Every step is a battle. The forest floor was covered with tree roots and decaying leaves, and Alivia's three hundred-pound body crashed through like an injured rhino. Her lungs were burning, her heart was pounding wildly behind her ribs, and thick, greasy, foul-smelling sweat trickled down her face.

She had to stop. Leaning against a huge oak tree, she gasped for breath, her chest rising and falling. "It's so tragic," she murmured, wiping the dirt from her face with the back of her hand. "Truly tragic."

A sharp buzzing sound interrupted her breathing. A strange insect, with a vibrant green body and fierce stingers, charged towards her face.

Instinct took over. Alivia raised her hand, commanding her bio-control abilities to strike, crushing the insect's nervous system.

A faint green light flashed from her fingertips-then it died out. The energy was too weak, too thin, even to penetrate the air.

The insect approached.

Damn it. Alivia snarled, slapping with her thick arms. She crushed the bug against the tree trunk, leaving a green viscous substance on the bark. She stared at the glowing viscous substance in her hands, a cruel reality surfacing in her mind. Her ability was useless. At most, it was only level one, barely enough to make someone's head ache, let alone fight the dangers of this world.

She must know what this ability can actually do. Picking up a sharp stone, she made a shallow cut on her forearm. Blood gushed out, the bright red contrasting against the muddy skin. She pressed her glowing fingers onto the wound, pushing the energy.

Healing was infuriatingly slow. Cells connected, tissue reconnecting bit by bit. It took a full two minutes for the wound to close, leaving a faint white line. When it was over, Alivia felt dizzy, her stomach spasming with intense hunger, as if she had been punched hard.

The sound of flowing water entered her ears. To a dehydrated body, it was the song of a siren. She pushed through the trees, struggling through the thorns-those thorns tearing at her rough leather skirt-stumbling toward the sound.

The stream was crystal clear, flowing through the forest. Alivia knelt by the bank, scooping up cold water and splashing it on her face. The chill was biting, washing away some of the sticky heat and grime.

She looked down.

The surface calmed down, becoming a mirror. The face she saw in the reflection made her stomach drop sharply.

That wasn't the face she recognized. Swollen, waxy yellow. Pimples swelled her cheeks and forehead, with her features squeezed into the center by thick fat. She opened her mouth in horror, revealing a crooked, yellowed set of teeth, some of which were already black at the roots.

Alivia jerked back and plopped down in the mud. "God," she muttered. She knew she was ugly-the memory told her so-but seeing it firsthand, this raw physiological reality, still felt like a heavy blow.

For a moment, despair choked her. Then she took a deep breath. "Self-pity doesn't burn calories," she said sharply to herself. "Get up."

She struggled back to the water's edge. This time, she didn't avert her gaze. She examined the reflection with the cool, analytical gaze of an agent assessing a target. Obese. Hormonal imbalance. Severe malnutrition masked by excess fat. Poor hygiene. Misaligned teeth.

"Well," her voice was flat, "it's a disaster area. But it's mine."

She stood up, brushing the mud off her buttocks. The first law of survival is health and hygiene. She couldn't fight back, she couldn't run fast, but at least she could wash herself clean. She scanned the shore for privacy. A shallow bend in the river, half-hidden by a pile of rocks and dense vines, was a good spot.

Alivia shuffled forward, her mind racing. She needed to wash herself clean. She needed to survive. Then, she needed to figure out how to fix this mess.

Alivia stood in the ankle-deep water of the river bend, her fingers tracing the knotted leather cord around her neck. That piece of animal hide smelled like sour milk and old sweat. She couldn't wait to tear it off.

Ding!

A sharp electronic sound exploded in her head, and she flinched, covering her ears with her hands. She crouched down, her eyes scanning the empty river bend, her hand reaching for a sharp stone on the riverbed.

Nothing at all. Only the rustling of leaves and the murmuring of a stream. The sound was in her head.

"Initializing..." announced a voice, smooth and arrogant, with the tone of a Silicon Valley tech geek, "Super Charm System, codenamed Kai, at your service."

Alivia pressed hard on her temples, convinced she was hallucinating. "Great," she muttered, "The toxins have finally fried my brain."

"Don't press it," Kai said with a condescending tone, "I'm not a brain tumor, lady. I'm your only golden finger in this savage world. No thanks."

A translucent blue holographic screen flickered into existence, hovering in front of the retina. Numbers and statistics scrolled past.

Appearance: -50.

Charisma: -100.

Survival probability: 2%.

Alivia stared at the number, her eyes twitching. "Negative one hundred charm value? Are you kidding?"

"Main quest activated," Kai continued, ignoring her question, "Conquer your five designated partners. Collect affection."

Alivia let out a sharp, humorless sneer. "Sorry? Conquer those five bastards? The one I just kneed in the groin and now wants to kill me? I'd rather go gamble in the wilderness."

The harsh alarm screamed in her mind. "Warning. Refusal will lead to system energy depletion, immediate soul erasure. You have no choice."

The threat was real. Alivia could feel the system's cold tendrils wrapping around her consciousness. She hated being backed into a corner. She hated being forced to comply. But she was a survivor.

She stood straight, threw down the rock, switched to negotiation mode. "Fine. I'll do your stupid task. But I need upfront payment. Show some sincerity."

The screen flickered. Kai was silent for a moment, clearly not used to a host who argued back. "Given your current... hygiene condition, which severely affects the visual experience, the system has approved the 'Beginner Cleaning Kit'."

A golden gift box icon appeared on the screen. Alivia clicked it in her mind.

A flash of light, three items appeared in her palm: a lavender soap, a soft-bristled toothbrush, and a fluffy white cotton towel.

Alivia stared at them. The scent of lavender, artificial, chemical, yet utterly sacred, rose from the soap. It was a corner of modern civilization, a lifeline in this stinking hell.

She didn't hesitate. She draped the towel over the rock, dipped the soap into the water, and lathered up a thick foam. The white foam looked particularly beautiful on her dirty skin.

She scrubbed vigorously, the rough soap grinding away layer after layer of dirt. Black water slipped from her body, swirling downstream.

"When you get the advanced whitening cream," Kael chattered in her mind, " Swipe it on, and that waxy skin will--"

"Shut up, Kael." Alivia said sharply, rinsing the soap from her arm.

She picked up the toothbrush. There was no toothpaste, but even brushing with water and crushed mint leaves made her mouth no longer like a sewer. It took half an hour, using nearly half a bar of soap, but finally, the first layer of grime was washed off.

She was still fat. The rash was still there. But the skin had returned to its natural color, and the smell was replaced by the clean scent of lavender.

Alivia wiped her body dry with a towel, the soft cotton clinging to her skin-a luxury. She felt light, human again. She wrapped the damp, barely clean animal hide back around herself and turned to leave the water's edge.

Then, the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. A change in the air. Someone was behind her.

Alivia didn't think. She snatched the wet towel from the rock, spun around, and lashed out with it. The wet fabric cracked through the air like a whip.

It stopped an inch from the intruder's face, caught in a pale, ice-cold hand.

Alivia's gaze traveled up the arm to a face that could have been carved from marble. Davion Sloan. Her second designated mate. The ice snake.

His vertical pupils, cold and devoid of emotion, scanned her from her wet hair down to her wrapped body. The disgust in his eyes was palpable, a physical chill that made the water seem warm.

Then, his nostrils flared. The lavender scent. His brow furrowed, the disgust morphing into something darker, more suspicious.

He flung the towel away like it was contaminated. "What trick are you playing now?" he demanded, his voice like cracking ice.

Alivia caught the towel, her heart hammering against her ribs, but her face remained a mask of stone. She didn't step back.

Davion stepped closer, his tall frame casting a shadow over her. "You failed to drug Kane, so you ran to the river to try and seduce me?" He looked pointedly at the fading rash on her face. "You think washing yourself and rubbing this... pungent stench on yourself... will make me touch you?"

Alivia felt a surge of fury so hot it burned away the fear. The arrogance. The sheer narcissism. She let out a cold, mocking laugh.

"Wow," she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Your imagination is richer than your bloodline. Not everything is about you, snake boy."

Davion froze. The vertical pupils dilated slightly in shock. The old Alivia would have been groveling, crying, begging for his attention. She had never talked back.

Alivia slung the towel over her shoulder and crossed her thick arms over her chest. She looked at him with the kind of disgust usually reserved for a cockroach in a soup bowl. "I took a bath because I like being clean. As for you? Don't flatter yourself. You're not my type."

She deliberately stepped around him, putting distance between them. "And by the way, your cologne smells like wet dog."

Davion's eyes narrowed dangerously. He stared at her, his cold facade cracking just a fraction. The obsessive, desperate glint in her eyes was gone, replaced by a flat, icy indifference. It unsettled him.

"Best keep it that way," he said, his voice low and threatening. "If you come within ten feet of my cave, I'll break your legs."

He turned and walked away, his long strides carrying him into the brush quickly, as if he couldn't stand to breathe the same air as her for another second.

Alivia let out a shaky breath, her legs turning to jelly. She leaned against the rock, her bravado fading. That was close.

"Warning," Kai chimed in. "Davion's affection is at -90. Your attitude is detrimental to the mission."

"Shut up," Alivia retorted mentally. "Groveling to a narcissist only feeds his ego. Playing hard to get is the only way to survive him."

Her stomach growled, a loud, demanding rumble. The hunger was back with a vengeance. She looked at the stream. Fish. She saw fish darting in the shallows.

Closing her eyes, she reached for her meager Level 1 ability. She targeted a long, tough vine growing on the bank, feeding a trickle of energy into it. The vine twitched, then slithered into the water like a snake. It wrapped around a fat fish and yanked it onto the bank.

The effort cost her. Dizziness swam in her head, but she had food. She cleaned the fish with a sharp stone, started a small fire using friction and some dry moss, and soon, the smell of roasting fish filled the air.

She ate ravenously, the hot protein filling the hollow in her stomach. She had just swallowed the last bite and was about to kick dirt over the embers when a loud crack echoed from the canopy above.