Infinite Rebate: I Get Richer Every Time I Spend

Kristine wandered blindly through the pitch-black primitive forest, completely lost.

When she stormed away from the bonfire, all she had wanted was somewhere quiet~somewhere far away from everyone.

Somewhere she could cry without anyone seeing.

She never imagined she would end up here.

A few minutes after leaving the beach, the first firework exploded over the ocean.

The brilliant flash briefly illuminated the night sky behind her.

Kristine instinctively assumed it was part of Bryce’s confession to Maya.

She didn’t even turn around.

She couldn’t bear to watch.

Instead...

She clenched her fists, bit her lip until it almost bled, and deliberately walked in the opposite direction.

"If I can’t see it..."

"...maybe it won’t hurt as much."

But the farther she walked...

The quieter the island became.

The lively sounds of laughter faded.

The music disappeared.

Even the crashing waves became distant.

Soon...

The paved roads gave way to narrow dirt paths.

The streetlights became fewer and fewer.

Eventually...

They disappeared altogether.

At first, the pale moonlight filtering through the trees was enough to guide her.

Kristine figured she’d eventually stumble across another hotel or another road.

She just wanted somewhere to spend the night.

Anywhere...

As long as she didn’t have to go back and see Bryce.

But before she realized it...

The trees around her became denser.

Thicker.

Taller.

Ancient trunks surrounded her from every direction.

Their tangled branches intertwined high overhead, completely blocking the moonlight.

The world instantly plunged into darkness.

Real darkness.

Kristine stopped walking.

Her breathing quickened.

"...Where am I?"

She slowly turned in circles.

Every direction looked exactly the same.

Towering trees.

Twisted roots.

Endless shadows.

Kristine had always been terrible with directions.

Even in shopping malls she sometimes got lost.

Now...

She couldn’t even tell where she’d come from.

Or where she was supposed to go.

Her heart began pounding.

She hurriedly pulled out her phone.

No signal.

She raised it higher.

Still nothing.

She walked a few more steps.

Nothing.

Only the cold words displayed across the screen.

No Service.

At that moment...

Panic truly set in.

"N-No..."

"This can’t be happening..."

Her voice trembled.

She turned around several times before randomly choosing another direction and continuing forward.

Every step became more difficult than the last.

Branches scratched against her arms.

Sharp vines caught her clothes.

Loose rocks made her stumble repeatedly.

More than once she nearly fell face-first onto the uneven ground.

Tears blurred her vision.

"Waaah..."

"I want to go home..."

"Please..."

"Can someone save me..."

Her sobs echoed weakly through the silent forest.

No one answered.

Only the distant chirping of insects and the rustling of leaves accompanied her.

Time slowly lost all meaning.

Five minutes.

Twenty minutes.

An hour.

She had no idea.

Her legs felt heavier with every step.

Her breathing became ragged.

The primitive forest wasn’t like the tourist areas of the island.

There were no walking trails.

No lights.

No signs.

Just rugged terrain and untouched wilderness.

Even a healthy adult man would struggle hiking through it at night.

For Kristine...

Who had never done anything more strenuous than a morning jog...

It was torture.

Finally...

Her exhausted legs completely gave out.

She collapsed onto the ground with a soft thud.

"I..."

"I can’t..."

She leaned against a tree, gasping for air.

Her entire body trembled from exhaustion.

Then...

Her right hand accidentally touched something beside her.

It wasn’t dirt.

It wasn’t grass.

It felt...

Cold.

Wet.

Smooth.

Slimy.

Kristine frowned.

"Huh...?"

"What is..."

Her fingers instinctively squeezed it slightly.

The next second—

Hissssss...

A chilling sound suddenly echoed beside her.

The eerie hiss cut straight through the darkness.

Kristine froze.

Every hair on her body stood on end.

Her blood ran cold.

In an instant...

She remembered watching wildlife documentaries as a child.

She remembered that exact sound.

Only one animal made a sound like that.

A snake.

Her pupils shrank violently.

"N-No..."

Before she could even react...

The dark shape beside her slowly shifted.

Kristine let out a piercing scream.

"AAAAAHHHHH!!"

"HELP!!"

Her terrified cry shattered the silence of the forest.

Birds sleeping among the treetops burst into the air in a frenzy.

Countless wings flapped wildly into the night.

---

Just as Lucas stepped into the edge of the primeval forest, he caught the faintest trace of a scream drifting through the trees.

It was almost swallowed by the wind.

If it had been anyone else, they probably would’ve missed it completely.

But after the System had enhanced his physique multiple times, Lucas’s senses had become far sharper than those of an ordinary person.

His ears twitched.

"There..."

Without hesitation, he sprinted toward the source.

Branches whipped against his arms as he pushed through the dense undergrowth.

The uneven terrain slowed him down, but not by much.

As he ran, he couldn’t help muttering to himself.

"Kristine... don’t you dare die on my island."

"I’ve only just taken over this place."

"The last thing I need is someone dying on the first day of business."

His footsteps grew even faster.

---

Nearly fifteen minutes later...

Another scream echoed through the forest.

This time...

Much louder.

Lucas immediately adjusted his direction.

"Closer..."

"She’s nearby."

He burst through another wall of bushes, ignoring the scratches forming on his arms.

A few more minutes later...

A trembling figure finally came into view beneath a towering tree.

A girl was curled into herself, hugging her knees tightly.

Her clothes were stained with dirt.

Leaves clung to her hair.

Her entire body trembled uncontrollably.

She looked utterly pitiful.

The moment she noticed movement, she instinctively grabbed a thick tree branch lying beside her and shakily pointed it forward.

"W-Who’s there?"

"D-Don’t come any closer!"

"I-I’m warning you!"

Her voice broke into sobs.

"P-Please don’t hurt me..."

"I’m begging you..."

She had completely fallen apart.

Lost alone in a pitch-black forest...

With strange noises surrounding her...

Anyone would have panicked.

Lucas let out a long sigh.

"Kristine..."

"You really know how to create trouble."

His familiar voice instantly froze her in place.

She blinked through tear-filled eyes.

"L-Lucas...?"

Lucas finally stepped into the moonlight filtering through the trees.

His clothes were soaked with sweat after searching the forest nonstop.

Even with his enhanced physique, sprinting through rugged wilderness for so long had exhausted him.

He wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"What?"

"Disappointed it wasn’t Bryce who came to save you?"

Kristine stared blankly at him for a second.

Then...

The fear she had been desperately suppressing completely collapsed.

"Waaaaah..."

She burst into tears.

Without caring about anything else, she threw herself toward Lucas.

"Lucas..."

"I thought... I thought I was going to die..."

"I thought nobody would ever find me..."

Lucas instinctively caught her before she stumbled.

Seeing her crying like this, even he couldn’t continue teasing her.

"What happened?"

Kristine’s face turned pale.

"I..."

"I got bitten..."

"A snake..."

Lucas’s expression immediately became serious.

"A snake?"

He crouched down.

"Where?"

Kristine’s cheeks instantly turned crimson.

Even now...

She looked embarrassed.

The location of the bite...

Was simply too awkward.

She hesitated for several seconds before nervously pointing toward her thigh.

"...H-Here..."

Lucas followed the direction of her finger.

His expression instantly became strange.

"...That snake really picked an inconvenient place."

The bite was located on the inside of her thigh...

Right in the narrow strip of exposed skin between her over-the-knee socks and the hem of her short skirt.

The area people often jokingly called a girl’s "absolute territory."

Kristine lowered her head in embarrassment.

She wished she could disappear.

Lucas ignored her flustered expression.

This wasn’t the time to think about anything else.

He immediately turned on his phone’s flashlight.

The bright beam illuminated the wound.

Two tiny puncture marks were clearly visible.

Fortunately...

The surrounding skin hadn’t turned black or purple.

Lucas relaxed slightly.

After carefully examining the wound, he could tell it didn’t appear to be anything too serious.

The skin around the bite wasn’t turning dark or purple.

There wasn’t much swelling either.

That was a good sign.

"You’ll be alright."

"It doesn’t look like a highly venomous snake."

"As long as we deal with the venom quickly..."

"You’ll be fine."

Kristine finally let out a shaky breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding.

"T-Then..."

"What should we do?"

Lucas didn’t answer immediately.

Instead...

His thoughts moved.

The next second~

Several silver needles quietly appeared between his fingers.

The Soul Awakening Needles.

Kristine stared at the sudden appearance of the needles, completely stunned.

"W-Where..."

"Where did those come from?"

She had been staring at Lucas the entire time.

She hadn’t seen him reach into a pocket...

Or open a medical kit.

The needles had simply...

Appeared.

Lucas ignored her question.

There was no time to explain.

His eyes focused entirely on the wound.

The silver needles flashed under the moonlight as he calmly raised his hand.

"Stay still."

"If you keep moving..."

"It’s going to hurt a lot more."

Kristine instinctively swallowed.

Although she was still full of questions...

For some reason...

Seeing Lucas’s calm expression made her heart settle down.

She obediently nodded.

"...Okay."

Lucas took a slow breath.

Then...

Without the slightest hesitation...

He inserted the Soul Awakening Needle.

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