“Do I really need to do this?”

  “I don’t know,” BB paused as she admired her handiwork. “What do you think Cy?”

  “More cream.” Cy wasn’t even looking in their direction. He was relaxing in the most comfortable wicker chair within the seaside town’s bougiest inn. BB had rented out the whole establishment for a few nights as a treat for her, her crew, and her two reunited friends. With hair covered in bits of foil and dye, a face covered in another kind of cream, and a slice of cucumber over each eye; Cy was living his best life. “His skin is as dry as it comes.”

  “It’s not that bad,” Max murmured.

  “Hmm,” BB’s tone showed her judgement and where her loyalties lay in this conversation. “What about this mop?” BB picked up a chunk of Max’s hair, who remained sitting uncomfortably on the floor. “We can’t just leave it like this. We’re not in the stone age anymore.”

  “Agreed.” Cy finally got up, took the cucumber off of his eyes, and began stripping his hair of the foil that was suggested by BB. “Let me wash this dye off first.”

  “Let me help.” BB leapt up to help remove the layers. The tips of Cy’s hair were now a much stronger purple. With new additional highlights, it made his appearance more outlandish. Who knew his washed out hair when they first met was unnatural? “These are coming out great.”

  “Homemade recipe.” Cy beamed. It was the happiest Max had seen him since before he tried to kill him. “I’ve been meaning to redye it for ages.”

  “If only we could get our hands on some bleach,” BB let out a sigh as she touched her own dark, curly hair. Cy gave a slightly puzzled look but clearly chalked it up to just being something the cookie remembering-reincarnators used. “I would join you in a heartbeat if the dye was visible with my kind of hair.”

  “We can still give it a go?” Cy offered.

  “Okay,” BB smiled, as she returned to her spot. Without hesitation, she slathered more cream over Max’s face. The moment Cy left the room, BB’s fa?ade came down in an instant. “Quit your bitchin’. It’s just a bit of moisturiser. This could have been so much worse for you.”

  Max couldn’t say much in reply. She was right. Originally, when BB moved them here to this private space, she did so with the intention of letting Cy get revenge. An eye for an eye. An axe wound for an axe wound. They can always heal later was her argument. Max had gritted his teeth and was willing to go through with it. The only one against the idea was Cy. Apparently, it was bad timing to do something so extreme. It didn’t take long for Cy to settle on a spa day paid for by Max’s share from the leviathan. The idea suited everyone, aside from a reluctant Max. Even Max’s voice seemed to agree to these terms, as it healed dramatically while they spent hours shopping for supplies.

  “At least Cy seems to be having a good time… So, why did you kill his mentor?”

  “I didn’t mean to,” Max insisted. “He just got caught up in everything when I was trying to kill Cy.”

  BB took a second to take in what he just said. “Man, you fucked up.”

  “Worse than that.” Max indicated for her to come closer in case Cy came back. “He wasn’t just a mentor. He was Cy’s adoptive father-”

  Before he could continue, BB sharply hit his arm. “You fucking killed his dad?” She hissed.

  “I didn’t mean to!” He reminded her.

  “What do you mean you didn’t mean to? People like us need to be more careful-”

  “The guy was a complete menace. He had the ability to see into people’s pasts, in detail-”

  “Oh, boohoo bitch,” BB grabbed a ton more cream and began smashing it into his face. There was so much cream now that it was dripping off his face. “You’re so damn lucky to be getting away with just a spa day. This one even has a nice smell.”

  “I still can’t smell properly.” Max scrunched up his face at the idea of it coming back. “And are you sure? Not many things in this world smell good.”

  “What are you talking about?” BB asked, confused. “If anything, you’re the one who smelled too strongly when we first met. There’s nothing wrong with how things smell in this world… Maybe your nose is broken.”

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

  “His nose is broken?” Cy returned with a soaked head and carrying a bucket of water. “Also, BB, can you help make sure I got all of it out?”

  “On it.” BB began carefully going through his hair. “Apparently, everything stinks to him.” Cy gave a pointed frown in Max’s direction. “But sometimes our bodies come out wonky… Maybe you’ve got a tooth problem?”

  Cy’s disappointed face turned into pure confusion. “That’s a completely different…”

  “I don’t think so?” Max looked around for something he could use as a mirror. The moment he saw his reflection in the small mirror they made him buy earlier, he jumped from seeing the amount of cream on his face. It took him a second to get over his appearance and looked into his mouth. “I can’t see anything…”

  “Your health assessment indicated a couple of cavities, if that’s what you’re looking for.” Cy was still struggling to understand the connection.

  “You know the results of my health report?” Max was suddenly a little excited. It was one of things he had been curious about for a long time but couldn’t do anything about it because of the damn system.

  “Elder Darius showed it to me after the vote,” Cy admitted. “He’s allergic to celery,” he told BB.

  BB grinned. “Should I go whip up a Bloody Mary for Max?”

  “What? I thought we weren’t going to hit him?”

  “It’s a cocktail,” Max interrupted. The bad side of Cy knowing the truth meant both of them just weren’t being as careful with avoiding modern jargon. “It’s mostly made of vodka and tomato juice. Usually, it comes with a stalk of celery.” Cy nodded along as if he understood.

  “Best way to learn is through taste,” BB leapt up. “You two stay here. Max, get ready to have an allergic reaction.”

  Max let out a sigh. Cy didn’t seem too thrilled either. After a few minutes of silence, Max finally thought of something to start a conversation between them. “What else did my health report say?”

  “Not much to be honest.” Max tried his best to keep a neutral face, as Cy pulled out a pair of scissors. “Your cholesterol level was a little higher than expected, and your knees are not the best for your age…”

  “The knees again, huh?” Max grimaced. As much as he had enjoyed his last life with Ellie, the ending was getting a little rough with how sore they were. It was one of the few reliefs of waking up in Bessie’s field.

  “Again?” Cy asked, a little curious. Wielding a pair of scissors, he looked a little menacing. “You had problems with them last time?”

  “Mn.” Max didn’t move, while Cy picked up a chunk of his hair. Was he being serious right now? At first, he thought about resisting before realising what it would mean. More frustration from Cy. More pressure from BB to comply when she got back. More likely that the pair would attempt cutting his hair while tipsier. He winced slightly when he heard his hair being cut.

  “I’m surprised you’re letting me cut your hair,” Cy admitted. “You kicked up a fuss when I tried to put some gel in it last time.”

  Max felt that admitting the real reason was not a good idea. “It’s time to get it cut anyway…” Seeing the clumps of hair on the floor around him was a bit of a shock. It was going to be shorter than he expected. “Do you think we can change BB’s story and complete it before the deadline?”

  “Maybe…” Cy was a lot less confident compared to earlier today. “Her completion is something about treasure… A treasure could be interpreted in a lot of ways- Ah, sorry. I cut that bit too short.”

  “That’s okay,” Max said, through gritted teeth. “You can cut more to just level it out.” The idea of going bald wasn’t too appealing to him while winter was approaching. But he’d rather be bald than have the awkwardness between them continue.

  “Who wants some improvised Bloody Marys!” BB came back with a little too much enthusiasm.

  “BB, what exactly is the goal for your story?” Max asked, as he took the cup for him. Cy sniffed suspiciously at the one for him, he looked unimpressed.

  “Find the most valuable treasure,” BB scowled before chugging half of her Bloody Mary. “Such bullshit. Love is the most valuable treasure of them all. Who gives a damn about money?”

  “Who said it had to be money?” Cy asked. His mind was elsewhere as the scissors snipped away, making Max nervous. BB’s face was also uncertain, as she watched the process.

  “That’s what I originally thought too, but all of my sub-goals are pointing towards money.”

  “Does a sub-goal define the goal?”

  “Not necessarily…”

  “Let’s try to do both,” Max suggested. “There must be a desperate, rich woman somewhere out there for you. You could probably find someone like that, right Cy?”

  “Maybe…”

  “I don’t know,” BB admitted with a sigh. “I know you’re doing a high level-”

  “Six-stars,” Max interrupted.

  “… There’s a six-stars?”

  “Apparently, if you piss the system off enough.”

  BB weighed up the idea before coming to the conclusion he could be right. Otherwise, why were his penalties so difficult to severe? Still, she didn’t look convinced. “Look, I know you’ve only completed four stories-”

  Cy suddenly dropped the pair of scissors causing Max to leap out of his skin. “Come on,” he complained. “If you’re going to cut my hair, at least focus on it a little more.”

  “You’ve only completed four?” Cy asked. There was something about his voice… Oh no. He can see.

  “That’s right,” BB confirmed. She completely ignored the face Max was making. Not that she could see his expression clearly anyway since it was still buried under all that cream.

  “Then… you’ve completed seventy-two?” Cy asked. BB’s face showed her shock as she nodded. “53 one-stars and 19 two-stars?”

  “How did you know?” She was in awe. “You really are a psychic.”

  “You’ve done 2 one-stars, a three-stars, and a five-stars?”

  Max tried to change the subject. “Why don’t we wash off this moisturiser-”

  “Then what are the other numbers?” Cy said, puzzled. His stare was intense, as his mouth moved slightly. Was he counting? Max was about to leap up when BB’s presence kept him still. Resisting now would only make the situation worse. “… 1,423… Is that how many lives you’ve had?”