36 Chapter 36 – The Person Who Waited

"Let us pet it, we'll pay money. I only have one gold coin, let me pet it for ten minutes, okay? Big brother, big brother…"

Goddamit, Su Mo nearly fainted.

It took me so much effort to tame this pet. This pet is my friend, my brother; how can I just let you pet it like that?

"Alright, line up, one minute for one gold coin. It likes to eat roasted bamboo rats and fresh bamboo shoots; feel free to feed it. Hey you, you can't line up again after petting it. I'll only be here for one hour today, if you pet it twice, what about the other people? Everyone, make sure you keep an eye out."

"Mm, you can hug it, but don't use too much strength, it's still a baby."

"Ai, I say, don't press it against your chest; you'll suffocate it."

It was very lively in Hargins Town today, and many people rushed over after hearing about the news, most of whom were girls. All of them gushed as if they were seeing an idol.

"Wah, so soft, so this is what it's like to hug a panda. I'm from Sichuan but I've never hugged one before. Wowww~"

"It licked me, did you all see? It licked me! Wow, I was licked by a panda, it likes me!"

"I want to hug it and sleep with it, this game is amazing."

One hour passed, and Su Mo immediately concluded this panda expo. He called back his two pets—the panda baby, who had been happily massaged by girls, and Lafu, who had not been looked at by anyone.

There was still a group of girls following behind him.

Some asked him how he had caught the panda baby, and he patiently replied again and again.

Some asked him when he would hold a panda expo again, as well as if they could book tickets. Su Mo could not give them any concrete answers, and he expressed that it would come down to fate. If there were any especially pretty girls, he said that he wouldn't mind adding them as friends. In the end, he received many friend requests.

There was also a person who asked him what the panda baby was called.

Su Mo told them that he had not decided yet, and the girls started chattering and discussing. They were all very adamant on the names that they suggested, and they then asked Su Mo to delay the naming of the baby panda so they could hold a poll on the forum.

Su Mo did not understand what the fuss was about; wasn't it just a name?

He had been planning to name the panda baby Mighty, but because he felt that it was not fair to Lafu, he still had not decided.

Su Mo decided to hold more panda expos in the future. This little fellow enjoyed being petted and the girls were very generous with the food.

Su Mo had also considered increasing the price.

However, it was a bit unethical—there were various expenditures in the game, and one gold coin was not a small amount of money. What's more, he was taking money from cute girls.

Su Mo was not someone who was easily swayed by girls, but he did not want to be alone forever.

However, since he could earn some decent money with the panda baby, he would take it out one hour each day to earn some living expenses for the pets. After all, taking care of two pets required a lot of money.

On the bright side, there were lots of girls willing to provide for them.

These girls all gave him various foods, and Su Mo's bag was too small and could not store them all. However, the girls were adamant on giving the food to him, so they made their way to a storehouse.

Even though one's personal storehouse was not big, because of how poor Su Mo was, he did not have much inside his, so it was ready to be filled with food for his pets.

Freshly-picked bamboo shoots, bamboo rats cooked by expert chefs, and all kinds of pet treats—soon, the storehouse was full.

"Alright, beautiful and loving girls, I still have some things to do. See you next time." Su Mo happily waved goodbye and prepared to take the panda baby to level up.

"What could you have to do? Let it out so we can pet it some more!"

The girls would not let him off, and there were a few who were quite confident in their looks who looked at Su Mo flirtatiously, making him feel dizzy. Fortunately he was a professional and had received training, so he was not swayed.

"I really do have something to do, I… Fudge, I actually do have something to do. That fellow's still waiting for me." 

Su Mo did not say anything else and rushed off.

The girls were unable to stop him, and they could only watch their panda disappear.

Su Mo unhesitatingly spent a few gold coins to teleport and wildly rode on the Snow Mountain Warg, reaching the place where he had fought Green Kingsnake Marsha. Just as expected, that person riding on the black horse was still there.

Su Mo wondered if that person had moved at all after all this time.

An unmoving person and an unmoving horse.

"You came, can we start?" the other person asked calmly, not sounding angry at all. He did not seem like someone who had waited for many hours.

Even an idiot would not believe that handing in a quest took a few hours.

"Sorry for coming late, I forgot about this." Su Mo could not act mischievously with someone like this. 

He became serious and asked, "How do you want to do this?"

"It's fine, you came back. If you're willing, I want to have two rounds: one round as a normal fight and one round where we don't use weapons and equipment and fight just with our fists and feet. What do you think?"

Su Mo slightly frowned but still agreed and said, "Alright. I'm called Iron Steed; what about you?"

This time, the pause was a bit long before the other person said slowly, "The iron steeds over frozen rivers invade my dreams again. Good name. I'm Drunken Battlefield." [TLN: Both names are references to war poems, and the sentiments make them seem like matching names]

Su Mo also fell silent. Why did things have to be like this? Why did they seem like they had a couples name? That person's features were exposed, and he was clearly a guy. Why did they have to have names that sounded like a couples name?

After a while, he asked, "Were you a soldier?"

"That's right, for a few years. I'm unable to say where though." Drunken Battlefield got off his black horse and put it away before taking out two short swords.

"Assassin?" Su Mo also put away his mount and summoned Lafu.

"That's right. What type of Hunter are you?" Assassins, Guardians, and Berserkers were all very different, and it was easy to tell them apart at a glance. However, Hunters were different, and the Hunter branches were not as clear.

"You'll find out soon." Su Mo did not answer and shot out an arrow.

This arrow was a common opener for Hunters, and it was called Tempered Poison Arrow. After being hit, apart from taking damage from the arrow, one would also take Damage Over Time from the poison, which made it so that Assassins could not go into Stealth.

Based on the current professions, Hunters did not fear Assassins, but Assassins were not weak against Hunters either.

Drunken Battlefield unhurriedly dodged this arrow and went into Stealth. He undoubtedly wanted to get close to Su Mo and fight him at melee-range. If he came within five units of Su Mo, Su Mo would be in trouble.

Within five units of Hunters was their blind spot; they would have to use close-range weapons instead of bows.

They could use crossbows and guns, but their damage would greatly decrease.

They would have to open up some distance or fight at close range; Hunters did not have any better options.