Chapter 8: The Hunting

It was late afternoon when they finally finished the frame. Manu and Seb move debris large enough to attach to the would-be shelter. Meanwhile, Kat is practicing aiming with her bow without using arrows, without pulling the string. The bow was made of a long tree branch and only attached with strings. Manu peeled the outer bark of the twig, but the result was far from neat.

I'm not sure that it will last long.

Manu and Seb leaned the last piece of the large escape pod against the wooden frame. Unlike Kat's bow, the ties on the shelter frame look decent. This seems to happen due to Manu's higher construction stat than crafting.

"Are you sure this is enough? Will all this not befall us later?" Seb asked with his hands on his hips, looking at the parts that weren't covered in debris.

Ugh, was my decision wrong in choosing the rubble as the roof?

"Don't worry, I guarantee this structure is strong. And this debris is light, but it won't be carried away by the wind." Manu shrugged. "Well, it's temporary."

I started to change my mind. Maybe I need to order Manu to cut down more trees to make a more proper shelter.

Manu turned to look at Kat. "Hey, can you really use that?"

"You gave this thing to me, right?" Kat still aiming with the bow.

"That's true, but..." Manu couldn't continue his words and just scratched his head.

Well, I did give Manu the order to hand over the bow to Kat.

You're worried that she'll shoot you, Manu? Unfortunately, I can't guarantee that won't happen.

"I have participated in activities related to aiming." Kat explained.

[Kat was a pitcher for her school's softball team. Therefore, her ranged attack stat is the highest among the other stats]

Hmmm… So, if the characters don't talk too much, they won't explain in detail about their life history. A notification like this will appear instead.

Kat picked up three arrows from the ground, which looked unconvincing as well. The shape is not perfectly straight. The back end is also tied with a kind of grass instead of feathers like arrows in general.

"Any strings left?" Kat approached the two comrades.

"This, but very short." Seb held out a string that was only an index finger long. "You need it? What for …."

Kat took the string and used it to tie her hair. "I'm going hunting now."

This initiative must have arisen because Kat has a passion for ranged attacks.

"Hey, it's almost evening." Manu walked closer. "Besides, aren't you tired? You just did the heavy lifting today by chopping down some trees."

I looked around. There's still enough light. I think Kat still has time to hunt. If the night fell, I will guide her back here.

The girl stretched out her hand. "Give me the knife. You're done using it, right?"

Oh, Kat. Even to ask nicely, you can't do it, can you? You all are tired. I'm sure their emotions can be easily ignited, even if the problem is minor.

Manu was silent, narrowed his eyes at the girl. Kat looked back, of course, with her expressionless face.

Seb interceded between the two with a broad smile. "Kat needs it to kill her prey, doesn't she? After all, the knife belongs to her, right?"

"Alright, just give me the knife, Manu." I chose to intervene before the tension rose.

"You're right, Seb." Manu sneered, turned around, picked up the knife lying near the shelter, and then placed it in the girl's palm. "Please, princess."

Without a word, Kat walked away from the two men. I gave instructions for Seb to cover the remaining holes in the shelter using smaller pieces of debris, and then I asked Manu to make a fire.

No matter how much I saw the sight of Kat being hugged by two men like a reverse harem, I felt that it was not enough to warm their bodies.

I followed Kat across the grass. Once a while, she stopped, looked to the right or left to check the situation. I also did the same thing so that my prettiest colonist could get prey with ease.

Suddenly, Kat slid down and hid behind a boulder the size of a cow.

[Hidden Stats Unlocked.]

An interface displaying Kat's parameters appeared in front of me. Below the girl's standard stats appeared a new line.

Stealth: 59/100

[While still in the all-girls dorm, Kat and her friends often sneaked up on escaping. Kat didn't mean to do it. She just got carried away by her friends. They usually settle down to go to the boys' dorm or play around somewhere.]

I laughed a little. Interesting background to get Stealth ability. However, there was one that caught my attention more. It turns out, people like Kat can have friends too.

Kat began to peek through the rock. I cringed when I saw the animal Kat was after.

Shit! It was two gray rabbits in the distance! They were eating grass in peace! Rabbits are one of my favorite animals! That animal with long ears is so cute! I won't let you turn them into food, Kat!

[You found the first animal in Hvisland. Your colonists can hunt them for food or tame them as pets.]

The girl put two of her arrows on the ground, then put the remaining one onto the string in her bow. My mouth was so close to Kat's ear, but I stopped myself.

Apart from she and her two comrades need to eat, since yesterday I haven't found any other animals. Perhaps this was a rare opportunity to practice Kat's shooting skills. Now is not the time to let the animal go or tame it.

The word 'Ranged Attack' appeared above Kat's head, of course with a plus sign. The girl began to aim at the animals that were now jumping around. I closed my eyes, not wanting to see their suffering.

Zap!

I ventured to see what happened. None of the arrows managed to hit any of the animals. They were still there, looking around, maybe because they had just heard the sound of arrows but didn't know where it was coming from.

Oh, Kat missed. Unfortunately, I can't breathe a sigh of relief. The girl aimed with her second arrow. This time, I forced myself to open my eyes. I want to be a witness to the many precious moments of my colonists.

Yes, this is an important moment—the moment where Kat begins to fight for her colonists.

Zap!

The arrow flew fast and hit the hamstring of one of the rabbits. Flinched, the other rabbit jumped away.

Kat took the remaining arrows and came out of hiding. The rabbit that was hit by Kat's arrow was still able to jump up and down, although his agility was significantly reduced. Maybe the arrow didn't penetrate too deep.

The rabbit keeps jumping towards higher grass. Kat would have a hard time finding the animal, plus it was getting darker.

She aimed for the third time.