Vroom!

  "Go faster, Hessian!"

  "What? No, don't go faster!"

  "Which one is it?!" he shouted back.

  A road trip… My friends—Ghomas, Vacinay, and Hessian—argued over whether we should break the law or not. Well, we were in Dominica. The chances of getting into actual legal trouble for speeding were incredibly low.

  Vroom!

  I gasped as our jeep nearly clipped a car while overtaking it.

  Alright, the issue wasn’t about breaking the damn law—it was about not getting ourselves killed in this dumb shit!

  "If you all are going to die, die by yourselves! Don't involve me." I shouted.

  "Ehhh? I'm trying not to die too! Do you really want me to die alone? Huh?!" Vacinay snapped.

  Hessian accelerated. "Shhh... ignore Lumine. Vacinay, she's been rubbing off on you too much. I swear she wasn’t this rude when we were kids..."

  "If you keep this up—"

  Before I could finish, he cut me off. "Or what?"

  "I'm going to tell Aunty."

  The jeep’s speed plummeted instantly. Did he just slam the brakes on purpose?

  "Okay… noted..." There was a distinct trace of fear in his voice.

  Hmph.

  "Oh wow. So, you can listen to your cousin, but not your best friend?" Vacinay pressed, arms crossed.

  Sucked to be her. Younger cousin privileges, baby.

  We were on our way to Hessian's friend's party. I always tagged along wherever he went, and these idiots always came too. To be honest, they seemed like the type to do drugs, buy hookers, and end up falling off a cliff. Yet, somehow, I was always there—and I had never caught them doing any of that wild shit. Well… not yet.

  Ghomas suddenly pulled a pistol from her bag and examined it. "Oi, Vacinay, who the hell were you planning to kill? Did some guy break your heart by rejecting your crazy love?"

  …

  What the hell? How did she even get her hands on a whole-ass gun?! And who pissed her off? This wasn’t America where you could just walk into a store and grab one.

  Vacinay's entire body stiffened before she shrieked, "Give me that back! Why the hell were you in my bag?"

  She flailed wildly, trying to reach him. Since she was in the front seat near Hessian, her range was limited.

  Ghomas easily kept the gun out of reach and sneered. "Oh, so it’s fine when you go through my bag to steal my food, but not the other way around?"

  "Ugh! First off, I only took water bottles, and I told you so! Second, I’m a young, beautiful twenty-year-old woman—simp for me, you deviant!"

  Corny.

  "Gross. I know your ass for over a decade now. You have the personality of a wild tiger in heat, unable to find a mate."

  "Shut up! That’s not true! Stop trying to defame me!" she screeched.

  She was known for being pretty, but her repulsive personality repelled almost every guy who approached her with romantic intentions. Sure, guys would sleep with anyone, but she was smart enough to avoid those types. So, she was left searching for men who could tolerate her personality. Spoiler alert: there were none.

  Well… maybe.

  I gave her a long look. "You know, I have a friend who might be interested in you. He knows your personality."

  She raised a skeptical eyebrow. "A friend?"

  "Yes, a friend."

  "You? Friend?"

  "Yes, me. Friend."

  She stared at me like I’d just told her the moon was made of cheese. Then, suddenly, she burst out laughing. So did everyone else.

  "Hahahaha! Yo! Hessian, your cousin is hilarious!" She nudged him.

  "I’ve always said she was! You guys just never believed me!" he laughed.

  Ghomas wiped a tear from his eye. "Wow… I always thought I had a talent for humor, but she has surpassed me."

  I… hated them all. "Die! Die! You can all burn in the flames of hell!" I screamed.

  Vacinay finally stopped laughing and squinted at me. "Okay, but who is this guy? How tall is he? How handsome is he? What’s his eye color? I mean, I don’t care about that... but does he work out? Does he have money? Well, I don’t really care about money, but at least he should be hot!"

  What the…? Were her pupils heart-shaped? Was she… exhaling hot air?

  Ghomas crossed his arms, deep in thought. "Wait a second. Isn’t Lumine, like, seventeen? If she somehow had friends because of some deal with the devil, wouldn’t they most likely be her age?"

  Vacinay's lustful expression shattered in an instant.

  "Wait… she’s trying to set me up with an underage person!" She turned on me with a glare.

  "Fuck you. I’m practically eighteen. Almost eighteen!" I shouted. Just a couple more days, for crying out loud.

  Hessian smirked. "Wow, guys. We found out she doesn’t like them in high school."

  Vacinay punched his shoulder. "You asshole!"

  "Ow!" The car swerved slightly. "Are you trying to get us killed, Miss Desperado? Miss Charmless? Miss Man Repulsion?!"

  "Shut up!"

  Ghomas was still fiddling with the gun. Hessian glanced at him through the rearview mirror, and something clicked in his head.

  "Wait! Why does the suicidal dude still have a gun in his hand?"

  Ghomas flinched. "Huh? Since when have I been suicidal?"

  I didn’t think he meant it literally.

  "Suicidal as in you’ll get yourself killed by accident!" Vacinay lunged into the back seat, trying to wrestle the gun away from him.

  Hmmm… Ghomas. I thought they were exaggerating how stupid he was. Were they?

  "Okay, hear me out," Ghomas suddenly blurted, completely ignoring her attempts. "What if Trunks is actually Goku’s illegitimate son?"

  "Alright, dead serious," he continued. "Let’s say you had to choose between marrying an older woman or being trapped in a jail cell with a guy who says, ‘I like you, and I want you. Now, we can do this the easy way or the hard way.’ Which would you choose? Personally, I prefer my women older, but, y’know, the prison situation would make for one hell of a story. ‘Cause, like, every night you’d have to guard your booty, and—"

  "Alright, but listen," he insisted. "I think I’m immortal. How do I know? Well, I’ve never died before, have I? Exactly! So how the hell would you know if I can die? Haha… I’m a damn intellectual."

  …

  Okay.

  This guy was a damn moron.

  “Give us the gun before you accidentally shoot yourself in the head!” I helped Vacinay.

  “Eh! Stop implying I’m stupid—”

  Bang!

  A stunned silence almost settled in the air. Hessian was the first to react. “What the f—”

  Bang! Bang! Bang!

  This guy was still shooting. We shouldn’t have been worried about him killing himself—we should have been worried about him accidentally killing us.

  Wait… accidentally? What if this had been his plan all along?

  “The bullet went through the damn engine! What the hell?!” Hessian panicked.

  Hessian swung his door open.

  “Abort mission!” he declared before leaping out, tumbling onto the road.

  “What?!” Had he lost his damn mi—

  Bang! Bang! Bang!

  The gunfire continued. I kicked the door open and jumped out. Vacinay followed suit.

  Ouch! Mother of all mothers! Holy shit! Jumping out of a speeding vehicle was not something I ever wanted to do again.

  At least the jeep had started slowing down—the bullets must have hit something vital in the engine. But from that range, with poor accuracy, and presumably small bullets? I called bullshit. Something was definitely up. And why the hell was that moron still shooting?

  The jeep crashed into a nearby watermelon field. Well, that was unfortunate.

  Even more unfortunate, the only other vehicle on the road had already disappeared into the distance.

  “Holy shit…” That voice…

  Like robots, Vacinay and I turned to face Ghomas.

  Death. Torture. Murder.

  “Kill him!” I ordered.

  “Rip him to pieces!” Vacinay followed up immediately.

  “My baby jeep…” Hessian was in his own world.

  We rushed toward Ghomas, grabbing his limbs and pinning him down.

  He thrashed beneath us. “I didn’t pull the damn trigger! It just kept firing on its own!”

  Was this man really trying to gaslight us? Gaslight me?

  “Then who the hell pulled it?!” Vacinay demanded, already having a rock in hand, ready to bash his skull in.

  “Yeah, you expect us to believe it had a mind of its own, huh?!” I released his arm and wrapped my hands around his throat.

  As he gasped for breath, he pointed at something nearby. Hesitantly, we turned toward it.

  …What.

  “Eh?” Even Vacinay sounded confused.

  Ghomas yanked my arm away from his neck, inhaling desperately before screaming, “Yes, it did!”

  The same gun lay near him. Did he grab it when he jumped? I doubted it. So how had it ended up there?

  Hessian, despite his teary eyes, walked over. “So… who has a shovel? Since we’re killing him, right? Life for life.”

  Life? Oh. His jeep.

  I pointed at the gun. “Well, this thing is weird. That’s the bigger issue right now.”

  Hessian crossed his arms. “Huh? Why?”

  “Well, Ghomas may be stupid, but jumping off a moving vehicle while holding a gun?”

  Hessian squatted down and picked up the gun.

  Ghomas’s eyes widened in horror. “No! That thing has a mind of its own!”

  Okay, that did sound ridiculous.

  Hessian sighed, shaking his head as he waved the gun around—

  Bang! Bang!

  "Agh!" he screeched like a child, kicking the thing away.

  No way!

  It kept going off, jerking wildly.

  "Run for it! That thing is cursed or something!" Ghomas shouted as he bolted.

  Hessian followed immediately. "Wait for me!"

  Vacinay and I, of course, sprinted after them.

  "Don't leave us behind!"

  "I don't wanna dieeeeee!" Vacinay wailed.

  A man whistled as he made his way to his family's watermelon field, a piece of land passed down through generations.

  When he spotted the devastation—the ruined melons, the abandoned jeep lodged in the soil—he collapsed to his knees.

  "No..." He shook his head violently. He didn’t want to believe it. He had been so excited for this year’s harvest. But now, it was ruined.

  With trembling hands, he pulled a religious artifact from his pocket and cried out, "Watermelon god! Tell me who has desecrated the sacred melons!"

  A strange compulsion gripped him. He turned, drawn by an unseen force, and there it was—a black gun lying in the dirt, almost... calling to him.

  POV: Lumine

  After running for what felt like forever, the three of us had somehow put distance between ourselves and Vacinay. We were trailing behind her now.

  Hessian leaned in and whispered, "She's probably a witch."

  Wow... That would explain a lot. "A secret witch."

  Ghomas nodded, fully convinced. "It all makes sense..."

  "I am not a damn witch!" she screamed at us.

  Hmm. Hard to believe.

  We kept walking under the merciless sun, our pace slowing. I was going to die of heatstroke...

  Hessian and Ghomas noticed Vacinay and me struggling to keep up. Despite looking half-dead themselves, they straightened, forced themselves to the front, then dramatically ripped off their shirts and struck ridiculous muscle poses.

  The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  "Tsk, tsk. Does this mere heat trouble you?" Hessian smirked.

  Ghomas stood opposite him, eyes closed. "Tsk, tsk. Weaklings."

  "This heat is nothing for strong men like us!" they declared with absolute conviction as they marched ahead.

  One minute later.

  "Help... me..."

  "I am dying..."

  Both of them were now crawling on the ground, drained of all fluids and dignity.

  Fortunately, Vacinay had grabbed her bag before hopping off the jeep. I reached inside, pulled out a water bottle, and unscrewed the cap.

  They stared at it like starving dogs.

  "Water..."

  "Please..."

  I rubbed my chin in deep thought. "Nah. In a minute or two."

  "Kill... yourself."

  "Jump off a cliff... you little shit."

  Damn. Hessian really meant that. He almost made me feel bad. Almost.

  I took a long, exaggerated sip before tossing the bottle to him. He lunged forward, snatching it out of the air with all his might before chugging it in one go. In an instant, he stood tall, his exhaustion seemingly erased.

  "Ah yes... I'm back to my perfect self." He grinned at his reflection in the empty bottle like he'd been the one responsible for his revival.

  "You..." Ghomas stared at him, utterly betrayed.

  Vacinay tossed him a bottle as well. He caught it with his teeth like a rabid dog before gulping it down.

  Then, stretching his arms wide, he spoke in a tone of revelation. "Of course. I went insane... and then got bored of that too, so I became sane."

  Vacinay gasped, eyes sparkling. "I know that reference! Professor Paradox!"

  Professor... Oh! Ben 10. Right. I forgot she was a massive Ben 10 nerd.

  Ghomas nodded eagerly. "Hell yeah, it is!"

  I sighed. We were lost in the middle of nowhere, and they were thinking about cartoons? Wait. We were lost.

  Why hadn’t I thought of calling someone?

  I pulled out my phone and started dialing—then hesitated. How the hell was I supposed to explain this to Mom? I didn’t want to throw Hessian under the bus. If I said he crashed, he’d look bad.

  It depended on the reason he crashed. Yeah, yeah! I just had to spin it right.

  The others stared at me in surprise.

  "Oh right. Phones," Ghomas muttered.

  "Shit. That slipped my mind." He ran a rough hand through his hair.

  "Me too," my cousin admitted. Of course. Maybe Ghomas wasn’t the only dumb one here.

  Ring...

  The call connected almost instantly.

  "Yes? What is it? What did you forget at home and have your cousin driving back for?" Mom’s voice came through, already exasperated.

  I winced. Yeah, that was usually the case.

  "No. We got into an accident." I had my lie prepared. Adjusting my accent slightly, I launched into full theatrics.

  "We were driving, but them man just hit us! And they wanted to fight us! So I had to get mad tense. Cause wha is it, nah? Worse again, them man wanted to give Hessian a hard time. That heating my mind! Boiii, Mammy, you were right about those people. All they can do is cause trouble in the dang country!"

  Unfortunately, my mom had some racist views, so I had to play into that bias to convince her.

  Mom was silent for a moment.

  Then, in a monotone voice, she said, "Lumine."

  "Yes, Mom?"

  "Am I one of your friends?"

  "What?"

  "Am I one of your mentally challenged friends?"

  "No."

  "Then why are you lying to me as if I'm an idiot?"

  "Excellent question. Which part gives me away?"

  "Which part? Ayeee! You have the guts to ask which part... HAHA... Since when do you tell me you get tense? And since when do you dislike those people? Every time I say something about them, you call me a racist, but now you suddenly act the same way?"

  Damn! Shit! I messed up!

  She continued, "When you come home... well, you're gonna find out."

  ...A beating? I'm seventeen. Why should I accept such punishments as if they are just?

  "Mom?"

  "What?"

  "Go kill yourself."

  "WHA—!"

  I ended the call. Damn. Maybe I'm even dumber than Ghomas.

  Everyone's eyes locked onto me, their expressions dripping with intrigue. They were even pretending to eat popcorn.

  Vacinay offered her opinion. "Damn, girl. I can see why you get into so many fights in high school. You're dumb as shit."

  "Oi. Don't call my cousin that." Hessian stood up for me. "Only I can call her a dumbass. It's a privilege only I have."

  He pointed at me. "You are a dumbass. Not just a normal one. You're like a mega dumbass. The kind that needs doctors to study your brain."

  Never mind. He was an asshat too.

  I ignored them and walked forward. "Let's hurry up... After all, we don't have any more water bottles."

  "Argh... I need water."

  "Me too..."

  Shit... there wasn’t a shop in sight for miles!

  Cough! We were going to die!

  The sun beat down on us so harshly that I could almost hear my sweat boiling.

  Ghomas scooped me up and used me as an umbrella.

  I demanded an answer. "Hey! What are you doing?"

  He marched forward like a soldier. "This is the Way of the Jungle... The weak shall be used as umbrellas..."

  "What?"

  Hessian, who was being carried as a cover for Vacinay, muttered to me, "Accept defeat... This is the way..."

  Wait—there! In the distance, I spotted a small shop! "SHOP! SHOP! SHOP!" I repeated like a broken record.

  Like vultures, they frantically scanned their surroundings, trying to lock their eyes on their prey—the shop. Upon spotting it, they threw us down. For a moment, our movements synchronized. We stood still. The gust of air brushed against our sweat-drenched clothes. Our senses became one with the universe and we—

  "Water!" The three of them sprinted toward the shop like ravenous zombies.

  Now, imagine if there was no water for sale.

  "Wait for me!" I shouted, struggling to keep up.

  We burst into the shop, panting, drenched in sweat. Our hands rifled through our pockets in search of money. Vacinay took off her shoe, revealing a plastic bag stuffed with over a hundred dollars.

  Wait—I just randomly realized something. I never saw them call their parents. Well, that wasn't important right now.

  She purchased over ten bottles of water. The cashier looked anxious, as if he thought we had a killer on our tail who might come in and "merc" him too.

  Vacinay distributed two bottles to each of us and kept four for herself. I downed both of mine instantly, feeling power surge back into every cell of my body. Ah... I understood them now. I flexed my fingers, studying them like the work of the greatest sculptor.

  I smiled and tapped my forehead. "Perfect c—"

  "Cell?" Ghomas interrupted, disgust etched across his face.

  You shithead! I don’t interrupt your lame-ass references!

  Hessian shook his head in disappointment. "Really? Anime references because you drank water? Are you really seventeen? You’re nearly a grown-ass woman, yet you act so childishly."

  He sipped his water like it was fine wine.

  "A shame, is it not? Young children’s minds, rotted by media..." Vacinay’s accent had suddenly become British.

  They were messing with me.

  I had enough. "When y'all do it, it's okay?! But when I do it, it's a problem."

  They nodded.

  "See, you get it." Ghomas smiled like a satisfied teacher.

  "So you aren’t dumb. I knew you couldn’t be, since you’re related to me," Hessian said, impressed.

  "Hmph. So peasants are capable of intelligence? I must report such details to the king." Vacinay attempted to sip her water gracefully—only to chug huge gulps instead.

  Hessian smirked at her, and at the corners of her lips—a chuckle barely suppressed.

  "I hate y’all..." I sighed.

  Their role-playing soon came to an end as a group of people entered the shop. They were dressed in black and white religious habits. Instead of a cross, they bore a watermelon emblem.

  The one leading them, an old man with white hair, pulled a photo from his pocket. "Have you seen this jeep?"

  "Nope," I answered.

  It was Hessian’s.

  He grinned. "Of course you have... You know, that melon field was passed down in my family for centuries..." He then pulled out a pamphlet. "We would forgive you all if you give praise to Darea, the god of watermelons."

  "No... thank you," I said, inching backward.

  He pulled out a gun—the same gun Vacinay had. I recognized the scratch on the muzzle.

  How the hell did he get that gun?

  He chuckled. "No... I don’t think you’re going anywhere. You shouldn’t have left your damn jeep in my watermelon field!"

  I pointed at Hessian. "It’s his jeep!"

  Hessian panicked. "We didn’t mean to crash the jeep into your melon field, I swear! It was an accident!"

  The man slowly shook his head. "So now you feel sorry... Do you know how long we’ve been tracking you?"

  "L-long?" I stammered.

  He waved the gun at us. "Yes... Very long."

  That gun could fire without someone pulling the trigger... I just had to hope it wouldn’t—

  BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

  Bullets tore through our bodies.

  "What the hell! I didn’t even pull the trigger!" the man shouted.

  As I lay dying, their screams and frantic shouts filled my ears.

  "Gimme it—"

  Bang bang.

  "Ugh…"

  "Remove the clip!"

  "I removed it now—"

  Bang bang!

  "It’s cursed!"

  Everything went black.

  Then, it turned white. A moment later, I woke up in a rectangular white box.

  In front of me stood a figure, almost entirely black, their body covered in stars.

  There was something deeply unsettling about this person—they lacked most facial features, save for their eyes, which were eerily devoid of pupils.

  "Wow, we're alive?" Ghomas blurted out, his face contorted in shock.

  He must have been shot there.

  Vacinay and Hessian clutched their chests, checking for wounds.

  "Shit... so my gun was actually cursed, and it got us killed? Maybe I really am a witch. An isekai gun spell?" Even she seemed half-convinced of her own theory.

  Wait—what did she just say?

  She noticed our glares and quickly looked away, her expression stiffening.

  "I didn't do anything! It was the gun! Some guy gave it to me! He must have done some witchcraft on it to get rid of me! Well… I guess he succeeded."

  "Lies!" I shouted, lunging at her and pinning her to the ground.

  "Get off me! I'll beat your ass!" She thrashed beneath me, trying to push me away.

  Just as I clenched my fist to punch her, Hessian grabbed my collar and yanked me off.

  "Let me go!"

  "No. You're nearly a grown woman—you can't act like this in public." He turned his attention toward the being.

  Whatever… Wait. Public? We were dead.

  The being's voice boomed with five distinct tones at once. "Wow, you're all in the presence of a being like me, and this is what you’re concerned about?"

  Right… was it a god?

  The being placed a hand on their chest, their form subtly shifting into something more feminine. "I am Pallisos, a powerful being. When you all died, my brother took your bodies, revived you, and left clones behind. Then he made a trade with me…"

  She gestured toward a wall, and the cube around us turned translucent, revealing an endless expanse of space filled with spirals of light.

  "You are no longer in the same universe," she said.

  No way…

  Ghomas's eyes widened. "We got isekai’d? Hell yeah! Now we're talking! Vacinay got us killed for a good cause!"

  He threw himself at Vacinay, wrapping her in an excited hug. "Man! You’re the best person in the world! Best. Best!"

  She blinked, visibly stunned. But after a long moment, her lips twisted into a frown. "Ugh! My sister just had a baby! Damn, damn, damn! I was so excited to see that kid grow up! And I was this close to landing the job I always wanted! And I was finally getting a man—"

  Wait a second. "We got isekai’d. Your brother chose us… Were you involved in what got us killed today?" I asked the mysterious being.

  She floated lazily through the air. "No."

  She could have been lying.

  A cursed gun killed us. I bet she was lying.

  I pressed further. "Were you cursing guns?"

  She shook her head again. But before I could ask another question, Hessian rushed forward, eager to get his own answers.

  "Okay! So we’re going to be heroes, right? Superpowers?! Saving the world from the dark lord?!"

  Vacinay, still gripping her hair in frustration, suddenly perked up.

  Excitement flashed in her eyes as she shot to her feet. "Wait… heroes? So I can get loads of men chasing after me?! Gahahahahhahahah! I shall never be rejected again! And I’ll have tons of crazy flying monsters! No, dragons! And an army of giant centipedes! I’ll go down in history as the Queen of Beasts, ruler of an unstoppable monster horde!"

  She was panting, practically heaving with excitement.

  Her energy was terrifying… How did she go from grief to this so fast?

  What about me? Did I even care? I didn’t know.

  Sure, I’d always wanted to be rich. Mom wanted that for me, after all. We weren’t poor, but… she wanted more.

  And my father? He let her disrespect me as much as she pleased.

  Ah… there was nothing to miss about my old world. Maybe Mom and Dad would cry their eyes out when they heard I was dead. Yeah…

  A wide grin spread across my face. I wanted them to suffer. After all… I truly hated her. And by proxy, him.

  I stepped forward. "Reincarnate me as a damn royal!"

  Pallisos recoiled so hard she nearly flew backward. "Eh?! Stop now!"

  She swung her hand in a panic, conjuring a force field between us.

  Her eyes darted between us in disbelief. "Damn this… y’all are a bunch of weirdos. Well, as expected. You’ll all be reincarnated with enhanced copies of your current bodies into my universe—Ferzaio. The process will feel instant, but a week will have passed. You will function as this generation’s Defenders of the World, not heroes. Your morals and values are irrelevant. You are not here to bring hope. You are not here to save people. You have one job—destroy the Comets of Calamity."

  She let the words sink in before continuing. "Fragments of these comets chip off, releasing radiation that corrupts and mutates everything in their vicinity. You will also ensure the world doesn’t become overrun with mutants."

  What the hell kind of info dump was that? So we were… soldiers? Well, that was what heroes always ended up being, wasn’t it?

  She snapped her fingers, and a white aura surrounded us.

  "All of you will need power for this job. First, I will allow you to alter how you perceive the world. Game-like HUDs would be more beneficial for you. Customize it now."

  My vision flashed white, and suddenly, rows and columns of data filled my eyes.

  Customize this? I focused. Let’s see… change to yellow.

  Instantly, the display turned light yellow.

  Oh? Oh! This was actually kind of fun. Level-scanning feature!

  A white rotating circle appeared.

  Hell yeah! Red health bars, green stamina bar, skill energy bar, status effects tracker, mini-map, quest log, inventory, equipment icons, skill bar, party and group info, even a chat box—everything a proper HUD needed.

  I wasn’t much of a gamer, but Hessian only ever agreed to come over if we played video games.

  Well, I had gotten him to do other dumb stuff with me, too:

  "This is boring. Play chess with me!" I’d say.

  "Huh… today?" He was sick of chess by then.

  "Yeah! Yeah! I wanna play 4D chess!"

  "4D? The hell is that?"

  —Back to the present.

  My vision was cluttered with UI elements, which I quickly rearranged. I turned to look at Pallisos, and a rotating level indicator circled around her.

  LEVEL: … … … … ∞

  "Oh… damn," I muttered.

  Clapping her hands and swaying her head with amusement, she said, "Next! I am happy to show you another thing that makes my world different from my siblings!"

  "Eh?" I muttered.

  Before us, a bright golden card materialized, radiating pure energy.

  She pointed at it. "This is a Skill Originator Card. Demand a power, and it shall be as you desire. This one is of legendary rank. Skills will develop according to the theme of the power you select. And the ceiling of legendary cards?”

  She grinned. "Infinite."

  "Oh, skills? So we can just shout 'Fireball!' and wield unlimited power? Wait... she mentioned a ceiling..."

  Then, all around us, dozens of white cards began to rotate, their movements slow and deliberate, like they were watching us as much as we were watching them.

  "And... to make things more entertaining for you all, these white cards will grant you power—as much as you desire," Pallisos announced, her voice rich with amusement.

  Too good to be true. Way too good. Were those mutants really that strong? Or was it the cards? No, no—desiring power as much as we wanted? That sounded like some genie or devil's contract. There had to be limits, conditions—consequences.

  I narrowed my eyes at her. In an instant, she was in front of me, her presence as weightless as a shadow.

  "Choose your legendary power."

  She was planning something.

  I hesitated, my voice laced with suspicion. "If we do, what happens to us?"

  "Great power will be bestowed upon you."

  "There's a catch, isn't there?"

  "Oh no. It’s just that… I’m very curious about what you all will do with it."

  I raised an eyebrow. "And if I refuse?"

  Before she could answer, the others erupted into cheers.

  "Goooooot ittttt!"

  "Poweeer!" Vacinay howled, bending her knees like she was absorbing some mystical energy.

  "Call me the Dark Knight!" Ghomas declared, striking a dramatic pose like some discount superhero.

  … No way. Not a single one of them thought this was suspicious?

  Pallisos turned back to me, her gaze pressing. "Well? Choose wisely, little miss. Unless you prefer to remain powerless."

  If I refused, I’d be useless as a defender. And if that happened… she’d likely replace me. Either I accepted or got sent back as a corpse.

  The yellow card in my hand cracked, releasing a screen of golden light that rippled like water.

  If I was doing this, I’d at least take the strongest ability and brace myself for the consequences. Common sense said to pick something weak to avoid paying a steep price, but the world seemed dangerous enough that holding back wasn't an option.

  The light from the card condensed into an icon, shining in my HUD. To the side of my skill bar, a small clock symbol bloomed:

  (1) Skill Originator: Time Manipulation.

  I could already see the potential.

  Pallisos' expression shifted, her lips curling with intrigue—until her gaze flicked to the others. For the first time, genuine confusion crossed her face, followed by pure, unfiltered shock.

  She screamed, "Why did you all choose that?!"

  Not at one person. At all three.

  Ghomas was actually smart, huh?

  I grinned. "Well, well. This isn’t playing out how you expected, is it?"

  She grabbed my head, jerking it toward them. "Ghomas chose clone variance! Clones! Hessien picked mist creation! Damn mist! Mist! And the woman chose shape-shifting! They’re all fools! Morons! A bunch of idiots!"

  Wait. What? Gha—wha? No way. She had to be lying. No one chose anything of legendary scale, I thought.

  My eye twitched.

  She had to be bullshitting.

  Ghomas and Hessien, meanwhile, were brimming with excitement. "Vacinay! Wait, I just realized. You’re like Ben 10?!"

  She puffed out her chest. "Yes—wait. More like Albedo!" She raised her forearm and clasped her wrist, her voice dropping into an exaggerated, dramatic tone. "I am the great defender of the universe… Now bring me those chilly fries!"

  Then, as if rehearsed, they began chanting in perfect unison: "It started when an alien device did what it did—"

  Oh no.

  "—stuck itself upon her wrist with secrets that it hid—"

  They were really doing this.

  "—she’ll turn into an alien before your very eyes!"

  Vacinay jumped, mimicking a superhero landing. "She is the COMING STORM, BITCHESSSS!"

  I clenched my fists.

  I didn’t want to kill them, but I needed their heads on stakes.

  Ghomas then turned to Pallisos, his curiosity returning. "By the way, miss—"

  "I am too young to be referred to as that. I am still a child."

  What? A child? She had mentioned siblings, but I never considered she had… parents. Or that she was young. Was there an entire species of her?

  Ghomas blinked. "Wait. What? You look way too grown for a—hold on. That’s some anime loli-baba gross bait shit. ‘Oh, I look like an adult, but I’m actually seven years old.’ "

  He squinted in absolute disgust.

  Pallisos chuckled. "I am actually only 10,000 years old. But go on."

  What. Well, she did display shape-shifting abilities… Or did the adults just look different?

  Ghomas crossed his arms, skeptical. "Hmph! I don’t know this trope, but I know it’s some weird shit. Anyway! Back to my question. Why did you summon a bunch of twenty-year-olds and a single seventeen-year-old to save this world? It’s not like we have superhuman combat experience or anything special."

  I wanted to yell, I'm almost eighteen! but he had a point. Why us?

  Pallisos remained silent, then her expression shifted into something unnatural. Lacking a nose and mouth, the way her face twisted into a deep smile was horrifying. But her squinting eyes made her excitement clear.

  "Well... the same reason I brought you all here. Because you all are fun. Very fun."

  Wait. That wasn’t what she said before.

  Ghomas jabbed a finger at her. "You’re actually the real villain, aren’t you? The overdone, cliche, lame-ass trope."

  She didn’t answer. Then, with a swift downward motion of her hand, our bodies shattered into light.

  —!

  Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

  I hit the ground hard, my body slamming against a cold tile floor. At least we weren’t hurt. With a groan, I pushed myself up.

  Silence. A vast, eerie chamber loomed around us, lined with statues frozen in solemn poses.

  "So, she’s the big bad, huh?" Hessien mused.

  "Seems like it." Vacinay sprawled across the floor.

  "Well... damn." Ghomas sighed.

  Then, as if choreographed, they exchanged glances and hollered in unison, "Well, till then! Let’s enjoy life!"

  Hessien roared, "I’m gonna have so many women throwing themselves at me! I’ll be like, ‘No, madam, I already have a wife!’ Ten times a day! I’ll be so damn desired!" He giggled. "Gahahahahah!"

  Vacinay scoffed, striking a knightly pose. "Hah! Pathetic. A true hero isn’t in it for fame, but to make a difference." She barely concealed her excitement.

  That was a damn Ben 10 quote. And had she forgotten? We weren’t heroes.

  Not that it mattered.

  Sigh...

  It's a new world. A fresh start.

  Heh.

  No more parents. No more rules.

  A grin stretched across my face. "New damn world! Sweet freedom!" I shouted, throwing my arms up. "I’m gonna be rich!"

  Pallisos? She could wait for another day.