Chapter 14

Chapter 14

After taming the passing wild wolf, Bai Fuling's journey back became much smoother. This was like having a pathfinding NPC.

Between "follow the lone wolf forward" and "lead the lone wolf onward based on the map," Bai Fuling chose the extra, whimsical option C that popped into his head—why not ride the wolf?

Bai Fuling still didn't have his own means of transportation. Having stumbled upon a four-legged drive, of course he had to try riding it. He would never pass up any chance to boost his speed.

What's wrong with it being a wolf? Even if it were a pig, a player would still go for it!

Bai Fuling stared at the pet interface, clicked on the lone wolf whose nickname he had changed to [Big Dog], selected it, and dragged it to the adjacent [Mount] column.

"Are you sure you want to select [Big Dog] as your [Mount]? (Yes\No)"

Bai Fuling pressed [Yes] without hesitation.

The screen emitted a "clink" sound, and the tag by the lone wolf changed from [Pet] to [Mount].

Bai Fuling was very satisfied with this: pets require the player to take care of them, but mounts can take care of the player instead!

Immediately after the change, Bai Fuling climbed onto the wolf's back. He patted the lone wolf's head and pointed forward. "Let's go, Big Dog, back to the city."

The lone wolf howled and ran through the forest, its speed much faster than Bai Fuling could walk on his own.

However, Bai Fuling noticed a blue bar above the lone wolf's head steadily decreasing at a fixed rate—he guessed this was its stamina.

The Big Dog mount actually had a stamina bar! The NPC riding a bicycle earlier didn't have any blue bar restriction.

It seems NPCs are truly suited to be mounts. Bai Fuling pondered deeply, a darkly humorous thought crossing his mind. It fits the conclusion that corporate slaves are beasts of burden.

He rode the grey wolf for a stretch. Just before the grey wolf's blue bar was about to deplete completely, Bai Fuling dismounted.

He was afraid of exhausting the grey wolf he had worked so hard to tame to death.

The grey wolf sat panting under a tree, tongue lolling out, resting. Only when stationary did the blue bar above its head begin to recharge.

Bai Fuling frowned and glanced at the in-game clock.

No good, waiting for its stamina to recover like this wastes too much time. As they say, players hate boring waiting around.

But if he went ahead first, he'd have to call the grey wolf over later to lead the way. That's essentially waiting too.

Bai Fuling stood still, deep in thought. After pondering for a while, he had a sudden flash of inspiration and came up with a brilliant idea.

The mount grey wolf has a stamina limit and needs to rest to recover, so it can't be ridden during that time—but the player has no stamina limit!

So, the mount can totally rest on the player's broad back!

When the blue bar is full, the player rides the wolf. When the blue bar is empty, the player carries the wolf. This way, forward progress is guaranteed at all times.

He was simply a genius!

Bai Fuling couldn't help but admire his own quick thinking.

As for whether this scene would be too cringe-worthy... a player of course wouldn't mind. The process doesn't matter; only the result of maximum efficiency matters.

So, Bai Fuling decisively stepped forward, grabbed the wolf still panting under the tree, and hoisted it over his shoulder like a sack!

The grey wolf was tall and sturdy. In real life, Bai Fuling definitely couldn't carry it. But in the game, if you can pick it up, you can lift it.

Controlling the pixel character to carry the grey wolf significantly reduced his movement speed. A slowdown debuff icon appeared in the character panel.

"*Heavy Load*: Movement speed decreased."

Argh, why is it so slow! Bai Fuling, carrying the grey wolf, took two or three steps and found his character moving as if in 0.5x speed.

No good. Bai Fuling stopped. Snail-paced movement is unbearable for a player. How can he remove this debuff?

He stared at the screen for a few seconds, and another flash of inspiration struck.

The slowdown debuff is because of carrying a heavy load, fundamentally treating the grey wolf as an external object. If he merged it with himself, making it part of his clothing, wouldn't that solve the debuff problem?

The game never slows you down because your clothes are too fancy or heavy!

So, Bai Fuling adjusted his approach. He selected [Big Dog] and dragged it to the [Attire] column, as a back accessory.

—Who said back accessories have to be inanimate objects? The game has fancy clothes adorned with living birds and butterflies, so a living creature as a back accessory is perfectly reasonable.

A pop-up window appeared on the screen: "Are you sure you want to select [Big Dog] as your [Back Accessory]? (Yes\No)"

Bai Fuling clicked [Yes].

The screen emitted a "clink" sound, and the grey wolf was perfectly carried on Bai Fuling's back. From a distance, it looked like he was wearing a wolf pelt.

Just as Bai Fuling had analyzed, the slowdown debuff really disappeared!

He was simply a genius!! ×2

Bai Fuling happily carried the wolf forward, following the map's directions. Once the blue stamina bar above the grey wolf's head recovered, he put the wolf down, changed it back to [Mount], and remounted.

Ride for a while, carry for a while. Ride for a while, carry for a while. After repeating this cycle many times, Bai Fuling finally saw the outline of a main road in the distance—he had made it out of the forest!

He was truly amazing, definitely maximizing efficiency. Bai Fuling glanced at the in-game clock. It was afternoon; he would make it back to the city before nightfall.

Bai Fuling rode the grey wolf, running along the main road. Not far ahead was a guarded city checkpoint. He dismounted and ran over.

The NPC in work uniform spotted Bai Fuling, a huge exclamation mark popping up above his head, and walked over.

Was this going to trigger a probability-based alarm or ambulance call? Bai Fuling looked up, anticipating taking the fastest transportation back.

At this moment, his clothes were tattered, covered in bloody scratches, with six bloody "cat whisker" marks on his cheeks.

Although the initial outfit could be refreshed, Bai Fuling hadn't refreshed it at all. This rare, pure, natural "wild man" style was definitely rarer than his usual ordinary attire! Must keep it, absolutely must keep it.

The NPC in work uniform called out from a distance: "...Hey, what happened?! Do you need help?"

"Yes, yes! Any vehicle is fine, send one over." Bai Fuling answered loudly.

The NPC in work uniform dialed for an ambulance. Then, his gaze finally focused on the animal following Bai Fuling. "What's that beside you... Wait, a wolf?!!" He screamed, stumbling back three or four steps.

"No, it's not a wolf. This is my Big Dog." Bai Fuling reached out and patted the wolf's head.

"...That's clearly a wolf! Where did you get a wolf from?! Beasts aren't allowed in the city!" The work-uniformed NPC grabbed a nearby steel pitchfork. "Step aside, I'll drive it away!"

"It really is a Big Dog!" Bai Fuling was equally firm. "If you don't believe me, I'll prove it to you."

He called out: "Wolf."

The grey wolf showed no reaction.

He called out, "Big Dog."

The grey wolf wagged half its tail and came closer.

Bai Fuling nodded and said, "See, this is a big dog."

The man in the work uniform: ...What kind of proof is this?!!!

Bai Fuling had already changed the grey wolf's name. He knew that according to game mechanics, only calling the mount by its name would make it respond—so there was no wolf before him now, only a big dog!

The NPC in the work uniform held a steel fork, facing off in silence with Bai Fuling and the grey wolf for a moment, before finally lowering his weapon.

"...Alright, alright. You raised this yourself from a pup, right?" the man in the work uniform reluctantly said. He thought: Dogs evolved from wolves... maybe this one really is a dog. It just looks like a wolf.

"Mm-hmm, I raised it," Bai Fuling selectively replied.

"But it can't get in the ambulance later. The vehicle can only take you to the hospital," the work uniform NPC said.

"Okay," Bai Fuling nodded, unconcerned.

According to RPG game mechanics, mounts could be summoned whenever needed—he had just spoken with the NPC and removed the "Cannot Summon in the City" restriction for the grey wolf in his mount list. His goal was achieved.

He patted the grey wolf's head, "You've worked hard. Go back for now."

The grey wolf howled and bounded into the jungle.

A pixelated ambulance came roaring over, picking up the fashionably wild Bai Fuling.

Riding the fastest transport into the city, Bai Fuling looked out the window at the pixelated scenery, once again impressed by the game's attention to detail.

He hadn't expected that even here, nothing was copy-pasted or repetitive. Every building, even the NPCs on the streets, was unique.

Suddenly, Bai Fuling caught sight of a familiar figure. A tall man with an eyepatch and reddish-brown hair was smoking, leaning against a van.

Oh, oh, oh! It's that tall male NPC from before!! He actually appeared again—that must mean there's more plot, right?

Seeing his chance, Bai Fuling pushed open the ambulance door, ignoring the shouts of the doctor NPC behind him, and jumped out.

The pixel character rolled several times on the ground due to inertia, and the health bar dropped significantly. But Bai Fuling didn't care at all—after all, there was no need for combat now, and having the health bar above half was considered healthy.

He nimbly got up and ran toward the tall male NPC.

On the street.

Guan Jizhong was smoking, his gaze fixed on the alley entrance not far away, waiting for his target.

After returning to the city, he had contacted the old man again and gathered new information through other channels. On the previous admission announcement board of Pelland Academy, he found a photo of Liao Zhiqiu taken by the school.

He knew Liao Zhiqiu would come out from the alley behind the school.

Guan Jizhong took a deep drag of his cigarette, and out of the corner of his eye, he caught something rushing toward him at high speed.

He turned his head and saw the black-haired youth with an angel halo above his head, covered in blood as if he had crawled out of hell, grinning as he ran toward him.

Guan Jizhong: !?

"Cough! Cough, cough!" Guan Jizhong was so startled that he choked on his own smoke, coughing violently.

"Hi, hi, I'm back!" Bai Fuling approached, beaming with a smile. "Need any help?"

Guan Jizhong: "...How are you here?!!!"

Sigh, this NPC is questioning the player again. Bai Fuling thought. It must be an issue with this character's built-in AI program. The player needs to train him.

So Bai Fuling said seriously, "When I appear before you and ask if you need help, all you need to say is 'thank you,' not something like 'how are you here' that ruins the mood and shows no gratitude."

Guan Jizhong: ?

Guan Jizhong: ???