Volume 10: BUG Chapter 90: The Pivotal Person Who Decides Life and Death

Among the brave sky-travelers who have traversed countless dimensions and planes to reach the continent of Falvey in search of adventure, there circulates a maxim that, while seemingly crude, is undeniably true:

Never fear a formidable opponent; always fear a foolish teammate!

I firmly believe this to be an absolute truth, forged from countless instances of humiliation, failure, death, and bloodshed. It acts like a lighthouse in a storm, pointing the way forward and providing a benchmark for self-reflection for those struggling on the brink of death. When you are exhausted and cornered in battle, staring death in the face, look back at these words and you will realize that whoever first uttered this concise and wise piece of advice must have been a great poet, a heroic adventurer, a profound philosopher, and a wretch who had been dragged to his death countless times by stupid companions.

"Snap!" A violent impact suddenly came from beneath my sword. Because I had been fighting incorporeal desert spirits, I had grown accustomed to battles without physical contact. This collision was entirely unexpected; I lost my grip, and my longsword was nearly knocked from my hand.

A "Bone-Eating Giant Ant," standing at least half as tall as my waist, had appeared beside me without my notice. This colossal insect was encased in a thick layer of chitin, which was hardly inferior to standard metal armor. It was against this shell that my sword had struck.

If it were only one or two stray ants, they wouldn't pose much of a threat. But as I looked closely, I suddenly realized that, at some point, a dozen or more of these greedy, ravenous insects had gathered around us—even more numerous than the boneless spirits we had been fighting before.

What the hell? How did so many dangerous behemoths suddenly appear here?

"Help... why are there monsters everywhere..." The hysterical shrieks of "Candlelight Nanny," the Tauren Druid, drew my gaze. Following her form, I quickly understood why our enemies were only multiplying...

At the beginning, there was only one boneless spirit with less than a third of its health left tailing her, occasionally firing off a few harmless "Shadow Bolts" that caused the terrified Tauren Druid to wail in panic.

Candlelight Nanny was clearly rattled. Despite a colony of Bone-Eating Giant Ants nesting right in front of her, she panicked and blundered straight into them, inexplicably throwing a ball of magical flame that landed squarely on the backside of a level 50 "Mutant Bone-Eating Giant Ant."

"Where are you aiming!" Seeing another group of enraged giant ants trailing Candlelight Nanny and charging at us with murderous intent, Fei Yin gritted her teeth and roared.

"I... I... I forgot to switch targets..." Candlelight Nanny panted as she fled, her face a mask of innocent stupidity.

No sooner had she spoken than she mindlessly trampled over the large head of a Gravel-Floating Lizard.

Let’s assume you are lying on the beach, happily sunbathing with your wife and children, enjoying a peaceful life away from the world’s troubles, when suddenly some reckless fool runs out and kicks you hard in the forehead—what would you do?

If it were me, I would call up a bunch of brothers, grab my weapons, and give that fool a good lesson, letting him know that watching where you step is the most basic of moral standards.

This lizard was clearly a wild animal of as much breeding as I am, and it did exactly as I described.

Seven or eight gravel-floating lizards, each over a man's length, immediately joined the pursuit of the female Tauren, the leader—the most violent of them—bearing a distinct, circular Tauren hoofprint on its forehead. Others charged into our fray, engaging us with sharp claws and hard foreheads.

Give me a break, it was that horned idiot of a cow who provoked you, we’re all innocent... I cursed inwardly while swinging my sword, drenched in sweat.

Before long, almost every resident within a two-hundred-step radius of the desert had been harassed by Candlelight Nanny, and a long line of pursuers now trailed behind her. The enraged monsters and beasts roared viciously behind the Tauren Druid, kicking up a towering dust trail across the Gobi wasteland that looked truly spectacular.

In the end, these irritable creatures followed the path of the big, silly cow, eyes glowing green as they charged toward us. Already caught in a bitter struggle, we felt the pressure multiply as this wave of monsters bore down on us. Countless dangerous claws flashed before my eyes, leaving me completely overwhelmed; my shield-bearing left hand turned rigid from the excessive strain. Even so, as if she didn't think we were dying fast enough, Candlelight Nanny turned around and lured in two "Thorny Cactus Monsters," mutants of the desert flora.

In such a chaotic melee, even with gauntlets on our hands and potions at our sides, we had to keep every nerve strained; one slip could cost us our lives. And most infuriating of all, the culprit behind this disaster was still shamelessly crying for help:

"Big Sister, come and save me, I can't hold on anymore..."

Fei Yin's face turned ashen, her gaze sharp enough to pierce the Tauren Druid on the spot:

"You can't hold on? Nonsense, even I can barely hold on! What's wrong with you, luring so many monsters to get us killed? Isn't dying yourself enough, you have to drag us all down with you!"

"Big Sister, I was wrong... but I didn't mean to..." Candlelight Nanny defended herself, feeling wronged.

I firmly believed she hadn't done it on purpose; I even doubted that if she had set out to do it, she couldn't have orchestrated such a grand scene—but it was precisely for that reason that I plunged into deep despair: if a person is stupid to this degree, they are truly beyond saving.

Finally, under the violent tearing of two giant ants, Candlelight Nanny let out a muffled groan and dropped to the ground, turning into a dead cow.

The death of Candlelight Nanny left our adventuring party one person short.

One person short who lured monsters everywhere; one person short who wasted health potions; one person short who needed care and protection; one "very important" person short.

I say the Tauren Druid was "important," and that is no exaggeration. The moment she perished, I immediately felt the pressure ease significantly: no one was luring fresh, full-health monsters in front of me to replace the dangerous beasts I had already whittled down, and no one was blocking my line of sight, causing my attack skills to lose their target. My speed in eliminating opponents became faster and more efficient, and the frequency with which I had to drink potions decreased.

I had never thought that being able to fight freely and normally could be such a blissful thing.

Therefore, no matter how you measure it, the survival of Candlelight Nanny was indeed the key to this battle—she alone determined the balance of victory or defeat; she was the decisive weight on the scale!

I must say, the Tauren Druid's death was truly the greatest contribution she could have made to us—if she hadn't died, we likely would have all been wiped out. When an adventurer's value to their companions reaches such a point of "better off dead," I must say, you can no longer evaluate the meaning of their existence simply by the level of their "strength" or "intelligence."

This is nothing less than a "realm" of its own!

With the great burden of Candlelight Nanny gone, the three of us—Fo Xiao, Fei Yin, and myself—found ourselves with much less weight to carry. We fought as we moved, determined to avoid head-on clashes with the large groups of enemies, concentrating our strength to eliminate opponents one by one, fully utilizing flexible guerrilla tactics. About ten minutes later, that large group of fierce beasts and monsters was finally wiped out.

Sitting on the slope of a sand dune, we enjoyed the relief of having survived the intense battle while waiting for the Tauren Druid to resurrect. Fo Xiao pointed at the corpse on the ground and asked indignantly:

"Where did you find such a huge noob? She almost got us all wiped out!"

A rare look of embarrassment appeared on Fei Yin's face, and she shook her head helplessly: "A newcomer who just joined the guild. I heard she lives in the same city as me. I was bored, so I decided to show her the ropes. She’s stupid as a brick, only knows how to act tough and mess around, then lures a whole crowd of monsters. She’s already gotten me killed several times."

"Then why do you keep her around? Let a moron like that fend for herself!" Fo Xiao insisted, clearly still shaken by the near-death experience.

"Forget it, it’s just a game, why take it so seriously? Besides, we’re from the same city; a distant relative isn't as good as a close neighbor..." It was rare indeed for Fei Yin to be so magnanimous.

"Plus, she promised to treat me to a meal when she has time. It would be a sin to pass up such a bargain..." the Guild Leader added.

Huh, why do these things sound so familiar?

"So that's how it is..." Fo Xiao nodded in realization, seeming to recall that he was currently in the exact same predicament as Fei Yin.

"Big Sister..." Finally, the recently deceased Tauren Druid, Candlelight Nanny, resurrected. As soon as she stood up, she looked miserable and began to whine to Fei Yin: "...The precious armor you gave me is broken, and I don't even have enough money for repairs..."

Precious armor? I looked on with schadenfreude at the poorly crafted leather armor on the Tauren. Generally, such cast-offs would only be left to rot in a junk shop; I never expected anyone would actually be willing to wear this trash, and consider it a treasure at that.

Noobs are truly easy to swindle... I lamented from the bottom of my heart.

"Fine, fine, it's just repair fees..." Fei Yin frowned impatiently and tossed her a dozen silver coins, "...keep the rest to buy potions for yourself!"

This was the first time I had ever seen Fei Yin act so generously—she hadn't said a word about repayment or interest. But considering her mention of "treating her to a meal," although I couldn't fully grasp it, one thing I was certain of:

Our Guild Leader would never do anything where there wasn't a bargain to be had.

"Big Sister..." Candlelight Nanny was immediately moved, grabbing Fei Yin's arm and shaking it vigorously, her thick lips pressing against Fei Yin's cheek, "...you really are my best, best sister. If it weren't for you, what would I do..."

Witnessing a Tauren woman, who was even more robust and powerful than a man, strike such a delicate, sickeningly sweet, and intimate pose like a frail little woman, I felt goosebumps the size of soybeans cascading down my skin and landing on my feet.

The Tauren woman's tearful, soul-baring words of gratitude reminded both Fo Xiao and me of a familiar figure we had parted ways with not long ago—"I Am Your Father." This bearded new monk was startlingly similar to Candlelight Nanny in his displays of sycophancy and flattery.

"So... Miss Nanny..." Fo Xiao couldn't help but ask, "...how many siblings do you have?"

"Why are you asking that?" The Tauren Druid immediately looked at Fo Xiao with suspicion.

"Oh, nothing, just asking..." Fo Xiao replied with a sheepish grin, "I was just thinking, we might have just met your brother..."

"By the way, what did you two come all the way out here for?" Fei Yin suddenly asked us, subconsciously tightening her grip on her coin purse, "Don't tell me you're here to borrow money. Repaying is welcome, but borrowing is out of the question!"

Watching our Guild Leader act like a miser, Fo Xiao and I exchanged a look of helplessness. Fo Xiao looked around, then lowered his voice and said to Fei Yin: "We just discovered a bug."

Although I didn't understand what a "bug" meant, Fei Yin clearly did. She loosened her right hand from the coin purse and looked at us suspiciously: "A bug? What's going on? Explain it to me clearly."

"The thing is..." I cleared my throat, took off the "Boxing Gloves" I was wearing, and recounted the whole story, starting from helping "I Am Your Father" change his class, all the way to how we verified that only these specific gloves could add attributes to professions other than a monk.

"...That's it. We found that we can also equip and use these gloves, and they don't conflict with other weapons or gear." Fo Xiao also took off his boxing gloves to show Fei Yin his attribute changes.

Candlelight Nanny stood by, her eyes glowing: "Can we Druids wear these gloves too?"

"We should be able to, we haven't tested it yet." Fo Xiao handed a pair of boxing gloves to her, signaling for her to try.

The Tauren Druid hopefully shoved her large hands into the gloves—they didn't rip—and she shouted excitedly:

"Big Sister, it really works! My attack power increased by forty points!"

Forty points of attack power from the boxing gloves might not seem very significant to us, but for this "Noob Cow" (short for "noob female cow"), it was a qualitative leap. She looked at her hands with greedy affection, rubbing her fingers constantly as if verifying if the gloves were still on. Looking at her reddened bovine eyes, she seemed to wish the gloves would simply grow onto her hide.

Candlelight Nanny's pathetic, small-time peasant demeanor was too much even for Fei Yin: "Alright, alright, this kind of low-level gear is everywhere. If you want them, just take these gloves and use them."

"Really? Big Sister, you really are a great person, thank you so much!" Candlelight Nanny was overjoyed and couldn't resist giving Fei Yin another sisterly hug—only due to Fei Yin's strong resistance did she fail to press her large mouth onto Fei Yin's cheek again.

The Tauren Druid was clearly too excited, so she didn't hear Fei Yin's follow-up:

"...You won't be able to use them for more than a few days anyway."

"I'm going to test their effect..." Candlelight Nanny hopped away.

At that moment, the three of us were busy discussing how to use the boxing gloves, so we all overlooked where the noob cow had gone. I gave a distracted acknowledgment, then asked Fei Yin urgently: "Guild Leader, what should we do now?"

"Let's distribute one to everyone in the guild; that way our guild's strength will be much greater..." Fo Xiao couldn't contain his excitement, "...with higher attack power, dungeons will be much easier, and maybe we can be the first to clear new high-level raids..."

Fei Yin smiled and shook her head, just about to speak, when she suddenly seemed to remember something:

"Ah, what did that noob say when she left just now?"

"She seemed to say... she was going to test the gloves' effect..." I replied, recalling. It wasn't until I finished speaking that I realized the potential danger behind that statement.

"Ah, my attack power is so high now, this glove really works..." Candlelight Nanny's excited shouting came from the other side of the dune. The three of us turned ashen—we were too late!

"Oh no, don't hit me... why are there more over here... ah, and there... why are they all swarming over... Big Sister, help..."

An exceptionally stout female figure came tumbling and crawling down from the top of the dune. A moment later, a towering fog churned at the top of the dune, as if a hurricane had passed through. At first, only a few scattered black dots crested the dune, rushing down the slope. Soon, those black dots gathered to a shocking extent, almost covering the entire hillside. From a distance, it looked as though the entire sand dune was collapsing forward. The scene was incredibly spectacular, and one couldn't help but feel moved to the point of tears.

Our tears were indeed about to fall, though it had nothing to do with being "moved" in the depths of our hearts.

"To hell with it, did that idiot woman lure every monster in the wilderness here..." Fei Yin didn't even look back, using a "Teleport" to rush to the very front of us, fleeing for her life while cursing...