"You animal!"
Guan Tong’s low growl immediately caught the boar’s attention.
It turned its head, its beady little eyes darting about, but it didn’t seem to spot Guan Tong on the snowbank above.
The snowbanks on either side of the path were over a meter high. And while a wild boar is tough, thick-skinned, and ferocious, its greatest weakness is that it’s short and has stubby legs.
’If I can just use the height difference to trap this beast in the path...’
Guan Tong waved his hand, and the Wordless Book instantly appeared.
"Shadow, come out!"
The pages of the book fluttered, and Shadow emerged from them in an incorporeal form. It ’swam’ down into the path, and as it circled to the wild boar’s side, it suddenly solidified!
"SNORT!"
Seeing the solidified Shadow appear beside it, the wild boar immediately lowered its head and rammed viciously into Shadow’s leg.
If Guan Tong had been standing there, that single blow might have broken a bone. But this was Shadow—it felt no pain, its injuries could be healed instantly by consuming Psychic Power, and its stamina was infinite!
’Go!’
At Guan Tong’s command, Shadow spread its arms and lunged at the boar. It locked its arms brutally around the animal’s thick neck, then used its strength to flip it onto its side, refusing to let go.
The wild boar’s four legs kicked wildly as it grunted and squealed, trying to struggle free.
But Shadow had infinite stamina for as long as it was manifested. Even if its raw strength was less than the boar’s, that limitless energy was enough to restrain the beast for a short while in the narrow path.
Guan Tong’s Psychic Power was draining rapidly. He knew he had to finish off the boar before it was all gone. Otherwise, without Shadow’s assistance, fighting the boar alone would be incredibly dangerous.
He didn’t dare waste a second. He immediately jumped down into the path and smacked the boar’s head a few times with his folding shovel. But the animal’s hide was thick and tough; a few hits from the shovel left it still thrashing about, full of fight.
’It’s no use. This shovel isn’t hard enough.’
Guan Tong made a split-second decision. He turned and rushed into his camp, grabbing the pair of heavy bolt cutters he’d taken from the supply point.
This thing was much heavier and harder than the folding shovel.
Guan Tong gripped it with both hands and brought it down hard on the boar’s head!
SQUELCH!
The blow drew blood from the boar’s head.
"SQUEAL!!!"
The injury and the sight of its own blood seemed to enrage the boar, and it began to struggle even more violently. Shadow had its arms wrapped around the boar’s neck and its legs locked around the animal’s hindquarters, but it was quickly losing its grip.
Guan Tong knew that with these animals, the more you hurt them, the crazier they get. He had to end this, fast!
CRACK! THUD! SPLAT!
Swinging the heavy bolt cutters with both hands, Guan Tong put all his strength into every blow!
After eight or nine consecutive blows, the boar’s head was a mess of split skin and mangled flesh. Its struggles subsided dramatically, and its hind legs twitched and then went rigid. It was clearly finished.
But Guan Tong didn’t dare let his guard down. Just to be safe, he struck it another dozen times, only stopping when his arms gave out. He dropped the bolt cutters and collapsed onto the ground, gasping for breath.
"Hah... huff... huff..."
Shadow had already dissipated. All that remained in the path was Guan Tong, slumped on the ground, and the motionless wild boar, its head a bloody, mangled ruin.
Even though the boar was dead beyond any doubt, Guan Tong’s expression held no joy.
’A single wild boar forced me to exhaust my Psychic Power and rely on the terrain just to win. What would I do if two showed up at once? Or if I ran into an even stronger beast...?’
It was a question people in modern cities almost never had to consider. Normally, people only thought about what to eat, what to do for fun, or how their jobs and relationships were going. What kind of sane person needed to figure out how to fight a wild animal?
But this was the era of the Apocalypse Rules.
Who knew if some future rule would force people to leave the cities and live in the remote mountains and forests just to survive?
Problems that never needed a second thought before now had to be considered for the sake of survival.
’A weapon. I need a weapon I can grab and use at a moment’s notice. And a melee weapon isn’t going to cut it.’
’Relying on Shadow alone isn’t enough sometimes,’ Guan Tong thought.
’Imagine if I had a gun. Wouldn’t dealing with boars, other beasts, or even enemies be a whole lot easier?’
Guan Tong looked at the boar’s carcass and made a decision.
’In a few days, after I finish the Coinage, I’m not going to write ’Sublimation Coin’ on the second page of the Wordless Book anymore... I’m going to try writing... ’Shotgun’.’