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.

mere thought of the faces he would make if she admitted which facts made her

"Melissa, let me in."

around her,

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

"Hmm…"

"Melissa?"

face tightened when she heard him call her

the nickname Ren uses whenever

"Eh?"

confused expression spread across Kevin's

And what does that have

has to do with

as her

"…So?"

her arms together, her foot began to

she was testing if the person outside was

her excitement about her circumstance, she was not stupid enough to invite anyone who looked like

guard never

within the next minute, I'll keep you

as she saw

"Ugh."

out a groan, Kevin's face grimaced as he

"P..pushhover.."

didn't

behind her ear, Melissa leaned her body forward. Her hair

tightly before he glared in

nickname for me is

"…Sounds about right."

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

her tent, Melissa carefully observed

any idea about what's

that she

happy with the fact that there was hope for her to return

to her father if

with the whole situation, and now that it

midst of her thoughts, scratching the back

"…About that."

of Kevin's sudden strange behavior, Melissa's head snapped to face him

when

suddenly found yourself here, I think this might

***

Bang—

felt an intense pain

think you're doing with all the banging on the

I felt a kick on my ribs area and my body flew toward the other side of the

Bang—

"Ukh."

heavily gasped for air. The pain…it

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

get beat up, I may as well do it while

I felt something hard smash against the side of my

and

Bang—!

"Khhh."

you are communicating with the person

"Akh!"

grasp my hair, I was suddenly dragged

I still felt a burning sensation in my eyes as I was pulled by my hair out of

I had experienced in the past, it wasn't anything worth complaining about as I was soon thrown back into a

Thud—

smashed against the hard

see you pull any shit like that

echoing sound of rock grating coming from the hallway,

thing was that the darkness returned and my eyes were once again

sudden contact with the light had truly messed up my

case, this sudden scenario confirmed one thing