Alivia acted instinctively. Threw away the fish bones, rolled to the side, back pressed against a thick birch tree trunk, eyes fixed on the canopy.
With a series of snapping branches and scattered leaves, something fell down from between the foliage. It landed heavily on the riverbank, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Alivia blinked. It wasn't an animal. It was a woman. A woman in a white lace dress.
She lay motionless, her delicate face pale, her skin incredibly smooth, standing out starkly against the dirt and sweat of the forest. There was only a small wound on her forehead.
Alivia's mind raced. A modern dress. Perfect skin. In this wild world? It could only mean one thing.
Ding! Kai's voice screamed in her mind. "Alert! High-dimensional energy invasion! 'The Chosen One' Haley Clayton has arrived!"
Information flooded Alivia's mind. Haley had the "Mary Sue halo" system. According to the original plot, she should be discovered by Cain, brought back to the tribe, and revered as a goddess. While the original Alivia would be used as a foil to perfect Haley, gradually leading to her death.
Alivia stared at the unconscious woman. She felt no sympathy. Only cold, ruthless calculation. In a world of scarce resources, Hailey's halo was a death warrant to her. Letting her live was like planting a bomb in her own backyard.
She walked up to Hailey. Killing her directly would leave a scent trail, and the werewolves would track them down. She had to be smarter.
Alivia grabbed the back of Hailey's white dress, her fingers avoiding the woman's skin to leave no trace of her own scent or hair. She began dragging.
This was torture. Hailey was heavy, and Alivia's body was already at its limit. She dragged the woman away from the creek, away from the tribe, towards the "Shadow Forest"-a place even warriors avoided due to the poisonous insects and low-level beasts that roamed there.
Thorns tore at Hailey's skirt and skin, but Alivia didn't slow down. After walking a kilometer, her legs were trembling, her vision blurred by sweat. She threw Hailey behind a thicket of brambles, where the scent of decaying leaves and animal musk would mask her tracks.
As she turned to leave, something was shining in Hailey's hair. A diamond hair clip. Modern craftsmanship. Valuable.
Alivia unhesitatingly pulled out the hairpin and stuck it into her own leather belt. In this world, resources were everything.
"Good luck, princess," she whispered coldly, "your halo won't save you here."
"Host, altering the storyline may cause unpredictable butterfly effects-" Kai began.
"I am the butterfly," Alivia interrupted him, "I'm threatening to crush it before it hatches."
She walked back, carefully breaking branches and sweeping away the drag marks with leaves, creating the illusion of a beast dragging its prey. Back by the stream, she thoroughly washed her hands.
The sun was setting. The forest at night was a death trap. She had to get back.
She sneaked back into the village, moving through the shadows. But the moment she stepped onto the edge of the central plaza, she knew trouble was coming. Dozens of hostile eyes turned toward her.
