” the man agreed.
Uh.
Su Qiong hesitated over whether he should explain that he had not been abandoned.
His partner simply did not want him to take risks and had gone alone to complete a difficult quest.
The mandarin-duck NPCs gave him no opportunity to explain. They each drew a weapon and aimed at Su Qiong.
An’an attacked at the proper moment, but his strike was completely blocked.
The mandarin ducks had no desire to become entangled with him. They beat their invisible wings and raised a violent wind that sent him flying far away.
An’an drove his sword into the ground and barely stabilized himself.
When he raised his head, he saw Su Qiong surrounded by the two NPCs and in grave danger.
They had already figured out the vines and bandages, making restraint impossible. The coffin was too heavy and unwieldy to serve as a weapon.
Su Qiong had no choice but to reveal his final trump card—the pink diamond he had received from the Fairy-Tale Princess.
The pink diamond had six fragments, each corresponding to a different function.
Three fragments guided directions, scanned environments, and located quest targets.
The remaining three were offensive items.
Su Qiong released the first fragment. It divided into thousands of fine needles in the air before raining down upon the NPCs, neutralizing every feather projectile they launched.
Any needle that pierced their bodies immediately ignited with blazing fire, causing the NPCs tremendous pain.
“I never imagined you would possess such a powerful item.” The mandarin-duck NPCs refused to yield. They tore out every feather scorched by the flames, shook themselves, and instantly grew new ones.
Their feathers could regenerate!
Su Qiong felt depressed.
Wouldn’t this continue forever?
He released the second pink-diamond fragment. It transformed into countless blades and battled the mandarin-duck NPCs.
The Circle Lord’s item was extraordinarily powerful. The pair gradually fell into a disadvantage and became completely suppressed by Su Qiong.
But they were high-level NPCs with extensive combat experience. While avoiding the blades, they deftly marked them with feathers, causing the feathers and blades to destroy one another.
Then they shook their bodies and grew new feathers.
Once again, Su Qiong felt that regenerative feathers were far too difficult to handle.
“Su Qiong!” An’an struggled back to his side and swung his sword, blocking a feather projectile flying directly at him.
“Are you all right?”
“Not really.” Su Qiong said worriedly, “My weapons can suppress them, but their weapons keep regenerating. Neither side can win.”
“What a nuisance.” An’an frowned as well.
“Now you understand how powerful we are, don’t you? Surrender, and we’ll at least grant you a quick death.”
“That won’t do,” Su Qiong immediately replied. “I’m a guide NPC. Everyone needs me very much, so I can’t die here.”
The mandarin-duck NPCs assumed he was being stubborn. After thinking about his words, they realized he was genuinely explaining himself.
This NPC…
Was extremely strange.
Why insist on being a white-name NPC when he was not even a pure white-name?
Or rather, perhaps he was not a pure NPC at all.
The mandarin ducks had encountered countless NPCs, but they had never seen one capable of triggering quests intended for players and receiving rewards intended for players.
“I still have one pink-diamond fragment.” Su Qiong displayed the sixth fragment. “This ability is extremely dangerous. If you surrender now and allow me to place the feather on you, I won’t use it.”
“Is it really that dangerous?” The mandarin-duck couple exchanged glances and appeared somewhat hesitant.
“Really.” Su Qiong explained where the pink diamond had come from, then concluded, “You definitely can’t defeat a Circle Lord’s item.”
“Fine.” The male mandarin duck raised his hands. “I surrender. Place the feather on me.”
Su Qiong released a breath of relief.
Although he wanted to test the combat power of his new item, completing the quest without fighting would still be the most perfect conclusion.
Su Qiong did not want to truly kill a player, nor did he want to truly kill an NPC.
Seeing Su Qiong approach the NPC, An’an grabbed him.
“Su Qiong, it’s a trick!”
“Huh?” Su Qiong froze for two seconds and turned toward An’an.
Seizing the opportunity, the mandarin-duck couple attacked simultaneously. Every feather transformed into a blade and flew toward Su Qiong at once.
Su Qiong’s pupils contracted. He swiftly threw out the sixth pink-diamond fragment.
The moment it was released, it transformed into a semicircular barrier that enclosed the mandarin-duck couple.
Their feathers struck the barrier and were all reflected back, stabbing toward them and forcing the pair to flee in disarray.
“I told you this item was extremely powerful.” Su Qiong approached the outside of the barrier and tapped it with one curved finger. “Do you want to surrender now?”
Tormented by their own weapons, the mandarin ducks cursed furiously.
“Who would surrender? Let us out!”
“What can this tiny shell possibly do to us?”
“By itself, it truly can’t do much to you,” Su Qiong admitted.
“Hah.” The couple looked contemptuous.
“But…” Su Qiong raised his wand again. “Mine is a combination set.”
The other two pink-diamond fragments appeared, transforming into ten thousand needles and ten thousand blades.
The vines and bandages attacked simultaneously, binding the pair and restricting every movement they made.
The mandarin ducks looked toward Su Qiong and discovered that he had even prepared the coffin for their corpses.
Their vision went dark.
An’an silently put away the chain around his waist.
He was no longer needed here.
Su Qiong’s items were far stronger than imagined. As expected of a Circle Lord who possessed another Circle Lord’s item.
If he genuinely became an enemy of the players, then even without the sacrifice ritual, they probably could not resist him for long.
“Wait! We surrender.”
“This time, we mean it!”
The mandarin-duck couple finally lost their nerve.
“It’s a promise. You aren’t allowed to deceive me again.” Su Qiong withdrew his items and placed the feather upon them.
He waited for a while, but nothing happened.
He could not reclaim the human identity.
“We already told you. Mandarin ducks appear in pairs. You obviously can’t succeed by yourself.”
Although they had surrendered, the mandarin ducks continued mocking him without mercy.
“An abandoned mandarin duck is so pitiful.”
“You’re so powerful. Why would you fall for such an irresponsible scumbag?”
Listening to their repeated criticism, Su Qiong could not resist defending ERROR.
“He isn’t a scumbag.”
“Then why did he abandon you?”
“He went to complete another quest.”
“What quest could be more important than the main quest?” The mandarin duck pinched two fingers close together and reminded him “kindly,” “You were this close to being killed by us.”
Unable to listen any longer, An’an offered an even kinder correction.
“It wasn’t that close.”
Although their feathers could regenerate endlessly and ordinary players would never have been able to suppress them, Su Qiong’s items were clearly superior.
If Su Qiong had used his strongest attacks from the beginning, it was uncertain who would have died.
The female mandarin duck said awkwardly, “Fine, I admit we’re relatively weak. Our displayed level is the total of our levels combined. If you encounter a stronger NPC and he abandons you again, you’ll definitely suffer.”
The male mandarin duck nodded. “Exactly. Even I, a red-name NPC, can’t tolerate it. Divorce him.”
“An irresponsible scumbag like that would never find a mate in the mandarin-duck community.”
Hearing this, Su Qiong could not help wondering:
Was ERROR truly that terrible?
So terrible that even by mandarin-duck standards, he could not find a mate.
Wouldn’t that mean he would remain alone for the rest of his life?
Then Su Qiong wondered what ERROR remaining alone had to do with him.
He was merely the NPC bound to ERROR inside the game, not his real romantic partner.
Once ERROR left the game, he might become lovers or even spouses with someone else, and that would have nothing to do with Su Qiong…
When the thought reached that point, Su Qiong suddenly felt depressed.
He could not explain why.
Meanwhile, ERROR was on the verge of death.
He reached out in vain but failed to grasp the black pearl sinking ten thousand meters into the ocean. He could only watch it drift farther away.
Unfilial son!
The quest was already extremely difficult. Once the damned system discovered that ERROR was completing it, it raised the difficulty by several more levels.
ERROR allowed himself to sink through the sea and thought:
Su Qiong’s concern had not been unfounded. This time, he might truly court death successfully.
Suddenly, a system prompt sounded.
[System: Congratulations. The intimacy between Player ERROR and NPC Su Qiong has increased to 35%.]
ERROR: “???”
He had not done anything, yet their intimacy had increased.
It was unbelievable.
Could it be Su Qiong?
Su Qiong had finally responded to him.
In an instant, ERROR felt his health return to full. He nimbly flipped over, grabbed a piece of coral from the seabed, and smashed it heavily against the clam.
The shell shattered, revealing a large, perfectly round black pearl and an exquisitely crafted ring setting.
[System: Congratulations. You have obtained the divine-grade bonded-love item: Black Pearl Wedding Ring. Placing it on your partner’s ring finger will activate a lovers’ ability.]
[Hint: The ability triggered depends on the affection between you and your partner. The ability will strengthen as affection increases. We wish you happiness.]
The black pearl landed in ERROR’s hand without any abnormal reaction.
How rare.
He had actually received a normal system item.
Five minutes later, ERROR returned to Su Qiong’s side, dripping with seawater and carrying two crabs for dinner.
They would soon have to complete the survival challenge. With crabs to eat, they would not need to exhaust themselves hunting.
Su Qiong definitely would not like bloody raw fish.
ERROR had not expected that by the time he returned, the little marshmallow would have worked extremely hard and defeated the NPCs.
The moment Su Qiong saw ERROR, he rushed over and plucked feathers from his body.
He acted too hurriedly and pulled out several.
Su Qiong kept one and discarded the rest.
Looking at the feathers on the ground, ERROR thought helplessly:
Did he understand how important hair was to a programmer?
Once the feather was placed upon the NPCs, they did not resist, and the identity exchange succeeded.
After transforming back into wild mandarin ducks, the NPCs still could not resist criticizing Su Qiong before flying away.
“Your man is no good! Completely useless!”
“That’s right. Replace him quickly.”
“Next time, I’ll introduce you to an outstanding young mandarin duck.”
“Th-thank you.” Su Qiong did not know what to say and politely thanked them.
“What mandarin duck?” ERROR did not understand the situation. “Why are they introducing mandarin ducks to you?”
An’an gave him a pitying look and could not be bothered explaining.
“You’re finally back! An’an and I completed the quest together!” Su Qiong said happily.
“An’an?” ERROR looked around but saw no adorable little girl by that name.
An’an himself wore a strange expression. He stiffened before admitting, “That’s me.”
ERROR’s gaze fell upon him, his smile ambiguous.
An’an recognized the mockery and said coldly, “Worry about yourself first. You were just looked down upon by two mandarin ducks.”
“Who cares about them?” ERROR set down the crabs and took out the ice flower with his left hand, pinning it to Su Qiong’s chest.
[System: The ice flower blooming at the summit of the tallest mountain. Only one exists within IF. After a player dies, it can preserve their life for ten minutes.]
With his right hand, ERROR took out the Black Pearl Wedding Ring.
He held Su Qiong’s hand and asked before placing it on him, “Do you like this?”
The black pearl emitted a deep glow, and the setting was exquisite and beautiful.
Su Qiong immediately nodded. “I like it.”
“Good. If you like it, I’ll give it to you.”
ERROR slid the wedding ring onto Su Qiong’s ring finger, slowly pushing it down.
The moment it reached the base of his finger, both heard a system prompt.
[System: Congratulations to Player ERROR and NPC Su Qiong for completing the lovers’ quest: Together in Love. You have obtained the lovers’ ability: To the Ends of the Earth.]
[Ability Description: When the bonded lovers are separated by the system, either may use To the Ends of the Earth to transport the other to within sixty-five meters of themselves. This ability may be used twice per instance.]
[Note: Transportation distance is determined by intimacy.]
Su Qiong understood.
Since their intimacy was thirty-five percent, they could transport each other only to within sixty-five meters.
If their intimacy reached one hundred percent, they could transport directly to each other’s side.
ERROR reached the same conclusion and gave Su Qiong a faint glance.
“You can’t blame me,” Su Qiong muttered. “I’m only an NPC.”
He barely understood the basic human way of life, much less something as complicated as love.
“Mm.” ERROR could only say, “I don’t blame you.”
An’an stood behind them and watched ERROR place a ring on Su Qiong’s finger. He felt like a wedding witness observing their happiness.
“Speaking of which…” ERROR released Su Qiong’s hand and finally spared some attention for An’an. “So you’re An’an?”
An’an glanced at him. “Who else would I be?”
ERROR froze slightly. After thinking for a moment, he nodded.
“You could only be An’an.”
“What does that mean?” Su Qiong looked between ERROR and An’an, unable to understand their conversation.
Neither man continued. They decided to return to the habitat.
They had reclaimed their identities, but their other companions had not.
The survival challenges were about to begin, and they needed to protect their teammates.
Except Shi Yuntian, of course.
Su Qiong walked ahead, extremely happy that he no longer needed to participate in survival challenges.
In truth, he did not dislike them. He had even liked the mother fennec fox from the first day and the grassland scenery from the second.
But becoming a mandarin duck meant sleeping on the water and eating bloody raw fish, both of which Su Qiong found impossible to accept.
Fortunately, ERROR had brought back two large crabs and promised to roast them for him later.
An’an deliberately slowed down until he walked beside ERROR. He extended a finger and drew an X on the crab shell in ERROR’s hand.
“It was me,” ERROR admitted openly.
An’an wore an expression of understanding. “No wonder.”
From the moment he learned about this game, he had vaguely suspected the creator’s identity.
The abbreviation for IN OFF should logically have been IO.
Yet the game company had given it the abbreviation IF.
The implication could not have been clearer.
“So you really designed this game. When do you plan to tell Su Qiong?”
“There’s no rush.” ERROR remained calm. “Although the system has rebelled, I arranged everything in advance. If…”
If even the slightest possibility remained.
He would make every necessary arrangement.
An’an merely responded, “Oh,” sounding as though he did not hold much hope.
Yet he still clung to a trace of it.
If something impossible for him still had any chance of succeeding, that chance had to lie with ERROR.
“Until then, keep it secret for me.” ERROR looked at him and deliberately called, “Big brother.”
“Shut up.” An’an nearly became enraged. “You have no right to call me that.”
“Is that so?” ERROR looked toward Su Qiong again. “Who knows?”
An’an: “…”
Was it too late to oppose this marriage?
An’an and ERROR split up to protect the twin sisters and Lu Shufan.
Following his usual habit, Su Qiong first went to find Yu Qimiao and share the good news that he had reclaimed his identity.
Yu Qimiao had spent the day gathering information in his habitat and had no time to search for the animal who had stolen his identity.
His Equivalent Exchange Bag was disabled, so he could rely only on his words to deceive, manipulate, and negotiate.
The difficulty of conducting transactions…
Had not changed at all.
Su Qiong seriously suspected that even without the Equivalent Exchange Bag, Yu Qimiao could still scheme against the entire game.
“Yu Qimiao, will you be all right if you don’t search for the animal who stole your identity?”
“I’ll be fine.” Yu Qimiao remained completely calm. “I’ve already summarized the pattern of the food chain. Furthermore, the daily identity selection is not completely random. It changes according to habitat.”
“How does it change?”
“For example, if the first day is the grassland, then the second day will be an adjacent forest or desert. The third day will be a lake or mountain…” Yu Qimiao said. “I’ve already predicted my identity for tomorrow. I should be able to reclaim my human identity.”
“Wow! As expected of you!” Su Qiong praised him sincerely.
Yu Qimiao had been unlucky today and drawn the identity of a weak chipmunk, surrounded by natural predators everywhere.
It would have been extraordinarily easy for other players to take advantage of the opportunity and kill him.
Anyone else would have hidden somewhere and struggled to survive.
Yu Qimiao, however, remained fearless, having accurately predicted that they would not dare harm him.
“I also passed along the information you gave me. Guild Leader Xi Huaiji helped as well. There were fewer chaotic zones today. Everyone has realized this Circle isn’t so simple.”
Su Qiong nodded. “ERROR and I reclaimed our identities, but we still didn’t receive any notification that we could leave. To clear Circle Three, we probably need to find the Circle Lord.”
Su Qiong would never naïvely assume that the Circle boundary would open automatically once time ran out.
How could the bastard system ever be that kind?
“Right. You’ve completed the first phase of the quest, so you should be able to trigger clues about the Circle Lord next,” Yu Qimiao said. “I think you should explore human society as quickly as possible.”
“But you…” Su Qiong examined Yu Qimiao.
Yu Qimiao knew when his survival challenge would begin and had waited in the habitat in advance.
When the time arrived, he transformed into a palm-sized chipmunk with a fluffy tail.
Leaving such a chipmunk alone in the habitat meant it could become food for a feline or canine at any moment.
“Squeak.” The chipmunk released an adorable cry, indicating that he would be fine.
“You won’t be fine. Animals won’t listen to reason.” Was Yu Qimiao planning to negotiate with a lion in this form?
“Squeak!” Yu Qimiao reminded him that exploring human society was more important.
“I know. I’ll do it.” Su Qiong opened the inner pocket of his cloak and placed Yu Qimiao inside.
The palm-sized Yu Qimiao tilted his head in confusion.
“The system says players must participate in a challenge at a fixed time, but it never specifies what kind of challenge they have to face.” Su Qiong said happily, “I’ll take you into the human world.”
“…”
Yu Qimiao was shocked.
That was allowed?
Su Qiong had already visited human society, so returning was easy.
Because he had inherited the mandarin ducks’ identity, his profession was now an administrator at the ecological park.
The park remained open at night and had more visitors than during the day. People who had worked all day enjoyed coming there to relax.
The park also featured beautiful nighttime scenery and evening boat rides. More stores and street vendors had opened as well.
Yu Qimiao poked his head out of Su Qiong’s pocket.
Seeing familiar human society filled him with nostalgia.
If he had never entered the game, perhaps he would currently be enjoying the ordinary human world too.
However, although Yu Qimiao missed the past, he did not reject the present.
Before entering the game, he had occupied a high position, faced endless work every day, dealt with scheming business partners, and returned to a cold, empty home.
He possessed a great deal of money, but there seemed to be nothing in the world worth lingering for.
Now, things were different.
“People bring cats and dogs for walks in the park, so taking you out should be fine.” Su Qiong removed him from his pocket and placed him on his shoulder. “Where do you want to go? Would you like candied hawthorn? I have money.”
Su Qiong had not only inherited the mandarin ducks’ identities but also their assets in human society.
It was not much, but he could buy ten skewers of candied hawthorn and still have money left over.
“Squeak, squeak.” Yu Qimiao indicated that he did not want any.
“Do chipmunks not like candied hawthorn?” Su Qiong asked adorably. “Then what do you like to eat?”
Naturally, Yu Qimiao could not answer.
He was not a real chipmunk.
“Nuts!” A child approached and lifted his head to speak with Su Qiong.
“I raise a chipmunk too. Its teeth are very hard, and it loves nuts.” As the child spoke, he took a packet of nuts from his pocket. “You can have these. Don’t tell my mom.”
Su Qiong accepted them. The package was labeled Daily Nuts, and he did not understand why the child had said that.
Wasn’t giving nuts to an adorable chipmunk an act of kindness toward rodents?
Yu Qimiao understood immediately.
The child was obviously a picky eater who had secretly hidden his nuts and was afraid his mother would discover them.
If he did this every day, his mother would definitely scold him.
Su Qiong clumsily opened the package, picked up a shelled nut, and offered it to Yu Qimiao.
The survival challenge included finding food, and Yu Qimiao truly was hungry. He accepted the nut and nibbled several bites.
“Wow, so adorable.” Su Qiong sighed once again. “Your cheeks are puffed up.”
“…”
Yu Qimiao felt irritated and turned his back to Su Qiong while eating.
After another two bites, he heard another familiar cry of, “So adorable.”
The tourists behind Su Qiong had noticed the chipmunk and gathered around. Several pairs of eyes watched Yu Qimiao eat simultaneously.
“…”
Yu Qimiao was speechless.
Strange humans. Had they never seen a rodent eating before?
Under their observation, he struggled through dinner and then accompanied Su Qiong in exploring human society.
The most powerful NPC inside the ecological park had already been driven away by Su Qiong, so nothing unusual remained there.
After walking around once, they decided to expand their search.
Su Qiong left the ecological park. Several metal boxes roared past him—the vehicles humans called cars.
Within the game world, Su Qiong did not actually need transportation. Traveling anywhere took only three minutes.
But he stared at the metal boxes for a while and saw the passengers inside, feeling terribly envious.
Imitating them, he boarded a bus and found an empty seat.
“You in the cloak,” the driver called back. “You didn’t tap your card. Pay the fare.”
“Tap… a card?” Su Qiong looked confused. “What card?”
“A bus card. What other card would it be?”
“Don’t tell me you don’t know.”
“I really don’t!” Su Qiong answered righteously.
“Playing dumb to avoid paying? Don’t try that with me.”
A brief disturbance spread through the bus. The passengers poked their heads out to see who was evading the fare.
Yu Qimiao became anxious and suddenly regretted not reclaiming his human identity sooner.
A young woman who had boarded behind Su Qiong tapped her bus card a second time.
“Driver, I’ll pay for him.”
The driver glanced over, said nothing more, and started the bus toward the next stop.
The woman sat beside Su Qiong and suddenly spoke mysteriously.
“I know. You’re a runaway young master, aren’t you? With your bearing, you must be a pampered heir from a wealthy family who has never ridden a bus before.”
“Mm-hm.” The nearby passengers overheard and agreed.
Su Qiong certainly looked like the type who had been carefully protected and had never ridden public transportation.
“I really haven’t ridden one before, but I’m not a wealthy young master,” Su Qiong said. “I don’t even know what kind of human I was.”
“Huh? Did you lose your memory?”
“I don’t think so.” Su Qiong sounded uncertain. He politely told the woman, “Thank you for tapping your card for me. I’ll give you this.”
From his collection, Su Qiong took out an accessory he had kept because it looked beautiful, despite serving no practical purpose, and handed it to her.
Then he carried Yu Qimiao off the bus with a light step.
The woman examined the object in her palm and exclaimed, “An uncut diamond?!”
He was so generous, yet still claimed he was not a rich heir!
The driver: “…”
Regret.
If he had known, he would have let the boy pay the fare with the diamond!
