This time, it was Hazie’s turn to stare at him blankly as Kaiser couldn’t stop himself from laughing on his makeshift bed. Her lips pressed into a pout as she sulked in the corner, waiting for his mirth to die down.

"Happy now?" she asked, crossing her arms and fixing him with an unimpressed glare.

He nodded, still catching his breath. "Yeah, I thought I got really lucky waking up to be taken care of by the famous Hazie, but what the heck? Turns out, I got stuck with the *lowest version*."

"Shut up! At least I look the same, you meany!" she huffed, her cheeks puffing slightly.

"Yeah, yeah," he teased, waving her off with a smirk.

Hazie sighed dramatically, the corner of her mouth twitching as she lingered at the moment. Then, she suddenly looked at him with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"Kai, tell me something," she began, her voice dripping with teasing amusement. "You’ve never had a girlfriend, have you?"

His chuckle evaporated, his expression turning serious in an instant.

"Hey, that’s crossing the line."

He said coldly, narrowing his eyes.

She shrugged nonchalantly. "So, I was right. Not that it was hard to guess, judging by how *mean* you are to girls."

"Mean? Says the lady who’s been making a laughingstock out of a *dying man,*" he shot back.

She gasped theatrically, clutching her chest as if mortally wounded. "How dare you..."

"Oh, why? Did I hurt your poor little girly heart?" he taunted, his grin widening. "Since you’ve probably got loads of boyfriends, why not run to one of them for comfort?"

Hazie froze for a moment, her playful demeanor faltering. Then, after a brief silence, she muttered, "I... I’ve never had a boyfriend, for your information. Just a lot of useless suitors I didn’t have time to deal with."

Kaiser blinked, his grin twisting into a look of disbelief. "Ehh… So you’re telling me, with all your fame, riches, beauty, and now *multiple bodies,* you *still* haven’t had a boyfriend? Who’s more miserable between the two of us now?"

Hazie’s lips twitched in irritation, and she rubbed her forehead with an exasperated sigh. "…I swear, Kaiser, you’re the *rudest* person I’ve ever met. I actually thought you were a calm, timid guy who silently admired the angelic charm of the woman who saved him. Hmph. To think you turned out to be such a *meany.*"

"It’s not being mean," he retorted, "I’m just respecting gender equality. Besides, sorry to disappoint you, but my standards are literal goddesses, and I already have one that can’t live without me."

"You’re unbelievable," Hazie muttered, turning away with a sharp huff. She's not buying it at all despite its relative truthfulness.

Her shoulders slumped ever so slightly, and Kaiser noticed the faintest flicker of hurt in her expression. He sighed heavily, rubbing the back of his neck.

"…Okay. Maybe I was too harsh... I’m sorry," he said, his voice softening.

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Her head turned slightly, just enough for him to see her side-eye him. "You mean it?"

"Yeah," he said, more firmly this time.

"If you really mean it, then take it back," she demanded, her playful tone returning.

"What?" He blinked, confused.

"I said, take it back. And tell me I’m the most gorgeous and smartest lady you’ve ever met—even though I totally am," she added with a smug, self-satisfied smile.

Kaiser’s thoughts betrayed him, 'For others, sure, but not for me. Not after meeting a real goddess, although, she's just uselessly cute…’ Still, he decided against voicing that, opting to end the banter quickly.

"Fine," he relented with a heavy sigh. "Haze, you’re the most beautiful and smartest girl I’ve ever met."

"Could you at least *pretend* to sound sincere?" she asked, her hands resting on her hips.

"Let me try again—"

"You know what. Never mind!" she cut him off, throwing her hands up. "You’re making me feel like I’m forcing you."

‘Are you not?’ Kaiser thought but kept the remark to himself. Instead, he smirked and leaned back, letting the silence settle between them. Hazie muttered something under her breath before plopping down beside him, clearly exasperated but unable to hide the faint smile creeping onto her lips.

After a while, Kai deemed it suitable to ask.

“By the way,” Kaiser began, his voice steady as he shifted his gaze to Hazie. “You still haven’t told me what happened to this camp.”

She paused, her expression thoughtful as if deciding where to begin. “I know… It’s a long story. Where do I even start?” She tapped her chin lightly before nodding to herself. “Okay, let’s go back to the beginning.”

Hazie leaned forward to her knees, her tone taking on a narrative rhythm as she gazed at the fire. “When we first discovered our abilities, it was chaotic. No one knew what to make of them or how to use them even after a day here. It was by pure coincidence that one of us—let’s call him Arlen—realized his Gift allowed him to perceive danger. Not long after, another person, Marie, discovered her ability to see vast distances, like a living telescope. Together, they pieced it together and spotted a threat: a massive, board-like creature with rocky skin. It seems to have fallen from the cliffs above and was heading towards us."

“That was the moment everything changed,” she said, her voice quieter for a moment before steadying again. “We had no leader back then, no structure, just a group of frightened people with strange powers. Someone needed to take charge, and… I guess that someone ended up being me.”

Hazie exhaled, a mixture of pride and weariness flickering in her expression. “It wasn’t easy. That thing was enormous but luckily gravely injured, and we were barely more than University students, professors and teachers, some lost parents armed with Gifts we didn’t fully understand. But everyone contributed under my command—using their abilities in ways none of us had imagined. We struggled, stumbled, and panicked, but somehow, we managed to take it down. That victory wasn’t just about survival. It was a wake-up call. We realized two things: one, we weren’t alone in these black mountains, and two, this desolate world wasn’t as barren as it first seemed.”

Her gaze drifted toward the jagged peaks in the distance through the tear on the roof. “That realization was both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, it meant there were creatures out here we could hunt for food, which was a relief. On the other hand, it meant there were *things* out here that could hunt us, too.”

Kaiser stayed silent, absorbing her words as she continued.

“We got lucky with water. One of the others discovered their Gift could extract moisture from the air. On top of that, we found hidden pools of water nestled in the stones around here. After boiling it for safety, it became drinkable. With food and water secured, survival became manageable, though far from easy.

“Then there were materials. A few of us had abilities tied to creation or manipulation, which gave us the means to craft winter clothing and build shelter. By the end of the first week, we abandoned our uniforms and created something resembling a real camp. It wasn’t luxurious by any means, but it was sustainable.

“One fortunate thing about this area,” Hazie added with a wry smile, “is that the truly dangerous monsters seem to prefer the high mountains. The creatures avoided the lowlands are wary for some reason, almost like they know something we don’t. It gives us a bit of breathing room, though I can’t help but suspect there’s more to it.”

She hesitated, her expression darkening. “By the time we’d adjusted to our new life, I began suggesting we explore and get to higher ground. I believed we needed to find a more defensible location, somewhere safer than this exposed area. But… I was met with resistance. Most of the group was too scared to move deeper into the unknown. So, we stayed put, just for one more day.”

Her tone dropped, and her hands clenched slightly. “That’s when *it* came. A beast unlike anything we’d seen before. Our crude defenses were obviously no match for it—not that it was surprising. Most of us had no real combat experience, especially against those monsters here. But what saved us that night wasn’t brute strength or battle strategy. It was my dear friend, Julia.”

Hazie’s voice softened as she spoke her name, a flicker of warmth crossing her face. “Julia’s Gift is… special. She can foresee the truth or falsehood of any question posed to her. Every evening, we’d ask her, ‘Will there be danger tomorrow?’ And she’d answer with certainty. Because of her, we knew the really dangerous beast was coming beforehand, and we fled before it reached us.

“That night was a turning point. It wasn’t just about escaping. Julia’s foresight also revealed something else, the glimpse of hope I've been meaning to chase since the start. It's also thanks to her that we confirmed that there are safer places beyond these mountains, places with resources to sustain our survival with lesser risk."

She sighed heavily. "However, the only way to achieve that is leaving this world entirely. Which is where my main persona is leading the group right now.”

Hazie fell silent, her gaze turning distant as she seemed to relive the memories. Kaiser, still leaning on his bed, studied her carefully.

“Then why are you still here?” he said after a moment, his voice measured.

She smiled bitterly, her lips pressing into a thin line. “Because along the way, a time came when a sacrifice had to be made..."

Hazie took a deep breath, and said apologetically, her voice a whisper.

"I think I owe you an apology, because that sacrifice is me..."

Hazie's words hung in the air, heavy with meaning, as Kaiser mulled over the gravity of her story.