Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Bai Fuling was lost in thought for a second, then gave up on being deep.

It didn't matter. Minor NPCs would automatically respawn after a while anyway. Even if the red bar represented anger or hatred, it would probably reset over time.

If it didn't refresh automatically... so what? What player is ever afraid of anyone? Worst case, bring it on!

Knowing the red bar was an anger meter actually made Bai Fuling more interested. Because it meant anger was now a visible gauge, making it easier to mess with later.

Honestly, as a player, sometimes you just feel like being a bit of a troll for no reason—deliberately going out of your way to bump into NPCs, jumping onto someone's desk, basically finding ways to annoy NPCs just to see how they react... especially those who seem all prim and proper.

Or, dancing right on the edge of annoyance, watching an NPC's red bar rise and fall without ever hitting the attack threshold. At that point, the NPC would probably just get angry for a moment, then walk away in a huff.

As he was lost in these thoughts, several beams of strong light swept past in the distance.

Pang Chengyu beside him jolted and immediately pulled him aside to hide.

"Careful! It's the patrol team," Pang Chengyu whispered urgently.

A patrol team consisting of one teacher and three students usually stuck together.

Pang Chengyu had simply chosen to ditch the team, using this minor act of defiance against the rules to vent the pent-up frustration he felt in this school.

"They'll probably patrol this area for a while. We can leave once they're gone," Pang Chengyu said softly.

What, wait? That was the most boring, time-wasting approach possible. Bai Fuling was here to play a game, not to serve an electronic prison sentence.

—Besides, he had just gotten out of detention, so of course he wasn't planning to just sit around and wait.

An NPC's suggestion was usually the safest course of action, but players often loved to spread their wings and forge their own path right on the edge of danger.

Bai Fuling first asked, "What exactly do the school rules say about this?"

"...Curfew is from 11 PM to 4 AM. The rule states that students are not allowed to wander around the campus during that period."

Bai Fuling thought for a second and understood.

Not allowed to wander around—so just trick the system by changing the method. Literally, simple!

He had his character stand up from a crouch.

The blond NPC beside him was startled, a surprised exclamation mark popping up above his head. The patrol members not far away also seemed to notice the movement, their flashlight beams sweeping over.

Without a moment's hesitation, Bai Fuling jumped up, hugged the nearby tree, and with a few "shua shua shua" sounds, climbed right up!

In the time it took Pang Chengyu to take one breath, Bai Fuling was already in the canopy.

Pang Chengyu: ?

Wait, how did he get up there in the blink of an eye? Even a cat couldn't climb that fast!!

The glaring flashlight beam swept over, illuminating Pang Chengyu, who had instinctively stood up as well.

The patrol teacher looked over, frowning. "Pang Chengyu? What are you doing in the bushes instead of patrolling?"

"I..." Pang Chengyu paused, then replied, "I am patrolling. I heard some noise earlier and came to check. It seemed like a cat jumped past."

He casually glossed over the earlier commotion.

The patrol teacher gave him a once-over and asked, "Where's your flashlight?"

"Ahem." Pang Chengyu covered his mouth with a fist and coughed. "The flashlight—the flashlight was snatched away by the cat."

A rustling sound came from the tree, particularly noticeable in the still, windless night.

"What was that!?" the patrol teacher immediately noticed.

"The cat—it's the cat," Pang Chengyu quickly interjected. "It ran up the tree just now."

"Your cat has pretty long legs," one of the patrolling students remarked bluntly, shining his powerful flashlight upward.

In the thick leaves, two long legs were dangling. The owner of these long legs was rustling through the branches on the tree—or more accurately, picking fruit.

So much fruit! Jackpot, jackpot!! Bai Fuling's eyes lit up. He hadn't expected climbing the tree to yield such surprise loot.

The tree bore some small, unidentified fruits.

It wasn't the ripening season yet, and the fruits still had a green, unripe sheen. However, a player who never missed an opportunity naturally didn't care whether the fruit was ripe or not. He just started plucking them directly, stuffing them frantically into his inventory.

So they're unripe, so what? You can't taste anything in a game anyway; as long as eating them restores HP, it's fine. The tree's fruit will respawn later anyway, so pick early, enjoy early!

The strong light shining up from below happened to illuminate the branches and leaves, making it easier to find the small fruits hidden beneath the foliage.

So Bai Fuling happily bossed the NPC around: "Hey, yes, yes, just like that. Shine it a bit more to the left."

"Which class are you from?! What are you doing up there?!" the patrol teacher roared, the dialog box that popped up trembling three times on the screen.

Bai Fuling saw several more NPC characters appear under the tree—probably the patrol team Pang Chengyu had mentioned.

"What's the matter?" Bai Fuling retorted to the NPC. "I haven't broken any school rules. Why are you bothering me?"

"How have you not broken them?! It's curfew time. Wandering around the campus without permission—"

"Wrong," Bai Fuling said with a serious face. "I am not wandering around—because my feet are off the ground."

Patrol Teacher: ?

Outsmarting NPC judgments was all about nitpicking wording and finding loopholes. Bai Fuling certainly wouldn't let so-called school rules bind him.

You're playing a game; of course you have to be free and have fun!

A tangle of black lines popped up above the NPC's head on the ground. After holding it in for a long time, he finally managed, "This is... this is sophistry!"

Oh? This NPC actually knows about sophistry. Seems pretty intelligent. Bai Fuling glanced at him with some surprise. Fits the teacher NPC setting. The game developers put thought into this.

"Just tell me, am I wandering around or not?" Bai Fuling sat on the tree, continuing to argue earnestly. "Use your intelligent judgment!"

"Even if you aren't right now... didn't you walk here? Won't you walk back later?" the patrol teacher said coldly.

Faced with the NPC's challenge, Bai Fuling chuckled.

He could actually say he came before curfew and would leave after curfew—a good loophole excuse. But that was too low-level, leaning towards AFK-ing, and lacked challenge. Moreover, he might need to go out at night in the future, so he needed to test new methods besides just AFK-ing.

So it's about not touching the ground? That might be difficult for people in reality, but for a player, it's simple!

The most straightforward method is walking on your hands, but he wasn't sure if the game system might mistakenly identify hands as feet. So it was better to choose a more reliable method of staying off the ground.

He reached out and plucked the last few fruits above his head.

Then Bai Fuling deftly opened his backpack, pulled out a rope and a dagger, and pressed the combo key—transforming the items in his hand into a rope with a dagger tied to one end.

The patrolling teacher and several students below the tree all looked up in unison, staring in shock as Bai Fuling conjured items out of thin air.

Pang Chengyu, on the other hand, was comparatively unfazed, because he had not only witnessed the transfer student materializing objects from nowhere but had also seen him make things disappear—after all, he'd seen with his own eyes as the transfer student looted every single trash can in the vicinity!

Although it seemed a bit like some outrageous superpower that didn’t exist in reality, when placed on the uniquely styled transfer student, it somehow felt strangely harmonious.

He used the aim-assist to target a tall tree not far away. Giving the rope-dagger a few practice swings, he waited until the throwing power charged to 100% before accurately hurling it!

"Whoosh!"

A sharp whistling sound rang out, followed by a solid *thunk* as it pierced the wood. The sharp dagger was firmly embedded in the upper trunk of the distant tree.

Bai Fuling gave it a firm tug, then clicked to adjust the rope, leaped forward into the air, and swung over with gusto by pulling on the rope!

Patrolling Teacher: ?

What the heck just flew by?!

But that wasn’t all. After swinging over, Bai Fuling quickly climbed up the trunk, yanked out the dagger nailed there, found a suitable spot, and then used the same method to target another nearby tree—throwing the dagger, adjusting the rope, and swinging over again.

Throw → swing → retrieve → throw → swing → retrieve…

The black-haired youth repeated this back and forth, his movements growing increasingly smooth, happily whooping as he went farther and farther, until his figure completely vanished into the night.

The patrolling teacher and students stared blankly as Bai Fuling swung away, their faces utterly stunned (ΩДΩ).

Pang Chengyu stood in place and muttered under his breath, "...I told you it was a cat, but you didn’t believe me."

Patrolling Teacher: ?

Patrolling Students: ?

Patrolling Teacher & Students: ...Is that a cat? That's a monkey!!! That's a damn monkey swinging all over the place!!!

=

Bai Fuling mechanically repeated the swinging motion to get away. The game had no stamina system, so he felt no fatigue as a player. He kept swinging until he reached the dormitory building, where there were no more trees.

The surroundings were pitch-black and quiet. As far as the eye could see, there was no one—and no trash cans either.

He had shaken off the patrol team; it seemed this trick worked. Bai Fuling nodded, disassembled the rope-dagger combination, and stored it back in his backpack.

Compared to the initial backpack, his current inventory was already pretty well-stocked for a newbie.

After scrolling through his in-game phone to check out tonight's haul, the real-world Bai Fuling let out a small yawn.

He had originally started playing the game before bed, and by now, he was feeling a bit sleepy.

If he simply logged out, the game would enter the default AFK mode, following the dull, repetitive routine of a normal NPC.

But Bai Fuling didn’t want to waste a single second, so he input custom AFK instructions instead.

"Enter [Sleep] state until 4 a.m. when the curfew ends, then use the [Rope + Stick + Dagger] combination to cut grass until logging in again the next day."

This was the product of Bai Fuling's strategic mind as a top-tier player.

Why cut grass? Because he planned to pursue the farming route first, and the first step in reclaiming land was to clear the weeds.

Plus, green grass could restore 1 HP, could be stored in the backpack as food, and could even be used later for animal husbandry. It was a move that served multiple purposes.

Why use [Rope + Stick + Dagger]? Well, he hadn’t bought farming tools like a sickle or hoe yet, so he had to improvise a temporary one.

As for whether it was appropriate to use the [Dagger] so indiscriminately... if it’s capable, it should work hard—the same principle applies to items!

Thinking this, Bai Fuling entered his AFK settings according to his plan and then went to sleep contentedly.

=

The next day.

The students of Pelland Academy woke up early as usual, but when they stepped outside, they all wore expressions of shock.

—OMG, how did the large lawn outside the dormitory become completely bald overnight?!

In the distance, the figure of a black-haired youth in a white shirt was still tirelessly swinging his arms as he worked.

Thanks to his diligent efforts, the campus lawn had been scraped clean, as if locusts had swept through.

Pelland Academy Students: ?

Shocking—the transfer student actually mowed the entire lawn flat overnight!

Is this even human stamina...?

Wait, the real question is—is this even something a human would do?!