They Called Me Trash? Now I'll Hack Their World-Chapter 125: Glamour [1]

I stood up slowly, dusting off my clothes and wincing as my fingers brushed over the fresh claw marks she’d left on my arm.

Blood seeped through the torn fabric, stinging in the cool air. I grabbed my bag from where it had fallen during our scuffle and looked at Scarlet, who was still crouched low, growling in her throat like a cornered animal ready to lash out at anything that moved.

I crossed my arms, studying her.

"They’ll catch you like this," I said flatly.

If things are bad like she said, we need to move, now.

She hissed at me, her lips pulling back to show teeth. "Thanks. I didn’t know that."

My lips twitched despite myself.

Even in this situation, she had the energy to be sarcastic. I exhaled slowly, forcing myself to think past the adrenaline still pumping through my veins.

What can I do with her now?

My eyes roamed over her frame, taking in the details I’d noticed before but never really considered, not like this, anyway.

The fox ears that twitched with every distant sound, constantly swiveling to track movement.

The tail she kept hidden most of the time but clearly couldn’t maintain constantly.

Then something clicked in my mind.

I smiled slightly, more to myself than to her.

"Got it."

Then I started walking toward her, my steps slow and deliberate.

Scarlet immediately flinched and stumbled back, her hands coming up to cover her chest defensively. Her ears flattened completely against her head, and her tail lashed behind her like a whip.

"What do you mean by that, pervert?" Her voice went sharp, dangerous. "If you touch me, I promise it won’t be good for you."

I paused mid-step, genuinely confused for a second. Then it hit me, how this must look. Me, smiling like that and walking toward a cornered girl.

I tilted my head, keeping my hands visible.

"Why would I do that to a street fox?" I kept my tone casual. "I have standards."

It was crude, sure, but I needed her to understand I wasn’t thinking about her that way at all.

She hissed at me anyway, her ears flattening even more against her head. If looks could kill, I’d be a corpse right now.

But I raised a hand, cutting off whatever creative insult she was clearly preparing to throw at me.

"I can only help you if you let me." I said calmly.

"I don’t trust you." Her hands were still raised defensively, claws extended and gleaming faintly in the dim light. "Not even a little bit."

"You don’t have another option." I met her eyes steadily, holding her gaze. "I hid your mark, didn’t I? The slave seal that was burning into your skin like a brand? If I can do that, then I can help you with the rest too."

Her expression flickered. I could see it clearly, anger warring with desperate hope warring with deep, bone-deep suspicion.

She was silent for a long moment, her breathing harsh and ragged.

Then...

"If you’re lying..." Her voice dropped dangerously low, practically a growl. "You should be prepared to have your throat slit." 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

I nodded, keeping my expression serious. "Fair enough."

She was still watching me like a hawk, but some of the tension had left her shoulders. That was something, at least.

I took a breath and activated my debug vision.

The world shifted.

Her stats and information overlaid on my vision immediately.

My eyes scrolled down automatically, scanning through the information, looking for something, anything that could help.

I need something that could cover her ears and tail. Something that can’t be easily detected or dispelled by the guards or slave hunters.

My gaze moved to the skills section, hoping against hope that there’d be something useful there.

Then something caught my eye.

I stopped scrolling.

[Glamour] - Locked

[Allows temporary alteration of physical appearance. Duration and effectiveness scale with user’s magic capacity. Can be used on self or target.]

My heart jumped in my chest.

That’s it. That’s exactly what I need.

A skill that could hide her fox features completely. Make her look fully human, at least long enough to get somewhere safe.

But it was locked. Of course it was locked.

"Damn it," I muttered under my breath.

Scarlet’s ears twitched. "What?"

"Nothing. Just... thinking."

I focused on the skill anyway.

Nothing happened.

The lock icon stayed firmly in place, mocking me.

I gritted my teeth and pushed harder, concentrating everything I had on that single skill. My head started to pound, a dull ache building behind my eyes.

Come on. Come on!

I needed this. She needed this.

Work, damn you!

Pain exploded behind my eyes.

It felt like someone had driven a red-hot spike through my skull and was twisting it slowly. I gasped, my knees buckling slightly.

My nose began bleeding immediately, hot blood running down over my lips and chin, dripping onto my shirt.

My vision blurred badly, the debug interface flickering wildly like a broken screen. Colors inverted, text scrambled, the whole system seeming to glitch out.

Error messages flashed across my vision:

[WARNING: Unauthorized Access Attempt]

[WARNING: System Integrity Compromised]

Then, just as suddenly as it started, the pain faded to a manageable throb.

I blinked rapidly, trying to clear my vision, wiping blood from my nose with the back of my hand. It came away dark red, almost black in the shadows.

The debug interface stabilized.

The skill was still there in my vision.

But the lock icon was gone.

[Glamour] - Unlocked (Temporary - Single Use - Unstable)

[Warning: Forced unlock may have unpredictable effects. Use with caution.]

I let out a shaky breath, my head still throbbing like someone was hammering nails into it. My hands were trembling slightly.

One time use.

Better make it count.

"What the hell are you doing?" Scarlet’s voice cut through my focus, sharp with alarm. "Why are you bleeding? What did you do?"

I looked up at her through watering eyes, wiping more blood away with my sleeve.

"Stay still," I said, my voice rougher than I intended. "This is going to help. Probably."

Her eyes narrowed dangerously, and her stance shifted, ready to bolt or fight. "Probably?"

"Just trust me."

"I literally just said I don’t trust you."

"Then take a leap of faith." I stepped closer, raising my hand toward her slowly, making sure she could see every movement. "Unless you want to keep running for the rest of your life. Which, given the amount of slave hunters in this city, probably won’t be very long."

She stared at me for a long moment.

I could see her weighing her options. Run and definitely get caught eventually. Or trust the bleeding stranger who’d already done one impossible thing.

Then, slowly, reluctantly, she lowered her hands.

Her claws retracted slightly, though she kept them visible.

"If this kills me," she said quietly, "I’m haunting you. Forever. I’ll make your afterlife absolute hell."

"Noted."

I activated the skill.