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.

make if

"Melissa, let me in."

barrier revolving around her,

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

"Hmm…"

"Melissa?"

Melissa's face tightened when she

the nickname Ren uses whenever he

"Eh?"

Kevin's face as he

you doing? And what does that have to

has to do

replied as

"…So?"

together, her foot began to tap on

she was testing if the

her circumstance, she was not

guard never

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

as she saw Kevin's

"Ugh."

Kevin's face grimaced as he eventually murmured

"P..pushhover.."

I didn't hear

behind her ear, Melissa leaned her body

his fists tightly before

Ren's nickname for me is

"…Sounds about right."

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

tent,

Do you have any idea

the answer that she

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

her new discoveries to her father

biggest grip; with the whole situation, and now that it was solved,

in the midst of her thoughts, scratching the

"…About that."

behavior, Melissa's head snapped

smiled when he saw

suddenly found yourself here, I

***

Bang—

felt an intense pain

think you're doing with

out as I felt a kick on my ribs

Bang—

"Ukh."

out a groan, I heavily gasped

breathed for air, I made sure to breathe

beat up, I may as well do it

something hard smash against the side of

truly becoming more and more of

Bang—!

"Khhh."

you really think that we are unaware you are communicating with the person next door?

"Akh!"

was suddenly dragged out of my

a burning sensation in my

past, it wasn't anything

Thud—

against the hard

stay over here. If I see you pull any shit like that again,

sound of rock grating coming from the hallway, and

thing was that the darkness

fell on my cheeks. The sudden contact with the light had

this sudden scenario confirmed one