Chapter 16: A Cruel World

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation

Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

“Brother, this is for you!”

As Meng Yang was speaking to the female archer, a weak voice spoke from beside him.

Standing beside Phoenix was a golden-haired, weak-looking girl with slightly darkened skin who walked up to him timidly. In her hands was some kind of melon that resembled a steamed sweet potato, and she handed it to Meng Yang.

“Our food is limited.” The female archer, Phoenix said somewhat apologetically, “You can follow Lil Angie later to find somewhere to rest for the night.”

“Thank you!”

Meng Yang nodded in gratitude. Ever since he entered the City of Despair, he could already imagine the living conditions of the people here.

After he bent down to take the steamed melon from the little girl’s hands, Meng Yang followed the girl called Angie to a small room in the fortress that was separated by simple wooden boards and sat down.

The little girl called Angie did not leave. Instead, she assessed Meng Yang with her big, round eyes. When she saw him evaluating the steamed melon in his hands, the girl smiled and made gestures to show him how to eat it.

“Brother, you have to do this. Peel the skin first, then slowly eat the inside.”

“Like this?”

Meng Yang watched the girl’s adorable movements and smiled as he copied her, peeling away the melon’s charred skin to reveal the white flesh within.

A delicious aroma wafted through the air. Meng Yang first passed it to the girl, but she shook her head, insisting that Meng Yang should eat it himself.

Meng Yang laughed suddenly. The absurdity and the confusion which he had felt ever since he arrived in this alternate world seemed to be relieved slightly at that moment.

He lowered his head and took a bite of this unknown steamed melon. It tasted a lot stronger than any of the unknown root crops which he had eaten in the wilderness. It vaguely resembled a pumpkin and a potato. The overall portion was not much, and after a few bites, Meng Yang had finished it.

When she saw that Meng Yang had finished the food, the girl beside him smiled sweetly, then she turned and ran off.

Meng Yang watched the little girl as she left, then took another look at the settlement within the fortress. The sky was getting dark, most of the people in the settlement barely spoke or interacted, and it seemed especially lonely.

With his hands behind his head, Meng Yang lay down on a thick piece of a wooden plank. At that moment, he could feel his body’s exhaustion and his mind’s fear.

“Maybe I should summon those players. Even if it’s just to have a chat!”

Meng Yang sighed quietly. It had only been a day since he crossed over to this world. However, he felt as if a long time had passed.

In the end, Meng Yang did not contact the Summoning Pixie in his mind. His surroundings were still safe for now. The tiredness and mental tension which he had gathered in that one day were more important. At that moment, when he suddenly relaxed, the tiredness and sleepiness flooded him like a tide. It was impossible to resist.

The groggy Meng Yang did not know how long he had slept, but sudden, strong tremors woke him from his slumber.

Meng Yang immediately sat upright, then he saw a huge figure leaping across the darkened fortress.

At the same time, it seemed like the quiet interior of the fortress moved at once. Suddenly, there were sounds that resembled a cacophony of gongs.

When the huge figure heard the loud clanging, it let out a thunderous roar that instantly drowned out the sounds of the gongs.

“That…”

The dim fortress was lit up by numerous torches. With the light of the surrounding torches, Meng Yang could now see the huge figure. He wanted to yell out, but no words came out from his mouth.

It was a two-meter-tall, five-meter-long creature. The huge creature’s appearance resembled what Meng Yang knew as a tiger. However, its body looked bigger and stronger, with long, sharp fangs that protruded from its lips. It was circling inside the area that had been lit up by torches.

“Saw-toothed tiger!”

“The saw-toothed tiger is here!”

The sounds of gongs continued. Behind every torch, Meng Yang could see it was either an elderly or a woman who was holding a bronze gong. They hit the gong endlessly as if they were using the loud noises to chase the beast away from the fortress.

As he watched their frantic movements, Meng Yang could imagine that this was not the first time that this had happened.

However, even though the loud noises made the saw-toothed tiger that stood within the clearing of the fortress restless, it did not seem to have any intention of leaving.

Boom!

At that moment, the sound of a bowstring rang out among the loud noises. A feathered arrow shot out toward the saw-toothed tiger.

The feathered arrow was fast, but it was obviously not aimed at a crucial point of the saw-toothed tiger’s body, and only managed to hit its shoulder muscle.

The saw-toothed tiger roared in pain, and seemed to want to jump, but then—

Boom!

The bowstring rang again.

A feathered arrow flew down and sunk into the ground before the saw-toothed tiger. Almost half of the front end of the arrow had buried itself into the ground, with only the feathers on the end left quivering.

The saw-toothed tiger looked at the feathered arrow before it, then at the position in the distance where the arrow had come from, and let out an reluctant roar, as if it were afraid of the feathered arrows.

Then, another arrow landed beside the saw-toothed tiger’s huge paw, making the gigantic beast take two steps back, roaring again. The saw-toothed tiger, which seemed larger than a multi-purpose vehicle, shook its large head and started to turn around.

“Be careful!”

Just as Meng Yang and the other torch-wielding people thought that the saw-toothed tiger was about to leave, the huge beast suddenly leaped toward a clearing within the fortress, opening its jaws and taking a bite. In that instant, it had picked up a person and sped towards the wall of the fortress.

It was followed by two more sounds of the bowstring, arrows falling where the saw-toothed tiger had just stepped, but it was too late. In a blink of an eye, the saw-toothed tiger had leaped over the wall and disappeared swiftly into the distance.

Meng Yang’s body felt cold all over. Compared to the pig-headed monster he had countered, and the flower-backed spider which he had met, or even the ambush of the gnolls or any other dangers that he had faced, at that moment, he had seen the cruel side of this world again.

Within the light of the surrounding torches, everyone had seen everything that just happened. There was no crying, no panicking, only silence.

The invasions in the dark had made them used to everything that had happened.

“Tighten security!”

The female archer Phoenix’s voice called out in the silence of the night.