Chapter 33: Encountering Big Orange

Qiao Yitong and Deng You left one after the other.

Their states of mind were entirely different. Qiao Yitong moved with a clear purpose, her steps calm and steady.

Deng You, however, felt as though every step was leading him deeper into danger. The further they went, the faster his heart raced.

He had assumed Qiao Yitong was acting on a momentary impulse. He figured that once that impulse faded and she realized she was still heading deeper into the woods, any normal person would start to feel afraid, right?

But Qiao Yitong remained utterly fearless.

Her composure was so absolute that it made Deng You shudder.

“Sister Tong, if we go any further, we’ll be approaching Area C,” Deng You couldn’t help but remind her as they followed the tracks to the edge of the zone.

The director’s words from before they stepped onto the island were still ringing in his ears.

“Area C is extremely dangerous. Do not go there unless it is absolutely necessary. Some of our staff members are still lying in hospital beds because of their attempts to scout that area.”

When the staff explored and set up the environment, they were surely fully equipped with top-tier security measures.

Moreover, they never lacked external support.

If staff members ended up in the hospital under those conditions, then the situation for the two of them was even more dire.

There were only two of them, and their only weapons were a dagger and a wooden stick they had picked up along the way.

They had no distress signaling devices. If something went wrong here, they could only wait for death.

While he wasn’t exactly terrified of dying, he still valued his life.

Especially when it came to this kind of proactive search for death; he just couldn’t wrap his head around it.

“Sister Tong, there’s a sign here. It clearly states that Area C is ahead,” Deng You reminded her once more.

Qiao Yitong looked at the sign and said to him, “You stay here.”

Deng You was speechless.

If it were anyone else standing in front of him, he would have turned and left immediately. He would have been genuinely angry at such a reckless person who showed no regard for their own safety.

But the person before him wasn’t just anyone; it was Qiao Yitong, who had saved his life not long ago.

Although he had spent years training himself to put his own interests first, he still couldn’t bring himself to be ungrateful.

Deng You gritted his teeth. Fine, at worst, they would go down together.

It was just one miserable life; there was nothing to be so precious about. Let’s do this.

He didn’t say another word and followed Qiao Yitong as she officially stepped into Area C.

“My scalp is tingling. They actually went in. Are they not afraid at all?”

“The camera feed cut out here. Where’s the rest? Didn’t the production team say they had full coverage and could broadcast at any time?”

“But the team also said Area C isn’t covered because it’s too dangerous.”

“It’s so dangerous, what if something happens to them?”

“If something happens elsewhere, the production team might break the rules to save them if they aren’t being too heartless. But once they enter Area C, the team might not even know what’s happening to them.”

“Noooo! Goddess Yitong, don’t go in! I’m so worried.”

…

The fans were flooding the bullet comments frantically.

The moment Qiao Yitong stepped into Area C, the visuals vanished. They had been watching her for nearly ten days, and the sudden disappearance left them with an instinctive sense of panic and loss of control.

What added to their fear were the descriptions of Area C.

Please come back safely.

Countless people were praying in their hearts.

Of course, there were also those who looked on with excitement.

They had originally thought she would make it off the island safely, but they hadn’t expected her to crawl into a danger zone herself. If something really happened, she had brought it on herself!

Regardless of how heated the discussion was outside, Qiao Yitong remained calm.

The path in Area C was difficult to navigate, mostly because the trees were too numerous, too tall, and too dense.

Entering Area C, one could sense the gloom of the environment. The light was blocked by layers of foliage, and the cool air carried a strange sense of oppression that made one feel instinctively tense.

Deng You’s heart rate was gradually accelerating. He gripped the wooden stick tightly, his palms slick with sweat.

He was more alert than ever, his eyes darting around the surroundings, terrified that some unexpected danger would suddenly emerge.

Qiao Yitong, on the other hand, moved in fits and starts. She frequently crouched down to examine the depth and direction of the tracks on the ground, tracing the wild boar’s path.

Her previous judgment had been correct.

These tracks were fresh, which meant the boar was still alive.

She tracked it bit by bit. Although she didn’t show it on her face, she was actually very much on guard.

She didn’t know exactly what dangers lurked here, so being cautious was only right.

After walking for another ten minutes, Qiao Yitong’s foot stepped on a dry leaf, letting out a faint crack. She snapped her head up, her sharp gaze instantly locking onto a direction to their side.

There was movement!

Qiao Yitong stared over and saw an adult wild boar, weighing about two hundred pounds, glaring at them fiercely.

Perhaps because the duo’s behavior was too obvious, the boar sensed a threat from them.

Now, the boar was staring at the two of them, its entire body coiled into a charging stance. In the wild, this was a battle for survival of the fittest.

When Deng You followed Qiao Yitong’s gaze, he felt his legs suddenly go weak.

The boar’s bristles were standing on end. Its blood-red eyes were filled with rage and coldness, along with a hint of contempt for these two seemingly weak, fearless humans.

A wild boar that could survive here possessed a certain level of intelligence.

They knew how to assess a situation. When faced with something they deemed dangerous, their first reaction was to run and hide to protect themselves.

But against these two frail humans who lacked lethal weapons, it saw no need to flee.

In fact, the encounter triggered its primal, bloody fighting instinct.

The boar’s hooves dug slightly into the ground as it let out a low growl at Qiao Yitong and Deng You.

Deng You felt his body tremble.

“Run!” The signal flashed repeatedly in his mind, but the speed of his voice couldn’t keep up with the speed of the boar’s attack.

The wild boar suddenly accelerated, charging violently toward the two of them.

An adult wild boar could easily snap a tree as thick as a man’s arm.

The survival training quotes he’d heard before coming here hammered at Deng You’s nerves. He was certain of one thing: neither his body nor Qiao Yitong’s was as hard as a tree.

At a time like this, why worry about anything else?

A person had to look out for themselves first. Just because you treated others well didn’t mean they would return the kindness.

People were selfish. Even if you poured nearly all your emotion and sincerity into someone, they could still trample over you at a critical moment, leaving you to fall into the abyss.

Standing up for others might not only lead to betrayal but could even implicate the people who loved you most.

Now, the parents who had loved him most were gone.

The only person left to love and protect him was himself.

So, he should run.

He didn’t need to care what happened to Qiao Yitong. Even if she really died, there was plenty of evidence to prove she was the one who took the risk. He had tried to stop her to no avail; it had nothing to do with him.

No matter what, the blame wouldn’t fall on his shoulders.

Furthermore, strictly speaking, they were just colleagues. It was uncertain if they would even cross paths in the future.

He had to escape as quickly as possible!

Deng You had everything worked out clearly in his mind, but as he watched the wild boar draw closer, his body instinctively stepped forward. He shouted anxiously, “Run!”

He gripped the wooden stick with both hands, his adrenaline surging.

He knew that he would likely be sent flying back by the very first impact.

He braced himself for the agonizing pain of the boar’s charge.

However, just as the boar was about to reach him, he felt his body suddenly grow light. The world spun before his eyes as Qiao Yitong, standing behind him, grabbed him by the collar and tossed him aside.

At the same time, Qiao Yitong’s figure blurred. Like a ghost, she drifted effortlessly out of the path of the boar’s attack.

The boar had never expected such reaction speeds from two humans. Having missed its target, it paused for a moment, stunned and increasingly wary.

It immediately turned around, intent on protecting its vulnerable body.

But it was too late.

After dodging, Qiao Yitong reached out and grabbed the bristles on the boar’s back. With a twist of her body, she leaped and landed squarely on its spine.

A dagger had appeared in her hand at some unknown moment. A calm, cold light flickered in Qiao Yitong’s eyes as she plunged the blade downward, stabbing into the weakest point behind the boar’s neck.

A single fatal blow.

The boar’s neck was pierced. After a brief moment of shock, driven by the sudden agony, it began to buck and bolt frantically, running wild.

Qiao Yitong hopped off the boar’s back, watching the animal’s final struggle with cold eyes.

Finally, the boar burned through the last of its life’s strength. Exhausted from its run, its movements slowed until it eventually crashed heavily to the ground. It twitched a few times, then went still.

The entire sequence had happened in the blink of an eye.

Deng You had witnessed the whole process. From the moment Qiao Yitong threw him aside, he had remained frozen where he landed.

His eyes were wide with shock and disbelief. What had just happened? Was he dreaming? He felt like he had just watched a scene from a high-budget action movie.

Weren’t those movements things you only saw in films?

Deng You was completely stunned, his mind a total blank.

He watched as Qiao Yitong walked over to the boar, pulled out her dagger, and grabbed the animal by its hind legs.

She dragged the two-hundred-plus-pound boar across the ground toward him.

Deng You’s pupils contracted again.

“Let’s go,” Qiao Yitong said.

Today’s hunting mission was a complete success.

Deng You nodded dully. He tried to stand up, but his legs gave out halfway, and he slumped back down.

His legs were like jelly; he couldn’t find an ounce of strength in them.

Qiao Yitong looked at him and asked, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah… I’m fine.” Deng You took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.

He waited a moment, staring at Qiao Yitong in shock as he slowly scrambled up from the ground.

“Let’s go,” Deng You said weakly.

Just as the words left his mouth, a powerful tiger’s roar suddenly echoed from the distance.

The sound carried a dominant, soul-shaking force. As the roar faded, every bird in the forest took flight in terror. In the distance, small animals could be seen fleeing in a panic.

The tiger, as the king of the mountain, sent all beasts scurrying with a single cry.

This sound caused Deng You’s pupils to shrink violently.

His body, which had just regained its balance, nearly went limp again.

It was a primal fear. One had to remember that before coming to this island, he was just an ordinary shut-in who spent his days locked in his room playing video games.

Back then, he would go out of his way to avoid even a stray dog.

Everything he had experienced today was nothing short of surreal.

As the tiger’s roar echoed, Deng You began to tremble.

He didn’t dare assume that Qiao Yitong had the ability to handle a tiger.

Nobody was a legendary tiger-slayer¹!

“Sister Tong?” Deng You’s voice wavered.

Qiao Yitong showed no intention of running. Instead, she turned and stood her ground, her gaze fixed on the direction the roar had come from.

That sound…

Why did it sound so much like Big Orange?

Big Orange was a spirit pet she had adopted back in the Wasteland. During an expedition, she had found it covered in blood and on the verge of death.

At the time, Qiao Yitong couldn’t bear to leave it, so she saved its life. From then on, Big Orange had followed her and her master, “wandering” through that world to survive.

With Big Orange around, life had been much more joyful.

But later, during a crisis, they were betrayed and ambushed by someone they knew.

Just as she was about to fall into the trap and be injured, Big Orange had disregarded its own safety to take a fatal blow for her.

She had escaped that time, but Big Orange never woke up again. It would never curl up beside her again, nor would it rub its round head against her to act spoiled.

Qiao Yitong recalled Big Orange’s face, a wave of sadness washing over her.

In that moment of distraction, the tiger from the distance came charging into view.

It appeared to be a barely-grown adult tiger.

The sheer intimidation and pressure of its charge left Deng You, who was slumped on the ground, with a completely blank mind.

It’s over, it’s all over.

His heart was filled with misery. If he’d had the urge to run when he saw the boar, seeing a tiger charging at them so fiercely left him with nothing but pure despair.

He wasn’t naive enough to think he could outrun a tiger.

Today, they were almost certainly going to end up in its belly.

Deng You’s gaze fell upon Qiao Yitong, who was standing there, seemingly “scared witless” as well. In this moment, he had no heart to ask her if she regretted coming now that things had turned out this way.

The situation had already unfolded; there was no point in dwelling on blame.

In just a few blinks of an eye, the tiger was upon them.

Deng You closed his eyes in despair.

It was all over.

A minute passed.

Nothing happened.

Deng You opened his eyes in a daze, only to witness an utterly unbelievable scene.

The slender girl stood there quietly, one hand extended. With effortless ease, she had pressed down against the head of the charging, ferocious beast, halting its momentum mid-attack.

The tiger tried to push forward, but the girl’s thin arm didn’t budge an inch.

The tiger: ?

Deng You felt that, for the first time in his life, he saw the words “What the hell?” in the eyes of a massive tiger.

It was exactly what he was thinking!

If he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, he would have suspected the whole thing was staged.

Was this really a tiger, or was there a person hiding inside a costume?

What terrified him even more was that after Qiao Yitong stopped the tiger’s movement, she called out softly, “Big Orange²?”

Deng You: ?

Everyone else is just using that as a meme, but you’re actually treating it like a giant house cat?

Naturally, the tiger couldn’t understand the name “Big Orange.”

However, out of a biological instinct for danger, it sensed that this girl—who looked like a snack it could finish in one bite—was not to be trifled with.

Unable to push forward, the tiger backed away slightly.

Man and beast faced each other. The tiger let out a low growl at Qiao Yitong, a clear warning.

Hearing the warning, a flash of sadness crossed Qiao Yitong’s expression.

That brief moment of contact had made her even more certain. This little tiger was almost certainly the same Big Orange who had died to save her in her previous life.

She never expected that after thinking she would never see him again, they would meet in another world.

But…

Big Orange didn’t recognize her.

“Big Orange, come here,” Qiao Yitong said, reaching out her hand and releasing a signal of friendship through her Divine Soul.

The little tiger watched the human warily, took another step back, and growled again, warning her off.

Qiao Yitong pursed her lips. Right now, he didn’t have those memories. If she wanted to communicate, she would likely have to build trust bit by bit.

After a moment’s thought, she took her dagger and carved a front leg off the wild boar carcass.

The moment she pulled out the dagger, the little tiger retreated several steps.

Its entire body tensed as it watched Qiao Yitong with extreme caution.

This human was very dangerous!

Deng You: ?

He was completely dumbfounded by the sight. Seriously, you’re a majestic, terrifying tiger—is it reasonable for you to be this wary of a human girl?

But the unreasonable parts were only beginning.

Qiao Yitong held the boar leg and extended it toward the tiger.

“Are you hungry?” she asked.

The tiger gave another low, warning growl, but the meat in front of it was undeniably enticing.

“Come and eat,” Qiao Yitong said.

Her Divine Soul, accompanied by Spiritual Power, continuously projected an aura of friendly affinity toward the tiger.

This power was incredibly gentle, like the most inclusive and warm force of nature itself. It held no aggression, making any living creature instinctively want to draw near.

the great tiger was no exception. Under the influence of this affinity, it lowered its guard slightly and took two tentative steps forward.

Qiao Yitong smiled and held the meat right up to its mouth.

The sight filled Deng You with fresh horror. He was truly terrified that the tiger would snap and bite Sister Tong’s entire arm off.

But the reality left him stunned. The tiger, which in his mind was a ferocious predator, didn’t attack. Instead, it lowered its head quite obediently.

The tiger carefully extended its tongue, curled it around the boar leg, and began to eat with its head down.

And while it was eating, Qiao Yitong actually reached out and rubbed the tiger’s head?

The tiger didn’t growl; it even squinted its eyes as if enjoying the touch?

What was wrong with this world?

In his agitation, Deng You bit his tongue hard.

The sharp pain cleared his head instantly.

Oh, so it wasn’t a dream?

Then what on earth was going on?

Lost in confusion, a thought suddenly struck him. He hurriedly fumbled for the GoPro in his backpack and turned it on to record the scene.

The tiger finished the meat quickly. Qiao Yitong watched it quietly from the side.

After finishing, Big Orange looked up and gave another low growl, as if saying… I’m not full.

“Follow me, and I’ll take you to eat more delicious things, okay?” Qiao Yitong communicated gently.

In her eyes, Big Orange was like a child.

Sometimes willful, sometimes playful, but brave when it mattered most.

However, those words nearly made Deng You bite his tongue again.

Tong… Sister Tong, what did you just say? You want to take it with you? To… to where?

Big Orange took another step back, looking at Qiao Yitong with a mix of scrutiny and lingering wariness.

Finally, it gave up the standoff, turned around, and ran off.

Watching Big Orange’s retreating figure, Qiao Yitong lowered her gaze, a hint of disappointment hidden in her eyes.

But it made sense. Here, Big Orange shouldn’t have the memories of their past life.

This was only their first meeting; they were complete strangers.

She couldn’t rush it.

Once she thought of it that way, Qiao Yitong came to terms with it.

She gave a carefree smile. Just being able to encounter Big Orange was enough to make her happy. At least she knew that after dying in that previous world, Big Orange could live well and freely in this one.

That was… enough, wasn’t it?

It was just that she was now missing the companion who had once warmed her life.

Qiao Yitong took a deep breath and turned to Deng You, who was still paralyzed on the ground. “Let’s go.”

As the tiger disappeared, Deng You finally let out a long, total sigh of relief.

He gripped the wooden staff with both hands, using it to brace himself as he struggled to stand.

Though his body was still trembling, he felt a desperate urge to leave this place immediately.

He had to get out of Area C before that massive tiger regained its senses and attacked them!

This conviction sustained Lu Cheng. As Qiao Yitong grabbed the wild boar’s hind leg and began dragging the carcass away, he followed, leaning heavily on his staff and walking with shaky, uncertain steps.

It was ironic. He was the one who hadn’t participated in the fight at all, yet he was the one now so weak and jelly-legged that he could barely move.

The two of them walked one after the other toward the perimeter of Area C.

They were nearly at the edge, just moments from stepping out of the zone.

Before Deng You could breathe a sigh of relief, that familiar roar echoed once more, accompanied by the heavy thud of paws hitting the ground.

Deng You instinctively looked back.

The great tiger from before was sprinting toward them.

Deng You’s legs shook violently, and the wooden staff in his hands felt as if it were about to snap under his weight.

But then, just as the tiger seemed ready to pounce on them, it came to a sudden halt.

Big Orange walked slowly toward Qiao Yitong, approaching her with a mix of hesitation and caution.

Step by step, sensing no hostility from Qiao Yitong, it grew bolder and moved closer. It circled her once, then leaned in and rubbed its large head against her.

It acted just like a giant house cat.

Deng You was speechless.

Qiao Yitong, however, laughed. Her genuine joy made her eyes shine as bright as the stars.

“Let’s go, we’re going back together,” Qiao Yitong said.

And so, while only Qiao Yitong and Deng You had set out together, the scene upon their return was entirely different.

Qiao Yitong led the way, dragging a two-hundred-pound wild boar, with a majestic tiger following at a respectful distance by her side.

Trailing about fifty meters behind them was Deng You, trembling as he used his stick to barely keep himself upright.

Meanwhile, the people back at the base had no idea what kind of sight they were about to witness.

They were all busy with their own tasks.

After arriving here, Qiao Yitong’s absolute dominance over the fishing grounds had put a lot of pressure on Shisan.

He hadn’t slept much the previous night, trying various methods until he finally managed to improve their fishing nets.

The mouth of the net was now wider, but he had designed a pull-ring mechanism near the opening.

As soon as they caught any sea fish, they could pull the ring immediately, ensuring the fish couldn’t swim away while the net was being hauled in.

This modification had indeed significantly boosted their fishing efficiency.

After half a day, they had caught eight fish!

That was roughly one fish per person.

It seemed human skills truly did evolve through failure.

With these results, they wouldn’t look too pathetic on this island.

While Qiao Yitong’s group ate well, they wouldn’t have to sit there swallowing their spit and staring longingly at her food anymore.

At this level, they could finally keep pace with Qiao Yitong.

As the leader, he felt he had finally reclaimed some of his dignity.

He only hoped that for the remaining twenty days, Qiao Yitong wouldn’t cause any more trouble.

Otherwise, his reputation as a professional explorer would be completely shattered by this show, with not a shred of pride left.

Translator’s Notes