I fled from Hessien, who was dead set on killing me.

  Wait, can I tank it?! I’m level 21, after all!

  Instead of running away, I stopped abruptly and turned toward the spear-gun, my hand outstretched toward him.

  “You can’t harm me—” A beam struck my head mid-sentence, leaving me screaming in agony.

  It hurt! It burned so badly.

  I collapsed to the ground, clutching my forehead. Warm liquid seeped into my palms.

  Blood.

  “How about that, huh?” Hessien taunted. “What if I turn you into some precious experience points?”

  “Bastard!” I screamed in response.

  Vacinay raised her hand in concern. “Hey, you wouldn’t hurt me. You love m—”

  “Die!” He didn’t hesitate to blast at her.

  With a grunt, I pushed myself up with one hand and conjured a ball of flame, hurling it toward him. He was too focused on firing at Vacinay to notice immediately, but the flicker of heat in his peripheral vision made him flinch. He tried to dodge—too late. The fool assumed it had to make contact to ignite.

  I grinned as the fireball detonated mid-air, unleashing a wave of flames over him. His screams tore through the air until, suddenly, he slammed a hand onto the ground. The fire still raged around him, but its bite was gone—it no longer burned his flesh. With a steady breath, he pushed himself up, standing as if the pain had never existed.

  That damn effect exchange skill.

  I threw my upper armour to the side, flashing the world for a brief second—I ignored the raised confused eyebrows of everyone. Then I ignited my upper body in flames.

  I wondered what his effect exchange passive was. It probably didn't reveal itself yet. Also, I bet Ghomas was immune to electrocution for some reason.

  Hessien charged at me, but he seemed sluggish. I planted my right foot forward, leaned my left foot back, and drew both arms behind me.

  I spoke calmly, “Ka…ma…ha…me—”

  Intense fire engulfed my hands, taking the shape of a fireball. Hessien closed the distance, and a genius idea bloomed in my head.

  Ghomas asked me if I could make a fire barrier…

  I smirked as a hollow ball of flame encased my entire body. Hessien’s eyes widened in shock.

  “Ha! Sucker!” The moment he tries to alter its state—or whatever the hell that actually meant—I planned to transform the barrier into a bullet and launch it into his shoulder.

  He would probably try to counter it with his state-changed flames. But the second he touches it, I’d have my barrier absorb his fire before condensing it into the bullet.

  Yes… he’d try to adapt to it. But I wouldn’t give him the time to—

  Wait… why is it getting hard to breathe?

  Oh. Right. Fire burns through oxygen.

  Before I could react, a hand plunged through the flames, burning in the intense heat.

  He didn’t even try to change its state?

  Just as I was about to condense the fire barrier into a bullet, I realized… I had made a fatal mistake.

  His foot swung up.

  It struck square into my crotch.

  WHA—

  Pain beyond mortal comprehension exploded through my body. My flames vanished as I crumpled to the ground, clutching my battered pride.

  Why do they keep kicking me THERE?

  Why… What about my goddamn eyes? That was another obvious weakness!

  Hessien stood over me, his body still cloaked in non-burning flames, except for his now-roasting arm and leg.

  “What the fuck?!” I shouted. “At this point, this shit is sexual harassment.”

  Hessien pressed his palm to the ground, extinguishing the flames' effects again. “I’ll exploit any weakness.”

  Oh yeah…?

  I pointed a trembling finger at his head, channeling the last of my EP into a fire bullet.

  He jumped back and raised his hand to guard.

  Ha, bitch.

  I fired. He braced himself for a headshot, but at the last moment, the bullet curved downward.

  Right into his balls.

  His face twisted in sheer terror.

  “Burn!” I roared.

  The fireball erupted, losing its shape.

  Vacinay and Ghomas’ mouths hung open in stunned silence. Had I gone too far? Maybe. But that kick hurt like hell. I was investing in iron underpants from now on.

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  Hessien frantically slapped the ground, but nothing happened.

  Oh. He probably ran out of EP.

  Meh.

  I lazily lifted a hand, manipulated the fire into a ball and tossed it away.

  Vacinay rushed to his aid.

  How cute.

  “The maiden has come to save ya balls and dick,” I smirked.

  There wasn't a response.

  "Yo? You there?" I asked.

  …He fainted, right?

  Right?

  I cautiously approached, slipping on my upper armor first. Kneeling beside him, I checked his vitals—there was a pulse.

  Ah… That’s good.

  Vacinay placed a hand on his chest, her voice laced with concern. “If it weren’t for leveling up, I doubt I’d have had enough EP to heal him so quickly after that last fight.”

  I crossed my arms and sat beside him. “He should’ve just accepted the law of the jungle and let us steal those precious kills he risked his life for.”

  It would be incredibly frustrating if he actually died while I assumed he was just unconscious—especially if I couldn’t rewind time far enough. Since my time-rewind was a passive skill, I had no idea how to adjust it, given that I couldn’t exactly think when I was dead.

  After a few moments, Vacinay stood up. “He’s stable now. Healing him that quickly drained a lot of EP.”

  “Cool. I guess we’ll have to help him level up,” I said.

  Ghomas folded his arms. “I think I’m going to start getting involved in this kill-stealing. You and Vacinay are the strongest right now. It’s not fair.”

  With a hand on my hip, I grinned. “Don’t worry. We will protect you.”

  Vacinay turned her back to him, still covered in blood and guts. “Pathetic… Weaklings like you deserve to be crushed under the feet of the strong.”

  Wait… why was there a sudden glint in her eyes?

  Oh, she summoned the blue firefly for dramatic effect.

  I groaned. “God, you’re such a drama queen.”

  Ghomas’s eye twitched. “I beat your ass last time…”

  Vacinay drew her broad sword—scarred with scratches—and rested it on her shoulder as she turned to him. “Wait, what? When?”

  “Not you, Lumine.”

  “Oh.” She turned away, doing the cool eye thing.

  Hmmm. He did. He did.

  “Right, let’s do that again,” I said.

  He dropped into a fighting stance. Unlike him, I was low on EP. However, thanks to the three-minute break, I had regained 15 points. More than enough.

  I lunged at him. He pointed a finger at me, and I braced myself to dodge the lightning.

  Future vision.

  I glimpsed two seconds into the future—just in time to see myself getting electrocuted.

  Then—flash.

  Wait, what?

  I sprang to the side, still trying to process what I had just seen. But his gaze tracked me—then suddenly, pure agony.

  Electricity surged across my skin, crackling like a living thing.

  I looked down and saw it. The blood of those half-men glistened on the ground, acting as a conductor. He must have channeled the lightning through his damn toes.

  That bastard.

  Fine… I could play dirty too.

  The moment he blinked, my hand was already around his neck. He should’ve realized instantly what had happened.

  Before he could summon a clone, I drove my fist into his chest with nearly all my strength. He crashed into the wall with a resounding thud.

  “I win,” I said confidently.

  Ghomas wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, grinning. Around him, shattered bone fragments littered the ground.

  Had he… created a giant ribcage just to tank the hit?

  He discarded the bones with a casual flick, cracking them apart as he spoke. “Alright, I kind of admit defeat. Except for one thing—I want you to try to kill me.”

  I frowned. “Why the hell would I do that?”

  “I think I just figured out how my clone variance passive works.”

  “Hm…”

  Vacinay stepped forward, gripping her sword. “You sure you want her to burn you alive?”

  “Of course not.”

  She raised an eyebrow. “Then let me do it. Quick beheading.”

  Ghomas sighed. “You just want a free level-up, don’t you?”

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” she said, failing to sound even remotely convincing.

  “Fine.” He created a lifeless clone, its body limp on the ground.

  Vacinay glanced at him for confirmation. He nodded. Taking a deep breath, she muttered, “This is the strength of a level 18.”

  I guess they’d taken down more half-men before running into that crustacean guy outside the mountain.

  It made sense—she had at least three new skills. The rat one, the firefly thing, and the sword technique.

  Still, how could she afford so many? Were skills dirt cheap for her?

  Whatever.

  Wait… That snake she killed—it gave her levels.

  Which meant it was also a half-man.

  Weird.

  Vacinay hurled her sword. It cut through the air with perfect precision, piercing straight through his skull.

  “Gah—!”

  Ghomas convulsed, then collapsed. Blood pooled around his body.

  Uh…

  I turned to Vacinay. She looked visibly shaken.

  “Why… is he dead?” she asked. “He’s going to clone his head to survive, right?”

  “Um… probably.”

  “So… I need to kill you to save him, right?”

  “No.”

  “But he’s dead!”

  “I know. It’s tragic, but—”

  She had already yanked her sword free and was advancing toward me.

  “I was joking, damn it! I’d just kill myself to save him—I’m not letting you kill me again!” I shouted.

  “Oh. Okay.”

  Tch. So damn annoying. Damn it! I really didn’t want to slit my own throat…

  Just as I groaned in frustration, I heard Ghomas’s voice. My head snapped toward the sound.

  The clone stood up, staring down at his own corpse.

  “Damn, Vacinay, that was brutal.”

  We all stared at him, half-confused.

  “You can… jump consciousness?” I asked, eyeing him warily. “Or… does the clone just think it’s you when the original dies?”

  “It’s me,” he said.

  Vacinay squinted, scrutinizing him. “How do we know you’re actually you and not just some clone convinced it’s you?”

  “Yeah, yeah,” I added. “Prove it!”

  Ghomas looked visibly frustrated but sighed and answered, “Hessien was being groomed until you and Vacinay found out, torched the woman’s car, and threatened to burn her house down. Hessien never figured out why she suddenly ghosted him.

  "Lumine—you once tried to coerce your crush into dating you by threatening to beat up his sister when you were fourteen. Instead, she beat the shit out of you.

  "Oh, and you also tried to buy some guy’s OnlyFans. Your mom found out and beat you so bad you ended up hospitalized.

  "Vacinay—despite claiming to be just his best friend, you hate when other women interact with Hessien.

  "Also, you once missed an entire week of school because your sister poured an entire bottle of pepper sauce on your dildo.”

  The moment the last words left his mouth, Vacinay tackled him to the ground with the fury of Zeus.

  “OKAY! IT’S REALLY YOU. GOOD, GOOD! I’M JUST GOING TO KILL YOU SO BAD YOU’LL FORGET EVERYTHING.” She excitedly screamed.

  “END HIM FOR GOOD!” I joined her side, ready to assist however necessary.

  She raised her blade over his head, then began stabbing at him. He barely managed to dodge each strike, his head shifting side to side as he wailed for help.

  No one was coming to save him.

  Hessien groaned as he regained consciousness. He clutched his throbbing head before glaring at Vacinay and me with pure rage.

  “So… it was you two.”

  Vacinay, still pinning Ghomas down, paused her murder attempt just long enough to reply, “Well, she was twice your age and waited until you turned eighteen. That sounds a bit… illegal, don’t you think?”

  “No!”

  I pointed an accusatory finger at him. “We saved you from being a victim, and this is how you thank us?”

  “What?! She wasn’t trying to do anything. She was my big brother’s overseas girlfriend. She had picked me up from school because she wanted to get close to the family.”

  …

  “Oh.”

  I quickly clasped my hands behind my back and adopted the most innocent, angelic expression I could muster. “Vacinay coerced me. She said she’d kill my family if I refused.”

  “You backstabber. You were the one who told me she was a pedophile.”

  “Y-yeah! But I only suggested threatening the car. You were the one who actually set it on fire."

  After our heated exchange, we turned toward Hessien.

  I cleared my throat. “At the end of the day… it’s the thought that counts.”

  Vacinay nodded solemnly. “Indeed.”

  Hessien clenched his fists, shaking with anger. Then, with a deep breath, he turned away and stormed down the tunnel.