Chapter 103 The Invisible Stranglehold
Yuan Yu glanced over and saw that the majority of the squares were covered with green forest icons with trees, orange savannah icons, or blue stream and river icons. Only two squares sported village icons, with brick houses and chimneys gently puffing out trailing smoke.
The squares and dice faded, and on the screen, the tiger finished drinking water by the lake. Lifting its head, it glanced into the woods, then quickly disappeared into the dense forest. The camera view followed the tiger\'s perspective, advancing through clumps of bushes, with branches and leaves parting on either side, making a faint rustling noise.
Yuan Yu had an uncanny illusion that he himself was transforming into the tiger, moving through the woods!
After a brief transition, the screen switched to the savannah, where the trees were sparser, but the underbrush was very dense.
The tiger crouched low in the bushes, peering through the gaps in the grass at a herd of deer a dozen steps away, grazing on the shrubs.
Taking cautious steps forward through the grass, the tiger suddenly hunkered down and sprang into action!
The agile figure of the tiger leapt like lightning through the grass, and the deer, startled by the tiger, ran off frantically, bleating in alarm. The surroundings moved quickly, blurring the background, creating the sensation of a roaring wind beside one\'s ear, allowing the player to vividly feel the thrilling passion and wild beauty of the tiger\'s hunt!
Yuan Yu\'s heart pounded with excitement, his breathing grew rapid, and he couldn\'t help but press down on the tiger\'s paw, urging it to go faster—he was about to catch up!
On the screen, the tiger launched into a powerful leap, taking down a deer that was too slow to escape. It bit into the deer\'s neck, its massive paw pressing on the head, crouching in the grass, and began to leisurely enjoy its meal.
The underbrush obscured most of the deer\'s body, so the scene didn\'t look very bloody.
The hunting process was incredibly swift, like lightning!
Of course, it only showed the most exciting shots; otherwise, the game would drag on too long.
A line of text appeared at the bottom of the screen: "You have eaten your fill and feel full of energy."
"The tiger hunting is really cool!"
Yuan Yu tapped on the paw, a bit expectant, wondering what was next.
The dice clattered and gradually stopped, displaying a "5".
This time, it landed on a forest square.
The tiger stopped beside a large tree, leaning its huge body against it, lifting its neck to reveal a patch of white fur on its lower jaw, and began rubbing its cheek and chin against the tree bark like a cat, squinting its eyes. It scraped along the bark, its body involuntarily slumping down from standing, with its tail gently raised behind it, looking extremely adorable.
However, the tiger then stood back up, its nearly three-meter-tall stature and front limbs as thick as a human\'s thigh embraced the tree, exuding a sense of incredible strength.
Tigers and cats are indeed very different! So fierce.
But to those who appreciate them, they are also beautiful and adorable.
Rubbing the tree back and forth with its cheeks, the tiger marked its territory.
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Continuing to roll the dice, it landed on another forest square, just one space away from a blue water square.
Yuan Yu felt a bit dismayed, "Ah, my luck isn\'t that great."
The existence of the water square clearly tells players that in this game, the tiger needs to drink water.
If it goes too long without drinking, who knows what could happen—perhaps it could die of thirst?
However, contrary to his expectations, the tiger still made its way to the stream to drink!
"You have drunk deeply from the clear stream."
An experienced onlooker explained, "It\'s not just on the water square that you can drink water! The two squares adjacent to the water square also count as being within the water source area."
Yuan Yu suddenly realized, so this was the case! It seemed that although there weren\'t many stream squares, the probability of encountering water was still quite high.
He rolled the dice again, and this time he got a "3", landing on a village square.
On the edge of the forest lay vast open farmlands, with green leaves waving in the wind. In the distance, one could see the pointed roofs of brick houses, and it appeared that there were people working in the fields.
Yuan Yu felt tense all of a sudden, worried about a potential conflict with humans!
If a conflict really erupted, who knew what fate the tiger would face? Could it be killed by people?
Thankfully, it seemed that the tiger was also quite scared!
After a glance that detected human activity, it quickly ran away.
"You sensed the danger and hurriedly left the place."
"Phew, it\'s good that no conflict occurred."
Yuan Yu breathed a sigh of relief, feeling somewhat calmer, and pressed on with the tiger\'s paw.
After jumping a few squares, a prompt suddenly appeared below: "Poachers have set traps on the mountain."
Then he saw the icons of animal traps—with their edges gleaming coldly and jagged teeth—appear on some of the forest squares!
Fortunately, there were only four of them.
Looking at an animal trap five squares ahead, Yuan Yu muttered, "One in six chances, I shouldn\'t be so unlucky, right?"
Rattle rattle, 5!
The things one least wanted to happen always seemed to happen. Yuan Yu slapped his paw in frustration: "Dammit, which damned son of a bitch set this trap!"
The onlooking crowd offered consolation: "No worries, these incidents are probabilistic! Landing on a square with an animal trap doesn\'t necessarily mean stepping into it, and even if you do, there are different outcomes such as being injured, biting off the paw to escape, or dying trapped; it all depends on the tiger\'s luck."
A person voiced their dismay: "I stepped on an animal trap, and after trying to bite off my paw for ages, I didn\'t manage to escape and was shot dead by the poacher who came along. They stripped me of my skin, bones, and everything, to sell. It was just horrible, truly tragic!"
Yuan Yu, holding the soft tiger paw, prayed anxiously, hoping fervently not to step into a trap!
On the screen, the tiger sniffed the lingering scents in the air, seeming to sense something amiss, and cautiously left the area.
Yuan Yu let out a sigh of relief and felt genuinely happy!
He continued to roll the dice; a few steps later, a new event appeared.
"An orchard has been established."
This time, accompanying human development, two dense forests had been turned into orchards, adorned with apple trees bearing red fruit, which looked quite beautiful.
Although these two squares were insignificant compared to the fifty-plus squares in the round, Yuan Yu still felt a hint of pressure!
It was as if an invisible net was enveloping him from all directions, slowly squeezing and strangling the space for his survival.
Living in a prosperous city of steel and concrete, surfing the web, playing games, studying, chatting with his girlfriend, eating and sleeping—the natural world was far removed from him, and tigers were creatures only seen in documentaries, with no intersection with his life at all.
Today, he finally understood how tigers lived and the impact of human activities on them.
It seemed that tigers were not so distant from him; they were closely related to human actions.
Feeling a bit heavy, Yuan Yu pressed down the tiger\'s paw.
What kind of fate awaits in the future?