At the village gate, Chen Chen dug out the mushroom at the stone stele.
The mushroom was green and appeared visibly toxic, but trusting the System, Chen Chen put the mushroom inside his pocket.
He then went to the field and seized the red aquatic.
After collecting those two items, Chen Chen ignored all the opportunities around him and headed straight to the river, which was three kilometers away.
One should not be too greedy, otherwise the grand prize may be lost.
The most important opportunity was the cliff jump at the Black Wind Cliff. However, with 15 kilometers to go, time was of the essence. Were it not for the right direction, he wouldn't even take the koi fish.
...
Three kilometers was not much for Chen Chen, who lived in a village household and regularly ran around for no particular reason. In about 20 minutes, he had reached the midstream of the creek.
Calculating the time and finding that the koi was about seven minutes away, Che Chen sat on a large stone at the riverside, resting quietly.
"System, can you give me the precise time right now? I don't have a watch with me, and I don't know the time zone you're using."
"It's 12:35 a.m."
Chen Chen was very relieved when he heard the response from the System.
But then, looking at the stream, he began to frown.
At this time of night, it was so dark without any lighting.
In this condition, he couldn't guarantee finding 10 koi fish, never mind one!
What about forfeiting this opportunity and going straight to Black Wind Cliff?
Remember, Black Wind Cliff was over 10 kilometers away!
If he were to miss the time window, he would be jumping to his doom.
After a moment's consideration, Chen Chen began to wade through the creek. By entering the creek now, he could at least cross the creek pretty quickly, even if he couldn't find the koi fish.
"What time is it right now?"
"12:37 a.m."
Upon learning this, Chen Chen slowed down.
Two minutes later, as the time approached 12:40 a.m., Chen Chen looked upstream.
He was stunned by what he saw.
Under the darkness and inside the river, there was a koi fish swimming in the creek, its body illuminated like a beacon: anyone with working eyes could see its uniqueness.
'I am being dumb---- how can this special koi fish be the same as an average koi fish?' Chen Chen thought as he quickly blocked the koi fish's route.
As that koi fish swam towards him, he tried to catch it with just his hands. Much to his surprise, the koi fish made a sudden jump, spiking several feet above the creek.
...
It then promptly landed into Chen Chen's pot.
"What?"
As he looked at the koi fish inside the pot, Chen Chen suddenly found himself lacking the words needed to summarize the situation.
He had heard of fish surrendering themselves into a web, but never a pot.
Meanwhile, the beacon-like illumination on the koi fish disappeared after it landed into the pot. Through the moonlight present, Chen Chen noticed the two rather suspicious string-like beards on the koi fish, making it nearly monstrous.
"Is the saying 'carps leap through dragon gates' true? Sadly, little carp, I am your dragon gate, and you are not jumping across me."
After that self-comforting thought, Chen Chen packed up the koi fish, quickly crossed the stream, and dashed towards Black Wind Cliff.
...
Before he knew it, Chen Chen had already run several kilometers.
In spite of his regular exercises in this life, he was getting a bit weary. Never mind the fact that his pants were half wet from when he crossed the creek; this was a double load.
But then again, he can't just run without pants.
Were he to be seen, he would always be remembered for running around without pants in his youth.
"System, is there anything nearby that can prevent me from being tired while running?"
"No."
Chen Chen was not disappointed by the response. Since he could only track items within a 10-meter radius, it would be surprising to be able to find any item at all.
As he crossed the 10-meter range, Chen Chen asked again. He repeated the process multiple times, more than one kilometer passing by.
Suddenly, the System gave him a definite answer.
"In the grassfield seven meters to your left, there is a thing that can keep the user from being tired while running!"
Upon learning this, Chen Chen became very excited, immediately veering towards the grassfield.
He decided that he would consume anything other than feces if it would actually help him. After running for several kilometers, he was quite exhausted indeed.
As he looked at the grassfield, he found a pair of green eyes that were especially frightening in the dark.
"Ruffffffff!"
The low growl came immediately, freezing Chen Chen's heart.
It was a wolf in the wild! The System was trying to kill him!
Before the wolf could feast on him, Chen Chen dashed away, faster than the speed he came here at.
The wolf, being interrupted in the middle of a dream, was quite mad, and dashed out as well. The man and wolf soon vanished into the night.
...
One hour later.
Chen Chen leaned on a tree next to Black Wind Cliff, panting.
Being chased by the wolf, he had indeed felt less tired. However, after he stopped, he was on the verge of collapse.
"System, please don't pull jokes like these on me ever again. My weak little heart can't bear it."
"The Tracking System is highly accurate; as long as the user utilizes proper phrases, such awkward circumstances will not occur."
The System's rebuttal left Chen Chen speechless.
While it was somewhat embarrassing to be chased by a wolf, Chen Chen had reached Black Wind Cliff nearly half an hour before the jumping time.
Under the night, the area was filled with a cold wind, which also froze Chen Chen's heart.
Black Wind Cliff was over one kilometer deep. Was he actually ready to jump?
What if he died? Was the system serious about the opportunity?
As all his questions flew away, only a sigh remained.
"Regardless, let me finish this meal. at least I will be a well-fed ghost."
Chen Chen stood up, walked to a pond near Black Wind Cliff to clean the koi fish, and washed the red aquatic and the green mushroom.
In addition to those two items, he also got a thumb-sized piece of rock, Per the system, the rock can help with fatigue if consumed.
In just a few minutes' time, Chen Chen returned to the back of the tree, ignited a fire, and started to cook the fish.
Or to be more precise, a soup consisting of toxic mushroom, aquatics, koi fish, and rock.
At this point, etiquette was out of the question, nevermind the fact that the pot was full of items that were beneficial to him.
In about a quarter's time, the soup finally boiled. Without investigating the soup too much, Chen Chen tentatively took a first sip.
Suddenly, a sense of heat went through his entire body. The fatigue was gone!
"It doesn't taste superb, but it's a good thing indeed!"
Chen Chen's eyes were immediately illuminated. He blew away the heat and continued to taste the soup.
The wind at Black Wind Cliff was only increasing in speed, but Chen Chen was having a good time sipping on the soup.
At that moment, there were suddenly sounds of fighting coming from the darkness afar, breaking the quiet of the night.