I shot up, gasping for air and coughing up water.

  Yuck!

  I wiped the water streaming down my face and gripped the edges of the bathtub—yes, I decided to just call it a bathtub.

  Now… where was my bath towel?

  Tch. Whatever.

  I ignited my body into flames, leaving my feet untouched, and hopped onto the bathroom floor.

  Oh. There was a new floor mat.

  …Why did they get a brown one? That just brought back terrible memories…

  My gaze drifted to the toilet.

  Whatever. I walked out of the bathroom, only to stop dead in my tracks as a horrifying realization hit me.

  I didn’t have any extra clothes. Damn it… I also didn’t want to put on those filthy ones again.

  I’d have to ask Yuen to get me some.

  I intensified the flames around my body, making sure my silhouette bore zero resemblance to a woman’s.

  Neat. Now I didn’t feel as naked. I mean, I still felt exposed, but at least it was just an image thing. Did that make sense?

  It made sense to me.

  It totally did.

  Yes, it did.

  POV: Yuen

  I kicked the floor as I danced to a song playing in my head.

  Dan… da dannn! Da da da dan! Da…. Den!

  Then I heard the crackling of flames and felt the temperature rise.

  Something was on fire…?

  I instantly activated my surveillance spider skill, summoning hundreds of spiders connected to my sight and hearing.

  They scurried toward the source of the flames, which were creeping closer to me.

  Of course, I could’ve just investigated myself, but who said I wanted to do things the hard way? I always opt for the easiest, laziest solution.

  The spiders locked their eyes on… a walking, bipedal figure made entirely of flame?

  The fiery being glanced at the approaching spiders with surprise, then I heard their voice. “Damn it! YUEN! STOP WITH THE SPIDER NONSENSE!”

  Huh? How did they know me?

  I quickly opened the door to make a run for it, but the moment I did, they appeared right in front of me.

  Damn it!

  I leaped back and raised my voice. “You think I’m afraid of you? Whoever you are?! I’ll have you know and fear the glory of me, one of the royal guards!”

  I slammed my palm on the ground and, with a grin, pulled it back. In an instant, a massive, grotesque spider made of liquefied green ooze materialized.

  It loomed over me, twice my height and over two meters wide.

  The flaming figure pointed at it and started to speak, but their words were drowned out by the roaring flames.

  Not that it mattered—

  The flames around their head extinguished, revealing the face of a blonde-haired girl.

  Honestly, it looked like the fire surrounding her body was some kind of bizarre, fiery armor.

  “Seriously, what the hell? Is this some kind of trick?” I shouted, demanding an answer.

  With an annoyed expression, she said, “That was dumb of me, I admit. I forgot about the face thing. Anyway, I need your help.”

  “No, first explain why the hell you can control fire now.”

  She raised an eyebrow, as if my question confused her. I wasn’t being stupid here.

  Then she made an ‘aha’ sound and said, “Oh, I see. You don’t really pay attention. That’s… just my second skill.”

  …

  Oh, right. These freaks could gain multiple skills…

  I hid my jealousy and asked, “What do you want? Why are you on fire? What if you set this place—”

  Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

  I noticed her feet weren’t on fire. She could control it?

  I continued, “What do you want?”

  “Shirt and pants. I need them.”

  “Huh?” I asked, confused.

  “I want clothes.”

  “Oh… that’s why you’re on fire… you’re naked.”

  “I’m fire. My body is on fire! I’m not naked. You can’t even see anything!”

  “No, no. This has to be some kind of public indecency. Are you some kind of exhibitionist?”

  “Huh?”

  “Yes, yes. I see now. Absolutely disgusting behavior.”

  “Dude… just get me some clothes.”

  I clicked my tongue and dropped the act. “Yeah, yeah, whatever. It’ll take a while, though.”

  I stepped out the door, activated my skill, and sent out tennis-ball-sized spiders.

  She asked, “You can control them from a long distance? And where are they going for the clothes? It can’t be a shop, right? How would they pay?”

  I leaned against the wall and crossed my arms. “Don’t worry about that. I have my ways.”

  Moving at breakneck speed, a swarm of over 100 spiders spread out across the city, scouring for clothing shops.

  As they darted through the streets, the flowmans who encountered them simply stepped aside.

  They didn’t panic or scream. They just thought: Yuen.

  Finally, one spider stopped. Its eight eyes locked onto a clothing stall run by a young man.

  He noticed the spider and gave it a weird look. “Huh? I think I’ve seen this thing before… stealing cookies.”

  Then, from every direction, an absurd number of spiders appeared, all staring at him.

  “What the…” he muttered.

  The nearby customers, who had been browsing the clothes, immediately backed away, their faces filled with concern.

  “The royal guards want you…?” one of them asked, dropping the bag of clothes they’d just purchased. “I didn’t know this was stolen goods!”

  One by one, the buyers fled, and those planning to purchase bolted as well.

  The man called after them. “It’s not! This is a trick! A misunderstanding!”

  But it was too late. The spiders not only snatched the dropped clothes but also climbed his stall, swarming over the remaining garments.

  The man tried to protect his stock, crushing a few spiders, but he was hopelessly outnumbered. Before he knew it, his stall was completely empty.

  The spiders grabbed everything and scurried away.

  “Come back!” he chased after them, but it was pointless. He couldn’t even recover a single piece of clothing.

  On his hands and knees, he stared at the ground, tears streaming down his face as he muttered, “I’ll get my revenge… I’ll make you payyy!”

  And on that day… Jackson the Ripper was born.

  POV: Lumine

  After a short while, the spiders returned… carrying a mountain of dresses, pants, shirts, undergarments, coats, hats, skirts, and scarves.

  “How the hell did they get all that?”

  Yuen smirked. “I’m a man of many talents. People see my spiders and let them do as they please.”

  He snapped his fingers. “I’m somewhat well-known and respected.”

  Wait… something about that didn’t add up.

  I asked, “Since asking about someone’s skill is rude, doesn’t that mean you’re supposed to keep it a secret?”

  “Yeah, so?”

  “So… if everyone links the spiders to you, doesn’t that mean your skill is common knowledge?”

  He laughed awkwardly. “Ha… No… It… It…”

  He froze. He wasn’t even blinking. It was as if he’d turned into a statue.

  I took the opportunity to bring the clothes to our living quarters. Slipping into a simple pair of red pants adorned with spear designs and a long white shirt that reached my knees, I considered wearing a dress but decided against it—I'd likely ruin whatever I wore, and the dresses were too limited to waste.

  I'll endure this suffering.

  When I returned downstairs, he was still standing there, lost in thought. I considered leaving him there.

  I tried on an odd glass slipper I brought downstairs and was about to leave the building when he finally snapped out of it.

  He stammered, “No… no! That can’t be. They must think I’m related to it, not that it’s mine. Like, maybe I use a friend’s skill because, as a royal guard, I have to be super secretive. Yes, that’s what they think.”

  I said, “I’m sure that’s true. But I need to ask you something.”

  “What’s that?” he asked, peeking through the doorframe like he was on the run.

  Maybe he was paranoid now. I wondered why… Not really.

  “The Gervmu route. Take me there, please,” I requested.

  He looked at me like I’d lost my mind. “Wait, what? Huh? What... What?”

  “Stop asking ‘what’. I’d appreciate it if you took me there. I’d ask Yamanda, but she’s long gone.”

  He thought about it, then shook his head. “That sounds like too much work for me.”

  I grabbed his shoulders and stared into his eyes. “What are your desires, mortal?”

  “What the hell are you on?”

  “White dust.”

  “What the hell is—”

  “Hard drugs. Super strong stuff from my divine dimension.”

  At first, he looked at me like I was insane. Then, after a moment of consideration, he said, “What do I want…? A house on a beautiful piece of land for my wife and kids.”

  “Oh…”

  I hadn’t expected him to have a family.

  “Um… wouldn’t your wife want you to choose something simpler?” I asked.

  He smiled. “Oh, nah. I don’t have a wife.”

  “Huh? But… you just said you wanted a nice piece of land for your wife and kids.” I was utterly confused.

  “Yeah, I want the land now. But I also plan to have a family in the future, you know?”

  But… huh. I mean, okay, I guess?

  I shook my head and said, “Alright, but let’s focus on something more immediate. What’s more important right now?”

  “Uhhh… I guess having a successful date? I mean, I’ve only been on 1,132 dates in my life, and I’m 24. That seems weird to me.”

  What the…

  I took a step back, completely baffled. “That’s a joke, right? That can’t be true… that’s impossible!”

  He shook his head, hands on his hips. “I know, right? Like, I’m sexy as hell. I’ve got money, and I’m so damn humble. I’m the definition of a catch.”

  There’s definitely something wrong with your head, that’s for sure.

  Still, I could use this to my advantage.

  “I can coach you on your next date,” I offered. “I’ll tell you what to buy her, where to take her, what to say—”

  “Eh? Why the hell would I need help with that?”

  “Because you suck at it?”

  “I do not!” He stepped forward.

  I mirrored him, stepping forward too. “Then explain all the failures?”

  “It’s kinda common sense, actually.” He tapped his head. “They just thought, ‘Wow! This guy’s accomplished so much! I can’t date someone as beautiful, divine, blessed, and special as him.’”

  He smiled to himself. “It’s so easy. Tch tch—”

  I grabbed his hand and yanked him toward the door. “Stop coping and take me to the route. I’ll help you have a successful date!”

  He pulled his hand back, giving me a look of pure contempt before glancing at the building. “I… fine! But I’m only going so you don’t get hurt!”

  “But you’re just taking me there, not joining me.”

  “Lalalala! Follow me!” He locked up the Reality Defenders’ building and took off at full speed toward the city gates.

  What a bastard… he was more excited than I was.

  I ran after him, summoning my life card as I sprinted. Taking a deep breath, I focused.

  There was a skill I needed, one that would consume all my skill points—Pseudo-Resurrection.

  I know it sounds bad! But the actual Resurrection skill costs over 300 skill points. Besides, skills are influenced by biases and desires.

  I was going to resurrect them by wanting it really, really hard.