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.

Alivia acted instinctively. Threw away the fish bones, rolled to the side, back pressed against a thick birch tree trunk, eyes fixed on the canopy.

With a series of snapping branches and scattered leaves, something fell down from between the foliage. It landed heavily on the riverbank, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Alivia blinked. It wasn't an animal. It was a woman. A woman in a white lace dress.

She lay motionless, her delicate face pale, her skin incredibly smooth, standing out starkly against the dirt and sweat of the forest. There was only a small wound on her forehead.

Alivia's mind raced. A modern dress. Perfect skin. In this wild world? It could only mean one thing.

Ding! Kai's voice screamed in her mind. "Alert! High-dimensional energy invasion! 'The Chosen One' Haley Clayton has arrived!"

Information flooded Alivia's mind. Haley had the "Mary Sue halo" system. According to the original plot, she should be discovered by Cain, brought back to the tribe, and revered as a goddess. While the original Alivia would be used as a foil to perfect Haley, gradually leading to her death.

Alivia stared at the unconscious woman. She felt no sympathy. Only cold, ruthless calculation. In a world of scarce resources, Hailey's halo was a death warrant to her. Letting her live was like planting a bomb in her own backyard.

She walked up to Hailey. Killing her directly would leave a scent trail, and the werewolves would track them down. She had to be smarter.

Alivia grabbed the back of Hailey's white dress, her fingers avoiding the woman's skin to leave no trace of her own scent or hair. She began dragging.

This was torture. Hailey was heavy, and Alivia's body was already at its limit. She dragged the woman away from the creek, away from the tribe, towards the "Shadow Forest"-a place even warriors avoided due to the poisonous insects and low-level beasts that roamed there.

Thorns tore at Hailey's skirt and skin, but Alivia didn't slow down. After walking a kilometer, her legs were trembling, her vision blurred by sweat. She threw Hailey behind a thicket of brambles, where the scent of decaying leaves and animal musk would mask her tracks.

As she turned to leave, something was shining in Hailey's hair. A diamond hair clip. Modern craftsmanship. Valuable.

Alivia unhesitatingly pulled out the hairpin and stuck it into her own leather belt. In this world, resources were everything.

"Good luck, princess," she whispered coldly, "your halo won't save you here."

"Host, altering the storyline may cause unpredictable butterfly effects-" Kai began.

"I am the butterfly," Alivia interrupted him, "I'm threatening to crush it before it hatches."

She walked back, carefully breaking branches and sweeping away the drag marks with leaves, creating the illusion of a beast dragging its prey. Back by the stream, she thoroughly washed her hands.

The sun was setting. The forest at night was a death trap. She had to get back.

She sneaked back into the village, moving through the shadows. But the moment she stepped onto the edge of the central plaza, she knew trouble was coming. Dozens of hostile eyes turned toward her.