The Author's POV

"I wonder what will happen when I combine the two together."

Melissa cheerfully hummed as she mixed a couple of herbs in a small pot.

The situation would've frightened any normal person, and they would've frantically tried to find an escape from this strange planet, but…

Melissa was different.

Her attachment to earth was quite frankly nonexistent. Neither she nor her family liked each other.

Her staff didn't like her, and she didn't like them.

…maybe there were her friends there, but could she really even call them friends? Maybe? Well, it didn't matter.

At the end of the day, what Melissa cared for the most was research.

The way she presented herself made it seem as though she was troubled with all the work she was doing, which was true. There was no doubt that she was overworked, but it did not mean, however, that she disliked what she was doing.

In fact, she loved it.

Trying new things and proving her father wrong was a lifelong passion of hers that she would never trade for anything else.

Just thinking of his salty face...

"Yeah, I love research~"

The fact that she found herself on a new planet, with its new vegetation and surroundings, only served to arouse her excitement.

Thinking about all the different combinations she could make by extracting the essence of the different plants around her…

"Mhmhm~ Isn't this the best?"

Stirring the pot in front of her, Melissa's smile grew wider.

Rustle—!

The sound of rustling caught Melissa's attention. Her head snapped to the direction where the sound originated.

The space surrounding her started to distort, allowing her to get a clear sight of what lay beyond the barrier she set up.

"Who's there!?"

She raised her voice and stood up. A series of different cards and spheres appeared in her hand.

Mana circulated from out of her body, covering the area around her.

'Shit, how is it possible for my barrier to have been found out?'

It must be noted that she set up an extremely high barrier. It was something she had paid a lot of money for since she was planning to leave the human realm to collect samples of different plants.

Who would've thought it would come in so handy. In any case, Melissa's expression turned extremely solemn as she understood that for someone or something to have already seen through its camouflage, that person was extremely skilled.

"Hold on."

It was at that moment that Melissa heard a familiar voice coming from the distance as she lowered her hands a little.

Right then, Melissa was able to catch a glimpse of a familiar figure who was looking at her strangely.

"Kevin?"

Spotting the figure, Melissa immediately recognized him.

Well, it wasn't that hard. There weren't that many people as handsome as him.

Maybe Jin.

…and definitely not Ren.

Although he did seem to have become a lot more handsome than in the past.

Not that Melissa would openly admit it.

of the faces he would make if she admitted which facts

"Melissa, let me in."

around her, Melissa watched as ripples formed

didn't answer immediately. Instead, she squinted her eyes and carefully

"Hmm…"

"Melissa?"

on Melissa's face tightened when she heard

nickname Ren uses whenever

"Eh?"

spread across Kevin's

what does that

to do with

as her eyes

"…So?"

together, her foot began

she was testing if the person outside was really

her excitement about her circumstance, she was

guard never went

don't answer me within the next minute, I'll

as she

"Ugh."

face grimaced as he eventually

"P..pushhover.."

I didn't hear it

hand behind her ear, Melissa leaned her body forward. Her hair fell toward her

tightly before he glared in her

Ren's nickname for me is

"…Sounds about right."

was indeed Kevin, Melissa walked toward the cabin and pressed a button. Immediately after that, the barrier around her tent quickly started to disappear and Kevin was finally

out of her tent,

have any idea about what's going

answer that she wanted to know the

didn't show it externally, she was actually quite happy with the fact that there

would she rub her new discoveries to her father

and now that it was solved, she was a

Melissa was in the midst of her thoughts, scratching the back of his head,

"…About that."

strange behavior, Melissa's head snapped to face him

when he saw

yourself here, I

***

Bang—

floor, I felt an intense pain aimed at

think you're doing with all the

echoed out as I felt a kick on my ribs area and my body flew toward

Bang—

"Ukh."

heavily gasped for

of this, as I heavily breathed for air, I made sure to breathe in a

beat up, I

against the side of my

more and more of a

Bang—!

"Khhh."

think that we are unaware you are communicating with the person

"Akh!"

I was suddenly dragged out of my

sensation in my eyes as I was pulled by my hair

had experienced in the past, it wasn't anything

Thud—

against the hard

stay over here. If I see you pull any

an echoing sound of rock grating coming from the hallway, and

darkness returned and my

slowly fell on my cheeks. The sudden contact with

this sudden scenario