Free Web NovelChapter 3: Sleeping Beauty My Ass
Bai Nuan gripped the hilt of her knife until her knuckles turned white, balancing precariously on her one good leg. She held the blade out between them like a holy cross warding off a vampire.
"See here, furry buddy? I gave you the meat! Transaction complete! We don’t have to meet ever again!" She pointed emphatically toward the dense treeline. "You go that way, I go this way. Parallel lines, buddy! Logistics!"
The beastman just stared at her, his jaw working rhythmically as he pulverized the last of the lamb. His golden eyes were fixed on the steel in her hand with an intensity that made her skin crawl.
Bai Nuan’s gaze flickered down, trying to avoid his intense stare, only to catch a glimpse of the casual, rhythmic scratching happening below his waist.
’Oh, god. The hygiene standards in this world are in the negatives.’
A deep grrrrrr rumbled in his chest—a low, tectonic vibration that she felt in her marrow.
His lips pulled back just enough to flash fangs that looked like they belonged in a museum exhibit. He took a heavy, silent step forward.
"Whaaa! Stay back! Stay back, you dirtbag!"
she shrieked, waving the knife. "Do you even get what I’m saying? Is there anyone home behind those ears?"
"Whuff... rrnnn?"
He tilted his head, the sound coming out like a growl that was trying—and failing—to be a question. He invaded her personal space with the casual confidence of a man who didn’t realize he was naked and covered in gore. Bai Nuan scrambled back, her heel hitting the solid rock of the cliff.
’Trapped. Brilliant. Great job, Bai.’
[ Host, you need the Beastman Language Module. ]
"Yes? Then what are you waiting for? An application fee? An admission essay for your digital school? Give it to me!"
[ Task: Kiss the Beastman. ]
[ Reward: Beastman Language Module. ]
Bai Nuan stared at the beastman’s face. He was currently smeared with raw lamb blood, his lips glistening with grease and primal "flavor."
"What kind of ridiculous, twisted task is this?! How do you expect me to kiss a wild animal without a contract? What if I go in for a smooch and he decides my jaw is the dessert course?"
[ I don’t know... You should have kissed him up there while he was unconscious like Sleeping Beauty, Host. ]
Bai Nuan’s eyes went dead. She looked at the blue screen, then at the man-thing before her who was currently wearing a "scarf" of dripping sheep innards while digging around in his business with a claw.
She reached out, grabbed the glowing blue screen by its edges, and physically pivoted it so the System was forced to look directly at the beastman.
"Sleeping Beauty?" she hissed, pointing a trembling finger at the carnage-covered Alpha. "You call that Sleeping Beauty? That’s a walking biohazard!"
The beastman leaned in, his massive frame radiating a terrifying amount of heat that seemed to bake the air around her.
Desperation took over. Bai Nuan gripped her knife, her knuckles white, and swung with everything she had. She aimed for the jugular, a clean, professional strike—except he was so damn tall her "lethal blow" barely reached the center of his chest. freewёbn૦νeɭ.com
With the casual boredom of a man swatting a fly, he pinched the tip of her blade between two thick fingernails. He gave it a quick sniff, looked unimpressed, and flicked it away into the underbrush.
"Wha—!"
The gasp was knocked out of her as she pressed her back against the rock so hard she was practically trying to fuse with the minerals.
He moved in. Smoothly, he hooked a finger under the lamb-intestine "scarf" and let it slide off his neck to the dirt. Then, he slammed both paw-like hands against the stone on either side of her head, caging her in.
His huge face descended, nostrils flaring.
Sniff. Sniff.
"Rufff-grrr..."
Bai Nuan froze, her soul nearly leaving her body. Blughhh! Stink, stink, STINK! The smell hit her like a punch to the gut—raw meat and wild predator. She held her breath, praying for a quick end, only for a massive, sandpaper-rough tongue to swipe across her cheek.
"Ack!!"
It was sticky. It was wet. It was warm. And it tasted exactly like the raw lamb he’d just pulverized.
"Stop, stop, stop!" she whimpered, squeezing her eyes shut.
He didn’t stop. He went in for a second pass, and this time, the tip of that monstrous tongue swiped right across her mouth.
"Mphhh!"
She sucked her lips inward so fast they nearly disappeared, dropping to her knees. She didn’t care about the ankle pain anymore; she just started manically scrubbing her mouth with her shirt sleeve.
’Great. I’m about to become Patient Zero for Beast-Flu.’
[ Beastman Language Module installing... 1%... 13%... 37%... ]
She stared at the flickering blue bar, her eyes watery and her skin crawling.
’Oh, heavens. At least that soul-crushing lick didn’t go to waste. If I have to taste sheep blood, I better at least get a vocabulary out of it.’
"Grrr... yuu... hurr?"
The sound comes out rough and broken, more beast than language. A strand of saliva slips from his fang and lands right in Bai Nuan’s hair.
"Eckkk!!"
Bai Nuan scrambled on her knees, rubbing her hair with a fervor that suggested she was trying to peel her own scalp off. "Stay back! Maintain the two-meter social distance, you overgrown stray!"
She stayed low, trying to give her throbbing ankle a break, but the beastman clearly didn’t understand the concept of "personal bubbles." He crowded in even further, his massive lower body moving forward until his... logistics... were practically at eye level.
She stared straight ahead, her eyes widening as she was confronted with the sheer, unedited reality of a wild Alpha’s "stones and stick."
Ding!
[ Beastman Language Module installed successfully. ]
[ Activating... ]
The guttural, vibrating growls that had been rattling her teeth suddenly shifted. It was like a radio station finally finding the right frequency. The static cleared, replaced by a voice so deep it felt like a bass speaker in her chest.
"You’ve been staring for a while," the beastman rumbled, his voice thick and heavy. "Do you want to suck on that?"
Bai Nuan’s brain short-circuited and stopped processing reality.
"Huh?????"
She blinked, her gaze flickering from the "equipment" back up to his golden eyes. ’Wait. Did the translator glitch? Is it broken? Please tell me the translation is broken!’
