Good Baby C30

Chapter 30

When Gairo first heard those words, he didn’t react at all. He even found it a little amusing.

“No need to change. You’re a tiger to begin with.”

As soon as he finished speaking, he realized something and abruptly looked up. The chubby little tiger opposite him had already transformed into a beastman.

Maya immediately went over to check his arm. After confirming that there were no half-beast tribal markings, she let out a sigh of relief. As long as he was a beastman, that was good.

“Congratulations, An An.”

After transforming into a human, An An’s features were exquisitely delicate. His face still had a bit of baby fat that hadn’t completely disappeared, making him look soft and touchable, evoking an inexplicable urge to pinch his cheeks.

Maya took out all the items she had prepared in advance, planning to celebrate properly.

Having just turned into a human, An An wasn’t quite used to it yet. He clumsily reached out to grab a fruit, sunlight glinting off his black hair.

Not far away, a squirrel carried a fruit over and dropped it into his arms. When An An looked over, the squirrel waved its little paw at him.

An An had become a beastman, and both Maya and Gairo were overjoyed. They celebrated until late at night before finally resting.

They had agreed that, starting tomorrow, An An would go out hunting with them. Just as they were about to turn and ask for An An’s opinion, they saw the young boy sitting there, his pale arms hugging a small squirrel. Both the boy and the squirrel were fast asleep.

Now that An An had become a beastman, no matter how much Gairo and Maya spoiled him, it was impossible to treat him like a child anymore.

Fortunately, although An An was pampered and loved to slack off, he didn’t resist learning. He could feel that his body had changed—he no longer felt weak like before and could run long distances without getting tired.

Being able to transform into a human form was nice, but in most cases, An An, like Gairo, still preferred to remain in his animal form. He found it more comfortable.

Early the next morning, Maya went out to hunt. After running a lap, An An returned and couldn’t find his mother. So, he picked up the colorful string his mother had made for him and went to find Gairo.

Gairo had seen it before. The little cub would braid his fur differently every day, and as he ran, the braids would bounce adorably. But Gairo had never tried it himself.

On the second day after turning into a beastman, the little tiger stubbornly wanted to look pretty. He directly bumped his head into Gairo and rubbed against him forcefully.

When An An was still small, this was how he acted spoiled. But now that he had grown so big, Gairo almost got knocked over.

“Alright, alright, I’ll braid it for you.”

“Awwoo!”

Gairo transformed into his human form. Despite being a 1.9-meter-tall man, he didn’t seem weak in front of a tiger. His tanned hands clumsily held a bright yellow tree bark strip, trying to braid the longer tufts of fur on An An’s head.

After a long attempt, Gairo felt like he had exhausted all the patience he had for a lifetime on this task.

At first, An An lay there expectantly. But under the warm sunlight, he soon became sleepy, yawned, and squinted his eyes.

When Gairo finally ran out of patience and looked down, he saw the cub enjoying himself too much. Annoyed, he gave An An’s head a gentle smack.

“Wait for Maya.”

“Hmph.”

Annoyed by the smack, An An took the colorful tree bark in his mouth and deliberately ran as far as possible, using this childish method to sulk with Gairo.

The 1.9-meter-tall man squatted under a big tree, feeling extremely wronged. Wasn’t this cub just making things difficult for him? He could easily take down a deer with his bare hands, but this was genuinely beyond him.

Forget making it look as neat as Maya’s braids—he couldn’t even manage a simple tie-up.

When Maya returned with food, she saw the big tiger whining and complaining, then noticed his fur had been messed up into a tangled mess. She gently rubbed his head and said,

“Let me do it.”

Over the years, Maya had long since gotten used to An An’s vanity. It wasn’t a complicated task anyway. On the entire grassland, their little tiger was probably the only one who insisted on having two braids on his head.

No matter how far away, Maya could recognize him at a glance.

After getting his braids done, An An went to the lake, twisting his head back and forth in the reflection to admire himself.

That afternoon, Gairo took An An out hunting, while Maya prepared food for the winter.

She had already learned how to store food—doing it even better than An An.

Since Maya lacked the strength for direct confrontation, her hunting relied mostly on technique. That was why she couldn’t teach An An herself. A beastman had so much power, and if he didn’t use it for hunting, it would be a waste.

At the front, Gairo swiftly took down prey, pouncing and sinking his teeth into a deer’s fragile neck. The deer struggled twice before quickly going still.

Following behind Gairo, An An didn’t really learn much. After all, Gairo had watched this cub grow from a tiny ball of fluff into his current size. Even though An An was clearly just tagging along to slack off, Gairo let him be.

During hunting practice, An An got kicked in the belly by a deer due to an incorrect move. When Gairo saw this, his heart almost stopped in shock.

He quickly dashed over and bit through the deer’s throat. Meanwhile, An An, whose belly ached from the kick, simply lay on the ground whining, pretending to be pitiful.

Gairo tossed the deer in front of him and said in a low voice,

“This one’s yours.”

The little tiger, who had been acting hurt, immediately perked up. He got up at once, shook the dust off his fur, and excitedly trotted over to grab his “catch,” carrying it back with a wagging tail.

“Awwooo~”

Seeing him so happy, Gairo simply followed along.

This place was too peaceful—so peaceful that Gairo didn’t even mind if An An wasn’t taking his lessons seriously.

The deer were easy to catch and had good-tasting meat. There were delicious fruits in all seasons. Though Gairo never liked eating them, he saw that Maya and An An enjoyed them a lot.

The water supply was abundant, and the temperature barely changed with the seasons. Even Gairo had grown lazy living here.

When they returned, Maya immediately noticed something was off. The prey An An was carrying clearly wasn’t something he could have taken down himself. She looked over and saw An An sitting there, guiltily scratching at his paw.

“Gairo, An An is already an adult beastman.”

Hearing that, the little tiger unwillingly pawed at his mother’s tail. If he had known that adulthood would mean getting scolded like this, he might as well have stayed a cub forever.

“We need to teach him enough skills so he can survive on his own.”

The large tiger following behind An An had its tail drooping, not daring to say a word.

As a beastman who grew up alone, Gairo understood that Maya was right. But it was still hard to just watch the cub struggle after getting kicked in the stomach by a deer without stepping in to help.

“And you, An An,” Maya continued. “As an adult beastman, you must learn to hunt on your own.”

“Gairo and I will grow old and eventually lose our ability to hunt. No one can stay with you forever. There will come a day when you’ll have to rely on yourself to survive.”

Maya rarely brought up the topic of death with An An. She didn’t want him to feel sad over it, even though death was an everyday occurrence on the grasslands.

But seeing how lazy An An had been lately, she had no choice but to lay out the harsh reality in front of him, hoping to instill a sense of urgency before it was too late.

An An’s guilty expression gradually changed. After a moment, he let out a soft, “Awwoo.”

An’an’s initially guilty expression gradually changed. After a moment, he softly let out an “Ah-woo.”

“Mom, I will work hard to practice hunting. You don’t have to worry. When you and Gairo grow old, I will bring food back for you to eat.”

“You don’t have to worry. I will strive to become as strong as Gairo.”

Back when they were forced to move from the forest to the grasslands, most beastmen, even if they were related by blood, had weak relationships. Many young cubs were abandoned as soon as they were born and left to fend for themselves.

An’an’s words described a way of living that Maya had never heard of before.

Most beastmen, when they aged, either died during a hunt or starved to death.

If it were just for himself, An’an would have found it difficult to break free from his previously lazy environment. It would take a long time for him to transition.

But now, when Maya mentioned that she and Gairo would eventually grow old, he couldn’t wait to become stronger than Gairo as soon as possible.

Both Gairo and Maya had complicated expressions. They exchanged a glance and helplessly shook their heads. This little cub they had taken in always brought them unexpected surprises. It wasn’t a bad feeling.

Unfortunately, only half a month had passed, and before An’an could fully master the hunting techniques he had been learning, the number of deer in the area suddenly started decreasing. It looked like they had fallen victim to a serious disease. The water sources were showing signs of drying up, and other small animals had already begun migrating elsewhere.

“Cub, you should leave this place.”

The system noticed the changes in the environment and reminded An’an when he was still reluctant. The longer they stayed, the worse it would be for them.

“I understand.”

That night, with an empty stomach, An’an brought up the need to leave with Maya and Gairo. Maya was reluctant—after all, they had lived here for so many years, and the environment was so good.

From as far back as she could remember, Maya had never lived as comfortably as she had here.

“Mom, this place won’t return to how it was.”

An’an’s single sentence shattered Maya’s illusion. After a moment of contemplation, she gave a small nod.

“Alright, we’ll leave tomorrow.”

Not long after they left, most of the trees in the area completely withered. It was as if this place had only briefly flourished just to allow An’an to grow up safely.

The system could tell that this was the result of the luck An’an had regained as a reward from his previous world’s mission. If just one instance had such an effect, it was clear how much An’an had lost before.

As they migrated, Gairo kept thinking about claiming a new territory, just like when he first brought An’an back.

Gairo had many habits that were hard to change—such as disliking other animals wandering freely into his territory. Marking out a designated area would also give them a sense of security.

Maya fully agreed with Gairo’s idea. She also felt that it would make things much easier in the long run, and most importantly, it would help them teach An’an proper hunting techniques.

Back when Gairo had just come of age and decided to claim his own territory, he had specifically chosen a place near a water source. He had enclosed the second-largest water source on the grasslands.

One reason was for convenient access to drinking water, and another was to help him detect any changes in the weather and leave in time. Now, an additional reason was that An’an liked to wash his paws.

Before they could finish discussing things, their stomachs started growling. Just then, a wild boar appeared in their field of vision. Gairo and Maya exchanged a glance and immediately charged forward without needing to communicate.

This time, An’an didn’t just hide in the bushes like when he was younger—he also charged forward.

The wild boar looked quite plump and was very strong. After living a peaceful life in the previous area for so long, their hunting skills had dulled significantly. In the end, they could only watch helplessly as the injured wild boar escaped.

“Ah-woo…”

An’an drooped his head, his eyes filled with frustration.

Gairo had never thought he would fall to the point where he couldn’t even take down a single wild boar. It must have been because the deer in their previous home were too dumb, making him weak.

Their first attempt at hunting ended in failure, and with their stomachs still empty, the three of them continued searching. On their second attempt, they happened upon an antelope.

This time, they were clearly more cautious. The three of them carefully observed and waited for the right moment before charging in. After a brief, helpless struggle, the antelope stopped moving.

After these two hunts, Gairo deeply realized his shortcomings. He decided that once they settled on a suitable territory, he would train himself properly—he absolutely couldn’t allow himself to be unable to take down a wild boar alone.

Having eaten deer meat for years, An’an had always found only certain parts of the deer to be tasty. Now, this strong-smelling antelope meat was even worse. He forced himself to suppress his reluctance and took a bite.

He didn’t know how far they would have to travel, and he needed plenty of strength. A tiger as big as him couldn’t just ride on Gairo’s back like when he was little.

Soon, they found a suitable location. Gairo decided to claim the area as his new territory. Two fully grown tigers and a half-beast made for an eye-catching presence on the grasslands.

Those who weren’t strong enough wouldn’t dare provoke them, and those who were strong enough to try mostly wouldn’t bother with the trouble.

Why fight when sleeping on the ground was more comfortable? It was better to save energy for hunting.

Once they had secured their new territory, An’an’s training officially began. Whether it was Maya or Gairo going out to hunt, he would eagerly follow. The newly grown young tiger was full of energy.

Gairo specialized in tracking and combat, while Maya was better at using techniques to disable prey. An’an learned from both of them, greedily absorbing all their skills.

System 250 watched with satisfaction. It had complete faith in this cub’s ability to learn.

As long as he wanted to do something, he would accomplish it—just like in the previous world, where he had solved the problem of longevity, something that had stumped countless genius scientists.

If this new territory had been found before their previous home, Gairo would have been satisfied. There was even a place to take shelter from the winter storms.

But after living in such a warm, comfortable environment for years, it was hard not to become picky.

The water source was a little farther away, winters would be cold, and prey had to be hunted from a greater distance. These issues made Gairo, who was struggling to adapt to the new location, irritable—he even wanted to stomp on a pile of dry grass by the roadside.

As he relearned his old hunting skills, Gairo was constantly covered in injuries during the adjustment period. Meanwhile, Maya always managed to find the herbs they needed just in time.

Gairo still remembered when An’an was little—once, a bug bit him, and Maya had found herbs to treat it. For a long time after, the little green-headed tiger had been a funny sight.

Back then, Gairo had thought it looked silly. But now, he wasn’t so sure. The herbs actually worked—they made his wounds feel much better, and he could clearly sense them healing faster.

An’an followed behind the big tiger, copying his every step. Even though they had left their old home, they could still fill their stomachs. Part of it was due to the season, but they were also undeniably skilled.

Drying and storing food, gathering medicinal herbs—these tasks were mostly done by Maya, and as a result, she gradually spent less time hunting.

In the eyes of Gairo and An An, even though she did not go out hunting with them, her contributions to the family were in no way less than theirs.

Drying and storing food was something Gairo and An An could force themselves to do if they had enough patience, but identifying useful medicinal herbs from a pile of weeds was a real challenge for the two tigers, who were naturally impatient.

Especially for An An—when Maya dragged him by the ear to learn how to distinguish medicinal herbs, he stared at them for a long time until his head ached. He would rather catch fifty prey than ever deal with herbs again.

And so, they welcomed their first winter outside that paradise.

The increasingly cold weather came with warning signs. Watching the falling leaves drifting in the wind, An An was no longer delighted. Instead, he sat under a tree, propping up his big head like his mother, worrying that this would be another harsh winter.

Just as An An was lost in thought, a sudden scent of blood reached his nose. The big tiger, lazily basking in the sun nearby with half-closed eyes, suddenly snapped them open.