Lin Li was down to his last thirty dollars. He remembered that the electricity bill was due today. It was nearly two hundred dollars, an amount he simply couldn't afford in his current situation.
If he didn't earn any money today, he might come home tonight to find his power shut off.
Now, a rabbit Mutant Beast had suddenly appeared right in front of him. His eyes immediately lit up as he stared at it.
In his eyes, the rabbit Mutant Beast had transformed into a walking stack of cash.
The rabbit Mutant Beast shivered under Lin Li's stare. It had never been the subject of such a greedy gaze.
So, it instinctively whirled around and fled, forgetting all about the water it was about to drink.
"Don't run! I won't hurt you..."
Seeing the rabbit Mutant Beast flee, Lin Li grew anxious. He quickly snatched his Spiritual Longsword from where it leaned against a large tree and gave chase, shouting as he ran.
...
RUSTLE...
The lush vegetation rustled and shook. Scared witless by Lin Li's greedy gaze, the rabbit Mutant Beast fled in a blind panic.
"Don't run! I mean you no harm!"
The "friendly" shouts from behind made the rabbit Mutant Beast's heart pound in terror. A faint golden Spiritual Light bloomed in its eyes, and its speed suddenly surged.
'Damn it, how is this rabbit so fast?' Lin Li had been chasing it for two or three minutes and still hadn't caught up. He was completely astonished.
After all, the six rabbit Mutant Beasts he'd killed earlier weren't even half as fast as this one.
What Lin Li didn't know was that the rabbit Mutant Beast he was chasing had awakened a Speed Superpower. With this boost, it ran much faster than others of its kind.
'My electricity bill! I'm not letting you get away!' Lin Li, already flat broke, screamed inwardly.
He may not have awakened a Speed Superpower, but empowered by poverty, he tapped into his latent potential. His pursuit speed increased dramatically.
Even with its Speed Superpower, the rabbit Mutant Beast was only at the First Rank Middle Stage. Unfortunately for it, it was facing an enemy at the Tier One Peak, one driven by desperation and poverty.
The distance between them closed rapidly. Fleeing for its life, the rabbit Mutant Beast fell into despair.
'Since that human behind me is going to kill me, I'll make sure he doesn't get off easy, even in death.'
Having resolved to get revenge on the wretched human before it died, the rabbit Mutant Beast's sprint hitched for a moment before it abruptly changed direction.
Lin Li, in hot pursuit, saw the rabbit Mutant Beast slow down as it changed direction. A flicker of joy ignited in his heart.
...
SPLASH...
A massive, well-fed Wild Boar Beast was rolling around in a murky mud pit. Each time it thrashed its body, torrents of muddy water splattered onto the bank.
OINK...
After a few contented grunts, the Wild Boar Beast, feeling a bit peckish, stopped rolling around. It heaved itself out of the mud pit and onto the bank.
RUSTLE...
The bushes nearby suddenly rustled, and the Wild Boar Beast, which had been about to forage for food, froze.
The next second, two figures—one small, one large—leapt out from the tangled brush one after the other.
SHLICK.
Having finally caught up to the rabbit Mutant Beast, Lin Li decisively thrust his Spiritual Longsword forward, just as he had with all the others.
The Spiritual Longsword, glowing with a faint golden Spiritual Light, plunged steady, true, and deep into the rabbit Mutant Beast's small skull.
THUD.
Killed in a single strike, the rabbit Mutant Beast slammed heavily onto the ground by the edge of the mud pit. Its not-insignificant weight kicked up a cloud of dust.
"Haha... That's the electricity and food bill sorted." Having slain the rabbit Mutant Beast with a single thrust, Lin Li beamed as he watched its body give one last twitch.
OINK...
A familiar grunt sounded in Lin Li's ear. The smile still on his face, he turned to look to his right.
When he saw the creature making the sound, the smile on his face instantly froze, then vanished.
It was a ferocious wild boar, nearly six feet long and four feet tall at the shoulder. Its back was covered in hard, sparse bristles, its coat was a deep brown, and two sharp tusks jutted from its mouth.
'Holy crap... That's a huge Wild Boar Beast. If that thing gores me, my scrawny ass won't survive it.'
The joy from killing the rabbit Mutant Beast evaporated in an instant. After a morning of smooth sailing, a familiar tension gripped Lin Li's heart once more.
Wild Boar Beasts are omnivores, eating both meat and plants. It glanced at the dead rabbit, then at the tender-looking human before it. 'Looks like lunch and dinner are sorted,' it thought.
OINK...
A grunt, filled with glee, reached Lin Li's ears. He was now getting a taste of the same terror the rabbit must have felt just moments before.
'Shit, the way this Wild Boar Beast is looking at me... it's planning on eating me!'
His palms began to sweat. Overcome with anxiety, Lin Li tightened his grip on his Spiritual Longsword and slowly began to back away.
The corpse of the rabbit he'd killed wasn't far, and he desperately wanted to take it with him... It was his electricity and food money, after all!
But the strength of this terrifying, well-fed Wild Boar Beast was unknown. If he rashly tried to retrieve the rabbit's corpse, he could find himself in extreme danger.
OINK...
The Wild Boar Beast, a creature at the Tier One Peak, saw the tender-looking human cowering before its mighty presence. It let out a triumphant grunt and began to stalk forward.
'That dead rabbit isn't enough for a full meal. I can't let this tender morsel get away.'
'This thing... it's not going to let me leave.'
Lin Li's heart pounded in his chest. For every step he took backward, the Wild Boar Beast took one forward. Its intentions were crystal clear.
'Turn and run. If I turn and run now, with my speed, I should be able to shake this ferocious Wild Boar Beast.'
"When you encounter a Mutant Beast in the wild, never turn your back on it. That's a good way to get yourself killed."
Just as Lin Li was about to turn and flee, the warning from Hao Zhuang, an examiner from the Exotic Beast Hunter Guild, echoed in his mind, instantly extinguishing the thought.
...