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 she admitted which facts made her stomach

"Melissa, let me in."

the barrier revolving around her, Melissa watched as ripples formed around

immediately. Instead, she squinted

"Hmm…"

"Melissa?"

on Melissa's face tightened when she

nickname Ren uses whenever he talks with

"Eh?"

Kevin's face

doing? And what does that have to do with

to do

as her eyes

"…So?"

foot began to tap

she was testing if the person outside

she was not stupid enough to

never

me within the next minute, I'll keep

grew impatient as she saw

"Ugh."

Kevin's face grimaced

"P..pushhover.."

didn't hear it

Melissa leaned her body forward.

fists tightly before

Ren's nickname for me

"…Sounds about right."

he was indeed Kevin, Melissa walked toward the cabin and pressed a button. Immediately after that, the barrier around her tent

tent, Melissa carefully observed

Do you have any idea about what's going

she wanted to

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

to her father if she

the whole situation, and now

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

"…About that."

Kevin's sudden strange behavior, Melissa's

smiled when

here, I think this might have to do with

***

Bang—

felt an

you think you're doing with all the banging on the

I felt a kick on my ribs

Bang—

"Ukh."

a groan, I heavily gasped for

for air, I made sure to

get beat up, I may as well

felt something hard smash against the

and more of a

Bang—!

"Khhh."

you are communicating with the person next door? "Don't worry, we'll move you

"Akh!"

my hair, I was suddenly dragged out

burning sensation in my eyes as I

painful, but compared to what I had experienced in the past, it wasn't anything worth complaining about as I was soon thrown back

Thud—

smashed against the

see you pull any shit like that

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

that the darkness returned and

on my cheeks. The sudden contact with the

this sudden scenario