Margie was not happy. Being killed hurt, unsurprisingly.

But as angry as she was at the other group for attacking them, she was far angrier at herself.

She shouldn’t have rushed in like she had, or at least not so recklessly.

With Micheal‘s skill flowing through her, she felt… not invincible, but confident. Too confident, it had turned out.

The feeling of her face starting to crack before the System healed her certainly took care of that overconfidence. And dying had removed the buff, too boot.

She’d had another card to play during the fight, but there was no guarantee using her new Skill would’ve won the fight. And right now, no one outside their group knew what the Skill did.

They had briefly mentioned its existence while live, but they intentionally hadn’t gone into any detail. The second she used it, anyone watching them would have more information on them.

So, not only was Margie frustrated that she made the wrong choice by rushing in, she was frustrated since she was unsure if she’d made the right choice with the Skill.

It certainly would’ve helped in the fight. But assuming that they won, would the added points have been worth revealing the skill?

She couldn’t know, and that fact was driving her crazy.

Her frustration was one thing, but Margie would be fine.

She wasn’t so sure about Steven.

Micheal had taken the defeat relatively well. She could tell it bothered him, but he had already been shaking it off before the second round started.

Steven, though. When he first opened his eyes after being transported, there was something… /off/.

His eyes were filled with that cold, distant look that never seemed to leave him after the accident.

The look that made him feel like a stranger in a familiar body.

He’d snapped out of it, but what if he didn’t next time?

Margie‘s hands balled into fists. She’d just have to make sure there wasn’t a next time.

She had to make sure they won.

The green and blue light finished depositing Margie back onto the beach, though not where they’d fought the other group.

She turned in a slow circle. She was right next to the sand dunes, though they looked like giant snowy hills leading up to the beach at this time of year.

Before Margie could react, the System’s high-pitched voice barged into her head.

“Welcome to round two!!!”

Margie groaned.

“You lost last round :(“ A buzzer, like the kind you’d hear in a game show, sounded in her head.

“But you can do better this round, Senpai!!!”

Margie took a deep breath as Buford eyed her.

“Lookie over there!”

A massive pillar of white light shot into the sky in the distance.

“Reach that awesome-looking pillar and stand in it for five minutes with some or all of your team to win bonus prizes! Doesn’t that sound cool!”

“Your team is the people you were last teleported with and the people you’re currently teleported with.”

“By by!”

The words ‘last teleported with’ made Margie do a second double take. She’d assumed Micheal and Steven would be in the group next to her, but as she quickly scanned the crowd's faces, she realized she didn’t recognize any of them.

“Shit.”

She kept her hand on Buford but didn’t cast Jugger-Hound just yet.

“Come on, boys, let’s go talk to the hopefully nice strangers.“

Noodle grunted and shook his ears.

The group of men and women had formed a half circle around a man in the center. He was unremarkable. Average height, average build, and dressed in average winter clothes. A real average joe.

The only thing about his appearance that stood out was the bright green and dark blue beanie he was wearing.

Margie was about to question why they were gathered around until she stepped within 10 feet of the man.

Pressure slipped around her skull as a sensation like thousands of needles bruising over her skin erupted across her body.

Instinctively, in the same way, she knew not to take a breath underwater or stick her hand into a fire; she knew this man was dangerous.

She froze for a moment, but after a second, the feeling eased up. It didn’t vanish entirely, but the sensation of brushing needles stopped, and the pressure around her head shifted into a vague awareness that the man was something significant.

Despite those feelings, the man didn’t look dangerous.

He stood still, not looking at anyone around him, as he swayed gently on his feet and stared out at the waves.

Margie walked up to the half circle, which silently parted to make way for her.

The people glanced at her, but none of them said anything. They seemed almost frozen in place.

“Why are you all staring at the surf?“

The others looked at her like she just stuck her fist into a wedding cake before it could be cut.

The man didn’t look away from the waves as he answered in a slow, bored voice. “Why not?“

Margie chewed that over for a second. “Because there are better things to be doing. Points to gain, A giant pillar to make it to?“

Slow, as if the effort to turn his head was a Herculean task, the man turned to face her. “Why?“

Margie scowled.

“Because getting more points and rewards will help you survive! What do you mean why?”

The man stared at her blankly for a few seconds before slowly turning his head back to the waves.

Margie scowled. She wasn’t going to waste her time here on a bunch of idiots that wanted to stare at the water!

Steven and Micheal would be heading towards the pillar. They just had the same lesson beaten into them that she did.

They needed to be stronger.

And moving towards a bonus reward was a straightforward way to get that.

As she started to walk away, the man turned. “Wait.“

Against her better judgment, she did.

He paused long enough that she almost started walking again, but eventually, he spoke with the faintest hint of emotion other than boredom in his voice. Curiosity. “The others froze. They didn’t ask questions. They aren’t leaving.”

He blinked, and even that motion seemed lethargic. “Why?”

Margie chewed on that for a second. Well, no point in beating around the bush. “You feel scary.” Best to keep it simple. “After a second, I shook the feeling off. I guess they didn't."

He scratched his chin. After a few seconds of that, just before Margie was about to walk away again, he moved.

The others backed away from the man like he was a tiger.

“I suppose I’ll move towards the light. If that’s what you want to do.“ Margie started walking toward the light but kept a few feet of distance between them.

Not even mentioning the weird sense of danger, the guy was creeping her out.

But she didn’t want to pick a fight with him. And with the way he felt, it was unlikely other people were going to start shit with them, either.

“All right, you weirdo. Let’s go to the pillar.“

“Quinton.“

“Huh?“

“My name,” he said slowly. “Is Quinton.“

She granted. “Margie.“