Why would Roderick, who knew the jungle inside and out, still be here? Even he had failed. At least he was lucky. He had never been eaten by monsters.

What about Anaïs? Could she really survive to the end without being caught by monsters? With an infected body? She belatedly realized that she had been pinning her hopes on the words that the game would restart even if she was caught.

But it wouldn’t restart. If eaten by monsters, everything was over. Not only would she taste terrible pain, but she would become that hideous thing.

She recalled the monsters with multiple legs that had approached to eat humans while emitting foul odors.

“How can this be called a ‘game’……”

She stood still in that spot holding the note for a long time, unable to lift her head. Even though she hadn’t been eaten by monsters yet, even though no warning had appeared saying monsters had appeared, she felt as if her future was decided.

A few hours later, Anaïs reunited with Roderick who had finished searching. Roderick quickly noticed that her expression was worse than usual.

“If you’re cold, come closer to the fire.”

He thought it could be because the temperature in the cave was low. Anaïs shook her head and said she wasn’t cold. While her lips were blue with cold.

“Don’t be stubborn. Unless you want to die from hypothermia.”

Roderick shot back. He seemed displeased that she was telling obvious lies.

Anaïs flinched greatly then moved closer to the fire ‘without being stubborn’ as he said.

Things went as Roderick wanted. But because Anaïs kept her mouth tightly shut, his furrowed brow wouldn’t smooth out.

Roderick wanted to just ignore whether she was in a good mood or not. Wasn’t this a situation where he didn’t have the luxury to cater to a woman’s mood? This round was practically like carrying around baggage that couldn’t contribute. He wasn’t confident he could survive to the end.

At least she had been a docile woman who listened well, but now even that seemed precarious. What exactly was she dissatisfied about? If she really had complaints, she should at least say something. Roderick was irritated by her attitude of keeping her mouth tightly shut.

“We found what we needed, so we’ll spend the night in this place and leave tomorrow morning.”

Roderick spoke as if making an announcement. He was accustomed to always conversing with Anaïs this way.

And Anaïs always immediately agreed to his words with ‘yes.’ As if something terrible would happen if she didn’t follow his words. But this time there was no answer.

She seemed determined to rebel. She didn’t even listen to his words and just stared blankly at the fire. It was as if her soul wasn’t present.

Roderick was angry at her for daring to let his words go in one ear and out the other. He was about to say something when Anaïs suddenly asked.

“Did you know that if you get eaten by monsters, you become a monster, Roderick?”

Only then did Roderick realize why she had been wearing a serious expression. She must have seen a note disguised as information but aimed at creating fear.

Such an innocent woman. She wasn’t trying to rebel, just scared. He thought her agony was nothing special and chuckled.

“Yeah. I knew.”

There was no particular need to be afraid. The point was just not to get eaten. Roderick answered lightly. He believed without doubt that his words would persuade her and she would shake off her fear saying ‘that’s true.’

She believed and followed everything he said as if Roderick were a savior.

“Even knowing that…… you’re really amazing……”

But Roderick’s confidence didn’t work this time. She muttered while staring blankly at the fire like someone bewitched by it, then tightly shut her mouth again. It was as if she was seeing her own future self fallen to become a monster and suffering within it through the fire.

She seemed consumed by fear and no words would be of use. Did she not trust his words that it would be fine? Roderick’s mood soured.

As he glared disapprovingly at Anaïs’s profile, he glanced at his inventory. Only three pieces of chocolate were found after searching this entire vast place. It was a very precious item. Even that, chocolate couldn’t be found anywhere else. Nowhere that he knew of.

Roderick alternately looked at the chocolate and Anaïs’s profile, then took out one piece of chocolate from his inventory. The chocolate in his hand was trivially small. Just a single bite.

“Anaïs, catch.”

When he threw it, she managed to catch the chocolate. For someone who looked frail, she was a woman with surprisingly decent reflexes.

What would that accomplish then? She’s an idiot and dead weight. Roderick said with a sneer.

“You can eat one.”

Anaïs, who confirmed that what he threw was chocolate, opened her eyes wide in bewilderment.

“Can I really eat it?”

No. Actually, she couldn’t. When they reached the castle, he knew well what kind of good trade could be made with that small piece of chocolate. Using it to cheer up a foolish woman was a stupid thing to do. Objectively speaking.

But if that woman continued to be gloomy, it would be difficult to smoothly reach the castle ahead. She was already a woman who often cowered due to fear. If she lost motivation and slowed down, they might arrive at the castle in last place.

Wouldn’t it be better to use one piece of chocolate to motivate her? There was no guarantee that the guy who went crazy for chocolate and gave up precious items would survive to reach the castle this time either.

Roderick had given her exactly one piece of chocolate under thorough calculation. The effect was very good.

Her expression gradually changed from disbelief to joy. Her cheeks, which had been pale as if she might die soon, flushed red and the corners of her mouth rose high.

“I’ll savor it.”

She didn’t eat the chocolate right away. She kept looking at it as if very excited and sniffed the scent through the wrapper. His plan to boost her motivation worked amazingly well.

How could she be so simple? Every single action was completely obvious. Roderick thought as he got up and approached her. It was nice to see her cheeks flush red and unable to contain her smile.

‘Right. She looks much better when she smiles.’

When she smiled, Roderick also felt at ease. Only then did he realize that her being in a depressed state had been affecting him quite a bit too. She seemed to be misunderstanding his intentions and acting shy, which was foolish but strangely arousing.

“The gauge filled up, right?”

Before she could even answer, Roderick pushed her down onto the sleeping bag he was sitting on. Anaïs opened her eyes wide in surprise for a moment but didn’t resist. She looked up at him while tightly gripping the small chocolate with both hands.

If she was going to eat it, she should eat it quickly, and if she was going to store it, she should put it in her inventory. She seemed intent on holding it in her hands the whole time. He found it quite cute how she treasured the small piece of chocolate he had given her.

Roderick looked down at her quietly and enjoyed this different side of her that had only been bothersome before.

“I’m sorry.”

Perhaps misunderstanding his gaze, Anaïs spoke up. At the sudden apology, one of Roderick’s eyebrows shot up.

“For making you worry about the gauge every time.”

“How sudden.”

They had been doing this for several nights. His heart was strangely anxious despite his blunt response. For some reason, he felt like she might push him away. Saying she couldn’t cause any more trouble so he didn’t need to help her.

Actually, she who had been unable to adapt when first entering the game now showed signs of having become quite accustomed. She might now be able to do what she couldn’t do alone due to nervousness.

Roderick raised one eyebrow and spoke provocatively.

“If you’re sorry, why don’t you return the favor once?”

Anaïs gasped in shock. She froze without even exhaling the breath she had inhaled. Her eyes, filled with fear, quickly looked away from him.

It was such a clear expression of refusal. Had someone declared they would force themselves on her? Roderick felt hurt. The brief arousal he had felt for her cooled down as if it had been a lie.

“I was just saying. I wasn’t expecting anything anyway.”

“What? Oh, th, that was just a joke. But I, no, it’s not that. I’m sorry. I misunderstood……!”

As he sneered and tried to back away, Anaïs babbled incoherently. The chocolate she had been holding was gone, probably stored in her inventory, and she was unbuttoning her shirt. With her own hands.

Thanks to that, the top button that had already been undone was now open. The button she would never undo even when washing. It wasn’t that much skin was exposed, just enough to barely see her collarbone, but he couldn’t help but be moved by it.

Anaïs tried to button up again with a red face. Whether it was his imagination, even her fingertips seemed to be tinged red from urgency. Roderick grabbed her wrist with a click.

“…… Roderick?”

Anaïs called him carefully. He only held her wrist but didn’t take any action or say anything. He just looked at her quietly with an unreadable strange expression.

He seemed both angry and pleased. It was an expression she had never seen before, so Anaïs waited tensely for what he might say.

Then very gradually, the corners of his mouth rose.

“Um……”

Was he pleased? Or was he laughing because it was absurd that she tried to prepare by unbuttoning right away, thinking this was the moment?

Anaïs’s head became complicated as she couldn’t tell what he was thinking. As she rolled her eyes around, he released the wrist he had been holding.

“I won’t refuse what’s being offered.”

He unbuttoned one more of Anaïs’s buttons himself. When he pushed aside her clothes with his finger, more of her skin became visible. It was to the level where the lace of the top part of her bra was slightly visible.

“But I didn’t expect you to come at me so aggressively.”

“What? Oh, no. It’s not that aggressive or anything…… It’s just because the gauge is full!”

Anaïs’s face flushed completely. It wasn’t a lie. Her gauge was almost completely full and her body was starting to heat up and become dizzy.