Ayla stared at the text with a slight tilt of her head. Her brows furrowed a bit.

It was not her system.

Her system was calm, structured, and colorless. This one was loud and glaring.

The letters burned in deep red, swallowing most of her vision as if they wanted to force a decision out of her.

She did not like that. It felt intrusive.

"It is asking me to follow him," she murmured, her voice soft and uncertain in the empty cavern.

Why?

Her gaze drifted to Kenji’s headless body. The memory of how quickly he had tried to kill her made her kick his body twice.

"Hmph."

Her fingers curled slightly. His brain sure tasted better, but his memories only started from when he teamed up with the other two guys.

Ayla also got an interesting intel. Jaxon, whose brain she had devoured first, had once met this Kenji and the other two.

Although Kenji wanted to join Jaxon’s team, the other two had objected to teaming up with Outers.

Anyway, she didn’t want to team up with Kenji.

"He is an enemy."

The answer felt obvious.

Ayla did not understand everything about humans yet, but this much was simple. He attacked her without hesitation. That made him prey. Or a threat. Possibly both.

So why would she choose to follow him into whatever this "regression" was?

Her golden eyes narrowed at the floating text.

It was asking her to give up her position. To abandon the present. To move backward into something she did not understand.

That was inefficient.

Ayla had only just begun to understand this place. She had only just started growing stronger.

Going backward meant losing time. Losing opportunities to hunt.

It meant delaying her evolution.

That alone made the choice clear.

"No."

She raised her hand as if she could physically dismiss the words.

"I do not want to regress with him."

The red text flickered.

For a brief moment, the cavern seemed to hold its breath.

Then the message shattered.

[Regression request is rejected by Ayla.]

The fragments dissolved into nothingness, leaving her vision clear once more.

Ayla blinked.

"That was annoying."

She dismissed the event quickly, filing it away as something strange but not immediately important. There were more pressing matters.

Suddenly, a movement caught her attention. Kenji’s body shriveled and scattered. Ayla was taken aback.

"Where did you go?" she asked in wonder.

Ayla crouched slightly, her fingers brushing the damp stone where his body had been.

No blood. No remains. Nothing to consume.

Her lips pressed together faintly.

"That is wasteful."

Still, she had gained something from him.

A trait.

Her thoughts shifted inward as she focused.

[Trait: Death Looper (S+)]

It was more powerful than her other traits, except her own. Even though her trait wasn’t graded, Ayla believed it was higher than S+.

If not, she wouldn’t have copied it.

Ayla studied it carefully. It was different from the others.

Pyromancy was straightforward. Heat could be gathered and shaped.

Bloodnet was instinctive. It answered her will like an extension of her body.

But this...

This trait did nothing.

Or rather, it did something only when she died.

Ayla tilted her head slightly.

"That is inefficient."

Ayla didn’t want to die to try this trait.

Why would a trait only activate after death? Death was failure. If she died, it meant she had made a mistake.

Why build a system around failure?

Then she paused. A thought surfaced in her mind.

"What if death is not failure for him?"

Kenji had attacked her without hesitation. There had been no fear in his movements. No hesitation in his eyes.

He fought like someone who had nothing to lose.

Ayla’s pupils sharpened.

"Because he comes back."

The realization settled into place neatly.

That human did not fear death because death did not end him.

It reset him.

Ayla slowly stood up.

"That means..."

Her voice trailed off as her mind began to move faster.

"He can learn without consequence."

Every fight. Every mistake. Every loss. All of it could be repeated. Improved and perfected.

"Not a bad trait." She smiled, then it froze as the surroundings started to shimmer.

Like a tear appearing in the air.

*

* *

Kenji’s consciousness floated in an empty void. Darkness stretched endlessly in all directions. It was a place without any sensations.

This was where he always waited after every death led him here. Every loop began the same way. He would float here for few hours before regressing back to the point of last death.

He had long since grown used to it. But this time it was different.

"She never appeared in any loops." His voice echoed faintly, swallowed immediately by the void.

That woman. Ayla. She had not existed before. Not in any of his previous runs. That alone made her a variable.

Kenji’s expression tightened slightly. Variables broke patterns. Patterns were how he survived. Without them, every advantage he had built through repetition became unstable.

His thoughts began to race.

"My plan has to change."

He forced himself to focus.

Step one. Eliminate Daniel and Haiz earlier. Before they initiated the goblin raid. That would prevent unnecessary damage and give him more control over the timeline.

Step two. Assist the four Outer runners before. They were weak, but with preparation, they could serve as temporary allies. Or shields.

Step three. Prepare for Ayla. Kenji’s jaw tightened.

"She is fast." Too fast. Her reaction time had exceeded anything he had seen at this stage. And those threads...

"Why did it feel like bloodnets?"

Was she a monster taken human form? Impossible, right? Even the Apocalypse monsters couldn’t do that. His mind worked through possibilities.

It might be a mutated trait. He exhaled slowly.

"It does not matter." What mattered was the outcome. He had died. That meant she was a threat. A threat had to be removed.

"I will kill her before she grows."

The thought settled firmly. That was the safest approach. End the variable early. Before it could spiral out of control.

Kenji continued refining the plan, adjusting timings and movements in his mind. Then suddenly, His body lurched.

The void cracked. Kenji’s eyes snapped open.

[Regression request is rejected by Ayla.]

The message burned briefly in front of him before fading. Kenji’s breathing slowed as his mind processed the implication.

"She can interact with it."

Not just interact. Reject it. That meant she had seen the prompt. Which meant she had awareness of his ability.

Which meant—

Kenji’s thoughts halted as his gaze lifted and locked into that pair of breathtaking golden pupils. They stood directly in front of him.

Calm, focused, and watching. For a brief moment, neither of them moved. Two anomalies just stared at each other. Kenji’s expression did not change, but something sharp flickered behind his eyes.

"You..."

Ayla tilted her head slightly, studying him as if confirming something.

"So that’s how it works." Ayla’s lips curved faintly.

"How can you do that?" Kenji tried his best to stop from trembling.

Ayla said nothing. Her lips curled out as a blood-churning scream left Kenji’s throat. Every cell of his body started burning from the inside out as he burned to ashes.

And as he reached the dark expanse of his mind, his soul was again yanked back into reality. To face her.

"Like this," she smiled innocently.