Chapter 97: Mu Bai’s Dangerous Charm

Due to her petite figure and the lingering childishness on her delicate face, anyone meeting Mu Bai for the first time would likely get the impression that she was “unreliable” or “needed protection.”

Tang Shifu’s first interaction with Mu Bai had been through private chat.

If she hadn’t already dealt with Mu Bai through trades, she probably would have assumed Mu Bai had a childish personality too.

On Earth, it wasn’t a problem for a girl to be a bit naive and immature, but in the Survival Game, no one wanted a teammate like that.

After spending some time together, Tang Shifu had come to understand Mu Bai’s true nature.

In reality, Mu Bai’s way of doing things was very mature.

She was hardly ever swayed by emotions, and Tang Shifu even felt she was the most reliable person on the team.

Tang Shifu thought it wasn’t just her who felt this way.

The others probably did too.

Ye Yuan might have been influenced by her personal feelings, but Mo Cha definitely recognized Mu Bai’s decision-making ability and steady personality.

Therefore, in dangerous situations, it was usually Mu Bai who gave the orders.

The rest of the team didn’t waste time thinking.

They simply carried out her instructions and could do the right thing with maximum efficiency.

Although Mu Bai indeed needed protection, it wasn’t because she was a burden who needed her teammates to constantly look after her.

Rather, her strengths lay entirely outside of combat.

That weakness in combat ability was more than compensated for by her decision-making and support abilities.

In fact, if Mu Bai’s support abilities were revealed to all the players, even if her physical stats remained as low as they had been at the start, countless teams would be willing to support someone like her.

The stronger the team, the more they would seek her out.

They would never see her as a burden.

Even considering personal factors alone, among the team, even Tang Shifu—the one whose favorability toward Mu Bai was judged to be the lowest by her Talent—would willingly take extra care of Mu Bai because of her personal charm.

Tang Shifu had never thought about this before…

This was something she had only just realized.

In that critical moment, without anyone reminding her, she had instinctively rushed to save Mu Bai, willingly risking even greater danger.

This showed that, emotionally, she was willing to take greater risks to protect Mu Bai, without calculating the gains or losses.

And they had only known each other for about half a month.

Mu Bai… as a teammate, was simply perfect.

Her only flaw, her combat ability, had instead become an advantage at the team level.

After all, if Mu Bai herself were strong in battle, why would she even need teammates?

But—

Those had been Tang Shifu’s thoughts until just now.

After hearing Mu Bai’s apology, Tang Shifu was genuinely stunned.

It wasn’t that she was wondering what Mu Bai had to apologize for.

She understood that perfectly.

Anyone who had just gone through what happened would naturally apologize or express gratitude.

But not Mu Bai.

She didn’t need to do that.

“Huh? Why are you suddenly saying this…?”

Tang Shifu felt her mind go blank.

She instinctively didn’t want to accept the apology, so she asked instead.

“It’s because… if I hadn’t frozen in fear and not known what to do, you wouldn’t have been trapped down here trying to save me,”

Mu Bai explained.

Luckily, Tang Shifu’s Strength was very high, so she managed to bring them both down safely, and fortunately, this pit had a bottom.

Otherwise, not only would Mu Bai herself have been in grave danger, but Tang Shifu would have suffered for nothing.

She apologized not simply because her physical stats were poor.

That was something that couldn’t be changed in a short time.

True teammates were supposed to tolerate and support each other.

A bigger reason was that when her life was threatened, her mind had briefly gone blank, and she had lost the ability to make decisions.

That was what Mu Bai considered her biggest “mistake.”

Tang Shifu blinked again.

She suddenly realized that Mu Bai had just experienced a life-or-death crisis.

Moreover, from Mu Bai’s perspective, there had been no room to struggle.

Everything had depended on whether her teammates could support her in time.

Given Mu Bai’s usual personality, she always considered the worst-case scenario.

For Mu Bai, the moment she was forced toward the next tile by the moving wall and had to gamble with her life, the fear and helplessness she felt must have been far greater than Tang Shifu could imagine.

Right now…

Mu Bai was probably still in shock.

Even so, in that state, she had immediately considered Tang Shifu’s feelings.

For some reason, Tang Shifu felt as though something inside her chest had melted away.

Without saying a word, she simply acted.

Mu Bai had no idea what was happening.

Before she knew it, she was pulled into a hug, her face buried once again.

“Mmph?”

This time, the environment wasn’t dangerous, so Mu Bai could focus entirely on her senses.

At first, she was confused, wondering why Tang Shifu had suddenly hugged her.

The next second, she was completely immersed in the softness.

She indulged herself.

Mu Bai learned something new.

If the other person was naturally well-endowed, then even if bandages made them appear less impressive on the outside, burying your face in them still felt completely different from someone with a smaller frame.

Just as Mu Bai was sinking into the soft comfort and couldn’t pull herself away, she suddenly sensed something.

She was already very familiar with the feeling of her Talent changing.

Naturally, she noticed the change in [Angel’s Protection].

Wait…

It’s already three layers?

She had thought it would take a long time spent together before Tang Shifu’s favorability slowly reached the “Close Friend” level.

She hadn’t expected it to happen so quickly.

Could it be…

She really was a genius?

Did her appearance increase favorability that much?

Could it even influence other players?

Without hesitation, Mu Bai applied the third layer of Protection to Tang Shifu.

“Huh?”

Tang Shifu immediately felt the changes in her body.

Some of her exhausted stamina and energy recovered, and all of her physical attributes increased.

For someone like her, the improvement was extremely obvious.

“Mu Bai, you…”

“That’s right! We’re Close Friends now!”

Mu Bai laughed from the bottom of her heart.

She was genuinely happy.

Tang Shifu had originally wanted to ask about the Talent.

Instead, she got this response.

For a moment, it felt as if sweetness had lodged itself in her throat.

This girl, Mu Bai…

Did she even realize how charming she was?

Tang Shifu was certain that Mu Bai’s words had landed a critical hit on her favorability.

Even the rhythm of her heartbeat had changed.

Knowing she wasn’t good with words and not wanting to ruin the atmosphere, Tang Shifu simply let out a soft sigh and took two deep breaths, as though trying to ease the sweet, suffocating feeling in her chest.

Finally, she gently rubbed Mu Bai’s head.

Mu Bai: ?

Why are you suddenly rubbing my head?

She felt like Tang Shifu wasn’t treating her like a Close Friend at all.

Could it be that her favorability had increased in some strange direction?

Mu Bai opened her mouth to say something, then swallowed the words back down.

Just as she had finally organized her thoughts, a gunshot rang out from above.

The sudden sound startled Mu Bai, making her forget what she had wanted to say.

Before she could send a private message asking what had happened, a rope dropped down.