Rustle. Rustle.

  Isaac reached the forest’s edge and stopped. He scanned the open land ahead. Nothing. Just an empty plain. He tapped the map again. "This is definitely the place."

  Parting the bushes, he stepped out into the open. A foul wind swept past him, sharp with chemicals and thick with the smell of blood. The grass was dead, flattened in wide circles as if something massive had rested there. No birds. No insects. Only silence.

  Isaac frowned but didn’t panic. His expression settled into calm focus.

  “Hahahaha!” Laughter echoed from nowhere and everywhere.

  Mr. James appeared atop a boulder. Looney sat on his shoulder, docile as a pet.

  “Hello, my little bunny,” Mr. James said lightly. “Where are the others? Eaten, perhaps?”

  Isaac answered by drawing his katana. The blade caught the light as he raised it. “In your dreams. Hand over the worm.”

  “Oh?” Mr. James chuckled. Low and slow. “You want Looney?”

  Isaac narrowed his eyes; grip tightened on the hilt. "That's what I said."

  "Then…" Mr. James lifted a hand, a sadistic glint in his eyes. "Beat him."

  Looney jumped. Mid-air, its body twisted. Bones snapped and stretched. Its skin thickened into dark scales. By the time it hit the ground, the creature had grown several stories tall, blotting out the sky as it landed with a quake.

  "Have fun~" Mr. James waved and vanished, laughing fading with him.

  Isaac exhaled and set his stance; blade raised to eye level. "…Llyne's bad luck really is contagious."

  "GUWOOHHHHHHHH!!!"

  Looney roared. The shockwave rattled Isaac’s ribs. The ground split beneath its tail, and the massive limb swung down toward him. Isaac dodged sideways, but not enough.

  BOOM!

  The ground cracked like shattered glass. A ripple of force surged outward.

  Isaac was flung back.

  "Gahk!"

  His back slammed against the ground. Blood sprayed from his lips.

  "Korf—ha... ha..."

  Each breath clawed at his chest. His vision blurred as a searing pain tore through every limb.

  [HP: 42%]

  "That… that shockwave took half my health?"

  He groaned, bones creaking as he tried to push himself up. Nothing moved. Not a finger. Not a toe.

  His body was paralyzed, broken from the inside.

  The massive shadow loomed over him.

  CRRrk. SSSSSSSHH

  Looney slithered forward, gaping jaws open, saliva dripping between its pristine white fangs.

  Isaac coughed and chuckled bitterly. "Llyne was right. Those teeth are way too white..."

  Blood poured from the side of his mouth.

  "Shit... can't move. Can't even blink without pain."

  [WARNING! Your enemy's attack caused critical internal damage. HP will continue to drop.]

  [WARNING! Your opponent's level exceeds yours significantly. Recommendation: Run.]

  "…In this state?" Isaac smirked weakly. "Right. Let me just grow wings and fly out of here."

  [Congratulations. Your condition has met the requirement for Katana Skill: 'Lost Art.']

  [Skill Cost: 0 MP | Effect: Fully restores HP and eliminates a single target regardless of level.]

  His pupils contracted.

  "Eliminates a single target… regardless of level?"

  What nonsense is this?

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  [Use skill: Lost Art? — YES / NO]

  His lips trembled, then slowly curled upward. “Hell yes.”

  The moment the system registered his answer, a blinding cerulean light erupted around him. It was as if the sun had ignited inside his lungs.

  Looney shrieked, "KIIIIEEEKKKHH!!" as the light pierced its many eyes.

  The bones in Isaac's body shifted. Cracked. Snapped back into place.

  Tendons reattached. Muscles reformed. His skin glowed faintly blue.

  [HP fully recovered.]

  Isaac stood. Calm. Renewed. Radiating silent fury.

  None of this makes any sense. But— No. He cut the thought short.

  He picked up his katana with reverence. His hands no longer trembled.

  His eyes burned. "You almost killed me, you damn worm."

  He lowered into a stance. Feet shoulder-width apart. Blade pointed down. Eyes shut. A strange line traced the worm’s form, wrapped in a thin blue trail.

  "I won't miss."

  Looney lunged, fangs gleaming, its roar shaking the forest.

  Time slowed. Isaac inhaled. The katana began to glow, humming like a quiet storm. He exhaled.

  "Draw Cut: Lost Art—"

  SWOOSH!

  A flash. The air itself split. Looney froze mid-lunge, body stiff. A heartbeat passed. Then it fell apart, sliced clean in two. The body faded into dust.

  Gone.

  No blood. No remains. Just silence.

  Isaac opened his eyes.

  "…Too clean. Too fast."

  He blinked. Once. Twice.

  The dust scattered, carried away by the breeze. Not even a bone remained.

  "…Wait. That-That's not supposed to happen."

  Inside his mind, mental Isaacs were panicking, throwing charts and theories at each other like children in a riot.

  He sighed, dragged a hand down his face, and whispered, "I'm fine. I'll just come up with another plan."

  Then he sheathed his katana and bolted toward where the map indicated Llyne and Rona.

  [Time Remaining: 00:42:33]

  I wiped the sweat off my forehead and tightened my grip on the scythe.

  Rona and I had been hacking at LM's tail for what felt like a geological era.

  Clang! Thud! Slash!

  The surface gleamed back at us. Untouched. Not even a scratch.

  "…Ouuui… I give up."

  I collapsed onto my back, lungs on fire.

  Rona, meanwhile, was still going strong, pounding away like a woodpecker possessed by caffeine and spite.

  Rustle.

  "Who's there?" I sat up and swung my scythe toward the noise.

  Isaac stepped out of the bushes, expression flat. "Me, duh. What are you guys doing?"

  I lowered my weapon and sighed. "Isaac, you're back. Where's Looney?"

  He looked away. "…Disintegrated."

  "What."

  "Accident happened."

  "Disintegration isn't normal."

  "What do you want me to do? It turned to dust."

  "Then sweep it up."

  "I CAN'T. THE WIND BLEW IT AWAY."

  I pinched the bridge of my nose. "In the future, if I ever ruin your plan, replay this moment in your head."

  "Come on, the past is the past."

  "Wrong. Women store everything in RAM. One day, we access it."

  Isaac swallowed like a kid caught cheating in front of the principal.

  "But still," he muttered, eyes drifting to the massive, unmoving worm. "Why's LM not hostile?"

  "Oh, just a misunderstanding. LM was constipated."

  Isaac blinked. "…What."

  "It ate crystals. A lots. Didn't digest well."

  "That thing eats crystals?"

  "Apparently."

  "…So all this was just bad timing with a bloated worm?"

  "Yup."

  He stared at LM with the thousand-yard stare of a man rethinking every life decision that led him here.

  "I can't believe this. So now it understands you?"

  “We did a show. Then it understands.”

  His face went blank. "Unbelievable. Do you think that if you cut off its tail, it'll solve the constipation?"

  "If you don't try, you'll never know."

  "What a waste of time."

  "Better than swimming in its anus just to unplug it."

  Isaac scoffed. "You mean you haven't tried that?"

  We were still bickering when Rona, blissfully locked in her own world, brought her hammer down hard on the tail.

  CRACK.

  "Isaac! Lil! A hole!" she shouted.

  I rushed over. "Really? Let's hack some more." I shot Isaac a glare "Help us. Don't just stand there like an idiot."

  He groaned, rolling up his sleeves like a man about to clean a public restroom. "Why am I always roped into this…"

  We struck together. Slash after slash. Each impact rattled our arms numb. The tail was tougher than steel, but cracks spread. Spiderwebbing. Growing.

  Sweat poured down our faces. LM shuddered with every blow, its massive body trembling beneath us like a ticking bomb.

  SHLUNK!

  The final strike landed. The tail came off clean.

  RUMBLE.

  The ground shook. A deep tremor rolled outward, deep and low, as if something vast had just unclenched. We dropped flat instinctively.

  "What's going on?" Isaac shouted.

  “How would I know? Do I look like the manager of this nightmare?!”

  Then came the sound.

  A loud POOT!

  It echoed across the plain like an unholy trumpet.

  Then.

  SPLAT!

  Something shot out of LM’s anus and burst across Rona and me in a wet, sticky wave. Strangely warm too.

  The world stopped.

  Then Isaac broke.

  "PFFFFFT!!"

  He dropped to his knees, laughing so hard he nearly choked.

  I stood there, shaking.

  “PTOOH! PTOOOH!” I spat, gagging. “I HAVE DUNG IN MY MOUTH.”

  And Rona?

  Rona was chewing.

  “RONA!” I grabbed her shoulders and dragged her back. “STOP THAT. SPIT IT OUT.”

  Isaac wheezed between laughs. “Worm dung is… technically nutritious.”

  "DON'T ENCOURAGE HER!"

  Rona frowned, then pulled something from her mouth. It was sharp. Jagged. Shining. A crystal. I froze.

  "A crystal?" My disgust vanished instantly. "CRYSTALS!"

  I turned to Isaac with unholy glee. "Help me dig through the poo."

  Isaac stumbled backward like I'd proposed murder. "No. NO. Over my dead body."

  "You're such a clean freak."

  "That's why I sanitize every five minutes!"

  "Your hands are dry as sandpaper. Here. Come moisturize with this!" I lunged with a fistful of mystery sludge.

  "NOOOOO!" Isaac turned and sprinted. I tackled him. We hit the ground hard. I pinned him down, victorious and filthy.

  He screamed like a man being publicly executed.

  “All my suffering led to this moment,” I grinned down at his despair.

  PING.

  A familiar chime rang out. A glowing screen appeared.

  [Congratulations! You survived the Survival Trial with minutes to spare. Also, Looney has been… disintegrated.]

  Isaac avoided our gaze.

  [Ah, poor Looney. Alas, every creature's fate is carved in stone. Yours just got moved up.]

  No one spoke.

  [Moving on! Game Three is under construction. Estimated completion: 10 days. Rest up, my little bunnies. You will need it.]

  Isaac hesitated. "Mr. James. How many survivors are left?"

  Mr. James froze for a beat, then formed a wide grin.

  [Oho? Feeling heroic? Want to save some poor skull-crushed bunnies? Just say the word. I'll send you right in.]

  All three of us shook our heads.

  [Good. Sleep tight.]

  Mr. James snapped his fingers. The screen vanished.

  So did the ground beneath us.