selfish. [ jack/naib ]

chapter 1.

The mercenary panted as he ran around the shack, careful to not trip over Smiley Face's rocket parts. His heart beating at the speed of light as he slammed the wooden board down onto the hunter. Smiley Face groaned in pain and frustration as the mercenary slipped away again. The mercenary grinned as he made his way swiftly to the exit gate where the doctor was waiting.

"Thanks for waiting as always, Emily." The mercenary gave the lady a small smile.

"No problem. It's the least I can do, Naib." Emily smiled back as the two headed back to the manor.

Back in the manor, everyone prepared themselves for dinner. Naib came out of the shower feeling refreshed and headed down to the dining hall, where he saw William already seated and waiting excitedly for the dinner. William spotted Naib and waved enthusiastically, as Naib chuckled and took a seat next to him.

"Hey bro! Heard you got a four-man escape again!" William gave Naib a pat on the back, grinning. Naib nodded and grinned back.

"I wish we got more of a challenge once in a while though." Naib sighed, though he was relieved there was no stress. William faked a shocked gasp, continuing to tell Naib about the matches he had with the Feaster and how he almost didn't make it out.

One by one, the survivors gathered in the dining hall and enjoyed their dinner of lamb stew with rice. Though Naib had to admit the food wasn't first-class, he was glad the manor provided proper meals. As everyone finished their dinner and headed back to their rooms, they were expected to write about their matches in their allocated diaries. The mercenary headed back to his room, taking a seat as he opened up a book with the words 'Naib Subedar' written on it. He jotted down details of the match he had today quickly and headed to bed, hoping tomorrow he'll have good luck on the matches too...

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During this time, the hunters were also having their own rest/dinner time. Smiley Face was complaining about how the mercenary had been set free and kited him for the remaining 3 ciphers.

"I got him after so much struggle, but he got set free and I couldn't do anything about it! His elbow pads are annoying to deal with." Smiley Face sighed, stuffing a mouthful of stew into his mouth.

"Maybe if you stopped crashing into obstacles, you could catch up to the survivors!" Fan Wujiu laughed, earning a growl from Smiley Face.

Jack listened intently. The mercenary huh?

"I volunteer for the up-coming match tomorrow," Jack spoke up. The room turned silent. Jack waited for a response as everyone glanced at each other worriedly.

"Are you sure? After what happened..." Xie Bi'an, who had switched places with Wujiu, spoke up.

"I'll... control myself." Jack assured everyone, but mostly himself. He still felt bad for what he had done. No one disagreed, so Jack took on the next match.