As a beast tamer and concurrently recognized as one of the merchants designated by the instance, Shuyuan’s merchandise consisted of those beasts that had already been successfully domesticated and reared.
Naturally, there were a few other items available as well.
“Xiao Hei is my companion, and I hope the two of us can continue operating together in the subsequent instance stages. Do you have any items here that suit the two of us?”
Song Yu stated the purpose of her visit and asked with sincere earnestness.
The NPCs of this world were aware of the existence of instance players, and they were also clearly cognizant that they themselves were NPCs.
It was quite magical.
“If that’s the case, then this item is extremely well-suited for the two of you.”
Shuyuan waved his hand, and a permanent buff materialized right before Song Yu’s eyes.
[Eternal Companions: Players on both sides possessing this buff will always enter the same identical instances in subsequent stages, though their landing drop locations may vary.]
[Exchange Price: 1,000 Points of Shuyuan’s Favorability]
“???”
The exchange currency actually turned out to be Shuyuan’s favorability points?
And it cost a full 1,000 points of favorability!
Song Yu forced herself to refrain from swearing and patiently kept reading downward.
The NPC Shuyuan was somewhat special—to be precise, all the NPCs inside this instance were very special, as each person’s favorability mechanism operated differently.
Chen Su, whom Song Yu had encountered previously, proved exceptionally difficult to raise favorability with, yet the higher her favorability, the greater the benefits one could extract from her.
Shuyuan was completely different; his favorability points were entirely consumable items, and his maximum cap actually reached a staggering 9,999!
Higher than the storage capacity cap of the backpack slots!
Song Yu had praised how easy it was to raise Shuyuan’s favorability just earlier, and now she was truly receiving a resounding slap to the face.
30/9999
However, wanting to raise Shuyuan’s favorability was actually quite simple: complete quests issued by him, or donate supplies.
For instance, 10 bottles of water could be traded for 1 point of favorability, while 1 catty of fresh meat could be traded for 1 point of favorability.
At first glance, this donation looked easy to complete, requiring only 1,000 catties of meat.
In reality, though… let’s not forget this was a city suffering from extreme resource scarcity, where the greater the quantity of supplies, the more perilous things became.
“…”
Song Yu fell silent without a word, deep in contemplation. This meat…
Did human meat fall under that umbrella as well?
If that were the case, she wouldn’t mind engaging in a bit of fishing law enforcement.
Song Yu didn’t rush to question Shuyuan, choosing instead to check the quest tab.
The quests issued by Shuyuan were mostly related to the animals he kept, such as brushing and bathing the white tiger, shoveling dung for the wild boars, and tending to the giant wolf’s cubs.
These quests basically yielded 10 points of favorability each, but one had to raise Shuyuan’s favorability to 100 points before unlocking the ability to accept them.
What a hassle.
Song Yu glanced sideways at Shuyuan. Shuyuan was cradling a black cat in his arms, flashing a gentle, faint smile toward her.
[Beast Tamer Shuyuan’s Favorability +10]
A favorability boost arriving completely out of nowhere—just like Shuyuan himself, who looked extremely approachable on the surface, yet was chillingly indifferent down to his core.
She needed to cook up a scheme to haul in a massive bounty.
Not only did Song Yu want [Eternal Companions], she also desired that [Animal Awakening Potion] priced at 2,000 favorability points.
It could enable animals to “speak” aloud, granting them independent thinking capabilities identical to humans.
Since Shuyuan possessed such a potion here, did that mean other NPCs might stock similar potions usable by humans?
Naturally, her top priority for now remained boosting Shuyuan’s favorability, and supplying meat was undoubtedly the fastest method.
Inside Song Yu’s backpack slots sat several cans of beef gifted to her by the Watchers organization.
“When it comes to human meat, that works just as well, you know.”
Shuyuan kept his head lowered, stroking the black cat resting in his arms as his silver-white long hair cascaded downward. His words were laden with a seductive, bewitching undertone.
It felt like a demon whispering an enticement from the depths of hell, luring Song Yu into committing an unforgivable sin.
While Song Yu was a law-abiding, upstanding citizen in the real world, ever since stepping into the game, she hadn’t shied away from taking lives.
The sole difference lay in her transitioning from passive self-defense to active execution.
Weighing the cost-benefit ratio, Song Yu resolutely decided to go through with it!
However, her immediate priority was returning to the shelter; Song Yu didn’t harbor any illusions that Shuyuan would offer a safe haven for her and Xiao Hei to weather the night.
Shuyuan watched the departing backs of Song Yu and Xiao Hei receding into the distance, the smile curving along his lips deepening.
…
Just before nightfall descended, Song Yu and Xiao Hei arrived inside the storm-drain shelter.
It boasted a spacious area, more than sufficient to accommodate both her and Xiao Hei.
Though the stench was slightly difficult to stomach.
After quickly wrapping up a simple dinner, Song Yu listened to the muffled roars of the zombies echoing above, switched on her flashlight, and began studying the map of Yangliu City.
The vast majority of players had been deployed into the New District and the Old District, with the Central District housing the fewest players while swarming with the highest density of zombies.
Yet when it came to resource abundance, aside from the New and Old Districts, one other location stood out.
Song Yu’s finger rested on a corner of the map: Yangliu Seaport.
As a seaport affiliated with Yangliu City, it boasted numerous cargo ships, meaning the concentration of players stationed there was bound to be high as well!
Song Yu hadn’t originally intended to head toward this area because the zombie population there would unequivocally outnumber human presence by a massive margin.
Still, upon discovering that NPCs possessed such incredible high-tier goods, Song Yu felt compelled to take a calculated risk.
Execute a single massive play directly, harvest an adequate stash of supplies, and then dedicate herself entirely to hunting down NPCs to exchange for the specialized resources she needed.
Shuyuan welcomed humans, but that didn’t imply all NPCs would follow suit; the circulating currency for trade remained those standard items.
Song Yu readjusted her planned route, intending to farm mobs along the way while pushing toward the seaport.
Song Yu’s fishing law enforcement persona possessed a high degree of misdirection—she looked like an easy target, and in reality, she indeed was.
Without a firearm for close-quarters head-on clashes, Song Yu would face certain defeat.
Come to think of it, Song Yu currently retained a single lone bullet dedicated to preserving her life; if only a group of heavily wounded players would miraculously drop from the sky straight into her lap.
Yet that was pure daydreaming.
Song Yu tucked the map back into her backpack, snapped off the flashlight, and pulled out the talent cards dropped by the players she had recently slain.
Among the two players’ talents, one was Sprint Athlete, while the other was Cold Resistance.
[Cold Resistance LV.1 (0/50): Reduces consumption by 5% under low-temperature environments.]
It was an ideal fit for winter-themed instances; possessing this talent meant out-surviving anyone else in a war of attrition!
Provided she actually ran into a winter-type instance, Song Yu put it to use without hesitation.
Since she already owned the Sprint Athlete talent, using that card again would only yield a meager 50 experience points toward her existing Sprint Athlete talent.
Rather than wasting it on mere experience points, passing it along to Xiao Hei made far more sense.
Xiao Hei’s speed was already impressive to begin with; backed by talent bonuses, it would undoubtedly evolve into a puppy swift as the wind!
Song Yu handed the talent card over to Xiao Hei. Being extraordinarily clever, Xiao Hei shredded the card to pieces directly with its jaws.
While it didn’t grasp the exact utility of this card, obeying Song Yu was always the correct path.
Having wrapped up all pending tasks, Song Yu decisively pulled up her quilt and drifted off into a deep slumber.
Only tonight, Song Yu’s sleep refused to settle into peace.
At 3:00 AM, Song Yu, still wrapped in dreams, was abruptly clawed awake by Xiao Hei.
Without a word of reprimand toward Xiao Hei, she whipped her head around to peer outside with razor-sharp vigilance.
A chaotic flurry of footfalls echoed through the hollow expanse of the storm drains, accompanied by low murmurs of conversation rapidly closing the distance toward Song Yu!