Wow… Wow!

  I was on fire? I was on fire! Why wasn’t I burning?!

  Wait… this had to be the passive effect of the flame manipulation skill card. Skill card, originator card—what was the point of the originator part? No one thought of the skills those cards provided as separate things.

  Well, whatever. Skill cards sounded cooler to me.

  Moving on… I placed my hand on my hip—oh. No clothes.

  I blinked, inhaling deeply. Stay calm…

  Don’t panic… Keep your—

  WHAT DO YOU MEAN, DON’T PANIC?! I’M NAKED!

  Wait, I could acquire more skills. But I wasn’t about to waste precious skill points on a clothing skill. Then, an idea struck me.

  I scrolled through my available skills, searching for one that generated flames. There was one… but I needed to be a certain level—

  Also, I wanted to change how my level-up notifications looked. I was tired of this status nonsense popping up every time I gained a level—

  Level: 18

  What?

  Level: 19

  Huh?

  Level: 20

  I blinked in confusion… then realization hit me. Everything around me was on fire.

  A mischievous grin spread across my face as possibilities flooded my mind. But no… that would endanger innocent bystanders, including Hessien and the other two. There was a fire suppression skill, but that wasn’t my priority. What I needed was Fire Skin.

  It cost four skill points. I purchased it immediately.

  Alright! Fire Skin!

  …Hmm. Didn’t feel any different. But that was probably because I was already engulfed in flames.

  Now, to deal with the raging forest fire.

  I rubbed my chin, considering whether to take the fire suppression skill. Too darn expensive.

  Then, brilliance struck.

  Pushing the limits and boundaries, huh?

  I raised my hands to the sky and commanded, “Fireball!”

  Just like against the Spider Woman, I focused on using the surrounding flames to create a fireball. The flames obeyed, rising into the air.

  There was just one tiny issue…

  It was heavy. Very, very heavy.

  I grunted, pouring everything I had into lifting it higher. But it moved at a ridiculously slow pace.

  Drained, I collapsed onto the ground. That had taken all my energy points… or had it?

  I glanced at my hand, still engulfed in roaring flames. Fire Skin.

  Excellent.

  Forcing myself to stand, I inspected my body.

  I was like the Human Torch! But wait—if I was out of energy points, that meant the flames would die down soon. Honestly, I was shocked they hadn’t vanished instantly.

  I threw my head back and yelled, “Yamanda! Please give me some clothes!”

  …Three seconds passed.

  Why didn’t she appear conveniently?

  Oh god. Don’t tell me the forest fire scared her off…

  She probably ran away.

  Then, at the tip of my finger, I noticed the fire was gone.

  Frustrated, I stomped over to a burnt tree, hoping to find something to use as covering. Found nothing.

  After four minutes, with the flames now shrunk to just my neck and thighs, I admitted defeat.

  Plan B.

  I dug a hole, got in it, and covered myself with dirt. Now, I just had to wait an hour for my energy points to regenerate.

  …Actually, since I had doubled my level, maybe it would take less time?

  I turned off Fire Skin—it was pointless now—and checked my energy bar.

  Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

  Wait a second.

  When did it become that insane?!

  It wasn’t double or triple the size—it was ten times larger. Sitting at 100… and already regenerating.

  Four points per minute. That explained why Fire Skin hadn’t vanished instantly but had instead shrunk—it consumed five energy points per minute, and my regeneration was keeping up.

  I could already tell I was going to lose my mind from all the brain damage these skills would cause. But according to Tanya, there was a way to avoid that fate. I still had a long way to go… but I didn’t want to take any risks. I’d have to prioritize acquiring the time reversal skill soon.

  With nothing else to do, I found myself humming old tunes from Earth. It’s a shame I’ll never get to hear Rustage make a song for Asa. At least there had been one for Makima and Denji.

  "Tell a bitch... Uvah... Step up to this bitch—I look too fly... I showed the bitch my pen... tried to... Doechi Doechi.. Body so attractive, y'all be giving catfish.. Da daa daa..." I couldn't remember the rest. My favourite song—my memory was sometimes shit.

  "Nananana... This whores ain't phasing me... Dead to me... Dead to me... nannana. These whores ain't phasing me..." My head danced side to side. Hessien's third favourite song. I got him hooked after forcing him to listen to my Spotify playlist.

  Vacinay only listened to anime music and K-pop, so I couldn't correct her inferior music taste.

  I drummed my fingers against the dirt, thinking. What if I get Future Sight? It cost a hefty five points, and I only had four left.

  But then—

  Level up: 21

  The amount of energy it took for me to level up again had to be massive. That probably meant a lot of people had succumbed to the flames.

  …Best not to dwell on that.

  It was an accident!

  Twelve minutes had passed, and my level-up increased my EP regeneration to five points per minute.

  I wonder how that works… Did leveling up boost my brain’s capacity so I could survive more brain damage?

  Regardless, I set myself ablaze, adjusting the skill’s application to keep my face visible. With a few swift movements, I free myself from the dirt and step onto the scorched ground, reigniting it instantly.

  Now, I needed to find Yamanda. I probably had to get the Fire Immunity Cast skill—it cost four skill points—to prevent my clothes from burning every time I use this skill.

  As I wandered about, I hoped my burning body would act as a beacon for her.

  Then it hit me—since I could control which parts of my body ignited, I probably didn’t need fire immunity just yet.

  Future Sight seemed like the better investment. The moment I activated it, my eyes felt… different.

  “What are you doing…?” Yamanda asked from a safe distance.

  Oh! That was easy.

  “I got a fire skill, burned my clothes, need clothes. Please.”

  Fire Skin did a decent job of covering me, but I still felt naked.

  Yamanda sighed, and in front of me, a set of leather armor materialized. Well, if it was metal, the heat probably would have fused it to my skin.

  “Thanks. Now give me some priva—oh, wait! I can freeze time!”

  Upon freezing time, I noticed the flames surrounding me had frozen too. I had to create a non-frozen time ‘bubble’ (since the fire was touching me, I just focused on unfreezing it—heh) to unfreeze and deactivate the flames before dressing. Oh, she even teleported some undergarments. How considerate!

  The red moon spotted underwear was baggy... but beggers weren't choosers. Granny panties.

  After getting dressed, I checked myself out. The brown leather armor suited me pretty well, but I wanted more freedom for my new skill. Using my now super-strong fingernails, I cut away the arm and leg armor from the elbow and knee down.

  “Done,” I declared.

  Yamanda raised an eyebrow. “So… you burned down the forest after gaining fire control?”

  I scratched my head sheepishly. “It was… an accident. You teleported me in front of a super-strong spider woman, and well… that happened.”

  “Oh, right. Sorry about that. I did wonder why I sensed two people in one body.”

  Sense, huh.

  “So, what are your new skills?” she asked.

  “Fireball and Fire Skin.”

  She nodded approvingly. “Good choice.”

  “I guess my next step is either getting a skill to make my clothes fireproof or finding flame-resistant clothing.”

  “The latter would be better,” she advised.

  “Oh, so they exist,” I mused.

  “Of course…” Her gaze drifted toward the charred remains of the forest.

  I hesitated before asking, “That’s not going to cause any legal or political issues, right?”

  “I hope not. At least the half-men scared off the wildlife, so I doubt any animals were here to get hurt or lose their homes.”

  That’s a relief. Maybe that’s why they turned to cannibalism—it was either that or veganism.

  Yamanda clapped her hands together. “Want me to teleport you to the others? They’re getting whooped a little.”

  Oh? That was unexpected. I grinned. “Yeah, send me.”

  With her usual seamless teleportation, I found myself standing in a very green forest. Good to know my destruction hadn’t been too extensive.

  “Come back here!” Vacinay lunged at a man built like a crustacean, swinging her sword toward his head. He barely dodged.

  He stretched a hand toward her, but she reacted instantly, shifting into a small cat in less than a second, evading his hand.

  In that same instant, she reverted to her human form and hurled the sword at him like a seasoned warrior.

  Did she acquire a weapon proficiency skill?

  Her movements were almost elegant—then she descended into a blind rage, slashing and hacking at everything except him.

  Ghomas sprang from a tree behind the half-man. "Got you!"

  A bolt of lightning shot toward their opponent, striking him squarely. He tumbled back but recovered quickly, dodging Vacinay’s attempt to behead him.

  "Weak! When I get you, I’ll skin you alive, season you, and the girl? I’ll use her head as a basketball an—"

  Oh, it’s my time to shine.

  With a sudden burst of speed, my knife plunged into his chest. The momentum sent him flying backward like he was hit by a damn truck.

  “Gah!” He screeched.

  “Since when… What level are you?” Vacinay asked, narrowing her eyes.

  I smirked. “Twenty-one.”

  “Bullshit!” Ghomas barked.

  “You expect me to believe that crap?” Vacinay snapped.

  Ignoring them, I turned to the half-man. “Is he the one who cut you up?” I asked Vacinay.

  “Ignoring what I said, huh? Whatever. No, when we found the bastard, he blew a whistle and ran. A bunch of guys came out to defend him while he booked it down the hill.”

  Interesting. He must command some respect here.

  “I see, I see,” I muttered.

  Hessien fired his spear gun, punching a hole straight through the man's head.

  I looked at him awkwardly.

  “He tried to cut off my balls and said he was going to bake them,” he said.

  …Oh.

  Vacinay, now covered in blood, took off running down the hill. “Let’s find that scumbag!”

  I shrugged and followed. All her wounds were healing at an absurd rate. I remembered saying her ‘shape-shifting’ was just transformations, but honestly, it seemed like something more—especially with that self-repair ability.

  I wondered if my theory about desires affecting skills was true. Honestly, it probably is.

  After sprinting and leaping over fallen trees and massive boulders, we arrived at a new location.

  Vacinay skidded to a halt and pointed forward. “Am I seeing this too?”

  Built into the mountain was a massive cavern entrance, guarded by over forty half-men.

  I frowned. “What'd you think they're protecing down there?”

  Hessien grinned. “Loot?”

  Then, one of the half-men spoke. “Is that the last batch?”

  Another nodded. “Yeah, for today. Next batch has to be babies and pregnant women though. Boss orders.”

  A third scoffed. “What a waste of food…”

  ...

  I rose to my feet, extending my hand forward. A massive fireball, four meters in diameter, materialized as I bellowed, “DIEEEEEEEEEEEEE!”