The yellowjacket retreated, buzzing furiously. Blood spilled down his stomach, hot and bright. He grabbed his stomach and staggered, propping himself up with the rake. Betrayed, he stared up at Jude. “Why…”

Level Ten. Manifest unlo Level Eleven. Please choose a Level Twelve. Please choose a skill.

Cold, Jude’s eyes pierced through him. “I’m a Bug Hunter. Someone hired by the System to catch idiots like you who try to sneak past the System’s punishment. Now that I know how your bug works, it’s just a matter of putting in the bug report. With a bug this major, I’m almost certain to get promoted to the highest rank of Bug Hunter. And then…” His grin widened. Almost reverential, he whispered, “Enforcer. A proper combat class, after all these years.”

“You… a Bug Hunter?” Blood welled up at the back of his throat and soaked his shirt, hot like fresh-spilled coffee. His HP plummeted, closing in on zero. Red, the bar loomed grimly in the corner of his vision. He coughed and spat up blood. Even if all nine points go into HP, it won’t save me this time.

“But first… I have to get rid of you. No point giving a bug report if I don’t take care of the bug before my eyes,” Jude continued as if he hadn’t heard Rowan, chuckling darkly.

“Why… why’d you save me? Back in the exclusion zone, you…” Rowan managed.

“The exclusion zone. Right. They warped me there as soon as the System detected the bug. Usually I have to look for my targets, but you stumbled right into my hands! No, no, I couldn’t kill you right away. I had to figure out exactly how to replicate the bug first.” He shook his head. “My only regret is that murder is illegal on the first floor, so I can’t kill you with my own hands.”

Rowan stared. Then… from the start, he was never here to help.

Kaidu stabbed his scissors into the heart of a yellowjacket. The creature struggled, then went still, legs collapsing. Heaving a breath, he tossed the bug aside and glanced over. He caught sight of blood-soaked Rowan, and his eyes went wide. “Jude!”

Jude laughed, backing away. “Have fun, you two. See you on the other side. Oh--and don’t worry, Kaidu. We’re reviewing that high-price high-EXP bug you mentioned.” He waved his hand as his form distorted, light shimmering at the edges of his body. His face broke into pixels, his body stretched and warped, and then he vanished in a flash of light.

Jude has left the party.

Rowan’s grip weakened. He slipped down the rake. He pressed his hand against his gut, trying to hold the wound shut. Skills… there’s got to be a skill that can save me. He pulled up the list, but nothing jumped out at him. Not the resists, the affinity, the tools, the plant care, certainly not plant identification. He grit his teeth. There’s no time. Something, anything…

Yellowjackets circled overhead. One darted down, stinger outstretched. Rowan grit his teeth and tensed.

A flash of white. Clang! The stinger deflected off Kaidu’s scissors. It retreated, spun a circle, and thrust again. Kaidu stood, scissors open, then jabbed and squeezed at once. The scissors closed on the thrusting stinger. Unable to cut through, he held the yellowjacket in place and slashed upward, opening the creature’s abdomen. Ichor sprayed out, staining his white coat.

In the distance, the undergrowth rustled. Rowan half-glanced up, weary. More monsters? Fuck. His vision flickered, threatening black.

Ants crawled past. Little ants, only the side of a finger, then a hand. Larger ones followed, dog-sized, then horse-sized. Ants buzzed through the air, bobbling clumsily on weak wings. They latched onto the yellowjackets and weighed them down, dragging them to the ground. Ants swarmed over the downed yellowjackets, tearing them to shreds.

Ant’s Blessing Active! The ants treat you as an ally.

You’re wounded! The hive has come to avenge you.

Rowan laughed. His wound ached. Blood rushed up in his throat, and he choked and spat some out, then laughed again. Saved by the same thing that almost killed me.

Something twitched in his pocket. Startled, he jabbed a hand inside and drew out the same tiny sprout he’d picked up the first day in the exclusion zone. Crumpled and wilted, the leaves streaked with brown, it laid dead.

“You?” he muttered. A monster plant? It was in the exclusion zone, after all.

The plant’s roots twitched in his hand. They reached out toward his gut, weak and trembling.

It wants my blood? Is it going to suck me dry? He hesitated. Uncertain, he put a point into Plant Identification.

Unlocked Common Plant Identification Lvl 2!

Wait, I needed Intermediate Plant Identification to identify this plant. I have to put five points into each identification level to hit the next--and what level is intermediate? Does it come after common, or…? Dammit, wasted my point!

He coughed and spat up blood. No time to waste. I’ll die either way. Maybe I should just… His eyes swept over his skills, and he froze. Right! How could I forget?

Rowan hit Plant Affinity.

Passive Affinity Bonus Lvl 1 granted!

Passive Affinity Bonus Lvl 2 granted!

He sucked a deep breath and looked at the tiny sprout with Plant Affinity active. It twitched in his hand, almost dead. Weak, its aura barely emanated past its boundaries, but a faint green glimmer shone against his hand. It’s do or die.

Rowan pressed the sprout’s roots against his wound.

The roots twitched. Blood soaked over the soft white flesh. They reached out toward the blood and pressed into his flesh. One root found the hole and surged into it, and the others followed, quickly gorging with blood. Plugged with the root, his stomach stopped spilling blood. Green buds sprouted from the top of the plant, unfurling into fresh green leaves.

In the corner of his vision, his HP drew to a halt.

Rowan breathed a sigh of relief, and then pain struck into his stomach. The vines pressed into his flesh, sharp and cold. Curling in on himself, he gripped at the plant. Fuck! Dammit, I knew there’d be side effects, but this soon? Rowan gasped a breath, desperate. “Stop! P--please stop.”

The plant shivered. It hesitated, then stopped, growing no further. The pain in his stomach dropped to a manageable level.

He dragged himself to his feet. All around him, ants swarmed over yellowjackets. The two clashed. Winged ants fell by the dozens, but not without scoring bites on the wasps. Leaking ichor, yellowjackets dropped from the sky and fell into the waiting mandibles of the earthbound ants. Spurting fire, biting viciously, they dismantled the yellowjackets.

Kaidu offered him a shoulder. Rowan took it. Together, they limped through the melee.

“Hell of a… boss,” Rowan huffed.

“This isn’t the boss,” Kaidu replied.

From out of the stormy darkness rose a massive body. The drone of its wings overpowered the thunder. Its black eyes flashed, brighter than lightning. The size of a sedan, a huge yellowjacket with a thick body, a stinger as long as Rowan’s forearm, and six claw-tipped legs shrieked at them, baring its mandibles.

“That’s the boss.”