Damn little guy

Just after twelve o'clock, Jake teleported to the game world using the special ring. At this moment, Jake was still inside the forest. He had spent the entire previous day venturing deeper into it. However, because he needed to report to the county office, he didn't have much time to continue exploring the forest. He would have to wait for another opportunity to fully explore this unknown, vast forest.

Jake turned back and started walking. The deeper he went into the forest, the denser it became, with taller trees that blocked out the sky. The undergrowth was thick, making it difficult to discern directions. Jake didn't have a compass either, but fortunately, when he entered the forest yesterday, he had left markings on the tree trunks along the way to prevent himself from getting lost. Because he needed to leave quickly today and go woodcutting later, Jake avoided the wild beasts he encountered along the way instead of killing them like he did yesterday, only engaging in combat when he couldn't avoid it.

However, Jake noticed something strange. In the forest near the village, there were wild beasts tainted by dark energy, turning them into more ferocious and bloodthirsty monsters. But in this forest behind the mountain, all he saw were wild beasts. There wasn't a single monster in sight. Although these wild beasts were dangerous for ordinary people, they were much milder compared to the monsters.

"Could this be some kind of hidden paradise?" Jake muttered to himself as he walked, accompanied by a smile.

In reality, Jake was joking. The forest in front of the village was probably designed for players to level up, hence the presence of wild beasts and monsters. That forest was not small, and it was sufficient for early-level players to level up. On the other hand, this forest, originally abandoned and private property of the village, was not assigned any monsters. Of course, these were all Jake's speculations.

"Smack!" Just as Jake was hurrying along the path, something suddenly hit his head. He turned around and saw a small, pure white animal standing on a tree branch, chirping at him and holding some unknown wild fruits in its hands.

This creature looked like a mix between a cat and a fox, with fur as white as snow, without any impurities. Instead of being afraid and hiding when Jake looked at it, it wore a smiling expression and continued to gaze at him. Then, it threw the wild fruit at Jake again. It seemed that the little creature was the one who had hit him earlier.

"Little guy, you better get lost," Jake said to the small creature. "Luckily, I have something to do today. Otherwise, you would end up like your neighbors, dying under my sword."

As he spoke, Jake attempted to dodge the wild fruit, but to his surprise, the fruit's speed was much faster than he expected. He failed to evade it and was hit on the head once again.

Jake was slightly astonished but didn't pay it much mind. Although it hurt a bit to be hit by the fruit, it didn't cause any significant damage. The little creature, upon seeing Jake hit again, stood on its hind legs, lightly tapped its chest and face with its front legs, and revealed an exaggerated, human-like smile. Clearly, it was mocking Jake.

In response, Jake picked up a wild fruit from the ground and threw it back at the creature. He knew that despite mocking him, the little creature's reactions were quick, and its movements were quite agile. It lightly jumped and landed on another tree branch, then continued to laugh at Jake.

"You're pretty fast for a little guy," Jake said, he didn't care that he missed his target. He just wanted to warn the creature and drive it away.

Jake really didn't want to kill any monsters today because he had to go woodcutting. Besides, the little creature was still up in the tree, and Jake didn't have any long-range attack skills to deal with it. After warning the little creature, Jake turned around and left.

Initially, Jake thought the little creature would leave after being warned. However, to his surprise, just as he had taken a couple of steps, he was hit on the head again. Needless to say, the mischievous culprit was still the little creature.

Sure enough, when Jake turned around, the little creature had already moved from its previous tree to the nearest one, still smiling mischievously at Jake. Frustrated, Jake picked up another wild fruit from the ground and threw it at the creature. However, he missed again.

Jake grew increasingly annoyed, but there was nothing he could do. He could only turn around and continue walking, ignoring the little creature. However, it seemed that the creature had taken issue with Jake. Wherever Jake went, it followed, and not only that, it kept attacking him with wild fruits. Well, "attacking" might not be the accurate term because the fruits didn't cause much damage. "Teasing" would probably be more accurate.

Jake had no idea where the creature had found so many wild fruits or where it had been hiding them. How could such a small creature hide so many fruits?

"What do you want from me?" Jake turned around and looked helplessly at the creature.

Jake was truly out of options. He couldn't drive it away, and he couldn't hit it. The creature was faster than him, and even if he ran at full speed, he couldn't escape its pursuit. Jake now felt like a piece of meat on a butcher's block, waiting to be carved.

The little creature stopped as Jake turned and looked at it. It stood up on its hind legs, performed a clapping motion with its front legs, and had a human-like smile on its face. It seemed as if it was playing some amusing game and was very happy.

"Can you stop playing with me?" Jake pleaded, regardless of whether the creature could understand him or not.

The little creature tilted its head and looked at Jake. Then, it threw another wild fruit at him. Its meaning was clear: "No!" Helpless, Jake had no choice but to turn and run.

As expected, the creature didn't let him off the hook. The wild fruits rained down on Jake, hitting him every time. Although the fruits didn't cause much damage, being hit by so many of them was painful. Jake noticed that his skin had turned slightly red in many places.

However, other than running away, Jake had no other options. The little creature was agile, and trying to catch it in this environment was impossible. As for intimidating it, Jake had already tried that, but it didn't work. So, all Jake could do was run.