Bai Fuling entered deep contemplation for one second before decisively giving up on being profound.
It did not matter anyway.
Unimportant NPCs automatically refreshed after a certain period of time. Even if the red bar represented rage points or hatred values, it would probably disappear naturally as time passed.
And if it did not automatically refresh…
So what?
What player had ever feared anything?
At worst, they could just fight it out!
After learning that the red bar represented anger value, Bai Fuling actually became even more interested.
Because this meant rage had a direct visible indicator, which would make future operations far more convenient.
To be honest, players sometimes genuinely enjoyed acting annoying for no reason. Deliberately bumping into NPCs instead of walking normally, jumping onto someone else’s table, or generally finding every possible method to irritate NPCs just to see how they reacted…
Especially those serious looking characters.
Or perhaps dancing repeatedly on the edge of provoking them, watching the NPC’s red bar rise and fall over and over without quite reaching the attack threshold. At times like that, the NPC would probably only become furious for a brief moment before fluffily walking away in defeat.
While Bai Fuling was busy imagining all this, several swaying beams of strong light suddenly swept across the distance.
Beside him, Pang Chengyu stiffened immediately and grabbed him to hide off to the side.
“Careful! It’s the patrol team,” Pang Chengyu whispered urgently.
Most of the time, patrol squads consisting of one teacher and three students moved together as a group.
However, Pang Chengyu had deliberately chosen to separate himself from the team. This tiny act of rebellion against the rules was his own subtle way of venting the suffocating frustration he felt within this school.
“They’ll probably patrol around this area for a while. Once they leave, we can go,” Pang Chengyu said quietly.
Wait?
They were supposed to just sit here waiting?
That sounded unbearably boring and like a complete waste of time.
Bai Fuling was here to play a game, not experience digital imprisonment.
Besides, he had literally just escaped from the confinement room, so naturally he had no intention of obediently waiting around.
NPC suggestions were usually the safest options.
But players often loved spreading their wings at the edge of danger and forging entirely new paths.
Thus, Bai Fuling first asked, “What exactly do the school rules say about this?”
“…From 11 PM to 4 AM is curfew time. During that period, students are prohibited from wandering around campus without permission.”
Bai Fuling thought for one second.
Then he understood.
Not allowed to wander around,
Then all he had to do was avoid the system’s judgment through a different method.
Literal interpretation.
Simple.
He controlled his little character to rise from crouching into a standing position.
The blond NPC beside him jumped in shock, an exclamation mark popping above his head. Not far away, the patrol members also seemed to notice the disturbance as flashlight beams swung toward them.
Without the slightest hesitation, Bai Fuling leaped upward, wrapped his arms around the nearby tree and scrambled upward with several rapid “swish swish swish” motions!
Pang Chengyu had barely completed a single breath before Bai Fuling had already reached the tree canopy.
Pang Chengyu: ?
No, wait,
How did he get all the way up there in the blink of an eye?
Even a cat could not climb that fast!!
A glaring flashlight beam shone over, illuminating Pang Chengyu, who had instinctively stood up as well.
The patrolling teacher looked over, brows furrowing slightly.
“Pang Chengyu? Why aren’t you patrolling? What are you doing hiding in the bushes?”
“I…” Pang Chengyu paused briefly before answering, “I was patrolling. I heard some movement just now and came over to check. It seemed like a cat jumped past.”
With a few light words, he glossed over the earlier commotion.
The patrolling teacher gave him a once over before asking again, “Where’s your flashlight?”
“Ahem.”
Pang Chengyu curled one hand into a fist and coughed lightly against his lips.
“The flashlight, the flashlight was carried away by the cat.”
Rustling sounds suddenly came from the tree above. In the silent, windless night, they sounded especially conspicuous.
“What’s that!?” the patrol teacher immediately barked.
“Cat, it’s a cat,” Pang Chengyu quickly answered. “It climbed up the tree just now.”
“That cat has rather long legs,” one of the patrolling students suddenly commented coldly as he lifted his high powered flashlight upward.
Within the dense leaves, two long slender legs swayed gently.
The owner of those long legs was currently sitting in the tree, reaching around while making rustling sounds among the branches,
Or more accurately speaking,
Picking fruit.
So many fruits!
I’m rich! I’m rich!!
Bai Fuling’s eyes sparkled brightly. He had never expected such an unexpected bonus after climbing into the tree.
Several unknown fruits were growing there.
It was not yet the season for ripeness, so the fruits still carried a green, immature sheen. However, a player dedicated to stripping everything valuable from existence naturally would not care whether the fruit was ripe or not.
He immediately reached out and started harvesting wildly, stuffing them frantically into his inventory.
So what if they weren’t ripe?
This was a game. It was not like he could taste them anyway. As long as eating them restored HP, that was good enough.
Besides, the fruits would refresh on the tree later anyway. Better to harvest early and enjoy early!
The powerful flashlight shining upward from below perfectly illuminated the branches and leaves, making it even easier to locate the tiny fruits hidden beneath the foliage.
Thus, Bai Fuling cheerfully directed the NPCs below.
“Ah, yes yes yes, exactly like that. Shine it a little more to the left.”
“Which class are you from?! What are you doing up there!?” the patrol teacher roared furiously, his dialogue box shaking violently on the screen three times.
Bai Fuling noticed several NPC sprites gathered beneath the tree now,
Probably the patrol squad Pang Chengyu had mentioned earlier.
“What’s the problem?” Bai Fuling asked the NPCs in return. “I’m not violating any school rules, so why are you bothering me?”
“How are you not violating them!? It’s currently curfew hours. Wandering around campus without permission, ”
“You’re wrong.”
Bai Fuling spoke with complete seriousness.
“I’m not wandering around.”
“Because my feet are off the ground.”
Patrol Teacher: ?
Battling wits against NPC system judgment naturally required constantly nitpicking wording and searching for loopholes. There was no way Bai Fuling would allow some so called school rules to restrict him.
Once you were playing a game, naturally you should enjoy freedom to the fullest!
Black scribble like frustration lines appeared above the NPCs on the ground. After holding it in for a long time, the patrol teacher finally squeezed out one sentence:
“This is… this is sophistry!”
Oh?
This NPC actually knew the word sophistry. That felt surprisingly intelligent.
Bai Fuling glanced at him with mild surprise.
As expected of a teacher NPC. It perfectly matched the character setting.
The developers had really put effort into this game.
“Just answer whether I’m wandering around or not,” Bai Fuling said while sitting in the tree, continuing to argue seriously. “Use your intelligent judgment!”
“Even if you aren’t right now… didn’t you walk here earlier? Won’t you walk back later?” the patrol teacher countered coldly.
Faced with the NPC’s questioning, Bai Fuling merely chuckled.
Actually, he could have claimed he arrived before curfew and would only leave after curfew ended. That would already qualify as a loophole.
But that method was too low level. It leaned too heavily toward idle waiting and lacked challenge.
Besides, there was a high possibility he would need to go out during the night again in the future, so he needed to experiment with methods other than simply AFKing.
Feet not touching the ground?
That might be difficult for real people.
But for players, it was easy.
The most straightforward method would be walking upside down using one’s hands. However, he was uncertain whether the game system might mistakenly identify hands as feet.
So it was better to use a safer method of remaining off the ground entirely.
He reached up and harvested the final few fruits above his head.
Then, with practiced familiarity, Bai Fuling opened his inventory, took out his rope and dagger and pressed the combination command,
Transforming the items in his hands into a rope with a dagger tied to one end.
The patrol teacher and the surrounding students beneath the tree all raised their heads simultaneously, staring in stunned disbelief as Bai Fuling seemingly materialized objects out of thin air.
Pang Chengyu, however, appeared relatively calm.
After all, not only had he already witnessed the transfer student pulling items from nowhere, he had also seen him make things disappear into nowhere.
He had personally watched the transfer student thoroughly loot every trash can in the surrounding area!
Although it looked somewhat like some absurd supernatural power that should not exist in reality, somehow it fit the bizarre transfer student perfectly without any sense of incompatibility.
Using aim assistance, Bai Fuling targeted another tall tree not too far away.
He swung the rope dagger around repeatedly. Once the throwing power charged to one hundred percent, he hurled it out with perfect precision!
Whoosh!
A sharp sound sliced through the air, followed immediately by a heavy piercing impact.
The sharp dagger embedded itself firmly into the upper trunk of the distant tree.
Bai Fuling tested the tension briefly, then adjusted the rope before leaping forward through the air, grabbing onto it and swinging across gleefully!
Patrol Teacher: ?
What the hell just flew past!?
And that still was not the end.
After swinging across, Bai Fuling swiftly climbed up the next tree trunk, yanked out the embedded dagger, then selected another nearby tree using the exact same method before throwing the dagger again and swinging onward.
Throw → Swing → Retrieve → Throw → Swing → Retrieve…
The black haired youth repeated the sequence over and over again.
His movements grew increasingly smooth and practiced and he happily whooshed farther and farther away until his silhouette completely vanished into the night.
The patrol teacher and students stood there blankly watching Bai Fuling disappear into the distance, every expression on their faces frozen into utter shock.
(ΩДΩ)
Pang Chengyu remained standing where he was before quietly muttering:
“…I told you it was a cat. You just didn’t believe me.”
Patrol Teacher: ?
Patrol Students: ?
Patrol Teacher & Students: …Does that look like a cat to you!?
That’s clearly a monkey!!!
A damn Tarzan monkey swinging all over the place!!!
=
Bai Fuling mechanically repeated the swinging motions as he traveled onward.
The game had no stamina limit and as a player, he felt no exhaustion whatsoever.
Thus, he continued swinging all the way until he finally arrived before the dormitory building, where there were no more trees left.
The surroundings were enveloped in silent darkness.
As far as the eye could see, there was not a single person around,
Nor were there any trash cans.
Looks like I successfully shook off the patrol team. This method works after all.
Bai Fuling nodded to himself. He separated the rope and dagger combination, then stored both items back into his inventory.
Compared to the miserable state of his starting inventory, his current backpack contents were already exceptionally plentiful for a beginner player.
After reviewing all the gains he had obtained tonight on his phone screen, the real world Bai Fuling let out a small yawn.
Originally, he had only intended to play a little before going to sleep.
But after playing for this long, he was beginning to feel genuinely sleepy.
If he logged out directly, the game would automatically enter default idle mode, meaning his character would carry out the standard three point routine typical of ordinary NPCs.
However, Bai Fuling did not wish to waste even a single second.
Thus, he manually configured additional detailed instructions.
【Enter [Sleep] status until the 4 AM curfew ends. Then use the combination of [Rope + Wooden Stick + Dagger] to mow grass until the next login.】
This was the result of deep contemplation by Bai Fuling, an excellent player.
Why mow grass?
Because he planned to develop along a farming route first and the first step of land reclamation was naturally clearing weeds.
Additionally, grass restored 1 HP point. After harvesting it, he could store it inside his inventory as food and if he developed livestock farming in the future, it could be used there as well.
Truly killing several birds with one stone.
And why use the combination of [Rope + Wooden Stick + Dagger]?
Well, there was no helping it.
At present, he had not purchased farming tools such as sickles or hoes, so he could only temporarily assemble a substitute himself.
As for whether using a [Dagger] for literally everything was appropriate…
The capable should work harder.
That principle applied equally well to items!
With that thought, Bai Fuling input his idle mode instructions according to plan before happily heading off to sleep.
=
The next morning.
As usual, the students of Perland Academy woke up early and stepped outside their dormitories.
Then, one after another, every single face transformed into expressions of utter shock.
OH MY GOD, WHY HAD THE ENTIRE MASSIVE LAWN OUTSIDE THE DORMITORY BEEN SHAVED BALD OVERNIGHT!?!
In the distance, the figure of a black haired young man wearing a white shirt was still tirelessly swinging his arms in labor.
Under his diligent efforts, the school’s grassy fields had been scraped utterly clean, as though a swarm of locusts had swept across the campus.
Perland Academy Students: ?
Breaking news!
The transfer student had flattened the entire lawn overnight!
Was this even human stamina…?
No, wait.
The real question should be:
Was this something a human being was supposed to do at all!!!
✦ ✧ ✦
Vynellia
[Translator]
☕ A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR THE TRANSLATOR
A wild Ko-fi button has appeared! ✦
☕ 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