Chapter 4

“He’s a grown man. Is this little pain really too much for him?”

Mason Reed could no longer hold back.

He jumped to his feet and pointed at Serena, cursing her out. “Serena, what the hell is wrong with you? It was only a low-level horror.

“He was bitten twice by something no more dangerous than a dog. Do you really have to make such a big deal out of it?”

“What do you mean, I’m making a big deal out of it?” Serena’s eyes filled with deep displeasure.

“You people are always scheming against one another. Ever since Finn joined the team, you’ve all been ganging up on him!

“Finn isn’t like you. He has no superpowers to protect him, and he’s physically weak. What if something really happens to him? I can’t risk it!”

When Serena saw me frown, she suddenly pulled out the pistol and aimed it at my temple.

Everyone sucked in a sharp breath. The pistol was a survival item dropped by an S-rank instance, and it could injure both horrors and the Awakened Ones.

It was the means I gave my fiancée to protect herself and survive in the horror instances.

Yet Serena had turned it on me.

“Ryan, take out the fruit. Now!”

“Serena, what are you doing? How could you treat the captain like this? He’s your fiancé! Get your priorities straight!”

Mason couldn’t stand by and watch. He tried to rush forward and stop her, but Serena fired at him.

If Bennett hadn’t reacted quickly, Mason’s arm would have been ruined.

I looked at the woman I had once loved, my eyes filled with nothing but mockery.

In my previous life, I threw myself into danger again and again so she could survive the horror-game instances.

Yet now, for the man she truly loved, she pointed a gun straight at my heart.

To save me, my teammates had no choice but to hand over the fruit.

Serena carefully wiped it clean before holding it to Finn’s lips.

“Serena, this fruit is so sweet.”

Finn gave her a sweet smile.

Everyone felt sick watching the scene.

Only moments after Finn swallowed the fruit, every mark left by the low-level horror’s bites vanished without a trace.

His skin glowed with health, making him look even more delicate and endearing than before.

He looked at me with reddened eyes. “I’m sorry, Ryan. This is all my fault… If I weren’t so weak, Serena wouldn’t have had to use the fruit to heal me.

“If only I worked harder. I’ll do my best to grow stronger in the future instances.”

“We believe in you. Keep it up!” Serena smiled at him.

Their eyes met, brimming with affection.

“From now on, I’ll protect you with my life, Serena.”

Serena was so touched that she ruffled his hair. “I’ll handle everything from now on. Don’t worry. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

The sight of them made the other teammates feel sick to their stomachs.

In my previous life, I risked my life countless times to protect Serena, yet she had never once thanked me.

“You’re so strong. It’s what you’re supposed to do.”

And now, a single offhand remark from Finn was enough to move Serena beyond words.

Was this how the world worked? Did weakness make someone automatically right, while strength made someone deserving of death?

A minute later, space tore open, and headquarters sent someone to retrieve us.

Finn and Serena rushed forward faster than anyone else.

However, the moment Finn saw the bottomless rift, he began to tremble.

“Serena, I’m scared.”

“Don’t be afraid. I’ll go with you.”

Serena smiled as she took Finn’s hand and patiently soothed him.

The teammates rolled their eyes in exasperation. Finn was delaying everyone again.

After the others jumped into the rift one after another, Finn finally stood up. He and Serena held hands and leaped in together.

However, an invisible force flung them back the next second.

They crashed heavily onto the ground.