Chapter 15: Chapter 15: The Warped Jungle 15
The spot Perry Yates had found was a space created by the canopies of three dense trees. Vines snaking up from the ground had tightly woven them together.
Once Clarence confirmed the spot was sturdy enough and wouldn’t suddenly collapse, he excitedly circled the area a couple of times.
Just as the saying goes, the higher you stand, the farther you see. From their vantage point, they could easily take in over half of The Warped Jungle.
Perry Yates walked over and nudged Clarence with her foot. He was just about to rest. "Get up. Time to work."
Clarence, who had been planning on a nice long rest, looked up in a daze. ’Work? What work?’
He watched as Perry Yates first circled the area, then began pulling at the surrounding branches.
Once she pulled a branch close enough, she would secure it with vines she stripped from nearby.
In this way, their shelter became even more concealed.
Realizing what she was doing, Clarence quickly caught on and came over to help.
After several hours of work, the two had successfully made their shelter even more hidden.
Now, they could easily observe the situation below. As for anyone on the ground, unless they climbed the tree or Perry and Clarence deliberately revealed themselves, they would never be spotted, no matter the angle.
「Night fell, deep and still.」
The jungle, so quiet during the day, now came alive with noise.
First, a clear roar echoed from somewhere in the forest.
As if on cue, the roars of various beasts began to answer from all corners of the jungle.
"Aren’t you scared?" Clarence asked. He had curled himself into a ball in the corner, and when he looked over, he could see Perry Yates in the moonlight, looking completely unfazed.
"It’s manageable. I got used to it over the first twenty days. Besides, we’ve made it this far. What good would being scared do now?"
Clarence listened to Perry Yates, and for a moment, he thought she made perfect sense. Then he hugged himself even tighter.
For some reason, he detected a current of calm madness in her tone.
Ignoring Clarence, Perry Yates carefully observed the ground through a gap they had intentionally left in their leafy screen.
Sure enough, just as Clarence had said, the last ten days of the game were nothing like the first twenty.
Just then, a terrifying roar suddenly ripped through the air.
From the sound of it, it was very close.
Then, the shelter began to shake.
Through the gap, Perry Yates saw a bear-like creature at the base of the tree, vigorously rubbing its back against the bark.
After a while, the bear-like creature finally stopped scratching itself against the tree. Just as it was about to leave, a dark shadow shot out from its hiding place, pouncing on the bear.
It was a wolf. Its gray fur flew through the air as its sharp claws and fangs sank deep into the bear’s flesh. Vicious light glinted in its green eyes.
The bear was knocked to the ground, and the wolf latched viciously onto its neck—a clear weak point.
It struggled violently, but it was all to no avail.
The bear’s sharp claws left deep gouges on the wolf’s body, but its attacker seemed not to care, refusing to release its death grip.
After about ten minutes, the bear-like creature finally stopped struggling and went still, its breathing ceased.
And the Hunter, the gray wolf, began to enjoy its kill.
Its sharp fangs and claws tore through the bear’s hide with ease, and it began to feast on the entrails within.
Perry Yates had a clear view. The gray wolf seemed interested only in the bear’s internal organs.
After devouring the heart and liver, it left without a backward glance.
The noisy jungle didn’t quiet down until the next morning.
"I’m going down to take a look. Are you coming with me?" Perry Yates asked, looking back at Clarence.
When he heard Perry Yates say she was going out, Clarence’s eyes went wide. His expression seemed to say, ’Are you crazy? You actually want to go out there?’
"Is this really your first time playing the game?" Clarence couldn’t help but ask.
It was understandable for a new player to choose to stay past day fifteen; after all, it wasn’t unheard of.
But to want to go exploring under these conditions? Even some veteran players with multiple games under their belts wouldn’t dare do something so reckless.
"Of course this is my first time playing the game."
As she spoke, Perry Yates revealed her arm. It was bare, with nothing on it.
Every player had a unique identification number on their wrist, but that number usually only appeared after their first game was over.
In the end, Clarence chose to go with Perry Yates.
After all, he didn’t want to be left alone. If no danger came, fine. But if it did, there would be nowhere for him to run.
The first thing they saw after climbing down from the tree was the carcass of the bear-like creature from the night before.
Only a few hours had passed, so the corpse was still quite fresh.
"Do you want some of this?" Perry Yates asked.
"I’ll just take a little," Clarence said. He found a clean section and carved off about twenty pounds of meat.
On a creature that was three meters long and weighed several hundred pounds, twenty pounds of meat was a trivial amount.
Perry Yates was very pleased with Clarence’s good sense.
She hadn’t come out for any other reason than to scavenge.
After all, she had witnessed several intense battles last night, and she had a good memory of where they all happened.
After stowing the rest of the bear creature in her System Space, Perry Yates headed for the next location.
This time, however, their luck wasn’t as good.
The loser this time was a giant lizard, but it had already been mostly devoured, leaving only scraps.
Next.
At the third location, the scene was even more pitiful. There weren’t even any scraps left—only the signs of a struggle and bloodstains on the ground proved that a fierce battle had taken place.
On to the next location.
This time, they finally didn’t come up empty.
"So many Blueberry Fruits!"
Looking at the sight before them, Clarence couldn’t help but exclaim in surprise.
But his excitement quickly turned to caution. After all, it was common knowledge that Blueberry Fruit was a companion plant to the Swamp Monster.
You might not find Blueberry Fruit where there’s a Swamp Monster, but you’ll always find a Swamp Monster where there’s Blueberry Fruit.
After pinpointing the Swamp Monster’s location, Perry Yates reached into her Space Backpack. She took out the Vinetongue Serpent corpses she had painstakingly collected and tossed them all inside.
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