"The hospital isn't close to here. We can't just run over whenever we want." Pei Yanchuan tapped the door with his fingers, and furious pounding and chewing noises immediately erupted outside.
Ye Chu pressed his lips together. "Can these things be killed?"
Pei Yanchuan raised an eyebrow. "With the Witch's poison?"
"No." Ye Chu shook his head. "The Witch's poison has a cooldown, and it only covers a small area each time. It's too inefficient."
Pei Yanchuan froze for a moment. "How do you know so much about it?"
Ye Chu gave a light cough. "Well, I experimented on lab mice in the lounge."
"I haven't tried." Pei Yanchuan frowned, looking troubled. "Want to give it a shot? You ride on me, and we'll fight our way out."
Ye Chu pulled the curtain open, then immediately closed it again. The monsters at the door had scattered. Fighting their way out was indeed possible now.
"How much of your sanity can you retain after turning into a wolf?"
"I'm not sure." Pei Yanchuan produced a roll of bandages from somewhere and wrapped his wrist, then gestured for Ye Chu to hold out his hand.
Ye Chu offered his hand and watched the young man bandage it for him. Pei Yanchuan's voice had the clear, crisp quality unique to youth. "Any injury we can avoid is a good thing."
Ye Chu looked at the bandage around his wrist. He had to admit that Pei Yanchuan knew what he was doing. The wrapping was beautifully neat.
Ye Chu found a baseball bat in a cabinet. "Will this work?"
"Of course."
Ye Chu hefted the baseball bat, wondering whether a swing could kill those monsters.
Recalling the last time Pei Yanchuan had turned into a wolf, Ye Chu looked at him. "Do you think... I could tame you?"
Pei Yanchuan grinned, revealing a little pointed canine. He looked thoroughly cocky. "That depends on you, Ye Chu."
Ye Chu frowned slightly. "Then can I put you on a chain?"
Pei Yanchuan's smile visibly froze on his face. "Bro, I'm a wolf, not a dog."
"Oh, fine." He sounded a little disappointed.
Pei Yanchuan: "..."
Ye Chu pressed his ear to the door, listening as the pounding outside gradually subsided.
The monsters at the entrance were moving away.
When Ye Chu nodded, Pei Yanchuan closed his eyes. White smoke instantly flooded the room. Amid a sweeping wave of sound, Pei Yanchuan's body rapidly contorted, transforming into a massive black wolf.
He bent his front legs and lowered himself so Ye Chu could climb on.
Grabbing his fur, Ye Chu hauled himself up, swung a long leg over, and mounted the wolf.
"Go!"
The black wolf let out a long howl, pushed the door open with his head, and set off toward the hospital.
The monsters outside swiftly gathered at the sight of the man and wolf, rushing toward them.
Ye Chu gripped the wolf's fur with one hand to keep himself from falling and held the baseball bat in the other. Whenever a monster approached, he swung at it.
[Oh my god! What's going on?!]
[The person above must've missed the system announcement. The system glitched a few days ago and turned two players into wolves, so it gave them skills as compensation.]
[These players are so lucky. They even get cheats.]
[The black wolf is so freaking cool!!]
The black wolf headed north, charging straight into any monster blocking his path without hesitation. He bared his fangs and opened his jaws at a monster rushing toward him head-on.
Before he could get the monster into his mouth, a bat flew past his eyes and hurtled straight at its head. With a bang, red and white brain matter exploded outward. The monster staggered forward another two steps before collapsing.
A clean headshot.
Ye Chu rubbed the wolf's head twice. "Good boy. Don't eat dirty things."
"Awooo."
As they drew closer to the hospital, the monsters grew more numerous. Now without a weapon, Ye Chu reached out and grabbed a branch as they passed a roadside tree.
The wolf beneath him was still racing forward. Ye Chu pulled hard on the branch, clutching the wolf's fur with his other hand to keep himself from falling off.
Thorns on the branch cut his palm, drawing drops of blood.
With a crack, the branch snapped. Ye Chu used it to continue driving away the monsters approaching Pei Yanchuan.
"Pei! Keep heading north!"
Pei Yanchuan heard Ye Chu's voice by his ear, but it seemed to be drifting farther and farther away. Damn it, I'm losing consciousness.
He picked up speed, hoping to reach the hospital before his consciousness disappeared entirely.
Faster. Faster...
With less than a hundred meters left to the hospital, the black wolf suddenly stopped.
Ye Chu sensed something wrong with the wolf beneath him. "Pei? Pei Yanchuan? Pei Yanchuan!"
He looked down and discovered that those once-dark eyes had turned blood-red, gleaming with an eerie light.
Ye Chu's heart jolted. Had the monsters assimilated him, or had he lost consciousness?
No, no monsters had gotten close to the black wolf just now. He couldn't have been assimilated; Ye Chu was certain of that. There was only one possibility: this little wolf brat had lost consciousness again.
[? What's going on?]
[Why did the black wolf's eyes turn red? Was he assimilated? Is Pei Yanchuan already done for?]
[No way. Ye Chu didn't let any monsters get close to him.]
The black wolf raised his head and let out a long howl at the sky. "Awoooo-" The howl rang through the entire street.
Watching the monsters gather around them in ever greater numbers, Ye Chu helplessly pressed a hand to his forehead. Great. One howl had attracted every monster nearby.
Ye Chu tightened his grip on the fur around the black wolf's neck. Looking at the hospital entrance so close ahead, he brought the branch down hard.
Smack-
"Awo!" The black wolf cried out in pain and bared his teeth at the man on his back. Fierce hatred flared in his eyes, his dark-red gaze fixed squarely on Ye Chu.
The blow briefly roused his subconscious, and he vaguely remembered that he was supposed to go to the hospital. The black wolf bent his legs slightly and raced toward it.
The gap between them and the hospital entrance rapidly closed. The black wolf smashed through the doors, and Ye Chu immediately jumped off his back and barricaded them.
The hospital doors were transparent, bringing Ye Chu face-to-face with the monsters outside. He saw their man-eating gazes, their grotesquely twisted knuckles, their mouths chewing human flesh... A wave of dizziness struck him. He hurriedly closed his eyes and pulled the door curtain shut.
He concluded that he couldn't look the monsters in the eye. They could bewitch his mind.
Ye Chu turned around and met the black wolf's gaze. Those dark-red eyes were still staring straight at him.
Ye Chu: ...Is it too late to apologize?
Before he could react, the giant wolf thrust out a forepaw and pinned him firmly to the floor.
"Pei Yanchuan!"
Ignoring the human's shouts beneath his paw, the giant wolf lowered his head and greedily sniffed his scent, an impatient growl rumbling in his throat.
"Pei Yanchuan! It's me!" Ye Chu struggled violently, but the pressure left him unable to breathe. "Let me go!"
The giant wolf brought his head toward Ye Chu's chest. Remembering being licked last time, Ye Chu struggled even harder. He shoved at the black wolf's head with his arms and kicked wildly, his face flushed bright red and his eyelashes fluttering like butterfly wings.
"Pei Yanchuan!! Fucking let me go!!"
The reprimand awakened some instinct in the black wolf, and he eased the pressure of his forepaw slightly. Ye Chu immediately shoved him away, scrambled to his feet, and gasped for breath.
He surveyed his surroundings. Outside was a crowd of monsters with glowing red eyes. Inside was a group of unknown monsters, along with one giant wolf devoid of reason.
A few words flashed through Ye Chu's mind:
This run is screwed.
[Spoke too soon. He'd be better off without this cheat.]
[This thing has side effects too?]
[Look at Ye Chu's face. I'm dying hahahahahaha.]
Before you continue