Love NPC in Nightmare Game - Chapter 142

Chapter 142: New Students 2

 

Three women and two men were sitting around a campfire, with a roasted rabbit that had turned golden and crispy on the fire. Next to it were large leaves containing more than ten grilled fish, as well as a pile of bright red fruits.

 

“You’re back. Come eat something quickly. You must be very tired after being out for so long, finding…”

 

One of the women stood up, originally wanting to ask what they had managed to find to eat. But seeing that they had only brought back one rabbit, she quickly changed the subject and asked them to come rest.

 

“It’s good to have you back. Come eat something quickly. We were waiting for you to return so we could eat together,” said another woman in agreement.

 

The five men turned red in the face. Who could have imagined that those who had stayed behind had actually found more food than they had, and had even grilled it, waiting for them?

 

Zhao Yijie remembered his previous intention and his sun-tanned face was visibly flushed red.

 

The others were in a similar state. Duan Yu didn’t say anything at this point either, feeling as if he had been slapped hard in the face.

 

The group sat around the campfire, staring at the grilled fish nearby.

 

The female combat student rolled her eyes, stood up, and extended her hand towards Duan Yu: “Give it to me, I’ll wash it.”

 

Duan Yu handed the rabbit to the woman and licked his cracked lips as he looked at the roasted rabbit on the fire, asking, “How did you manage to catch the rabbit, and how did you catch so many fish?”

 

Zhou Zhou stared at the grilled fish that Meng Ziye was distributing to everyone and casually said, “We were lucky.”

 

Upon hearing this, Duan Yu’s momentary sense of shame instantly vanished. He seemed to have found some confidence and accepted the fish that Meng Ziye gave him. As he ate, he said, “Then you guys were really fortunate. We had a terrible time. We could have caught a Zerohorn beast, but it got away from us. After that, our luck was so bad that we couldn’t find any other animal tracks.”

 

Zhou Zhou also took the grilled fish from Meng Ziye and took a bite. Wow, it was so delicious.

 

It seemed that Meng Ziye had brought seasonings with him. The original freshness of the fish, combined with the aroma of the seasonings, the crispy skin, and the tender meat, along with the special seasoning for grilling, made it truly delicious.

 

Even while listening to Duan Yu speak, Zhou Zhou, who was focused on eating the fish, casually asked, “The Zerohorn beast can run at 120 kilometers per hour. How did you manage to catch one?”

 

Hearing Duan Yu’s words, Zhou Zhou thought they had actually caught the Zerohorn beast but didn’t realize it had gotten away from them. After all, he had read in books that this animal was highly intelligent and could easily escape simple traps.

 

However, this remark angered Duan Yu. He threw the grilled fish he was holding into the campfire: “What do you mean? Are you mocking us for not being able to catch the Zerohorn beast? Someone who lied to avoid training has the nerve to say that to us.”

 

The grilled fish fell into the campfire, causing many sparks to fly up. The others quickly stood up, afraid of being burned by the sparks.

 

Meng Ziye, who had been as quiet as Zhou Zhou before, now angrily looked at Duan Yu: “Don’t waste food! If you don’t want to eat it, give it to someone else. We won’t indulge you.”

 

One of the women also glared at Duan Yu: “What did Zhou Zhou say? He was just asking a question. You’re the one with a thin skin who won’t let others speak. And this food was all so painstakingly caught by Zhou Zhou. What right do you have to throw it away? If you can, throw away the food you caught yourself.”

 

Zhou Zhou also stood up. After swallowing the meat in his mouth, he said, “I didn’t lie, and I wasn’t mocking you either.”

 

Duan Yu was furious at being scolded by these people. “If I don’t want to eat it, I won’t eat it. Who cares?”

 

Zhao Yijie quickly stepped in to mediate, as it was only the first day, and they were already almost fighting. How would they survive in the wild after this?

 

Duan Yu was indeed stubborn. He went to the river, took back the rabbit that had already been skinned, washed it clean himself, and grilled it himself over the fire. However, he didn’t know how to grill properly. The outside of the rabbit was charred black, while the inside still had traces of blood. Additionally, he didn’t add any seasoning, so it tasted incredibly bitter and unpalatable.

 

Duan Yu divided this rabbit among the four other men who had gone out to find food with him. The men didn’t want to hurt his pride, so they had to force themselves to swallow this rabbit, which had a bitter and gamey taste. In comparison to the grilled fish, the rabbit tasted exceptionally bad.

 

His actions made the women angry and amused. It’s not that they couldn’t catch prey themselves. Initially, they had simply divided the tasks, which was why they had stayed behind. They didn’t care about that unappetizing-looking rabbit at all.

 

Meng Ziye’s gaze was icy as he watched them struggle to swallow the rabbit meat. He took the other rabbit they had caught off the fire and distributed the meat to the women and Zhou Zhou.

 

One of the women handed her portion of rabbit leg to Zhou Zhou: “Zhou Zhou, here, have this. If it wasn’t for you catching the fish and rabbits today, we would have gone hungry.”

 

Another woman also handed over her rabbit leg: “Yeah, after all, we just set up the tents, started the fire, drove away nearby insects and beasts, checked the surroundings for any signs of fierce animals, caught fish and rabbits, and gathered wild fruits. It’s not as tiring as what the others did.”

 

This sarcastic remark was just short of directly stating their names. The faces of the few men couldn’t help but show their embarrassment.

 

Meng Ziye also handed a rabbit leg to Zhou Zhou, after all, most of the tasks mentioned earlier were completed by Zhou Zhou.

 

Zhou Zhou had already eaten one grilled fish, and his digestive system was still very delicate, so he couldn’t eat too many greasy foods. He could only stare longingly at the few rabbit legs in front of him before reluctantly refusing.

 

“If I eat just a small piece of rabbit meat and one fruit, I’ll be full. You all can have the rabbit legs and the remaining meat.”

 

He was only telling the truth, but the women and Meng Ziye thought he was saying this to let them eat their fill. Compared to the others who were eating by themselves, it was worlds apart.

 

These words sounded quite grating to the others, but they indeed hadn’t caught any other prey. Duan Yu viciously bit into the rabbit meat, thinking that they shouldn’t rely on the others for the next few days if they were capable.

 

The atmosphere in the squad was extremely tense. Zhao Yijie didn’t know how to advise them and felt that everything seemed to be triggered by Zhou Zhou. If Zhou Zhou wasn’t there, perhaps their squad wouldn’t have ended up like this.

 

When they set off the next day, the squad had split into two camps. The three women and Meng Ziye surrounded Zhou Zhou, chatting happily.

 

The other group was led by Zhao Yijie.

 

Zhou Zhou felt that this situation wasn’t right, but he didn’t know how to alleviate it. He hadn’t been a human for long and didn’t fully understand the complex psychological states among humans, so he couldn’t make sense of the subtle atmosphere within the squad.

 

The forest trees stood tall, with soft decaying leaves and various plants underfoot. Meng Ziye suddenly stopped walking.

 

“What’s wrong?” Zhou Zhou asked.

 

Meng Ziye pointed towards a distance: “Look over there, isn’t that the magic mushroom recorded in the manual?”

 

Zhou Zhou looked in the direction Meng Ziye was pointing and saw a colorful mushroom on a blackened dead tree: “It seems so.”

 

Just as Zhou Zhou was about to confirm further, Duan Yu hurried over from the other side and picked the colorful mushroom off the tree.

 

“Whoever picks it first, it belongs to them. I found it first.”

 

He held the mushroom in one hand and checked his wrist-mounted smart device. Seeing that the squad’s score had increased by ten points, he immediately looked smugly at Zhou Zhou.

 

No one in the squad said a word, only frowning at him. Only Zhou Zhou asked with concern, “Are you okay?”

 

The female combat student snorted coldly: “Idiot.”

 

Duan Yu was about to get angry, as he was the first one to earn points for the squad. What was their attitude? But in the next moment, his mind became hazy.

 

The others watched as Duan Yu punched aimlessly into the air, feeling exhausted.

 

The manual not only listed the scores for various plants and animals but also included their characteristics. The magic mushroom would cause hallucinations upon skin contact. Didn’t Duan Yu carefully read the instructions?

 

Watching Duan Yu furiously attack the trees, thinking they were enemies, Zhao Yijie rubbed his forehead, feeling that his luck was truly too poor, and no one in his squad was easy to deal with.

 

“The manual doesn’t mention whether the magic mushroom’s toxicity is fatal or not. Duan Yu is too close to the magic mushroom and is heavily poisoned, so he might be in mortal danger. Should we send a distress signal?”

 

Meng Ziye opened his mouth as if to say something but didn’t say anything after seeing Duan Yu’s ferocious expression as he continued to kick and punch the trees.

 

“No need. The magic mushroom isn’t lethal, but the hallucinogenic effect will last for several days. I remember there’s a companion plant near the magic mushroom that can cure the poison.”

 

Zhou Zhou took his backpack off and rummaged through it. “Right, let’s find some vines nearby to tie up Duan Yu. Otherwise, he’ll exhaust all his energy like this, and if he wanders off, we’ll have to go look for him.”

 

The women immediately started searching for vines in the area, and the others belatedly joined in as well.

 

Zhou Zhou found a pair of disposable gloves from his backpack, held his breath, and approached the dead tree, looking for the companion plant.

 

Meng Ziye pursed his lips and took out a water bottle from his bag, splashing water onto Duan Yu’s face and the magic mushroom he was tightly gripping.

 

Although Duan Yu had become foolish, he sensed someone “attacking” him and immediately charged towards Meng Ziye with cries.

 

Meng Ziye ran while luring Duan Yu, who was holding the magic mushroom, to an isolated area. When the others had prepared the ropes, they immediately helped tie up Duan Yu.

 

The wetted magic mushroom wouldn’t spread its toxicity through the air, and Meng Ziye kicked it away.

 

Soon, Zhou Zhou found the companion plant. Normally, the companion plant should be made into a medicine, but without the conditions for that now, Zhou Zhou crushed the plant and stuffed it directly into Duan Yu’s mouth. Duan Yu tasted the bitterness and instinctively wanted to spit it out, but Zhou Zhou sealed his mouth with tape.

 

“Now he can’t spit it out.” Zhou Zhou put the tape back in his bag, stood up, and said to the others, “Alright, let’s keep going.”

 

Zhao Yijie looked at Duan Yu’s anguished face: “He hasn’t recovered yet.”

 

Zhou Zhou shouldered his bag: “It will take him a few more hours to recover. We can’t wait that long, and besides, he’s just not in his right mind, it doesn’t affect his ability to walk.”

 

After saying that, he untied the ropes around Duan Yu’s feet, leaving only the ones on his wrists, and then handed the other end of the rope to Zhao Yijie.

 

Zhao Yijie looked at the innocent-looking, fair-skinned Zhou Zhou and felt that he might have some misunderstanding in his perception of him.

 

The group of nine continued on their way, with the senseless and bound Duan Yu trailing behind.

 

Without the mouthy Duan Yu, the atmosphere in the squad improved significantly, and the other men gradually started listening to Zhou Zhou.

 

As they continued forward, a Zerohorn beast appeared in front of them.

 

The men recognized it as the one from last night.

 

The Zerohorn beast swaggered past them, looking extremely relaxed. It would occasionally glance at them, and the new students felt they could see mockery in its eyes.

 

The men wanted to chase after it, but the Zerohorn beast could run far away in just a few strides. Recalling last night’s events, they didn’t pursue it.

 

“So this is the Zerohorn beast.” It was Zhou Zhou’s first time seeing it, and he curiously observed the long-haired, gray-white animal.

 

Meng Ziye nodded: “The Zerohorn beast scores high but is difficult to chase since it runs too fast. If we had mech suits, we might be able to catch it, but now that we’re on foot, it’s impossible.”

 

Zhou Zhou hadn’t intended to catch the Zerohorn beast either, as he couldn’t outrun it.

 

“Let’s not worry about that Zerohorn beast anymore. Let’s keep looking for other prey. I noticed traces of Long-legged Bugs earlier, so they should be nearby.” Meng Ziye reluctantly glanced at the Zerohorn beast, which had trotted back to a distance not too far or too close from them, and followed Zhou Zhou’s pace: “Yeah, it’s just a pity we can only see it and not eat it. Grilled Zerohorn beast must be delicious.”

 

Zhou Zhou suddenly stopped and turned to Meng Ziye: “Have you eaten it before?”

 

Meng Ziye nodded blankly: “I’ve had it once before at a restaurant. The meat was tender and delicious even without seasoning, but it was too expensive, so I’ve only had it once.”

 

Others in the group had also eaten Zerohorn beast and began describing its flavor.

 

Zhou Zhou looked at the Zerohorn beast with longing eyes, swallowing his saliva. “Let’s eat it for lunch.”

 

The Zerohorn beast was leisurely eating leaves when it suddenly felt a chill down its spine. It turned its head and noticed that one of the humans was looking at it with a very strange gaze.

 

Zerohorn beast: What kind of look is that? Nevermind, they can’t outrun me anyway.

 

At noon, the new students sat around the campfire, staring at the almost fully roasted Zerohorn beast over the fire, their expressions indescribable.

 

Who could have imagined that they would actually catch that Zerohorn beast?

 

They had originally thought Zhou Zhou was just talking, as the Zerohorn beast’s speed was astonishingly fast, and its burst of speed was also quite powerful. Even if they ran until their legs broke, they couldn’t catch up. But Zhou Zhou had devised a plan, he tied the senseless Duan Yu to a tree, then had two people chase the Zerohorn beast away. Meanwhile, they set up traps around Duan Yu before all retreating.

 

When the Zerohorn beast returned, it only saw Duan Yu tied to the tree.

 

This intelligent Zerohorn beast knew that the bound Duan Yu couldn’t harm it, so it lingered around him.

 

The senseless Duan Yu noticed something moving in front of him and struggled desperately to catch and bite it, but he was tied too tightly and could only struggle in vain.

 

The Zerohorn beast grew bolder, first circling from a distance, then gradually approaching. Although it remained cautious and would immediately flee at the slightest movement, its high intelligence was no match for the cunning humans.

 

Around Duan Yu were vine noose traps, and all the vines were green to blend in with the surrounding foliage. The humans had even hung the vines on Duan Yu for a while to pick up his scent.

 

To the Zerohorn beast, these scents were just from Duan Yu’s thrashing, so when it approached him, one of its hooves was caught in the ground noose and suspended midair.

 

When Zhou Zhou and the others returned after finding Long-legged Bugs and earning points, they saw the Zerohorn beast hanging in midair.

 

Meanwhile, Duan Yu was biting and clawing at the air toward the bottom of the Zerohorn beast.

 

Zhou Zhou finally got his wish to eat the Zerohorn beast, and it was indeed delicious. Without any seasoning, the meat melted in the mouth, with an intense natural meat fragrance and no gamey taste.

 

With seasoning, it had a different flavor, as if each spice had naturally fused with the grilled meat. The meat aroma mixed with the spice aroma, igniting new deliciousness.

 

Either way, it was very tasty.

 

As everyone ate the meat, Duan Yu gradually regained his senses.