Vicious Dog

The moment he leaped out of the bushes, Garen's worries vanished.

Because the dog in front of him was nothing like a cute little darling.

At least Garen had never seen a darling that was over three meters tall while standing on all fours.

But what followed was the fear of facing an unknown giant beast.

Garen's body froze in place, the thick wooden stick in his hand stuck in mid-air.

Compared to that big dog, this bowl-thick wooden stick seemed a bit too delicate, and Garen's own muscular physique seemed insignificant.

And...

What made Garen even more terrified was the appearance of this big dog:

Fluffy and slightly curly brown fur, with eye sockets that were relatively small and almost hidden within the fur ball, a red tongue lolling limply outside its mouth...

Was this dog a Teddy Dog?

Garen suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.

Garen had never owned a Teddy Dog; the ones that grew up with him in his past life were the simple and obedient Chinese Rural Dogs.

But he had personally witnessed the power of Teddy Dogs:

Once, he went to a friend's house.

Unaware of Tai Ri Tian's power, he was almost grabbed by the Teddy Dog his friend kept.

That feeling was simply a nightmare.

And this three-meter-tall giant Teddy in front of him was a super-sized, invincible version of that nightmare.

But, where did such a big Teddy come from?

Maybe it just looked like one.

Garen comforted himself this way, but he nervously swallowed a mouthful of saliva, and his agile legs quietly retreated two steps.

"Woof woof?"

The Big Teddy had already discovered Garen's presence.

It suddenly turned around, its gaze fixed on Garen's strong, muscular, and bare body.

"Woof woof woof!"

The Big Teddy's breathing intensified, and its tongue and tail began to wag faster as if stimulated.

Even its pair of eyes, without any concealment, revealed a humanized greed and desire, as if two lecherous peach hearts were faintly emerging.

"What the f*ck?"

Garen was so startled that he blurted out a curse.

Being stared at by a dog more terrifying than an elephant was not a good experience.

This big dog in front of him was 100% in heat!

And around them, besides himself, there were no other living creatures. The target of this Big Teddy's heat could be imagined.

Garen didn't run, because he understood:

Although he was a little superhero now, this Big Teddy in front of him was clearly no ordinary vicious dog.

And for humans facing a chasing vicious dog, running was useless.

Mustering Courage and showing "killing intent" might even scare away a vicious dog with a dull mind.

So Garen tightly gripped the wooden stick in his hand, waved it twice in the air with full of killing intent, and finally shouted with all his might:

"Come on! Face me head-on!"

The Big Teddy froze for a second, then leaped up.

Garen was dumbfounded.

Canines already had astonishing jumping abilities, and when their size was amplified to this elephantine level, it became even more terrifying.

The dozens of meters between Garen and the dog were crossed by the Big Teddy in a single leap, and it then pounced down from the sky onto Garen's head.

Garen felt the entire sky darken.

He lacked combat experience, and even more so, he lacked experience fighting an "elephant."

As a result, at this critical moment of life and death, Garen couldn't help but pause slightly.

And the ferocious Big Teddy had already seized this opportunity to leap from mid-air onto Garen, and then pushed Garen's tall and sturdy body to the ground.

Although the Big Teddy's movements were swift, its actions were measured.

It didn't use its most lethal teeth to bite, nor did it use its sharp claws to tear. It simply gently pressed its soft, large paws onto Garen's bare chest, and then eagerly lowered its head to lick Garen with its wet, large tongue.

Garen cursed, finally snapping out of his shock.

He recognized the seriousness of the situation:

Resist, must resist!!

I absolutely cannot let this Teddy have an opening!

Flames of rage ignited in Garen's eyes, surging blood pulsed in his chest. A mediocre little citizen had finally found the dignity of a warrior!

Garen's powerful body erupted with strength far exceeding his usual, and he got up, breaking free from the Big Teddy's claws. Finally, he landed a punch on the Big Teddy's mouth, which was almost drooling.

A dull thud echoed, and the Big Teddy's mouth was deformed by the blow.

"Woof!"

It let out a pained roar and could no longer bother to protect the "Little Beauty" beneath it. A giant claw instinctively swiped fiercely at Garen.

The tall Garen was immediately sent flying like a ball.

The impact of the giant claw on his body made Garen feel as if he had been hit by a Truck.

Just as Garen's body was still in mid-air, a mechanical voice suddenly sounded in his mind:

Detected Host receiving combat damage

Combat System unlocked

Data Mode activated.

Garen's body, weakened by hunger, was instantly filled with full stamina.

And a familiar virtual reality interface suddenly appeared in Garen's vision:

Minimap, Skill Bar, Experience Bar, Avatar, Health Bar.

However, there was no Attribute Bar or Equipment Bar.

As for the Mana Bar, Garen didn't have one to begin with.

The external changes were even more spectacular:

A dazzling light suddenly flashed on Garen's nearly naked body.

When the light faded, Garen was clad in a magnificent set of armor, and a broad greatsword appeared in his hand.

But Garen didn't have time to pay attention to the armor on his body, nor did he care about the combat interface that suddenly appeared in his vision, because...

He was still in mid-air, moving in an uncontrollable parabolic trajectory.

And Garen's current situation was extremely dire:

In the direction he was flying, there was a Tall Monster Tree that didn't exist on Earth.

This tree was covered all over with sharp Spikes, which reflected a metallic sheen.

It stood there, all jagged and awkward, like a massive mountain of blades.

And Garen, who had been sent flying by Big Teddy, was uncontrollably hurtling towards that mountain of blades.

Shriiink--

After a crisp sound of tearing fabric, Garen was completely impaled on the mountain of blades formed by those sharp spikes.

The sharp spikes pierced Garen's heavy armor, digging deep into his internal organs.

Garen's limbs were also completely pierced by these long spikes.

Even more terrifyingly, one spike had passed directly between Garen's eye sockets, completely piercing his most vulnerable brain.

No one could survive such an injury.

Except for the protagonist.

"Me."

With a wooden spike still lodged in his brain, Garen said in astonishment, "I'm not dead?"

Not only was he not dead, but he felt no pain at all.

The only effect this wooden spike, which had pierced his brain from his eye socket, had on him was to render one of his eyes blind.

No, there were some other effects.

Garen examined the system interface he had just awakened, and saw that a section of his health bar had inexplicably decreased.

And it was only a small section.

For a game character, this was not at all significant damage, let alone a fatal wound.

But for a normal human body, being pierced through the brain by such a sharp and thick foreign object.

Would be enough to settle down in an urn.

Garen suddenly realized:

This was the so-called Data Mode?

Completely like a character model in a game, all vitality was digitized into the form of HP, and there was no such thing as a "vital point."

Even if the brain or heart was hit, the damage was determined by the force of the attack.

The same attack would cause the same damage whether it hit the foot or the head.

Garen was greatly surprised, and regardless of being thoroughly pierced by the spikes, he excitedly began to study his system:

Other than the absence of an equipment bar and status panel, everything else was roughly the same as in the game.

A small "1" was displayed on his avatar, indicating his current level.

Only one skill was active on his skill bar, Garen's innate passive skill:

[Tenacity (Passive)]:

"If Garen takes no damage for 4 seconds, he regenerates 8% of his maximum HP every 5 seconds."

This skill description seemed different from the game.

Garen found it a bit strange but didn't dwell on it too much.

A flickering golden light emanated from the dimmed skill bar, signaling that a skill point was available to learn a new skill.

Without hesitation, Garen first learned the Q skill, which was useful for both offense and escape:

[Fatal Strike]:

"Garen removes all slowing effects and gains 30% movement speed for 3.5 seconds. Within the next 4.5 seconds, his next normal attack will deal bonus damage and silence the target for 1.5 seconds."

Were these the effects of a max-level skill?

Garen finally realized something was amiss:

His skill was only level one, yet it already possessed the effects of the max-level skill in the game.

Also, why were there no specific damage numbers in the skill description?

As Garen pondered this, the System's mechanical voice suddenly sounded in his mind:

"The specific damage dealt by the skill is determined by various factors such as the Host's personal Physique, the force of the strike, and the opponent's defensive capabilities; the Host may explore the skill's usage techniques independently."

Garen roughly understood: reality was not a game, after all, and this unscientific cheat he possessed had to compromise with reality in many aspects.

"Then why did I only click once and directly gain the max-level effect?"

Garen asked again in his mind.

"This question requires no answer; the Host may discover it independently."

The System replied emotionlessly and then fell silent.

Garen asked several more uninspired questions, but the System remained unresponsive, as if it had crashed.

It seemed this thing was not an Artificial Intelligence; the Program only reacted to questions it deemed "required an answer."

Garen, impaled on the tree by spikes, was so engrossed in exploring the System's functions in the New World that he couldn't pull himself away.

He had forgotten that dozens of spikes were still stuck in him, and he had also forgotten.

"Huh?"

Garen, lost in his mental world, finally woke up leisurely: "What's biting me from behind?"

"."

Garen fell silent, and the hand gripping the greatsword's hilt suddenly tightened with great force:

"MMP!"

"I forgot to kill this Teddy!"

PS: Cough cough... Everyone says I've made a mockery of the character Teddy too much at the beginning, and it's a bit toxic...

But the content involved is too extensive, and it's really difficult to change.

I'll give it a bento after chapter twenty, and the reading experience will be much better.

Borrowing Law-dono's words: Understanding is everything~

(;￣ェ￣)