Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Bai Fuling decisively nabbed Liao Zhiqiu, who had just emerged from the alley. He certainly wouldn't let a quest slip away right before his eyes.

As for what happened before—it had been a whole day anyway, so his rage meter should have reset to zero by now.

"Hi, hello there, I'm Fresh Cabbage, a concerned citizen," Bai Fuling began with the classic line for picking up a quest when facing an NPC, to get the ball rolling. Then he eagerly continued, "Friend, you look like you need help. Is there anything I can assist you with?"

He completely ignored his own blood-loss condition, which made him look more in need of help, and beamed.

Caught off guard, Liao Zhiqiu stopped and looked over. His gaze fixed on Bai Fuling's cheeks, which were sporting six cat whiskers.

"......" Liao Zhiqiu seemed to be observing and assessing.

Bai Fuling waited patiently for a few seconds but noticed the ellipsis bubble above the other's head was still there.

He wondered inwardly: Huh, lagging again? Why is it still loading?

Bai Fuling tilted his head. While waiting idly, he made his avatar hop in place, circling around the pixel character with dark circles.

As everyone knows, players never stay still except under special circumstances, and mobile game players especially tend to swipe their screens around out of boredom.

After he circled twice, the baggy-eyed pixel sprite finally moved.

Whiskers, circling, jumping up and down—*it's a cat*.

The six thinking dots above Liao Zhiqiu's head disappeared. He opened the bag he was carrying, took out one item, and offered it forward.

Huh? What's this? Bai Fuling curiously accepted it and saw a pop-up window appear on the screen.

[Cat Stick: Yinglide brand premium tuna cat stick, rich in fish oil, highly hydrating, 0 additives.]

—It was actually a cat stick!

Bai Fuling looked down at the long blue-wrapped stick in his hand. His first thought wasn't "Why is this NPC giving me a cat stick?" but "Can eating this restore HP?"

Players are a practical bunch; their instinct towards food is: Can it be eaten? Does it restore health?

The proof is in the pudding. If grass can be eaten for HP, surely a cat stick should work too.

Perfect. He had taken some damage from bailing out of the car earlier and needed to recover. This must be why the other person observed him and then offered the cat stick.

Liao Zhiqiu was such a considerate NPC! Just like that tall guy NPC before with the first-aid kit, they were all concerned about the player! There are still plenty of good NPCs in the world; NPCs exist to revolve around players.

So Bai Fuling decisively clicked the [Consume] button on the screen.

The familiar "ching" sound effect played. Bai Fuling happily saw green +HP numbers pop up around his pixel character.

Wow, it really does restore HP! Bai Fuling's eyes lit up, and a new idea popped into his head. If robbing NPCs is illegal, maybe he could try robbing street animals in the future.

Players are total scrooges who'd shake down a stray dog!

Of course, to keep his reputation clean, Bai Fuling didn't plan to publicly brawl with cats and dogs over snacks unless absolutely necessary.

Thinking this, Bai Fuling saw the dark-circle NPC offer another cat stick. He casually accepted it.

"Thanks, it's delicious," Bai Fuling said politely. "Got any more?"

Liao Zhiqiu silently continued handing over cat sticks.

Bai Fuling accepted and consumed them without hesitation.

The "ching" game sound effect played again.

To Bai Fuling's surprise, along with the sound effect this time, not only did his own HP recover a bit, but a pink +1 also floated up above the dark-circle pixel character's head.

Pink... this wasn't the red anger value. Bai Fuling paused, trying to recall. If he remembered correctly, pink stood for favorability?

It actually increased favorability! Amazing, this magical cat stick had such an effect. Bai Fuling widened his eyes and looked at the dark-circle NPC. These days, there are people who increase their own favorability by giving gifts to others?

It was as miraculous as players having to give gifts to NPCs on their own birthdays.

Before him, Liao Zhiqiu still looked spaced out, but his expression had softened considerably—in the CG cutscene, one could clearly see that fond look people give to pets.

The moment the CG flashed, text appeared in the center of the screen.

"Character Unlocked - Liao Zhiqiu"

-

○ Pink Heart (33%): [Liao Zhiqiu] thinks you are a one-of-a-kind cute kitty.

○ Plum Blossom Paw Print (52%): [Liao Zhiqiu] no longer considers you human. {Increases Favorability} {Decreases Anger}

○ Purple Triangle (0%): * (Hidden)

○ Gray Gift Box (3%): Requires completion of task [Cat's Secret].

-

Bai Fuling scanned it and noticed this character profile wasn't exactly the same as Pang Chengyu's; some symbols were different.

What does the second one mean... How did he just casually cancel my personhood! Bai Fuling twitched the corner of his mouth.

Combining the initial interaction with Liao Zhiqiu, the tall male NPC's words, and the current character profile information, Bai Fuling roughly guessed: Liao Zhiqiu seemed to have a preference for small animals and people who resembled them.

Even when he had snatched his dagger and randomly stuffed roses before, Liao Zhiqiu didn't seem to mind at all. When Bai Fuling had almost beaten him to death earlier, thinking he wanted to play S&M, Liao Zhiqiu hadn't really fought back either.

Now it seemed the reason for this magnanimity—was that he never considered him human in the first place! Bai Fuling had an epiphany.

They say eating too many red beans makes one lovesick. Now, after eating too many cat sticks, Liao Zhiqiu saw him and couldn't distinguish between human and animal. Bai Fuling realized this NPC seemed to have a few screws loose.

—But since it increased favorability, it was a good thing.

Bai Fuling nodded in satisfaction and grabbed another handful of cat sticks Liao Zhiqiu offered, tearing them open to eat, feeding into the guy's weird assumption.

But before he could eat many, a commotion broke out behind him.

Probably the blood-loss state triggered a passive effect; some shrieking NPC had called an ambulance, and the ambulance had arrived again!

Hearing the ambulance siren, Bai Fuling froze.

Who would have thought that, to this day, his greatest enemies weren't murderers and wild wolves, but hospital ambulances!

To avoid being caught and taken to the hospital, which would mess up his farming and quests, Bai Fuling decisively grabbed Liao Zhiqiu and ran.

Guan Jizhong, who had been silently observing from a distance, noticed Bai Fuling grabbing someone and running. His heart sank.

He knew it! That kid was just acting like a nutjob earlier; his real goal was to seize the chance to take Liao Zhiqiu away!

Fortunately, he'd never really trusted him, only pausing for a moment when the other had so sincerely spoken about solving the case and finding the culprit.

Guan Jizhong took a deep breath. He stood still for a second, then turned, piled into his van, and prepared to give chase.

Liao Zhiqiu was dragged along for a couple of steps, with no red bar appearing above his head. A few ellipsis bubbles popped up over his head instead, as if he wanted to say something.

Bai Fuling shouted first, "No time to explain! Just run!"

If they interacted any further now, the ambulance and the van behind them would catch up! Interactions in this game don't freeze time.

Bai Fuling whistled to summon his mount [Big Dog], and the grey wolf that burst out of the crowd scared off countless passing NPCs.

"Ahhh! There's a wolf!!"

"How could there be a wolf here!? Where did it come from!!"

To be fair, the reactions of the surrounding NPCs were quite realistic. Bai Fuling inwardly praised the game developers' attention to detail, then muttered offhandedly, "What wolf? It's clearly labeled as Big Dog, and it can even enter the city."

Bai Fuling swung onto the wolf's back.

He originally intended to pull Liao Zhiqiu up, only to realize then that the grey wolf mount had no option for riding together.

Wait, wait, wait! What should he do now? Bai Fuling broke out in a cold sweat. Although the ambulance wasn't after Liao Zhiqiu, that tall man NPC was trying to catch him!

Bai Fuling now understood why, despite all the previous interactions with the tall man NPC, no quest had been issued—because the tall man NPC was the antagonist in this storyline! Those interactions were probably just meant to make players recognize the enemy.

If the antagonist captured the quest target, the quest would definitely get stuck. So he had to take Liao Zhiqiu away! In many cases, protecting NPCs was a prerequisite for completing quests, even though it was troublesome.

Bai Fuling reasoned it out for himself. He reached out and grabbed the nearby short, wheeled trash bin—perhaps because this spot was relatively remote, or maybe the cleaning staff had just replaced it, but it happened to be empty—then he took a rope from his backpack and tied it securely around the trash bin.

Since the grey wolf mount couldn't carry two people, he could only change the way he used this vehicle, such as adopting the classic dog sled method.

He would have the grey wolf [Big Dog] pull the trash bin, and then he and Liao Zhiqiu could sit inside the short trash bin with wheels!

Bai Fuling's plan was perfect. He called out to Liao Zhiqiu, "Come on, get in together!"

Liao Zhiqiu didn't move. Despite the screaming pedestrians and roaring vehicles around him, he appeared composed and unflustered. He simply gazed at Bai Fuling, whose cheeks were painted with cat whiskers and whose eyes sparkled brightly, then grabbed another handful of Cat Sticks and offered them.

Bai Fuling: ...Oh dear, no feeding at a time like this!

Bai Fuling thought this might be an issue with the AI program's priority settings. So he decisively exercised his player agency, grabbed Liao Zhiqiu, and pulled him into the trash bin.

Then Bai Fuling tore open the Cat Stick in his hand, clicked the button to feed his mount—good things shouldn't be forgotten for the mount either; the mount's favorability and mental state were also important.

"Eat up, Big Dog," Bai Fuling said.

After the grey wolf consumed the Cat Stick, it gave an "aroo!", replenished its energy, and charged forward with all its might, pulling the wheeled trash bin along as it raced ahead, nimbly weaving through the traffic under Bai Fuling's direction.

Behind them, the ambulance and the van blared their sirens in pursuit.

Bai Fuling glanced back, thought for a moment, and inwardly understood. A confident smile spread across his cheeks.

Hmm, got it. Now it's time for another new mini-game—Kart Racer: Launch Sequence!