As soon as those words were spoken, the surroundings fell silent, and a barrage comment drifted past tremblingly.
『No way, are those two in… that kind of relationship?』
That single line instantly set the entire livestream room buzzing.
『Wait, wait, wait, what does that mean? Is it what I think it means??』
『Married young! Married young!!』
On the other side, Liu Yang, who had just been lying on the ground howling, had somehow slipped away without a sound. With mission time running out, Fang Yuan hurriedly thanked the two of them and left as well.
But none of that mattered anymore to the barrage commenters. By then, the public chat was already full of heated discussion.
『What do we do, bros? I just bet that the pretty boy would die, and now I’m kind of shipping them…』
『Same here.』
『System prompt: Your barrage comment has received one like. Like source: Anonymous User』
That was originally just an ordinary message, until the sender of that barrage comment opened the System page and casually checked the anonymous user’s profile.
Her fingers froze.
Black.
A black interface, a black profile card, a black name, and a black information window.
It was “guest.”
『Aaaaaah, my barrage comment got liked by “guest”! Whyyyyyy?!』
The next moment, more like notifications came in.
『They look pretty good together.』
You have received one like.
『I’m shipping them.』
You have received one like.
『Is it true that you get liked just for praising them??』
You have received one like.
『It’s too sweet, too shippable. I want to get liked by guest too, look at me!!』
…
Lu Chuan raised an eyebrow, closed the live stream interface, and lowered his body slightly, pressing half of his weight onto Qin Guan.
It was unclear how this guy had been built. Even though he had been locked up in a psychiatric hospital for so many years, his muscles were still in excellent shape. Combined with his impressive height, when he leaned forward and lowered his head slightly, he gave off an overwhelming sense of pressure.
Unfortunately for him, the person in front of him was Qin Guan.
A slender finger poked straight into Lu Chuan’s forehead with a smack, forcing his head to tilt backward.
Qin Guan calmly put some distance between them. “If you keep talking nonsense, I don’t mind breaking your bones while I’m at it.”
Lu Chuan let out a muffled laugh. On the surface, he still looked as carefree and rebellious as ever, but his eyes were fixed tightly on Qin Guan, and the smile never reached them.
“Just kidding.”
Even though he had been assigned the most difficult Hunting for Skins task, Qin Guan did not panic, nor did he recklessly head into the snowfield to start hunting.
It was almost dark already, and the blizzard outside showed no sign of stopping. If he went out recklessly now, he could easily get lost in the night.
Besides…
Qin Guan changed direction and pushed open an inconspicuous small door in the backyard.
Inside the hunter cabin, everything from large snow leopards to small rabbits was displayed on the walls in seeming disorder. But with careful observation, one could still detect a certain pattern hidden within it.
On the walls, the heads of the large animals were basically arranged in a straight line, with nearly equal spacing between them. The medium-sized animal head specimens were interspersed among them, mostly concentrated in the lower-middle section of the walls, roughly at the hunter’s height.
Finally, the small animal heads were inserted wherever there was room, with no obvious pattern at all. Most of them were placed in the upper part of the walls or on the ceiling.
That made one thing very clear.
The specimens had been placed there in a specific order. The hunter must have first hunted large animals such as bears and leopards, then medium-sized ones, and only afterward small animals.
That was actually very unusual.
A so-called “hunter” would normally hunt large animals, or animals that could provide meat.
Qin Guan’s gaze rested lightly on a snow hare on the side wall.
The rabbit’s head was tiny, clearly still not fully grown. It had been layered on top of other pelts, and fresh bloodstains were still faintly visible at the cut.
If a hunter capable of killing bears had started hunting rabbits, then there was basically only one possibility left…
Animals on the snowfield that could provide “skin” had already gone extinct.
If that was the case, then there was even less reason for him to brave the blizzard and go outside.
Qin Guan searched the backyard and quickly found a food storage room.
『Wow, this newcomer really has a plan.』
『I thought “Hunting for Skins” literally meant going out to hunt. I didn’t expect this kind of move.』
『If they were misled by the hunter and really went out hunting, they would definitely get lost in the blizzard. The consequences would be unthinkable.』
『Newcomers these days are really monsters. Even seasoned veterans might not be able to avoid a trap like this.』
『Hey, speaking of newcomers, do you still remember that record-breaking G from a couple of days ago? Wasn’t he also a newcomer who had just arrived at the Filth Room? Why haven’t we heard anything about him lately?』
『No idea. Didn’t he just clear ten instances in a row? He probably needs some time to recover. He shouldn’t be entering another instance that soon.』
One good thing about having more people in the livestream room was that while the barrage commenters were chatting idly, Qin Guan was carefully checking every corner of the food storage room. He looked up and saw Lu Chuan staring blankly into space, doing who-knows-what. Seeing this guy look so bored, Qin Guan inexplicably became annoyed.
“Hey, don’t just stand there. Help me look.”
Lu Chuan seemed to snap back to reality. He turned and looked at Qin Guan. “Look for what?”
“Rats.”
Qin Guan said.
『Right! They don’t have to go out hunting. They can use rat skins!』
『Rat skins are easy to get. The risk is way lower than going out hunting.』
『This newcomer really has something. No wonder the guest favors him.』
Perhaps because they had seen Qin Guan’s excellent analytical ability, his reputation seemed to improve a lot. Many passing barrage commenters also began speaking up for him.
However, a large portion of people still stubbornly refused to admit it. They were still hung up on the points they had bet and remained extremely dissatisfied.
『Tch, I thought he was so capable. Does catching a rat count as hunting?』
『That definitely doesn’t count.』
『Do you think the Filth Room is a place for taking shortcuts? You probably won’t even know how you die.』
Qin Guan couldn’t see what the barrage commenters were saying, but even if he could, he probably wouldn’t bother responding.
Pushing aside various grain sacks, he searched carefully within them. Before long, he really did find a tail sticking out.
A slender, gray tail.
“Tsk tsk tsk.”
A strange sound came from behind him. Lu Chuan thought Qin Guan was calling the rat, and only when he turned his head did he realize Qin Guan was actually calling him.
Qin Guan half-crouched on the floor and beckoned to Lu Chuan.
“Go, bring it over.”
“You’re really not polite.”
“So you still like putting on all that fake politeness?”
“Noted for next time.”
Lu Chuan stepped forward, his hand reaching for the exposed half of the tail like an eagle’s claw.
However, the rat reacted just as fast, darting forward with astonishing agility. Taking advantage of its nimble body, it slipped through a crack and leaped to the storage room door, then turned back to look at the two of them.
Qin Guan’s body stiffened slightly.
Lu Chuan spoke slowly. “Are you sure… this thing counts?”
The rat had been hiding behind the sacks just now, so neither of them had gotten a clear look at its face.
Only when it darted into the light did they realize it.
That rat actually had a woman’s head.