madnovel Chapter 12 Cicadas in Midsummer
Chapter 12 Cicadas in Midsummer
After a while, he peeked again and found that the woman was still staring at him. Their eyes met for two seconds before the woman looked away.
She then discussed something with her teammates and left.
After the four-man squad left, he reported to Shen Yaoxing: "The one carrying the sniper rifle seems to have spotted me just now."
Why do you say that?
"I don't know... is it just intuition?"
"Don't mimic me."
Okay, so the word "intuition" has become the young lady's exclusive right; he won't allow her to have intuition anymore.
Soon, relying on her intuition, Shen Yaoxing accepted a mission in the "Mission Hall" of Linjiang Xuzhen.
The so-called mission hall is actually an official organization, a branch of the Professionals Association.
Guilds, other organizations, and individuals can post tasks here.
Under Shen Yaoxing's instructions, Lu Ren accepted a task posted by the "Linjiang Vocational College" organization: to pick marsh flowers. The task required an unlimited quantity and the price was 210 per plant.
You can't just accept any mission; you need to register a professional team in the lobby first.
There is no limit to the number of people in a team, and registration is free, but a monthly fee of 200 people is required.
The two of them spent another 400 of their remaining 500 yuan, leaving them with only a little over 100 yuan.
Registering for the team requires an ID card, and Shen Yaoxing happens to have a forged ID card.
"Team name..." Lu Ren looked at Shen Yaoxing.
With only half her face visible beneath her robe, Shen Yaoxing said, "Whatever."
"The Random Squad".
"I'm sorry, sir, this name has already been registered."
Lu Ren then looked at the girl beside him.
Shen Yaoxing sighed, looked at Lu Ren, and asked, "Are you sure you want me to think of it?"
He could tell that although the young lady seemed indifferent, she was actually eager to try.
Having spent many years in the workplace, Lu Ren was quite adept at handling situations. He said, "I'm not very educated, so the name I came up with certainly won't sound as good as what the young lady wanted."
"Names can be casual, but taking a serious approach to choosing one makes me feel a greater sense of responsibility. How about 'Midsummer Cicada'? Wait, not that one. 'Midsummer,' the 'Mid' of 'blooming,' and the 'Summer' of 'summer'..."
This was clearly something they had planned long ago.
Lu Ren discovered that his new boss not only occasionally acted a bit like a teenager, but also had a touch of artsy sensibility.
Shen Yaoxing turned to look at him: "How about this name? After all, you're a member of the team. If you don't like it, I'll think of something else."
"It sounds good and has a deeper meaning; it's much more classy than something like 'Listen to the Dragon's Roar'."
"And listen to the dragon's roar" was also a name I came up with.
Very well, you've tried to flatter someone but ended up blaming them.
After successfully registering for the team, and on Lu Ren's strong recommendation, Shen Yaoxing spent another 68 yuan to buy him a roasted pig's trotter, leaving the master and servant with only 40 yuan left.
Shen Yaoxing looked down at her account balance, her expression probably like this: ╭(°A°`)╮
Without further ado, the two officially left the virtual world camp and embarked on their first adventure since forming their team!
Even the safest virtual realm is fraught with danger.
This place has a complete ecosystem. The dense forest is home not only to mythical beasts, but also to all kinds of snakes, insects, rodents, jackals, tigers, and leopards.
Lu Ren had absolutely no experience in wilderness survival; his current role was to carry things for the young lady and act as her assistant.
After traveling for two and a half hours in the Void Realm, they encountered a creature resembling a gray wolf. The creature confronted them for two seconds before tucking its tail between its legs and fleeing. During that time, they did not encounter any other Void Beasts.
However, it wasn't due to luck; it was all thanks to Shen Yaoxing.
She possesses a silver-quality detection skill, [Spiritual Eye Technique], which greatly enhances her eyesight and allows her to capture the spiritual energy radiation emitted by objects through binocular imaging.
Every ten minutes, she would look around like a squirrel scouting for enemies, and then determine the next route.
Sometimes he would continue along the mountain path, and sometimes he would solemnly lead his underlings to change routes. In these situations, Lu Ren knew that there were people ahead who they couldn't handle.
This is the advantage of having a high-level support in the team. A strong teammate can at most protect you when you encounter danger, but a powerful support can directly avoid danger.
After walking for nearly four hours on mountain trails, Lu Ren didn't feel tired at all; on the contrary, he felt that the backpack on his back was much lighter.
This wasn't an illusion; the backpack was indeed much lighter because a lot of things had ended up in his stomach... It wasn't that he wanted to develop into a comedian; it was just that his stomach was like a bottomless pit, and he would never feel full no matter how much he ate.
If he hadn't met Shen Yaoxing, he would probably be starving to death by now.
With a grateful heart, Lu Ren couldn't help but reach into his bag again.
As the sun was about to set, Shen Yaoxing led him to a small lake.
The virtual world also has sunrise and sunset. In fact, every place in the virtual world corresponds to Earth. They can even travel to other cities in the virtual world and then go out to other cities through virtual world rifts.
However, it is not recommended to do this, because it is extremely dangerous. Putting aside the dangerous and terrifying Void Beasts, just considering the geographical location, the Void Realm is a planet more than a hundred times larger than the diameter of Earth.
In other words, if the straight-line distance between two cities is 100 kilometers, it becomes more than 13,000 kilometers in the virtual realm, which is close to one-third of the Earth's equator.
Approaching the lake and seeing the scene before her, Shen Yaoxing breathed a sigh of relief.
"There really are marsh flowers here."
Lu Ren also looked towards the lakeside, where a dozen or so dark blue chrysanthemum plants swayed gently in the breeze under the setting sun. There were also a few wild animals that looked like cows by the lake.
"Selling one for 210, we're rich now!" he shouted, uttering a line that sounded like a minor character's.
This one trip alone will earn at least two thousand yuan, which is equivalent to more than a month's wages for Lu Youhe.
Is this what a professional is like? Money comes like a whirlwind, he can make over two thousand yuan just by eating, drinking and going on a picnic... Oh, it seems like only him.
At this moment, Miss Shen was already supporting herself on her knees with both hands, her face slightly pale, as continuous use of skills was taking a toll.
Lu Ren, with a sycophantic air, said, "Miss, you should rest for a bit. I'll go pick some pond flowers!"
"Don't go over there!"
Shen Yaoxing stopped him, "Let me recover a bit before I scout around some more. There might be a mud monster in the lake; those things like to lurk in the water."
Lu Ren immediately stopped and shielded Shen Yaoxing behind him, looking around warily.
Although he can't see anything and wouldn't be able to handle the real virtual beasts, the workplace is like a battlefield, and making the boss feel like you're working hard is an essential skill for corporate slaves.
"By the way, does 'As expected, there are still swamp flowers' mean that the young lady has been here before?"
Shen Yaoxing sat on the protruding, huge tree root, head bowed, and said with some reminiscence, "When I first became a professional, my first task was also to pick swamp flowers."
"Really? That's quite a coincidence."
The girl drifted into memories, a faint smile playing on her lips: "It was much more chaotic back then. We searched for days without finding it. I didn't have any skills back then either. Even though I had a gun, I was still being chased by the Void Beasts. Our team only had two people, and Long You was only at the Flowing Firefly Realm. Back then... back then... that big-breasted sow wasn't there yet!"
Lu Ren had a bad feeling. The last rays of the setting sun shone on the fields, dense forests, mountains, and marshes in the west. He looked up and saw the stars gradually emerging in the night sky.
"What did my youth of the past ten years even mean?! I hate it!"
"Our friends all think we're a couple, so doesn't it make me look like I've been dumped?"
"Damn it, those damned adulterers, give me back the youth I wasted!"
"..." Only two days after the breakup, not only her fake best friend, but also her former crush was being cursed out.
At night, Shen Yaoxing lost the calmness and maturity she had during the day; her self-control waned, and she became more abstract.
Lu Ren coaxed her to calm down, took out some dry food for her to rest, and then went to the lakeside to pick marsh flowers.
There were 12 plants in total, and today's harvest was 2310 yuan. After deducting the 10% commission from the task hall, I still made 2000 yuan.
If you do this every day, you'll make a net profit of 60,000 yuan a month.
He happily picked the flowers, and after Shen Yaoxing had eaten her fill, the two began their return journey.
However, the mountain path was not so easy to walk under the cover of night, and the wilderness was even more dangerous at night, so Lu Ren was more cautious.
However, by nightfall, after Shen Yaoxing's attributes were doubled and her recovery ability was greatly enhanced, she became noticeably bolder.
There are seven mud-eating monsters ahead.
"Then...should we avoid it?"
"They're just mud monsters, kill them."
"Can we?"
"Isn't that obvious?"
Lu Ren felt a little uneasy, a feeling stemming from the uncertainty of the changes.
First, he had never dealt with a Void Beast before and was unsure if he could handle it. Second, he was unsure whether Shen Yaoxing made the decision in a calm state of mind.
"Don't think I've lost my composure."
Shen Yaoxing said calmly, "I am indeed influenced by talent, but I am also very clear-headed. Even if my emotional side is amplified infinitely, I will not lose my rationality, and I will not lose my mind to do the impossible."
She raised her slender arm, feeling her strength slowly rising in the night: "I can handle everything by myself, but you'll have to deal with one by yourself."
"Um, why?"
Shen Yaoxing looked at him and said, "Now that you've become a professional, fighting is just a daily routine for you. The Mud Eater is just the weakest in the Linjiang Void Realm, and it could even compete for the title of the weakest Void Beast in the whole world. If you're afraid of something like this, then I've misjudged you, and our team can disband today."
Lu Ren saw that Shen Yaoxing had a cold face, just like when she killed the group of kidnappers last night.
"And you need to obtain the spirit remains yourself, right? You can only obtain skills from the spirit remains of the Void Beasts you kill yourself. Also, due to your talent, you can't get full from eating ordinary food. You've already eaten three days' worth of our dry rations along the way today."
"But, I, um..."
Shen Yaoxing sighed inwardly. She knew she was being a bit unreasonable. After all, even after she became a professional and entered the Void Realm, it took her more than a week before she dared to attack a Void Beast.
Shen Yaoxing's heart softened, and her tone became slightly gentler: "I won't force you, you decide, but... you'll have to face it sooner or later."
In fact, Lu Ren had already made his decision when she mentioned that she had finished three days' worth of food.
A resolute look appeared on his face as he looked at Shen Yaoxing: "What should I do?"
"very good!"
The girl clenched her fist, her demeanor shifting dramatically to one of triumph: "As expected of the man I chose, bring me my knife!"
"..." Is this woman truly lucid?