Chapter 62: Mutual Destruction

But… were they really just going to leave like this?

“What about the tiger? Are we just going to leave it there? We killed it, after all. Who knows how many valuable things there are on a tiger from head to tail…” Even a wild boar could yield a pair of tusks, let alone a tiger.

Tiger skin could be used to make gear, and tiger meat, tiger blood, tiger claws, even the internal organs—all of these were excellent ingredients or medicinal materials.

Right now, the lingering presence of the tiger was still keeping other creatures away, but as soon as they left, it wouldn’t be long before something discovered the dead black-striped tiger and picked it clean.

Just thinking about it made their hearts ache.

“You think I don’t want to bring it back? You saw it yourself—it’s at least five hundred jin (250 kg) at the very least. Are you going to carry it by yourself?” If both of them were in good shape, they might just barely manage to carry a five-hundred-jin carcass.

But in their current state, Lyle was basically a “cripple”—he couldn’t lift a hand or shoulder a load. Although Lake still had some strength left, there was no way he could drag a five-hundred-jin tiger by himself.

“But…” Lake wanted to say something, but Lyle cut him off after just one word.

“Did you forget the Lord is still here? She’ll definitely have a way to bring it back.” They didn’t know about the backpack, or how Su You could make things appear and disappear, but that didn’t mean they weren’t aware she had some kind of ability.

They couldn’t carry a five-hundred-jin tiger, but if it was broken down—skin, meat, and so on—Su You’s backpack could definitely hold it.

Even if it couldn’t, Su You could always take other things out of her backpack for them to carry, freeing up space just for the tiger.

“Let’s go back and find the Lord, then.” So Lake helped Lyle back to where Su You was digging up stones.

Su You was startled to see them both covered in blood again. She looked at them, silently asking what on earth had happened.

Originally, Lyle was going to explain, but Lake was worried he’d tire himself out, so he explained everything that had just happened instead.

After hearing the whole story, Su You was left with the same question Lake had had earlier—

“You and the black-striped tiger ended up in a mutual destruction?” Su You knew just how tough the black-striped tiger was. She’d once been blocked by one while gathering something, and had to return to the territory to bring five combat-skilled people with her to take it down.

Five people!

And one of them even had an intermediate-level skill!

Even then, when they fought the black-striped tiger, it almost managed to escape.

Her goal back then hadn’t actually been the tiger, so it wouldn’t have mattered if it got away, but after putting in so much effort, it would’ve felt like a waste to let it go. So Su You led her team to chase it down and finish it off.

If it took five people to barely handle a black-striped tiger, how could a single person possibly kill one?

Lake had said the tiger wasn’t dead yet, but from what he described, it sounded like the tiger was completely powerless to resist—basically as good as dead.

Faced with Su You’s question, Lyle explained helplessly, “It wasn’t me. How could I possibly do that? When I found it, it was already badly injured… It’s my own greed, really. Otherwise, I never would’ve gotten mixed up with it.”

Lyle wasn’t reckless, but when he saw the black-striped tiger, it really did look like it was on its last legs, and its wounds proved it wasn’t faking.

Having a black-striped tiger just lying there in front of him was like finding money on the road.

Lyle was tempted.

He wanted to kill the tiger himself.

But reason told him he should go back and tell Su You and Lake first, then decide what to do… But he worried that if he left, the tiger might run away.

So he decided to stay and keep watch, hoping that if the tiger didn’t leave, or if Su You and Lake noticed he’d been gone too long, they’d come looking for him…

It was a good plan, but the tiger was on high alert and never let its guard down. Since it wasn’t resting, Lyle didn’t dare leave either.

In the end, a small wild animal suddenly crashed into Lyle, alerting the tiger to his presence.

The little creature was small and fast, so the tiger ignored it—but Lyle wasn’t so lucky.

“Luckily, the tiger was already badly hurt, so I just barely managed to fight it for a bit…” But only just. Even a dying camel is bigger than a horse, and this was a tiger.

He used up all his strength to bring the tiger to the brink of death, but ended up completely exhausted and unable to move himself… After that, Su You and Lake heard the commotion and came over, and the rest was history.

“I see.” That made a lot more sense.

Otherwise, if an NPC with only basic melee skills could take down a tiger bare-handed… this digital world would be way too scary.

“My Lord, the black-striped tiger is dead, but the two of us can’t bring it back. What do you think…”

Lake’s words seemed to remind Su You of something. She nodded to show she understood, took out some grilled meat with berries for Lyle, then said to Lake, “Take me to see it.”

Lake nodded quickly and was about to lead the way when he glanced at Lyle.

“What about Lyle…”

Su You checked Lyle’s health: “130/230”.

He’d lost nearly a hundred points from his original 225 HP, and that was just from fighting a badly injured tiger. It was easy to imagine what would happen if he’d run into a healthy one.

But there was no “if.”

If the tiger had been healthy, Lyle never would have been able to stake it out for so long.

His health wasn’t high, but not low either. He could stay here or go back to rest.

“It’s up to you. If you’re tired, rest for a bit and then head back to the territory. If you feel okay, rest here, and after we come back, you and Lake can go check out the mine.”

Given the two options, Lyle didn’t hesitate at all and chose the second one.

So now, Lyle stayed here to rest, while Lake led Su You to where the black-striped tiger had died.

…

[Black-Striped Tiger] (Deceased)

HP: 0/1000

Attack: 50

Defense: 20

(End of chapter)"

"Here is a fluent, natural English translation of the provided Chinese text: