Marcy noticed a familiar flickering in the corner of her eye—the star of progression. She had almost forgotten about her stats in the chaos of meeting Wulf. When she focused, a congratulatory window expanded.

  CONGRATS! YOU HAVE LEVELED UP 5 TIMES!

  CURRENT LEVEL: 7

  CLASS EVOLUTION: [Dragon Fodder] → [Prey]

  NEW ABILITIES UNLOCKED:

  [Hop]: (Basically [Jump], but with 10% less effort.)

  [Random Create]: (Upgraded from [Forage]. Now generates more than just carrots!)

  [Tease]: (Taunts enemies, forcing them to focus on the user.)

  [Toxic Cuteness]: (Passive. Makes the user appear even more adorable to lower-level hostiles.)

  Marcy felt personally insulted. "Prey? Really?" she muttered. Most of the abilities seemed useless. [Tease] was basically a suicide button for a bunny, and [Toxic Cuteness] just felt like a joke.

  Wulf tilted his hilt toward her screen. "Hmm? I see you are being bullied by the Window Goblin, little bunny?"

  Marcy nodded, frustrated. "It’s because I refused the original classes it tried to give me! Honestly, who wants to be a low-rank soldier or a merchant?"

  Allan’s eyes widened. "Now that you mention it... the classes it offered me were just as lopsided. It gave me [Rock Thrower], [Fisherman], or [Dragon]. I thought I was just picking the strongest one."

  Lina furrowed her brow, leaning against the wall. "It did the same to me. It offered [Salt Miner], [Farmer], or [Frost Dragon]. Did the System... try to push everyone to become monsters?"

  As if on cue, the blue window flickered to life.

  YES, ACTUALLY. MONSTERS ARE FAR MORE EASILY SWAYED BY THE SYSTEM. THEY HAVE INSTINCTS TO FOLLOW. HUMANS HAVE TOO MANY... OPINIONS.

  The group stared at the window with various degrees of distaste. Marcy’s whiskers twitched with anger. "You call this a 'glorious game,' yet you don't even give everyone a fair chance?!"

  Wulf seemed to bristle in Marcy's hand. "The System is always working for its puppet master. It doesn't care about fairness." The sword shifted in a pose that felt like a smirk. "Fortunately, once the System gives a gift, it cannot take it back. And a clever wielder can evolve even a 'negative' class into something the Creator never intended."

  The System window turned a panicked shade of purple.

  Y-YOU STOP! WULF, YOU MENACE! DON'T TELL HER—

  SHWINK. Wulf sliced the window in half again, ending the interruption. He looked back at Marcy. "I believe fate has brought us together, Bunny Hero."

  Marcy tilted her head. "You’re the second person to call me a hero today. It feels weird."

  Allan crossed his arms. "It’s actually kinda funny. You’re so cute and weak-looking that if you actually become strong, you’re going to be the biggest surprise this world has ever seen."

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  "You’re a genius!" Wulf boomed, though he didn't elaborate.

  Lina sighed, her stomach letting out a loud growl. "I'm hungry. Can we go now?"

  Marcy’s ears perked up. "Oh! I almost forgot! My forage skill upgraded to [Create Item]. Let’s see what I get!"

  She activated the skill, and a blinding light filled the shed. When it faded, the floor was covered. There were twelve medium-quality steaks and twenty-three loaves of fresh bread.

  Lina and Allan’s eyes dilated instantly. Minutes later, the tension of the apocalypse was replaced by the sizzle of meat over the fire. They sat together, eating bread and roasting steaks on sticks—a dragon, an ice queen, and a bunny, sharing a meal while the world burned outside.

  Unseasoned meat had never tasted so delicious. After the meal, the group settled into the cramped equipment shed. Allan took the first watch; his draconic metabolism meant he needed more fuel anyway, and he wasn’t about to let the remaining steaks go to waste.

  As Allan sat by the dying embers, flipping the last of the meat, he felt a weight in the air that had nothing to do with the cold. He looked up to find Wulf’s hilt tilted toward him.

  "I feel tension between you three," Wulf spoke suddenly, his voice a low hum that didn't wake the girls. "But also a strange camaraderie. If you continue like this, the System will find the cracks. It will use your hearts against you."

  Allan looked away, poking at the fire with a stick. "It’s not that simple," he muttered, his gaze drifting from the sleeping pink bunny to the frost-covered blonde.

  Wulf’s blade shimmered. "Ah... you have feelings for both of them?"

  Allan nearly dropped his steak into the ash. "Hey! Shut it!"

  Wulf let out a metallic chuckle. "You really are in a pickle, Dragon-man."

  "Lina is my girlfriend," Allan said, his voice dropping an octave. "Or at least, she was... before the world fell. Marcy... she was just my neighbor. Now she’s a bunny who's turning out to be..."

  "Entertaining?" Wulf interrupted.

  Allan let out a short, tired laugh. "Yes. Actually."

  On the other side of the fire, Lina lay perfectly still, her back turned to them. She wasn't asleep. Her mouth was pressed into a thin, hard line as she listened to every word. In truth, Lina knew their relationship was hanging by a thread—not because of the apocalypse, but because of something she had done before the sky turned gold.

  It was a secret that weighed on her more than the ice in her veins. She could barely look Allan in the face as it was. If he ever found out... he might be done with her for good.

  She lay there silently, the cold floor biting into her skin, listening to him talk with the sword. It was the only peace she would allow herself for now—the bittersweet sound of a man she loved talking about a girl she was beginning to fear.