As they entered the forest, everyone quickly realized that walking through the primitive woods was no easy task.
The forest was desolate, with no visible paths. The thick canopy overhead blocked out the sun, and towering ancient trees intertwined their branches, leaving only a few beams of light to filter through, creating a gloomy and damp atmosphere. As they walked, they encountered trees with trunks wide enough for two people to wrap their arms around, their roots tangled and winding. Vines snaked up the trunks like long serpents, some even bearing flowers, though they were a dull yellow and green, not very pleasing to the eye. The ground near the roots was covered in slippery moss, while massive roots often shot up from the earth like arms reaching for the sky. The ground was thick with fallen leaves, and in some places, stepping on them would sink into soft, muddy patches, adding more obstacles to their journey.
After a short distance, everyone found walking to be exhausting. They had to constantly watch their steps, slipping now and then, tripping over roots, and occasionally pulling their legs out of the soft earth. Slowly, they hobbled forward, supporting each other along the way. They had barely made any progress into the woods after a long while.
In their minds, a common thought emerged: The guy who had been running through the forest earlier, outrunning even the wolves, was truly a rare sight.
Sang Tian, in her cheetah form, seemed to glide through the forest effortlessly. She would occasionally disappear from sight, leaving the group to gather herbs nearby. Despite the occasional delay, she didn't fall behind too much.
After walking for what felt like ages, they ventured deeper into the forest. Most of the group, being regular gamers and not accustomed to physical exertion, began to feel tired. They finally stopped to rest on a thick, protruding root of a tree.
With little sunlight and the dampness weighing heavily on them, they realized their clothes were nearly soaked through. They had no choice but to wring them out and put them back on. Even Du Chen, who was wearing chain mail, felt a chill creep up his spine. After a moment of hesitation, he removed his chain mail, shaking it off. The sound of water dripping echoed around him as he folded it and stashed it in his bag, now wearing only a short-sleeve shirt. He wrapped his arms around himself, feeling the cold air on his exposed skin, and dug into his bag for a piece of bread to nibble on.
The silence around them was unsettling. Earlier, they had heard birds flapping their wings, but now, the forest was eerily still. A small animal resembling a squirrel poked its head out of a hole in the bark of a nearby tree, only to vanish just as quickly.
Cang Hai was studying the system map.
Just like in the game, the map could zoom in and out, but it only displayed the areas they had already traversed. From what they could see, this forest was much larger than they had anticipated. It was nearing noon, and at their current pace, it seemed nearly impossible to find an exit before nightfall. But if they turned back now—having made so little progress after walking for so long—there was a real risk they might never make it out of the forest.
He shared this concern with the group, and they were all at a loss, exchanging uncertain glances, unable to come to a decision.
Tong Xinfen spoke up after a brief pause, her tone calm and rational. "Personally, I think we should keep moving forward. What else are we going to do? Spend the rest of our lives in that valley?"
Sang Tian agreed, adding, "Xiao Fen is right. At least we have our game skills—fighting, healing, and reviving—plus we don't need to worry about food or water. We're already pretty lucky. I don't get why you three big guys are still hesitating. Stop being so fussy."
The three men immediately felt like they'd been hit with a metaphorical arrow. Cang Hai was already used to her sharp tongue, while Xiao Yue blushed slightly and chuckled awkwardly. Du Chen, however, couldn't stand the teasing. He jumped up, sword pointed ahead, declaring they should head out immediately. But a series of loud sneezes cut through the heroic atmosphere, wiping out all traces of his earlier bravado.
Cang Hai, the strategist of the group, finally made the call to continue moving forward.
Du Chen sneezed several more times, clearly worried about catching a cold. He quickly fished his chainmail out of his bag. To his surprise, it was completely dry. He happily put it back on. Seeing this, the others followed suit, pulling out their damp clothes, only to find that they, too, had dried completely—along with any dirt that had clung to them. Everyone was delighted to discover that the system bags had a laundry and drying function. Now they wouldn't even have to worry about washing their clothes.
The five of them set off once more. But this time, they didn't make it far before spotting two massive beast tracks on the ground, each about the size of a basin.
The group tensed, taking up defensive positions as they gathered around the prints. Since none of them were animal experts, they began speculating on what kind of creature might have left the tracks. Eventually, they ruled out big cats—after all, Sang Tian was in cheetah form, so if the tracks had belonged to a big cat, they would have been obvious.
Just as they were pondering, the ground suddenly began to vibrate under their feet. A beast was coming! The group exchanged wary glances, tightening their grips on their weapons and preparing for the worst.
The tremor grew stronger, and through the thick trees, they could just make out the form of a massive white creature moving toward them. However, when it finally emerged from behind a tree, the group was left speechless.
The creature was roughly two meters tall, covered in white fur. Its powerful hind legs propelled it with ease between the trees, while its upper limbs were short. It had a pair of long, red ears hanging at the sides of its head and large, sparkling blue eyes. But what really threw everyone off was its bare, hairless head—it looked like a giant, bald rabbit!
Du Chen stared at it, unsure whether to laugh or attack. The creature was, after all, ridiculously cute. However, before he could make up his mind, Sang Tian suddenly shouted, "Check its level!"
Du Chen snapped to attention, eyes widening in shock. The creature's nameplate showed a number 4. A cute rabbit, higher level than them? His world had just been turned upside down.
Before Du Chen could process this, Tong Xinfen, the mage, acted first. She fired a sharp ice arrow, which hit the rabbit's hind leg. The arrow shattered on impact, but it did manage to slow the creature down, as it inflicted a debuff that reduced its speed. The rabbit's anger was instant—it glared with its piercing blue eyes, and let out a strange growl. Opening its large mouth full of sharp teeth, it launched several jets of water at the mage's direction.
Luckily, Cang Hai was quick to react and placed a shield around Tong Xinfen, preventing her from taking damage. The group finally understood just how dangerous this creature was. They began preparing their own attacks.
Du Chen, determined to contribute, launched himself forward with a charge, positioning himself in front of the rabbit to block its path and draw its attention with taunts.
However, things took an unexpected turn. As soon as Du Chen activated his taunt ability, the group almost couldn't hold back their laughter.
Du Chen shouted, "Hey, you red-eared thief rabbit! If you've got the guts, come at me, not the girls! Spitting at people? Not hygienic! Come on, let's have a three-hundred-round battle—no cuteness allowed!"
Cang Hai, struggling to maintain his composure, could feel his lip twitch involuntarily. He made a mental note to himself: I really need to find a way to properly train Du Chen in taunting skills. Sure, he might not speak the same language as the rabbit, but if he kept up with this level of performance, how could he ever reliably draw aggro in the future?
Despite their internal thoughts, the group remained focused on the battle. They began unloading all their debuffs and damage-over-time abilities. The magic users quickly followed up with their spells, though at this early level, they could only afford to cast a few spells at most. They needed to conserve mana for any unforeseen situations.
Cang Hai glanced over at Sang Tian, who had reverted to her human form. He couldn't help but facepalm. She's slacking off again... He whispered to her, "You're not helping by staying human. Why not shift into a cheetah and attack?!"
Sang Tian rolled her eyes and whispered back, "Look at the rabbit's size! If it backs up and sits on me, I'd turn into a cheetah pancake!"
The battle had stabilized, and the group was working together efficiently, despite Du Chen's awkward taunting.
His long sword was repeatedly stabbing at the giant rabbit, occasionally causing it to bleed. The red-eared bunny seemed to have poor vision, and whenever it felt pain, it would fix its gaze on Du Chen, hopping around him and swiping at him with its claws. It would also occasionally spit water arrows and even unleash a powerful attack—springing into the air with its powerful hind legs, it would attempt to land on Du Chen with a massive thud, shaking the ground beneath them.
Despite the bunny's powerful attacks, Du Chen managed to dodge most of them, using his smaller size to his advantage. Even when he was hit, the group's healers kept him in top shape, ensuring that no lasting damage was done.
After a few more rounds of concentrated firepower, the massive rabbit finally collapsed, covered in wounds. As it fell, the group felt a warm surge of energy in their lower abdomens, and the interface flashed: Level up!
They had defeated a higher-level monster, and everyone was ecstatic. They immediately gathered around the fallen rabbit, eager to loot its remains.
"Huh? No loot?" Xiao Yue said, scratching his head after feeling around the rabbit's body.
"Do monsters even drop loot in the real world?" Sang Tian asked, momentarily puzzled.
"What are you all even looking for?" Xiao Yue wondered, still scratching his head.
"Fur! I'm feeling the rabbit's fur!" Tong Xinfen said as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Sang Tian, nodding in agreement, added, "It's not every day you see such a huge rabbit. Its fur is so soft."
As the two girls discussed whether the fur could be used to make something for the priest to sew, like a vest or a hat, Xiao Yue almost tripped and fell.
Meanwhile, Du Chen, exhausted and lying on the ground, was being completely ignored. Only Xiao Yue, with a bit of concern, approached him.
"Boss, if you want to sleep, you can't do it on the ground. You'll catch a cold."
Du Chen, gasping for breath, lay flat on his back, feeling like he didn't have the strength to move a finger. With great effort, he cursed, "D*mn it, I'm not sleeping! I'm just... I'm just out of energy! You guys... you're all animals! Why doesn't anyone help me?!"
Xiao Yue looked surprised. His eyes widened as he said, "What? But it was so easy! We only fought for about five minutes. I didn't even break a sweat."
Du Chen, frustrated, retorted, "Of course it's easy for you guys standing in the back throwing spells! Try hopping around while wielding a sword over a meter long, weighing several kilograms, and swinging it for five minutes straight! You try that, and then tell me if you're not dead tired!"
Sighing, Xiao Yue went over and helped Du Chen to his feet.
Sang Tian, walking over casually, couldn't resist throwing in her two cents. "What's so hard about it? Don't even get me started. I'd be better than you, even if it were me! You know those dumbbells for aerobics? Each one weighs at least three or four kilos. You'd be jumping around holding two of them for fifteen or twenty minutes. Come on, Boss, you're really out of shape! Look at you—no muscle tone whatsoever. I bet if you bought twenty kilos of rice, you'd need someone to help you carry it upstairs, huh? This isn't good! You gotta work on that! If you can't even carry your girlfriend, no girl's gonna like you! Don't think just because you have a scruffy beard, you're like Johnny Depp—he's got looks, charisma, and a body to match!"
Her words hit right where it hurt, and Du Chen, now struggling to get back up, couldn't help but collapse again, practically vomiting blood.
Cang Hai, observing the scene, nodded solemnly and turned to point at Du Chen. "Did you hear that? Now that's how you taunt a monster."