“There you are!” Max exclaimed. In the dark pub, he recognised Cy sitting at a small table from the moment he opened the door. Opposite him was BB with her head on the table and six empty pitchers in front of her. “It took me a while to find you guys.”

  “I thought I told you to stay put?” Cy’s voice showed irritation.

  Max ignored him while he grabbed another round of beer for them. He also gestured to the barkeep to give a round to all of BB’s crew, who replied with a rowdy chorus of celebration. A nice present from the purse of the recently deceased.

  “I thought you said I would be dead by sunset? It’s already dark.”

  “Is it?” Cy appeared genuinely surprised. He leapt up from his seat to the door, swinging it open to show a twilight sky illuminating a quaint harbour town. Out of Max’s earshot, he began muttering to himself in confusion.

  “How’s it going, BB?” Max took a seat next to her. “Finish your story yet?”

  Suddenly alert, BB looked up to see Cy was coming back to her seat. “He ain’t drunk enough yet for us to talk properly.” Her voice was hushed and slurred, making it almost impossible to understand. “What happened to your voice?”

  “A nasty cold. And don’t worry about Cy. He already knows.” What had they been talking about over the last few hours? Max wondered as he took a sip of the beer. His throat hadn’t recovered enough for his throat to handle the bubbles, making him splutter.

  She sobered up in an instant. “You took on a penalty?”

  “Turned out he already knew.” Cy rejoined their table and begrudgingly took a glass from him. “Isn’t that, right? You know about the system and our stories.”

  “I told you to stay outside of the town. What if someone like you came along?”

  “Someone like Max?” BB asked, confused.

  “Someone already did.” Max pulled out the metallic tool and handed it to BB. “Here, a present. This side vibrates when the other side is pointed to people doing a story. Closer you are, the stronger it is.” BB moved her wrist. When it pointed towards Max, it began to vibrate. “Cy can see us from a glance, and I got something similar, so I don’t need it. It’s yours if you want it.”

  BB looked at the tool for a long time before cracking a smile at Max. He pleasantly smiled back. “We meet up after all this time, and you’re giving me a vibrator?” His smile dropped as it dawned on him what BB was saying. “If only I found someone to use it with.”

  Max avoided eye contact. “Still unsuccessful?”

  “For now,” Cy interrupted the moment. “But we’re going to help you get your girl.” Oh? There was a level of authority and confidence in his voice that wasn’t there before. “Do you have anyone in mind? If I can look at her fate-”

  “Hold on,” BB stopped, as she began gulping down on the newest glass of beer before her. “We’ve got bigger problems,” she gestured over to Max. “You know there’s a hunt for you?”

  “Yes.”

  “And that I now have a countdown to kill you”

  “Mn.”

  “So, one of us only has three days left to live.”

  “Less than that,” Cy interjected, causing them to raise their eyebrows. “But not tonight. Whatever happened while I was gone? It changed your fate.”

  “More runes,” Max confirmed before leisurely showing the slip of parchment, which killed 50042. Cy’s eyes twitched when he saw it. The death rune was recognisable for him. Good.

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  Unaware of the meanings, BB kept a light expression. “Those are some fancy runes. By the way, thanks for this,” BB showed the painting tucked neatly in her boot. “Done me a real treat. But unfortunately, it didn’t kick up any weird messages from the system.”

  “Then it looks like I might just have to put a pin in it until I can get to my next life. We figured out that the anagram was ‘Rebel Against the System.’ But who the fuck knows what that means,” Max grumbled. He hadn’t seen any weird messages from the system after the story began. Was it only for people delaying the process of choosing a story? “How well has the portrait worked?”

  “I can spend a whole week on land before getting a warning from the system.”

  “What day are you on now?”

  “Day two. Would’ve been day one if you guys hadn’t been late.”

  “Sorry.” Both Max and Cy said at the same time before the atmosphere got a bit strange again.

  Ignoring the mood, BB continued. “Well, if it came to you versus me, I’ll take the out. This life just hasn’t worked out for me,” BB lamented.

  “I thought you had a small fortune?”

  “A big one,” BB corrected. “I bought another island to store it all... Oh yeah,” BB whistled before one of her guys emerged from one of the neighbouring tables. “Go grab the bags of cash for Max and Cy.” She gave them a wink. “Just your share from the Leviathan.” The crewmate groaned before swiftly obeying the order of his captain.

  “Thanks, we really appre-”

  “Getting back to finding you a girl-”

  “Oh, by the way, Navy is gone.”

  The three looked at each other, trying to figure out which direction the conversation between the three of them should go. Through eye contact with each other, it was unanimously agreed for BB to continue.

  “We had just made dock,” she began with a dramatic voice. She knew she was carrying piping hot tea for them. Unconsciously, the guys leaned forward to hear the tale. “It was a dark and stormy night. Up by the abandoned cliffs near Kaso, we were doing our best to steer through the storm.”

  A loud bang at their table caused Max and Cy to jump. A member of BB’s crew laughed at their reaction before leaving behind three new pints and two bags of cash for them.

  BB grinned from her crewmate’s timing. “Anyway, there was a crash of thunder before the rain suddenly stopped. Not lightened, just… completely stopped.” Max nodded in understanding. He had a good idea where this story was going. Edric didn’t like getting his hair wet. “And then the waters calmed. It was unnatural. Before I could get the crew to their stations, we were swarmed by people in some kind of modern uniform.”

  “Were they dark with baggy bottoms and tighter shirts?” BB nodded grimly while Max beamed with pride. They were still going with his old design. Soon the pride turned into slight embarrassment. He had learned a lot from his last life about clothing… Ellie would’ve been ashamed to see his handiwork. “Go on,” Max took a sip of his beer to hide some of his face.

  “There was a rich looking guy in charge, definitely one of us. His hair was so silky compared to people here.”

  “Elder Edric,” Cy said with confidence. Max nodded in agreement.

  “He’s an old friend of mine,” Max added.

  BB stopped mid-sip. “He’s your friend? Strange friend you got.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “He broke Calico Shaq’s nose.” BB raised her drink towards one of his passed-out crewmates on a table. “To be fair though, it looks a lot better now. Almost as if he had a nose job.”

  “Edric…” Max struggled for words. Almost anyway he phrased it would sound bad in front of Cy. “He has less… concern for local people in worlds.” Oh uh, Cy looked angry. “He’ll get a big shock later when you tell him about before people.”

  “Before?”

  “We’ll explain later,” Max reassured her.

  “Not much more to the story. Navy recognised him and decided to jump ships. He asked for my name, confirmed I knew you, and then he left without a fuss.”… That didn’t sound right. Edric caused enough trouble to injure someone, but didn’t offer any compensation? Max was going to have a word with him later. “So, what’s this before?”

  “You want to explain, Cy?” Max let him lead the way with his explanation as he watched BB struggle to understand.

  “You’re saying, people like us are not unique?” She scoffed at the idea.

  “Look on the bright side, maybe you dated the same girl multiple times,” Cy tried to create positive vibes only to be met with an ugly face.

  “No. That’s not possible. One girl for one life,” BB said sternly.

  Cy was about to argue back when Max decided to jump in. BB wasn’t ready for her reality to be questioned. “It’s our running theory right now.” He tried to keep the peace between them.

  “It’s the truth,” Cy snipped back.

  “I know! Try to understand-”

  “Is it really too hard for you lot to understand we have meaning too?”

  “I never said anything like that,” Max huffed back.

  BB looked back and forth between them. “Things are a little tense between you two, huh?”

  “It’s nothing.” Max answered while Cy rolled his eyes. “I get that you’re pissed-”

  “Who said anything about me being pissed-”

  “Ohhh, what did he do?” BB stirred the pot. She was about to jump out of her seat with enthusiasm.

  Cy answered with a straight face. “Tried to kill me with an axe and got my mentor killed in the process.”

  The words hit Max hard.

  BB closed her eyes and gave some sympathetic nods. “Alright, I know what you need. You two come with me.”