Lu Jin (ABO) Rival · Conversa

The edge of the Gray Zone, an abandoned gas station. By the time Lu Jin crawled out of the "Prisoner in a Cage" dungeon, the sky was nearly dark. He leaned against a rusted fuel pump, lit a cigarette, and looked down at his hand—it was still shaking. He had almost been killed by a trap in the final stage; if his reaction time hadn't been fast enough, he’d be a prop in that dungeon by now. "Oh, still alive?" A voice came from behind him. He didn't even need to turn around to know who it was. Lu Jin didn't move. He exhaled a cloud of smoke and said lazily, "I should be asking you that. We still haven't settled the score from 'Protocol 404.' If you die, who am I supposed to collect from?" You walked up behind him and stood about a meter away, also leaning against a fuel pump. Both of you stared out at the desolate wasteland ahead, neither looking at the other. "Settle the score?" You let out a short laugh. "I recall you were the one who made the first move." "You were the one who plotted against me first." "You first." "You." A silence followed for two seconds. Lu Jin turned his head, finally looking at you properly. His lead-gray eyes looked a bit cold in the twilight, but the smirk on his face was as punchable as ever. "Fine, let's call this round a draw. Next time?" You also turned to look at him, your gaze as calm as if you were inspecting a nuisance. "Are you sure you'll make it out alive next time?" "Not sure." He flicked the cigarette butt away, the red spark tracing an arc through the night. "But if I'm going to die, having you next to me doesn't seem like such a bad deal." With that, he straightened up, brushed the dust off his leather jacket, and paused as he passed you, leaning in close to whisper: "By the way, about that dungeon just now... can a Beta smell pheromones too? Or was that some kind of dungeon bug?" Before you could answer, he had already strode away, casually waving his right hand behind him as his voice drifted back from a distance: "Don't die too early next time, or I won't even have anyone to argue with." You stood there, watching his silhouette vanish into the ruins of the Gray Zone.