The familiar +1 never sounded.
Fumiya Jin checked his freestyle sharpness gauge. The progress bar was a little over a third full, but that was all accumulated gradually since entering the instance. Yet now, after hugging Nijika, the bar hadn't budged at all. Not even a single point.
What was going on?
You see, Fumiya Jin had impulsively hugged Nijika with the sole intention of teasing her and farming some degenerate points.
In his mind, he expected the girl to be momentarily stunned, then blush and struggle.
Then he would let her go and peacefully go to sleep.
That was genuinely his plan.
However, he never expected...
Ten seconds passed.
Nijika didn't struggle.
And the points didn't increase.
"Um..." Fumiya Jin asked, bewildered, "Nijika, don't you think... this is a little degenerate of me?"
Nijika froze for a moment. Without turning to look at him, she buried her head even deeper, as if trying to hide her face from him.
But Fumiya Jin could see that the tips of her ears were bright red.
"It's not..." the girl's voice was as soft as a mosquito's buzz. "If it's to prepare for the final battle, then... then I guess it can't be helped..."
Fumiya Jin: "..."
I'm doomed.
I've raised her affection too much.
Farming degenerate points is going to be tough now!
What a tragic story!
Fumiya Jin's heart was heavy with sorrow; he didn't even feel like letting go anymore.
He held the girl's slender body tightly, feeling the soft, supple warmth through her clothes.
Turning his head to the side, he breathed in the sweet and delicious fragrance from her body, like jelly and pudding, even more wantonly.
He gazed at the red tips of her ears and secretly listened to her breathing, which she was trying to slow down but couldn't quite manage to calm.
Sigh, this is just so tragic!
...
...
Meanwhile.
At the edge of the forest nearest to the bonfire.
The chubby guy and the black man were diligently using bottles to scoop up black oil, drawing a large circle in the woods.
Under the high temperature, both were drenched in sweat.
The chubby guy wiped his sweat and looked at the black man, confused. "Why... are we still listening to him?"
The black man glanced at him. "Can you beat him?"
The chubby guy shook his head. "But once it gets dark, can't we just..."
The black man shot him a disdainful look. "What if he comes back this afternoon, sees we haven't done any work, and just starts hacking at us with his sword? Think about the way that guy looked at us this morning... He definitely suspected something, and he definitely had murder on his mind."
"You have a point. Sigh... Guess we have to keep working," the chubby guy sighed. But then, a look of displeasure, even resentment, crept onto his face. "But that guy is just... so ugly, so disgusting! Just looking at him makes me feel so damn sick, every single piece of flesh on my body trembles with rage... I wish I could just rip his face apart, bite open his skin, peel his tendons and drink his blood! Aaaargh, I really want to kill him right now!!!"
"You think I don't???" The black man couldn't help but grit his teeth at the thought of Fumiya Jin's face. "How can someone in this world be so nauseatingly ugly? He's more disgusting than maggots squirming in a toilet! If it weren't for my strong self-control, gritting my teeth and holding back, I probably would've punched him in the face when he leaned in close earlier!"
The two vented their righteous indignation, viciously complaining about how ugly and detestable Fumiya Jin was, trading insults and growing angrier with each word.
But after their tirade, they eventually calmed down a bit.
"...But that kid's combat power is pretty strong, and we don't know how many trump cards he's hiding. Even if he's only got that pretty face with him, we might not have a guaranteed win. We have to endure it for now. When night falls, we... will attack together." The black man began to scheme. "And don't forget, he took that pretty face back into the jungle for water. When they get back, they'll both probably be exhausted. If we make our move then, we'll definitely get a taste of meat."
Hearing this, especially the last few words, the chubby guy's face suddenly took on a dreamy, obsessed expression. "Yeah... at night, we'll get to taste the flesh of that Miss Pudding... She's so pure, so beautiful, as flawless as a pretty girl from a manga... When I think about her leaving the instance with that guy, and what they might do afterward, it just makes me feel so sick and disgusted!!!"
As he spoke, the chubby guy's pupils turned faintly red, and cyan scales began to emerge on the surface of his skin. His head also became a bit... pointed.
"So we have to kill them! We have to make her stay in this world forever, with me forever!"
...
...
Evening.
The sun was nearly touching the sea horizon.
At the original bonfire spot, however, no fire was lit.
This wasn't because everyone had moved to the safe zone marked out in the forest—in fact, the madam, the fleshy-faced woman, the chubby guy, and the black man were all sitting around the original bonfire spot.
Ample firewood for burning, tinder, the shoelace bow drill and spindle the curly-haired man had made earlier, dry branches for kindling... everything was neatly arranged by the woodpile. They weren't missing a single thing.
Yet even with the sun about to sink into the sea, they still hadn't started a fire... and didn't even seem to intend to.
"Shouldn't we... get the bonfire started?" the madam asked tentatively.
The other three suddenly turned to look at her in unison, their eyes filled with a chilling coldness.
In an instant, the hair on the madam's arms stood on end, and a cold sweat broke out.
"Let's wait for the Doctor and the others to get back. It's still a while before it's completely dark," the fleshy-faced woman said.
The madam knew this made no sense, but she didn't dare to argue, saying quietly, "Uh... okay."
...
A few minutes later.
Two figures appeared at the edge of the forest a dozen meters away—it was Fumiya Jin and Nijika.
The two quickly walked out of the forest and headed toward the camp.
The fleshy-faced woman and the others naturally noticed them, and all looked their way.
They saw that Fumiya Jin and his partner looked quite disheveled, covered in leaves and dirt, both with long faces and grim expressions.
As for the two containers they had taken in... only one remained, a laundry detergent bottle held in Fumiya Jin's hand.
Under the gazes of the camp's occupants, the pair soon reached the bonfire spot.
The fleshy-faced woman and the others naturally stood up to greet them.
"What's wrong, Doctor? Looks like... things didn't go so well?" Although the black man was speaking to Fumiya Jin, his eyes were glued to Nijika, not daring to even glance at Fumiya Jin. This time, his cheeks weren't twitching.
"Our luck wasn't great this time. On the way back, we accidentally passed through a dense snake nest just as we ran out of black oil. We were almost swarmed and killed by vipers. We barely escaped with our lives," Fumiya Jin said with a miserable look on his face. "And we were nearly ambushed by a snake while filling up the water, so we only managed to bring back half a bottle."
"Huh? It was that dangerous?" the chubby guy stared at the sand beneath his feet, but his tone was exceptionally gentle. "You two aren't hurt, are you?"
"No injuries," Fumiya Jin shook his head, lifting the laundry detergent bottle. "It's just that the water we brought back might not be enough to drink."
"It's fine, it's fine! It's great that you made it back safely! This water is enough to get us through the night. You've already done an amazing job!" the fleshy-faced woman walked over, speaking with rare civility.
But as soon as she saw Fumiya Jin, her cheeks began to twitch faintly again.
She fought to suppress the twitching, forced an ugly smile, and reached for the bottle. "Um... let me carry that for you."
To her pleasant surprise... this time, Fumiya Jin was unexpectedly unguarded and handed the laundry detergent bottle right to her. "Go boil it. Pudding and I are too exhausted to move."
The fleshy-faced woman took the water bottle, holding it in her hand, and flashed the brightest smile she had since entering the instance. "Sure, you two get some rest. Leave the rest to us."
"Hey... wait a minute," Fumiya Jin said, as if he'd suddenly noticed something was wrong. His previously weary and miserable expression instantly turned ice-cold. He swept his gaze over the black man and the others, pointing at the sun that was already sinking into the sea. "It's almost dark. Why haven't you started the fire?"
The black man and the others froze, their expressions turning awkward.
The madam took this opportunity to move to Fumiya Jin's side, breathing a small sigh of relief before whispering, "I told them to start it earlier, but they didn't seem willing."
"No, no! We... we were just thinking of waiting for you to get back before starting it. There's still time. And we could save some firewood..." the black man said, scratching his head.
"The wood we chopped today is enough to last two days. Do we need to save this little?" Fumiya Jin glared at him. "Still no fire by now... I have reason to believe you and Maruyama are deliberately sabotaging things. Are you trying to make us fall into the darkness too? Do you want us to run into danger?"
At this, both the black man and the chubby guy began to tremble.
"No, no, no, no! We'll start it right now, right now!!"
______
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