"Roar—!"
The tiger let out another thunderous roar as it charged toward them, its heavy footsteps shaking the ground.
[Oh my god, they released virtual beasts this early?!][So sudden, seriously! They get more ruthless every year.][It's over. If you get injured by the tiger, you're disqualified. Am I about to say goodbye to Black Bear Sis already?][I don't think so. I bet Mu Qingyun can totally take down that tiger. Just watch.][Ugh, you're betting again? Last time you didn't even pay up! Bunch of keyboard warriors.]
"Fall back!" Mu Qingyun shouted coldly. She threw all the grilled fish to Su and Fan Xuanye, drew her dagger from her waist, and charged straight at the tiger.
"Mu Qingyun!" Su cried out in shock. A faint blue glow flashed in his right hand before fading—he hesitated.
Should he reveal his power now?
But Mu Qingyun didn't even flinch at his shout. With her dagger in hand, she summoned fire from her right hand and flung a ball of flame at the tiger's face.
"Roar—!"
The tiger dodged with a swift sidestep, then raised both front paws and lunged at her.
Infusing her internal strength into her limbs, Mu Qingyun twisted her body mid-air and drove the dagger toward the tiger's head.
The tiger let out a shriek of pain but didn't fall immediately.
Using its force against it, she released the dagger, summoned internal strength into her left palm, formed a fist, and struck hard—straight into its eye.
Wounded, the tiger roared in fury, thrashing wildly in an attempt to throw her off and crush her.
But Mu Qingyun wasn't about to give it the chance.
She spun forward along its momentum, grabbed the dagger again, and drove it deep into the beast's neck.
Then, with a final leap, she kicked off its body and flipped away.
The tiger writhed for a few moments… before suddenly falling still. Its massive body shimmered gold and then dissolved into particles, scattering into the wind.
She did it.
Mu Qingyun let out a small breath. It wasn't her first time fighting a tiger, but back then, she'd at least had a spear or a longsword. This was the first time she'd taken down a beast like that with nothing but a dagger.
The live feed fell silent for a beat—And then exploded:
[Holy sh*t.][Mu Qingyun, you're my freaking goddess!][How is this even humanly possible?!][She's so cool! I bet she could go head-to-head with the First Commander.][Watch your mouth! No one compares to our Commander. These Mu stans are delusional. First they bash the Princess, now they're dragging the Commander into this?!][Seriously, the audacity. Mu Qingyun's fans are shameless!][Like hell she deserves to be compared to the Commander. Over my dead body!][She never even mentioned the Commander, why are y'all foaming at the mouth?][Who cares? I just don't like her. Deal with it.]
"…You're that strong?" Su and Fan Xuanye stood dumbfounded, still holding grilled fish in their hands like a frozen scene from a comedy skit.
"Just a small fry," Mu Qingyun said calmly—but her hand had already moved to her waist.
The tiger's earlier charge had slammed her side hard. It still ached sharply, but she was used to concealing her pain. No matter how bad it got, she kept her face unreadable.
[Small fry, she says… Mu Qingyun, I bow to your badassery.][She's unreal. I'm obsessed.][Forget obsession—I'm making a shrine.]
Fan Xuanye, trying to focus, frowned. "So why was the virtual beast released this early?"
Still, he couldn't resist taking another bite of the grilled fish.So good.And another.
"I don't know," Su muttered, eyes narrowing as he stared at the space where the tiger had vanished. His tone chilled. "But we'd better be careful from now on."
Then, looking at Mu Qingyun, his expression softened. He handed her a piece of fish. "Eat something."
"You guys eat first." Mu Qingyun shook her head, pressing her palm to her aching waist as she tried to calm her breathing and redirect her internal energy.
"Where's Black Bear?" she asked, noticing only Su and Fan Xuanye nearby.
"No clue," Su shrugged innocently. "Yoyo? Where are you?"
"Ugh, I'm here!" came a whimper.
They all turned to see Bear Yoyo cautiously peek her fuzzy ears out from behind a rock. "Is the tiger gone?"
"It's dead," Fan Xuanye said coolly.
"Dead? Dead?!"
Bear Yoyo's eyes went wide. She bolted out from behind the rock and ran up to them. "Who killed it?!"
"Mu Qingyun." Fan Xuanye gestured at her.
Bear Yoyo gasped in pure admiration. She immediately dropped into a full-on prostration, bear-body flat against the ground.
"Mu-ge, from now on, you're my big bro! Once we're out, I'm offering you the general manager seat at my family's security company!"
Mu Qingyun: …
Fan Xuanye: …
Su: snorted out a laugh.
"Get up. Go eat your fish," Mu Qingyun replied lazily, nodding at the food pile. She sat back down and resumed circulating her internal energy to aid her recovery.
After the meal, no one brought up the tiger incident again.
Mu Qingyun meditated in silence. Bear Yoyo, full and satisfied, was busy scratching at rocks. Fan Xuanye was cultivating with quiet intensity.
Seeing no one was paying attention, Su's eyes narrowed. He discreetly turned off his streaming device and stepped outside the cave.
"Beep beep beep—"
Holding a small communicator, Su's eyes turned icy. He waited for the connection to go through.
"Hello? Qiluo, what's up?" came a warm male voice.
"What's up?" Su's voice was frosty. "A virtual beast—scheduled to be released a month later—just appeared on the island. How do you explain that?"
The voice on the other end froze. "Wait… What? What virtual beast?"
"Check my stream," Su said irritably, rubbing his temples.
The line went quiet—presumably the man was watching the recording. A moment later, he responded.
"I'm sorry, Qiluo. That wasn't supposed to happen. I'll investigate immediately."
Before Su could reply, the voice added urgently, "Qiluo, you need to stop messing around out there. Our top priority is finding someone with plant abilities. If we don't, we won't even need the enemy planet or the Zerg to take us down—we'll self-destruct first."