"Argh!—Ouch, ouch... Please be a little gentle, Nubia-senpai..."

Although he had a masochistic side that got him aroused by pain, that was only true when it came to the girls he loved. Which was why right now, Jeff couldn't help but get aroused despite the pain as Nubia removed the bullet stuck in his left shoulder using a scalpel from the emergency kit they had brought for the camping event.

"Someone as stupid as you has no right to complain!" Nubia shouted in anger, yet her voice trembled slightly, just like her hands, due to the lingering fear from Jeff's stupid act of jumping right in front of the gun.

"Sob... You're not gonna die... Sob... Right, Jeff-senpai?"

Veena, on the other hand, had been crying ever since Jeff got shot—even after the assault had ended and Dexter's men were caught and restrained—clinging to Jeff, who was lying down on a blanket, making it hard for Nubia to remove the bullet.

Meanwhile, Kris was the one treating Marc's wound as he lay beside Jeff.

"You're lucky it was just a shallow cut, idiot!" Kris grumbled before pouring alcohol to disinfect the wound and slapping a gauze pad on it.

"Argh!—Ouch, ouch... You bastard... That hurt more than the actual wound..."

Right then, Nubia finally got the bullet out of Jeff's shoulder. She was about to put the gauze pad on for first aid when Kris suddenly took it from her hands.

"Please let me handle this, Nubia-senpai."

"Ehh?"

Nubia was confused by Kris's interference. Jeff, however, immediately understood what Kris was planning.

"Oi, oi... That's going to hurt really bad, bastard!" Jeff panicked. He tried to stand and get away from Kris only to fail—partly from the pain of his injury but mostly because Veena was still clinging on top of him, embracing his waist.

"Then confess already if you don't want to get hurt, bastard." Kris said as he raised his right hand holding the gauze pad, ready to slap it hard on Jeff's wound.

"Confess about what?" Nubia spoke for Jeff, who had gone silent while avoiding Kris and Marc's gazes.

"You knew this would happen, right, Jeff?" Marc said as he tried to stand and act cool, only to be pushed down and restrained by his girlfriends.

"Do you think we're idiots, Jeff?" Kris added, then proceeded to explain the situation to Nubia and everyone else.

"We were aware that those bastards would try to get back at us for messing with them. We were prepared for the consequences of what we did, and we aren't blaming you for what happened."

"I'm blaming you—ouch!" Marc butted in, only to be slapped again before Kris continued lecturing Jeff.

"But acting alone and secretly was just plain stupid!"

"I'm not doing anything like that, though." Jeff said, still trying to lie his way out—until Kris pointed out something too large and too obvious for him to deny.

"Are you saying the purpose of the pit we dug isn't to bury those bastards?!"

At Kris's remark, everyone in their group turned their attention to the pit where the rest of the guys had thrown Dexter's men, their feet and hands bound by rope.

"Fuc'! Let us out of here!"

"Fu—cough—stop throwing dirt at us!"

"Ouch!—bastard, that was a stone!"

"Wait, let's talk about this!"

"Stop burying us for fuc' sake!"

Feigning ignorance to the desperate screams from inside the pit, Kris turned back to Jeff.

"Admit it already, Jeff."

Burying the bastards alive wasn't exactly necessary unless they ended up killing them, but with their girlfriends being targeted, Kris and Marc would surely have done it.

Jeff's plan was to corner Dexter's men with everyone's help once they started their assault, pretending he wasn't fully aware of the situation. There was nothing wrong with that, but if he had talked to Kris and Marc, they could have prepared better and probably avoided anyone getting hurt.

Once again, his worries and guilt made him act stupid, and Jeff couldn't deny it himself.

"I'm sorry..." he said, looking down in shame as he apologized to Kris and Marc. "I should have talked things through with both of you."

His apology eased Kris's and Marc's anger and annoyance, but not Nubia's. She quickly snatched the gauze pad from Kris and slapped it hard on Jeff's wound.

"ARGH!"

"What about me, bastard! Didn't I say to never leave me out!"

---

[RETURNER FANTASY SYSTEM]

[Quest 22 – Girls Idol Group]

[Reward – Returner Eternal Curse]

[Objective 1 – Save Kris and Marc's girlfriends from FGH (Complete)]

[Objective 2 – Extract FGH Archive's location]

[Countdown – 1 hour]

---

As soon as Nubia calmed down, Jeff proceeded to extract the location of the FGH Archive—or rather, the list of all their members. With an hour left on the countdown of Quest 22 before the clock struck midnight, he couldn't afford to waste any more time.

"Give me the gun, Kris," he said as he stood at the edge of the pit.

Despite wanting to be the one to shoot the bastards himself, Kris handed the handgun to Jeff.

The pit had served half of its purpose, scaring the seven bastards with half their bodies covered in dirt. The darkness surrounding them, along with the dozen guys glaring down while holding shovels as if ready to bury them alive, terrified them further.

All that was left was one final spark to break their will. And with all the girls farther away—even Nubia, who was looking after Veena and the others—Jeff had no reason to hold back.

BANG!—The first gunshot was followed by three more.

The first bullet hit the ground, the second grazed the neck of the bastard who seemed to be the leader, the third hit the upper right arm of the one who wounded Marc, and the last tore a hole in the left shoulder of the one who shot Jeff.

—"ARGHHH!"—

Screams of fear, pain, and agony echoed within the dark pit.

When the screams faded and were replaced by pathetic sobs, Jeff spoke again.

"I don't know how many bullets are left in this," he said, switching the gun from his dominant right hand to his injured left before continuing, "but the next shots will probably hit someone in the face—whether I intend to or by accident."

With how much his left hand was shaking, it didn't matter if he aimed or not. The next shots could kill someone he wasn't aiming for.

"Do you think we'll believe you're really going to kill—" the leader began—Bang!—only to be cut off as Jeff fired another shot, this one hitting another bastard's buried leg.

"ARGH!"

"Alright!" the leader screamed, prompting Jeff to stop firing.

"You're doing this because you want something, right? Just tell me what you want already!"

Everyone turned their attention to Jeff, especially Kris and Marc, waiting in anticipation for what exactly he wanted.

"The FGH Archive. Where is it?"

"I..."—Bang!

Before the leader could fully answer, Jeff fired again—though it didn't hit anyone this time.

"You freak! I haven't said anything yet!"

"Then give your answer already, because you might not get a second chance to speak," Jeff said, aiming the gun at the leader's head despite his shaking hand.

The leader stayed silent for a moment, thinking carefully, until he saw Jeff slowly pulling the trigger.

"I'll tell you where it is if you promise to grant my request."

"And why should I, shit bastard?"

"Because I would rather die..."—Bang!

The shot didn't just graze the leader's face—it tore off the flesh on his right cheek and passed through his jaw beneath his ear. In that instant, he felt like he had already died as a cold shiver surged through his entire body. But despite his fear, he continued stating his demand.

"I would rather die than abandon my girls."

Jeff fell silent, making every one of the bastards even more nervous.

Meanwhile, Kris, Marc, and everyone else already knew what Jeff's answer would be. After all, one of the oaths of their brotherhood, the Iron Rod Legion, was to be a man capable of protecting women.

"Fine..." Jeff said with a heavy sigh. "Say what you want, and keep it short."

The leader, Natan, introduced himself, followed by his demand: for his girlfriends to be rescued from Dexter and his men.

"Do that, and I'll even swear loyalty to your brotherhood."

"I don't need your alliance. Just say where the FGH Archive is."

"It's hidden in the university database, but only Dexter has the password to access it."

Was that enough? Was it even true? Jeff wondered as he waited for the notification from the Returner Fantasy System.

---

[RETURNER FANTASY SYSTEM]

[Quest 22 – Girls Idol Group (Complete)]

[Reward – Returner Eternal Curse]

[Objective 1 – Save Kris and Marc's girlfriends from FGH]

[Objective 2 – Extract FGH Archive's location]

---

Hearing Jeff heave a heavy sigh, Kris, Marc, and the rest of the guys felt at ease as well.

"What are we going to do now?" Kris asked, immediately followed by a suggestion from Marc.

"You promised to save that bastard's girlfriends only, so we're still going to bury them, right?"

Natan and his group panicked, lashing out upon hearing Marc's remark, until Jeff pulled the trigger again. Although the gun didn't fire—already out of bullets—the empty click alone was enough to silence them.

"Just dig them out already and treat their wounds. We'll lock them up somewhere until we deal with their shit chief."

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