Chapter 32: The Rabbit Hunts Back

Summer ran without looking back even once.

Adrenaline rushed through her body, making her heart pound hard against her chest. Strangely enough, instead of feeling scared, she actually felt excited.

Behind her, the mutated cat chased after her at full speed, its huge body moving much faster than something that size should. It looked almost like a predator hunting down a runaway rabbit.

Summer quickened her pace when she saw the abandoned hotel building ahead of her.

From a distance, Ilya watched her carefully and for a second, he thought Summer was planning to hide inside the hotel.

His expression darkened slightly because if she really did that, he was already prepared to give her minus points.

But just a few steps before Summer reached the entrance, she suddenly turned sharply to the right.

Her shoes scraped hard against the ground as she slid sideways, using the movement to slow herself down just enough to twist her body around.

She saw that the mutated cat couldn’t stop itself at that speed, so its massive body ended up slamming straight into the hotel wall.

At the same time, Summer pulled the rifle from her back and she raised it without hesitation.

The moment the mutated cat staggered away from the wall, Summer aimed directly at its head and pulled the trigger.

BANG!

A bright beam of plasma shot from the rifle.

The recoil slammed against her shoulder, but the compensator absorbed most of the force, allowing Summer to keep her stance.

The plasma beam hit the mutated cat right on its head, and its head immediately exploded. ℴ

Flesh and black blood splattered everywhere, some of it even landing on Summer’s clothes.

[You killed ×1 D-Rank Mutated Creature: 5,000 Credits]

The moment the mutated cat’s body crashed to the ground, Summer finally let out a long breath.

She slowly relaxed her shoulders, though one of them still ached from the recoil.

Should she increase the recoil compensator percentage? Summer thought about it for a second, but then shook her head.

Nah. She needed to get used to it.

[Holy shit, Summer got an expensive rifle! Which Sugar Daddy bought her that thing?!]

[What Sugar Daddy?! She must have made a lot of money from her last stream!]

[Yeah, mostly from BaronB!]

Speaking of the devil, that familiar username started popping up in her gift notifications again, followed by several others.

[BaronB sent ×2 Star Palace: 1,000,000 Credits]

[MissBunnyDefenseSquad sent ×3 Silver Moon: 6,000 Credits]

[CikurLover sent ×5 Plasma Rose: 500 Credits]

[ToxicMambaFan sent ×1 Golden Beast: 1,000 Credits]

Not long after, the people in her comment section suddenly had a fight.

[See! She got rich because of her #1 Sugar Daddy!]

[Stop looking down on Summer like that! BaronB wouldn’t give her that much money if she wasn’t worth watching!]

[Exactly. Do you think people just throw a million credits at someone boring?]

[Also why are you acting like only men watch her???]

[I’m a woman and I’d happily empty my wallet for Miss Bunny.]

[Same. If Summer told me to send gifts, I’d be bankrupt by sunset.]

[Girl, stand in line!]

Summer only read a few comments before turning her attention back to Ilya, who was quietly clapping for her from a distance.

"What? Do I get high points?" Summer asked as she tried to stand.

The moment she put weight on her right foot, however, pain shot through her ankle.

"Shit!"

Her body tipped forward, and she almost fell face-first onto the ground. Luckily, she managed to grab onto a broken piece of concrete beside her just in time.

Ilya instinctively walked toward her, but then stopped halfway when he remembered that she was still in the middle of her evaluation.

"Sit down for a moment," Ilya said instead. "You probably sprained your ankle."

Summer didn’t argue with him. She carefully sat back down and stretched her leg out in front of her. After that, she took off her right shoe and pulled up the bottom of her pants.

Sure enough, her ankle was starting to swell. She had probably twisted it when she slid across the ground earlier.

Oh, what a weak body!

"Do you have a sprain spray?" Ilya asked.

Summer clicked her tongue because she had forgotten another crucial thing she needed to bring into the polluted zone: medicine.

It wasn’t like she had completely forgotten about it. She was just too used to getting hurt without caring much. Back then, even if her body was damaged or parts of it broke, the scientists could simply fix her metal body again.

But now that she no longer had a metal body, of course she had to take care of it more carefully.

"No," she admitted. "I forgot. You probably have to give me minus points for that, right?"

Ilya looked at her and gave a helpless smile. "Unfortunately, yes." Ilya continued, "But on the bright side, your fight earlier earned you a lot of points."

Summer looked at him in surprise. "Even though I only killed a D-Rank monster?"

"I’m not only judging what you kill," Ilya said. "I’m also judging how you fight."

Ilya pointed toward the ruined hotel behind her. "You used the environment, forced the monster to crash, and took the shot when it couldn’t move properly. That was good."

Summer’s lips slowly curved upward. "So I’m doing well?"

"Don’t get too proud," Ilya reminded her. "It’s just the beginning."

Her smile disappeared almost instantly.

Ilya chuckled before looking down at her swollen ankle again. "You should take care of that first."

Summer sighed and leaned back against the broken concrete. "I already told you. I forgot to bring medicine."

"You can still buy it through the online shop," Ilya said. "The delivery drones have camouflage too, so they can safely travel almost anywhere. But that’s also why basic supplies are more expensive when you order them online."

At this point, Summer didn’t even care how much money she had to spend because she just wanted her ankle to stop hurting.

"It’s fine." She sighed.

Summer opened her terminal, but before she could tap the online shop, a familiar name suddenly appeared in her gift notifications.

[ArcherReed sent ×1 Celestial Crown: 100,000 Credits]

The livestream chat exploded almost immediately.

[YO, ARCHER???]

[Did you forget to switch accounts before simping over your mate?!]

[Bro really said privacy is optional.]