LOGIN"What's wrong?" Zale asked, looking directly at me, and I chuckled awkwardly, my eyes darting between him and the exit of the hall. "Nothing, mind your business," I suddenly scolded, and he turned away, continuing his work. A shaky sigh escaped my lips. I quickly sorted out the different spears, stone daggers, arrows, and bows, keeping inventory of every item. By the time the first ray of light filtered in through the hall's entrance, I was already fast asleep on the ground. After what felt like minutes, my eyes flicked open, my vision blurry at first. A feminine figure squatted close to me, hands hovering close to my shoulder. I stirred, laying on my back to clear my eyes before looking back at the person beside me. I didn't have to guess; her soft floral scent already told me. "Elara," I called lazily, sitting up, she hummed, watching me intently. "Sister Serena..." the little rabbit behind Elara yelled, hopping on me. I caught her mid-air, carefully lowering her down and holdi
The surrounding faded into nothingness, leaving me in a void. Silence stretched across the endless shadow. Nothing to see, nothing in sight. "System!" I called, but not even an echo was heard. It was as if the void swallowed it whole. I tried walking forward, but my legs were rooted to the floor. Why was it so quiet in here, and nothing... Where is my so-called destiny path? My gaze traveled round the void again, but still nothing. I strained my eyes looking deep into the depth, but all I saw was dark shadows twirling around. I finally gave up. My soul was forced back to my body and I quickly pulled my hand away from the stone. I stared at it for a second thinking, followed by a mechanical shriek. [ Where did you go, Host? You just disappeared. ] "Disappeared? I was inside this stone, watching my destiny path," I replied. [ The connection was disrupted anyway. What did you see? ] “Nothing” [Ooh! Someone's future is as dark as my ass,] the system teased. "Hell no! Maybe this
His eyes scanned the hall, and they landed on me. Slowly, his hand rose up, stretching towards me. "Her," he mumbled, sounding more like a groan than an actual word. I shifted to the side, away from the direction of his fingers, but they followed me. I shifted again, and same. Then as quickly as possible, I hid behind Ursiel. His finger still followed me, but this time they were pointing directly at Ursiel. "Brother Ursiel, you never told me you already had a boyfriend. Oh, how beautiful I will be at your wedding," I said, my voice full of fake sweetness as I pushed Ursiel forward, every eye in the hall pierced into my skin from a different distance. Elara walked to my side, whispering in my ear, "What was the wehd… word?" I furrowed my brows, watching her as I tried to recall what I had said. "Wedding," I whispered back, and she nodded. "It's like a setting where two people are joined as partners," I explained, and she nodded, clutching my arm. "You keep saying weird things, but
I turned, grabbing the hand and twisting slightly. Zale, who stood behind me, tilted his head. "Zale, you ask for permission before taking something that is not yours. You can't just deep your hand into hot oil," I argued, pushing his hand away. "Can I get some?" he asked softly, and I smiled, turning to give him some chunks of meat. But I paused. "Zale, you backstabber," I gritted, standing up and walking to him. "How dare you tell Reyn." He creased his brow and squinted his eyes for a second before his shoulders squared and a smirk spread on his face. "You… You did it on purpose," I added, pointing a finger at him as my face suddenly turned bright red. He pursed his lips, a shrug, before looking past me. I followed his gaze and landed on the golden brown pieces of meat still frying. Reluctantly, I settled back beside the fire and removed the first set of meat, placing it on the metal tray I had used for frying before. "Sister, where did you get this? I haven't seen it before,"
New mission activated: Ignore the woman and flirt with Zale instead.Reward: +10 SP, 1 vial of poison detoxifier.My eyes went wide, darting between Zale standing at the far end and the old woman hovering over Elara.If I ignored her, I will be the villainess everyone knew. Zale might even hate me more. Elara... If I didn't, it will cost my life, but the reward was worth it.I stood still, watching Elara's chest rise and fall. Her face relaxed and muscles limp. Then, slowly, I turned away from the woman and walked to Zale, placing my hand on his chest, stepping closer, invading his space."Why don't you pull it out yourself? Your presence might actually ease the pain," I said, locking eyes onto his, biting my lips.My hand resting on his chest trembled with nervousness."Serena, you have to hurry up," her hoarse voice resounded again behind me, but my gaze remained locked on Zale, my hand holding tightly onto his robe.I took his hand in my other hand and raised it to my lip, running
"Elara," I called softly."Yes, sister," she answered with the same tone tilting her head and stepping back a little. I stared at her for seconds too long before carefully shifting aside, letting her in.She walked to the wall, leaning against it, her head down. Then she slowly looked up, her lips between her teeth. "I am sorry, sister. I didn't know he didn't like yuzu fruit. The villagers had told me it was a calming fruit, so I thought...." She kept on mumbling while fidgeting with her fingers.I rolled my eyes thinking, Sure you wouldn't know, or you deliberately set me up. My lips twisted in a scowl as I eyed her timid form pressing against the wall."It's fine, I understand. Most things are complicated that we don't know which to follow," I said dryly, forcing the words out, and she nodded humming, oblivious to the real meaning of what I had just said."Sister, will you like to do anything today, like going to the river?"I turned away, walking to my bed."The river, yes. I woul







