Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Bai Fuling finally dragged the tall male NPC ashore. Seeing that the other hadn't vanished, wasn't glowing with starlight, or erupting into coins, he knew the NPC was still alive.

He heaved a heavy sigh of relief.

That was close, so close! Thankfully, this was just a game!

There was a size disparity between them, making moving the NPC quite laborious. In reality, attempting a solo underwater rescue like this would have been extremely reckless, dangerous, and difficult.

But in the game, Bai Fuling's movements underwater weren't hindered at all; it was no different from being on land. So, he managed to use the sickle from his backpack to cut the seatbelt, drag the man out, surface, and pull him to the shore.

Along the way, as he swam by, he even caught a few fish.

That's right, just casually grabbed fish while swimming past!

—Actually, it was just the player seeing the 'Pick Up' prompt light up and couldn't resist clicking, and actually got something.

Fishing from the shore requires a rod and bait, but grabbing fish in the water needs nothing.

The chance of a fish escaping when grabbed by hand is high, not as reliable as fishing with a rod, but it's free loot. Catching even one is a win.

And he caught five.

After getting ashore, Bai Fuling laid Guan Jizhong flat on the bank, then had his character plop down, pull out a [River Fish] from the backpack, and start eating it raw.

He needed to replenish his HP.

Although moving in water wasn't hindered, staying submerged for too long would put the character in an 'oxygen-deprived' state, causing HP to drop bit by bit, somewhat like slowly drowning.

This was another 'realistic' setting in the game.

Probably to prevent players from digging holes or building houses underwater like SpongeBob, getting stuck in a bug and never coming out.

One bite, two bites, three bites... After eating four river fish, Bai Fuling restored his HP to about three-quarters.

[*Blood Loss*] had disappeared from his personal status bar. Now, he could walk on the streets without fear of attracting an ambulance chase.

At that moment, a bubble with an ellipsis appeared above the head of the tall male NPC lying beside him. It seemed he was about to wake up.

Bai Fuling moved his character closer to observe, still holding the fifth fish he had just taken from his backpack.

After thinking for a few seconds, Bai Fuling shoved the last fish in his hand towards the tall male NPC's mouth, attempting to feed him.

Food could restore his own HP, could restore his mount's HP, so could it also restore an NPC's HP?

Please, this NPC can't die! Who's going to save his quest??

In his hazy consciousness, Guan Jizhong smelled a strong fishy odor, instantly feeling as if he was still drowning in the dark, seemingly endless river water. He coughed twice, spitting out some water.

His leg was injured, and the combination of nearly drowning and a concussion left him in a semi-conscious state. However, as a Forest Ranger, Guan Jizhong had a relatively robust physique. He managed to catch his breath somewhat and gather a bit of his scattered awareness.

The eyepatch covering his right eye had long fallen off in the water, revealing the ferocious claw-mark scar over his blind eye. Guan Jizhong's remaining good eye half-opened, and the first thing he saw was densely packed, shiny fish scales.

Guan Jizhong: ?

His hazy consciousness was jolted awake by this sight. Anyone waking up to such a sanity-dropping scene would react the same way.

Then he felt—the fish moved slightly, and a raw fish was being poked against his own mouth!

Guan Jizhong instinctively clenched his teeth and turned his head away, avoiding the raw fish being offered to his lips.

"Strange, won't you eat it?" A familiar, clear voice sounded, tinged with a bit of confusion.

Guan Jizhong's blurred vision gradually recovered, finally focusing and becoming clear.

It was then that he fully saw who was holding that fish against his mouth—it was that Black-haired Youth.

The Black-haired Youth wearing a halo on his head seemed like a blend of angel and demon. Under his gaze, the Black-haired Youth named Fresh Cabbage tilted his head, then withdrew the fish.

Then, he stuffed the fish into his own mouth and ate it.

He just stuffed the fish into his mouth and ate it!!

Guan Jizhong: ??!

He stared dumbfounded as Bai Fuling ate the fish in one bite, feeling as if he hadn't yet broken free from the hallucinations of his near-death experience.

So, Guan Jizhong closed his eyes again and lay back down stiffly.

Not far away, Liao Zhiqiu came down from a side path, arriving belatedly.

Bai Fuling wasn't surprised to see Liao Zhiqiu here. After all, in the game, NPCs had an auto-follow mode and would travel with the player, so his appearance here was normal.

Witnessing Bai Fuling eat the fish firsthand, the dark-circled pixel NPC's head once again sprouted a pink heart with a plus sign.

Bai Fuling was used to it—Liao Zhiqiu was a standard animal lover.

Although this NPC's favorability rose quickly, it was purely due to affection for small animals, so there was probably a cap. Bai Fuling guessed. If he remained an animal in the other's eyes, then this favorability likely couldn't be maxed out—after all, the game probably wouldn't include beastiality elements! Even if it wasn't real.

Actually, maintaining above-average favorability with most NPCs was enough for players to proceed unimpeded.

But Bai Fuling wouldn't set his goal so simply. He wanted to try his best to max out each one—after all, many achievements or gifts required maxed favorability to unlock!

One of the great joys of playing RPGs was unlocking achievements, watching the badges fill up one by one, which brought a strong sense of satisfaction.

So, he'd have to slowly consider how to raise favorability in the future... But for now, at the start of the game, the focus was on making money and completing quests.

Bai Fuling's thoughts circled back. He had his character stand up.

Liao Zhiqiu looked at him and asked, "Are you feeling alright after falling in the water?"

One of the cat stereotypes! Bai Fuling recognized it. But actually, cats aren't afraid of water; they just dislike getting their fur wet.

So, he decisively chose to refresh his clothes, instantly changing his soaked initial shirt and pants for dry ones, then said, "I'm fine now."

"..." Liao Zhiqiu, seeing the clothes instantly change, had a momentarily blank expression before quickly recovering. "Shook the water off your fur, huh."

"Mm." Bai Fuling nodded frankly, continuing to play along with the other's animal impression. He then added, "Call an ambulance."

He didn't have a phone now, so he couldn't call 120 himself, and had to ask the other dark-circled NPC to call for him—come to think of it, when an NPC here gets injured and rescued, they don't just instantly respawn fully healed or get refreshed to the hospital? The player actually has to figure out how to send them there? Such a realistic setting.

Upon hearing this, Liao Zhiqiu very calmly took out his phone and made the call.

He didn't care about his fellow humans. So, he didn't care if Guan Jizhong died, nor did he mind if he lived.

On the ground, Guan Jizhong heard the voices and opened his eyes again. Despite being extremely dizzy and nauseous from the concussion, his mind was somewhat functional.

In his blurry vision, he caught sight of Liao Zhiqiu's figure. Guan Jizhong's first instinct was still to reach out, trying to grab him, to complete the task assigned by the old lion king from the underworld.

But his strength only allowed him to feebly raise his arm a little, futilely grasping at empty air before it dropped powerlessly.

"What's wrong?" Bai Fuling saw the NPC on the ground moving and quickly leaned over, ready to catch this windfall of plot just like catching a windfall of cash.

"...Cough, cough," Guan Jizhong coughed a few times, looking at the face so close to his.

The black-haired youth still had a bit of waterweed stuck to his cheek that he hadn't noticed, his hair dripping wet. Just moments ago, he had dragged him back from the brink of death with all his might.

"..." Guan Jizhong gazed at him, feeling genuinely confused. He opened his mouth, and a weak voice escaped his lips, "...Why...?"

He didn't understand. If the person before him had chosen to protect Liao Zhiqiu, why would he throw himself into the river to save him? They weren't even close, their relationship was merely that of a kidnapper and an innocent passerby who had been kidnapped.

Could it be that this 'Angel' guy was really some kind of angel?

Guan Jizhong was amused by this absurd thought, letting out a short, rasping chuckle from his throat. His consciousness was still drifting, and his voice was equally faint: "...You shouldn't... have needed to save me... after all... I'm not important."

"What are you talking about?" Bai Fuling immediately glared upon hearing this. "The 'Let the Kitten Live Its Life' quest and finding the culprit are equally important!"

Who said tasks had to be ranked by importance? He wouldn't let the system judge one as high and the other as low, then only accept one of them.

Hah! Such a low-level language trap in a game is still child's play in front of a player!

Hearing the words "find the culprit" from Bai Fuling's mouth again, Guan Jizhong couldn't help but roll his eyes.

He had once thought the person before him was just babbling nonsense or making excuses to escape when he mentioned it.

But in this situation, the guy called 'Fresh Cabbage' had no reason to lie to him anymore.

"...You really... want to find the culprit...?"

"Of course. As the soon-to-be-legendary Farmer Detective of the new era, I must uncover the mastermind behind the Crescent Scythe Murder Case," Bai Fuling said seriously. "The all-powerful famous detective! And the truth is always one!"

"..." Guan Jizhong felt that his concussion must have scrambled his brain. Hearing such words, while finding it amusing, he actually felt a surge of trust.

Perhaps it was also because he had no other way out.

The town police had always been lackadaisical and never took cases seriously, and his current physical condition made it impossible for him to complete the task assigned by the Underground Old Lion King.

The only lifeline left was the person who had pulled him out of the water.

Guan Jizhong's remaining eye stared intently at Bai Fuling for a long time. The adrenaline was fading, and he couldn't stay conscious much longer. He heard the distant sound of an ambulance siren, and his consciousness grew increasingly hazy.

Just before completely falling unconscious, he finally moved his heavy arm, grabbed a key hanging around his neck, and slowly pressed it into Bai Fuling's hand, gasping weakly, "...My sister's house... key..."

A clue! flashed through Bai Fuling's mind. The victim's home might hold more information.

He took the key. Guan Jizhong's hand, in turn, feebly closed around his.

Guan Jizhong's hand was large, calloused, and now icy cold. He had little strength left, but he still tried his best to hold on tightly.

"Sorry, kid... thank you." Guan Jizhong looked at Bai Fuling, struggling to focus and enunciating each word clearly. "I beg you, please. Find that culprit."

"I will," Bai Fuling nodded.

And at that moment, the screen finally displayed the new prompt the player had been eagerly awaiting.

"[Sweet Dream] - New Information Obtained"

"Unlocked Character - Guan Jizhong"