CH 5

Chapter 5 Arctic World(5)

Right when Jian Lecheng rushed into the hut, the two people inside immediately jumped up from the ground and entered into a state of alertness.

On the other hand, Qian Yue just glanced at them and turned around to walk into the house, looking completely unconcerned.

Qian Yue did not even turn her head as she said, “If you want to fight, fight outside. They can’t come in.”

The others were stunned, wondering what she meant.

Several wolves that stood about as tall as half an adult human, paced back and forth at the door, looking fierce and menacing.

However, strangely enough, they seemed unaware that there was an opening there and had been blocking the entrance without coming in.

He Junmin pursed his lips and said, “Wait a minute, it really doesn’t seem like they could come in.”

Jian Lecheng helped himself up from the ground and asked, “W-what’s going on? They’re blocked outside?”

He waved his hand tentatively, and the wolves outside suddenly barked wildly and snarled at him, scaring Jian Lecheng, who fell back with a cry of pain.

“These beasts are too realistic!”

As if mocking him, the gray wolves snorted loudly and continued to pace back and forth at the door, as if waiting for their prey.

Suddenly, a flash of enlightenment came to He Junmin, “I understand now. This is a system building, so they can’t come in temporarily.”

He quickly placed his hand on the mud wall, as if examining something.

Qian Yue also followed suit and placed her hand on the wall. Then, a prompt box appeared in front of her.

【Building name: Run-down Straw Hut 061 (wilderness system building)】

【Properties: Only accessible to players】

【Status: Under attack】

【Durability: ////】

The durability section did not show a specific stat, but instead displayed a health bar.

Although the hut still had more than half of its health remaining, it was also constantly losing health.

Previously, they had all been in this straw hut, touching and pushing at the interior, but this message box had not appeared.

He Junmin, “Perhaps it’s a unique mode that only appears after being attacked.”

“Unique mode that only appears after being attacked?”

Qian Yue paused, she had never played an online game before and this was the first time she had heard of such a thing.

He Junmin looked at Qian Yue with a probing look, “How did you know they couldn’t come in just now? Did you already know there were wolves outside?”

Qian Yue had indeed seen the wolves earlier. At that time, the three of them discussed the possibility of red-named monsters appearing at night, and she saw some unusual movement in the distance.

The action of throwing Jian Lecheng out just now seemed like she was picking a fight, but in reality, Qian Yue just wanted to use him to probe. As it turned out, those wolves were fierce, but they couldn’t enter the “beginner protection zone”.

But there was no need to explain these to them.

Qian Yue raised her eyes and asked back, “How did you know about this unique mode?”

He Junmin smiled and said, “If you play enough games, you’ll naturally know.”

Qian Yue mumbled a ‘oh’ in response, then turned over and prepared to enter into a slumber, with no intention of answering his question.

It was a familiar posture, a familiar tranquility.

“… “, He Junmin’s smile froze, and a hint of hostility flashed in his eyes.

Ah Kai looked at the time, “It’s been over forty minutes since nightfall, this hut should be able to hold until dawn.”

Thinking of the other people around them, He Junmin suppressed his discomfort and forced a smile, “It’s okay, as long as those wolves can’t get in, we’ll make it through tonight first.”

More than an hour later, the sun rose again, and the wolf pack retreated back into the forest, even the footprints they left behind were covered by the snow.

After considering all night, Ah Kai finally agreed to He Junmin’s invitation.

The three of them maximized their time, and as soon as it was light outside, they left without waking up Qian Yue.

Little did they know that the moment they left, Qian Yue opened her eyes, her pitch-black eyes completely devoid of sleepiness.

At this moment, Qian Yue could clearly hear their footsteps just as they left. She even heard Jian Lecheng yelling like an idiot in the snow, picking up the materials left behind by the retreating wolf pack and loudly calling for the other two to come and pick them up, as if afraid that people nearby would not be able to hear that there are things in the snow.

Qian Yue, “…”

She now felt that Jian Lecheng is forgivable to have missed her hints last night.

With this level of intelligence, he couldn’t be more than three years old.

Qian Yue sneered, “Fool, even after getting sold, still helping them

to count money.”

[T/N: getting sold, still helping them to count money, is a Chinese saying for getting betrayed but oblivious and still happy to help contribute to their gains.]

On the other hand, He Junmin was pretty good at pretending.

At first, he ‘accidentally’ mentioned that there was a system bug, then he deliberately piqued people’s interest and even brought back some intelligence. When everyone was hooked, he finally admitted that “saying this can easily make people think that I have ulterior motives” — it seemed like a simple move, but it effectively shut down any doubts.

Even if someone did have doubts at this point, they couldn’t bring them up directly, like Ah Kai, who was hesitant to speak. Taking advantage of this opportunity, he continued to offer visible benefits and persuasive arguments, making it hard for anyone not to be tempted. If Qian Yue guessed correctly, his “missing” teammate was probably setting up a trap somewhere, waiting for him to bring people back.

The jungle rule of “big fish eats little fish” was well-known to Qian Yue. However, he was probably misled by Jian Lecheng, who took the bait too quickly and asked Qian Yue if she would go with them.

But he didn’t realize that he was not dealing with an ordinary fish.

Qian Yue’s thought process went like this:

——It sounds like a good idea.

——However, it seems troublesome to go after them specifically to scam them. There would be a fight, my stamina would decrease, and I would have to use up my resources.

——Forget it, I’d better let them go.

So Qian Yue firmly refused. As for the other two, Qian Yue had subtly warned them the night before, but those two fools couldn’t pick up on it, so it was no longer her concern. I wonder what their expressions will be when they find out they’ve been tricked by the two hunters?

00:05:00, the digital clock started ticking, and Qian Yue’s backpack became heavier, indicating that it was time for drops. Looking at the bandage blueprint that appeared in her backpack, Qian Yue sighed with her hands on her cheeks.

Last night, she had not found an opportunity to near He Junmin and trigger her skill, which would allow her to steal a piece of his equipment — it was a shame to miss the opportunity to steal from such a dishonest person.

After checking that all her values were still within the safe range, Qian Yue didn’t rush to replenish her status and simply threw her backpack over her shoulders. This was the first time in two days that she had stepped out of the straw hut.

Just as she was about to take her first step, she suddenly remembered something and turned around to kick the wall twice. “Bang, bang.” The blood bar of the straw hut, which was already almost depleted, dropped a little further.

A few minutes later, the straw hut collapsed, and Qian Yue’s backpack was filled with several bundles of straw and firewood and a few pieces of mud and debris.

The woman brushed off the snow on her shoulder, blew a tuneless whistle, and disappeared into the shadows.

“Did you guys encounter a wolf last night?”

“How could we not? It chased after me, and I was almost scared to death.”

“X ge, you’re so powerful. You must have gotten a lot of good loot, right?”

[ge is the Chinese equivalent of the Korean oppa/hyung.]

The person who was asked smiled fakely and said, “What are you thinking? Just being alive is lucky, okay? I didn’t even dare to fight back, I just ran away.”

The person speaking suddenly changed the subject: “But you, Y ge. I saw your team rush out to pick things up in the morning and found a lot of treasures, isn’t it?”

The crowd quietly pricked up their ears.

The person who was talking suddenly looked awkward and laughed, “No, it’s not like that. Although we went out early, we had very bad luck. The snowfield is so big, and we had few tools, so it’s not easy to find anything.”

“Besides, everyone was looking for things on the snowfield later, and there wasn’t much to find. Haha…”

The person laughed dryly a few times and saw more and more people gathering around, so he made an excuse and slipped away.

The person who had talked to him earlier sneered at his back and said, “Coward, but he runs pretty fast.”

Immediately afterward, he twirled a shiny big curved knife in the air like a juggling act, and after forcing the crowd to retreat with his gaze, he slowly slung the knife over his shoulder and walked into the village.

The people around held their breath until the man walked away before muttering to themselves.

…

At this moment, Qian Yue was squatting on the roadside curb, observing people like a fish out of water.

Beside her, there were also two skinny beggars whose bones are poking through their skin, who were in the same position as her, and the three of them stood in a row very compatibly.

But in fact, Qian Yue had originally planned to find the item merchant in the village, but unfortunately, she came too late and missed them.

For a while, she didn’t know where to go, so she just sat on the roadside curb like a fish out of water, listening to various rumors and thinking about her next plan.

Unexpectedly, as soon as she sat down, one after another interesting events began to unfold before her eyes, making her feel as if she was watching a cultural evening show in the village.

Qian Yue: Interest gradually piqued.

Because the protagonist of this episode was carrying a shining curved knife, Qian Yue couldn’t help but take a few more glances.

However, her position gave her a special perspective, and her field of vision was also broader. She watched as the man, amidst the envious eyes of the crowd, strode into the village, turned into a certain alleyway, and then quickly threw the curved knife into his storage and ran away.

Qian Yue, “…”.

The swordsman had just left, and within half a minute, the person who had previously left on the excuse of something came back with several players, looking very angry.

“Where is he? The person who stole my treasured sword?!”

“Dare to steal something from our Fang ge!”

Qian Yue, who was about to leave, paused.

Is there a sequel?

She casually looked up, but the next second, the person suddenly walked in her direction.

“Hey, the beggar over there, did you see the person with the curved sword?”

Not her business, Qian Yue continued to watch the show.

Unexpectedly, someone rushed up to her, “I’m talking to you, hear me? I saw you squat there, you must have seen where that person went!”

Qian Yue thought he was calling the two little beggars next to her, but when she turned her head, the two children were running away in terror, forgetting to pick up their begging bowls!

“I’m talking to you!” The man kicked a broken bowl on the steps fiercely, making a loud noise when it hit the ground.

Fang Nan, “Not talking? Do you believe I’ll smash this bowl on you?!”

Qian Yue, “……….? ”

Are you talking to me?”

Realizing belatedly that she was mistaken for a beggar, Qian Yue narrowed her eyes and her cold expression was somewhat intimidating.

Fang Nan, “Of course. Besides you, is there any other beggar here?”

Qian Yue expressionlessly asked, “You talk to your daddy like this at home?”

T/N: Hi all, do pardon me for the inconvenience caused by the non-dismissible message, trying to see if this could prevent my content from getting stolen. Hope you’re enjoying the read so far, Happy reading! ヾ(･ω･｀)