CH 33

Unfortunately for QiLeren, the forest floor was made up of a mess of winding roots and slippery mud that nearly tripped him more than once. Clad in a gown that looked pretty but proved to be an absolute horror to run in, QiLeren quickly found himself losing ground to the dog behind him.

He needed to do something before he became dog food! Could he load a save? No, there was no point, the dog would still be there. Other skills? Items? Or-

Wait, the rations!

QiLeren quickly dug out the rations, grabbing a handful and throwing it as hard as he could behind him. The instant the rations left his hand, the dog that had pursued him with single-minded determination abandoned its mission completely and twisted in an almost comedic fashion towards the rations instead.

QiLeren paused for a second at the sudden change and debated whether or not to kill the dog. It’d save him future headaches but…perhaps it was best not to push his luck. If worst came to worst, he could just throw another handful of rations. Nodding to himself, QiLeren turned his back on the dog and ran into the forest.

Luckily, the dog didn’t follow. As he had predicted, this new body of his couldn’t hold a candle to his normal one, leaving him gasping for air against a tree not long after he had started running. That wasn’t the worst part though – the worst part was that even his panting sounded loli.

QiLeren pulled out his water and took a few gulps. Drops of the icy liquid leaked out the corners of his mouth, trailing down his chin and pattering gently onto his chest. He paused and looked down, hesitating, before tentatively placing a hand on it – it was…soft…very soft…

Uhh.

So he didn’t just imagine the bouncing on his chest.

That aside, he definitely needed to get out of these annoying clothes. Thankfully, he had the foresight to bring a set of activewear.

The thought was quickly dashed when he found out that the gown he was wearing was not to be changed out of for the duration of the quest. This quest was the actual worst, QiLeren decided. The trauma it gave its male players was not worth whatever rewards it was going to give.

Well, he was stuck with the gown for now. With the dagger SuHe had kindly given him, QiLeren hacked his long dress into a short one. His legs felt a bit cold, but it was better than tripping.

Clothing sorted, QiLeren took out the compass he had prepared before coming and headed north. Thank god for ChenBaiqi; she may have taken an entire third of his lifespan, but her service was impeccable – her sister showed up not a day after their chat with a folder containing all the information on Makah Village, including a map of the general area.

…Calling it a map was perhaps a bit of an oversell, sloppily drawn as it was by most likely a passing player or NPC, but there were two locations marked within the Demon Woods area – Swamp Tower and Cave Tower. He figured that he was probably in the entrance closest to Makah Village, so the closest tower to him would be the Swamp Tower downstream. All he had to do was to find the river. There was no more information to be gathered from the map, but QiLeren was more than happy with what he had.

Thankfully, the soft trickle of flowing water soon reached his ears. Quickening his steps, QiLeren made a beeline for the river and splashed some water onto his face before looking down at his reflection.

The face that greeted him was framed by long brown hair that cascaded gently down her shoulders, features extremely similar to his if not for the fact that it was softened to look distinctively feminine, and a few years younger, and – oh god, he looked like a loli.

If he saw this face on the street he might’ve given it a second glance, but actually having the face for himself was a different matter altogether!

No, he needed to calm down. This was just for the quest – he was going to leave, be turned back to how he was before and never have to mention this to anyone.

Having deluded himself into calming down, QiLeren pushed the matter of his appearance into the back of his mind and began to plan out his next steps.

It was getting dark, which made travelling through the forest a terrible idea – perhaps he should find shelter for the night and wait until light to continue moving. QiLeren picked himself up in resignation and went hunting for twigs; he wasn’t exactly an expert on wilderness survival, but fire should theoretically ward off wild animals in the night, right?

What TV shows neglected to show was just how frustrating lighting a fire was, QiLeren discovered as he just about hacked up a lung. Rather than bursting into the flames he had expected, the moisture inside the tree branches effectively reduced what felt like the first fifty attempts into thick smoke. At least he had thought to bring a lighter; if he had to use a fire drill he’d most likely die before he could even light a spark.

Beneath the dark sky, QiLeren leaned back against a tree and feasted upon his meal of dry bread and water. The bread was hard as rocks and wasn’t going to get good reviews anytime soon, but was easy enough to store that QiLeren had brought well over a month’s supply. Better safe than sorry, in any case – no one knew how long the quest was going to last.

At least lifespan countdowns were paused, or he’d have more to worry about. He shot a worried look at what little remained of his lifespan; he’d have to take another quest not long after this if the rewards turn out to be insufficient, which SuHe had explicitly warned them not to do. He had suggested for them to learn some basic combat skills when they had the time, since the difference between someone trained in combat and someone who wasn’t was quite large.

The bonfire before him crackled periodically as it burned. QiLeren curled into his blanket; the oppressive atmosphere made it hard to fall asleep, but he knew that if he neglected sleep he’d be way worse off the next day, nevermind finding the four towers. What he needed was an ally to sleep in shifts with. The quest didn’t seem to call for any unavoidable conflicts between players so far. It was too bad that he got separated with the other three from the carriage.

QiLeren was hovering between sleep and wakefulness when he jerked upright at the sudden sound of wings. A black shape had landed itself by his bonfire – a bird that looked very familiar.

He stared at it for a while before realising that it was the bird that ate a handful of his rations and then lied to him in the alley. Wait, if it was here now then…

QiLeren shuddered. The memory of the shrill whistle was still fresh in his mind, as was the scene he had stumbled upon afterwards. The bird’s owner was most likely the culprit. A cold beauty, ChenBaiqi had said.

The bird let out a strange sound, letting QiLeren brew in his anticipation for a bit before continuing. “Wolves! Wolves!” it crowed.

QiLeren all but dived out from under his blanket and whipped his head around the surroundings. Under canopy of leaves above, all was calm.

The damn bird tricked him again!

Something fiery bubbled within. The bird seemed to be aware of his murderous intent, launching itself onto a high-up branch almost immediately and squawking its sardonic laughter at the figure pacing in fury below it.

Eventually, the surroundings fell quiet. After a long while of unsuccessful waiting for the bird’s owner to make their appearance, QiLeren sagged back into his seat and began munching on some rations.

Almost as if it had been waiting, the bird started screeching its cries of “Wolves! Wolves!” again.

QiLeren chuckled dryly. “You think I’m gonna fall for that again, you little asshole?”

The bird responded by tilting its head innocently, which QiLeren ignored with crossed arms. He looked around, unimpressed, when something caught his eye.

A pair of green eyes peered at him from within the undergrowth.

Fuck, there were actually wolves?! QiLeren threw himself at the campfire and drew out a branch to use as a makeshift torch. Wolves were supposed to be scared of fire, so he’d be fine if he stayed close.

A lone wolf stalked out of the bushes, approaching him like a hunter would a prey.

QiLeren gulped. His heart thundered in his ears.

A second wolf approached from the opposite side, followed by a third, and a fourth…

Being faced with beasts whose minds have been corrupted by hunger felt distinctively different to the ghosts from worlds before. QiLeren didn’t know which was scarier, the insatiable malice that snarled at him now or the uncanny emptiness of the undead. His hand tightened around the fistful of rations; would he still be alive if not for this item that he only now celebrated obtaining?

Saliva dribbled down the wolves’ mouths as they growled greedily and lowered themselves to the ground. The menacing pressure forced QiLeren a step back.

Instincts triggered, one of the wolves pounced at QiLeren despite the fire he stood next to. The human promptly hurled the rations in his hand, along with the still flaming torch, towards the wolf – something sharp shot past his ear, missing it by a hair, followed by a dying cry that pierced the air as the wolf fell heavily onto the ground. Having watched the entire encounter as if it was mere entertainment, the black bird dived down from its perch and stole away the rations with a joyful squawk.

QiLeren stared at the wolf. Embedded into its skull was a shining silver arrow, reflecting brilliantly in the night.