With the intention of maxing out the bar completely, Bai Fuling happily continued mashing the attack button with the wooden stick as he watched the red progress steadily rise, curious about what exactly would happen at the end.
Several strings of punctuation marks popped above the dark circled eye pixel NPC’s head. He blocked a few strikes and shoved Bai Fuling away.
After several repeated exchanges, he finally seemed to lose patience and retaliated,
Though he apparently still wasn’t using much force, because Bai Fuling’s HP bar barely decreased.
Although the dark circled NPC was displaying extremely obvious resistance, Bai Fuling saw that the red bar above his head was still increasing, so he didn’t stop attacking.
Whether the NPC enjoyed it or not didn’t matter.
The player certainly was enjoying himself.
Bai Fuling cheerfully felt absolutely no moral burden whatsoever.
However, during the interaction, he suddenly noticed the other party seemingly preparing to pull out a knife. Bai Fuling was immediately shocked and decisively chose a heavy wooden stick strike in hopes of triggering stun.
Trading blows normally was fine but pulling out equipment crossed the line!
After all, the player currently had no armor or defensive gear at all and he had already run out of healing items. If this turned into a serious PvP fight, there was genuine risk of having to reload a save.
The wooden stick’s default attributes came with a passive stun effect. Heavy strikes had a five percent chance of triggering it. Earlier, the red name NPC lying on the ground had collapsed after being hit by the stun effect.
And now, after several consecutive heavy blows, the dark circled eye pixel NPC before him also finally triggered the stun effect as hoped and fell over stiffly onto the ground.
Seeing the NPC collapse, Bai Fuling let out a breath of relief and lowered the stick.
After all that grinding, the red bar above the NPC’s head had now reached halfway full. Usually speaking, once stats became high enough, NPCs would start giving feedback.
Whatever that red bar specifically represented, raising it should definitely unlock new reactions, right?
Next time they met, he would beat him up a little more and the bar should probably fill completely. Then he could finally see what would happen.
Bai Fuling nodded in satisfaction.
Players were creatures driven by curiosity! Just thinking about it made him a little excited.
He controlled his character to crouch down and, now fully experienced after doing it once already, began searching Liao Zhiqiu’s body.
After all, since they had already fought, naturally he had to test whether ally NPCs could also drop equipment.
Nothing had fallen earlier during the beating but as a player, he couldn’t just let all that hard work go unrewarded.
Loot everything you can whenever possible. Perfect!
Bai Fuling searched the upper body first and prompts appeared before him:
Obtained [Grain Bird Feed ×2]
Bird feed?
This thing didn’t seem especially useful…
But since the game specifically emphasized that it contained grain, perhaps it could be planted.
Bai Fuling immediately stuffed it into his backpack, planning to experiment with a farming build later.
Then he continued searching. After checking the upper body, he moved lower,
Smack.
His wrist was suddenly seized.
Pixel characters made subtle actions hard to notice but this time a CG illustration flashed briefly onscreen.
The dark circled eye NPC lying on the ground suddenly “came back to life.” His eyes half opened as he grabbed Bai Fuling’s wrist. Bloodstained fingers tightened around another equally bloodied wrist.
“…” A tangled mess of chaotic scribbles filled the NPC’s dialogue box, as though he still hadn’t fully recovered from the stun effect caused by the heavy strike yet he still tightly restrained Bai Fuling, stopping his next action.
At this moment, Bai Fuling had already touched the dagger tucked at the other man’s waist. Item information had long since appeared onscreen.
[Dagger: A sharp dagger of mysterious origin. It seems to have a story behind it. Are you sure you want to take it?]
Judging from the earlier battle where the dark circled NPC fought those three red name enemies, the dagger was clearly excellent equipment. Its damage far surpassed the wooden stick, so of course he wanted it.
Bai Fuling firmly believed players never rejected good items.
He used the unstuck function to break free from Liao Zhiqiu’s grip before reaching forward again,
But the other party caught his wrist once more.
…Not allowing him to take it?
Even after an NPC had already collapsed, it still wouldn’t allow item theft?
How unreasonable.
Bai Fuling froze briefly, then his gaze slowly sharpened.
If an NPC wouldn’t let you take something, would you still take it?
Of course you would. You’d take it even if you died trying!
And what if you got caught?
Heh. No problem. Their levels were different anyway. NPCs couldn’t truly kill players. Worst case scenario, he would just reload a save.
The more the NPC refused to let him take it, the more Bai Fuling wanted to bug abuse his way into obtaining it.
Encountering new equipment meant giving it everything you had.
He clicked the unstuck option once again, slipping his arm free from the other party’s grip.
This time, however, Bai Fuling didn’t immediately reach back for the dagger. Instead, he first picked up the bird nest with the rose stuck in it that he had tossed aside earlier.
Generally speaking, only one handheld item could be equipped at a time, Bai Fuling reasoned seriously.
Before combat started, the dark circled NPC had handed him the bird nest and switched his held item to the dagger.
Therefore, as long as he forcefully stuffed another handheld object into the NPC’s hands, the dark circled NPC would no longer be able to stop him!
Thinking this, Bai Fuling prepared himself and swiftly reached toward the other man’s waist like a snake.
At the instant the dark circled NPC moved to stop him, Bai Fuling shoved the rose and straw bird nest forward,
And before Liao Zhiqiu could react, Bai Fuling relied on his incredible hand speed to snatch away the dagger, stuff it into his inventory and leap backward to his feet.
The dark circled eye pixel NPC remained on the ground clutching the bird nest. A “?” popped above his head, then transformed into a tangled scribble of black lines before finally becoming a long string of ellipses.
Thinking?
Was he contemplating the handheld item the player had stuffed into his hands?
Honestly speaking, the rose tucked into the bird nest actually looked pretty nice.
…So the person in front of him had refused to accept the roses the whole time yet now that they’d been stuffed into his hands, he neither rejected them nor threw them away. He’d even fallen into thoughtful silence over them. In other words, he actually did like them after all, didn’t he? He was just the tsundere type who refused to admit it!
Based on this, Bai Fuling arrived at an entirely new conclusion: oh, so this was the kind of character setting Liao Zhiqiu had!
In that case, before leaving, he might as well raise the favorability a little more. No matter how you looked at it, gifting flowers shouldn’t lower affection points!
Bai Fuling pulled out the final rose he hadn’t managed to give away earlier. Taking advantage of the fact that the other party was still trapped in a half dizzy debuff state, he tossed the flower toward him.
Then, without the slightest hesitation, he turned and left without looking back.
Bai Fuling: all the equipment worth looting had already been looted. Time to move on to the next location!
“…” Leaning against the wall, Liao Zhiqiu breathed heavily in a low, rough rhythm. The dizziness from the blow to his head finally began to subside after a brief period of recovery, though his vision was still fragmented into scattered blocks of color.
In one hand, he still clutched the dry grass bird’s nest. Something else the black haired youth had tossed at him rested against his body.
Liao Zhiqiu frowned. He loosened his grip on the nest and reached out to grasp the blurry object the other person had just thrown down.
The first sensation transmitted to his brain was pain. A sharp sting.
Then he lowered his head and saw a smear of spreading blood in his palm.
His vision gradually focused again.
The thing stained red… was not just blood.
It was a flower.
A beautiful red rose with thorns, identical to the previous one.
…
The stained map he’d obtained from looting the red name enemy filled in part of the blank areas on the initial map displayed in the upper left corner.
Now, Bai Fuling’s map no longer showed only Peland Academy. Several additional basic landmark buildings had appeared as well.
Bai Fuling glanced at the map and decided to head to the trade market first to purchase some starting supplies. Since he’d already decided to go down the farming route path, then naturally he needed to prepare farming tools.
But before that, he still had to deal with the blood all over himself. Otherwise, with so many NPCs walking around on the streets, his passive skill would definitely keep triggering.
He opened his personal status panel.
After eating grass and bird eggs, half of his HP had recovered. The Heavy Injury, Blood Loss and Fracture status tags had all disappeared.
However, under the clothing section, it still read:
[Blood Stained Raincoat (Passive Skill: Chance to trigger police reports / forced hospitalization)]
There didn’t seem to be a one click cleaning option nearby, nor was there anywhere around to wash it… Ah, what a shame. He’d actually thought the raincoat looked pretty cool with those irregular splashes of red decorating it. Looks like he could only take it off for now.
Bai Fuling removed the raincoat and stuffed it into his backpack. Underneath was the default starting white T-shirt.
Although the white short sleeved shirt was also stained with blood, starter clothes could be refreshed. After refreshing, they became spotless and brand new again. An absurdly economical little exploit.
After refreshing his clothes, he followed the directions on the map and headed toward the bus stop to catch a ride to the trade market.
There was no bus parked at the stop. Only several pixel NPCs standing around waiting.
“How strange. Why isn’t there a bus?” Bai Fuling muttered.
Normally, in games, there was always a vehicle parked at a station waiting for the player to board before departing.
Bai Fuling first walked over to the signboard beside the stop and clicked to inspect the bus schedule and service hours. The display clearly showed that the buses were currently operating.
So it wasn’t a timing issue.
Then there must be some missing interaction.
Bai Fuling circled the bus sign several times, poking and prodding it, hopping around, crouching, crawling and feeling all over it but he still couldn’t find any prompt for a [Depart] button.
Noticing Bai Fuling spinning around the station nonstop, the people waiting at the stop all turned to stare at him. One by one, question marks popped up over their heads.
So Bai Fuling walked over to the nearby pixel NPCs, attempting to trigger dialogue interactions.
The NPCs stared at him.
Big eyes met big eyes.
Silence. More silence.
Bai Fuling: “Say something.”
NPC: “…Huh?”
Bai Fuling: “I wasn’t asking you to say ‘huh.’”
NPC: “…………Huh?”
Looks like this NPC wasn’t very intelligent. Not a special interactable NPC.
Bai Fuling gave up on dialogue and instead decided to test whether the NPC positions themselves had some special function.
He shoved aside the NPC standing closest to him and took that person’s original spot.
“…Eh? Eh? Why are you pushing me?” the NPC asked blankly.
Bai Fuling ignored him completely.
After waiting several seconds without seeing any prompts appear, he moved to the next NPC’s position and repeated the exact same process.
The second NPC, squeezed out of place, shouted, “Hey! What are you doing?!”
Bai Fuling calmly pretended not to hear him.
When no prompt appeared again, he turned and headed toward the remaining two NPCs.
The bespectacled young man in a pale blue shirt adjusted his glasses and voluntarily stepped aside before Bai Fuling even reached him.
Another elderly NPC opened his mouth and said, “Young people these days… instead of waiting properly for the bus, what kinda nonsense are you doing squeezing around like this?”
At last, he heard dialogue related to the bus.
Bai Fuling immediately stopped moving.
He thought for a moment, then suddenly understood everything.
[Wait properly for the bus] was a hint!
No wonder these people weren’t standing in any orderly formation. Because arranging them correctly was the actual puzzle objective. What he needed to do was line up all these NPCs properly and then the bus would arrive!
Convinced he had solved the puzzle, Bai Fuling confidently grabbed the NPC closest to him and dragged him over in front of the bus sign. Then he reached out again and began pulling the other NPCs over to line them up behind the first one.
These NPCs were incredibly rebellious. They kept moving around randomly, repeatedly spouting lines like “What are you doing?” and “Why are you dragging me?” in an extremely un AI like manner.
But Bai Fuling remained patient.
He understood the reason immediately: obviously, he hadn’t arranged them in the correct order yet. That was why they kept moving around randomly.
Everyone knew that in sorting puzzles, if the order was wrong, the pieces couldn’t be inserted successfully!
Thus, Bai Fuling tirelessly dragged the wandering NPCs back over and over again, rearranging them from every possible direction and position, trying to fit them correctly into place.
Until eventually, he noticed one NPC walking farther and farther away, seemingly about to leave the bus stop area altogether.
Wait, what was going on? Had the game bugged out because he made too many incorrect attempts? Bai Fuling was horrified.
The NPC had actually escaped the quest area?!
What should you do when an NPC bugs out and grows legs to run away?
Obviously, you catch them and drag them back!
After all, the key item required to summon the bus absolutely could not be allowed to disappear!!
Author’s Note:
From everyone else’s perspective: a bizarre lunatic had appeared at the bus stop, randomly grabbing and tugging people around. They wanted to run but couldn’t escape. Absolute despair!
✦ ✧ ✦
Vynellia
[Translator]
☕ A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR THE TRANSLATOR
The Realm has many treasures. Coffee is currently its favourite.
☕ 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