Back at the Perry Family's estate, Hugo Perry's father had stopped the others from attacking her, but he was probably just wary of her dying in their home. The most important person in his life had died because of her; there was no way he would let her go easily.
'If it came down to a life-or-death battle, my current strength is completely inadequate!'
'And then there's the real murderer who caused the original Paige and Hugo Perry's tragic deaths...'
She slowly raised her evolved right arm. After staring at it for a long time, she made a decision.
'The only way to get stronger is to fight! In my past life, I could at least put up a fight against assassins. It makes no sense to just cower here and wait for them to come knocking on my door to kill me!'
After eating the Nutrition Cake the owner had left behind, Paige Summers cleaned herself up. After a moment's thought, she trimmed her shoulder-length hair, leaving short, choppy layers around her ears. She styled them to half-conceal her cheeks without obstructing her vision, then left the furniture store and headed for the mission hall.
It was around three in the afternoon. While not at its peak, the mission hall was still teeming with people.
She unhurriedly squeezed her way to the middle of the crowd and began to study the mission board.
There were a fair number of recruitment notices from Hunting Parties venturing outside the city, but in her opinion, the requirements were all quite demanding.
Requirements like 'Natural Superpower Users must be at least Second Order' and 'Spiritual Ability Users must be at least First Order' were common. Even the few that mentioned Original Superpower Users were looking for those with Enhanced senses like sight or hearing—the scout types. No one mentioned basic attributes like speed or strength!
Her eyes started to blur from staring, but she still came up empty-handed.
Paige Summers felt a little dejected. Seeing the hall getting even more crowded, she decided to turn and push her way back outside.
About ten minutes later, she finally broke free from the crowd and made it outside.
She let out a long sigh, deciding to just head back for the day.
Just then, a surprised cry came from a nearby group that had obviously just returned from outside the city.
"Paige! Is that you?"
The delicate female voice was followed by a figure darting out from the group. Before Paige could make a quick escape, the person grabbed her arm.
"You're still alive! This is wonderful, just wonderful!"
Paige Summers was forced to meet the other person's gaze. Her pupils constricted.
'It's her!'
"What's wrong? Paige, are you still blaming me?"
Paige Summers clenched her other fist. 'Blame her? No, I want to kill her outright!'
'But I can't.'
'Not right now, at least.'
She suppressed her rage and tried to calmly shake the woman's hand off, but her movements were still rough. "Let go! I don't know you!"
"Paige?!"
The shock and disbelief in the woman's voice were utterly laughable to Paige.
However, a disheveled-looking man from her group could take it no longer. He strode forward with a frown and shoved Paige. "Paige Summers, are you insane? So what if Hugo Perry died? It was his own damn fault for trying to be a hero and save a useless piece of trash like you! What right do you have to blame Leanne? You don't know us? Who was it that shamelessly begged to join our team? If Leanne hadn't put in a good word for you, do you think we would have ever agreed? And now..."
"Charles!" Leanne Walsh cut the man off, a hurt, disheartened look on her face. "Don't say any more... After all, she's my friend..."
Paige Summers, who had staggered back a few steps, was about to turn and leave. But upon hearing that line, she couldn't resist turning back. She studied the woman intently for a moment before nodding solemnly. "Nice acting."
'Seriously, she could win an Oscar with a performance like that!'
While the man was busy comforting Leanne Walsh, Paige Summers took the chance to run off.
The wind brushed against her face, but it couldn't dispel the towering rage in her heart.
She couldn't find any memory of Leanne Walsh holding a grudge against the original Paige. In fact, just as the woman had claimed, she was the original's one and only friend.
Yet it was this one and only friend, the one who had so earnestly convinced the Hunting Party to accept her, who had lured another, even more ferocious Mutant Beast to charge the original Paige while everyone else was busy chasing a different one.
If it hadn't been for Hugo Perry, this body would have been left for dead in the wilderness long ago. No, not just dead—there probably wouldn't even be any bones left!
She had been lucky enough to escape one trap, but she couldn't escape the next premeditated scheme.
That Paige was still pushed into a ravine!
So this was what she called a "friend"!
Paige Summers no longer cared about Leanne Walsh's reasons for trying to kill her. Based on Leanne's performance today, it was clear she would do it again if given the chance. The only way to stop her was to give her a taste of her own medicine.
She didn't slow down until she was completely out of breath, finally turning back toward the furniture store.
Physical exhaustion helped to quell her anger. Besides, she knew perfectly well that anger alone was useless.
She had to get stronger, and there was no time to waste.
As she thought this, she subconsciously touched her chest.
'Something feels strange here...'
The last time she'd faced that woman, May Underwood, she'd felt an undeniable chill spread from her chest. Today, it had happened again.
When Leanne Walsh and that man, Charles, got close, she had felt that same wave of cold. It was stronger from Leanne, and much weaker from him.
'Why do I get such a strange feeling?'
The owner didn't return that night, so Paige Summers seized the chance to take a combat shower. Even though she was in and out in under five minutes, she felt incredibly satisfied.
Afterward, she stood naked in front of the bathroom mirror, carefully studying her chest.
It was completely smooth, without a single mark.
Undeterred, she ran her hands over the area dozens of times, but found nothing apart from her skin turning red.
Disappointed, she got dressed and took a deep breath.
Back in her room, she retrieved the ten short bolts for the Crossbow from the cabinet. She then took out the Poisonous Liquid she had been carefully saving over the past few busy days, diluted it with a few drops of fresh water, and began to soak the metal-tipped arrowheads in the mixture.
She had learned through experimentation that her right arm could only produce and store four to five drops of the Poisonous Liquid per day.
But it was extremely potent.
A mouse that had once been scurrying energetically around the room could attest to this; after just one lick of the stuff, it had corroded down to a bare skeleton in less than a minute. Paige was confident that a poison so effective on an ordinary mouse wouldn't be too shabby against a Mutant Animal, either.