"Taste my hammer!"

The blow hit both of my shields and sent me stumbling. The vibration ached, and I made a mental note not to take an attack like that head-on. Even so, I gave the skinny dwarf my most charming smile.

"I'm sure you'd love that, wouldn't you?"

"Haaragh!"

I dodged it this time and watched his hammer smash into the ground. I wondered if he meant to do that or if he was actually as unskilled as I was.

Rearing back an arm, I brought my right shield in to smash the dwarf's bulbous nose.

If someone told me a few days ago that I would be in a cave surrounded by strangers, punching a dwarf in the face with a metal shield... I would think they were trying to hire me for a porno. A really fucked-up one.

"I'll kill ya!"

His breath nearly toppled me. I was still imagining Gimili and the stout dwarves from popular culture. This guy was short, maybe four to five feet tall, but he wasn't muscular or stocky. The beard was there, but it was scraggly. The toughness was there, but it felt more like a drunken stupor filling in for lost hope.

I worked in enough bars to recognize the crazies and those who just didn't care anymore, about anything.

All they wanted was to smash the world like a snow globe.

My experience told me to try talking to him.

Then a sword cut through his neck. Not all the way through, though. It teetered there for a brief moment like a fucking pez dispenser before the hinge snapped and it finally rolled off.

I followed the thump that churned my stomach. We were fighting on a slight decline, so the head bumped and rolled until it found a divet to rest in. Then the body in front of me fell.

"Don't try to take an attack head-on. Ever."

The rude voice belonged to Zeke. He was already wiping his sword off and moving past me. Without a shirt, I could see the various tattoos lining his skin. Most of them were fully inked sections or black lines which seemed to me like they probably covering up older unwanted designs.

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His body was sculpted like someone who worked hard for it. I knew plenty of other models who wanted to get into such a form and knew firsthand that it wasn't easy.

Ayaa~ Jealous is unbecoming.

I worked hard for my body. I had a natural barrel-like physique, so I was a far cry from those handsome drama actors. Still. I had a pretty face, and I learned to love what my mother gave me.

It's funny. We hadn't talked in years, yet the stray hope that she was alive down here made me okay with the blood and killing.

"Why are you using two shields?"

Blinking, I didn't notice Zeke was in front of me until he spoke. Over my shoulder, I saw Zoey looking away like a schoolgirl caught red-handed. I was pretty sure she was taking pictures of my ass. How embarrassing.

"I have to protect this pretty face, no?"

I thought he'd laugh, but he actually nodded in thought.

"Hm. You're right."

"What!"

That was Zoey. I ignored her dropped jaw because I was having trouble with my own.

"I'm sorry?"

"Don't be. Protecting your face is the right choice."

Zeke resumed his walk. We all followed him as he spoke more than he had in the past few hours.

"Sponsors will be lining up for you when you reach the safe zone. Those pricks... The only thing more attractive than a strong candidate is one with a pretty face."

"How would you know this?"

"Think about it. Is anyone in our group unattractive? Mei has that sexy CEO vibe, Lucas looks like he should be on the cover of old spice, and even Specs looks like a dignified professor."

Oh my god. He was right.

Nadim was only nineteen, but he didn't have a spot of acne on him. Even though Lucas looked like he ate a lemon, he was practically photogenic.

"In comparison, you're made of marble. Were you an actor?"

He seemed to be in pain the more he talked. I wondered why.

"Bartender."

"Shit. That's it?"

"I did some modeling."

"I knew it."

Zoey's whisper wasn't exactly a whisper.

Zeke stopped us and went ahead to check around a corner. When he signaled the all-clear, he continued.

"Take as many Sponsors as you can get. They may ask you for things, but they'll pay you enough to help you survive. It's up to you to accept or deny their requests."

"So, like any other job offer then."

I didn't even bother to ask how he was so sure at this point. I'd already gotten a few Sponsor notifications and was wondering why.

"They aren't offering you a job; they're voyeurs. We're all camgirls, and they're pervs hiding behind screens, paying us in single bills. Don't give them what they want unless you need the money to survive. But don't shun them either. Pricks will fuck you in more ways than one if you cross them."

"It sounds like you're speaking from experience."

Zeke stopped talking after that. I knew I was right, but I didn't press. I'd rather learn as I go than speak with him too much. Zeke creeped me out. Not in a flirty kind of way, but the kind that sat in the corner of the room watching you the entire night, but you couldn't exactly kick them out because they were ordering drinks.

I'd just have to tread as carefully as I did when I first became a model. The industry had always been full of sharks.

The only difference was that we were in a bigger pool.

With bigger sharks.