Endless Evolution As A Skeleton In A Game-Like World

"...What?" Olivia watched Ark and Thalia with a blank stare.

Wasn’t this a fight to the death? Why did the two of them seem so comfortable while trying to reap their own lives?

Thalia gave Ark a long stare, confusion etched all over her features, but she did not let go of his neck.

"Are you crazy?" She continued pulling at his head, trying to rip it off his shoulders, but steel webs wrapped around his eye sockets, tying it tightly to the rest of his body.

Never had a man managed to leave her befuddled.

Although his bony face refused to cooperate with him, she could tell that he was smiling on the inside.

"Think about it," he laughed. "If you join my guild, I will be able to prevent you from doing anything stupid, and you can eat any foul humans we come across!"

"A win-win, isn’t it?" Ark nodded.

"No, it is not." Thalia frowned. She adjusted her grip and pulled with even more force.

One of the strings snapped and Ark held his head with his only available hand.

"What do you mean? Do you want to die instead?"

Thalia gave him a dark stare. "I can eat humans every time I want, I mean... I have been doing this for so long. Why do I need to join you to eat humans?"

"And prevent me from doing something stupid?" She rolled her eyes. "You can barely keep me from ripping your head off..."

"I think I’m doing a pretty good job though, don’t you think? I mean... I can escape from this whenever I like."

Ark still had a lot of hidden skills that he had not even bothered to use.

"Yeah, I can see that..." she said in a sarcastic tone. "Goodness, why can’t I rip off your head??"

"It’s science." Ark explained. "One steel web may be easy to snap, but stack up a hundred? And it is like trying to tear a steel bar in two..."

"Just like how you would be if you joined my guild. Don’t you think?"

In the world of gaming, one thing that separated the newbies from the pros was something they had come to call the Investor’s Eye.

A good player knew what S-ranks were the most optimal to pull, a great player knew how to use these players to achieve results that far exceeded their ranks, but a pro player...

A pro player knew how to sift through the dirt. A pro player could see potential with a simple glance. A pro player was what was needed to take a C rank to SSS and beyond.

Ark was a pro player in his past life, and in his eyes, Thalia was a player that he could not afford to lose. She was the type of character you burned your monthly salary trying to get max copies of!

"You can be my Bennett! We will make history together, me, you and Olivia!"

"M-me?" Olivia squeaked from the side.

Thalia frowned, unable to process his gamer logic. She suspected Bennett, or whatever was a popular game character, but she did not care enough to know more.

"You are being annoying. Did you really think I would follow someone who failed to beat me?"

"..."

Ark’s tone suddenly changed. "Tsk tsk. You still have a lot to learn, darling~"

"What?"

"What is the first rule of combat?" Ark asked.

"..."

His face grew darker, while Thalia’s eyes grew more predatory. "It’s simple..." Ark said. "Never get distracted."

Although she had not realised it, his little, foolish-sounding talk about his guild had been more than enough to cause her to stall.

Sure, she had been trying to pull his head off, but she could have as well crushed his body.

Thalia laughed, a cruel smile appearing on her lips. "You sound pretty bold for someone I could squeeze to death if I wish."

Ark laughed as well. "But you never truly had me..."

"Hmm~ And what do you mean by that?"

"I’ll show you." His figure suddenly glitched, leaving Thalia to grasp thin air. One second later, he was standing in front of her, watching her coldly.

"How did you... what did you do?" Thalia was beyond shocked. Ark had not used [Phase] throughout the fight, just for this exact reason.

It was foolish to show your entire hand in the beginning of a fight.

When you saved one of your assets until the very last moment, it may just be everything you needed to gain the edge.

Ark slowly raised a finger towards her, pointing at a spot behind her. "There is something behind you."

But Thalia’s face contorted with rage. "Fool! Did you really think I would fall for that twice—Keh!!"

Stab!

An obsidian black glaive suddenly exploded out her chest, causing her to jerk forward as blood splurted into the air.

Thalia turned around, her vision blurry as she watched Sumo crumble to darkness.

"You... you bastard!!" She grabbed the glaive and ripped it out of her chest, the wound had already begun to heal, but it was slower this time, her body was reaching its limits.

’I’ll kill him, I have to kill him now!’ Her head immediately snapped in Ark’s direction, only to be greeted by an empty room.

Little did she know that Ark had used another skill she had no idea of... [Stealth].

"Where are you? Show yourself you coward!" Thalia screamed, as blood continued to flow from her wound.

"And why would I do that?"

Ark’s voice seemed to echo from everywhere at the same time...

Thalia was turning around, trying to find any slight distortion in the wind, to find any sign of his presence, but there was none. His stealth was nearly flawless.

"Hello."

Fiery blue eyes appeared first, right in front of her face, and then a body followed.

?!

Thalia immediately tried to attack, when Ark’s hand sank right into the wound... into her chest. His finger slipped through bone and flesh before grasping onto her beating heart.

Thalia stilled.

"Aha. So this is it? This is your true weakness?"

His fingers palpated the warm organ, massaging it slowly, fiddling with it, rubbing it the way one would do his girlfriend’s breasts.

...All while having a stone-cold expression on his face.

"I wonder..."

Cold sweat dripped down Thalia’s face.

"What would happen if I..." Ark’s voice dropped to a seductive tone, mimicking Thalia’s mockery. "...crushed it~"

Thalia slowly raised her hands, her face now coated entirely with sweat. Her pigtails had been unraveled, and clumps of black hair stuck to her face.

She smiled. "I yield..."

"Ah? No, no, no. You can’t give up just yet."

Ark still had skills to collect after all! He needed her health to go below thirty percent to improve his chances!

Thalia’s brows creased with worry. "W-what do you mean? That is my heart you know?! I’ll join your guild, I’ll join your—"

"Give up after a few seconds, okay? Don’t worry, I’ll be gentle with it..."

He said, smiling internally, just before the room was engulfed in a bright blue glow, Thalia’s pained screams filling the space...

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