The blade, glowing with red light, was already touching her skin.
The chill of the blade and a slight pain traveled to the fleshy-faced woman's neck.
The fleshy-faced woman suddenly glanced at the corpses of the fish-head monsters on the ground, which had been sliced open...
The cuts were incredibly smooth, having sheared clean through bone!
If that blade were to slice across her own neck...
The fleshy-faced woman was instantly scared out of her wits.
"Alright, I was wrong! I admit it, I'm not some selfless person. I'm selfish. If we ran into danger, I'd definitely let them die first..." the fleshy-faced woman quickly changed her tune. "But... but that's only when there's danger and someone has to die that I'd abandon them to save myself. That wasn't the situation just now, so I really didn't do it on purpose. I just got scared and backed away..."
Fumiya Jin observed her expression; she didn't seem to be lying about this.
After a moment of thought, he asked his next question: "Second question—are you a veteran player?"
"Of course..." The fleshy-faced woman swallowed, her gaze shifting slightly.
"Sigh... It seems you really want to die. In that case, I'll make it quick for you."
Fumiya Jin didn't slice her throat directly. Instead, he pulled the blade back and raised it high, as if preparing for a powerful downward strike...
"Don't!!! Don't, don't, don't, don't! I was wrong, I confess! I'm not a veteran player, I was lying!" The fleshy-faced woman was so terrified she nearly wet herself, dropping straight to her knees. "I... this is actually my first time in a real game... for real!"
"Huh?" Nijika was shocked. "But why would you..."
"I..." The fleshy-faced woman kept her head down, hesitated, then said, "I thought that if you were all newbies, and I pretended to be a veteran, you would all... you would all listen to me. That way, if we ran into danger, I could order you to go first. If there was anything good, I... I could also take it and eat it first..."
Hearing this, both Nijika and the madam were speechless—how could someone be so selfish?
If she were merely selfish, just looking out for her own gain, that would be one thing.
But the reality was, she had used her self-proclaimed authority as a veteran player to make numerous wrong decisions.
If Fumiya Jin hadn't been there to correct her, she might have led them all into a trap, and they could all be dead by now.
A person like this was far more dangerous than a simple bully...
Even Nijika, who was as kind as an angel, couldn't help but look at the fleshy-faced woman with contempt and disgust.
However...
The fleshy-faced woman clearly had no time to worry about what others thought of her.
She glanced at the terrifying red glow on Fumiya Jin's raised blade, shivered again, and said, "I swear to God, I'm not hiding anything else! Everything I said before is true! At worst, I'm just a little selfish... but I didn't actually harm anyone. I'm not the one who got the chubby guy and the black man killed."
Before Fumiya Jin could respond, he smelled something...
Looking down, he saw a large wet patch on the crotch of the fleshy-faced woman's pants.
She probably wasn't lying.
Click— He sheathed his tachi.
"I'm not killing you now only because I don't want to deal with another corpse." Fumiya Jin gave her a cold glance. "If you don't want to die, stop being a nuisance, and don't come within two meters of the bonfire."
Fumiya Jin turned and walked back toward the bonfire.
The fleshy-faced woman went limp, collapsing to the ground as if she had received a pardon.
The madam was silent for a few seconds, but out of humanitarian concern, she walked over to the fleshy-faced woman.
"Uh, your arm..." the madam said, slightly alarmed.
The fleshy-faced woman looked at her right arm... The black liquid had corroded a large area, causing the skin to sink in and shrivel up.
But perhaps because the black oil had been burned by the fire, the corrosion had stopped... Although she had also suffered some burns, the hissing corrosive effect didn't seem to be continuing.
"You... get me some water. I want to try washing it..." The fleshy-faced woman looked at the madam, her tone no longer so arrogant.
"Okay, sit tight." The madam helped her sit up straight, then went to get her water.
...
...
The night grew deeper.
Tranquility returned to the beach.
Fumiya Jin sat by the fire, his tachi stuck in the sand beside him, keeping watch over their surroundings.
Nijika came to his side and asked in a low voice, "Why don't you get some sleep? I'll keep watch. I'll wake you if anything happens."
Fumiya Jin shook his head. "Tonight is different. The danger level is too high."
If last night was a situation where he could consider letting Nijika take a turn on watch, tonight was absolutely not.
Whether the fish-head monsters would return was only one part of the problem.
Falling into darkness was the truly terrifying threat now.
In terms of the fish-head monsters alone, Nijika, with her crowd control abilities, could probably handle them and then wake him.
But the real problem was that Nijika was too kind and naive. Her guard was too low around other people, and she might not be ruthless enough in a sudden crisis.
As long as Fumiya Jin was awake, he could basically guarantee that no one would get a chance to extinguish the fire. Whoever tried would die.
Nijika, however, might not be able to do the same.
If she hesitated for a moment, giving a culprit or an unseen threat an opening, and the fire went out, it could mean a total party wipe.
The price was too high to risk.
"I won't close my eyes for any reason before dawn. You should sleep."
As he spoke, he positioned his legs and patted them, motioning for her to come and lie down.
Nijika froze for a moment, and subconsciously, she really did feel like lying down—after all, when she had used his lap as a pillow that afternoon, she had felt an inexplicable sense of security and slept very comfortably...
But she quickly suppressed that little impulse and shook her head. "That's not right... I've already slept for several hours, but you haven't closed your eyes all day. No matter how you look at it, it should be your turn to sleep."
"I'm fine," Fumiya Jin said, his gaze softening as he looked at her. "Thanks to you last night, I slept very, very, very, very well. I feel completely refreshed. So even if I pull an all-nighter today, it shouldn't be a problem. Don't worry."
Nijika was taken aback. "Um... was... was it really that good?"
She scratched her cheek. "I just gave you a lap pillow, that's all..."
"It was," Fumiya Jin nodded. "And... was it really just a lap pillow?"
Fumiya Jin gave her a meaningful wink.
"Eh..." Nijika stiffened slightly, her face flushing red.
He... he found out...
Fumiya Jin gently patted her slender shoulder. "Anyway, just leave tonight to me. You slept for a few hours today, but that was just to make up for last night's lost sleep, so you can still sleep some more. When the sun comes up tomorrow morning, we should be able to relax our guard a bit. At that time, I'll have to trouble Miss Pudding to let me rest peacefully in your warm embrace for a while. How does that sound?"
Nijika looked at his serious expression and knew he wouldn't sleep tonight no matter what, so she could only nod. "Alright, I understand... But, I can't fall asleep right away either, so I'll sit with you for a bit..."
"Okay." Fumiya Jin nodded.
...
The night deepened.
Nijika fell asleep, leaning on Fumiya Jin's shoulder.
A little farther from the bonfire, the fleshy-faced woman was also asleep.
The madam, however, was also awake, silently keeping watch and occasionally adding firewood.
In the darkness beyond the bonfire, there was only silence. Aside from the sounds of the waves and the wind, nothing could be heard.
Fumiya Jin looked at the sky, then at the tachi stuck in the sand before him...
The night was still long.
But just then, he suddenly noticed something strange.
He looked at the tachi's transparent blade, with cherry blossoms fluttering inside...
He noticed that the color of the fluttering cherry blossoms inside the blade seemed to have become a little more vibrant.
Was it a trick of the light?
A change in color caused by the bonfire's glow?
Fumiya Jin was slightly curious, but he still picked up the tachi to examine it closely...
As usual, the tachi's information appeared in his mind.
"A Very Cool Tachi (3/20)".
Fumiya Jin was startled, suddenly wide awake.
3/20?
3?
Is it because... I killed three fish-head monsters?
______
✅ Until 40 advanced chapters of ALL stories!
✅ Exclusive content and updates!
Help us hit our community goals:
🎯 100 Powerstones = +1 Bonus Chapter for everyone
🚀 55 MEMBERS = +5 extra chapters of ALL STORIES!
Claim your 25% OFF spot and unlock everything now:
👻 P - Walnutchan