My Scumbag System - Chapter 262

Chapter 262: My Apex Predator Teammate Can’t Be This Cute
The simulation cut out. One second I was burning shadow monsters in a subway tunnel, the next I was staring at the acoustic tile of the ceiling, its gray surface peppered with water stains from some unseen leak. The low, steady hum of the building’s climate control vibrated through the pod’s frame.

Ugh. Reality.

The basement smelled like burnt electronics and expensive cleaning products. You know that smell rich tech companies have? Like they’re trying to mask the scent of overworked circuits with lemon-scented lies? Yeah. That.

My body still remembered the simulation. The phantom weight of claws ripping across my back. The heat from my own flames cooking my skin. Skylar’s smoke wrapping around me like living fog. Weird how your brain holds onto fake pain.

Speaking of Skylar.

She was already out of her pod, shaking her pink and indigo hair loose. The girl moved like a cat burglar, all quiet confidence. Her small frame didn’t match the absolute carnage she’d unleashed in that simulation. For half a second, her guard dropped. Something soft flickered across her face.

Then it was gone.

“You didn’t completely suck,” she said.

I pressed my fingers to my temples where the neural interface had been. Little electric tingles danced under my skin. “Wow. Bubblegum, I’m touched. Should I write a thank-you speech? Maybe rent a hall?”

She rolled her eyes, but the usual venom wasn’t there. The air between us had shifted. We weren’t friends. Friends implied I gave a shit about warm fuzzy feelings. This was more like… professional courtesy between two apex predators. Skylar didn’t respect people. The fact that she even looked at me without her trademark sneer? That meant something.

The others started crawling out of their pods. Carmen, our criminally inappropriate TA, practically launched herself out of hers. Her blouse was unbuttoned just enough to qualify as a dress code violation. Her eyepatch sat crooked on her face and she was grinning like a maniac.

Juan stumbled after her looking like death warmed over. The guy’s face had gone from his usual bored expression to full-on “I’ve seen things” territory. Sweat plastered his messy hair to his skull. His skin had that special greenish tint you only get from extreme nausea.

“That,” he said, leaning against the wall like it was the only thing keeping him upright, “was hell. Pure, concentrated hell. Dante was wrong. The seventh circle isn’t violence. It’s roller coasters with flying sharks.”

“Nah, sixth circle at best,” Carmen said, slapping his back hard enough to make him wheeze. Her hand lingered on his shoulder. “The seventh would’ve had lava. And definitely tentacles.”

Juan looked at her like she’d just confessed to serial murder. “You’re enjoying this. My suffering brings you actual joy.”

“Guilty,” she chirped.

Emi bounced over to us. Her sapphire hair bobbed with each step, those weird antenna strands practically vibrating. The girl radiated pure sunshine energy. Her reddish eyes sparkled like she’d just witnessed the birth of a new galaxy instead of a training simulation.

“Satori! That was incredible!” She waved her arms around, nearly smacking Soomin in the face. The movement made her chest bounce in a way that would’ve gotten any male student expelled for staring. “The simulation felt so real! I could actually feel my Aspect working! And Soomin-chan was amazing!”

She grabbed Soomin’s hand and yanked the poor girl forward. Soomin’s eyes went wide with panic, and she tried to shrink behind Emi’s arm.

“Soomin knew where every enemy was hiding! She sensed this huge bear monster before it could ambush us!” Emi squeezed Soomin’s hand. “You saved our lives like five times!”

Soomin’s face turned the exact shade of her pink hair. She tried to fold in on herself. “It wasn’t special. Any sensory Aspect user could do it.” She stared at her shoes like they held the secrets of the universe. Her pigtails swung forward to hide her face. “Emi-san’s healing was incredible. I got hit by a monster and the pain just vanished. Green light and boom, instant recovery.”

So, the hyperactive healer and the timid sensor were a package deal. Emi’s relentless positivity seemed to bypass Soomin’s social anxiety entirely. A useful symbiosis. An emotionally dependent healer is a controllable one.

“What about you guys?” Emi turned those sparkling eyes on me and Skylar. “Carmen-sensei said you picked a super hard scenario!”

Skylar cut in before I could answer. “We didn’t die. That’s the bar.” She straightened her spine, a subtle shift in her weight betraying an effort to stand taller.

So, she was proud of it. Interesting.

I glanced at her. She was avoiding eye contact, fiddling with her headphone cord.The girl who pretended she didn’t care about anything was actually invested.

“Shadow monsters,” I said, keeping my tone casual. “They only took damage from light. My fire, her smoke. We figured it out.”

No need to mention how we’d moved like a single organism. How her illusions had distracted the monsters while my flames roasted them. How for a few minutes we’d been a perfect killing machine.

“Figured it out?” Carmen raised her eyebrow. Her visible eye gleamed. “You two set a new record. Broke the previous time by almost three minutes. That’s not ‘figuring it out,’ that’s domination.”

“Lucky AI glitch. The monsters probably got confused.”

“What about you two?” Emi asked, looking at Carmen and the very green Juan.

“Don’t,” Juan groaned. He closed his eyes and swallowed hard. Fresh sweat broke out on his forehead. “High-speed chase. Roller coaster. Flying sharks. I threw up. Virtually, but my body believed it. Every drop of nausea, zero physical evidence. Technology is a curse.”

“It was awesome!” Carmen grinned, patting his back hard enough to make him sway. “The sharks had laser beams! Frickin’ laser beams! Ten out of ten, would ride again.”

“You’re a sadist.”

“Part of my charm.” Carmen winked at him. Her fingers trailed down his arm before she let go. “Now come on, kids! Shopping time!”