Mutated Hyena

"That was a cat???"

"Have you ever seen a two-meter-long cat? Its claws are insanely long! Even a leopard probably wouldn't be as vicious as it!"

"Run, run! That thing doesn't look like something we can handle right now."

Thin Dog, Demon Fox, and Lin Tang slipped away in small steps, unnoticed by the mutated feline creature on the mountain.

They knew they had been able to kill the raider mainly because the green-skinned musclebound brute had been too clumsy. Although its running speed was no different from a human's, it turned slowly and had long recovery times after attacking, allowing them to exploit those weaknesses and kill it.

But feline creatures... Never mind whether it had mutated any special abilities; its species and size alone made it hard to deal with. They did not dare compare reaction speeds with a cat.

If it had been smaller, that would have been one thing. But it was so damn huge. The best choice was to run!

The three fled in a panic, only to encounter another black-furred hyena in the forest ahead, its eyes crimson and its mouth hanging open.

Its tongue was green, and saliva dripped from it, making the vegetation on the ground sizzle and smoke.

The sharp-eared hyena heard the disturbance and immediately spotted the three passing by.

It growled low at them and began circling them.

Thin Dog said, "Huh? This scene... feels familiar."

After observing it for a moment, Demon Fox said, "Don't panic. It's just a minor monster. Judging from its size and species, it's much easier to handle than that big cat up on the mountain. That beast has poison in its mouth, so don't let it bite you directly. If we're careful, we should be able to take it down."

"Alright!"

Facing the three weapon-wielding humans, the mutated hyena showed no fear. Its tiny crimson eyes locked onto Lin Tang, and it sprang forward on all fours.

Its open jaws aimed straight for Lin Tang's neck.

Lin Tang hurriedly raised his crowbar to defend himself.

But the enormous impact brought by its incredible speed sent the hyena crashing him to the ground.

Thud~

The hyena's mouth caught on the crowbar as it bit down madly.

Saliva dripped onto Lin Tang's face, producing wisps of black smoke as green numbers rose before his eyes.

Radiation damage received, HP -2

Radiation damage received, HP -2

Bang!

Bang!

Thin Dog and Demon Fox's attacks landed on the hyena a moment too late.

HP -20

HP -18

Two physical damage values floated above the hyena's head. The damage was not high, since both hurried strikes had only hit its hard back.

But the hyena clearly had far less health than the raider, only a little over 200 HP. Those 38 points of damage still hurt it badly.

The hyena yelped in pain and released its bite, twisting nimbly to the side before launching another savage attack.

Before Lin Tang could get back on his feet, the hyena pounced on him from behind again.

"Awoo! Awoo! Awoo!"

It made sounds like a rabid dog.

Pain shot through Lin Tang's butt, and he hurriedly swung his crowbar down hard at the hyena's head.

Bang!

Critical hit! HP -28

Bang!

Critical hit! HP -30

At that moment, Demon Fox and Thin Dog's spiked clubs struck the hyena's neck and head in quick succession.

Critical hit! HP -45

Golden critical hit! HP -200

Thin Dog's heavy, powerful blow smashed the hyena's brains out.

Even dead, the hyena's jaws remained tightly clamped around Lin Tang's butt. Green drool and mucus mixed with red blood, soaking the seat of his pants.

It was especially gruesome.

"Ow, ow~ That beast nearly bit me to death! It was so fast! My reactions couldn't even keep up!"

Demon Fox asked, "Did it hurt? How much health did you lose?"

"It didn't hurt that badly, still within what I can handle. This game probably reduced the pain sensation. Oh, right! That bite on my butt from behind took over fifty HP from me. It also triggered bleeding and radiation damage. I'm still losing health now, three points every second."

"The bleeding has about two minutes left, and the radiation damage will last... five minutes."

Thin Dog did a quick calculation. "Not good! It didn't bite you to death, but the damage over time can still take you out. Demon Fox, clean the wound and bandage it!"

"Got it!"

The two used leaves and water to quickly wash Lin Tang's butt, then tore off a strip of clothing and wrapped it around him.

Lin Tang said, "Eh? The bleeding status disappeared early! The radiation damage has weakened too. I'm only losing one HP per second now."

Only then did Thin Dog let out a breath of relief.

"Good thing we saved you. I was right: this game's numerical design respects some real-world logic. Bandaging a wound stops bleeding, and reducing radioactive residue lessens radiation damage. If the numbers were rigid, Lin Tang would have been killed by the damage over time."

Demon Fox said, "That kind of design... the workload for the balance designer must be enormous. Interesting."

Lin Tang rubbed his butt with his right hand. "I'm guessing it uses some kind of new engine that can simulate all sorts of real-world data. Otherwise, even sacrificing every programmer in an entire office building wouldn't be enough to finish it."

After they finished dealing with that, Thin Dog finally had time to look at his watch.

Mutated hyena killed together, experience +3

"This kind of minor monster gives little experience, much less than a raider, but the kill efficiency is decent. Even at most, it doesn't take more than a minute. It's just a little rough on the butt."

Lin Tang looked at him resentfully.

"This minor monster is pretty fast. Even though I was watching for it, I still got pounced on. If I'd been alone, it might have killed me."

Demon Fox checked the battle damage log on his watch. "It probably wouldn't have killed you outright. As long as it didn't bite a vital spot, its attack power wasn't that high. But it could probably trade one for one with you. After all, every bite causes bleeding and radiation. Once you killed it, you'd be about done for too."

"Judging by this thing's health... it should be the lowest-level minor monster in the game, yet it can still pose a considerable threat to us. This game really does have that wasteland flavor."

"It was our first fight, and we didn't understand the monster's speed or attack pattern. Getting hurt is normal. Fight a few more and we'll be fine. Come on, let's keep moving."

Demon Fox carried the mutated hyena's corpse on his back, and the three continued onward.

They were some distance from the base, so sending back only one of these would not be worth it. They planned to gather more loot and carry it back together.

There were still plenty of huntable prey in the Four Mountains area.

After all, the place was sparsely populated, and mutated creatures occupied most of the territory.

Mutated hyenas were a fairly common type of prey, but because they were swift and vicious, once they caught someone, they would not let go. Hunters would not lightly provoke such crazed creatures unless they were confident.

Otherwise, even if they won... what if they lost an arm or a leg?

Hunters preferred hunting mutated creatures that did not actively attack humans.

Lin Tang said, "Huh? There's another dog up ahead!"

Demon Fox said, "That's called a hyena. It isn't a dog."

Lin Tang was surprised. "A hyena isn't a dog?"

Thin Dog nodded. "That's right. Don't be fooled by how much it looks like a dog or by the word 'dog' in its name. It isn't a canine; it belongs to the hyena family. It's mutated rather strangely now, but you can still see its hyena traits."

Lin Tang thought about it for a moment, then suddenly understood.

"Got it! Like African Thin Dog. Even though his name has 'dog' in it, and he acts pretty dog-like, he's actually... probably a person, right?"

Thin Dog said, "...What do you mean, probably?!"

"Stop talking. It noticed us. Get ready to fight!"

This time, the three had much more experience. They raised their weapons and charged in to seize the initiative. The mutated hyena bared its teeth without giving an inch, its little eyes fixed on Lin Tang's rosy butt as it accelerated.

This time, Lin Tang anticipated its pounce in advance and rolled aside to dodge it. Thin Dog reacted quickly and gave the mutated hyena a blow while it was still in midair.

The spiked club's attack range was greater than the hyena's, and its damage was sufficient.

After several rounds of fighting, Lin Tang rolled around on the ground in a sorry state, but they ultimately took down the mutated hyena without taking any damage.

They each gained 3 experience points.

"Another piece of prey secured. This thing is fairly light. These two together should be enough to make one portion of biological materials."

"Then that means we have enough biological materials now. Every monster we kill can be harvested for loot!"

"Damn~ Now we're cooking! Keep farming!"

The three were in high spirits.

What could be more enjoyable than grinding monsters for equipment drops?

By then, the three were nearly at the raider camp that had previously abducted Cheng Shaofeng. Perhaps they would soon be able to farm raiders that gave even more experience.

"Clang clang clang~"

"Ding ding ding~"

Suddenly, the sound of bells came from the mountains and forest ahead.

"Take cover!"

The three hurriedly hid behind a large rock.

There'll be another chapter later. I work during the day and only have time to write at night, so most updates come around midnight. It's probably better to read them in the morning. Please forgive me.