This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 61 The Nemesis of Mutated Leeches

Chapter 61: Chapter 61 The Nemesis of Mutated Leeches

The trade was over.

After leaving Wetland Park.

A frustrated Sun Shiqi could no longer contain himself and began to loudly complain.

"It’s simply unbelievable!"

"I’ve never encountered such stingy Blue Jackets. Where’s the restraint of civilization? What about fair exchange? These greedy ground squirrels!"

"I never should’ve harbored any illusions about them!"

In the tavern of the trade center in Red River Town, four out of every ten stories that were regaled pertained to the Blue Jackets.

Some people had previously managed to secure large bundles of goods from those Blue Jackets with just a few flatteries, while others had managed to wangle meals and drinks using a pile of colorful paper and still walked out carrying hefty bags of "survival supplies" prepared for them.

These Blue Jackets had almost become synonymous with the phrase "more money than sense." Stories about them often revolved around the term "overnight wealth."

Sun Shiqi never actually thought he could open up a shelter’s treasure trove with just a few words like the rumors suggested; he reckoned doing regular business seemed like a decent choice.

However...

Their reactions took him by surprise.

So much so that he couldn’t help but suspect that these guys might be vagrants in disguise.

Do Blue Jackets really build houses on the surface?

And until the end, he never actually saw where the shelter was...

The Gunman walking ahead cast a look back at him, then glanced at the bulging packages atop the double-headed cow and asked, puzzled,

"So, did you lose out on this deal?"

He had worked as a bodyguard for many years and dealt with countless merchants, seldom seeing them come out at a loss.

"Not exactly at a loss," Sun Shiqi said indignantly, "but I could have earned much more!"

The Gunman fell silent, shifting his attention away from him and resumed scanning the surroundings vigilantly.

Sun Shiqi pulled out his ledger with an expression of pain on his face.

kilograms of salt for just 30 kilograms of smoked meat.

If this trip hadn’t excluded a visit to Giant Stone City, even if someone pointed a gun at his head, he would have never accepted such an extortionate price!

But alas, there are no ifs in this world.

He couldn’t actually drag that salt all the way to Giant Stone City as hypothesized, exchange it for daily necessities and electronics, take those to a farm to swap for grains, and then use the grains from the farm to come here and trade for meat.

That round-trip would have taken him at least four days, or even a week!

The roads in the city were much harder to navigate than outside, not to mention winter was drawing near, and both humans and Variants were frantically preparing for the upcoming cold season.

At this time on the Wasteland, it was more dangerous than ever.

Considering both the time cost and the risks involved, he couldn’t possibly take this detour.

And that man had clearly seen this.

It wasn’t just the 10 kilograms of salt; the ten revolvers and two bags of bullets he carried were also fiercely bargained down by that guy for a variety of reasons.

While firearms might not be valuable in Giant Stone City, any Survivor Base would not refuse to hoard such easily maintained, durable, and cheap weapons. One could trade for 3 to 4 corpses of mutated hyenas with just one gun, and casually hiring a Butcher could yield sixty to seventy kilograms of meat.

That’s 70 kilograms of meat!

Exchanging for 30 kilograms of dried meat isn’t excessive, right? Even 20 kilograms wouldn’t be a loss!

Yet, that man was willing to give only 10 kilograms of unseasoned dried smoked meat per gun!

Despite all his persuasion, that man simply nodded out of respect for their "friendship," allowing him to take an extra kilogram of smoked fish.

Damn ground squirrel!

"I don’t quite understand, but isn’t it good enough that you made some profit?" the Gunman said nonchalantly, "Contentment brings happiness, that’s what I always hear."

"Heh, what could you understand? Being content won’t make one rich."

Sun Shiqi waved his pen impatiently, continuing to calculate in his ledger as he hurried along the road, muttering under his breath.

"...those dried meats need to be exchanged for at least 60 kilograms of crude salt. No, at least 80 kilograms to make it worth the trip. I need to think hard about which mine to do business with."

The Gunman glanced at him, then at the cargo on the double-headed cow’s back, and said in a light tone,

"Then you should be devout and grateful."

"At least I, accompanying you on this journey, am someone content with what I have."

...

kilograms of smoked meat plus 10 kilograms of smoked fish had been traded for 10 kilograms of crude salt, 10 revolving rifles, two large bags of bullets, and Game Currency.

Chu Guang was quite pleased with the deal.

Of course, the timing had been fortunate.

As winter approached, he who had food was king. Since prey was hibernating, the occasional catch could be preserved just by tossing it in the snow, making salt less vital.

Come spring, however, it would be a different story.

After all, making jerky in spring and summer and expecting to keep it without salt until winter was wishful thinking.

But then again, by that time, would Outpost need to rely on selling food to make money?

Chu Guang thought not.

After all, for Chu Guang, the production cost for 130 kilograms of smoked meat and 10 kilograms of smoked fish was just 60-80 Silver coins.

Even by the Grain Depot’s purchase price, it amounted to no more than 140 Silver coins.

Currently, since players were selling their catch directly to the Grain Depot, calculating based on production costs was more appropriate.

In fact, it didn’t really matter which price was used.

After all, Chu Guang now had an additional five hundred kilograms of the same Game Currency.

For him, as the Manager, "money" was really just a number...

...

Alone, he dragged all these coins into the refuge shelter, placing them in a vacant room. Gazing at the shiny coins, a satisfied smile spread across Chu Guang’s face.

If only he could exchange them all for chips.

Not to mention power armor, wouldn’t buying a plane be more than enough?

If someone were selling, that is...

Money that didn’t enter market circulation had no meaning.

Chu Guang merely admired his handiwork for a moment before turning to leave the shelter, returning to the surface to ponder over the glass jars he’d obtained from that Merchant surnamed Sun.

Fist-sized ants were crammed into the glass jar, frantically thrashing their legs and antennae, looking for an exit.

One Iron Back Ant facing outwards seemed most spirited, occasionally tapping the glass jar’s inner wall with its pincer-like mandibles.

However, the glass’s curved inner surface was too slippery to find a solid grip for biting, and even with formidable biting power, it was of no use, only desperately flailing against the transparent "wall."

Chu Guang was not interested in insects, but he was curious about how such small creatures became the natural enemies of Mutated Leeches.

Keep in mind that even the juveniles of Mutated Leeches were significantly larger than them.

So, Chu Guang went to the fishermen by the lake, borrowed a juvenile Mutated Leech, and put it in a bottle with a vigorous-looking Iron Back Ant.

Something interesting happened.

The Mutated Leech didn’t immediately attack its prey but tentatively stretched forward with its proboscis.

Just as the edge of the proboscis was about to touch the Iron Back Ant, the Mutated Leech suddenly recoiled as if shocked, twisting its plump body and burrowing to the other side of the jar, as if avoiding something.

And the ant was quite interesting too. It seemed to be aware that a formidable creature was nearby.

But it showed no panic, neither attacking immediately nor running away but instead circling the inside of the bottle while shaking the antennae atop its head.

What was it doing?

Could it be...

Crouching on the ground, Chu Guang stroked his chin, a realization suddenly dawning on his face.

"So that’s how it is..."

"It must be looking for its companions."

He seemed to have guessed the reason why these ants could restrain the Mutated Leeches.

Just as Chu Guang prepared to further confirm his speculation, some nearby players were watching and whispering to each other.

"What’s the Manager up to?"

"I don’t know, looks like he’s playing with ants."

"I saw him get a leech larva from those fishermen, could it be he wants to see ants and leeches fight?"

"Damn, who would have such a weird hobby?!"

Crow, who was carrying mushrooms to the granary, overheard the nearby players’ conversation and felt a chill down his spine, shivering involuntarily.

Leeches?

Why would anyone play with such disgusting things?!

That’s too terrifying...

...

After repeated comparative experiments, Chu Guang finally confirmed his guess.

First, leeches lack eyes and mainly rely on their sense of smell to hunt prey. Mutated Leeches are the same, and due to their even more sensitive smell, they are extraordinarily sensitive to odors.

When the Iron Back Ants find prey, their first action isn’t to attack, but like other ants, they immediately release pheromones to inform nearby companions—there’s a fat sheep here, everyone come and join in.

Although the digestive fluid of the Mutated Leeches can corrode most prey, it is almost ineffective against the Iron Back Ants; even if swallowed whole, they can’t be digested and would instead be gnawed from the inside.

As such, this fear of natural predators is almost ingrained into the genetics of the Mutated Leeches to the extent that, upon smelling the pheromones released by the Iron Back Ants, they instinctively flee without looking back.

"...Case closed, huh."

"It really is because of this thing."

Looking at the half-transparent gel-like substance the size of a thumbnail he held in his hand, Chu Guang gently squeezed it, reminiscent of spoiled tapioca pearls.

This stuff was the pheromone gland of the Iron Back Ant, located under its abdomen, which could be torn off without much effort.

After removing the pheromone gland from the large ant, Chu Guang put it back into the bottle, cohabiting with the Mutated Leech.

This time, the performance of the Mutated Leech was much braver.

After several tentative attempts and probably feeling that the odor on this thing wasn’t quite like that of its natural predator, it finally mustered the courage to swallow the prey whole, followed by its body rippling like waves.

About five or six minutes passed.

The young Mutated Leech that was still wriggling suddenly stopped moving.

Chu Guang poured it from the bottle and dissected its stomach with a Small Blade.

Inside, the ant had been suffocated but still clutched a piece of flesh in its mouth, likely torn from somewhere inside the young Mutated Leech.

Such a minor injury was not enough to kill a leech, so the real cause of death might have been the formic acid or something else injected into the leech.

"Eliminating the leeches in the nest isn’t realistic."

"But if the extract of the pheromone gland could be applied to the body, disguise as the natural predator of the Mutated Leeches... wouldn’t that make it possible to pass through the nest of Mutated Leeches unharmed?!"

Realizing this, Chu Guang’s face was immediately filled with excitement, and his gaze towards the glass jar beside him changed.

I’m gonna be rich!

kilograms of Blue Umbrella Mushrooms could be exchanged for 2000 points in chips, if he could manage to harvest 200 kilograms...

Of course, 200 kilograms might be an exaggeration.

But maybe a hundred pounds or so shouldn’t be a problem, right?

Pity all these Iron Back Ants are Worker Ants, without a queen capable of reproduction, otherwise, they could shear the Mutated Leech nest’s wool every day!

"...Need to find a player with high Proficiency level in gathering skills to do this job."

Chu Guang’s gaze began to roam the Outpost Base, searching for this lucky individual.

Suddenly, his eyes fixed on a player not far from the granary.

Crow!

The moment he saw this little player, Chu Guang’s eyes immediately lit up.

That was close.

He had almost forgotten about her!

If he remembered correctly, this player named Crow had the talent "Toxin Intuition," which made the Blue Umbrella Mushrooms she saw glow green!

While others would need to bring lights to search in the cave, this fellow simply had to follow the glowing green and grab it, wouldn’t it be easy to collect a hundred pounds or so?

Feeling the gaze of the Manager upon her, Crow, who had just finished her punishment task, shivered all over.

Her Perception-based intuition allowed her to foresee the danger.

However, just as she was about to make a run for it, Chu Guang anticipated her prediction and stepped forward to trigger the plot.

"How did you get on with your punishment task?"

Hearing the voice behind her, Crow cautiously turned around, trembling as she spoke to the Manager.

"I’ve, I’ve finished... Just now I finished, and I’ve already handed in 100 kilograms."

Chu Guang nodded.

"Good timing, you’ve finished. From now on, your status level is restored to Resident. Additionally, I have a glorious yet arduous mission for you."

Usually, Crow would have happily accepted, puffing out her chest with loyalty—after all, who wouldn’t love a hidden task?

Maybe she would even improve her favorability with the NPC!

However, from just a moment ago, her right eye started twitching incessantly, warning her that there might be a huge pitfall ahead.

"I might not be able to complete it. Maybe you should find someone else—"

"Believe in yourself, you can do it. Besides, only you can accomplish this mission!"

Chu Guang didn’t give Crow the chance to refuse, cutting off her whining with a serious face. After pausing for two seconds, he continued.

"I will give you a bottle of special powder. You need to apply it to your body."

"It will ensure that you can enter the Mutated Leech nest safely. What you need to do is to collect the glowing green mushrooms inside."

Crow was almost in tears, especially after hearing the six words "Mutated leech nest", she nearly panicked enough to disconnect on the spot.

"But, can I come out safely?"

Chu Guang spoke with certainty.

"In theory, yes."

Crow: "???"

In theory?!

Chu Guang didn’t give her the opportunity to protest and continued.

"Saying in theory is just for the sake of accuracy. Don’t worry, the success rate is over 90%. Even if you fail, you would have died in a special mission, and there won’t be any punishment other than the respawn cooldown."

But that still means there’s punishment!

The worst part is the respawn cooldown!

Crow said in a pitiful tone, "Can you also waive the respawn cooldown?"

Chu Guang paused for two seconds, selectively ignoring her question.

"The task is simple. You have 10 minutes of absolute safety, 20 minutes of relative safety."

"Once inside the nest, you don’t have to worry about anything else, just avoid those leeches and collect the glowing green Blue Umbrella Mushrooms you can see."

"Get as many as you can before your time is up."

"For every pound of Blue Umbrella Mushrooms—"

"I will count it as 4 copper coins, 5 points of Contribution!"

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