Brandi Ratcliff pushed aside the thorny branches, the sharp needles tearing at the sleeves of her linen shirt.

Laying in the mud, half-submerged in a puddle of dirty water, was a young man. His black hair was plastered to his forehead, and his clothes were soaked in blood.

She tightened her grip on the rusty dagger and crept closer. Her boots made no sound against the wet earth.

A deep, jagged gash tore across the boy's chest, exposing the white gleam of bone. Thick, black mist seeped from the edges of the wound, eating away at his flesh. His eyes were squeezed shut, his jaw clenched in absolute agony. His pale fingers were locked in a death grip around a shattered defensive rune stone.

Brandi crouched beside him. She used the tip of her dagger to flick open the ruined collar of his shirt.

She saw his face clearly for the first time.

Her breath hitched. Her pulse slammed against her throat.

It was a face she had seen on a thousand wanted posters in her past life. The sharp cheekbones, the straight nose, the devastatingly handsome features that would one day belong to the man who slaughtered half the continent.

Cason Strong. The ultimate villain.

Right now, he was just a broken, bleeding teenager. His breathing was shallow, his chest barely rising. He was minutes away from dying of blood loss and mana deviation.

Brandi's grip on the dagger tightened. Her knuckles turned white. If she slit his throat right now, she would save millions of lives.

She raised the rusty blade, aiming the tip straight at his carotid artery.

Looking down at Cason's dying form, the suffocating memory of her past life washed over her-the agonizing helplessness of having her own magic circuits drained dry, of being nothing but a disposable tool for others' gain. A bitter, icy resolve hardened in her chest. No. In this life, she absolutely refused to be the sacrificial lamb on someone else's altar. She was going to be the one holding the capital, the player controlling the board.

Just as her muscles tensed to strike, a cold, mechanical voice echoed directly inside her skull.

[Target with Supreme Destiny detected. Karma Investment Engine activated.]

Brandi froze. The dagger hovered an inch above Cason's neck.

A translucent blue panel materialized in the air in front of her. It hovered over Cason's bleeding body, displaying a list of his critical, failing vitals.

[System Prompt: Invest karma in this Destiny Target to receive high-yield returns. Current available investment: Save his life.]

Brandi's mind raced. Killing him offered her nothing but a corpse. She was broke, her magic circuits were damaged, and she was alone in a deadly forest. She needed resources. Fast.

She lowered the dagger and let out a harsh breath.

She grabbed the hem of her only clean linen shirt and ripped a long strip of fabric free. She pressed the cloth hard against the gaping wound on his chest.

To stop the black mist from spreading, she forced her damaged core to push out a sliver of mana. A sharp pain stabbed behind her eyes, but she gritted her teeth and cast a basic purification spell.

A faint white glow spread from her palms, covering the wound. As her purification spell touched his shattered core, she felt a sudden, terrifying jolt of resistance-a stubborn, violent surge of dark energy that crackled against her magic like dormant black lightning. The black mist hissed and dissolved. Cason's facial muscles relaxed slightly as the burning agony subsided.

Brandi tied off the makeshift bandage. Her vision swam. She collapsed backward into the mud, her chest heaving as she gasped for air. Her body was completely drained.

The blue panel in front of her suddenly erupted in a blinding golden light.

[Investment Successful! Rated as 'Lifesaving Grace'.]

[Congratulations, Host. Reward: 100,000 High-Grade Mana Crystals, and one perfect-quality Foundational Healing Potion.]

Brandi stared at her empty hands. A heavy leather pouch materialized in her left hand, clinking with the sound of dense crystals. In her right hand, a small glass vial appeared, swirling with a glowing emerald liquid.

One hundred thousand high-grade crystals. That was more wealth than Silver Peak Academy saw in a decade. She had gone from a beggar to a billionaire in ten seconds.

She didn't waste time staring. She popped the cork off the vial with her thumb and downed the perfect-quality healing potion in one gulp.

A wave of intense, burning heat exploded in her stomach and rushed through her veins. She heard a faint popping sound inside her own body as her torn magic circuits forcefully reconnected and expanded.

The color rushed back into her pale cheeks. The lingering pain from severing the soul contract vanished entirely. Her mana reserves felt deeper and more volatile than ever before.

She curled her fingers into a fist, feeling the raw power humming under her skin. Her eyes burned with a feverish intensity. This system was the ultimate cheat code.

A low groan broke the silence.

Cason's fingers twitched in the mud.

Brandi instantly wiped the thrill from her face. She smoothed her expression into a mask of cold indifference and stood up, looking down at him.

Cason's dark eyes fluttered open. The moment he registered he was alive, pure, lethal hostility flooded his gaze. He looked like a cornered wolf, ready to bite through bone.

He tried to scramble backward, but the movement pulled at his chest wound. He hissed, his jaw clenching tight as cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

He looked down at his chest, seeing the crude linen bandage and feeling the absence of the dark magic. He looked up at Brandi, confusion warring with the violence in his eyes.

Brandi didn't offer a soft smile. She didn't ask if he was okay.

"If you're awake, get up and walk," Brandi said, her voice flat and devoid of any warmth. "Don't die next to me and attract the beasts."

She turned her back to him, her boots sinking slightly into the mud, and prepared to walk away.

Brandi Ratcliff took her first step away. Her boot snapped a dry twig, the sharp crack echoing loudly through the damp, silent trees.

Cason lay in the mud, his dark eyes locked onto her retreating back. His mind was a chaotic mess. The memories of his past life-the endless betrayals, the knives in his back from people who smiled at him-clashed violently with the reality of the crude linen bandage wrapped tightly around his chest.

He gritted his teeth and tried to force mana into his legs to stand. A blinding, tearing pain ripped through his damaged core. His muscles gave out, and he slammed back into the wet earth with a heavy thud.

Brandi heard the noise. She paused for a fraction of a second, her index finger tapping lightly against her thigh, but she didn't turn around. She kept walking.

She was about to disappear behind a thick cluster of thorny bushes.

The primal instinct to survive overpowered Cason's deep-seated paranoia. His throat was raw, his voice cracking as he forced the word out.

"Wait."

Brandi's lips curved into a tiny, victorious smile. She instantly wiped it away, replacing it with a look of deep annoyance as she turned her head to look over her shoulder.

She raised one eyebrow. "What? I stopped you from bleeding out. My charity ends there."

Cason swallowed hard, the humiliation burning in his chest. "Take me with you. Get me out of this forest. I will... I will repay you. Whatever you want."

Brandi rolled her eyes inwardly. A villain's empty promise meant nothing to her. She wanted the system's instant payouts.

She pretended to weigh her options, her eyes scanning his broken body. She walked back to him and stood over him, extending her pale, dirt-smudged hand.

"My name is Brandi Ratcliff," she said coldly. "I'll take you. But you are dead weight right now. You do exactly what I say."

Cason stared at her hand. He hesitated, his jaw ticking, before he finally reached up and gripped her fingers.

The moment their skin touched, the mechanical voice chimed in Brandi's head.

[Initial bond established. Daily investment task triggered: Share water.]

Brandi hauled him up. Cason's legs buckled, and he stumbled forward, his heavy frame crashing into her shoulder.

He instinctively tried to shove himself away from her, hating the vulnerability, but as he moved, he caught the scent of her hair-a faint mix of crushed herbs and fresh blood. The scent bypassed his defenses, forcing a strange, tiny knot of tension in his chest to loosen.

Brandi didn't complain about his weight. She grabbed his arm and threw it over her shoulders, wrapping her arm around his waist to support him. Together, they began the agonizingly slow trek through the dense forest.

After half a mile, Cason's breathing grew ragged. His skin was burning with fever, and his cracked lips were bleeding slightly.

Brandi stopped walking. She leaned him against the rough bark of a massive oak tree.

She reached into the deep pocket of her riding pants, secretly accessing her system inventory, and pulled out a leather flask filled with cold, clean water.

She popped the wooden cork and shoved the flask toward his face.

"Drink," she ordered, her tone harsh. "I'm not carrying a corpse."

Cason eyed the flask suspiciously. He took it with shaking hands and brought it to his lips. He drank greedily, the cool water soothing the raw burn in his throat.

The system panel flashed gold in Brandi's vision.

[Investment task 'Share water' complete. Reward: 50 Premium Mana Crystals.]

Brandi's heart did a happy leap, but her face remained a mask of stone. She snatched the flask back the moment he finished and shoved the cork back in.

Cason wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. He stared at her sharp profile. The contradiction was driving him crazy. Her words were venomous, but her actions were keeping him alive.

"Why are you doing this?" Cason asked, his voice low and laced with heavy suspicion. "You don't know me."

Brandi knew exactly how to handle a paranoid villain. If she claimed she was just a good person, he would never trust her.

She let out a harsh, cynical laugh. "Don't flatter yourself. This forest is crawling with beasts. If something jumps out of the bushes, I need a meat shield to throw at it while I run."

Cason blinked. Then, the tension in his shoulders completely vanished.

That was it. That was the brutal, selfish logic he understood. It made perfect sense in this twisted world. He actually felt a wave of relief wash over him. He found this cold, calculating woman far more tolerable than the hypocrites who preached righteousness before stabbing him in the back.

They rested for a few minutes before Brandi hauled him back up.

Just as the sun began to dip below the horizon, casting long, bloody shadows through the trees, the dense foliage finally broke.

They stepped out of the tree line onto a wide, packed-dirt road. In the distance, the warm, flickering lights of a sprawling town illuminated the dusk.

Clearwater City.

Brandi stared at the lights, her index finger tapping a slow rhythm against her thigh. That city was a goldmine, the perfect place to start pouring her new wealth into her favorite investment project.

The night air was biting cold by the time Brandi Ratcliff dragged Cason to the towering stone gates of Clearwater City.

Two heavily armored guards crossed their pikes, blocking the entrance. The guard on the right sneered, his eyes raking over Brandi's torn, blood-stained linen shirt and Cason's mud-caked, half-dead state.

"No beggars after dark," the guard spat, waving his hand as if shooing away stray dogs.

Cason's eyes went dead. His jaw clenched, and his hand twitched toward his waist, a reflexive urge to slaughter his way through.

Brandi slammed her hand down on his shoulder, pinning him in place.

Without a word, she reached into her pocket. She pulled out a single, glowing High-Grade Mana Crystal and flicked it through the air.

The guard scrambled to catch it, nearly dropping his pike. When he opened his palm and saw the pure, concentrated magic radiating from the gem, his sneer vanished, replaced by a sickeningly sweet smile.

"Apologies, my lady! Please, come right in!" The guards practically bowed as they pulled the gates open.

Cason stared at Brandi, utterly bewildered. How did a woman who had to tear her own clothes for bandages possess a crystal that could buy a small estate?

Brandi caught his stare. She gave him a freezing side-eye. "Found it in the dirt. Keep moving."

She didn't give him a chance to ask questions. She hauled him through the bustling streets, ignoring the cheap, rowdy taverns. She walked straight to the center of the city, stopping in front of a massive building constructed of white marble and polished brass: The Golden Griffin Inn.

The lobby was a blinding display of wealth. Crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling.

The innkeeper, a fat man in a velvet vest, saw the two bloody figures tracking mud onto his imported rugs. He opened his mouth to shout for security.

Brandi walked right up to the mahogany front desk. She pulled a heavy leather pouch from her pocket and slammed it down onto the wood. The heavy, unmistakable clinking of dense crystals echoed in the quiet lobby.

The innkeeper froze. He untied the strings and peeked inside. The blood drained from his face.

He instantly plastered on a professional, groveling smile. "Welcome to the Golden Griffin! How may I serve you?"

"Your best double suite," Brandi demanded, her voice cutting through the air. "Send up a tub of boiling water, your highest-grade wound salves, and two sets of clean clothes."

Cason stood behind her, his eyes fixed on the back of her head. The confusion in his mind was snowballing into a massive, tangled knot.

Minutes later, they were standing inside a ridiculously lavish suite. Silk curtains framed massive floor-to-ceiling windows.

Brandi dropped Cason onto a plush velvet sofa. She walked over to the window, staring down at the busy street below, her arms crossed.

A team of nervous staff hurried into the room, setting up a large wooden tub behind a painted silk screen. They filled it with steaming water, left a pile of folded silk clothes and medicinal jars on the table, and practically ran out of the room.

Brandi pointed at the screen. "Go scrub the blood off. You smell like a slaughterhouse."

Cason looked down at his ruined clothes. He felt a flush of embarrassment, but he forced himself to stand. He limped behind the screen.

The moment the sound of splashing water filled the room, the system chimed.

[Investment task 'Improve living conditions' complete. Reward: Top-Tier Meditation Room access (Can be deployed in spatial inventory).]

Brandi's eyes lit up. A meditation room was exactly what she needed to stabilize her magic. The return on this investment was insane.

Half an hour later, Cason stepped out from behind the screen.

He was wearing a set of black silk loungewear. With the mud and blood washed away, his true features were fully visible. His sharp jawline, the straight bridge of his nose, and his deep, dark eyes were striking. The damp black hair clinging to his forehead softened his usual lethal edge, giving him a fragile, devastatingly handsome look.

Brandi turned her head. Her breath hitched slightly in her throat, a purely physical reaction to his looks. She immediately forced her face back into a mask of boredom.

She picked up a jar of expensive salve from the table and tossed it at his chest. He caught it instinctively.

"Fix your wounds," she ordered.

Cason sat on the edge of the massive bed. He unscrewed the lid and began rubbing the salve into the angry red skin around his chest wound. His movements were practiced, numb to the pain.

"Thank you," he said. His voice was low, barely a whisper, but it carried across the quiet room.

Brandi waved her hand dismissively. "I just need you able to walk tomorrow so you don't slow me down."

Cason didn't argue. He was starting to understand her language.

Brandi grabbed her own set of clothes and went behind the screen to wash. When she emerged, she was wearing a simple, elegant white dress. The grime was gone, revealing the cold, untouchable aura of a high-level mage.

They sat in the sitting area, a strange, heavy silence settling between them. The only sound was the crackle of the fireplace.

Suddenly, Brandi's stomach let out a loud, aggressive growl.

She didn't blush. She stood up, smoothing the front of her dress. "I'm starving. We're going to eat."