Weak in affinity talent? Female ghosts are eager to give hints.

"Rustling sound—"

"Rustling sound—"

The swaying black hair continued all the way down to the bottom of the cave.

An Lan looked up at the sound and could vaguely see a tall man wearing a bearskin coat, his hair swaying as he walked into a corner cave.

That is...

The cave of the "Tire Man".

Because of the clouds and fog, An Lan couldn't see the specific situation on the other side, but... An Lan could hear the other person's gruff voice.

"What?!"

"The three of you! You only washed fifteen human skins in one day?!"

"Are you guys here to be funny?!"

"No! No! [Hunter]-sama, it's not our fault! It's...it's this new guy...this new guy isn't cooperating at all!"

"He didn't do anything all day!"

"Oh?"

"Yeah?"

"So you're called 'Hunter,' huh? You're the one who conspired with 'Little Red Riding Hood' to trick 'Grandma Wolf,' right? Fine, fine—you two scoundrels!"

"You think you can control me?"

"you--"

"Ugh—Ugh!!!"

You can faintly hear the disdainful voice of the "Tire Freak," but the next moment, the voice suddenly stops!

An Lan looked at the cave in the distance amidst the clouds and mist, and it seemed that something exploded with a "poof"! Countless black things burst out from the cave, twisting and gushing as they spread throughout the entire cave!

"That is..."

"What?!"

Staring wide-eyed, An Lan stared intently for a long while before confirming that the crawling, writhing black thing was... a huge clump of surging black hair!

"Hair?"

"It's hair again..."

"What...what exactly is going on?"

In fairy tales, only Rapunzel's hair grew long enough to climb a tower. But today I've already seen eerie black hair twice: once it was black hair climbing down a cliff, and once it exploded in the cave opposite!

This hair...

What exactly is it?

Looking at the donkey-man with a puzzled expression, the donkey seemed unfazed, simply muttering, "Serves you right! Failing to complete the 'mission' means you deserve to turn into hair!"

"what?"

Is it some kind of punishment mechanism?

"still--"

Just as I was about to ask the donkey man for more details, another rustling sound of long hair swaying came from outside the clouds, and a burly figure suddenly pounced towards me like a monkey swinging on a rope!

"Get out of the way!"

A heavy shout came from behind. An Lan took a few steps back. A bear-like man, who was at least two meters tall, flew through the clouds and landed with a "plop" at the entrance of the cave.

"Yo—"

"Old Donkey, you've got a new recruit here!"

"Did you finish your tasks today?"

Amidst the teasing laughter, An Lan was finally able to get a good look at the Hunter's face.

He didn't resemble the hunter from fairy tales, the kind-looking middle-aged man carrying a gun. At this moment, the hunter was completely covered in brown bear skin, his hands were bear claws, and he looked like a bear walking upright!

It turns out he wasn't wearing a bearskin coat; rather, his skin had been transformed into bearskin!

Two shotgun barrels curved out from the sides of the bear's shoulders, which inexplicably reminded An Lan of the "Motorcycle Warrior" she watched when she was a child.

"Tap tap tap—"

The hunter trembled as his feet touched the ground, even in the small cave.

Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that the "Hunter" bear had a pipe resembling a car exhaust pipe on its hind legs, connecting to the base of its legs and extending into its spine.

It truly felt like a fusion of flesh and machine, creating an eerie sense of heaviness.

"It's done! It's done!"

"[Hunter] Sir, we not only completed the [mission], but we exceeded it by five!"

The donkey-man respectfully handed the neatly folded human skin to the hunter, his face beaming with a fawning smile.

"Oh?"

"They even exceeded the target for the mission?"

"That's interesting..."

"Was it done by this new kid?"

The hunter took the hide, glanced at it briefly, and then tucked it under the pelt on his chest. He looked at An Lan teasingly, but An Lan didn't speak. The hunter smiled slightly, then turned to look at the donkey-man.

"Should we not give a reward today?"

"No...no need!"

"Hahaha--"

"You really want to climb the ladder, huh?"

"Alright!"

"Hey kid, want it?"

The hunter turned to look at An Lan again, who frowned slightly: "What's the reward?"

"Here you go—"

"This is it!"

A small scroll was unfolded in the bear's palm, on which were clearly written some exchangeable items.

Sleeping bag: 5 points

[3 cans of meat: 5 points]

[One-time fatigue relief doll: 10 points]

Sleeping Beauty Service: 15 points

[Next Day's Magic Bean Increase: 50 Points]

It's just a few very simple little gadgets.

But An Lan's expression turned strange!

What is a "disposable relaxation doll"?

What is this "Sleeping Beauty Service" again?

No?

By the end of the day, my hands were almost burned off; who would want to spend money on these things?

Aside from the last one, the "Magic Bean for Ascending the Next Day," which Anlan roughly thought was a way to reach higher levels, as for the rest... aside from food, Anlan wasn't sure if anyone would actually buy them.

Are you guys willing to give up these points?

"Your earnings for today are 25 points! Kid, you can use 12 points. Don't you want a can of meat and a sleeping bag for a good night's rest?"

The hunter looked at An Lan with a mocking expression. An Lan did not respond, but he could see the donkey-man shaking his head at him.

"Feel sorry..."

"I'm not hungry right now, so resting shouldn't be too much trouble..."

After a moment of silence, An Lan did not exchange anything.

In some ways, he and the donkey man are quite similar; no one would waste points earned through such hard work.

"Tsk tsk tsk..."

"How boring..."

"I'm doing this for your own good!"

"Since you're not spending points, then... keep this! Tomorrow, when the [Prince] comes, if you've changed your mind, you can exchange this for him!"

The hunter shook his head listlessly as he spoke, then silently took out a wooden plaque with the number "25" written on it from under the bear skin.

The donkey-man hurriedly stepped forward, took it with both hands, and placed it in his arms like a precious treasure.

It smiled and glanced at An Lan: "I'll take this one for now, and you can have the other one tomorrow!"

"OK--"

An Lan didn't dwell on it much, scanning the structure of the [Hunter] before finally watching the guy swing out of the cave again.

Amidst the clouds and mist, that burly body swayed back and forth like an ape. An Lan knew she couldn't possibly move as big and agile as him.

(This hunter... is no ordinary hunter either...)

(If we were to fight him, not to mention hand-to-hand combat, just how powerful are his two shotguns?)

(…)

With a gloomy face, An Lan shrank into the corner and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh—"

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh—"

The closer you get to the bottom, the cold wind blowing in from below the cliff becomes increasingly icy and desolate.

The small, low-lying cave was soon filled with damp mist. Especially after it got completely dark, when the mist completely engulfed the cave, An Lan felt as if she were sleeping in the freezing air of a freezer.

He couldn't help but rub his hands together, looking up at the higher position with a hint of envy.

No wonder...

No wonder the donkey-man wanted to climb to the top; the higher up you go, the better the accommodations are, and the hotter it is, I bet. But if you want to climb up from the bottom, you need to accumulate 50 points!

These 50 points seem like they can be accumulated in just 3-5 days if someone works hard.

Can!

If you were asked to go without food and water for three days, could you hold on?

After spending points to buy food, don't you want a sleeping bag?

Once you have a sleeping bag, don't you want anything else?

Those seemingly meaningless things are actually what drag a person's ambition into the abyss. The people who created these rules probably wanted these people to work every day, spend points every day, and completely sink off the cliff.

50 points!

It seems easy to save up, but it's actually quite difficult!

"Huff! Huff! Huff!"

"You brat... I didn't expect you wouldn't even take any food!"

"Hey! Since you haven't wasted your points, how about... a little of this?"

In the white mist, the donkey-man brought Anlan an open can of food, which contained scarlet broth and minced meat, exuding a primal, bloody smell.

Looking at this thing, An Lan couldn't help but think of that "wolf grandmother"!

Good guy!

If this meat is from "Grandma Wolf," then Little Red Riding Hood is truly a wicked capitalist! Even with meat, she's so greedy for cheap prices!!!