“I was just joking.” Under Xu Huo’s gaze, Yan Jiayu scratched her head. “My master said you must always keep smiling to live a long life.”

Xu Huo stared at her for two seconds. “I’ll definitely visit your master when I have time.”

Yan Jiayu happily took out paper and pen to write down the address for him.

Meanwhile, Tang Xiao wore an expression of shattered worldview, repeatedly asking himself, “Why is this happening? It’s never been wrong before. Did it break from the fall? No way, how could an item break from falling?”

Xu Huo gestured with his chin toward the rope left behind by the Flying Rope Player. “Items aren’t omnipotent either.”

Tang Xiao glanced back and seemed to understand, turning back with a probing look in his eyes.

However, he tactfully didn’t press further and instead renewed his efforts to invite Xu Huo to join his team.

“How many people are in your group?” Xu Huo asked.

“Close to thirty,” Tang Xiao immediately replied. “We share information internally about the game methods and clearance strategies for each game point. We can definitely clear them easily.”

“I plan to check out the various game points first. As for cooperation, we can discuss that later,” Xu Huo said after some consideration.

Tang Xiao looked disappointed but said, “Alright then. If you need help, come find me at the third or fifth game point.”

“By the way, which game point are you heading to next?”

“Bear Bear Building,” Yan Jiayu answered.

“Then you need to hurry,” Tang Xiao immediately warned. “The bear in that building doubles its attack power after 4 PM. If you arrive at the game point after four, I suggest you wait until tomorrow to enter.”

“Thanks.” Xu Huo nodded and called for Yan Jiayu to leave.

After the two returned to their original route, Yan Jiayu asked, “Why not cooperate with Tang Xiao? Knowing the game methods at each point in advance would be good for us. Plus, they probably have extra small hats. We only got the one from the first game point—someone would definitely be willing to give us small hats from other game points.”

Xu Huo didn’t see it that way. “According to him, they’ve only got one Q&
A location left out of ten game points and five Q&
A spots. But if thirty united players still can’t find this place, it means their overall direction is wrong. At the very least, the clearance method isn’t what they think it is.”

Yan Jiayu understood. “So it’s better for us to go to the game points ourselves to avoid being misled.”

Xu Huo nodded, then said, “I’m going to speed up. Can you keep up?”

Yan Jiayu gave a thumbs-up with a smile. “Absolutely no problem. I’m really good at running.”

Xu Huo stretched a bit, mobilized his full body strength, and accelerated into a sprint so fast he left afterimages in the forest.

Yan Jiayu was startled by his speed but immediately gave chase, unwilling to be outdone.

The two weaved through the forest one after another. At first, they attracted attention from passing players, and some even followed them for a stretch. But when they realized they couldn’t match their speed and stamina, they gave up midway.

By the time they found Bear Bear Building, only twenty minutes remained until four o’clock.

Bear Bear Building was constructed against an ancient giant tree, with three floors total. The first floor sold tickets, while the second floor was where the games took place. Just then, players were coming down from above—two supporting a companion between them. All three were bruised and battered, looking miserable. The one being supported was especially bad off, with deformed toes and indistinct animal claw marks on his torn shoes.

“So tragic,” Yan Jiayu sighed.

Xu Huo went over to buy tickets, and the two went upstairs. A two-meter-tall bear smoking a cigar came to open the door. Upon seeing them, it spat on the floor with a “ptui,” then jerked its chin toward the room, signaling them to enter.

The moment Xu Huo stepped inside, he discovered the second floor’s surface was made of a jelly-like green substance, slightly elastic, making squishing sounds with every step.

Yan Jiayu bounced on it a couple of times and eagerly asked the bear, “What are we playing this time? Stepping on toes?”

The bear leaned back on its leather sofa, took a drag from its cigar, and blew out smoke. “I usually leave work early. You guys coming at this hour might mean I have to work overtime. So I ask you outsiders, don’t you know that adults working overtime is like kids having class extended—both are daily hardships of life? What’s the rush that you couldn’t come tomorrow? I was already brewing coffee. Who’s going to take responsibility if my coffee gets cold?”

“But you’re not human,” Yan Jiayu looked at it strangely. “And why would a bear drink coffee? Wouldn’t honey tea be better?”

The bear squinted at her. “Not only do I drink coffee, I also drink braised meat soup.”

Xu Huo unwrapped a candy and popped it into his mouth nearby.

The bear quickly glanced at him, then looked at the wall clock, baring its sharp teeth in a grin. “My game is simple—stepping on toes. But there’s one rule: I step ten times, you can only step once.”

“There are two of you. As long as one of you steps on me three times, you can take the small hats and leave.”

It pointed at the two small pink hats hanging on the wall and chuckled.

“I’ll do it!” Yan Jiayu stepped forward confidently, telling Xu Huo, “You cleared the last level, so this one’s on me!”

Xu Huo compliantly stepped back. He glanced at the small hats deliberately hung on the wall to tempt players, then advised, “Don’t push yourself if it doesn’t work out. We still have plenty of opportunities.”

Yan Jiayu nodded and walked up to the bear. “We can start now.”

The bear extinguished its cigar, straightened up to stand before her, and reached out a paw to pat the girl’s head. “Adults don’t bully children. I’ll let you have one step…”

Before the word “step” fully left its mouth, Yan Jiayu lifted her foot with lightning speed and stomped on the bear’s paw with such force that she pressed it deep into the jelly!

The bear’s face visibly contorted in pain as it bared its teeth and swiped a claw at Yan Jiayu!

Yan Jiayu moved swiftly, pulling her foot free and running off, calling out, “Your turn to step on me!”

The bear roared and chased after her.

The second floor shook violently under the intense pursuit between human and bear. Xu Huo noticed this jelly substance acted somewhat like soft springs—when force was applied, the bounce increased. Lighter individuals would find it much harder to maintain balance compared to the bulky bear, and their movements were far less agile than on solid ground, especially with the bouncing caused by the bear’s powerful stomps.

An ordinary player would likely struggle even more to move freely here, let alone dodge the bear’s attacks. Yet Yan Jiayu handled it with surprising ease. She moved on her toes, completely unaffected by the bouncing, even using the force to constantly change positions and evade the bear’s claws.

“…Eight, nine, ten! My turn!” After leading the bear around the room several times and counting enough steps, she leaped over the bear’s head to land behind it, then took advantage of its turning swipe to duck low and circle back to the front, jabbing her foot onto the bear’s paw. “Second time!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep