’I’ve got bigger fish to fry.’
Suddenly, a wave of cold realization crashed onto him.
Eden stopped again.
His eyes widened.
’Wait.’
He slowly turned around.
’Brown hair.’
’Blue eyes.’
’That face...’
’That voice.’
’And that strange sense of familiarity.’
His memories suddenly clicked together.
"...No way."
He turned fully around.
The girl was still surrounded by the three bullies.
One of them shoved her again.
Eden’s eyes widened.
’Lucy.’
The name struck him like lightning.
’Lucy.’
’The same Lucy who, in his previous life, eventually became one of humanity’s strongest Awakeneds.’
’An SS-Rank.’
’A monster among monsters.’
He remembered seeing her in news reports.
Battles.
Dungeon clears.
International rankings.
Her name had become synonymous with talent.
And right now...
She was being beaten up by three F-Rank idiots.
Eden stared.
Then slowly covered his face with one hand.
"...I almost walked away from an SS-Rank."
He sighed.
"That would’ve been stupid."
He turned around and walked back.
Lucy looked up as he approached.
"Y-You came back..."
Eden stopped in front of the group.
He glanced at her.
Then at the three boys.
But before doing anything else, he asked casually,
"What’s your name?"
Everyone froze.
One of the bullies looked at him as if he had completely lost his mind.
The girl herself seemed equally confused.
"My... name?"
"Yeah."
"...Why?"
"Just curious."
She hesitated.
Then quietly answered.
"Lucy."
Eden’s expression didn’t change.
Inside, however—
’Confirmed.’
’It’s her.’
His mind immediately began racing.
’An SS-Rank Awakened.’
’Someone who, in my previous life, had become an absolute powerhouse.’
’And right now she’s weak.’
’Vulnerable.’
’And, more importantly...’
’Desperate for help.’
Eden’s lips slowly curled into a confident smile.
’Interesting.’
He could already see the possibilities.
He didn’t need to force her.
He didn’t need to threaten her.
He simply needed to help her.
Save her when nobody else did.
Make her believe he was the person who gave her a chance.
If he played his cards correctly...
She might become incredibly loyal.
’A future powerhouse who owed me everything.’
’A useful ally.’
Eden paused.
’No.’
He corrected himself.
’Perhaps a future lapdog?’
The thought amused him.
Though he knew better than to say it aloud.
He stepped forward.
One of the bullies immediately sneered.
"What?"
Eden smiled.
"Nothing."
The bully cracked his knuckles.
"Did you suddenly grow some balls?"
"No."
Eden tilted his head.
"I’ve always had them."
He moved.
Before the bully could react, Eden grabbed his face.
The boy’s eyes widened.
"What—"
Boom!
Eden slammed him into the pavement.
The impact cracked the ground beneath his head.
The other two froze.
Lucy froze.
Eden stared down at the injured boy below him.
"...Huh."
He looked at his hand.
’That was easier than expected.’
One of the remaining bullies stepped backward.
"What the hell are you?!"
Eden ignored him.
He crouched slightly and looked at the injured boy.
Then remembered something.
’Right.’
’Devour.’
He stretched his hand toward him.
"Let’s see if—"
Nothing happened.
Eden waited.
...
Nothing.
He stared.
The bully stared back from the ground.
Eden kept his hand extended.
Three seconds passed.
Five.
Eight.
Nothing.
Eden’s expression became increasingly awkward.
’Come on.’
He focused harder.
"Devour."
Nothing.
He could practically hear crickets.
Eden slowly lowered his hand.
"...Okay."
He cleared his throat.
"Maybe we can talk this one out?"
The bully bleow glared at him.
"You!"
"I said—"
A foot slammed into Eden’s side.
"Ugh!"
Eden was launched several meters across the street.
He rolled across the pavement and slammed shoulder-first into the ground.
For a moment, he simply lay there.
Then he slowly pushed himself up.
"...Right."
His expression darkened.
"Talking doesn’t work on guys like you."
The three bullies stood together.
Essence began flowing around them.
Their skills were weak.
Very weak.
But Eden could still sense the change.
One of them raised his hand.
A faint green mist surrounded his fingers.
Another’s nails became coated in a dark substance.
The third dragged a finger across his palm.
Blood dripped from the wound.
Judging by his experience, those skills were probably low rank debuffs.
’Three F-Rank debuffs.’
Lucy immediately backed away.
"Watch out!"
"Those are dangerous! Just run away!"
Eden glanced at her.
Then at the three boys.
’Run?’
He almost laughed.
’The old me maybe would have.’
’But now?’
Despite not knowing any better, Eden felt particularly confident.
He wanted to see what happened.
The three attacked simultaneously.
Green poison mist rushed toward him.
A dark cloud followed.
Then the third released a wave of Essence designed to disrupt his body and accelerate blood loss.
Eden braced himself.
The attacks hit.
For a second, nothing happened.
Until suddenly, red Essence erupted around Eden.
The vicious energy twisted through the incoming attacks like a living thing.
Mouths appeared within it.
Rows of sharp, unnatural teeth opened.
And the three debuffs were swallowed.
The poison vanished.
The bleeding effect disappeared.
The entire wave of hostile Essence was devoured.
Eden stared.
A System window appeared.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[SYSTEM]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Resistance Successful.
Due to an unknown force, the applied debuff effects have been negated.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Eden blinked.
Then smiled.
Slowly.
Very slowly.
"...Oh."
He looked at the three boys.
Then at his hands.
’Does Devour require the usage of a skill to be activated?’
’In that case, the first time, Devour hadn’t activated because there was nothing for it to consume.’
’But when those skills attacked me just now...’
’The red Essence appeared on its own.’
Eden’s eyes narrowed.
’Does this mean I’m immune to debuffs?’
’That would be absurd.’
’Poison.’
’Bleeding.’
’Paralysis.’
’Other status effects.’
’If Devour automatically consumed them...’
’I might have just gained one of the most ridiculous defensive abilities imaginable.’
Eden chuckled.
"That’s convenient."
The three bullies looked terrified.
One of them whispered,
"Why isn’t the poison working?"
"I don’t know!"
"He should’ve collapsed!"
Eden cracked his neck.
"Sorry."
He smiled.
"I don’t really feel like dying today."
The red Essence around him faded.
The boys relaxed slightly.
Then Eden raised his hand.
But this time, he didn’t activate Devour.
He remembered how much Essence it had consumed.
There was no reason to waste that power on three F-Rank idiots.
He needed to experiment.
He needed to understand his abilities.
Eden took a stance.
A familiar sensation traveled through his body.
His Essence shifted.
His eyes sharpened.
The System responded.
[Phase Shift]
The skill he had stolen from Isaac.
A C-Rank ability.
Eden smiled.
’Let’s see what I can do with this.’
The three bullies rushed him.
Eden disappeared from where he stood.
The first boy barely had time to react before Eden drove his fist into his stomach.
Thud!
The boy folded instantly.
Eden pivoted.
The second swung wildly.
Eden ducked beneath it, grabbed his wrist, and twisted.
The boy screamed.
A knee to the ribs dropped him.
The third tried to run.
Eden caught him by the collar.
"Where are you going?"
The boy trembled.
"I-I..."
Eden pulled him closer.
"You’re the one who started this."
He slammed him onto the pavement.
The street fell silent.
All three bullies were unconscious.
Lucy stood completely still.
She stared at Eden.
Not frightened anymore.
Just stunned.
Eden looked at his new ability.
Then at the three unconscious boys.
Then finally at Lucy.
He smiled.
This time, the smile wasn’t quite as innocent as before.
He had come across something valuable today.
A future powerhouse.
And perhaps...
A very useful friend.
Or, if Eden played this correctly—
Something much more obedient.
He walked toward Lucy.
"Are you okay?"
Lucy slowly nodded.
"Y-Yes..."
Eden glanced at the unconscious boys.
"Good."