He lifted his foot and took a step forward.
My foot landed a little off-center, my body swayed, and I almost fell again. Luckily, the stone axe in my hand supported me, otherwise I would definitely have fallen face-first into the mud.
"Your center of gravity is shifted to the left," Nana's voice came from the side. "Your right leg is bent at too large an angle, which can easily cause you to lose your balance."
Chen Hao took a breath and pulled the axe from the ground: "I've tried so hard to walk like a normal hunter, but I still walk like a penguin that has just learned to walk."
“You’ve never had any wilderness tracking training before, so it’s normal for your movements to be uncoordinated.” She paused. “I suggest you start with basic footwork.”
"I thought I'd just pounce on the rabbit." He wiped the sweat from his brow, looked up at the sky, and saw the sun had already slipped below the treetops, its light turning red and slanted. "So the first step isn't rushing up to bite its neck, but... walking?"
“During the stealthy approach phase, the noise level must be kept below 30 decibels.” As Nana spoke, a flash of blue light appeared in her eyes, and a set of illusory footprints suddenly appeared on the ground, one after the other, with even spacing, as if someone had slipped along the grass. “Practice moving forward along this trajectory.”
Chen Hao stared at the string of glowing footprints, questioning his existence: "Isn't this just teaching me how to walk like a cat? Like a fat cat."
"The simulated target is a rodent weighing 0.5 kilograms, with hearing sensitivity seven times greater than that of humans," she said calmly. "Breaking a single dead branch would cause the mission to fail."
“I understand.” He sighed. “I’m not just a hunter, I’m also a master of sound control.”
He moved step by step, following the footprints, his knees slightly bent and his buttocks sticking out, looking like he was hiding from his mother-in-law's inspection. After five steps, on the sixth step he accidentally ran over a leaf with a soft "crack".
The projection disappeared instantly.
“Failure,” Nana said.
"It's just a leaf!"
"The target has been startled and fled."
"If it can hear the rustling of leaves, can it also hear my heartbeat?" He looked down at his stomach. "That's quite a commotion."
“Her heart rate is currently 98 beats per minute, which is indeed too high,” she added. “It makes it difficult to remain concealed.”
"Can you please stop testing everything?" he rolled his eyes. "Can't you leave me a little mystery?"
“Mystery is not included in the database.”
He had no choice but to start over.
On the second attempt, they reached the eighth step and successfully arrived at the pre-set "attack starting point." Nana nodded: "Breathing rhythm improved by 23%, and the pressure distribution of the steps is becoming more reasonable."
“Wow, I’ve improved.” He grinned. “Even though it’s only a fraction of a second faster, it sounds like I won an Olympic gold medal.”
"Next, we will break down the attack maneuvers."
A semi-transparent animal model appeared in the air, crouching in the grass, its tail swaying gently.
"What is this?" he squinted. "A rat? A squirrel? Or an enlarged cockroach?"
“Simulated biological prototype: a native cave-dwelling rodent of the desolate planet, about 20 centimeters long, agile, and nocturnal.”
"He looks rather cartoonish." He circled around him. "He doesn't look like he could outrun me."
"Your maximum running speed is 1.6 meters per second," Nana reminded you. "It's 6.8 meters per second."
"Did you have to bring up data at this time?" he muttered, "To ruin the mood."
"I'm just making sure our understanding is consistent."
“Alright.” He stopped, gripping his stone axe tightly. “Come on, let me see what ‘precision strike’ really means.”
"Phase one: Approach and swing within three steps." After she finished speaking, the model began to move slowly.
Chen Hao lowered his body, shuffled forward, and after two steps, suddenly leaped up, shouting, "Ah—!"
The axe cleaved through the air.
He also fell down, his face almost buried in the soil.
“The jump was too large, and the exposure was too early,” Nana analyzed. “Furthermore, the roar produced a decibel level of 89, which was enough to alarm the entire forest area.”
"I'm just trying to bolster my courage!" He lay motionless on the ground. "If I recorded a short video with the title 'How a Fat Man Scares Away His Own Dinner,' would it get any views?"
"Based on your past behavior, you are more suited to posting 'failure highlights' type of content."
"Thank you."
He got up, shook his arms, and said, "Again."
In the third round, he refrained from shouting and restrained his movements. This time, the axe blade grazed the edge of the projection.
"It was determined to be a minor injury, not fatal," Nana said.
"At least I ran into one." He was panting heavily. "It's more exciting than hitting a boss for the first time in a game."
"It is recommended to strengthen the axe-retracting action to avoid excessive airtime."
"My arm is almost broken, and you're telling me to be particular about posture?" He shook his wrist. "Ancient hunters didn't have so many rules and regulations. Didn't they all rely on instinct?"
“Instinct is built on repeated training.” She pulled up a video clip—it showed her standing in the middle of an open space, her posture stable, her footsteps silent, and her final strike swift and clean, the axe falling with almost no wind.
"You...you can act too?" He stared at him.
"The demonstration sample was taken from the standard procedures of the military combat module."
"You're not a robot, you're a hidden boss."
"Please continue practicing."
As darkness gradually fell, the light on the tips of the grass faded. Chen Hao had lost count of how many times he had practiced; he only knew that his clothes were completely soaked, clinging to his back, and sweat dripped down his face whenever he raised his arm.
Before his final attempt, he sat on the ground, unwilling to move.
"Forget it." He looked up at the sky. "My brain is mush, my hands are sieves, and my legs are like boiled noodles. I'll practice again tomorrow."
"Currently, the training completion rate is 76%," Nana said. "We are only two valid hits away from the basic target."
"Can't you say something encouraging? Like 'You're great' or 'You have great potential'?"
"I don't have an emotion module."
"Then can you pretend you do? Just pretend it's a voice pack upgrade."
"Unable to execute".
He sighed, supporting himself on his knees as he stood up: "Fine, this is the last time. If I miss again, I'll announce my retirement from hunting and become a mushroom picker."
He stood back at the starting line.
This time, he didn't rush forward. Instead, he moved slowly, stopping after each step, his ears perked up, his eyes fixed on the small, moving shadow. He breathed very softly and kept his feet very low to the ground.
Five meters, four meters, three meters—
Surprise attack!
He pushed off the ground, leaned forward, and brought the axe down with tremendous force!
In the instant the light and shadow intertwined, it struck the model squarely in the chest.
"Hit detection: Effective attack." Nana's voice remained calm, but the optical lens flickered.
Chen Hao lost his balance and fell to his knees on the grass, supporting himself with his hands and panting heavily.
Then he laughed.
“I really hit it.” He looked up at her. “It wasn’t a glancing blow, it wasn’t a misjudgment, I actually killed a virtual mouse.”
"Once the target is met three times, you can proceed to the next stage."
"One more time!" he struggled to get up, "while I still have some confidence."
"Insufficient ambient light, we recommend pausing."
Why didn't you say so sooner!
"You just said you wanted to quit the hunting world."
“That was five minutes ago!” he waved his hand. “Now I’m a professional hunter in training!”
Nana paused for two seconds, then the blue light shone again, casting a faint halo around the ground and marking the safe zone. She subtly adjusted the light source in her eyes, casting a soft glow that perfectly illuminated the training ground.
"Temporarily activate auxiliary lighting mode for fifteen minutes."
“You’ve finally learned to be reasonable.” He grinned, wiping the sweat from his face. “Come on, let’s solidify this ‘first career win’.”
He repositioned himself.
This time, the movements were noticeably smoother. There were no shouts, no lunges, and no wrestling. Approaching, locking on, and striking—the whole process actually looked quite professional.
The third shot hit again.
"Basic requirements met," Nana announced. "You may proceed to dynamic evasion simulation training."
Chen Hao plopped down, lying on his back on the grass, his chest heaving, laughing like a fool.
“Do you know what I want to do most right now?” He stared at the deepening night sky. “It’s not eating, it’s not sleeping, it’s finding a real mouse, and talking to it face to face: Look, I can hunt too.”
“Real prey reacts faster and exhibits random avoidance behavior,” she cautioned. “The success rate is still less than 30 percent.”
“I know,” he said, closing his eyes, “but I’m not afraid now.”
A gentle breeze blew across the grass, carrying a slight chill.
He lay there motionless, his hand still gripping the stone axe, his knuckles aching, yet he couldn't bear to let go.
A moment later, he opened his eyes, gazed at the dark forest in the distance, and whispered:
"Tomorrow... shall we try the real thing?"
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