Farming Together Chapter 77: Hunting

Gray Scales was one of the first players to enter Carefree Farmstead as he and his comrades entered the game at the request of Adjutant Tang. At first, none of them cared about this new and small game with only 500 players, but later, the decision of the higher-ups proved to be completely correct. They didn’t know how many people in the military department were now crying out, as they waited for the next game quota to be issued.

All in all, after the initial unfamiliarity, Gray Scales decisively wanted to continue playing. This game was actually very effective alleviating his Genetic Collapse Disorder symptoms. Gray Scales privately thought that Carefree Farmstead’s treatment effect was better than those large virtual reality games. However, before the specific measurement results were out, he couldn’t say such things out loud to save the game and the game designer from black fans.

The topic returned this day.

The night before, he followed the group to the mine and then witnessed the birth of three pets, the ore fairy, the white rabbit and finally the fawn. The first belonged to a fictional creature created in the game, while the latter two were small animals that were quite realistic.

According to Grey Scales observation, all three pets had common features, that was, cute looks and their loved ones personality. After being adopted by their owners, they would even have more pet skills, either to improve the success rate of mining or to increase the harvest rate in the player’s land.

In this farming-based game, these skills were undoubtedly very useful.

Gray Scales was moved on the spot. Not to like those fluffy cute little animals, but he also wanted to have a pet of his own. Last night, after the mine cave, the group went back to the village, discussed then summed up a few relevant things for catching pets: 

1. Small animals in the forest can be captured, and there is a certain chance that they will become the player’s pet after capture.

2. In special locations (example: mine), special pets are likely to appear and can be captured, but to catch special pets, luck accounts for a large part. (Example: Broken Cocoon and his pet Ore Fairy)

3. To capture pets, one needed to use a lot of homemade tools.

The more the players discussed, the more excited they got, and the more they wanted to catch their own pets right away. Gray Scales was imagining what kind of pets he would have along the way, like the Ore Fairy and other pocket monsters? Or the animals that could be found in the forest?

According to Bulging Belly, there were still many kinds of animals in the forest. What they saw were pheasants, ducks, rabbits, groundhogs, goats, deer, and snakes. The area of the forest was great after an upgrade, the place they went to was only a small section of the forest. Maybe in other places, there would be different animals waiting for the players to discover them.

Compared to the soft and cute white rabbits and deer, Gray Scales preferred those majestic and dominant animal species, such as tigers, lions, wolves, bears and the like, which were the first choice of pets he wanted. He just didn’t know if there were such fierce beasts in the forest or not. He planned to go deep into the forest and go for a good look.

After a night, he came online again and first replenished enough hunting tools from the player who had a stall at the entrance of the village, and bought some food with strength bonuses before marching majestically and with great vigor towards the forest. He did not choose to call his companions, but intended to go alone. Without knowing if he could find large animals, he was too embarrassed to delay the others. Besides, Gray Scales was confident that he could handle himself alone in the face of those animals.

On the way over, there were drooping people walking by him from time to time, and if they had companions, they wouldn’t be able to stop complaining all the way.

“What is the hidden mechanism of this pet interface? Even though we caught so many rabbits and pheasants, why can none of them be collected as pets? This is too difficult, right?”

“That’s right, Bulging Belly didn’t catch as many animals as we did, and they came up with two pets.”

“Is it because the animals we caught were either injured and bleeding or had broken bones, so they were judged by the system to be prey only? I saw that their rabbits and deer were still quite healthy, and at least they could stand up and walk on their own…”

“Well…You have a point. Why don’t we go back and replenish our tools and walk again later?”

“It’s okay. We’ve wasted so much time today anyway. But hunting and catching small animals is also a physical job. Even if we find their nest, after the next refresh, everything will start over again. The same place will not have repeated animals. What was the designer thinking?! Does he want to torment us!?”

“If the animals only refresh in one place and wait for us to catch them, you’re going to say that the game has no new ideas…”

“…Damn! Why are you speaking the truth?!”

This group of five people are all male players, the voice of one was louder than the other, so Gray Scales accidentally listened in full, and from their words he got some new information.

The chances of the small animals in the forest becoming pets weren’t high, and perhaps there are some points of attention that the players hadn’t yet discovered. After the animals were captured, new small animals will be refreshed in the forest at intervals, but the places where they originally stayed, such as their dwellings, caves, and such would also be refreshed and moved. If you want to find the refreshed animals, you would have to spend time to find them again. Also, if you wanted to have a higher chance of getting pets, it was best not to hurt them, but of course, you could only do your best on this point.

After all, the animals he wanted to catch were much bigger than those little rabbits. Gray Scales cheered himself up in his heart, and his steps towards the forest became more determined.

The forest was extraordinarily lively today, with people everywhere. The resource points that used to be scrambled over by the crowd of collecting players, today didn’t get a single look, and were completely ignored.

Grey Scales went to the entrance of the forest and froze for a few seconds. He watched several big men chase after a white rabbit, as they held wooden bows or slingshots in their hands, but froze without making a move on the rabbit. Instead, their mouths kept saying things like, ‘little rabbit,’ ‘baby rabbit,’ ‘little cutie,’ and ‘wait for Daddy.’ Other words popped out of their mouths one by one, and those who didn’t know might think they were smitten with the rabbit.

Perhaps the rabbit was also afraid to encounter perverts, because not only did it not stop, but it used its four legs to run faster into a corner, where it dodged and disappeared. That left the pugilists standing where the rabbit disappeared, full of bewilderment, their bearded faces covered with a strong sense of loss and aggravation; it was a weird kind of cuteness.

Gray Scales covered his mouth to prevent himself from laughing out loud, lowered his head and walked quickly past them.

Hahaha! I can’t. You’re just catching a rabbit? Why is it so funny? They used all their 18 skills ah! The rabbit obviously does not understand human language, these people actually chased after it shouting, what the hell are you thinking?

When he finds a large animal, he absolutely can not do such a thing!

Gray Scales walked until there were fewer and fewer players around him. The mine deep in the forest seemed to be a dividing line, and after the mine, it would be hard for him to meet people again.

After he walked a little further, the nearby trees planted at intervals went from sparse to dense, and every four or five steps, he would encounter another tree. The soil was covered with a thick layer of moss, and each step caused a strange smell to waft up. Deep in the forest, it was also much darker. Fat leaves blocked most of the sunlight, and the surrounding area was quite scary, and gave him the illusion that something was watching him in the dark.

Gray Scales was always bold but this time, his heart also produced a faint sense of crisis.

However, he soon came back to his senses, and guessed that this should be the game designer deliberately creating a sense of atmosphere. He secretly sighed and thought that the designer really had a pair of magical creating hands. Step by step, he continued to walk forward.

To his disappointment, the biggest animal he encountered along the way was a male goat, which had a pair of curved and sharp horns on the top of its head. It was idly nibbling the tender grass under a tree. It did not meet the expectations Gray Scales had for his own pet, so he immediately let it go.

After he left the goat, he didn’t meet another animal even after a whole half hour.

Gray Scales’s mood slowly dropped during this time and again he felt disappointment. He had an ominous feeling that he would return today without success…

He wandered aimlessly in the woods, without any expectation of finding a large animal anymore. But at that moment, he heard a rustling movement not far away. Flowers and trees don’t not walk and can’t move so it could only be some kind of animal. Gray Scales’s eyes lit up, and he hurried to follow the direction of the sound coming from the movement.

He walked forward about twenty meters, and the front opened up. The original good growth of a few trees were broken off, leaving only five stumps in place. The circle of stumps surrounded a short cave, where there was a dark furred, strange smelling animal with its back facing Gray Scales. Its head was outside the cave, as it rubbed the corner.

Gray Scales looked at the figure with eyes that could almost be described as burning.

Wild boar! It was a wild boar!

He recognized the animal right away. He was fascinated by its one-meter-tall body, and 45-kilogram weight! Although a wild boar didn’t sound as majestic as a tiger or a lion, it was better than those soft little creatures!

After the unceasing disappointment, Gray Scales’s expectation value had dropped to very low. It wasn’t a tiger or lion, but a boar wasn’t bad! This big boar…If he were to take it out, how impressive would it be?

He immediately decided to take this big boar back. The boar couldn’t see him, but he could observe the boar. He went around to confirm that it was only this boar in the cave, and then actively made preparations.

Traps were needed, right? Then he could dig a trench around the entrance, and the boar’s retreat would be completely blocked.

The bow and arrow made of wood was too fragile for the boar’s hard and thick skin, which may not even be able to break the defense. Gray Scales rummaged through his pile of farming tools and finally took out a long hoe, deciding to use this as the main weapon to attack the boar.

Then, he smiled, solemnly took out a plant. A hand-sized, dark plant with the name ‘paralysis grass.’ On the top of it grew a tender yellow flower. The petals weren’t as thin as other flowers, but thick and juicy. As long as a nail cut into one, the juice would gush out.

This plant was bought from a female player who had three shallow scratches on her left and right cheeks. According to the seller, this plant had a paralyzing effect on animals, and as long as its juice was allowed to enter the body of an animal, a large body size could be paralyzed in a few breaths…

The time had finally come to hunt and kill!

Gray Scales directly jumped out from his hiding place, attracted the attention of the big boar, and then used his rich experience to fight with the boar. In his hand, he wielded his hoe and the top of the hoe was coated with plant sap. It was constantly greeting the boar’s mouth. The guerrilla attack method made it easy to touch the boar’s sensitive nerves.

“Howl–!” The boar was completely enraged by the harassment, and it fiercely glared at this sudden intrusion of a human being. Its hind hooves began to dig into the earth, and its mouth spat out ragged breaths, as it prepared to charge.

Gray Scales’ sharp eyes saw this action, and in his heart said ‘now,’ and began to retreat without trace. Not far behind him was a large pit specially dug out for the boar. The pit had several traps, to ensure that the boar fell in a short period of time and wouldn’t be able to get up.

The boar had been overwhelmed by anger, regardless of the charge towards Gray Scales. As it came closer and closer to Gray Scales, its pig face had a hideous expression. When one man and one pig were about to collide, Gray Scales nimbly turned around, jumped back, crossed the huge hole, and deliberately ran a few steps away before stopping.

Behind him came the dull sound of a heavy object hitting the ground, and the wailing of a wild boar.

He had made it! Gray Scales jumped three feet high with joy, and great joy spread across his face. He was going to have the biggest pet in the entire game!