Rags to Riches: The Rise of a Dual-Talent Prodigy
Chapter 31: Protagonist, Dead?

Chapter 31: Chapter 31: Protagonist, Dead?

After giving Tongzi a peck, Qian Qi hurriedly wiped the Earth Fan Fruit clean and tucked it into her pocket. She looked around and soon spotted other Earth Demon Tomatoes nearby.

She couldn’t help but raise her gleaming little knife, smiling slyly, "Tongzi, have you ever heard of... plucking a goose as it flies by?"

System: [???]

A low, perverse ’hehehe’ laughter sounded, and Qian Qi raised her little knife, charging towards the unsuspecting Earth Demon Tomatoes. With a series of muffled thuds and crashes, the ’heads’ of the Earth Demon Tomatoes cracked, and wails echoed one after another, chilling to the bone.

Before long, the scene of this tragedy was left with only a field of black shells left behind by the ’culprit’. Inside the shells, the squirming flesh oozed with pale gray blood, truly a gruesome sight.

And the ’culprit’, clutching the tiny ’brains’ of the victims, smiled all the more perversely.

[...] Is this plucking a goose? This is more like Qian Qi plucking lives, isn’t it? _{free\we\bnov(e)(l).com}

"Thirty thousand, sixty thousand, ninety thousand... two hundred forty thousand, three hundred sixty thousand..." Qian Qi calculated as she packed the Earth Fan Fruits. The pain of losing five hundred thousand earlier was instantly cured by the full pocket of Earth Fan Fruits.

She squatted on the ground and couldn’t help but giggle, "Hehehe, getting rich, getting rich, my sweet retirement is getting closer~"

However, happiness turned to sorrow.

Just as Qian Qi was digging with joy, a powerful and ferocious roar of a magical beast suddenly sounded behind her, so loud it seemed to pierce the sky above her.

She immediately became alert, grabbing a Thorny Cloud Sunflower nearby and aiming it in the direction of the beast’s roar.

The next moment, Qian Qi’s eyes widened, and she stiffened, looking up at the six-meter-tall elephant-like magical beast. Realizing the situation, she turned and ran.

"I’m gonna die, I’m gonna die!"

As she ran, she didn’t forget to stuff an Earth Fan Fruit into her mouth, muttering to herself, "Crazy! Why is the magical beast so big? Is this really an E-level Magical Beast?"

[Don’t be afraid~] The blue panel floated leisurely next to her: [Bravely face the danger. Qian Qi, the invincible ’Killing Tomato Demon,’ you can do it ^_^~]

"Damn your grandma’s leg—" Qian Qi cursed angrily, only to be trampled underfoot by the Swift Demon Elephant a second later.

Qian Qi: ...

Qian Qi: #%￥%...*@#￥%...

Perhaps because of the Swift Demon Elephant’s immense size, it didn’t notice tiny Qian Qi on the ground like an ant. When it stepped on her, it only felt as if it had stepped on a small, uncomfortable pebble. With a slight shake of its foot, it continued its heavy steps forward.

And in the dirt pit left by the footprint, Qian Qi lay spread-eagle, a large bump swelling on the back of her head.

She remained still, as if dead.

The Black Forest quickly fell silent again, with only the gentle rustling of leaves as the forest wind passed through.

Half a minute later, the ’corpse’ on the ground suddenly twitched slightly.

"Ptooey, ptooey," Qian Qi spat out two mouthfuls of dirt, confusedly getting up and patting her body.

Realizing she was unharmed, she couldn’t help but smile, showing small teeth, as she covered the bump on her head, angrily glancing at the blue panel.

"You could’ve just told me to duck! Why hit me on the head?"

[Because it makes me happy (ૢ˃ꌂ˂ૢ)]

Qian Qi: ???

Qian Qi didn’t expect the system to be so obnoxious, but the Earth Fan Fruit was indeed impressive. Despite the heavy stomp from the Swift Demon Elephant, she emerged unscathed.

She thought she would be flattened into minced meat...

Qian Qi thought of something, quickly trotted to the side, and picked up each Earth Fan Fruit that she had thrown out just before she was knocked down.

Luckily, she reacted quickly; otherwise, that 330,000 giant sum would have been crushed to bits by the magical beast.

With the miraculous effects of the Earth Fan Fruits, Qian Qi’s last trace of fear vanished, and she darted around the Black Forest, searching for more Earth Demon Tomatoes.

As she darted around, Qian Qi found that the Black Forest was vast. Moreover, it seemed like there weren’t many magical beasts around at all. At least, along her journey, she only encountered that Swift Demon Elephant.

"Seems like the E-level dungeon is just so-so!" After wandering for two hours without encountering any danger, Qian Qi couldn’t help but make a ’contemptuous’ remark.

The next second, a giant bald owl with fiery red feathers swooped down from the sky, its talons grabbing the tiny Qian Qi and taking her into the air.

Qian Qi: ???

Looking at the abyss beneath her, Qian Qi’s heart nearly seized up with fear, "Help, I was just being a smart-mouth—!"

Unfortunately, the red-feathered bald owl didn’t understand human language, and as the cold wind roared past her ears high in the sky, Qian Qi felt her body growing colder. Not willing to sit and wait for death, she gripped the Thorny Cloud Sunflower in her hand and prepared to stab at the red-feathered bald owl.

However, just as she raised the Thorny Cloud Sunflower, the red-feathered bald owl spotted a tastier and more appealing meal. It released its talons, letting Qian Qi fall from high in the sky.

Qian Qi: ???

Qian Qi: #%￥%...*@#￥%...

Qian Qi quickly popped an Earth Fan Fruit into her mouth, ready for freefall, but just then, the red-feathered bald owl swooped down again, grabbing Qian Qi back into its mouth.

It turned out it wasn’t trying to discard the sesame for the watermelon, but planning to eat the sesame first before picking up the watermelon.

How unfortunate...

The moment the red-feathered bald owl bit on Qian Qi’s body with its sharp teeth, it heard a ’crack’.

Those sharp, gleaming white teeth shattered.

Red-Feathered Bald Owl: ???

Qian Qi: "Hahahahahahaha—"

In the next moment, the laughing Qian Qi was spat out by the red-feathered bald owl with a ’ptoo’.

Qian Qi plummeted from the sky, tracing a ’beautiful’ arc, finally crashing towards the plains outside the Black Forest.

With a ’thud’, Qian Qi landed on the ground, creating a shallow crater.

"Ouch, my back." Qian Qi clutched her lower back as she crawled out of the pit, wagging her finger at the departing red-feathered bald owl in the sky, "Young birds really don’t play by the rules, how can they waste food like that?"

Wasting food is one thing, but casually throwing things from high up, cough, that’s not even right!

She turned to survey her surroundings, surprised to find, "Oh, this place shouldn’t be far from where I started, right?"

[Not far at all~] The system, having received Qian Qi’s payment earlier, kindly pointed out the way back for her.

Qian Qi dusted off her clothes and followed the system eagerly.

Half an hour later, she returned to the spot she had first appeared, and suddenly realized something.

"How do I get out of here?"

[Wow~ You finally noticed~]

The blue panel smiled slightly: [Only by defeating the dungeon’s monster boss can the exit portal appear~]

Qian Qi’s face instantly turned into the expression from the famous painting "The Scream": "What—?"

Damn this dungeon, it has such a setup!

"Isn’t there any other way to leave?" Holding onto hope, Qian Qi looked at the panel, "System Lord, being all-knowing, you must know, right!"

[If you can find the instance’s space crack, you can leave~]

[Hints for a friendly price: only 100 bucks ^_^~]

Is there really such a good deal? Qian Qi was overjoyed and was about to transfer the money, but suddenly remembered something and stopped her transferring hand abruptly.

Wait a minute, an instance crack...

If she remembered correctly, demons could also leave through the instance crack and enter the human world.

Qian Qi’s expression instantly turned serious.

No, she couldn’t just leave like that.

Only by defeating the boss and clearing the dungeon would the space crack be repaired and closed, trapping the demons inside forever.

If she just left, once the demons discovered the crack, the first place to be destroyed would be the Bright Orphanage!

At that point, it wouldn’t just be a simple matter of 500,000. She might have to spend millions to rebuild the orphanage!

Qian Qi vowed not to allow the existence of this ticking time bomb!

"Looks like I can save 100 bucks instead." Qian Qi patted the blue panel, her expression growing wild, "Come, let’s go take down the BOSS!"