Oh no, oh no!
It was all over!
Vivian dragged her exhausted body, gritted her teeth, and forced out the last bit of her strength as she ran out into the forest.
The young girl was filled with regret.
She left the village alone and risked heading to Dreadclaw Forest to pick medicinal herbs for her brother who was seriously ill. Seeing that the sun was about to set, she wanted to find a hidden cave to spend the night in.
However, who would have thought that there would be a glowing scroll in the cave? She did not know what kind of spell she was under when she approached it and touched it with her hand.
What happened next was completely beyond her understanding as a lowly villager.
First, the scroll turned into a burst of white light and rushed into her body. Before she could react, the stone pillar in the center of the cave began to flicker. When the light faded, a monster appeared out of nowhere!
Even though that monster looked… rather cute?
Vivian thought that she must have gone crazy.
Because at that time, she felt as though the monster belonged to her. In fact, she even wanted to approach it and touch its head.
And the result was a huge disaster!
As soon as she crept closer to the monster, it seemed to have sensed her presence. From its sleeping state, it opened its eyes and howled at her. Then, it seemed to be provoked and looked at her as if she was its prey. It approached her step by step, obviously treating her like dinner.
Huff…
Huff huff…
The young girl had long lost her bearings as she ran on. The sky was getting darker and darker in the forest. She panted heavily.
Her weakly chest was burning and her limbs felt as heavy as lead.
She was already malnourished to begin with. To add insult to injury, she had spent an entire day risking her life searching for medicinal herbs in the monster-riddled Dreadclaw Forest. Consequently, her frail body was extremely weak.
I can't run… I can't run anymore…
Her legs were completely numb…
Thump!
In a moment of carelessness, Vivian did not notice the vines beneath her feet. This became the straw that broke the camel's back as she lost her balance and fell to the ground.
Yet, misfortunes never come singly…
Before Vivian could even attempt to support herself and try to get up, the bushes in front of her shook.
Then, a scene that made the young girl completely despair appeared.
Hiss…
It was as though she heard the ear-piercing sound of a death god knocking on her door. Two to three pythons—as thick as buckets and seven to eight meters long—were spitting out their cold tongues as they emerged from the bushes.
Their eyes glowed faintly in the darkness and their sharp snake heads all looked toward Vivian, who had fallen to the ground. In an instant, a sinister and terrifying sense of being locked onto crawled all over the girl's body.
Without a doubt, she was once again treated as prey.
Trouble came on the heels of more trouble.
Vivian tried to get up several times but failed. She really didn't have any strength left. The only thing she could do now was to wait for death.
When she thought of this, tears flowed uncontrollably from the corners of her eyes.
It wasn't that she was afraid of dying… although there was a little bit of that fear. At this moment, Vivian was thinking more about her seriously ill little brother.
If she died here and did not pick any medicinal herbs to bring back, what would happen to her brother's illness? Her brother was still so young and was different from her. Her brother was a man, the hope of the whole family, the pillar of their future.
Vivian didn't have a mother since she was young. Her mother died after giving birth to her younger brother, and her father's temperament changed drastically because of this. He drank and gambled all day long, leaving her and her younger brother to rely on each other for survival.
Without her, would her father—who drinks all day long—be able to take care of her younger brother? Furthermore, if she died, the deal that her father had negotiated with someone else to sell her into the city would probably go down the drain as well. Without the money from selling her, how would her father repay the debts he owed from gambling? Where would the money for her younger brother's medical treatment come from?
"Sob…" The more she thought about it, the more tears welled up in her eyes.
Vivian didn't want to die yet. At least… at least not until her father sold her out and traded her for money. Then she'd die. At least then her father and brother's lives would be easier afterwards…
Unfortunately, no one could hear her thoughts.
But also fortunately, no one could hear it. If Liao Zixuan knew that this was the girl's last wish before she died and that she had to help count the money after being sold off herself, he would probably be fuming!
Oh no…
Liao Zixuan was actually fuming mad!
"This silly girl!!"
Liao Zixuan had been cursing internally ever since he saw the girl running away when he approached her. This was the first time he had seen a Summoner scared off by a monster that she summoned herself.
Of course, Liao Zixuan also understood that this young girl called "Vivian" was not to blame. After all, she was a young girl from a remote village who might not even know what a "summoner" was.
As for why Liao Zixuan was so angry now…
The girl runs so fast!
With only the short legs of his young Dark Flame Wolf self, just a bunch of vines and bushes would be enough to make him suffer in the complex forest terrain. Chasing after the girl was taking too much effort!
But the key was that Liao Zixuan had no choice but to chase after her. Because the young girl was his summoner, if anything happened to the young girl, he might have to transmigrate again.
The sky was getting darker and darker, and they were in the forest where monsters frequently appeared. If a silly girl with less than 5 Battle Power ran around recklessly, wouldn't that mean that…
She would purely become the meal of other monsters!
Let others thank nature for its gift?
As Liao Zixuan moved his little wolf legs with all his might, he finally almost caught up to her and saw that the girl had fallen to the ground.
Of course, he also saw a few green-skinned snakes not far away that treated the girl as dinner.
Still…
Huff…
He let out a long sigh and finally felt relieved.
It clearly looked like a very dangerous situation, but Liao Zixuan deliberately slowed down. For the sake of his image, he even lifted his wolf head and moved his wolf claws rhythmically on the ground as he shook off all the dirt and fallen leaves that had gotten into his fur.
Why?
The reason was simple—absolute strength.
Through the game interface he saw previously, Liao Zixuan had a rough understanding of their location. In this remote area at the edge of the map, which was what players usually called the novice village, the level of normal monsters would never exceed level 10.
For example, the "green-skinned snakes" in front of him were typical newbie cannon fodder monsters.
As for himself, he was a Dark Flame Wolf, a world-class Boss. Even though he was just a newborn cub, he could kill all the low-level monsters here in seconds. That's right, he could kill them instantly.
This was just like how a normal person would still be incomparable to someone who was born with a silver spoon even if they worked hard their entire lives. It was the same in the human world as it was in the monster world.
In other words, at least in this part of the forest of this novice area, so long as it was within Liao Zixuan's line of sight, there was no monster that could harm the young woman.
Because he was the strongest monster!
How could Liao Zixuan, who was well-read in all kinds of novels on a particular web novel site and proficient in the art of posturing, let go of this opportunity to build up his image in front of the girl?
The more naive and ignorant a little girl like her was, the more you had to leave a deep first impression on her!
Therefore, at this moment, it was as though Liao Zixuan was possessed by his main account sparring partner from his previous life.
The wolf fur on his body gradually changed color, turning from an inconspicuous grayish-brown to a faint dark red. In the darkening evening-time forest, it was especially eye-catching.
At the same time, the temperature around Liao Zixuan rose rapidly. The scorching aura caused the air within his line of vision to become distorted, as if it was about to be ignited.
A fear-inducing terrifying aura spread out with him as the center. The birds and beasts in the forest within a few-kilometer radius were all frightened and took off, causing the silent forest to become noisy.
But this commotion did not last long.
It was because in just the span of a few breaths, the sky seemed to have rained fire.
All of the birds and beasts that had been trying to flee for their lives suddenly burst into flames. Black flames erupted from their bodies as they plummeted from the sky.
The other monsters hiding on the ground or trying to escape were not spared either. One by one, terrifying black flames ignited from their bodies and devoured them.
This naturally included those green-skinned snakes from before.
One of the Dark Flame Wolf's most terrifying innate skills — Void Ignition.
It could be said that within a few seconds, within a radius of several kilometers, the only living being still breathing and not devoured by the black flames was the young girl who was lying limply on the ground.
Was this the pleasure of using a cannon to hit a mosquito? It felt so good!
One step, then another.
The wolf's claws hit the ground, sending wisps of white smoke into the forest's soil. They left deep marks as if the soil had been run over by lava.
Time seemed to stop at this moment until Liao Zixuan walked to the girl's side.
At this moment, Vivian's mind had already gone blank. She was a young girl from a small village, so when had she ever seen such a scene?
Vivian stared blankly at Liao Zixuan.
This young monster appeared out of thin air from the cave and was woken up by her. The little girl's eyes were filled with confusion as if she was shell-shocked.
Very good!
This was the effect he wanted!
Seeing the girl like this, Liao Zixuan nodded in satisfaction internally. Then, he gave the girl a look, although he didn't know if she could understand his wolf gaze.
But the general meaning should be…
Did you see that? I'm very strong. You… rest well!
Following that…
Vivian kicked her legs and fell to the side, fainting from fright.
Liao Zixuan thought, "…"