Chapter 4: Choosing wrongly.. Again!

The figure that stood before her was small. Its coat, while the same earthy hue as the adult Mud Wolves, wasn’t matted with rough clay and dirt. It was smooth, almost soft-looking, catching the low light with a subtle radiance. Its tail, far from held high in aggression, wagged in a slow, uncertain, yet hopeful rhythm. A purple tongue lolled from its mouth as it panted lightly.

The most striking feature was its eyes. They glowed the same dull yellow as its kin, but the savage, calculating gleam was absent. In its place was a wide, open curiosity, tinged with a puppy’s inherent confusion.

It was a Mud Wolf pup.

The last thing Jessica ever expected to be stalked by in a death-cave.

‘What in the flaming hell!!’ Her internal scream held no terror. It was pure, undiluted bewilderment, quickly melting into another, entirely different emotion as she took in the big eyes, the wagging tail, the clumsy, oversized paws.

‘Why is it so cuuteeee!!’ The shriek was one of utter, helpless adoration. She stared, her flaming locust form seeming to burn a little brighter, a little softer.

The system, for once, did not insult her. It simply observed, its text clinical yet oddly aligned with her own thoughts.

<< Unlike the adult specimens, whose fur are matted with rough clay and dirt, this pup displays a smoother texture and reflects ambient luminescence more efficiently, creating a visual profile commonly associated with non-threatening aesthetics. >>

‘Right on point,’ Jessica admitted, her mental voice dreamy. The pup, encouraged by her lack of movement, lowered its front half in a classic play-bow, its rear wiggling, a soft, playful whine escaping its throat. It wanted to play with the strange, fiery, buzzing thing.

The gesture was so innocent it physically hurt her non-existent heart.

‘Hey! No touching!!’

Instinct, the old human one, not the new Spark Instinct, screamed a warning. Her current body was a ceramic vase balanced on a high shelf; one clumsy paw-swipe from an excited puppy, no matter how gentle its intent, would shatter it into flaming chitin.

Before the pup could bounce closer, Jessica’s locust legs coiled and she
leaped!; a frantic arc of fire that landed her on a tall, solitary rock jutting from the cavern floor. It was a pedestal just out of the puppy’s reach.

The pup gave a joyful yip and tried to follow, scrambling at the base of the rock. It jumped, its small claws scraping against stone, falling back with a comical whump. It tried again, and again, each attempt more determined, each failure more pathetic. Finally, it sat back on its haunches, panting, a soft, defeated whimper escaping it. It looked up at her with those big, luminous eyes, its head tilted in pure, unadulterated sadness.

Jessica, standing on her rock, looked down. A profound, imaginary ache spread through her core.

‘Sigh… Being a weak, fragile, highly combustible prey item is not easy,’ She mumbled, the cuteness warring violently with the primal need for self-preservation. One playful chomp by mistake, and it was game over.

To distract herself, she focused on the pup. As she did, the familiar blue screen superimposed itself over the small, forlorn creature.

[STATUS]
+

Level: 2 [Infant Rank]

Specie: Mud Wolf

Magic Cores: [1/1]

Innate Abilities: [Primal Instinct]

Abilities: Unique Skill [Mud Camouflage]

+

Beneath the status, another, more tempting window appeared.

<< SKILL – POSSESS ACTIVE >>

<< 1 COMPATIBILITY FOUND >>

<< DO YOU WANT TO POSSESS? >>

<< YES / NO >>

The options glowed, a simple binary choice hovering over the puppy’s head. Jessica stared at the [YES] button. A Mud Wolf body. Legs to run. Jaws to bite. Fur to… feel? It was a massive upgrade. The pup was her level. The system gave her permission.

She stared for a long, silent moment. The pup stared back, whimpering softly.

Then, internally, she shook her head. Her will touched the [NO] option, and the screen vanished.

‘That… wouldn’t be beneficial for me.’ The thought was a deep, weary sigh.

She could feel the system’s curiosity, its impending judgmental insults. She cut it off before it could speak.

‘And don’t think it’s because I’m a pup-lover or because it’s too cute. It’s not because of that.’ She lifted her gaze from the puppy, looking down the dark tunnel. Then her gaze drifted back to the lonely creature sitting, waiting for her. ‘It just… offers no strategic advantage. A pup is weak. Vulnerable. It would attract attention from the adults or any other creatures. It’s a liability.’ Her internal voice took on a grim, resolute tone, the kind she imagined a hardened survivor from the novels she’d read, someone with a cold, ruthless heart forged by years of merciless hardship.. ‘And if it did offer a benefit… no matter how cute or innocent, I wouldn’t hesitate to use it. The world isn’t righteous or kind. I can testify to that.’

She let the statement hang, feeling a strange, cold solemnity settle over her. It was a mature thought. A ruthless one. The thought of someone who understood the rules of this new, brutal game.

The system’s reply came out calm, but the words inscribed shattered the solemn mood like a rock through stained glass.

<< Sigh… I see. Not only do you demonstrably lack a brain, but you also appear to be lacking a heart. >>

‘Oof!’ The imaginary, grim survivor persona evaporated. A very real, very sharp pang of emotional hurt lanced through her. It was one thing to be called stupid. It was another to be called heartless by the universe’s snarkiest clipboard.

‘That hurts, you bastard!!’ Righteous fury, hot and bright, flooded back in. She geared up for a monumental counter-argument, a diatribe about necessary pragmatism, about survival versus sentimentality. The words piled up behind her mental teeth, ready to be fired.

But in the end, she didn’t say any of them.

The fury cooled, fizzled, and drained away as quickly as it had come. A heavy, quiet silence filled the space between her and the system. A few moments passed, marked only by the pup’s quiet whines and the ever-present drip of water.

Slowly, Jessica looked back down at the Mud Wolf pup. It hadn’t moved. It just sat there, watching her, its yellow eyes holding a hope that refused to be completely extinguished. She stared, her flaming form flickering gently, saying nothing at all.

‘Hey, system,’ Jessica finally said, her internal voice quieter than usual, stripped of its usual defiant energy. ‘You know I’m right… right?’

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The system didn’t answer immediately. The pause was unusual, not a dismissive silence, but a considering one. When the text finally appeared, it was measured, devoid of its typical snark.

<< While my operational duration has been limited, an analysis of accessible world-data supports your conclusion. The parameters of survival in this world doesn’t give way for those with a kind or emotionally vulnerable heart, who can’t make a rational decision for their own survival.. >>

It was an agreement. A cold, logical validation of her cold, logical decision.

Another calm, hollow silence settled between them.

‘Heh…’ Jessica’s mental laugh was dry, a brittle sound in the quiet of her mind. ‘It’s as it seems, then.’

<< …what do you mean? >>

‘Nothing much,’ She thought, her gaze still fixed on the lonely pup. ‘It just seems the rule here isn’t any different from the world I left behind.’ The memory of her old life, of office politics and quiet disappointments, felt very close in that moment. ‘In that world, life wasn’t a kind thing either. If you’re pushed far enough, anyone will do anything for a benefit. A kind heart is a luxury. And luxuries get used up. People will drain every last drop of your kindness, and when you’re empty, they toss you aside like garbage. They ignore what you feel. They just see a fool.’

Awoool!…

The mud wolf pup let out a small, plaintive howl, staring up at her, its entire body a question. ‘Why won’t you come play?’ Unaware of the heavy thoughts swirling above it.

‘You know…’ Jessica’s focus turned inward, to the memory that was always there, just beneath the panic and the snark. ‘I actually died in my previous life because of a kind heart. Or… because I saw one.’

She pictured the busy street, the blur of the truck, Mark’s face shifting from recognition to horror as his body tensed to leap.

‘A friend of mine was about to rush into the street. To save a little girl from a truck. And at that moment, I stopped him. I had this thought… what if he got hit instead? What would happen to everyone who cared about him? His parents, his siblings, his fiancée… his friends. His whole, good life. Why would he risk all of that? For one stranger? It seemed… foolish.’

She paused, the memory crystal clear and yet distant, like watching a scene from someone else’s life.

<< …Did the little girl end up dying? >>

The system’s tone was oddly calm, purely inquisitive.

‘Kukuku…’ A small, humorless mental chuckle escaped her. ‘Well, no. Another fool took his place. And that fool… ended up here.’ She laughed again, the sound echoing bitterly in the confines of her own consciousness. It was the ultimate punchline to her own tragic joke.