Hunting

Early the next morning, the Hunting Team of Border Town gathered south of the town.

Besides Dan and her child, there were five other ordinary people in town who worked as hunters. According to their rotating assignments, three were present today, while the other two remained in town to handle other matters.

The sun was rising, and dawn's light shone across the land.

Dan and Ju stood at the edge of town while the three hunters checked their hunting tools.

The leading Female Hunter looked toward the town, her tone carrying a trace of doubt. "Ju, are you sure you told Linsey about today's plans yesterday?"

Ju immediately replied with complete confidence:

"I'm sure! I told Brother Lin face-to-face yesterday evening!"

"..."

"Then where is he?"

Mother and son exchanged a look, their expressions subtle.

In fact, Dan and Ju were not the only ones puzzled. Everyone present had their doubts.

In their impression, Linsey was a very punctual person. He got up early every morning, and whenever there was a hunt, he was usually among the first to arrive.

But for some reason, today was different.

It was almost time to set off, yet they still had not seen Linsey.

Dan waited a little longer and even considered sending someone to the church to check.

Had something happened to Linsey? "Mom! Look, Brother Lin is here!"

Ju suddenly shouted.

He pointed at a dirt road east of town, where Linsey was slowly approaching.

But he was different from the young man everyone knew.

Though Linsey was fully equipped and prepared as usual, there was not the slightest smile on his face. His brows were nearly drawn together, and his gloomy expression resembled a dark cloud about to rain.

Dan immediately asked her son, "What's wrong with that kid?"

Ju hurriedly shook his head.

"I don't know! He was still smiling when I met Brother Lin yesterday?"

Linsey arrived before the Hunting Team, while the mother and son looked at each other.

Amid the subtle atmosphere, Linsey nodded apologetically to the hunters waiting for him.

"Sorry, I'm late."

As captain of the Hunting Team, Dan immediately replied:

"You're not late. We were just about to leave."

She then motioned for Linsey to join the group and gave the people around her one final instruction before setting out.

"Is everyone ready?"

"One last check: your knives and bows, food and water, and spare trap materials!"

"Dan, we're ready." "No problems here either!"

The hunters gave satisfactory replies, and only then did Dan give the order.

"Alright, let's go!"

The six of them headed into the forest.

They split into groups of three, with each person responsible for tracking, shooting, and scouting and guarding, while the two groups maintained a certain distance from each other.

This ensured they could quickly support one another if needed.

The Hunting Team began hunting along the route where they had set their traps.

Normally, this arrangement ensured decent efficiency and a certain level of safety.

But today was slightly different.

As they ventured farther out to hunt,

one of Linsey's two companions was responsible for tracking, the other for scouting, while Linsey was responsible for shooting.

But Linsey was in an exceptionally bad mood today.

After advancing several hundred meters with his two companions, they had yet to encounter their first prey.

Irritation and dissatisfaction had brewed in Linsey's heart for an entire night.

So now, without saying a word, he silently switched his Game Module.

RPG → Hunting Simulation

Linsey's vision changed in an instant.

After three years of training, his RPG abilities had yet to level up because he had not experienced a life-or-death battle. But as he continued hunting, the Hunting Module had unlocked new abilities! Habit Survey—

Trace Tracking—

After switching modules, the seemingly unremarkable forest immediately revealed traces of animals passing through it before Linsey's eyes.

These footprints differed in color according to species and individual.

The depth of their color represented how recently the traces had been left.

Linsey swept his gaze across the surroundings.

A tiny yellow footprint was very dark, clearly left not long ago. It disappeared beside a birch tree several dozen meters to the left.

Hunting Simulation → RPG

Linsey's pupils narrowed as he nocked an arrow at a speed far beyond that of an ordinary person.

Whoosh—

Before anyone else could even react, an arrow had already shot out.

"Hey!" "Huh?"

Linsey's sudden movement startled his two hunter companions.

Just as they were about to ask what was happening, they saw Linsey leap forward and weave through the forest toward where the arrow had landed.

Then he bent down and scooped something from the ground.

A grouse with an arrow lodged in its head was lifted into Linsey's hand.

"..."

The two hunters were speechless for a moment.

Linsey's display had frightened them.

Normally, Linsey kept a low profile to protect himself and had never shown anything unusual.

The hunters had never seen his true skill!

At that moment, Linsey took the initiative to speak to them.

"Sorry, I'm not in a very good state today. Can I move on my own today?"

Naturally, the two hunters had no objections and hurriedly nodded.

At this point, they even thought Linsey might have chosen hunting as his craft. As they parted, they said:

"No problem."

"Be careful. Don't go too far from the group!"

"..."

After parting from the two hunters,

Linsey no longer suppressed the negative emotions in his heart.

He frequently switched between his Game Modules, using Hunting Simulation's abilities to find prey before using RPG's abilities to kill it. His figure darted through the forest like a ghost, and no prey could escape the arrow he fired only once.

In just half a day,

his Personal Baggage had gained six grouse, three rabbits, and three squirrels.

And now, standing before Linsey was a muscular wild boar.

Linsey did not hesitate and charged forward in an instant.

Before the wild boar could react, he struck first, driving a vicious kick into its head.

Bang! With his outrageous 11 points of strength,

the wild boar, which weighed at least a hundred kilograms, was kicked to the ground instantly. Linsey then took another step forward, and with precise speed and force, drove the short knife in his hand into the wild boar's throat.

"Oink—squeal!"

The wild boar howled miserably as it lay on the ground, its body twitching as it struggled to resist.

But Linsey stomped down on its head again.

Bang! This prey, extremely dangerous to ordinary hunters, soon stopped moving.

"Phew—"

Linsey let out a breath and put away the dead wild boar.

He had gathered so much prey that even his Personal Baggage, with its 250-kilogram carrying capacity, was nearing its limit.

"That's enough."

Following the meeting place they had agreed upon beforehand, Linsey arrived at a hunter cabin on the eastern side of the forest.

"Son, you're amazing!"

"Well done."

Before he even reached the place, Linsey heard the hunters cheering.

He passed through the bushes and looked ahead.

Before the wooden door of the hunter cabin, Ju smiled amid the crowd. A stream of clear water circled and flowed around his fingertips, reflecting the faint forest light and taking on all kinds of beautiful forms.

Dan's smile was especially joyful.

She was sincerely happy that her child had inherited the family's craft.

At that moment, Ju spotted Linsey approaching.

He jumped up and waved at Linsey, shouting with a broad grin, "Brother Lin, come take a look!"

"I finally succeeded! This is the first ability I've awakened through Sublimation!"

Watching Ju wave at him with a smile,

for some reason,

something that had been hard as iron in Linsey's heart since yesterday began to melt.

He showed a fragile yet gentle smile, then quickly walked over.

"Yeah, congratulations."