"My attitude? Seriously?" Piper lifted a shoulder. "You still want to power-level me? Stop kidding yourself. Compared to Nighthale's speed, you crawl slower than a snail." "Then go find Nighthale and see if he even acknowledges you." Drizzle's frustration spiked. Her chest rose and fell as she stared at Piper. Yeah, Nighthale's amazing. What's it got to do with you, you clueless girl? "He'll definitely help me." Piper smiled lightly. "I'm not like you. Once Nighthale sees me, he'll take me to level up without hesitation. Jealous? Think about it. Once I show up, which guy on your team would still pay attention to you?" "You!" Drizzle squeezed the bow until her fingers hurt. Rage surged through her. A wave of self-loathing hit her right after, because she knew Piper was exactly her brother's type. One sweet smile from Piper and he practically lost his soul. If Piper asked him to dig latrines, he'd grab a shovel and follow without a second thought.This world seriously never runs out of simps. "Nothing to say now? That's so low." "You!" Drizzle had never met someone this vicious. Tears spilled before she could hold them back. "What's wrong? Drizzle, why are you crying?" Ahead of them, the soldiers noticed the commotion. Their leader, Storm—a broad-shouldered man with feline features—finished off a slime and hurried over. "She bullied me," Drizzle sobbed, burying herself in his chest. "Hey, hey, don't cry." Storm looked at Piper, baffled. She didn't look like the type who bullied people. Something felt off. "We were helping her level, and then she said..." Drizzle explained everything in broken hiccups. By the end, Storm's expression had darkened to pitch-black. He shot Piper a cold stare. "Feel like explaining this?""Explain?" Piper let out a short laugh. "Who exactly are you that I need to explain anything? I simply told the truth. You have two choices. Either your sister apologizes, and this ends, or you kick her out, and I act like none of this ever happened—and I'll still let you level me." "Let me?" Storm stared at her as if she'd sprouted horns. His mind landed on two words—complete insanity. He and Drizzle exchanged a look. What kind of idiot acts this shamelessly? We're carrying her through levels, yet she acts like she's doing us a favor. Who does she think she is? "Decide already?" Piper looked utterly confident, as if the situation was firmly in her hands. She didn't sense anything wrong. Her manipulative routine always worked on Aiden, so she expected it to work everywhere. "Oh, I've decided." Storm's voice dropped to ice. "If you crawled out of a psych ward, crawl back in. Stop throwing a fit in front of me. Someone like you? Writing a prescription's a waste of ink." He flipped her off and unleashed a rapid-fire string of insults. Years in online games had made him an expert trash-talker, and he fired an entire combo without repeating a single curse.He wasn't proud of the reason he had taken in two obvious deadweights, yet he acknowledged it. Piper was attractive. He had even daydreamed during fights, imagining the two of them getting close and ending his lonely streak. None of that meant he lacked boundaries. Getting mocked as a simp was fine. Piper giving him the cold shoulder was tolerable. Pretty girls often had tempers. However, insulting his family crossed a line that couldn't be ignored. "You!" Piper froze. She hadn't expected Storm—who previously obeyed everything she said—to snap at her. Her whole body trembled with fury. "Fine. You chose this! Don't regret it!" "Regret?" Storm continued cursing, throwing out more gestures and even stomping his feet in exaggerated taunts. Piper's patience was shattered. "Storm, right? You'll pay for this!" She shot him a final glare, quit the party, and walked away.