Water.
It was the substance leaking from her eyes. A substance essential to the human body.
If it spilled like this, would she die? No way, right?
She had formed these ocular organs to see the world as humans do—to witness the vibrant spectrum of their existence. She had not known they could let out water at all.
No, it wasn't a mere dispelling of water. There was something deeper in meaning to this phenomenon.
It was spilling out because of this meaning. What was this meaning?
Her new heart contracted with a dull, heavy ache. It was a painful sensation, and the water from her eyes seemed to be its physical manifestation.
She didn't understand. Why did that human run away from her?
She had hugged, saved, and smiled at them. But rather than becoming her friend, they turned red and ran away.
Why did they fear her? Did she look like a monster to them?
She looked down at her own body, which appeared perfect. Was it because of her skin color?
No, one of them also had the same skin color as her. Then what was it?
The beating of her heart grew so loud that its drumming reverberated outside her body. Along with this sound, the thin, colorful threads in her surroundings began to fade, turning almost transparent.
[Warning! Your Path weakness is triggered. The Path skill is deactivating.]
Her Path skill deactivated on its own as every thread in her eyes dissolved into nothingness.
[You have found the weakness of your Path. Analyzing your condition to decipher it.]
[Warning! The accuracy of the analysis is only 1%. Further experiences are required for higher precision.]
[Path weakness: When you feel those you wish to protect no longer like you, the connection between you and your Path will break. You will become as helpless as a mortal.]
Did they mistake her for a Darkling?
She tasted a tinge of something metallic in her mouth, a taste that came from the wound she had created by biting her tongue.
She ignored the letters flashing before her eyes and studied the humans. Comparing them to herself, she finally noticed a few differences.
By analyzing these differences, she found a reasonable cause for their panic. The three humans before her had special skin covering their bodies.
These skins differed in color and form; one even had metallic skin. She glanced sideways at the Darkling on the ground.
It, too, lacked the special skin these humans wore. Just like her.
That was it. Because she lacked this special skin, they had mistaken her for a Darkling.
All this misunderstanding was because of that disgusting monster. She glared at the creature.
If she had the strength, she would have skinned it alive and worn its hide as her own special skin. But she couldn't move.
If she did so, even slightly, the evolution energy around her would completely disperse. That was the only reason the monster hadn't attacked.
It must have sensed the law of the universe within her, a force that low-level Darklings like it could not even gaze upon without losing their souls.
It was scared of these laws, not her.
If she moved, it would discover her bluff and attack these humans. She now lacked the strength to protect them, and she didn't want to see them get hurt.
Her stare hardened, making its thorny body quiver. Its glowing red eyes, once fixed on her with reverence, widened in what she could only interpret as sheer terror.
With a panicked screech that tore through the quiet forest, it turned and fled.
"See? I'm not on its team."
She clapped her palms together, thinking for a moment before covering her body in a feigned act of sadness. "I lost my skin somewhere."
The three humans stared in the direction where the monster had fled, then turned their attention back to her. The silence that followed once again made the water well up in her eyes.
When she realized the situation wasn't improving and they had forever mistaken her for a Darkling, the smallest human among them stepped toward her.
They were the one with long red hair.
She had noticed earlier that this human's body shape greatly resembled hers. That meant they were of the same gender.
After becoming human, she instinctively knew humanity had two main genders: male and female.
Was she male or female?
She wanted to ask the red-haired human, but she feared they might doubt her again. So instead, she said, "Human, your skin looks good."
Unlike her and the other human she rescued, this red-haired one had stunning dark skin. It was truly breathtaking.
Crap. Did she say something wrong?
The red-haired human's face also turned red. Why did her words make them turn red?
She bit her lip.
"Are you…" They paused.
"I am human! I promise, I'm really a human." She felt the water threaten to spill from her eyes again.
"…Okay? I meant, Are you okay?" the red-haired human asked, their voice full of worry. Worry? WORRY?
Was she worried about her?
Despite being red-faced and likely scared, they still reached out to her. After a brief struggle with themself, they raised their hand and patted her head.
Once again, the water broke free from her eyes, but this time, her heart didn't hurt. Instead, it felt so full it seemed it would burst.
This feeling was entirely different from the earlier one. She loved this feeling.
So these humans weren't afraid of her; they were worried. But why?
Maybe because she didn't have the special skin.
'Human faces will turn red when they're worried.' She saved this data in her mind so she would never mistake it again.
They would also become worried if they saw her without special skin.
They removed a piece of their special skin from their arm. Then used it to wipe the wet stains from her cheeks and eyes.
Their expression was soft—so soft that warmth from distant stars seemed to tingle through her whole body.
"Undress," they said, looking toward the metallic-skinned human.
"Wait. What? Me? Now? I'm not interested in doing that here! And this girl looks like a minor!" the metallic-skinned human shouted.
'So I am a girl, meaning female. But why did they think I am a Minor? I am not a Minor.'
"I'm not a Minor. I'm a human," she dutifully corrected him.
Jenny had no idea why she was doing this. This girl looked strange, and beyond her strangeness, she seemed wrong.
Her powers were not something the likes of the connected cities had ever seen. She doubted even the Megacity, Kochi, had anyone with a teleportation skill.
Her most practical decision now should have been to get far away from this anomaly. But then the girl cried.
Her pitiful and lonely stance triggered her own motherly—no, sisterly—instincts. That's why she had asked William to remove his upper armor.
This way, the girl could cover her naked self. But this big dummy…
"Wait. What? Me? Now? I am not interested in doing that here. And this girl looks like a minor!"
What did this bastard imagine when she asked him to undress? Jenny gnashed her teeth, suppressing the urge to curse.
"I am not a minor. I am a human." The girl appeared offended by being called a minor.
Well, she looked seventeen or eighteen. Perhaps not technically a minor, but still young.
"Jenny, look. She's rejecting that she is a minor. Red flag. I am not falling for this trap."
"Jenny? Human, are you called Jenny? Tell that metal head I am a human, not a minor."
"Metal HEAD!" William screamed. Jenny glanced toward Zongyu, who looked up at that exact moment.
His face screamed, I am not interested in this drama. Jenny tried her best to put the girl in her place before a fight broke out.
The big dummy wasn't that dumb to start a fight with the girl, not after the power she had shown. But she had to stop the childish bickering before any other monster was attracted by their voices.
"WILLIAM!" She screamed, letting all the air out of her lungs. That was bad; her voice came out a bit too loud.
"William? Metal head is called William?"
Terrible. Absolutely terrible. Jenny facepalmed.
"Hum—Jenny, why are you hitting your own face?"
Jenny had no idea whether to cry or laugh.
So she was a she. Jenny is also a she.
William is a he. The 'Nothing to Call, Human' is also a he.
But crap, she made another mistake.
'Minor' was a name the metal head—no, William—had given her. It wasn't because he doubted her identity as a human, but because he didn't know what else to call her.
From the conversations between Jenny and William, she decoded that humans called each other by names.
William simply gave her a name so he could refer to her. Without understanding his good intentions, she thought of him as a naughty human. She was the real naughty one here.
But why did Jenny ask him to undress?
What even was the meaning of undress?
It was over. Even Jenny had become dissatisfied with her.
But why was she hitting her own face? She bit her tongue once more.
Humans are so complex. Please, give her the power to understand them quickly. Otherwise, she didn't know how many more she would offend in the future.
Now she had to fix her mistakes.
Acceptance and correction were among the qualities she had deciphered from humans when she was still part of that building. She had seen them accept the flaws in their creations and correct them gradually.
So if she showed those two qualities, maybe they would forgive her.
"William. Jenny. Nothing to call, human. I am sorry. It was my mistake to doubt your intentions." She bowed her head slightly, the same way the Darkling had done earlier.
"William, if you think I am a Minor, I am happy to say I am Minor."
Zongyu almost choked on his saliva upon hearing the way the girl addressed him. William laughed aloud at his reaction.
However, his laughter abruptly died when she completed her next sentence.
"William, if you think I am a Minor, I am happy to say I am Minor."
"Aaahh. Jenny, look. What did I say? She is a minor. You almost sent me to jail—ugh. Jenny, what was that kick for?"
Before William could continue his ridiculous rambling, Jenny kicked his legs. She sent the armored man stumbling to the ground.
"You fucking retard of an armor bastard! I am asking you to fucking remove your clothes under the armor so this girl can wear something to hide her body! Mine was already damaged, so it wouldn't fit her, and Zongyu is shorter—it would never fit her!"
"Hey, I'm not that short."
"Okay. She's just taller." Jenny glared at him, sealing his mouth shut.
"Oh… so that's it." William scratched his helmet, then removed his upper armor and began undressing.
Jenny hurriedly turned around, covering the girl's eyes.
"Why are you hiding my eyes, Jenny?"
"Because a woman can't watch a naked man, other than her husband."
"Naked man?"
"Yeah. A man without clothes."
"Clothes? So it's called clothes!"
Why did she feel like she was talking to a toddler? Jenny rubbed her head.
"Then, can a man watch the body of a naked woman, other than his husband?" The girl tilted her head in confusion.
"First, the partner of a man is called a wife. And absolutely not; only a husband can see the naked body of his wife."
Jenny slapped her mouth after finishing the sentence.
"But… they saw me naked. Does that mean I am their wife?"
Zongyu choked for real this time. William froze, his upper half hanging bare in the air.
"Obviously not," Jenny recoiled at the question.
"Then why did they look at me when I was naked?"
"For the mercy of the moon… Jenny, this girl is nuts," William screamed again.