The woman speaking wore a cowboy-style hat and had a pair of pointed elf-like ears.
Her long reddish-purple hair fluttered in the wind.
Her beauty was striking—youthful, vibrant—
yet tinged with a wildness that didn't belong to ordinary people.
Right now she was standing on a spear taller than a human,
floating in mid-air,
looking down from above at the two players.
If Liang Chuan were here,
he would instantly recognize her—
the golden mediator of the Feathered Flower Society: Chasca.
But the two players had no idea.
Seeing Chasca flying on a spear and interrogating them,
both panicked.
They thought she was law enforcement of this world.
"Shit! Shit! It's really 'forest fire, and the station chief falls in love with me'!"
Huoyanyan hugged the charred boar, face full of despair.
"We're not seriously getting thrown into jail on our first day in the game, right?!"
"No! We can't sit and wait!
Even if she's an enforcer NPC—
as long as she shows an HP bar,
we can kill her!"
Beef clenched his fists.
"Bro, before you say things like that,
maybe look at the size of that spear barrel pointed at us?"
Huoyanyan inhaled sharply.
"One shot from her and we'd owe her ten health bars."
"So what do we do…"
Beef spread his hands helplessly.
"Reviving takes way too much bio-energy.
We… we should just back down."
"Exactly!"
Huoyanyan nodded.
"Especially early on when resources are tight!"
He raised his voice toward Chasca.
"Esteemed enforcer! We know we were wrong!
But we had no choice—
if we didn't hunt, we'd starve!
Could you spare us just this once? We're newcomers!"
"Newcomers?"
Chasca eyed them.
"You don't look like anyone from Natlan's tribes.
Black hair, black eyes… Liyue travelers?"
She considered, then said,
"Setting fires in the forest is no small matter.
However, since you did not cause large damage, I will overlook it.
If you had disturbed the Pyro Archon,
even Liyue visitors would face punishment."
"Thank you! Thank you for sparing us!"
Both players bowed repeatedly.
"If you're starving,
walk ten kilometers northeast.
You'll reach the Mistsplitter Lord's tribe.
They'll take you in."
Chasca glanced at Huoyanyan's pitiful, hungry look and offered the advice kindly.
"Thank you! We'll go if necessary!"
Huoyanyan responded quickly.
"Um… may I ask if you know where we can find Hilichurls?"
Beef raised his hand.
Chasca blinked.
"What do you want Hilichurls for?"
"To bring back for chopping wood and mining rock."
Beef answered honestly.
"You want to… keep Hilichurls as labor?"
Chasca stared in disbelief.
"Hilichurls are monsters we try to eliminate, not… employ."
"This isn't our choice, it's because of the que—"
Beef almost spilled everything,
but Huoyanyan cut him off.
"Stop!
Just because she's an NPC doesn't mean you can say whatever!"
Huoyanyan whispered urgently:
"This game is 100% realistic.
NPCs are top-tier AI.
One wrong sentence and you could trigger a whole disaster chain!"
"You're right… talk less, work more."
Beef nodded.
Seeing them go silent,
Chasca paused, then smiled.
"Head west out of the forest for five kilometers.
You'll reach the coast.
There's a Hilichurl camp there.
But with your strength,
I advise you not to attempt it.
There are many Hilichurls—and even large berserker types.
You two are no match."
Instead of scaring them,
her warning only made them excited.
"Did you hear that? A whole Hilichurl camp to the west!"
Huoyanyan smirked.
"That must be the leveling zone for new players!"
"But it's just the two of us. How do we fight a whole camp?"
Beef looked confused.
"You really have nothing but muscle in your head?
Ever heard of pulling mobs?"
Huoyanyan shook his head.
"We're not fighting them all at once.
We make a trap and pull them in small groups!"
"Mob pulling is usually assassin work…
I'm a tank, so I forgot…"
Beef scratched his cheek.
"Anyway, let's get away from the enforcer first."
Huoyanyan waved politely at Chasca.
"If there's nothing else, we'll be leaving."
He gestured at the boar for Beef to help carry it.
WHOOOOSH!
A strong gust hit the ground.
Chasca shot upward, spear-first, disappearing into the clouds.
"Okay, this is not your average swords-and-magic world…"
Huoyanyan muttered.
"Spear-riding flight… that's straight-up magic tech."
On the way back,
starving beyond endurance,
Huoyanyan tore off a chunk of boar meat,
lit his tiny flame,
and roasted it.
With one bite,
his Satiety visibly rose,
and the Hunger debuff vanished.
"It fills the stomach… but no taste at all."
He sighed.
"No shit. No seasoning.
And you roasted it with a handheld lighter-flame.
Be glad you're not getting food poisoning."
Beef muttered.
"Don't jinx it… actually, my stomach is reacting…
Wait—don't tell me this game actually has diarrhea mechanics?!
Dev team, be human! Why would you add that?!"
Feeling the stomach pain intensify,
Huoyanyan urged Beef to hurry.
They sped up and returned to the base in forty minutes.
After greeting Liang Chuan,
Huoyanyan sprinted off somewhere.
"What's up with him?"
Liang Chuan narrowed his eyes.
"Ate half-raw boar. He's… exploding."
Beef answered.
"…"
"You two brought back a boar. Not bad.
But that woman up there—
you brought her here, didn't you?"
Liang Chuan raised his head,
gazing straight toward the clouds where Chasca hid.
One glance was enough to make Chasca's eyes widen in shock.
"There's no elemental fluctuation from that Liyue-looking man…
so how did he notice me?!"
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