Chapter 3

Brandi Ratcliff pushed aside the thorny branches, the sharp needles tearing at the sleeves of her linen shirt.

Laying in the mud, half-submerged in a puddle of dirty water, was a young man. His black hair was plastered to his forehead, and his clothes were soaked in blood.

She tightened her grip on the rusty dagger and crept closer. Her boots made no sound against the wet earth.

A deep, jagged gash tore across the boy's chest, exposing the white gleam of bone. Thick, black mist seeped from the edges of the wound, eating away at his flesh. His eyes were squeezed shut, his jaw clenched in absolute agony. His pale fingers were locked in a death grip around a shattered defensive rune stone.

Brandi crouched beside him. She used the tip of her dagger to flick open the ruined collar of his shirt.

She saw his face clearly for the first time.

Her breath hitched. Her pulse slammed against her throat.

It was a face she had seen on a thousand wanted posters in her past life. The sharp cheekbones, the straight nose, the devastatingly handsome features that would one day belong to the man who slaughtered half the continent.

Cason Strong. The ultimate villain.

Right now, he was just a broken, bleeding teenager. His breathing was shallow, his chest barely rising. He was minutes away from dying of blood loss and mana deviation.

Brandi's grip on the dagger tightened. Her knuckles turned white. If she slit his throat right now, she would save millions of lives.

She raised the rusty blade, aiming the tip straight at his carotid artery.

Looking down at Cason's dying form, the suffocating memory of her past life washed over her-the agonizing helplessness of having her own magic circuits drained dry, of being nothing but a disposable tool for others' gain. A bitter, icy resolve hardened in her chest. No. In this life, she absolutely refused to be the sacrificial lamb on someone else's altar. She was going to be the one holding the capital, the player controlling the board.

Just as her muscles tensed to strike, a cold, mechanical voice echoed directly inside her skull.

[Target with Supreme Destiny detected. Karma Investment Engine activated.]

Brandi froze. The dagger hovered an inch above Cason's neck.

A translucent blue panel materialized in the air in front of her. It hovered over Cason's bleeding body, displaying a list of his critical, failing vitals.

[System Prompt: Invest karma in this Destiny Target to receive high-yield returns. Current available investment: Save his life.]

Brandi's mind raced. Killing him offered her nothing but a corpse. She was broke, her magic circuits were damaged, and she was alone in a deadly forest. She needed resources. Fast.

She lowered the dagger and let out a harsh breath.

She grabbed the hem of her only clean linen shirt and ripped a long strip of fabric free. She pressed the cloth hard against the gaping wound on his chest.

To stop the black mist from spreading, she forced her damaged core to push out a sliver of mana. A sharp pain stabbed behind her eyes, but she gritted her teeth and cast a basic purification spell.

A faint white glow spread from her palms, covering the wound. As her purification spell touched his shattered core, she felt a sudden, terrifying jolt of resistance-a stubborn, violent surge of dark energy that crackled against her magic like dormant black lightning. The black mist hissed and dissolved. Cason's facial muscles relaxed slightly as the burning agony subsided.

Brandi tied off the makeshift bandage. Her vision swam. She collapsed backward into the mud, her chest heaving as she gasped for air. Her body was completely drained.

The blue panel in front of her suddenly erupted in a blinding golden light.

[Investment Successful! Rated as 'Lifesaving Grace'.]

[Congratulations, Host. Reward: 100,000 High-Grade Mana Crystals, and one perfect-quality Foundational Healing Potion.]

Brandi stared at her empty hands. A heavy leather pouch materialized in her left hand, clinking with the sound of dense crystals. In her right hand, a small glass vial appeared, swirling with a glowing emerald liquid.

One hundred thousand high-grade crystals. That was more wealth than Silver Peak Academy saw in a decade. She had gone from a beggar to a billionaire in ten seconds.

She didn't waste time staring. She popped the cork off the vial with her thumb and downed the perfect-quality healing potion in one gulp.

A wave of intense, burning heat exploded in her stomach and rushed through her veins. She heard a faint popping sound inside her own body as her torn magic circuits forcefully reconnected and expanded.

The color rushed back into her pale cheeks. The lingering pain from severing the soul contract vanished entirely. Her mana reserves felt deeper and more volatile than ever before.

She curled her fingers into a fist, feeling the raw power humming under her skin. Her eyes burned with a feverish intensity. This system was the ultimate cheat code.

A low groan broke the silence.

Cason's fingers twitched in the mud.

Brandi instantly wiped the thrill from her face. She smoothed her expression into a mask of cold indifference and stood up, looking down at him.

Cason's dark eyes fluttered open. The moment he registered he was alive, pure, lethal hostility flooded his gaze. He looked like a cornered wolf, ready to bite through bone.

He tried to scramble backward, but the movement pulled at his chest wound. He hissed, his jaw clenching tight as cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

He looked down at his chest, seeing the crude linen bandage and feeling the absence of the dark magic. He looked up at Brandi, confusion warring with the violence in his eyes.

Brandi didn't offer a soft smile. She didn't ask if he was okay.

"If you're awake, get up and walk," Brandi said, her voice flat and devoid of any warmth. "Don't die next to me and attract the beasts."

She turned her back to him, her boots sinking slightly into the mud, and prepared to walk away.