Bai Fuling clearly remembered parting ways with Liao Zhiqiu only that very afternoon.
They had even agreed to meet again the following morning. Yet, to her complete surprise, they had run into each other again that very night, inside the sewers.
…Following that mysterious tentacle creature not only unlocked a brand-new area, but also triggered an entirely new storyline.
So that thing really was some kind of treasure guide, wasn’t it? Bai Fuling mused inwardly. It seemed those black tentacles were actually a rather abstract-looking little lucky charm.
The reason she thought of it as abstract was simple: the enigmatic tentacle creature didn’t possess any definite or recognizable shape at all.
It was nothing more than a chaotic mass of tangled black lines, twisting and intertwining into an indescribable form.
She meant the word abstract in its most literal sense, with absolutely no malicious intent.
In fact, Bai Fuling actually liked tentacle elements quite a bit.
There was no special reason for it. He simply liked anything that felt soft and squishy to the touch, stress-relief squeeze toys, cotton plush pillows, slime, and even soft-bodied tentacles. He liked every single one of them.
Several octopus plushies were still piled up on Bai Fuling’s bed. They were exceptionally comfortable to hug.
His thoughts wandered for only a brief few seconds before Bai Fuling quickly refocused on the scene unfolding before him. Before he even had the chance to say anything, Liao Zhiqiu spoke first.
“…Why are you here?” Liao Zhiqiu gripped the iron bars of the cage with both hands and leaned forward slightly, his gaze settling on Bai Fuling. “…There’s blood. What happened?”
Wow, Princess, how could you steal my line! Bai Fuling’s eyes widened. He hadn’t expected the NPC to question the player before the player could even speak.
It was probably just the usual greeting dialogue when characters met. Most NPCs never really cared how the player responded anyway.
Of course, focusing the conversation on a story-related NPC was much more likely to trigger the next part of the plot.
So Bai Fuling answered, “Aren’t you here? I came to, mm, find you.”
“…Find me? How did you manage to track me here?”
The truth was that he hadn’t been looking for him at all. Their meeting had been nothing more than a complete accident. Naturally, Bai Fuling had no intention of telling the truth. When playing games, adaptability was an essential skill.
Having thoroughly grasped Liao Zhiqiu’s weakness for animals, Bai Fuling answered without hesitation.
“I followed the scent you left behind in the air.”
It sounded perfectly reasonable.
And it was a very little-animal kind of answer.
Just as he had expected, the dark-circled pixel character standing before him reacted immediately. A tiny pink plus sign popped up above his head.
Delighted, Bai Fuling watched the little pink symbol floating overhead. Finding his rhythm again, he asked the very same question back to Liao Zhiqiu, reversing the earlier exchange.
“Why are you here? What happened?”
“Some things happened. But I’m not injured.” Liao Zhiqiu replied briefly and directly, his gaze never leaving Bai Fuling.
He noticed that half of the black-haired young man’s cheek was smeared with fresh blood.
Even the tip of the fishtail braid hanging beside his ear was stained with scattered flecks of dark crimson. His bright yellow raincoat-cape was splattered with blood as well, making him look almost exactly the same as the first time
Liao Zhiqiu had seen him lying on the lawn.
How had the little cat managed to get himself into such a state again?
Those pitch-black eyes looked back at him, filled with unmistakable innocence.
Naturally, Liao Zhiqiu had no intention of scolding a little animal for coming back covered in injuries once again. Besides, judging by the situation, it seemed the other party had ended up like this because he had come looking for him.
Just as he always had whenever he dealt with small animals, he wore a patient, tranquil expression and spoke softly.
“Come here first.”
Still kneeling on one knee inside the iron cage, Liao Zhiqiu lifted a hand and beckoned gently.
Bai Fuling had no objections. A player naturally followed an NPC’s prompts. He walked several steps forward until he reached the side of the cage, preparing for the next story event to trigger.
The next step should probably be examining the cage lock.
In RPG games, locked cages usually meant some sort of puzzle. The player either had to piece together a pattern or search the surrounding environment for clues to the password.
Bai Fuling reached out instinctively, intending to control his character and interact with the lock on the cage.
But before he could touch it, Liao Zhiqiu caught hold of his wrist first.
Holding it as though he were gently holding a cat’s paw, he lightly shook it up and down.
“Alright. Don’t be afraid. Let me take a look.”
Liao Zhiqiu twirled the small knife in his hand, turning the blade toward his own clothing. With practiced ease, he sliced through the outer layer of his robe and tore off a long strip of cloth.
“Where’s the wound? We need to stop the bleeding first. There’s no bandage, so we’ll have to make do with this for now.”
Oh! I’d forgotten that clothes didn’t magically become clean just because your character recovered! Bai Fuling suddenly realized.
This had to be the randomly triggered “send to the hospital” event. It was just that there wasn’t a hospital down in the sewers, so the NPC had taken on the role of the doctor instead.
“It’s fine, I don’t need it. I’m already better.” Bai Fuling typed a smiling face, skipping the medical treatment sequence.
He had just eaten nearly ten hamburgers in a row. His HP bar had already been fully restored, and the blood-loss debuff had long since disappeared.
Bai Fuling tugged at his yellow raincoat.
“My clothes are just stained red, that’s all. I’ll wash them later, cough, I mean, I’ll groom my fur later.”
“…” Liao Zhiqiu tilted his head as he looked at him. After seemingly confirming that Bai Fuling was fully conscious and genuinely unharmed, he lowered both the makeshift bandage and the small knife in his hands.
Bai Fuling’s gaze shifted onto the knife.
He still remembered that the previous dagger had contained a tracking device.
Surely this little knife belonging to the dark-eyed pixel NPC didn’t have one too, right? Please don’t attract another monster over here.
In any case, he should pick it up first and read the item description.
Bai Fuling reached toward the knife inside the cage.
Liao Zhiqiu immediately pressed a hand over it, his expression unusually serious.
“No. You can’t play with this.”
“I’m not playing with it. I just want to take a look, Is your knife safe?” Bai Fuling asked directly. “The dagger you had before contained a tracking device.”
Liao Zhiqiu froze slightly upon hearing that.
Several seconds passed before he reacted, and the color gradually drained from his face.
“…That dagger had a tracking device? So the trouble you ran into before… was because of that dagger? You, ”
He paused, as though a sudden realization had struck him.
“When that happened… why did you give me flowers?”
“As an exchange gift.” Bai Fuling replied. “I thought you’d like them.”
The moment he heard that answer, Liao Zhiqiu suddenly understood all of Bai Fuling’s previous actions.
So that was it.
Back in the alley, the reason Bai Fuling had suddenly switched targets and attacked him hadn’t been because of some random feline mood swing.
It had been to take away the dagger that would bring danger upon him.
As for leaving behind the rose, it had simply been a straightforward act of repayment and exchange, viewed through the innocent logic of a small animal.
This was a cat repaying kindness.
…All because, back then on the lawn, he had helped him up and given him a few bird eggs?
Liao Zhiqiu recalled that memory, and guilt quietly welled up inside him.
He blamed himself for not sincerely offering the bird eggs from the very beginning.
At the time, he had only intended for Bai Fuling to hold the bird’s nest for him while he was fighting.
“…I’m sorry.”
Liao Zhiqiu spoke softly.
“Oh, it’s nothing. It’s not your fault.”
Bai Fuling assumed Liao Zhiqiu was apologizing about the dagger, so he answered accordingly.
How could the tracking device possibly be the NPC’s fault?
Everything had simply been required by the plot.
A rational player would never vent their frustration on an innocent NPC.
They only cursed whatever awful storyline the game developers had designed instead. ()
Liao Zhiqiu said sincerely,
“I’ll bring you more cat treats next time. Lots of them.”
“Okay. But I only want one flavor.”
Of course, a player would never refuse a gift from an NPC.
Besides, cat treats increased both affection and HP. They were the ultimate all-purpose healing item.
Different flavors might occupy more inventory slots, though, so Bai Fuling decided to place a limitation on it. One flavor was more than enough.
That, in turn, made him seem surprisingly loyal.
“So, why are you here?”
After going in circles, Bai Fuling returned to the original topic.
He clicked on the lock again, trying to find a way to open it.
No matter how many times he clicked, the only prompt that appeared on the screen was:
【This is a heavy lock.】
Darn it, this isn’t what I expected at all! Bai Fuling grumbled inwardly.
According to common RPG logic, shouldn’t there at least be a few puzzle hints?
So he turned to Liao Zhiqiu, hoping to obtain the method for unlocking it from the NPC himself.
Could it be that he had to say, “Princess, please open the door”?
“On the way back… I couldn’t defeat those people.” Liao Zhiqiu said calmly. “Grandfather didn’t want me celebrating the little cat’s birthday, so he locked me in here.”
Bai Fuling: ?
Huh?
How could this grandfather actually be this extreme?
Locking someone in a prison cell, a confinement room, or even a basement was one thing.
But locking someone inside a sewer?
Wasn’t he worried the city might flood one day and simply wash the person away with the current???
Bai Fuling’s imagination wandered wildly for a brief moment.
Then he remembered this was a game and decided not to dwell on such details.
“There are people outside following me, but they can’t find this place.” Liao Zhiqiu glanced at Bai Fuling. “You’re the first… and also the only one who found me.”
So that meant all he had to do was bring him out safely, right?
Bai Fuling tilted his head, immediately catching the key point hidden within those words.
Players were experts at identifying quest conditions buried inside dialogue.
He understood now.
The dark-eyed pixel character’s guards had a limited patrol range.
The sewers lay outside that range.
Therefore, the player needed to escort the dark-eyed pixel character back into the main area.
Or at the very least, drag the cage to the sewer exit before calling for help.
As for why the player couldn’t simply go outside to find someone first before coming back,
Because he would get lost.
What if he wandered around in circles and couldn’t find the target again?
The player was, admittedly, just a little directionally challenged.
Especially since this game’s environment had been designed with incredible realism rather than neat, predictable pathways.
In short, he still had to figure out a way to leave together with Liao Zhiqiu.
Ah, just as expected of a traditional RPG.
After rescuing the “princess,” the next mission was escorting the “princess” safely back to town.
Bai Fuling was very familiar with this kind of quest.
He stood up and controlled his character to grab hold of the iron bars of the cage.
“…What are you doing?”
“I’m going to… take you out.”
Bai Fuling controlled his character to begin dragging the iron cage.
The cage imprisoning Liao Zhiqiu was astonishingly heavy.
The moment his character grabbed hold of it, the movement-speed reduction icon in the status bar lit up brilliantly.
【Overburdened: Movement speed decreased.】
This time, his movement speed was even slower than when he had carried the gray wolf before.
It was so painfully slow that by the time the player’s fingers had grown sore from pressing the controls, he had barely moved forward at all.
Whoa!!
At this rate, he’d be dragging this cage around all night!!
Bai Fuling had originally intended to enable auto-play and let his character slowly haul the cage along.
But after another thought, he immediately dismissed the idea.
No.
At this speed, the cage might not even reach its destination by the following morning.
Then he’d miss checking in at school before eight o’clock.
So he needed a second solution!
Just like the clever bug exploit he’d used previously to deal with carrying the gray wolf.
Bai Fuling stopped dragging the cage and turned to look at Liao Zhiqiu inside.
As for equipping him as a back accessory…
The iron cage was simply too enormous.
There was no way the player could carry something that ridiculous on his back.
The system definitely wouldn’t allow such an outrageous bug exploit.
So the previous method wouldn’t work.
He had to think of something else.
Then… what other method was there?
Bai Fuling stood perfectly still, deep in thought for three whole seconds.
Three seconds later, he blinked.
Then he spoke.
“Hi, Liao Zhiqiu. Could you… become my companion pet?”
Liao Zhiqiu: ?
Companion pets in games came in every imaginable variety. They were easily the most flexible and accommodating category of all.
At this very moment, as long as he could activate the companion pet’s default follow mode, surely every one of his current problems would be resolved in an instant!
✦ ✧ ✦
Vynellia
[Translator]
☕ A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR THE TRANSLATOR
The Realm is pleased. The translator would be even more pleased with coffee.
☕ BUY THEM A COFFEE →
✧ (づ｡•ㅅ•｡)づ ☕ ✧
✦ thank you for reading ✦
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ChaptersChapter 1 · Escape game freezesChapter 2 · Players aren’t allowed to use the main entranceChapter 3 · Players have created a medical miracle!Chapter 4 · If I hit the NPC more, will the NPC drop gold coins?Chapter 5 · Players earn the title of “bus weirdo”Chapter 6 · Players get a prison experienceChapter 7 · So the red bar isn’t for favorability, it’s for anger!Chapter 8 · The player is a nimble catChapter 9 · The player is a “law-abiding” good studentChapter 10 · Players have no morals and are fearlessChapter 11 · Player: What’s wrong? It’s called “Cai Cai Shui Ling LingChapter 12 · The player is the famous Farmer Detective!Chapter 13 · The player raised a new petChapter 14 · The player is a genius dog-riding boyChapter 15 · The player is a sticky, helpful, and kind comradeChapter 16 · It turns out that players aren’t considered human by NPCsChapter 17 · Players are like angels descending upon my side!Chapter 18 · Player: There’s only one truth!Chapter 19 · Why are players farming at the school?!Chapter 20 · Players came to the cafeteria to buy suppliesChapter 21 · Are NPCs model workers?Chapter 22 · If you’re a gay manChapter 23 · Player: Wheelchairs are a useful mode of transportation!Chapter 24 · So the player is actually part of Cat Returns (?)Chapter 25 · Liao Zhi Qiu, a large pet belonging to the playerChapter 26 · Player: Hello, I picked up this corpse.Chapter 27 · Bai Fuling: Players will never dieChapter 28 · Has the murderer been caught?Chapter 29 · Player: Visiting the mental hospital felt as familiar as coming homeChapter 30 · Players’ Adventure in the Mental Hospital: Round 1Chapter 31 · Player: Kid, fly!Chapter 32 · The player who does good deeds every day is truly a good personChapter 33 · The kitten brought back some local specialtiesChapter 34 · Let this adorable kitten stay forever?Chapter 35 · Players, don’t give up on being human!Chapter 36 · A kitten is just a kitten, isn’t it?Chapter 37 · Players want it, players get itChapter 38 · Angel Player and Unlucky Bear NPCChapter 39 · In short, players choose to throw at NPCsChapter 40 · The player just flew away!Chapter 41 · Player: You need to thoroughly understand the bookChapter 42 · Players love to tease honest NPCs.Chapter 43 · He said he was a little hungry.Chapter 44 · Even if cotton essence mutatesChapter 45 · Pure Love TentaclesChapter 46 · Choose to be a kitten?Chapter 47 · Players’ tears are weaponsChapter 48 · Players do not need to breatheChapter 49 · It’s on fire!Chapter 50 · The player is a top-tier rescue masterChapter 51 · How did the player manage to resurrect after killing themselves?!Chapter 52 · Call the player “Little Cat King”!Chapter 53 · What are the consequences of raising the cat-like alienation