Holden's room was cramped with six people in it.
He sat on the edge of his broken bed, shirtless, his bare chest drawing stares from everyone except Maeve, who was too busy running her fingers over the spot where the cursed knife had entered.
There was no mark there or even a faint discoloration. Just smooth skin.
She pulled her hand away and wiped her watery eyes.
Holden pulled up his System screen and stared at his kill points.
[Current Balance: 124,290 KP]
Eighty thousand Kill points. Gone. Just like that.
He'd spent weeks grinding in the arenas, farming dungeons, killing beasts, and one shadow with a cursed dagger had eaten nearly half his savings.
He closed the system screen before anyone could notice the distant look in his eyes.
"I wasn't fast enough," he said. His voice was flat and analytical. "Peak Rank 3, 9-Star. The power gap was too wide. I could see every move coming, but my body couldn't keep up. That's never happening again."
