Rory clutched his head in frustration. He had to be the worst returner in history. Ever since he returned, he had kept botching stuff. First his path and now his class. If he had the admin from before, they would definitely curse him to hell.

“Now then, I’ll tell you how to get strong,” Alana called out, turning towards the man who raised his hand before. “It’s pretty simple. You kill.”

Alana threw a knife in the man’s direction, hitting him right between the eyes. The man died before he hit the floor. People gasped and backed away. The desirable woman didn’t look desirable to them anymore.

“I don’t like people who talk a lot,” Alana shrugged, walking to the corpse.

Alana stood over the corpse and looked at her watch. As she looked up, something emerged from the corpse, floating in the air. Alana took the stone and shrugged.

“So you were worthless after all,” she mumbled before turning towards the rest. “We call this Arcana. Every breathing thing in the Otherworld has at least one. When a creature dies, this appears after 10 seconds.”

She continued, “If you absorb an Arcana, it’ll boost your stats, and you might even get a new skill. Pretty cool, right? This one is of no use to me, so who wants it?”

Despite her kind offer, no one stepped up, which was to be expected. After the stunt Alana pulled earlier, it was natural for them to be scared. If they did something she didn’t like, they’d turn into arcana as well.

“No one? That’s a first—oh, we have someone,” Alana smiled, looking at Rory, who had raised his hand. “A cutie at that, too.”

Rory had reluctantly raised his hand. He wanted nothing to do with her, but he had no choice. He needed some proper stats to survive the chamber. Since Alana was being kind enough to offer the arcana, he’d take it.

As Alana walked up to him, everyone else stepped away. Rory kept his head low. He remembered the first thing she noticed were the eyes of her toys. As long as they didn’t make eye contact, it should be fine.

“Put this on the top of your hand,” Alana instructed.

“S-Sure.”

Rory raised his hand to take the arcana, but as he did, Alana pulled him closer. She was stronger than Rory remembered and he couldn’t hold back, landing in her arms.

“Someone’s eager.” Alana licked her lips, raising his chin with her finger. “I’ll have a lot of fun with you... later.”

Alana pushed him away as quickly as she had pulled him in. Rory sighed, feeling her mark on his chin.

She’s as quick as ever...

[Widow’s Mark] was a skill used by assassins to trace a target. But Alana used it to mark her toys to monitor them. Once marked... you were doomed as her toy.

Rory knew the risk but didn’t think she’d be so quick to lay her claim. Now that she had found a toy, her mood lifted. But Rory didn’t have the time to notice her.

He pushed the arcana into the top of his left palm. As it disappeared, a notification appeared before him.

[Persuasion: 11 —> 13]

...just my luck.

Instead of getting a generic stat like strength or agility, the arcana improved his existing stat. All hopes of survival diminished before him.

“Now that you know how to survive, do your best!” Alana yawned again, but not before blowing a kiss to Rory. “Especially you.”

“...”

Rory reluctantly smiled back. The person he dreaded the most might be the one who would save him. Since Alana had marked him, she wouldn’t let him die, at least that’s what he believed.

Alana stepped out, and the doors were locked behind her. At the same time, something fell with a thud. Then another and another. Suddenly, hundreds of short people fell to the ground.

“What... what are those?” someone whispered.

“More humans?” someone suggested.

“Let me check...”

A man stepped forward, squinting as he leaned closer to the short figures. Just as he was about to touch one of them, something sharp shot out and stabbed him in the neck.

“Ack—!”

The man gasped as he stumbled backward. The small creatures jumped up, stabbing the man in any place they could reach. He screamed, but the goblins’ snarls drowned out any noise he made.

Chaos broke out as people began pushing each other back. No one wanted to be the prey of the monsters. But they couldn’t run forever.

“The walls... the walls are closing in!” someone yelled.

“What!?”

People panicked, but Rory just sighed. Everything was happening like the last time. With the space decreasing, the humans would have to fight the goblins. The clash was inevitable, and only those willing to kill will survive.

But Rory didn’t have that choice.

“No weapon means no fighting,” he shrugged. “Time to suck up to someone.”

Rory rushed to the far end of the room. The goblins could sense the fear in others and target those who are afraid or panic first. Running away from the crowd will give him enough time to look for a meat shield.

As if it’ll be that easy.

Everyone was looking for powerful people to support them. Those who were strong looked for reliable or desirable people. Unfortunately, he didn’t fall into either category.

Alana might have found him cute, but that was because of his submissive attitude. The quality she found desirable was laughable to the others.

As for reliability, Rory didn’t have that either. Reliable people were those who could fend for themselves. Rory, who didn’t even have a weapon, didn’t fall into this category, either.

In his last life, people were lining up for his help as he was a priest, but now, people turned away when they saw him running their way. Even Mira was busy hugging Gray’s thigh, but even then, she only glanced at him once before turning away.

Not like Rory wanted their help. Not in this life.

Just then, Rory noticed a burly man standing ahead with a sword and was quick to use the [Inquire] skill on him.

+++

[Name: Ping Fan]

[Title: None.]

[Age: 21]

[Nature: Hardy]

[Job: Street Brawler]

[Strength: 21]

[Agility: 6]

[Stamina: 21]

[Intelligence: 6]

[Endurance: 30]

[Luck: -1]

[Magic: 0]

[Evolution: N/A]

+++

“Hey!” Rory called out. “Hey, you! The one with the sword!”

Ping Fan casually looked over, pointing at himself.

“Yes, you! Help me out, please!”

“Can you fight?” Ping Fan asked.

“Yes. But I need help first.”

Ping Fan seemed to hesitate at first, but his expression changed when he saw Rory’s pitiable face.

[User has enough Persuasion stat.]

[Targets with low intelligence can be influenced.]

[Persuasion was successful!]

“Get behind me!” Ping Fan urged, raising his sword.

Rory smiled with satisfaction. Who needs arrogant assholes when he could manipulate fools into doing his bidding? Unfortunately, he couldn’t even sigh in relief before two goblins jumped at Ping Fan.

“Watch out!” Rory shouted.

Ping Fan turned and clumsily swung the blade. Rory realized Ping Fan did not know how to wield the blade. He kept wildly swinging the blade, his lack of skill baffled even the goblins.

The farce could only last so long against agile goblins.

One goblin ducked under Ping Fan’s wild swings and stabbed his leg with a dagger. He cried out, stumbling backward. The second goblin took advantage of the situation and jumped onto him before driving its dagger into his chest.

“Dang it!”

The goblins forced Ping Fan onto the ground and kept stabbing him. A pool of blood formed around him as he struggled in vain. Soon, the sword slipped and fell from his grasp.

With the goblins busy, Rory jumped towards the sword. He might not have the stats, but he had the experience. As long as he got a weapon, he’d deal with the goblins.

However, fate had other plans. As soon as he touched the blade, it turned to dust and crumbled.

“What the hell?”

[The User can only wield class-specific weapons.]

“What weapons can I wield!?”

[None. A tamer’s weapons are his pets. You should find them.]

“...”

The commotion attracted the goblins’ attention to Rory. With a smirk, the two turned towards him. He panicked, causing the goblin’s smile to widen.

They noticed he was without a weapon and one goblin stopped the other, as if saying only one of them was enough for Rory. The other goblin shrugged and stepped back.

Rory clenched his fists, ready to face the goblin with his fists. The goblin lunged at him as Rory raised his fist, but the blow never came. Instead, someone kicked him from behind.

“Oof—“

Rory fell to the ground, with the goblin before his eyes. In that split second, he did the only thing he could, and squeezed his eyes shut, bracing for the end, praying he would reincarnate again.

He waited for the blow. And waited... and waited... but the blow never came.

Slowly, Rory opened his eyes. The goblin, who’d been eager to kill him, stood frozen before him with its hands by its sides.