Kaira stared at the shimmering blue screen floating in front of her with the intensity of someone reading the terms and conditions of her own resurrection.
Her fingers twitched in disbelief. Her jaw hung loose. Her eyes might have been dry... she wasn't sure she had blinked in the last full minute.
[Luxury Bath & Body Starter Set - Redeemable Items:
* Body wash
* Body scrub
* Facial cleanser
* Exfoliating glove
* Shampoo
* Hair mask
* Scalp massager
* Body lotion
* Face moisturizer
* Bathrobe
* Towel set
* Razor + shaving cream]
Kaira slowly released her breath.
"…System."
"Yes?" the puffball chimed sweetly.
"This-" she pointed at the digital list floating in front of her, "-is real, right? You are not trolling me, right? This isn't some weird hallucination from exhaustion? I'm really getting all this?"
The system let out a dramatic sigh. "My dear Host, how dare you doubt my sincerity?"
Kaira narrowed her eyes.
The system burst into giggles. "Okay okay - yes, this is real. Though," it added smugly, "you should know that this is only the incomplete luxury set."
Kaira blinked. "Incomplete."
"Mm-hm!"
"As in… what? There's a more luxurious version?"
"Oh absolutely! You missed out on so many premium items." The system informed her proudly. "Because you failed to meet all the criteria for a full mission clear."
Her eye twitched.
Ignoring her, the system continued, "Let me list what you are not receiving."
Kaira braced herself.
"Aromatherapy shower gel-"
She inhaled sharply.
"Essential oil-"
Her eyes widened.
"Loofah, the fluffy type not the hard one! Hair serum infused with wildflower nectar. Perfume - oh the scent is divine! - tonic water-"
"STOP." Kaira sliced her hand through the air.
The system spoke innocently. "But there are still more-"
"No," she said. "I get it. I missed out on heaven."
"You did," the system chirped. "Spectacularly."
Kaira exhaled slowly, reminding herself that strangling the system - no matter how fluffy - would probably count as a mission failure.
Even without the missing items, the reward she was getting felt unreal. Her fingers trembled slightly as she hit the 'redeem' option.
Without waiting for the system to say anything snarky, she marched downhill toward the stream she had passed earlier.
Her steps grew lighter as she walked, her mind unexpectedly soothed by the calm night. With her heightened senses and the original owner's memories, she knew exactly where she was heading.
Her cave was located at the farthest edge of the tribe... far from the crowded area of the tribe, tucked far enough that even the nearest cave was ten minutes away.
Seclusion. Peace. Silence.
It was exactly how Kaira liked it.
A scientist who craved focus.
An assassin who thrived in shadows.
A woman who disliked unnecessary interactions.
This cave's location was… oddly perfect for her.
The soft rush of water met her ears before she saw it, and when the trees parted, the moonlight reflected off the gentle stream like liquid silver. Smooth stones lined the shallow banks - large rocks stood scattered across the water like stepping points.
She scanned the surroundings automatically as it was an old habit. There were no visible threats. No movement. No scents except wild herbs and damp stone. Good.
She exhaled, relieved.
Now came the ugly part.
She untied the makeshift hide she was wearing and pulled it off her body.
She gagged instantly.
"Oh my god-WHY," she wheezed, arm flailing in front of her face.
The smell hit her like a blunt weapon. Thick. Sour. Ancient. Like something died, resurrected, and died again.
She almost hurled the hide into the stream out of pure panic, but forced herself to stop.
"Wait-wait-no," she muttered, pinching her nose. "This stupid hide is the least disgusting one she owned. I can't waste it. Not until I make proper clothes."
She inhaled strategically - short breaths through her mouth - and forced her brain into rational mode. She crouched by the bank, grabbed a smooth, flat stone, then picked several herbs she recognized from earlier.
Scrub. Wash. Rinse. Scrub again.
"Ugh-WHY does it feel like it's releasing ancient curses," she muttered, slamming the hide against the rock harder than necessary.
Green suds gathered. The water turned… a color she refused to acknowledge.
Halfway through the washing, she wondered whether the system would award her bonus points for emotional trauma.
Finally, after who-knows-how-long, she wrung the hide firmly and laid it out on a big, flat stone to air dry.
She wiped her forehead with her arm, panting.
"Okay," she whispered. "One unsanitary relic… temporarily handled."
She took off her footwear next and washed them too before leaving them on the rock to dry as well.
Now came the real battle.
Cleaning herself.
She stared down at her body.
Her skin was covered in grime, dirt, sweat, dried mud, and things she had no intention of identifying. Her hair? Don't ask. She didn't want to know. The smell surrounding her body felt like it had claw marks and emotional baggage.
"This is going to be…" She paused, searching for a word. "Hell."
She opened the system panel, and hit the confirm button.
There was a soft chime, followed by a golden light swirling before her. One by one, each item materialized neatly on a dry patch of grass near the rock.
A full set. A luxurious, modern, absolutely impossible set of hygiene items... sparkling under the moonlight like they descended from the heavens.
A towel set, clean and fluffy.
A thick blue bathrobe.
Bottles with labels she recognized from her world.
A razor. A bottle of shaving cream.
Everything.
Kaira swallowed, emotion clogging her throat. "I… I could cry."
"No crying!" the system chirped. "Shower time!"
She took a steadying breath, and finally stepped into the stream.
The shock hit her instantly.
"F-FROSTBITE!" she gasped. "WHY IS THE WATER LIKE THIS?!"
Her entire body convulsed. The stream was shallow but the water was cold enough to spiritually assassinate her.
Still, she forced herself deeper. Survival over comfort. Cleanliness over emotional breakdown.
She scooped water over herself first, trying to loosen the layer of filth.
It didn't loosen.
Of course not.
The original owner had probably not taken a proper bath in… weeks? Months? Maybe since birth? Kaira wasn't sure.
She gritted her teeth, grabbed the body wash, and began scrubbing.
Hard.
No, harder.
"WHY-IS-THIS-SO-DIFFICULT," she hissed between scrubs.
Dirt rolled off her like peeling paint. Mud slipped from behind her knees in slimy streaks. Her back - when she twisted slightly - left brown ripples in the water.
"This is horrifying," she muttered.
She scrubbed her arms until they shined, her legs until they felt human again, and her torso until the water around her looked like someone tipped a pot of soup into it.
Next came her hair.
She pumped shampoo into her hands.
Her hair absorbed it like a desert welcoming rain.
She scrubbed.
Nothing happened.
She scrubbed harder.
Still nothing.
It took two more rounds before the shampoo actually foamed.
She didn't give up... she had faced assassins with worse bloodlust than this hair... and after a long, desperate fight, she finally got rid of the sticky, oily layer stuck to her scalp.
The hair mask came next, and at last, the original dusty red color of the hair came into view, almost stealing Kaira's breath with how beautiful it looked.
The final struggle was shaving.
With shaky hands and freezing skin, she applied shaving cream and dragged the razor slowly, carefully.
It was strangely grounding... familiar. A little ritual of returning to… herself.
Her muscles ached. Her skin burned. She was trembling from the cold and from the workout.
But by the end…
She looked down at herself.
Skin clean. Hair soft. Body smelling like citrus and herbal mint.
She felt...
Alive.
Human.
She finally stepped out of the water and wrapped herself in the plush towel. The softness almost made her moan.
She dried off, wore the bathrobe, and sat on the large rock, sighing like she had just ascended into paradise.
But then...