Cherry-red lips that were downright tempting, a flawless face proportioned to perfection, and skin so smooth it looked poreless.

All these features on her face made Ernest wonder if the woman before him was human or a doll.

He recalled the memory from two years ago, just before his soul slowly left his body and went to the Netherworld.

What crossed his mind was the figure of the person who had saved his body to be taken to the hospital. Actually, just before his consciousness faded away, he managed to catch a glimpse of the face of the person who had helped him.

And the stranger from two years ago who had saved him turned out to be the cloaked woman before him.

Ernest couldn’t possibly mistake her for someone else.

He still remembered her face. Apart from her breathtaking beauty, which seemed to be on par with that of a goddess ... it seemed that’s the only reason Ernest remembered her before his soul entered the Netherworld.

If it weren’t for her help, Ernest wouldn’t be here now.

Because Ernest had once received her help, he had to repay the favour, right?!

Instead of thinking about how Ernest could coincidentally meet her, Ernest was more panicked because when he leaned his ear close to her mouth and nose, her breath was barely there.

To make sure, Ernest placed his fingers on her wrist to check her pulse. From there, Ernest was sure that her condition was worrying.

Seeing how she had pressed her heart before, Ernest decided to perform CPR. He remembered how to do it because he had learned it before. It was normal, considering the world had become full of danger.

First, Ernest opened her airway by tilting her chin up so that her mouth cavity was open, then Ernest covered her nose with his index and middle fingers; only then did Ernest cover her mouth with his mouth and make a perfect seal with his lips.

Because Ernest did it without any sexual desire, even when her saliva accidentally stuck to his lips, he didn’t blush at all.

After the first two breaths, Ernest performed chest compressions. Ernest placed his palm on her sternum or breastbone, then gave thrusts about five to six centimetres deep.

‘One, two, three, four, five ....’

Hup!

A few moments later, after repeating the CPR process several times, the woman opened her eyes.

Ernest had to stop halfway when he wanted to place his lips on hers.

The woman’s symmetric eyebrows had come closer. She furrowed her brows and stared at Ernest. However, luckily, she immediately coughed due to the CPR process as she regained consciousness.

“Cough! Cough! Cough!”

“Hufftt~ Are you awake? Are you okay?”

“... What did you do to me?”

“Don’t you see that I saved you?”

There was no thank you from the woman. Only stares and the same cold demeanour as before were visible.

Ernest wanted to scream in his heart.

He wondered if she couldn’t just be thankful enough?

“Do you realize that your heart had stopped beating before? If it wasn’t for me, you would have died on the spot.”

Although Ernest seemed to be lecturing her due to her lack of gratitude, Ernest’s mind was actually elsewhere.

[Curse energy in your body responds to the energy inside the target’s body.]

A system notification popped up when Ernest placed his lips on hers. A sudden burning sensation also felt around his stomach.

While remembering that mysterious moment, Ernest realized that the woman was looking at him colder because Ernest accidentally touched her lips.

“You’re not worthy to lecture me if you enjoy it so much.”

Ernest’s annoyance stopped as his ears twitched. The quiet night allowed Ernest to hear footsteps from below the spiral road.

“It’s up to you if you want to mock me, but you have to get up. We have to get out of here!”

Perhaps knowing that the situation was getting urgent, the woman immediately stood up. But, she still refusing Ernest’s offer to help. 

Ernest could only smile emptily like a clown.

One thing that caught Ernest’s attention was that, from the moment she woke up, she continued to focus on covering her face with her hands. Ernest wondered why she was still worried about her face being exposed by them.

“Would it be bad if they saw your face?”

“...”

“Hehe, because you’re like that, I’ll cover my face too.”

After taking the veil that had previously covered the woman’s face, Ernest put it on his face.

“Hirup! Harum.”

As Ernest cheekily sniffed the veil, the woman he had helped stared at him sharply. Realizing that the veil Ernest had sniffed was hers, she wanted to grab the veil, but Ernest suddenly narrowed his eyes, turned around, and ran away.

To be precise, Ernest ran towards the thugs. 

The reason Ernest daringly rushed towards them was because he guessed that some of them would be carrying pistols. 

Before they pointed their pistols at him, Ernest planned to surprise them by rushing towards them.

Because of the one-way spiral road, Ernest surprised them right as they reached the last turn towards the rooftop parking.

"Peek-a-boo!!"

“What?”

Their reaction was worthy of ridicule.

They walked irregularly like gang members, ready for a brawl. Just like their disordered formation, their physical condition was equally chaotic.

Ernest didn’t expect the idea of crashing his car into them to be so effective.

Some of their hair was burned off. Their clothes were also tattered, with blood coming out from various parts of their bodies. Their blood stained the floor with every step they took.

Ernest stopped observing their appearance and immediately launched an attack on the person at the front. The person was shocked and tried to aim his pistol at Ernest’s head, but Ernest immediately held the pistol aimed at him. Ernest then pulled the trigger of the pistol towards the owner’s leg, then Ernest took the pistol from its owner.

There were some retaliatory shots from the person’s comrades, but because of the narrow spiral road, Ernest managed to survive by using the body of the person whose leg he shot as a shield.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Several shots continued to echo. Ernest was automatically impressed by their cruelty towards their own comrades.

“Scary stuff. You guys are really ruthless.”

The body of the person Ernest used as a shield had many holes in his back, with blood continuously spurting out. Fortunately, no bullets managed to penetrate Ernest’s living shield. Every time Ernest’s living shield was hit by a bullet, Ernest would scream and flinch.

The intensity of the shots decreased. Ernest immediately threw the lifeless shield towards them. At the same time, Ernest shot them. When someone was shot and dropped their weapon, Ernest would take it as additional ammunition.

Bang!

The last person fell backwards with a hole in his head that was oozing blood.

Just when Ernest thought the battle was over, Ernest’s hair suddenly stood on end.

Danger! 

Ernest’s survival instinct sounded in his head, warning Ernest of danger.