Chapter 23: A Pet’s Lament and a Looming Threat

A soft, alluring voice lamented, “Only one life skill specialty… sigh.”

Although I was still deeply unaccustomed to this female body, especially with its nine sensitive, large tails, and despite having entered the game with the sole intention of becoming a life player, there was no denying that now, it was impossible for me to remain a purely casual player. I had no choice but to concern myself with my own strength.

Wherever one went, the law of the jungle, where the strong preyed on the weak, was inescapable; only one’s own power offered true reliability, providing the greatest sense of security for myself, and for Yingning.

Since I had promised Yingning to play this game alongside her, I had to dedicate myself to it, even if this current identity felt somewhat strange.

I reasoned that once the server returned to normal, I could simply revert my data to my original identity—assuming, of course, there were no unforeseen complications… And surely, there wouldn’t be any, right?

Unexpectedly, Yingning overheard my lament.

She withdrew her gaze from her inventory, turning her attention back to me, and spoke with a slightly chiding tone, “It’s already amazing that you have a special skill!

Other pets only learn one at levels thirty or fifty, yet you’re only level ten!

And you’ve learned a divine skill that provides fixed skill level bonuses!

Shouldn’t I say that you truly live up to being one of the most talented pets in the entire game!”

“Yet they’re all support skills… sigh.”

I continued to lament, utterly exasperated by this incredibly weak and utterly useless healing and support skill tree, “Where’s Blizzard? Where’s Thunderstorm? Whirlwind Slash? Shadow Assault? Cloud Dragon Shot? What’s the meaning of giving me [Gentle Hand of Spring] (TL Note: A healing skill, literally ‘Plain Hand Returns Spring’)?

Learning medicine won’t save the Chinese people!”

What’s more, even my voice was so soft, gentle, and delicate; anyone hearing it would instantly know I was easy to bully…

Watching my sighing, lamenting demeanor, Yingning’s eyes sparkled with an unusual brilliance.

She murmured softly to herself, ‘So adorable.

As expected of a top-tier pet; even her dejected expression is incredibly cute!

And she even uses memes… I definitely need to tease her more often in the future!’

“Huh! The pet interface has changed! There are so many new functions!”

Yingning shrieked in continuous surprise after opening the pet page, “Invite to guild… Invite to party… Mail sending/receiving… Video calls… Accepting quests… Oh my goodness! It’s practically like a player!

And didn’t they say pets only have pet accessory slots?

You actually have player accessory slots AND player weapon/equipment slots!

My heavens… super-tier pets are so powerful!

They’re truly like a bug in the system!”

Because it *was* a bug, one I had created myself…

Of course, I didn’t tell Yingning any of this.

“There’s also a skill to hide tails! You can hide eight of them! Yay! Now you can do quests with me!”

That tail-hiding skill wasn’t something I had configured; it must have been a new function that automatically activated once I reached a certain level.

After all, nine tails took up an excessive amount of space, making certain activities rather inconvenient.

Watching Yingning cheer and leap with joy like a child over her new discovery, I also felt my mood brighten considerably.

Even the two small mounds on my chest seemed to lighten considerably, my ears relaxed and drooped to the sides, and one of my tails playfully curled upwards, swaying back and forth…

‘This must be the system’s doing! How could I possibly be unconsciously acting cute?’

In any case, happiness was undeniably contagious.

Yingning lowered her head, resuming her inspection of the loot, revealing the small mountain of items that had previously been obscured by her head.

My gaze sharpened.

My pupils abruptly contracted into narrow slits.

My heart clenched tightly, and the fur all over my body instantly bristled!

This was the instinctive reaction to sensing imminent danger!

In my urgency, there was no time to fret over my alluring voice; I let out a sharp cry, “Duck!”

Perhaps the system, too, sensed my urgent panic, as it did not forcibly add the prefix ‘Master’.

“Wh—”

“Teleport!”

Boom!

The earth ripped apart, a true cataclysm!

That small mountain.

It exploded!