I gnced back at the battlefield as we retreated toward the gate, the chaos of combat still raging. Spells fred, bdes cshed, and the dying wails of demons echoed against the fortress walls.

  “Thank you, Frozna!” I blurted out, still breathless, barely sparing a gnce at the woman beside me as she loosed another arrow. Smooth, Charlie. Real smooth.

  She didn’t even turn to look at me, just kept firing, her stance steady, her fingers fast as she nocked, pulled, and released. “Anytime,” she said casually. Then, with the faintest smirk curling her lips, she added, “Heard you like wolves.”

  My breath hitched mid-step. I swallowed hard, my pulse skipping a beat. No way. No way she knew. I forced a ugh, a touch too high, too forced. “Uh, yeah. Big fan. Love them.” Abort. Get out. Tactical retreat. “Anyway, retreating to the gate! Thanks for the save!”

  How? I wanted to ask. How much did she know? I didn’t stick around to find out.

  As I sprinted, I forced my mind back to the battle, taking in the chaos, the shifting tides of combat. Despite the mess, despite the complete ck of a coordinated strategy, something became gringly obvious. We were winning. The realization sent a thrill down my spine, but I pushed it aside and turned back to Lisa.

  Without thinking, I pulled her into a hug, my arms wrapping around her before she could protest. Her robe was softer than I expected, loose and flowing, carrying the faint scent of burnt ozone from her spells.

  “Lisa, thanks!” I murmured into her shoulder as I let the system finally reward me.

  [Congratutions! You are now level 8!]She was still mid-cast, one hand raised, fire swirling around her fingers. But as soon as her test spell soared forward, bursting into a storm of destruction among the demons, she let out a breath and turned back to me.

  “Cute princess…” she mumbled, eyes flickering with something unreadable. Then, before I could react, she pulled the reverse card and buried her face in my chest.

  I froze.

  “I’m… grateful,” she murmured, voice half-lost against my princess’ clothes. “I have no idea how you did it, but… You are amazing!”

  Oh. That was not what I expected. I let out an awkward chuckle, but she didn’t move. She just… pressed closer, forcing me to pet her like a demanding cat. “It’s fine,” I said, raking a hand through her hair in slow strokes.

  Still, my curiosity won over the closeness of the situation. “You got your css and everything is fine, right?” I asked. “Was he a bother?”

  She stiffened slightly, but pulled back just enough to gnce up at me, her face still dangerously close. “I have it,” she said firmly, gathering magic for another fireball in her palm. The runes reflected in her eyes, glowing like molten gold. “That’s what’s important.”

  Without another word, she turned back to the battlefield and unleashed hell.

  The remaining demons stood no chance. Her spell nded dead center in their dwindling ranks, detonating with an earth-shaking roar. The explosion ripped through them like a cleansing storm, leaving only smoldering craters and molten scraps of armor behind.

  And just like that, the battle was over.

  The st few demons fell, cut down by lingering fighters. The field was strewn with bodies dissolving into ashen remnants. Smoke and a tang of burnt flesh still clung to the air, but it was done.

  This time.

  After we counted our losses, the reality of the battle finally sank in. Only thirteen pyers had fallen. Given the overwhelming odds, that was an insane success. We slowly gathered back in my throne room, though the mood was entirely different this time.

  Before, there had been hesitation, uncertainty. Now? Now, the room buzzed with barely contained energy. Excitement rippled through the gathered pyers as notifications flooded their interfaces. The demons had been stupidly generous with experience, and, as it turned out, so was my quest.

  I colpsed onto my throne, exhaling slowly. Speaking of quests… I squinted at my interface. My level hadn’t gone up because of quests… Ever. Weird. I tapped through the menus, scanning for an error. Somewhere in the past, I’d…

  Wait.

  No. No way.

  “System, deliver my quest rewards!” I demanded, half-praying I just forgot.

  [Congratutions! You are now level 9!][Congratutions! You are now level 10!][Congratutions! You have reached the first milestone! To continue, evolve your css.]I stared at the glowing blue boxes, jaw tightening. I had been so smug, so confident, strutting around like I knew all the secrets, all the tricks.

  The Exploiter. That’s what I called myself, right? And yet I didn’t even accept quest rewards. I chewed my lip, fighting the urge to scream.

  A loud burst of ughter suddenly yanked me out of my spiral. I blinked, dragging my focus back to reality. The room had erupted into something very different.

  Right in the center, Luminaria and Lisa were locked in a stare-down, standing rigidly like two rival queens preparing for battle. Behind them, two separate groups had formed, each side clearly waiting for their leader to make the next move.

  And they were… taking bets?

  “Oh, look at that, Lur!” Lisa giggled, tossing out another shared notification. “Another four!”

  Lur.

  I tilted my head.

  What a cute nickname.

  Luminaria, however, wasn’t amused. She furrowed her brows, gnced at her numbers, and then, slowly, a wicked smile crept onto her face. “Here you go, Lis,” she purred. “Six more. Casually.”

  Lisa gasped. “Not fair!” she whined, spinning dramatically on her heel, only to suddenly twist back around, eyes fshing with a vicious grin. “I would say that, if I didn’t have ten more demons!” she sang, flourishing her fingers as if casting a spell.

  I could physically feel Lur’s brain stalling. She turned, silent. Her crowd held their breath. And then, finally… “I…” Luminaria exhaled. She gnced at her numbers. Gnced at her team.

  And sighed. “…You win.”

  “YAAAAAAA!” Lisa shot her fist into the air like she had just won an Olympic medal, and her crowd immediately exploded.

  “LISA! LISA! LISA!” The chanting filled the throne room, pyers ughing, cheering, cpping each other on the back.

  “Congrats, that was still a lot!” Lisa grinned at Lur, nudging her pyfully with an elbow. Luminaria sighed dramatically, rolling her eyes, but there was a small smile tugging at her lips.

  “I suppose,” she said with false reluctance, but her posture had already softened.

  I watched them, and as the lighthearted banter continued, something twisted in my stomach. It wasn’t nerves. Not battle adrenaline wearing off. It was something heavier, colder. The moment I stopped moving, stopped barking orders, stopped fighting, my thoughts finally caught up with me.

  Irwen. My mother.

  Everything she told me. The truth that had shattered every assumption I had about myself. The past wasn’t just inside a simution. I hadn’t even had a soul. Not until now.

  The realization settled in my chest like a lead weight. I gnced around the room, my eyes drifting from face to face. Techi, leaning back in his chair, shaking with ughter at some joke Scamantha had just cracked. Lo, her brows furrowed, flipping through her stack of papers with practiced efficiency. Even Alma, who was hiding in the back of the room.

  Lunaris and Katherine strode up to me, Katherine’s energy as boundless as ever, while Lunaris followed with her usual quiet spirit. Katherine grinned wide, eyes gleaming with post-battle adrenaline, and raised her hand. “Yar awesome. We won.”

  I blinked, mind still tangled in heavier thoughts, but my body responded on instinct. A sharp, satisfying sp of a high five. “C’mon, girl!” Katherine turned to Lunaris, motioning for her to join in.

  Lunaris hesitated for a fraction of a second, but then shyly raised her hand. I gently tapped it, keeping it light. But before she could retreat, Katherine grinned and threw her full weight into the sp.

  A loud smack echoed, and Lunaris let out a tiny yelp, her pout immediate and exaggerated. “Hey!” she gasped, dramatic and wounded, rubbing her hand as if it had just been hit with a war hammer. But then… she grinned. Bright and pyful. “You stole my kills!” she accused, poking Katherine in the ribs.

  Katherine only ughed, throwing an arm around Lunaris’s shoulders and pulling her along. “Yar too fast!” she decred, leading her toward Lisa’s group without looking back.

  I did, though.

  I watched them go, the effortless joy in their movements, in their ughter. Every single one of them. Smiling. Laughing. Living. Why not me? A knot formed in my throat, tightening, pressing, choking me from the inside out. I knew why. They all had souls.

  And me? Mine had to be created. A patch job. A favor from a god. What about the real world? Did I have a soul there? My throat felt dry. I needed whiskey.

  I pushed myself to my feet, trying to shake the suffocating weight pressing down on me. The room’s atmosphere was still alive with ughter, conversation, and the afterglow of victory. But for me?

  It all felt hollow. Not real. Because I wasn’t real. Maybe. Or was? Mother said so. So it must be true, right? At that moment, Lo finally finished sorting her papers and turned to me, her voice low and urgent. “Everything is ready!” she whispered, her tone full of purpose.

  I barely processed the words.

  Without thinking, I pulled off my ring and amulet, extending them toward her. “Good. You can do it instead of me.”

  “Huh?” She blinked, her hands hovering in the air, unsure whether to take them. “No!” she panicked, her voice rising. “You have to be here… You are the ruler! Your presence is necessary!”

  I didn’t answer immediately. Because a part of me wanted to just… walk away. To disappear into the background like a glitch in the system.

  I reluctantly agreed, but my heart wasn’t in it. Not really. Not anymore. My mind felt like it was unraveling, the weight of what I had just learned settling in my chest like a leaden stone.

  I needed to think. Alone.

  I turned, my gaze scanning the room before nding on the undeniable star of the hour. Lisa. The one with her own soul. The thought coiled in my mind, unwelcome, and I had to shake my head to clear it. But even then, I couldn’t force myself to smile. Not even a fake one.

  “Hey, Lisa.” My voice was quieter than usual, subdued. I motioned for her, and she hopped over, her usual boundless energy a stark contrast to the hollow weight pressing against my ribs. But then she looked at me. Really looked.

  Her expression shifted in an instant. The ughter in her eyes dimmed, the pyfulness draining away as she read my face. Her brows furrowed slightly. “What’s going on?”

  I hesitated. The truth was too big, too tangled, too impossible. “It was the talk with Irwen,” I lied. But it was the closest thing to the truth I could offer. “It… brought up painful memories.”

  How could I even begin to expin?

  Hey, Lisa, I came from a simution, a fake construct with fake memories, and was given a soul here in Rimelion I guess? I destroyed a body of John and now I’m here, someone else entirely. Different identity. Different gender. And John? He’s just… gone.

  Would anyone believe me? But Lisa… she didn’t press. She just nodded. And in that moment, she changed. The carefree girl, the one who cracked jokes and turned battles into games, was gone.

  In her pce stood someone steady, grounded. Someone I could rely on. Someone with a real soul. I felt like a fraud just standing next to her. “I…” I tried, but the words caught in my throat, tangled in my thoughts.

  And Lisa didn’t wait. She hugged me. A real hug. Not a teasing, pyful squeeze. Not some exaggerated, over-the-top dispy. Just warm, steady arms around me, grounding me. I stood frozen for a second before, without thinking, I clung back. Over Lisa’s shoulder, I caught sight of Lo. Anxious. Mouthing sorry.

  My chest tightened. It wasn’t her fault. None of this was.

  “It’s fine,” I whispered. But it wasn’t. And I didn’t know if it ever would be. “Everyone is fine… Better if you do it. I’m just trying to…” My voice trailed off. My mind was spiraling. “I don’t know. Sorry.”

  I pulled open my inventory, and without hesitation, transferred my entire hoard to her. Lisa pulled away just enough to look at me again, brows knitting together. Then she checked what I gave her.

  Her eyes widened.

  “That’s…” she started, and for once, she was speechless. She shut her mouth, then nodded, exhaling as if steeling herself. Then she looked at me again, really looked, and the only thing she said was, “Thanks for the trust.” She nodded again, as if that could assure me. As if anything could. “Whatever it is,” she added, her voice stronger now. “Watch me steal this show.”

  And just like that, she turned on her heel. She didn’t hesitate. Didn’t question. Just stepped into the role. Lisa’s voice boomed through the hall as she spread her arms, spinning to address the gathered pyers. “Good news, everyone!” she decred with a wicked grin. “As the winner of the demon hunt, our dear princess has named me the official organizer of this grand affair!”

  She giggled, enjoying the moment, and as I nodded at Lo, she stepped forward and handed Lisa the carefully prepared list.

  The rest of the night was a blur. A haze of faces, voices, movement, things happening around me, but not to me.

  I went through the motions, fake smiling when I was supposed to, nodding when needed. I let them thank me, let them toast to victory, let them believe I was still the same.

  Until it wasn’t.

  Until I crawled out of the capsule, scrambled to the shower, and felt the first hot streak of tears slip down my face. The moment the water hit me, my head started spinning. A spiraling mess of thoughts, fragmented memories, questions without answers. Who asked for the favor? Who owed who? Why me?

  Nothing made sense. Nothing added up. Except that punk kid. It had to be him who asked for a favor. My body sagged against the shower wall, forehead pressed to the cool tile as the steam curled around me. Hot water mixed with silent tears, dripping down my skin in a steady rhythm.

  There was no one to ask. No one I could turn to, no one I could trust. I was alone in this. But… wasn’t that always the case? Even in my fake memories, there was always this feeling, this dull, creeping sense that nothing I did really mattered. That I was just testing a game with no bugs, running through a fake testing world.

  So, what did I do then? What did I always do? I pushed off the shower wall, running a hand through my wet hair, forcing the breath back into my lungs.

  “Sorry, Adam,” I muttered under my breath. “But I need that whiskey.”