Chapter 55: Chapter 55: Encountering the Novel’s Male Protagonist - Logan Langdon
As expected, merging rafts was easy, but it wasn’t necessarily as comfortable as being alone.
Even the most loving couple has their conflicts, let alone strangers who just happened to meet.
But it was a different story if you were lucky enough to meet up with close family.
Still, how many people could have such good fortune?
"Thanks, Donovan. You haven’t run into that, have you? Did your Second Senior Brother merge rafts with someone?"
"No way. How could Second Senior Brother merge with someone else’s raft? Besides our Master and First Senior Brother, he doesn’t listen to anyone else..."
Faye Yardley interrupted, "Donovan, do you think it’s possible that your Second Senior Brother is the one in control of the raft? He doesn’t like listening to others, but that doesn’t rule out the possibility that he likes others listening to *him*."
Gavin Donovan went silent on the other end. He had never considered that question.
"Alright, thank you for your hard work this morning. I’ll trouble you again tonight."
"No trouble, no trouble at all. Thank you for the fruits, Boss. First Senior Brother says that going too long without fruits and vegetables can affect the body’s internal balance."
"Mhm. The water around the raft has frozen over today, so it’s not good for fishing up treasure chests. You could try chiseling through the ice to catch fish. I’ll send you a Basic Iron Axe in a bit."
Gavin Donovan bowed happily. "Thank you, Boss!"
After hanging up, Faye Yardley put on her thermal fashion outfit and went outside. She hopped right over the railing. Sure enough, the area outside the raft was a solid sheet of ice. She jumped on it a few times without any issue.
You could even go ice skating on it.
After playing on the ice for a bit, Faye Yardley took out an Iron Axe and began chiseling a hole. She wanted to see if fish would really jump out of an ice hole.
"Sister! Sister, stop chiseling! Someone is walking toward you from behind!"
Willow Yardley anxiously jumped off the raft and ran toward Faye Yardley, getting the words out as quickly as she could.
"Hmm? Someone’s walking toward me?!"
"Yes! Sister, get back to the raft, quickly."
Whether the person had good intentions or bad, it was always safer on one’s own territory. Besides, the raft had an Arrow Tower; she wasn’t limited to passive defense.
Faye Yardley stood up and brandished the Iron Axe. "You go back first. If that person means trouble, have the Arrow Tower shoot in this direction. I plan to wait for him here. And it looks like he’s approaching quickly. Go on. Don’t worry about me. I’m no pushover."
’If I want to be strong, I can’t always be thinking about running away!’
Faye Yardley’s heart wouldn’t let her retreat!
"Then be careful, Sister."
As a household-type intelligent robot, Willow had no means of attack when she was off the raft. On the raft, however, she could use its defenses, like the Arrow Tower.
Faye Yardley thought for a moment, then started walking straight toward the approaching figure.
They met quickly.
It was a young, roguishly handsome man.
"Hey, beautiful. Nice to meet you. I’m Logan Langdon." Logan Langdon extended his hand as he spoke.
Faye Yardley raised her own hand, lightly tapping his fingertips before pulling away. "Hello. I’m Faye Yardley."
"A pleasure to meet you. I didn’t think I’d run into anyone on this frozen expanse."
"Mm, same here. I thought I was the only one."
"Aren’t you going to invite me to your raft for a visit?"
Faye Yardley looked at him with a cold expression. "Mr. Langdon, we’re strangers. I have no intention of inviting anyone onto my raft. If that’s what you’re thinking, I suggest you get rid of that idea. Otherwise, we can only be enemies."
Logan Langdon pointed to the raft some distance behind her. "Whoa, whoa, hold on. It’s rare to meet someone face-to-face; I have no desire to become enemies with a beautiful lady. But, I see there’s already someone else on your raft. One more person wouldn’t make much of a difference, right?"
"She’s my sister."
"Oh, I see. You two are really lucky then." Hearing this, Logan Langdon relaxed quite a bit. The raft looked quite large, but if it had already merged with someone else’s, it didn’t seem like such a big deal anymore.
’But this girl in front of me looks so young. Why is she so cold and distant?’
’Could it be that my charm has diminished since entering this survival game?’
All the women he’d met before had actively approached him, trying all sorts of ways to tempt him. Tsk. ’But looking at this ice-cold beauty... she has a unique appeal. It really stirs up a man’s desire to conquer.’
"Well, you wouldn’t mind adding me as a friend, would you, beautiful? After all, the fact that we could meet here means our rafts aren’t too far apart, right? That makes us neighbors, in a way."
Faye Yardley watched him for a moment, mulled it over, then nodded. "Fine. You can send me a friend request after you get back to your raft."
Logan Langdon was speechless inside. ’I’ve never been the one to initiate a friend request before.’ But he kept the smile on his face and said, "Great, great. It’s my honor to be friends with a beautiful lady. By the way, now that the sea is frozen, want to take a walk with me and see what we can find? Maybe a treasure chest spawned on the ice."
"I’m not interested in wasting time. But thanks for the invitation." Faye Yardley then added, "If there’s nothing else, please don’t try to approach my raft. Otherwise, I’ll assume you have hostile intentions."
Logan Langdon: ...
’Seriously, lady, do you have to be so guarded?!’
’Look at my face. Do I look like the kind of guy who preys on every woman he sees?’
Faye Yardley just continued to stare at him coldly.
Logan Langdon figured it was best not to say anything more for now. This kind of woman was too guarded, with almost zero trust in strangers. ’To be honest, I’m the same way; I wouldn’t trust any stranger either.’ He had only come out to scout the surroundings, and running into Faye Yardley was a complete accident.
He’d been in the game for eleven days, which meant he hadn’t seen another living person for eleven days. Now that he had, it was only natural for him to be a little enthusiastic.
But he had been met with a cold shoulder for his troubles.
Damn it!
He was starting to get a little annoyed.
’But I can be more tolerant toward a pretty girl. I can forgive her for being unappreciative and unreasonable.’
Faye Yardley stood her ground. Her left hand, hanging at her side, was actually tightly gripping a dagger. Her entire stance was defensive, but it was also a posture from which she could launch an attack at any moment.
Motionless, she watched as Logan Langdon frowned, slowly backed away a few steps, and then left in another direction.
’I will not let him get near my raft.’
’So what if he’s some chosen one, some favored son of destiny from a novel? Since I’m here, this is the real world!’
’And since this is the real world, someone like me, with an ultra-high Luck Value, is the one truly favored by the system.’
Faye Yardley kept her eyes fixed on Logan Langdon until he was far in the distance, only then did she let out a sigh of relief.
’If Logan had insisted on approaching my raft just now, I would have fought him.’
’Protagonist or not, in my world, *I* am the one and only master!’
