First Time

Yilin had never practiced shooting.

She wasn’t an assassin, nor did she ever want to truly kill anyone.

She only wanted to live a good, simple life… even a boring routine between school and home was tempting enough.

But if she killed someone, she could never again live a peaceful life.

So she aimed only for the man’s hand.

And with her suddenly heightened reflexes, the world became unnervingly clear before her eyes.

The first bullet missed, as expected.

But following its trajectory, she adjusted slightly downward.

The second shot struck true—hitting the shotgun directly.

The powerful impact blew the weapon from the thug’s hands.

He yelped, stunned, starting to turn his head.

But in the very next instant, Utoya’s Mosin-Nagant thundered.

The bullet tore through his knee with brutal precision.

Utoya rose expressionless, ignoring the blood that poured from her shoulder wound.

In her eyes gleamed a deathly light, more terrifying than a wolf’s.

With fluid movement, she seized the writhing thug by the throat, yanking him bodily from the ground as though he weighed nothing.

“Where did you get the guts for this? Mercenaries? Three seconds. Tell me who sent you, tell me how you found this place—or I’ll twist your neck into rope.”

The voice that erupted from her was wild, savage, the roar of a beast gone berserk.

It made Yilin instinctively lower her pistol.

In Utoya’s golden eyes burned a manic frenzy that chilled the soul.

“L-Libé… it was Libé… we didn’t mean to kill… I don’t know…”

Bang!

The man’s face turned purple, nearly choking to death.

Clearly, he truly didn’t know.

Utoya hurled him aside with a single-arm toss.

The hulking man, nearly two meters tall, skidded across the floor like a ragdoll, gouging a long furrow in the dust before coming to a halt.

“So it was that bastard… Leave the guns.

All of you, get out.

And tell your master my name—Utoya.

If she dares come again, I’ll drag her here myself and show her whether I’ve lost my edge or not.”

Clapping her hands clean, Utoya ripped open the fabric at her shoulder.

She staggered a few steps, shoved her dagger into the fireplace flames, then pressed the searing metal into her bullet wound.

With a sickening sound, she swiftly dug the bullet out.

Utoya knows Libé?

Yilin trembled as she picked up her pistol again.

Afraid, yes—but forcing herself to stay calm and listen to the exchange.

From the way she spoke, Utoya seemed familiar with that vile person who had always exploited Yilin.

Libé—the director of the orphanage.

When Yilin first arrived in this world, she had been her only support.

The school, the apartment, the food—all provided by her.

But a year ago, she closed the net.

Yilin was forced to sign a debt repayment contract, owing huge sums every month.

If she failed to pay, Libé would hire mercenaries to hunt down those orphans she deemed “useful,” selling them into unimaginable hells.

Watching the battered mercenaries limp away in terror, Yilin finally exhaled in relief.

It was over…

She let out a heavy sigh.

Her eyes flicked to Utoya, who closed her own eyes while skillfully bandaging her wound.

Then Yilin glanced at her own hands.

No… she should still run.

That woman was terrifying.

Yilin couldn’t even understand why she had turned back and fired to save her.

She could clearly guess what Utoya wanted from her.

And yet—that single, unhesitating moment when Utoya risked herself for her…

Was it her heart overruling her head?

They hadn’t even known each other before.

And Utoya couldn’t possibly have known her.

So why would she suddenly go so far for her sake?

But Yilin knew one thing with certainty—she never wanted to be imprisoned.

Not by the mob, and not by this twisted woman…

“Yilin.”

Utoya’s calm voice rose from behind her.

Yilin’s leg, already sneaking toward the door, froze stiff.

“…W-What is it?”

Yilin swallowed hard, forcing her face into a neutral expression.

Her body obediently froze in place.

But she dared not turn around.

Who knew if behind her was a gun—or something worse—aimed at her back?

If she turned, exposing herself to Utoya’s sights, there might be no second chance.

“You wanted to run just now, didn’t you?”

Utoya’s voice came with ragged breaths and the sound of heavy footsteps drawing closer.

Every hair on Yilin’s body stood on end.

Her tail bristled straight up, higher than her head.

“I-I just… my legs were sore, you believe that?”

Yilin let out a weak laugh.

But in the next instant—

A hot hand clamped down on the back of her neck.

Pain lanced through her as her vision melted away like ink, and before she knew it, her body was slammed down onto a bed that carried a strange, sweet scent.

W-Wait!

Yilin flailed, struggling with arms and legs, trying to scramble up.

But then a crushing weight forced her over onto her back.

She looked up in terror at Utoya’s shadowed face closing in.

In panic, she lashed out with her legs, trying to push her away.

“I-I saved you just now! Even if… even if you’re mad, you shouldn’t—”

“Mmph!”

Yilin’s eyes widened, feeling the golden pupils were now less than a centimeter away from her own.

The suffocating pressure and unexpected tenderness carved themselves into her heart for the very first time.

…

Yilin lay on the bed, her eyes lifeless, feeling the warmth at the corner of her lips slowly fade away.

Her heart sank to ashes.

This… bastard…

Her first time… of course she turned out to be a pervert.

She never should have come back… and now look at her.

But she had to admit, eighteen years of ingrained thoughts about gender couldn’t be overturned in two or three years.

Compared to losing it to someone else, this… maybe wasn’t so bad.

“Why did you want to leave?

Those people wanted to take you, drag you to that hellish place—why did you still want to run?

Am I really scarier than them?!”

Utoya licked her lips, pinning Yilin firmly beneath her.

Her hands clamped tightly onto Yilin’s shoulders.

It was obvious she was truly angry, her eyes flashing with a savage light like that of a beast.

So it’s the same after all.

Yilin let out a cold laugh in her heart.

Of course, there was no such thing as a free lunch.

Earlier, she thought she’d felt something special…

But now, it was clear—Utoya was just afraid of losing the toy she’d gotten her hands on.

No difference at all.

Just another disgusting piece of scum.

“And how are you any different from them?”

Yilin turned her face to the side and spoke coldly.

She knew she shouldn’t say this.

Angering someone this powerful was the worst possible choice.

But for some reason, that faint remnant of feeling still beating inside her forced the words out of her mouth.

“…”

At those words, Utoya’s hands suddenly loosened.

She stared at Yilin’s indifferent, beautiful profile in silence.

At last, her voice trembled as she spoke:

“Sorry, Yilin… sorry… I… forget it.”

“I’m going hunting.”

The crushing weight lifted from Yilin’s body.

Utoya staggered to her feet, clutching her shoulder wound that had begun bleeding again from all her movement.

Grabbing her Mosin-Nagant, she walked toward the wilderness.

…

Yilin sat blankly in the cabin.

It all felt like a dream.

Only the pistol in her hand gave any sense of reality.

Was it… over?

She… left?

Yilin wasn’t stupid.

Utoya leaving without taking anything meant only one thing—

She could go.

Even the supplies, weapons, food, and stacks of neatly piled cash were untouched.

If she took all of this, she could definitely escape.

She might even pay off some of her debts and return to a “normal” life.

But…

For some reason, watching Utoya’s departing figure stirred that restless feeling in her chest again.

Could it be…?

No, damn it…

She was such a fool.

Even after what Utoya had just done to her—why was she still…

Yilin bit her lip hard, her tail swishing restlessly back and forth.

She kept staring until Utoya’s silhouette disappeared into the dense forest.

One more time?

“Forget it…”

“This is all my own fault anyway… Let’s see if there’s something to eat here…”