Chapter 2: Manor Level 2

Running madly, Ai Ling didn’t care about the strange bugs and creatures. She ran for over an hour nonstop until the scenery ahead suddenly opened up, revealing a large lake, and only then did she dare to stop.

The blue sky, white clouds, clear water, and lush grass—everything seemed so serene.

If it weren’t for the hellish scare she had just experienced, Ai Ling might have even thought she was in paradise.

Breathing heavily, she collapsed onto the ground and rested for more than half an hour. Feeling unbearably thirsty, she finally got up, propped herself up with her exhausted body, and moved toward the lake. She couldn’t wait to scoop up the lake water with her hands and drink.

Ai Ling had studied traditional Chinese medicine in college. Although she usually focused on researching food and wasn’t very diligent, she did know about the potentially deadly microorganisms that could be in the wild lake water.

But at this point, she couldn’t care less. Even if she died later, she had to drink this water first.

Beep, beep, beep—suddenly, the red dot in her head started ringing again.

Ai Ling, annoyed, ignored it and continued drinking.

As she drank, the red dot suddenly stopped ringing. Ai Ling felt a little puzzled and looked up… Oh my God, why are there a whole lake full of eyes staring at her?

She couldn’t bear to look closely at those eyes, and she didn’t even dare to shout. Ai Ling turned and ran.

This time, she gathered all her strength to run across the lake, descended a hill, and ran another seven or eight kilometers. Finally, in the distance, she could see snow-capped mountains far away. The rolling hills around her were overgrown with weeds, with no big lakes or forests. She found a relatively open flat area and collapsed directly under a solitary tree.

Fortunately, she had trained before to avoid gaining weight by exercising. She had even run a few half-marathons. Otherwise, she would’ve died this time.

The red dot started beeping again, and Ai Ling, too tired to be angry, slapped her forehead. The fluffy ball appeared in a flash.

“How’s it going? Do you regret not adding attack points?”

That question reminded Ai Ling. She tilted her head and sneered, “Regret? In a situation like this, survival is more important. Do I look like I can duel with those giant snakes? If I had maxed out attack, I’d be dead within half a day, either beaten to death or starved to death. Enough talk, show me what’s in the survival store.”

The fluffy ball was speechless. “^[1]“Are you reincarnated as a platypus?” is likely a humorous or sarcastic remark, questioning someone’s behavior or intelligence. Platypuses are unique animals known for their odd … Continue readingAre you reincarnated as a platypus?”

Ai Ling honestly shook her head. “No, I’m still the same as I was before, I feel like I’m wearing it!”

While drinking from the lake earlier, she had deliberately checked her appearance—round face, big eyes, rosy lips, white teeth, full of collagen, still the same energetic and beautiful girl. Oh yeah.

The fluffy ball rolled its eyes. “I said you must have been reincarnated as a platypus, so stubborn!”

The energetic girl’s face flushed. “Oh, hehe, I’m good at everything, except my sense of humor. Please forgive me, forgive me~”

The fluffy ball gave up. “Fine, seeing that your intelligence seems lacking, I won’t argue. I’ll show you your store!”

The fluffy ball turned into a flat screen with a fur circle around it, displaying rows of items from the store, and there was even a page-turning option.

Ai Ling, who was about to snap at it, immediately sat up as her eyes lit up.

The store was full of items she was familiar with: tents, water bottles, pots, bowls, basins, knives, hoes, fruit trees, crops… a series of survival essentials. There were even ovens, refrigerators, and other appliances.

Ai Ling was overjoyed, thinking that she wouldn’t have to struggle on her own anymore.

“Hurry up, hurry up, I want all of this! Quickly, I need to boil some water and take a good bath!”

From the tablet, the lazy voice of the fluffy ball came through: “Sister, please check the exchange rules. The items in here are generated as cards based on the owner’s memories. You need exchange points to get the cards, and after successfully exchanging them, you still need to find the corresponding minerals to craft them. You can’t just take whatever you want.”

Phew, I knew I didn’t have that kind of luck.

Ai Ling carefully observed the page and indeed saw that each card had exchange points listed beneath it, with different items requiring different amounts of points. The cheapest was a cup, requiring 6 points.

At the top left of the page, there was also a display showing: Remaining exchange points: 0.

Ai Ling clicked on the card for a blue-and-white porcelain bowl. The top half of the card showed a picture, and the bottom read: Materials required for crafting: 300g of clay, 50g of porcelain sand, 50g of stone.

At the very bottom, there was an exchange button. Ai Ling clicked it, and a prompt immediately popped up: Insufficient balance. Please go and slay the Demon King to earn more damage points.

Ai Ling was stunned. Damage points?

“What does that mean? Why do I have to slay the Demon King? Why do I need damage points?”

The fluffy ball reappeared, giving her a sideways glance: “I told you you’d regret it. The exchange points are your damage points to the Demon King. For example, if you roar at him, you get 10 points. But if you stab him, you get 10,000 points. The greater the damage you deal to him, the more and better things you can exchange for.”

“Pervert, you should’ve said that earlier!” Ai Ling was about to explode.

“Well, you have to give me the chance to say it! Let me say it again, your existence is to assassinate the Demon King, assassinate the Demon King, assassinate the Demon King. If you don’t go kill him, what use are you? And by the way, I’m not a pervert, I’m called ‘Houhou (Roar Roar)!’ Hmph!”

The fluffy ball was also angry. This host was way beyond its understanding of human creatures.

After a long period of suffocating silence, Ai Ling suddenly burst into laughter: “Houhou? Too funny! Do you think you’re the Lion King? A little fluffy ball like you calling yourself Houhou, oh my, I have to tell grandma, she’ll laugh to death… Hahaha!”

“And,” Ai Ling suddenly calmed down, “You’ve said ‘assassinate the Demon King’ three times, not just once. Little fluffy ball, you need to learn how to count, okay?”

Ai Ling patted the grass off her clothes, stood up, and looked into the distance with a deep sigh: “I knew it, I don’t have that kind of luck, but that’s okay!”

She made a small gesture like a sunflower cheering herself on: “My fate is in my hands, not in the heavens. Ai Ling, you can do it! Even if you don’t rely on the store, you can survive with your own hands!”

These words weren’t just a slogan for fun, Ai Ling was seriously making plans.

Based on her limited outdoor survival knowledge, the top priority was to start a fire. Wild animals were afraid of fire, no matter what planet you were on.

Next, she needed to find something to boil water. Although the water she drank earlier hadn’t caused any problems yet, just thinking about all those eyes in the lake made her feel physically uncomfortable. She definitely wouldn’t drink raw water again.

Then, food. There were all kinds of plants here, so finding some wild fruits shouldn’t be too difficult.

As for sleeping, the sky was getting late. Finding something to make a tent wasn’t realistic, so for now, the only place to rest would be the lonely tree she could climb up.

Alright, time to find wood, flint, tools, and wild fruit. Let’s go!

This time, Ai Ling decided to head east.

Ai Ling had come from the south, where the primitive jungle was too dangerous to go, the west was filled with tall and short mountains, possibly hiding some kind of monster, to the north, she could see vast expanses in the distance, with snow-capped mountains several hundred miles away, but it seemed unlikely she would find anything there.

Only to the east was it relatively flat, with many scattered trees that weren’t too dense, and some low shrubs that were still a bit sparse. At the very least, the dead shrubs were the best material for starting a fire.

This time, with the reminder from Houhou about the dangerous directions, Ai Ling had a smooth journey, quickly gathering a large bundle of dry twigs, and even finding a seashell as big as a human head. This was perfect for boiling water.

She also found two stones that were easy to handle, though Ai Ling found them a bit too heavy. She decided to head back first and start the fire.

Returning to the base of the big tree, she carefully arranged the dry twigs in layers and used some dry leaves and grass as kindling. Ai Ling picked up the flint she thought would work and started striking it.

She could see a few sparks, but it was clearly not enough to start the fire. Ai Ling’s hands grew sore from striking the flint, and in the end, all she managed to do was make the kindling produce a little bit of green smoke.

When that didn’t work, Ai Ling switched methods, trying to start a fire by rubbing wood together… but that didn’t work either, not even a little smoke came out this time.

Frustrated, Ai Ling threw the wood down. Didn’t they say outdoor fire-starting was easy? Why was it so difficult for her? It was just fire, she didn’t believe it couldn’t be done.

She put her hands on her hips and stood up: “Fluffy Ball, tell me, what’s the quickest way to start a fire?”

Fluffy Ball rolled its eyes: “Sorry, that’s not within my job scope. I can only guide you on how to kill the Demon King. Also, I’m not Fluffy Ball, I’m Houhou!”

Oh, really?

Ai Ling cleared her throat: “Okay, Fluffy Ball! I think you didn’t hear me clearly. I’m asking, if I want to burn the Demon King’s cave, how do I start a fire now?”

After saying this, Ai Ling smirked and looked at Houhou with a sideways glance.

Houhou looked aggrieved, pouting with big round eyes that seemed to be on the verge of tears. It loudly declared, “You’re bullying me! I’m not Fluffy Ball, I’m Houhou! The quickest way to start a fire is to catch a firefly. You fool!”

After saying that, it turned around and buzzed down to the tree, pressing its face against the trunk, its little fur shaking slightly.

What… Ai Ling was surprised. Was it actually feeling aggrieved?

“Alright, don’t be mad, I’ll go catch a bug for you to boil water with, okay?” Ai Ling said, not very good at comforting others, then immediately ran off like the wind.

Hmm, a firefly. It was probably the kind of insect she had seen in the forest that could spit small flames, but… did she really have to go back to the giant snake’s area?

No way. She’d rather die than go back there.

Ai Ling stood still and looked around. The sky was getting dark, and even from a distance, the small flickers of light were quite noticeable. There was one to the south and one to the west, neither seemed too far.

Alright, then she would head west to check it out.

Sure enough, not far ahead, Ai Ling found a firefly, just like a firefly, very small, only emitting a little flame when it encountered danger, which wouldn’t cause much harm to the jungle.

Ai Ling wrapped one in a green leaf, and after a while, the little bug spat some fire, but the green leaf was only warm.

In addition, she found a tree with a red fruit as big as a basketball hanging from it. It resembled an apple but had a bumpy surface, somewhat like a pear.

No matter what it was, with Ai Ling’s years of knowledge in traditional Chinese medicine, she knew this thing wasn’t poisonous and was safe to eat.

Ha, everything’s ready, finally time to have a good meal.

Ai Ling, holding the fruit and firefly, hurried back to the camp in a rush.

At this time, “Demon King Slayer Project Number 5 Live Stream” was online, and the viewers saw the following scene: a round-faced girl with a ponytail happily sitting by a campfire. On the fire, a shell was supported by stones, and the water inside was boiling, bubbling and steaming. The girl was excitedly taking big bites of a huge wild fruit.

“Spit, spit, spit! Cough, cough, cough!“

It seemed the fruit tasted extremely bad, and the girl nearly spat it out.

She frowned for a moment, then scooped out some of the fruit’s flesh and tossed it into the shell to cook. As the fruit flesh began to cook and melt, the girl used two sticks to pick up a piece, stared at it for a while, and then decided to carefully try a bite.

This time, it didn’t seem so bad. The girl still frowned, but at least she managed to swallow it.

After tasting it, the girl picked up another piece and tried to feed it to the sulking Houhou. Houhou refused to eat, and the two of them began to chase each other around the campfire in a playful scuffle.

The firelight illuminated the girl’s smiling face, with her eyes and eyebrows curved in laughter.

Comments:

【These ^[2]“羲” (Xī) is often used as a surname or can refer to ancient Chinese figures (like the mythical Emperor Xuanyuan or the sun god in some mythologies). “杀” (shā) means … Continue readingXi Slayer are really not easy, they can eat those disgusting plant fruits, they deserve some nutrient solution airdrops.】

【Yeah, this scene reminds me of eating organic fruits billions of years ago. It was like living hell, thankfully now we have nutrient solutions.】

【I’m back again! Ahhhh, finally understand what this show is about. Why isn’t Number 5 going to kill He Xi? I see Number 4 is preparing to move soon!】

【Really? I didn’t notice Number 4’s line, I’ll watch it tomorrow.】

【Number 5 is already useless, all survival skills maxed out, no point, goodbye!】

【Refuse to pull others down, walk safely and goodbye!】