They all stared at us, puzzled. They were trying to hide their confusion, though not very successfully—except for the little boy, who made no effort to mask his bewilderment.

  “Is that… I don’t understand, but umm. Thank you for saving us!” he blurted out.

  Wait, huh?

  I turned to whisper to Vacinay, “Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t the concept of reality defenders known? Sure, people think they’re legends, but we just took down a giant monster. Shouldn’t that make it obvious we’re the real deal? Why aren’t they bowing at our feet and showering us with praise?”

  “Well…” she whispered back, her eyes still locked on the crowd, “I guess we don’t exactly look the part. I mean, people like Yamanda exist, and we’re nowhere near that level.”

  Just then, the old lady smiled warmly and said, “Ah… we understand. You all want to be like the reality defenders from the legends that President Cray Cray spoke about!”

  Cray Cray? There was no way that was his actual name. I refused to believe it.

  Also—what?!

  Hessien stepped forward, his tone firm. “We’re not trying to be like them. We are them.”

  Ghomas nodded, arms folded across his chest. “Exactly. Didn’t you see the giant clones I made?”

  The old lady nodded slowly, her expression dripping with pity. The rest of the group followed suit, looking at us like we were a bunch of delusional kids.

  “Y-yes, darlings… I’m sure you’ll be able to become like those legends if you work hard enough. One day. Probably. Maybe. It’s… unlikely, but you never know!” she said, her voice oozing pity.

  A man with brown hair stepped forward, smiling like he was addressing a group of toddlers. “Exactly! When I was younger, I wanted to be a reality defender too. I get why you kids want to be like them.”

  My eye twitched. A vein in my forehead throbbed as I muttered under my breath, “Do you all… want to die—“

  Hessien clamped his hand over my mouth before I could finish. “Sure, sure! Anyway, do you all know how to get back home?”

  The old lady glanced around, tiptoeing to peer into the distance. “Huh… well, parts of the forest that lead to our home seem… burned. And we’re worried about those half-men who might attack us again.”

  I tried to pry Hessien’s hand off my face, but for some reason, his grip was ironclad. Was this the result of his level-up? Wait—no. He was covering my mouth with his white energy hand.

  Please don’t tell me this guy has a super-powered arm now.

  Frustrated, I bit down on it with all my strength. To my surprise, he yelped in pain and yanked his hand away.

  “What the hell!” he shouted, rubbing his hand. However, his panic didn't seem authentic for some reason.

  “You were violating my right to free speech,” I said flatly.

  “You…” He sighed, then turned back to the group. “We’ll help you.”

  I had no idea why he said “we” like he was suddenly French, but I let it slide.

  “Ah, thank you…” one of the men said. I glanced at him and—oh. Oh my. He was… quite handsome.

  I took in his perfectly chiseled jawline, his tall, toned frame, broad shoulders, and muscular, veiny forearms. He wasn’t overdone like some steroid junkie—just the right amount of muscle. For a moment, my brain short-circuited.

  I stepped in front of Hessien, putting on my most heartwarming smile. “Right, right, right! I’ll lead the way.”

  Hessien looked at me, baffled, but I ignored him and started marching ahead.

  The ridiculously hot guy cleared his throat. “Um, that’s not the right direction.”

  I spun around instantly. “You’re absolutely right! Please, lead the way. I’ll stick by your side to protect you.”

  At most, he was 22. Maybe... 25? 27...? Honestly, I didn’t give a flying FUCK.

  “Oh… okay,” he said, stepping out from the middle of the crowd. His clothes were torn, especially his shirt, which hung open just enough to reveal his very inviting thick chest.

  Calm down, Lumine. Calm. Down.

  “I’ll start leading,” he said.

  "Yesss," I replied, matching his pace as I walked beside him.

  There was silence, but I could hear Hessien and the others whispering behind me. Whatever. That wasn’t important. The real question was: what was I supposed to say to this guy? Shouldn’t he be the one gushing over my beauty? Was I supposed to make the first move?

  I nodded dramatically, breaking the silence. “So… how’s life?” I asked.

  He turned to me, dark circles under his eyes. “Oh. I think… it’ll be better. Seeing my parents killed during that raid by the half-men was… a terrifying experience.”

  Oh.

  Shit. I’d forgotten. These people had nearly been sacrificed. Was I being inappropriate? Selfish? No, no, no! Dwelling on the negative was pointless. I was just being positive with my thoughts and actions.

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  I glanced at his veiny and muscular arms again.

  Dang it! I wanted them wrapped around me.

  Unfortunately, his pants were perfectly intact. What a shame.

  “Tch.”

  As we approached the burned section of the forest, a sudden rustling came from a semi-charred bush.

  Instinctively, I considered freezing time, but then I looked at the guy and had a better idea.

  I gasped dramatically and bumped into his chest, feigning fear. “Oh dear! It’s a monster! Protect me!”

  Brilliant plan. He’d hug me, protecting me from harm, and I’d be in heaven.

  His mouth trembled. “H-huh? Wh-what?”

  Instead of wrapping his arms around me, he spread them wide, shaking like a leaf.

  “Hey, you’ve gotta embrace me to protect me properly,” I said, forgetting to keep my tone soft and damsel-like.

  He backed away from me, then turned and ran, screaming, “Mammy! Daddy! S-save me!”

  I blinked, completely baffled. Then, from the bush, a very small half-man emerged.

  “I will eat you—“

  I punched through his mouth, shattering his skull and sending bits of his brain flying in every direction.

  Tch.

  I tossed the body aside and kept walking, my mood thoroughly ruined.

  Vacinay chuckled, mocking me. “You should’ve added ‘senpai’.”

  Then, without warning, she leapt forward and launched into an over-the-top performance.

  Dropping to her knees, one hand stretched out dramatically, her face contorted in exaggerated agony, she wailed, “SENPAI! Please! Touch me! I’m touch-deprived! Hug me! Let me feel your arms!”

  She slowly retracted her hand, clutching her chest as though mortally wounded. “Pick me! Choose me! PLEASE, I BEG YOU!”

  Finally, she collapsed onto the ground, feigning death. “Please…” Her head lolled to the side, and she went still, holding her breath.

  Hessien wiped tears from his eyes. “So… beautiful…”

  Tanya mirrored his sentiment, sighing wistfully. “Ah, the tales of love.”

  Ghomas, on the other hand, was on all fours, utterly distraught. “Magnificent… it truly captures the essence of love…”

  I stared at them, too stunned to retort. Instead, I raised my hand to the sky.

  They halted their antics and glared at me disapprovingly.

  Hessien sneered, “Come on, we know you can’t do anything. There are people watching.”

  Suddenly, a fireball the size of six cars fused together materialized above my hand.

  They all looked up, their faces bored as the heat distorted the air around the massive inferno.

  I grinned. “Oh? I wouldn’t do it, huh?!”

  They nodded in unison, their voices confident. “Yeah"

  "That’s what we said. What about it?”

  Oooo, I was tempted to incinerate them right then and there. Holy hell!

  I glanced at the bystanders—they were drenched in sweat from the sheer heat of my flames.

  Clicking my tongue, I hurled the fireball toward the mountain of sacrifices. It wasn’t like I could just dismiss it.

  Although, I suspected I could come up with a workaround.

  Wait…

  I could acquire the Fire Suppression skill for seven points. So, I did.

  Then I focused on the fireball hurtling toward the mountain and willed it to extinguish.

  I felt a slight strain as the flames dissipated into nothingness. Hm. I wished it were called Heat Suppression instead, but oh well.

  Regardless, the terrified, sweat-soaked onlookers remained… well, terrified and drenched in sweat.

  I cleared my throat and offered a sheepish apology.

  And so… we moved forward again. The burned forest stretched before us, a desolate wasteland of blackened soil and charred, leafless trees.

  One of them asked, “This place… Did the half-men have some kind of conflict here?”

  “I did it,” I declared smugly. “With a fire of that scale, I imagine they’re all dead.”

  They all stared at me, puzzled, before one ventured, “You did this?”

  “Yep!”

  Wait, was that a bad thing to admit? Did they own this forest? Hell no, there was no way.

  This place was been overrun by those half-men.

  “T-thank you!”

  “You should burn the entire forest down too!”

  “They must be from those legends!”

  Ah, that felt good.

  We resumed our journey. It took a while, but we eventually left the scorched section of the forest.

  Back in the grassy woodland… Wait, hadn’t we been brought to a jungle initially?

  I rubbed my head. A jungle within a forest? Whatever, it didn’t matter.

  We trudged past enormous green plants, about half my height, with red flowers that reeked of sweat and cotton.

  After some more tedious walking, we neared their village.

  A little boy dashed ahead. “We’re almost home!”

  The others followed suit, their faces alight with joy and relief.

  It was actually quite heartwarming to see.

  Tanya, however, glared at them the entire time, her energy chains glowing ominously around her.

  It was a damn good thing she’d made that pacifist-ish contract with Hessien.

  Hessien bumped into me. I noticed Vacinay was asleep on his shoulders.

  “You sure do baby her,” I remarked.

  He shrugged. “I guess so.”

  Ghomas yawned. I turned to see him lounging in the arms of one of his clones, one leg crossed over the other, posing like some kind of royalty.

  I ignored them and pushed through the tall bushes ahead, only to find the villagers reuniting with their friends and families.

  As I stepped past the thick foliage, I smiled, ready to say something, but… the situation was a bit… um…

  The villagers looked around in horror. Some dropped to their knees, their faces etched with despair.

  The entire village had been reduced to burned ruins. A few corpses lay scattered, but there were barely any remnants of the burned houses.

  That man, the sacrifices ring leader, had to be responsible for this.

  An old woman stumbled and fell onto her backside, weeping. “H-how could this have happened…?”

  But why would the ringleader have come to this village? It seemed he’d been focused on the sacrifices up on the mountain.

  Maybe it was someone else with fire abilities?

  The little boy turned to us and dropped to his knees. “You’re reality defenders, right?!”

  I nodded. Hessien and Ghomas, however, awkwardly turned away, as if they hadn’t a clue what he was talking about.

  No damn morals.

  I stepped forward and knelt on one knee. “Yes, we are. Well, I am.”

  The villagers turned to me, eyes brimming with rage and sorrow. “Please… avenge our home and the families left behind to die.”

  I sprang to my feet. “Of course! I will!”

  The question was… how?

  Hessien rubbed his chin as he surveyed the scene. “You have time powers, right? Can you look into the past?”

  Oh, right! I could!

  Buying that skill for six points had hurt my soul, but… I still had plenty left.

  I acquired Past Vision and announced, “I’ll look into the past and see what happened.”

  “Can… you make us see it too?” one of them asked.

  …

  I groaned as I pulled up the ‘Mind-Influence’ skill card and purchased ‘Mind Projection’ for four points.

  The things I did out of goodwill…

  Anyway! I activated Past Sight and attempted to use both skills at once, which was sure to make my brain feel like mush.

  With my mind connected to theirs, I broadcasted the vision of the past.

  The village appeared in a reddish hue, with us standing there, so I had to go further back.

  I rewound three minutes, to when the villagers had just arrived at their burned village. Then I went back ten minutes, when the fire was dying down… and pushed it even further—thirty minutes.

  (MY BRAIN HURRRRRTSSSS!)

  The village was bustling with people, mostly the elderly.

  They were looking up in terror.

  I followed their gaze, though my past vision was limited to my perspective. Something I could probably improve later, but that was a problem for another day.

  In the sky was a massive fireball… exactly like the one I’d created back in the forest… and thrown into the sky…

  The handsome guy I’d tried to flirt with suddenly spoke up. “You did that…?”

  I snapped toward him, confused. “Did what?”

  “Your thoughts! They were broadcasted as audio!”

  … “What.”

  The villagers slowly turned to me, their eyes burning with murderous intent.

  “That fireball looks exactly like the one you created earlier!” the old woman shouted, hurling a stone at me.

  I raised my hands defensively. “I can explain!”

  “Explain?!” they demanded.

  I pointed a finger skyward, thinking…

  Shit.

  I bit down on my thumb. “I won’t make a statement until I get a lawyer.”

  “DIE!” They charged at me like a pack of rabid wolves!