They all stared at the baby hopper.

"How the hell are we gonna make it cry?" Min asked.

"Hi~ can you call out your parents?" Madison tried, waving gently.

The baby tilted its head.

The five formed a circle around it.

"…It's not working," Segun muttered.

"Hm…" Ahrie rubbed his chin, thinking.

"What should we do?" Ethan asked.

"Why don't we just spank it?" Min said.

Madison's eyes narrowed at him.

Min crouched, staring at the baby menacingly. Then—he pinched its legs.

The baby hopper shrieked.

"Hey!" Madison yanked Min's hand away. "What are you doing?"

Moments later, dozens of hopper heads rose from the tall grass.

Madison, Segun, and Ethan's hearts dropped.

Ahrie just grinned.

All hoppers turned to glare at Min.

Min met their stares, dead serious.

"What? Do you wanna be pinched too?"

He held up his hand, fingers poised in a pinch.

Across the grass, the hoppers bared their teeth, ready to charge.

Out of panic, Segun activated his skill—

[Lost in the Sauce]

A pale fog erupted, spreading thirty meters in every direction.

In seconds, the field was swallowed in thick mist.

"Damn…" Min hissed.

Ahrie spun, his grip tightening on his weapon.

"I can't see a fucking thing…" he muttered.

A shape lunged at him from the haze.

"Woa—!" Ahrie barely dodged.

Then everything broke loose.

Silhouettes clashed in the fog—indistinguishable, all the same. Steel rang. Screams and grunts ricocheted through the mist.

No way to tell who was who.

Figures rose, fell, staggered, and lay scattered like ghosts.

Madison pushed forward, blades flashing against shadow after shadow, desperate to cut her way to the edge.

Ethan burst out first, coughing blood, his body carved with cuts and bruises.

Segun lay flat somewhere inside, Not wounded—just playing dead.

Min slipped between attacks like a ghost, dodging everyone.

Ahrie just attacked. Anything that moved. Anything that didn't. Even the silhouettes lying still on the ground.

"Mweheheh…"

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Five minutes later, the mist thinned

Madison collapsed to her knees, panting, blood running down her arm. She was torn up badly.

Min—untouched, grinning like a lunatic—stood surrounded by collapsed hoppers. He laughed.

"Stupid shits," he muttered.

Ethan staggered outside the fog, eyes widening as he finally saw the mess.

And Ahrie?

He was stomping on something.

Ahrie glanced down mid-stomp. "Oh shit, you're alive? Yooo, bud!" He lifted his boot off Segun. "You good?"

Segun coughed blood.

"Oh nooo… hang on, I gotchu."

Ahrie's hand glowed.

[P.A.I.N.]

He drove his fist straight into Segun's chest. The poor guy rolled across the dirt, coughing blood.

Ethan's eyes nearly popped out of his skull.

Min's too.

"The hell kinda skill is that?" Min asked, stepping closer.

"A healing skill." Ahrie grinned, giving a thumbs-up.

"Eh? For real? That's fun as hell." Min's eyes lit up like a kid.

"Oh, right—Madison." Min added.

The two rushed over. Madison lifted her head weakly, too hurt to resist. Ahrie's fist lit up again.

WHAM.

Straight to her stomach.

She folded like a rag doll, gasping out, before passing out cold.

Ethan's sweat poured. He stumbled back. "W-wait, wait—I'll just drink a potion—"

Too late. Min grabbed his shoulders.

"I GOT HIM!"

Ahrie was already mid-swing. His glowing fist cracked Ethan so hard he flipped through the air and cratered into the dirt.

Silence. Three bodies down.

"All patients healed." Ahrie dusted his hands.

He and Min locked eyes… and both gave a slow thumbs-up.

They dragged the unconscious group into a corner.

Only the two of them were left standing, surrounded by a battlefield of hoppers, dead and scattered.

"What do we do with all this shit?" Min asked, scratching his chin.

"Eat it, of course." Ahrie smirked.

He crouched down, building a fire.

Min dragged a dead hopper over, dropping it with a thud.

Dinner was about to get weird.

Ahrie and Min carved chunks of hopper meat, skewered them, and held them over the flames.

Together, they bit down.

"Eighhh—why's it so damn tough?!" Min groaned.

Ahrie's jaw cramped from trying. He froze, then snapped his fingers.

"Wait. I got it… We gotta beat the shit outta the hopper first—before cooking it."

Min's eyes lit up. "Genius."

They tossed the ruined meat aside and dragged over an unconscious hopper.

And then they just… started pounding it. Fists, kicks, stomps—like a street gang mugging a defenseless bastard

Segun, Ethan, and Madison stirred awake, groggy. Their eyes fluttered open—

—and froze.

Horror crawled over their faces.

The two lunatics were happily beating three unconscious hoppers to death.

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Ethan's face went pale.

Segun gagged.

Madison looked like she was about to cry.

Ahrie and Min grinned, dragging two carcasses into the cart while leaving one by the firepit.

Ahrie roasted the meat.

Min carved sticks and skewered the pieces into makeshift hopper-kebabs.

The smell hit the camp.

Even the horrified three couldn't resist anymore.

Ethan and Segun gathered big smooth leaves for plates.

Madison, wounded but smiling faintly, cheered them on.

Soon the whole group sat around the fire, gnawing on grilled hopper meat.

When they were done, stomachs full, they packed up the cart and headed back to Glimmerfen.

They dragged two beaten-to-hell hoppers into the tavern's backroom and dropped them with a thud.

The owner squinted at the mangled corpses.

"…Tch. All banged up. I'll give you 100 bronze. For both."

"Both?" Madison blinked.

Ahrie slammed the table. "Are you fucking kidding me?!"

"They're damaged goods!" the owner barked back. "What do you expect me to do—raise the damn price?"

"Precisely," Segun muttered calmly.

"Are you out of your mind?!" the owner snapped—before Min cut him off.

"Hop… hop… this shit… different," Min muttered.

"YES, different 'cause they're beaten to hell!" the owner shot back.

Ethan leaned in. "The meat's super tender, though."

The owner froze, side-eyeing him."…Tender?"

"Try it, you stupid fuck," Ahrie grinned.

"Bastards…" the owner cursed, but he sliced a piece, tossed it on the pan, fried it quick, then tasted.

He froze. His eyes widened. Tender. Juicy. Goddamn delicious.

Ahrie cleared his throat, smug. "Ehem, ehem…"

The owner glared. "Fine. 150 per hoppe—"

"300," Min cut in instantly.

"Ha…? Hell no!" the owner barked.

"Alright then." Ahrie snatched up the hoppers. "Quest failed. Let's haul 'em somewhere else."

"W-wait!" The owner panicked,sweat dripping. "Fine, 300! Per piece!"

The group erupted in cheers.

Moments later, 600 bronze coins clinked into their hands.

"Holy shit… that's a haul."

They split the earnings evenly.

120 coins each.

Ahrie weighed his pouch in his palm, grinning.

"Same time tomorrow?" Min asked hopefully.

Segun, Madison, and Ethan shared an awkward smile—then slowly backed away.

And bolted.

"…Huh." Min pulled out a little notebook, scribbling with a trembling hand. 25th rejection.

His eyes dimmed with sadness.

Then—clap. Ahrie's hand landed on his shoulder.

"Same time, Min."

Min's eyes lit up, tears spilling instantly.

"Eughh—" he sobbed, clutching Ahrie tight.

"Oi—get your snot off my shirt, man!" Ahrie growled, squirming.

Min just rubbed his face harder against him, shaking his head side to side like a dog.

"STOP IT YOU MOTHERFUC—!!"

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