"Hnh…"
Grace breathed hard, nearly inhaling whatever blood remained on his face when she kissed him. She pulled back briefly to look into his eyes, then kissed him again.
Adam remained frozen, completely unsure how to react.
Well, this is...new?
Even the voice inside his head was speechless.
After what felt like an eternity, Grace finally pulled away, completely flustered and red with what she had just done.
"I…" Grace's breaths faltered. "I think…I'm being unfair. Because, even now… I'm still the one... receiving? I... I liked it."
She looked into Adam's eyes and whispered, "I'm... not going to apologize. I'm just... going to make an excuse." She turned to stare at the ceiling again. "It's... just that we're in this situation and I... I guess the movies were right. In situations like this, my emotions are... I can't control them. I... always thought they were bullshit."
Adam remained still for several moments before finally touching his lips.
"It's... okay," he whispered. "I liked it. Does... this mean we're friends, Grace?"
"W...what? Well, I... uhm. Adam, kissing means more than that."
"More?" Adam's eyes darted about in confusion. After a moment, he turned to face Grace again and said, "But Samantha's father—"
"Oh God, no. I... I wouldn't kiss you if her dad was still in the picture. God, no. I'm not a...slut and-anyway. Your scars...why don't they heal? And there are...so many."
Grace quickly diverted the conversation as her fingers brushed the scars that completely covered Adam's upper body and arms.
"Oh?" Adam slightly glanced at his chest, "I...think I remember her saying I already had these scars before they found me. And...oh. My legs are back."
"Huh?"
Grace watched as Adam slowly rose, careful not to disturb Samantha.
She looked at his legs—fully recovered, with his toes even moving. Then she noticed something else—he was completely naked.
"Ah! Wait here!" Grace jumped up, glancing briefly at the ratatusk before rushing toward the trashed furniture in the lobby. Spotting a table cloth, she snatched it and hurried back.
Adam gently handed Samantha to Grace and quickly wrapped the cloth around himself.
"We... need to get you some real clothes," Grace sighed, but Adam shook his head.
"It's fine," he said, eyeing the headless corpse in the middle of the lobby—his corpse. "I think I can still use my old clothes for now. I need to retrieve the armor too."
"Should... we go? Or do you need to rest more?" Grace asked.
"We... should go," Adam sighed as he started walking. "I don't really want to be warned by the Administrators."
"The Administrators..." Grace gently woke Samantha and set her on her feet, following Adam. "Do you think they're watching us right now? And if they are... that means they know about you? What... you can do?"
"Hmm..." Adam crouched beside his corpse and began undressing it. "If they are watching, then I hope they're at least having a good time. That's how they grant points, right?"
"I... is it?" Grace narrowed her eyes, glancing around the lobby as she heard something. "Did... you hear that?"
"Hear what?" Adam continued dressing himself. "Maybe someone's trying to enter the—"
Before he could finish, Grace screamed.
"Oh no, Adam!" She pointed at the ratatusk. Adam hastily pulled on his boots and looked at the monster, still lying lifeless on the ground.
He was about to ask what was wrong when he noticed the ratatusk's health display.
[Ratatusk, Lv. 1 | HP: 3%]
The Game had several rules and laws—some obvious and well-documented, others unspoken.
Grace had just remembered a rule physically written in numerous textbooks. She felt stupid for forgetting.
It was a rule that even Adam, with his limited knowledge of the Game, knew.
Dome monsters, if left alone and not attacked for exactly ten minutes, would begin recovering health and return to their nest.
[Ratatusk, Lv. 1 | HP: 30%]
Adam abandoned everything else—he hadn't even finished putting on his boots—and rushed toward the monster. He snatched a piece of wood from the floor and roared.
Grace grabbed the nearest object and hurled it at the ratatusk, trying to stop its recovery.
She missed.
[Ratatusk, Lv. 1 | HP: 60%]
"That's not fair at all!" Adam, who had recovered from having his entire head crushed to pulp, leaped into the air and drove his stake directly into the ratatusk's eye.
Since the monster was still in its recovery phase, it couldn't dodge.
[Ratatusk, Lv. 1 | HP: 57%]
Adam exhaled in relief watching the health decrease, but didn't pause as he continued stabbing its eyes, driving the stake deeper.
"Just…please, just die!" Adam roared, raising the stake again.
The ratatusk finally responded, slapping him away before he could strike.
Adam rolled violently across the ground again, but this time, recovered quickly—kneeling on the floor, a silent screech as his boot, knee, and stake scraped across it.
His eyes never left the ratatusk.
"Adam!"
He glanced toward Grace's voice to see a sword flying his way. He quickly dropped the wooden stake and rushed to catch the blade, losing two fingers in the process—but he didn't flinch as he gripped the handle with his other hand and charged back toward the confused monster.
He gritted his teeth, extending the sword to his side as he ran with all his might.
"Huh?" But as he leaped to meet the monster head-on, the glass he'd tried to break earlier finally shattered.
But not from him, nor the ratatusk.
Through it emerged a familiar figure with a Red Name hovering above his head, wearing a tattered formal suit.
A Hero on their team who wasted no time—he rushed the ratatusk, slamming his shoulder into it, causing a loud boom to erupt, and sending it flying several meters across the floor.
Adam landed clumsily beside the Hero, their eyes locking.
He should have felt relief, but couldn't.
[Bjorn, the Silent Brawler.]
Not when the Hero he was staring at was the same one working with Dr. Aniston.