Saving the World in an Apocalypse-Style Text Game

Chapter 21: Chapter 22 Summoning Horn_1 Chapter 21: Chapter 22 Summoning Horn_1 To go or not to go, that is the question.

With the shell of the Law Knight, against ordinary creatures, Lin Xun had no hesitation in annihilating them.

He just hoped it wouldn’t be another BOSS.

“I’ve only just logged on today; it couldn’t be the start of gaming addiction prevention already,” Lin Xun muttered to himself.

He pressed the button for “Yes”.

[Brave Apostle, you have chosen to move forward to investigate.]

[Within the shadows, the owner of those blood-red eyes is a robust steed. Its flesh displays an eerie crimson hue, on its head are large curved horns, and its breath reeks of a filthy, intensely red color. Also, it seems as though there are remnants of sunflowers in its feeding trough.]

[Its gaze is filled with wariness as it watches you. Perhaps, it will attack if you make any suspicious moves.]

[Your shell retains horse-taming skills of the knight.]

[Would you like to move forward to tame the ‘Turkmen Blood Horse’?]

What? They also offer a mount as a welfare benefit?

Lin Xun thought to himself. It may be because he was using the shell of a Law Knight, which is why there was an option to tame.

If he was in the form of a Blood Sun cultist, he reckoned the only option would be to attack.

“Luckily, if I hadn’t been taken down by the roots earlier, I would be continuing to explore the castle using the shell of the Blood Sun cultist. Upon seeing the option to attack this horse, I’d most likely choose to kill it for loot. Then, I would have been out of luck in taming the mount,” he thought.

[You stride forward and put your hand on its neck, trying to mount it.]

[The ‘Turkmen Blood Horse’ bucks you off, but due to your formidable strength, it does not attack you.]

[Failure in taming!]

Failed eh? So, the success of taming is based on chance?

The taming option was still there.

Lin Xun clicked on taming again.

[The ‘Turkmen Blood Horse’ once again bucks you off, but due to your formidable strength, it does not attack you.]

[Failure in taming!]

Failed again? It seems the probability of successfully taming a mount isn’t high.

The text on the screen kept changing.

[The failure to tame the horse has left you a little embarrassed and angry. How will you deal with this horse?]

[1. Take out the Dragon Hunting Spear, puncture the body of the ‘Turkmen Blood Horse’, simply named ‘puncture the blood horse.’]

[2. Continue taming. You believe that this wild horse will sooner or later surrender to you.]

[3. Give up. It’s impossible for you to succeed. Let this horse be, and let yourself be.]

Lin Xun raised his eyebrows. He couldn’t tame this horse? He didn’t believe it!

He immediately chose the second option.

[The stubborn Apostle refused to give up and continued to tame the horse.]

[…Failure in taming!]

Keep taming!

[…Failure in taming!]

[…Failure in taming!]

[…Failure!]

…

After an unknown number of attempts, a different line of text finally popped up.

[Failure in taming!]

[You feel slightly fatigued.]

Lin Xun was somewhat speechless. He had last seen this text when he was an avid monster-hunter using the Blood Sun Cultist’s skill to crazily backstab them.

At this rate, he reckoned the Law Knight would faint of exhaustion like the Nun had, wasting game time.

“It doesn’t make sense, if taming is a matter of probability, I just need to keep clicking on it.”

“Even if it takes a day or several days, eventually I’ll be able to tame it.”

“This game design doesn’t make sense…”

“Wait, that’s not right. This game has no known origin. There are many theories in the Apostle forum, but nothing is for sure. Some say it was created by aliens, others say by gods, or even by future humans… In short, I can’t judge this game by common sense.”

Lin Xun was stuck in a dilemma yet again, mechanically pressing the taming option with his fingers.

The screen always displayed [Failure in taming!]

Suddenly, a light bulb went off in his head, and Lin Xun jerked with enlightenment.

He opened the item bar to review a long-forgotten item.

[Black Spiked Collar (Item): A leather black collar densely covered in spikes, when used successfully, it may cause some creatures accustomed to submission to experience intense stimulation until they faint. If used unsuccessfully, this item will not be consumed.]

The history of humans taming horses is long, in the 323rd chapter of the game, the background seems a bit like Medieval Europe. The existence of horses in the castle indicates that the humans in this world had already domesticated horses a long time ago.

This fits perfectly with the description of some creatures “accustomed to submission”

Clicking on the item, indeed, a new option popped up.

[Do you want to use the ‘Black Spiked Collar’ on the ‘Turkmen Blood Horse’?]

Since the item would be returned if used unsuccessfully, Lin Xun had no concerns about it.

[You used the ‘Black Spiked Collar’].

[Once the collar was placed around the horse’s neck, the crimson horse immediately neighed loudly. Its eyes rolled back, and the intensely red breath from its nostrils became more pronounced.]

[You reached out to hold its neck, trying to mount it. This time, the horse was too immersed in the strong stimulus and paid no attention to you.]

[Taming was a success!]

[Item used successfully. The ‘Turkmen Blood Horse’ experienced intense stimulation, causing it to faint.]

[The fainting ‘Turkmen Blood Horse’ disappeared in a flurry of sparks, leaving a curved horn on the ground.]

[You have received the Summoning Horn for the ‘Turkmen Blood Horse’ mount!]

[Summoning Horn – Turkmen Blood Horse (Special Item): A large bent horn, seemingly made from the horn of a certain creature, engraved on it is a blood-colored steed rearing up its front hoof. Upon use, you will summon the ‘Turkmen Blood Horse’ as a mount. Blow it again to cancel the summon. If the mount dies, 1 point of soul strength will be consumed to reshape the mount before you can summon it again.]

Lin Xun’s eyes sparkled.

Having the shell of a Law Knight, how could he not have a battle horse to charge alongside him!

He wondered what kind of power the Bloody Charge would have if used while riding the summoned war horse.

While thinking, Lin Xun materialized the “Summoning Horn” in reality.

Suddenly, a horn about half the length of an arm appeared in his hand.

This black horn seemed to be made of some creature’s horn, one end pointed, and the other with a wide circle. On the body of the horn, was a realistic blood-colored steed outlined in red.

The steed was tall and handsome, with horns on its head, and the whole body like an exfoliated skin, revealing a bright red and strong muscle fiber structure.

The horn felt good in his hand, smooth and round. Lin Xun couldn’t help but appreciate it for a moment.

Suddenly, the rearing steed engraved on the horn seemed to blink at Lin Xun!

Lin Xun almost threw the horn away.

Upon closer inspection, the image from just now seemed like an illusion, as the blood horse engraving remained still.

“Maybe I should go somewhere without people, blow this horn, and see if I can summon the blood horse in reality.”

He was a bit eager. Men have an obsession with mounts.

In ancient times it was horses, in modern times it’s cars. From ancient times to the present, one thing remains constant…