Purge Day

And this was also what the fully manifested Red-Eyes looked like to the Third Tier and even Fourth Tier players in the Nowhere to Escape instance.

"I... I already filled the ware... with tomatoes, just as you asked..."

"My apologies, dear player." Red-Eyes gave a mocking chuckle and said flatly:

"I believe you've forgotten what I asked for. The task I gave you was to pick a warehouse full of undamaged tomatoes. And what did you pick?"

"I... I..."

Youyou still wanted to argue, but Red-Eyes's requirements were written right there on her Personal Panel. There was no denying them.

What Red-Eyes had asked for was indeed a warehouse full of undamaged tomatoes.

Red-Eyes had nowhere to vent its seething fury. Seeing Zuo Cheng'an saunter out of the warehouse with his black dog nearly drove it out of its mind!!

Yet it could do nothing to a player who had already completed his task!

Youyou, who had walked straight into its line of fire, made the perfect outlet.

Red-Eyes threw aside its half-broken Walking Stick and crushed Youyou's knees faster than the eye could follow.

"Aah!!" Youyou convulsed in pain, tears instantly streaming down her face. She could no longer even get her pleas for mercy out clearly.

Red-Eyes basked in the player's screams as though listening to heavenly music.

Normally, Red-Eyes should have listened to the screams for only a little while before finishing the player off, then hurried to the other locations to inspect the remaining players' tasks,

so the remaining players could not take advantage of that time to quickly finish their tasks.

But Red-Eyes was truly angry today. Very, very angry.

First thing in the morning, it had to go aboard the ship to deal with those troublesome high-level players. Without even time to change clothes along the way, it had rushed to a low-level instance to hand out tasks, only to hear stupid players call its beloved tomatoes "tomaytoes"!

After handing out the tasks, it had to rush straight back. It had barely exchanged a few words with those high-level players before a fight broke out for no apparent reason.

If it had not run fast enough, it would almost have met its end on that ship.

How many times had it said that it hated water? It had told them not to assign it to instances with water, but they never listened!

Now, when it had finally returned and could amuse itself by crushing low-level players, it discovered that one player had left it an enormous surprise!

The Money Tree that earned it money had been stolen!!

And the day when it could openly take revenge was nowhere in... Wait!

A thought flashed through Red-Eyes's head. It extended a claw and counted the days.

It seemed Purge Day for those eight turtle shells was almost here.

Humans really were a species that bred even faster than locusts. Leave them unchecked for a moment, and they would multiply into a huge swarm.

But... Purge Day was a day of indulgence for Game Bosses like them. There would be more people than they could possibly kill.

With its standing, getting assigned to a particular instance as a Cleaner would be trivial.

At the thought, Red-Eyes grinned, revealing its scarlet maw, eagerly anticipating Purge Day.

But whatever relief the future might bring was a matter for the future.

Right now, how could it possibly let go of the stress-relief toy it had just acquired?

Naturally, it would enjoy itself to the fullest first.

Watching Youyou beg for a little more time through streaming tears and snot, her makeup ruined by her crying,

Red-Eyes reminded her flatly, "Oh, right. I almost forgot to mention, I hate it when people call tomatoes 'tomaytoes.'"

Youyou froze. Suddenly, another burst of piercing pain shot through both her legs!

Red-Eyes had thought her screams were growing a little weak, so it had crushed her thighs too.

"Aaaaah-! I was wrong! Tomatoes! They're tomatoes!! Your tomatoes are grown to perfection!"

Youyou somehow found an astonishing force of will and did not pass out despite the excruciating pain.

Now that she knew how she had offended the instance boss, she hurried to make amends, begging Red-Eyes to show mercy.

But Red-Eyes had grown tired of her voice and headed elsewhere.

Youyou watched helplessly as Red-Eyes walked farther and farther away. Blood loss began to cloud her consciousness.

In her daze, she thought of her boyfriend. If he saw her injuries, he would surely be so heartbroken that he would cry, wouldn't he?

Countless Steel-Toothed Rats lurking in the shadows poked their heads out at the scent of blood, inching tentatively toward the still-warm human body.

Had Zuo Cheng'an been there, he would have seen the eyeballs around Youyou, almost completely encircling her body.

[Time to eat, folks!! You don't get many chances to watch a player being eaten bit by bit!]

[Yeah, we watch them get smashed, strangled, and crushed to death every day. It's satisfying, sure, but only for that one moment. It doesn't last at all.]

[Exactly, totally agree. For me, this is second only to the Meat Canning Factory throwing people into machines and grinding them into meat paste. And she's being eaten alive! That makes it even rarer! Thanks for sharing, guys.]

[Another one for the collection! This is practically a work of art!]

[The only downside is that this player spent too long screaming earlier, and now she doesn't have the strength left. Without the soundtrack, the recording always feels like it's missing something.]

Outside the farm's Sheep Pen,

Wang Guangfei casually tossed the Wool Blanket he had found in the cottage into the Sheep Pen.

Including this piece of sheepskin, there were now twenty sheep in the pen, but he still had no clue about the missing Black Sheep.

He stared despairingly at the horizon, where the sun had completely set, and quietly awaited death.

So if heaven wanted someone dead, would that person die in the end, no matter how hard they struggled?

If his death was already an inescapable certainty,

perhaps he should have helped Youyou with her work at noon, so she could have had an easier time.

"Awoof! Awoof!-Baa!!"

Just then, a black figure came charging from the distance.

It moved incredibly fast, its body undergoing a tremendous transformation as it ran!

First, a pair of pointed horns sprouted from its forehead, then its four paws turned into hooves... In almost the blink of an eye, the figure completed its transformation from a black dog into a Black Sheep.

With a running start, the Black Sheep lightly leaped over the fence and mingled with the other sheep inside.

"Baa~ Baa~"

All twenty-one sheep were now accounted for.

Mo Dou's speed was even more outstanding than his strength. In player stats, it would have been at least 13 or 14 points.

Thus, although Zuo Cheng'an and Mo Dou had left the warehouse at almost the same time, they arrived at different times.

Not long after Mo Dou returned to his place, Zuo Cheng'an arrived as well.

Seeing Mo Dou back in Black Sheep form inside the Sheep Pen surprised him too.

So he could switch back and forth between the two species. Keeping just one meant experiencing the double pleasure of having both a dog and a sheep.

But this was a game, after all. A little absurdity was normal.

Knowing Zuo Cheng'an had come from the warehouse, Wang Guangfei could not suppress his curiosity and tried to ask about his girlfriend:

"Where's Youyou? Is she not coming over because she's still angry with me? Ah, well, it's good that she got out first."

Wang Guangfei assumed Youyou had already completed her task and left the instance. After all, hers could be considered the easiest task out of all the players'.

Zuo Cheng'an glanced at that puddle in the clearing outside the warehouse, an odd expression on his face.

Wang Guangfei followed his gaze. His heart lurched, and his face turned deathly pale.