Chapter 16: Mutual Animosity.

The rays of the sun woke Daniel, hitting his eyes. He slowly opened them and saw above him the clear and beautiful sky.

'How nice it is to see again.' the effect of the deceitful potion had finally passed. His eyes could see everything perfectly again. And this was a huge plus because when he crouched on the ground, he saw Seraphina naked in front of him.

The girl, seemingly, had just risen too; with a cold face and sharp gaze, she was frying a piece of meat, holding it over the fire. Thanks to the morning's arrival and his restored vision, Daniel, although briefly, could take in her figure.

Her legs looked strong and graceful, her skin snow-white, and her physique athletic. The breasts, although small, were beautifully shaped, resembling the tender buds of roses, but her buttocks stood out most among her body.

These curves had already caught Daniel's attention in college, where they held second place in his personal ranking. Now, freed from strict black pants and even underwear, they appeared before him in all their glory. Without hesitation, he could liken them to an ancient sculpture — so perfect, without a single flaw, taut, firm, and strong. Daniel could hardly imagine how much effort the girl must have put into having such a figure. She definitely did many squats a day. But what particularly attracted him was the size. Her buttocks were not excessively large, and this definitely appealed to Daniel. He always liked buttocks of average size or slightly above average, and this girl embodied his ideal.

However, when Seraphina noticed him staring, Daniel immediately looked away and dropped his head.

'That was inappropriate... But in my defense, it's the first time I've seen a naked girl in front of me.' thought Daniel.

He expected Seraphina to reproach him or say something, but she remained silent, staring at Daniel with a tense, piercing gaze. Daniel was not good at interacting with people. This was his weakness. That's why he had no friends or even acquaintances. Maybe he had some in childhood, but that was long ago. Since the age of 15, Daniel had withdrawn into himself and stopped communicating with everyone around him, even his family. So now he did not understand what to say here.

'And what does she want? Does she want me to apologize for this? I won't apologize. She looks at me as if I forced her to undress and be here. This is a normal reaction for a guy! I'm not Arthur to be embarrassed by this and start behaving nobly and all that... Besides, I spent my damn bandage on you! And you look at me like that!'

Daniel raised his head and met her piercing gaze with his cold and impassive face.

"Do you need something from me? I detect notes of aggression in your gaze."

"How many percent?" she asked in an icy tone.

"How many percent of what?" Daniel replied calmly.

"Don't pretend. You know perfectly well what I mean."

"I might know, or I might not. It's hard to say. I'm more interested in whether this is how you thank people for saving you?"

The girl frowned.

"Thanks to your help, my chances of dying have definitely decreased. However, don't think that this will lessen my suspicions that you are a traitor."

"Wow, you're so pleasant. You know, a simple thank you would have been enough," Daniel said calmly.

"I do not wish to thank someone who, in theory, could have put me in this place."

"Cute," Daniel said indifferently, making Seraphina frown.

They exchanged only a few words, but mutual animosity was already noticeably emerging between them.

Seraphina was particularly troubled by her interlocutor's inscrutable facial expression. This girl, possessing a special sensitivity to others' emotions, always acutely sensed changes in people's moods. There were only two people in the world she couldn't read, and now a third appeared. This slightly unnerved her, as misunderstanding and the inability to predict others' behavior truly irritated her the most.

"My wounds have healed. I assume you were the cause of this. How did you do it?" the girl asked sternly.

"Who knows?" Daniel replied in a mysterious tone. Though he couldn't answer people's questions because of his condition, even if he could, he still wouldn't answer her. Her tone and authoritarian behavior irritated Daniel a lot. He didn't want to respond to her questions at all, although he couldn't. Seraphina crossed her arms and frowned.

"What does that mean?" she glared at the young man, irritated.

"Who knows," Daniel answered with a calm and cool face, this time looking down from Seraphina. "Status."

Name: Daniel Gray.

Age: 19.

Level: 2.

Experience: [130/150.]

Points: 4

Class: Undefined.

Health: 62.

Energy: 100.

Strength: 9.

Build: 9.

Agility: 11 (+10%)

Reflex: 12.

Mastery: 16.

Intelligence: 10.

Accuracy: 10.

Luck: 12.

Wisdom: 11.

Willpower: 10.

Skills: Active: ___

Passive: [Cheater.]

Main Inventory [5/5]: [Canteen.], [Short stone sword.] , [Raw Mountain Monkey Meat x2.], [Revelation Map.], [Stone x2.]

Homemade bag [0/7]:

[Empty.], [Empty.], [Empty.], [Empty.], [Empty.], [Empty.], [Empty.]

Condition: [Mask.]

Fetish: [CBT.]

Sense of Hunger: 78%

Sense of Thirst: 60%

Sense of Desire: 75%

Sense of Cold: 4%

Sense of Heat: 12%

Bleeding: 7%.

`The feeling of desire is indeed approaching a dangerous boundary. I am gradually beginning to feel a slight headache.`

"How many percent?" Seraphina looked at him now, not even irritably, but hostilely.

"Raw Mountain Monkey Meat," Daniel said calmly, and a piece of meat materialized in his hand. He brought it to the fire. The girl sighed.

"You can ignore me, but it's obvious that we both have the same problem. Even if you're a traitor, like everyone else, you need to survive. Although perhaps a traitor has some privileges that the players don't know about..." Daniel continued to ignore the girl, finishing roasting a piece of meat and biting into it. Serafina had long finished eating hers and tossed it by the fire.

The taste of Mountain Monkey meat was even blander and tougher than Mountain Macaque meat, but Daniel couldn't afford to be picky on this island. Serafina stared at him with a hostile gaze, but her face was unflappable and determined as she continued to speak.

"My words may have seemed harsh to you, but that's how I am, and you'll have to accept it if you want to survive. We need to cooperate temporarily, at least until we meet other people. But until that time, communication between us must be established. Do you understand? Surviving on this island alone will be a nearly impossible task; even I almost died yesterday. Not to mention you. Maybe you managed to kill one of them, but the remaining three Mountain Monkeys will definitely come back for revenge. That's how they tracked me when I killed one of their kin.

Daniel quickly finished the piece of meat and threw the bone aside, it hit and pushed Serafina's bone slightly further away.

"Raw Mountain Monkey Meat," said Daniel in a cold tone. Another piece of meat materialized in his hand. The girl's brow twitched slightly.

Seeing that Daniel had killed at least as many monsters as she had wounded her pride quite significantly.

"How many of them did you kill? How did you do it? What level are you?" Serafina couldn't hold back her questions. Judging by her facial expression, she had seriously underestimated Daniel.

"Who knows," Daniel bit into the meat and started to chew it calmly, his face expressionless. Although he looked calm, deep inside, he was smiling smugly.

He ate calmly and rhythmically, further perplexing Serafina. She frowned and lowered her head.

`I've never met anyone like this before. It's impossible. His movements, his breathing, facial expressions, tone – all impenetrable. No inconsistencies or mistakes. Could this be related to his condition? I think I saw him a few times before, and he wasn't like this. Although in any case, it's too early to draw conclusions. I need to observe him.`

Daniel threw the last bone to the ground and abruptly pulled out a canteen. The girl looked at him in amazement.

"Where did you get that?"

Daniel took a couple of small sips and put the canteen back in his inventory.

"Who knows," Daniel propped himself up on his hands and lifted his head, directing his gaze to the sky."

"Nearby, there's a body of water. Your flask could be very useful to us. Getting to this water is quite challenging, so of course you won't get any information about it unless you agree to hand over the flask to me."

"Very interesting offer, Wayne. But I think I'll decline. What's the benefit for me in handing over the flask to find out where this water is? Even if you know its location, there's a high chance of some trouble waiting for me there. Moreover, in the long run, this flask is more useful than any body of water you could find. We won't be here forever, so the benefit from this water is only relevant now. Later, you'll be walking with the flask, drinking from it, and I'll be dying of thirst trying to find another body of water."

"So you can say more than a couple of words after all. I didn't say you had to give this flask away forever. I will have it temporarily until we meet other people. Then I'll return it. Of course, we will split the water 50-50."

"I'll refrain," Daniel calmly said, making Serafina frown deeply. "The most I can offer you is that I keep the flask and share its contents, but not 50-50, 75-25. That's how I value the information about the water you can provide me."

Serafina's hostile gaze returned, though her face remained cold and calm. Her eyes could not hide her displeasure.

"Fine, I'll add 5%, but that's the limit. Don't hope for more."

`It's my canteen. I found it! I suffered for it, so hell no, I'm giving it to someone!` Daniel thought angrily. Serafina sighed.

"Okay, so 70-30. Anyway, it's 10% more than I expected."

`Huh?What?` Daniel was surprised to himself and looked coldly at Serafina, her face becoming calm and cold again.

`Did she just play me? I knew I should have said 20, but I thought it would be too much, damn! My soft-heartedness... Over the past four years, I have indeed become too pliable. I won't give in to her anymore! Next time I'll offer her 10%, no even 5!`

"Anyway, my desire level has reached 61%. If possible, I would prefer not to do this. However, we have no choice. If we don't, there will be unpleasant consequences. So let's just get it over with quickly."

The girl frowned and lay down on the ground, spreading her legs a little wider. She sighed heavily and turned her head away. The naked girl in front of Daniel was inviting him to reduce the feeling of desire.