Just as he was caught up in the moment and wanted to sneakily touch it again, the snow-white door behind him suddenly opened, and then the surrounding scenery turned into snowflakes, recombining to form a brand new world.
In an instant, the clamor of voices filled his ears, and in a daze, he found himself standing in a square, surrounded by beautifully designed game buildings and all sorts of bizarre chibi characters.
As a rare gaming novice in the new era, Yi Heye stood in the game lobby, looking at the real yet unreal world around him, and completely forgot all the game rules that he had painstakingly memorized.
Just as he stood in the middle of the crowd, feeling slightly embarrassed, a familiar voice suddenly came from behind him, giving Yi Heye a moment of support:
"It seems our little leopard needs help."
Just as Yi Heye relaxed and before he could turn around, his wagging tail was grabbed by a hand.
A tingling sensation that made his scalp tingle instantly swept over him, shooting from the tip of his tail to the top of his head. Yi Heye felt the hairs on his ears stand on end.
After a moment of uncontrollable stiffness and trembling, Yi Heye hurriedly clutched his tail and looked warily behind him—
The chibi version of Jian Yunxian, with ram horns on his head, wearing a single-sided pair of glasses with a chain, and his hand still in the gesture of holding his tail in mid-air, stands smiling in front of him.
Even shrunk to such an adorable size, Jian Yunxian before him still couldn't hide his extraordinary temperament and the cheeky arrogance that infuriated Yi Heye.
"Oh my~" Jian Yunxian twitched her snow-white sheep ears, her tone both surprised and irritating, "Why are you so sensitive even in the game?"
Yi Heye stared at him for a long time, then threw him to the ground with an over-the-shoulder throw.
The bouncy body fell with a "plop," then bounced up smoothly, rolling a long way in one breath.
Yi Heye felt a sense of satisfaction watching this – he had gradually learned to take action before getting angry.
After rolling all the way, Jian Yunxian finally turned a corner and stopped at his feet. Jian Yunxian patted his butt and stood up, generously forgiving past grievances: "Come on, I'll take you for a duo queue."
Jian Yunxian swiped open the control panel, and after a few swipes, the scene in the game lobby immediately dissolved and switched, and the screen transitioned to a secluded primeval rainforest.
At this moment, the two who had fallen into the map returned to their normal size and proportions. Yi Heye immediately touched himself to make sure his ears and tail were still there before taking another look at his outfit.
His simple and neat work clothes fit the stereotype of hunters, making them more for show than for practicality.
Looking up, she found Jian Yunxian looking her over: "Our little leopard looks good in anything."
Yi Heye was speechless, then looked up at him again—this man was wearing a long white lab coat, with a single-lensed glasses and smiling eyes, looking like a refined and cultured mad scientist.
Yi Heye: "Doctor?"
Jian Yunxian: "Yes, I feel like you're someone who's very good at getting hurt, so I chose this specifically for you."
Yi Heye: "..."
As soon as they finished speaking, a map appeared in front of them, along with their current mission: find the initial item chest and defeat the mechanical ancient lizards that appeared on this floor.
This isn't an AI hunter, it's a wilderness hunter, isn't it? Yi Heye wasn't very interested in mechanical animals, but he still followed Jian Yunxian to familiarize himself with the terrain.
The rainforest before us is exquisitely crafted, with towering trees rising from the ground, lichens, mosses and ferns everywhere, and intertwined vines clinging to the tree trunks like giant snakes, resembling mysterious totems from ancient times.
Even the humid and hot climate has been perfectly replicated.
Yi Heye lifted his tightly buttoned collar, feeling uncomfortably hot.
Jian Yunxian always maintained her composure and poise, while Yi Heye sneered: "Machines are so good, they're not afraid of the heat."
Jian Yun chuckled, "That's not necessarily true. Some machines don't seem to have very good heat dissipation."
Having been subtly mocked again, Yi Heye turned away, turned around, and started getting used to the game controls.
He waved and ran a bit more, proving that the helmet SHEEP bought for him was indeed of good quality. Not only did it not cause any delays, but it also maximized his physical advantages.
The leopard tail that comes with it helps control balance and provides excellent assistance when performing difficult jumps and climbs in real life.
Yi Heye got along very well with his tail. At one point, he even felt that when God created him, He must have owed him a clever tail.
Once they were fairly familiar with the game controls, the two finally set off and began the first step of the game—finding items.
After watching so many short videos, Yi Heye roughly figured out that the treasure chest for the initial items should be in a very conspicuous location.
Sure enough, on a giant mushroom altar, they found a treasure chest that was glowing white and had a red cross marked on it.
The Red Cross represents the medical profession, so this treasure chest clearly contains Jian Yunxian's items.
The mushroom altar was about three stories high. The two people standing below it looked up at the same time.
Jian Yunxian wasn't fully recovered yet. He tiptoed to reach for it, then gave up after shaking his sheep ears.
"Oh dear, this is really a difficult situation."
Yi Heye sneered inwardly at the piece of trash, his intense competitive spirit igniting: "Get out of the way."
The next second, he very nimbly grabbed the stone on the surface of the mushroom altar, pushed off with both feet, used the tip of his tail for leverage, and "whoosh" climbed to the top of the altar twice. Using inertia to lift the treasure chest, he used his tail to cushion the impact and lightly touched the ground.
Clean and efficient.
He waved the treasure chest in his hand at Jian Yunxian with a sense of accomplishment, as if showing off his victory.
The man ran over excitedly, took the treasure chest, and patted his head, saying, "You're really amazing."
Yi Heye's leopard ears twitched from being rubbed, but he found the touch pleasant and subconsciously rubbed them lightly against his palm before suddenly realizing what was happening—
Damn it, why am I acting like a dog?!
Yi Heye angrily hid to the side, not letting him touch him anymore, but couldn't help but secretly peek at what treasure Jian Yunxian had opened.
As soon as the man opened it, he took out a small syringe and threw it into the bushes.
Yi Heye quickly ran over to pick it up: "What are you doing?!"
It's so rude of you to just throw away something you worked so hard to get!
Then, upon closer inspection of the words above—
"Painkillers," Jian Yun chuckled. "The existence of something like that only diminishes your gaming experience, doesn't it?"
Yi Heye felt a little guilty after being told that—it was indeed true, but it felt really strange to be told that by someone.
So he walked forward alone again.
If Jian Yunxian's prop appeared at a time that was within the normal range, then Yi Heye's came far too late.
They searched the jungle for a long time but couldn't find Yi Heye's props, and they were about to leave the "protected area".
"Looks like you're having a really bad run of luck," Jian Yunxian said. "No items are spawning in the protected area, so we might as well restart this level."
The game LIFE is quite difficult to get started with; without the help of items, even getting through the first level is very difficult.
It's not uncommon for items to not spawn in the protected area, but such a hellish start basically means the game is over before it even begins.
Yi Heye glanced at him, and was about to say something when his expression suddenly became alert.
His leopard ears twitched in the wind, and soon he turned around, staring at the bushes not far away, his eyes filled with murderous intent.
"What's wrong...?" "Shh."
Before Jian Yunxian could finish speaking, Yi Heye stopped him. Then, he saw the guy staring at the bushes while reaching for a thorny branch.
"Snap!" "Ouch!!"
The sound of a branch snapping and the roar of a wild beast rang out almost simultaneously. The next second, a wild dog with sharp teeth pounced out of the bushes.
Yi Heye swiftly raised the branch and aimed it at the wild dog's sharp teeth. The wild dog instinctively bit down, and the barbs in its mouth caused it to howl in pain, its health bar dropping by half in an instant.
The next second, Yi Heye grabbed his neck from behind. He didn't have any weapons at all, but with his highly professional chokehold, he managed to control the wild dog.
As the wild dog's health bar finally emptied, Yi Heye released his grip.
But he didn't stop; instead, he pushed aside the bushes and walked into the shadows.
Jian Yunxian quickly stopped him: "Don't go. The presence of wild dogs means this is a bear's den, and there's a mid-level BOSS inside. You don't have the necessary items..."
Before he could finish speaking, he heard a series of wails coming from inside, sounding as terrifying as hell on earth.
Even though it was just a game, the noise still made Jian Yunxian frown. He had just walked over to check the situation when he heard a rustling sound coming from the bushes—
The bushes in front of him were pushed aside, revealing Yi Heye holding a ferocious bear head in one hand and a hunting rifle that had been fired from inside in the other.
This guy single-handedly took down the Mad Bear, a team fight that others might not be able to defeat, yet he moved with ease, without even changing the rhythm of his breathing.
This truly surprised Jian Yunxian. He glanced at the young man in front of him, whose cheeks were stained with a few drops of splattered beast blood, making his skin appear even paler and highlighting the bestial nature of the crimson in his eyes.
While he was lost in thought, he saw Yi Heye raise his hunting rifle at him.
He frowned, instinctively trying to avoid it, when he heard a loud "bang!"
Behind him, a wild dog that lunged at him was shot into a bloody mosaic by Yi Heye.
Jian Yunxian turned around and saw Yi Heye narrow his blood-red eyes, like a dangerous wild beast:
"Mr. Sheep, it's very dangerous for prey to be completely unaware."
Author's Note:
I asked my wife to draw chibi-style illustrations of the two characters. If you're interested, you can check them out on my Weibo: @山颂快起来码字
Chapter 17, number 017
Jian Yunxian stood still, glanced at the mosaic of the beast's corpse behind him, then at Yi Heye, whose face was contorted with malice, and after a long while, laughed: "It seems that sheep are indeed easy targets."
Yi Heye glanced at him, and seeing that the man was trying to move as little as possible, he felt a little bored: "Are you still not well?"
Jian Yunxian: "Where did the sun rise today? Mr. Yi is actually concerned about my health."
Yi Heye turned back angrily—chatting with this guy was detrimental to his health.
The game continues.
After unexpectedly encountering a mid-tier boss at the start of the game, Yi Heye finally acquired some equipment.
Having only fired one shot during the battle with the Mad Bear, Yi Heye had already become familiar with its various performance characteristics.
He is a gun inspection expert; after all, the huge bounty he has saved, besides baby formula, is used to stockpile guns.
Having not hunted for a long time, Yi Heye was excited to finally feel his body relaxed. He wagged his tail, carried his gun, and began clearing land along the map.
Perhaps it was just bad luck. Not only did they encounter a boss before finding any equipment, but they also almost explored the entire area map and still hadn't found the mechanical lizard mentioned in the quest.
Yi Heye: "When I watched others play, I didn't think the first level would take so long. Is this game really that difficult?"
Jian Yunxian: "...Only you find it this difficult."
Yi Heye muttered something to himself, not thinking much of it, until he lit up the last corner of the map.