# Chapter 266: Toe Stepping Game
For an ordinary player, walking freely on this surface would be even more difficult, let alone dodging the bear's attacks. However, Yan Jiayu was surprisingly agile. She walked on her tiptoes, not only unaffected by the bouncing force but actually using it to constantly shift positions and evade the bear's claws.
"...Eight, nine, ten! My turn!" She led the bear around the room several times, counted enough, then leaped from above the bear's head to behind it. Taking advantage of the bear twisting around to swing its claws, she ducked low and circled back to the front, stomping on the bear's paw. "Second time!"
After lightly stepping on it, she did a backflip to put distance between herself and the big bear, grinning as she said, "Come catch me."
The bear roared and slammed the ground. The jelly-like floor trembled violently, causing the room's furnishings to sway back and forth. It grabbed a nearby chair and hurled it at Yan Jiayu, and when she dodged, it blocked her path and extended its sharp claws!
Yan Jiayu wasn't flustered. After calmly evading the first attack, she conjured a stone rod and struck the bear's paw!
Although this couldn't break the bear's bones, it was enough to cause pain. The bear retracted its paw, shook it vigorously, then stomped heavily on the ground several times.
The floor shook even more violently. This time, not only the people but even the bear itself was bouncing up and down.
"Be careful, the floor is changing color." Xu Huo jumped onto a cabinet and warned Yan Jiayu.
Yan Jiayu was about to land on the ground, but upon hearing his words, she quickly changed direction and leaped toward an overturned chair. However, the big bear swiped at her from behind. She twisted sideways to dodge, but had no choice but to land on the ground.
The moment her feet touched down, she immediately sensed something wrong. The jelly-like bounce was still there, but a layer of sticky, gelatinous substance had formed on the surface. She tried to lift her foot, but it pulled up thread-like strands shaped like her shoe's outline. Struggling to step back only made her feet stick more. After taking two more steps, she could barely lift her feet at all!
Meanwhile, the bear laughed as it charged forward, raising its face-sized paw to stomp on her feet!
"Lift your foot!" Xu Huo's voice came from the side. Without hesitation, Yan Jiayu pulled up her right foot. The maltose-like strands wrapped around it snapped, and using her momentum, she kicked the bear's paw away. As she climbed onto a nearby chair, the strands under her left foot were also severed.
"You're cheating! Cheating!" The bear roared angrily.
"You only said one person has to step on you three times, you didn't say others couldn't help." Yan Jiayu retorted. "There's one more step left, and then it's my turn to step on you. Hurry up!"
The bear furiously overturned the chair, but Yan Jiayu had already peeled off the leather stuck to her feet and leaped onto the coffee table.
Failing once, the bear became even more ferocious. It chased Yan Jiayu, overturning everything in the room that could be overturned, even scratching deep marks into the walls.
Yan Jiayu was forced to jump all over the place, unable to find time to peel off the leather still attached to her feet. As she bounced around the room, she shouted to Xu Huo, "Give me another sword strike!"
"Take off your shoes!" Xu Huo wanted to help, but couldn't find the right opportunity.
"It's not that I don't want to, the laces are too tight!" Yan Jiayu pulled up her pant leg. It turned out her shoes had cloth straps tightly wrapped around her calves, making the outer laces merely decorative.
Feeling insulted, the big bear set its sights on Xu Huo as well. It scooped up handfuls of jelly from the floor and hurled them at both of them.
Xu Huo dodged the jelly and ran toward Yan Jiayu's position. Casually, he scattered some candy on the ground. As the bear's attention was caught by the colorful candy wrappers, he swept away the leather stuck to Yan Jiayu's feet. The two exchanged a glance, and he gave her a boost from behind.
Yan Jiayu leaped forward, landing precisely on the bear's paw as it turned around.
"Three times, I win!" She shouted happily. But the big bear furiously swung its claw down at her.
"You're cheating!" Yan Jiayu bent backward to dodge, then side-rolled onto a piece of broken wood nearby. Clenching her stone rod in anger, she said, "How can you cheat in a game!"
The bear didn't care and raised its claw again. But at that moment, Xu Huo took out a jar of candy and said, "You have to follow the rules. Since you've already lost, fighting on is pointless. How about we both accept the result peacefully?"
The bear's eyes followed the candy jar, and its expression relaxed. But a second later, it put on a fierce look again, walked over, grabbed two small hats, and tossed them to Xu Huo. "Fine, fine, you can go. I'm off work."
Xu Huo nodded to Yan Jiayu, put down the candy jar, and climbed out the window of the small wooden house.
Yan Jiayu landed behind him and couldn't help looking back at the building. "I thought it didn't like candy."
Xu Huo just smiled. "This bear is the same as the rabbit."
Yan Jiayu didn't understand, but Xu Huo didn't elaborate. Instead, he asked her, "Are your feet injured?"
A bit embarrassed, Yan Jiayu said, "I broke my toes when I kicked the bear earlier."
"But it's nothing serious. I can still walk and run fine. I used to get hurt a lot. My master said hardship builds character, so I just rest for a couple of days and I'm good."
Xu Huo had used the S-grade Perfect Evolution Potion, which had fully developed his physical abilities. His speed and stamina were stronger than players with the same 20% evolution rate. Combined with the "Tireless Legs" trait, his stamina didn't limit his speed, so he could sprint without issue. Yet Yan Jiayu could keep up with him. This was probably not just due to evolution but also her past training.
Yan Jiayu had likely studied martial arts systematically, judging from her running and fighting style.
"Being injured always hinders movement." He looked at her and said, "There's a camp set up by the amusement park nearby. Let's stay there for the night and head to the third game point tomorrow."
Yan Jiayu didn't argue. It wasn't a good idea to move around after dark anyway.
It was already past four o'clock, but the amusement park was still bright. They weren't in a hurry and walked slowly along the path.
Halfway there, they encountered the two players who had tried to team up with them outside the mirror tent earlier.
The male player put on a professional smile as soon as he saw Yan Jiayu. "We meet again. Are you heading to the third game point?"
"We just came back from there. The third game point is already closed. You'd be wasting your time going there. Better stay at a cabin in the mountains for the night."
He pointed at a fork in the road and added, "It's safer here than the camps other players set up on their own, though it's a bit pricey. But you two don't look like you're short on money."
Yan Jiayu stared at him for a long time, until his smile became a little strained, then said, "Sir, have you had plastic surgery?"
The male player's face instantly darkened. The female player holding his arm snorted coldly. "No good deed goes unpunished. I told you not to bother with these people. It's not like we can't clear the instance on our own."