Pretending To Be A Boss
Chapter 13: Chapter 6: Suspected Battle Ability Awakening

Just as Tang Xian had thought, the lair of the hellhound was very spacious and dry, albeit with a distinctive musky odor.

In the mining zone, many things were unusable due to a natural magnetic field that interfered with a lot of equipment, making human high-tech products virtually scrap metal here.

Even lighters, devices made on the simplest of principles, happened to be operable.

What Tang Xian hadn't expected was that deep in the hellhound's den there were nests made of dry, flammable whitegrass.

This saved him a lot of trouble; at least he didn't have to worry about making a fire.

In his utility bag, he had pots and spices, and of course oil. Unable to bring something as large as a stove, Tang Xian had to settle for some small cooking utensils.

The corpse of the hellhound was brought in by Dong Ran.

"You indeed have a talent," he said.

"Mhm," Dong Ran responded softly.

"That's great, I should thank you for saving me, the gust of wind from your push and this superhuman strength to carry a hellhound; those must be part of your abilities?"

"Yes, the gifted do receive some power enhancement. In the mining zone, we are stronger than we are in the Pyramid," Dong Ran said with some happiness. Although she wouldn't have been able to hunt a boss-level creature alone, she had still been useful.

"Is that so? That's a pity. I'm not a gifted one. I know about this area of knowledge, but I lack the personal experience. Does that mean that even if a gifted one does not awaken combat abilities, they possess a more robust constitution than the average person?"

"That's right," Dong Ran said.

Tang Xian nodded to indicate he understood, but in his hands, he held a knife.

Once gifted ones enter the mining zone, they can see various data, and the types of data they see determine the strength of their talents.

Moreover, the more types of data they can see, the more combat abilities they may awaken, such as Dong Ran's Gust Palm, which is one of those abilities.

"This doesn't look like a weapon transformed from mining equipment, does it? It looks like a kitchen knife?" Dong Ran scrutinized the knife in Tang Xian's hand, replaceing this man to be quite unbelievable.

Others went hunting elite creatures with all sorts of weapons, but this man brought utensils used for eating.

"Mhm, it's just a regular dining knife inlaid with diamond. I traded three blue minerals for it specifically for chopping meat. The hide of the hellhound is very thick, and generally speaking, the meat of the legs is tastier, but when it comes to hellhounds, you need to eat the belly. For creatures that walk on all fours, the belly is the softest. Still, ordinary knives would hardly scratch it.

Luckily, it is dead now."

Tang Xian held the knife and slowly traced over the vast belly of the hellhound.

"It won't struggle since it's dead, which is perfect for me to figure out which part of the hellhound tastes the best, where it is softer, and what the meat quality is like."

Neurotic—who would conduct such a meaningless inquiry. Dong Ran really found Tang Xian very odd.

No one had ever eaten hellhound meat before; in fact, people only treated the mining area as a place to transport resources.

Who would think of cooking inside it?

Even if they did eat, they would bring dried food and water supplies from the Pyramid that were easy to store.

Dong Ran couldn't help but ask, "That ... Tang, can the creatures here really be eaten?"

Tang Xian said, "According to Liu Jiang's 'Record of Mine Area Creatures,' the creatures in the mining zone prey on each other, and the hellhound is not at the top of the food chain. Above the elite creatures are the perfect ones, and above the perfect ones are the calamity ones, and above the calamity ones are the catastrophe ones that humankind has encountered no more than five times."

"Be it these creatures or the bosses among them, their means of survival is not as depicted in novels where they live on dew and air. They survive on meat. If beasts can eat it, so can humans. Humans have lived for thousands of years, what haven't they eaten? To me, the mining zone is like a huge animal husbandry farm."

This statement sounded somewhat laughable and wildly arrogant, but when Tang Xian said it, it felt very real. There was neither an earnest tone nor a hint of jest.

"Tang, have you never thought of contributing to humanity, like venturing into the depths of the mining zone to bring back more resources?" Dong Ran asked, her large eyes fixed on Tang Xian.

Tang Xian shook his head and said,

"Some say the mining zone is a game, and when it's cleared, the Human World will be redeemed, but people have been striving in vain for hundreds of years. I used to think about it, but I'm not interested anymore."

"I don't plan on breaking through the mining zone or clearing the hardest areas. There are plenty of geniuses for that. I just want to make my way through by eating, and my biggest wish is to eat a catastrophe-level boss once, to live a proper life."

Dong Ran was taken aback.

His words seemed somewhat domineering yet kind of adorable. She said,

"Aren't you afraid of being poisoned ..."

"Appetite comes first in human desires, even before sex, and the ancients were right to prioritize it. After all, the latter is only a moment of pleasure that also shortens life, whereas the former is a perennial theme that not only brings gustatory satisfaction but also the power to survive. Since I'm not having a sex life, naturally I should indulge myself in eating.

If people can die beneath peony flowers and be considered romantic, then dying for the sake of eating is dying honorably."

Dong Ran was choked up again by his peculiar logic, yet it somehow made sense.

Then her cheeks turned crimson, as if she thought of something, and instantly lowered her head.

Tang Xian didn't pay attention and started using the knife.

Generally speaking, an animal's abdomen is where fat accumulates, but for a formidable creature like the Hellhound, there isn't really any fat to speak of.

Therefore, choosing the abdomen should result in a texture most suitable for humans.

Clutching the knife, Tang Xian thrust it in fiercely.

No blood seeped out, which made Tang Xian somewhat happy, because, after all, the dog meat must be prepared before the blood flows out for the best taste.

This was also the first time Tang Xian had touched a creature he had outwitted.

Suddenly, not long after the knife pierced the Hellhound's belly, Tang Xian froze.

[Successfully hunted elite-level boss creature: Hellhound.]

[Acquired 10 points of Hellhound resistance.]

[Damage to Hellhound increased by 10 points.]

[Canine creature resistance increased by 1 point.]

[Damage to canine creatures increased by 1 point.]

[By killing an adult Hellhound, enhanced sense of smell acquired.]

[Continue to hunt Hellhounds to gain stronger resistance and damage.]

[Initial favorability with Hellhound-related creatures -10, canine creatures -1.]

[Initial prestige with Hellhound-related creatures +10, canine creatures +1.]

What's going on?

Where did that voice come from?

In that instant, Tang Xian saw countless cards floating in an alien space, and then one card lit up; on it was the Hellhound's image!

What exactly is happening?

Each gifted individual awakens combat abilities, but Tang Xian had never awakened before, and not having experienced such things, naturally he couldn't analyze them. In fact, according to human criteria, he would not even be considered a gifted individual, let alone have awakened combat abilities.

Tang Xian couldn't understand it, but he quickly accepted it.

After staring blankly for a good ten seconds, Dong Ran saw Tang Xian in a daze and called out his name, prompting him to finally snap back to reality.

"Tang, what's wrong with you?"

Tang Xian shook his head, suddenly put down the knife, walked over to Dong Ran, and then gently touched her. This was the first time he had touched her since she pushed him away with a palm strike.

[Successfully defended against the human skill Gust Palm.]

[Acquired 1 point of human resistance.]

[Damage to humans increased by 1 point.]

[Failure to kill the target, unable to acquire the skill.]

Tang Xian stiffened and stared at Dong Ran.

Dong Ran felt somewhat uncomfortable under Tang Xian's gaze and her face grew even redder.

During this process, Tang Xian frequently hesitated to speak.

About a minute later, Tang Xian's expression quickly became calm, no matter how strange the incident, he could always accept it quickly and did not explain his behavior just now.

Is this my combat ability awakening? It seems as unreliable as the data I saw, Tang Xian thought. Recalling the words of the Hellhound, "Why would such a powerful creature like you stay with weak humans?" Tang Xian found there were indeed many suspicions about him.

Tang Xian waved his hand, no longer dwelling on these things, and said:

"It's nothing. Let's have dog meat hot pot together later."