Where are the priests and mages who are supposed to greet us, believing they are the ones who have summoned us?

"REALITY DEFENDERS HAVE BEEN SUMMONED! REALITY DEFENDERS HAVE BEEN SUMMONED! REALITY DEFENDERS HAVE BEEN SUMMONED! REALITY DEFENDERS HAVE BEEN SUMMONED!" The announcement grows even louder.

The speakers in the room echo loudly, making me fear for my hearing if I get too close.

The repetitive announcement appears automated. It seems this world possesses technology akin to modern Earth. I had expected something more like a lackluster medieval world.

Vacinay has her hand on her waist. “Okay, I swear to God or whatever god of this world, if this doesn’t stop in the next minute, I’m going to go wildmutt on it and tear it apart.” Her voice holds a hint of excitement.

She eagerly mutters, “wildmutt… wildmutt…”

Hessien clasps his ears. “Okay… this isn’t funny. What the hell?”

Ghomas shouts, “Shut this off!”

“REALITY DEFENDERS HAVE BEEN SUMMONED! REALITY DEFENDERS HAVE BEEN SUMMONED! REALITY DEFENDERS HAVE BEEN SUMMONED! REALITY DEFENDERS HAVE BEEN SUMMONED!” And it gets louder.

Is it mocking us?

“Damn! Let’s just get out of here!” Vacinay suggests.

Ghomas looks at her as if she were stupid. “No shit, Miss Ben 10, but where? There’s no exit.”

Her eyebrows furrow as she points towards a massive towering door in front of us. It's so obvious, yet I hadn’t noticed it before.

“Oh,” Ghomas expresses embarrassment. “I actually saw that. I was just testing you—”

“Shut it.” She moves forward and grabs the doorknob, attempting to pull it with little effort. To her surprise, it doesn’t budge.

Feeling embarrassed, she tries again while maintaining a cool demeanor, but nothing happens.

“Okay! What the hell!” She shouts as she uses both hands to try to force it open, swinging her body wildly in the process.

After a minute, she gasps for air, completely exhausted. Now desperate, she calls out to Hessien. “Hey… bestie… help me out.”

“There you go, calling me that crap again.” He makes an irritated face as he walks towards her.

Still gasping, she says, “Wow… best best, my cutesy little bestieeee.”

“Stop.”

He points at Ghomas. “Hurry up.”

Saluting, Ghomas runs to him.

By the way, Vacinay is practically mocking him for what he used to call her when they were around thirteen years old since she was his first friend at school.

Ghomas then smiles at Hessien, and in turn, Hessien smiles back. They both nod slowly.

With a handshake, they declare, “The time has come for us to use our power.”

“So it seems, brethren… are you sure we can do this…” Ghomas closes his eyes as he uses his other hand to fan his hair, which barely moves it.

Are they serious right now? They can’t take anything seriously!

Vacinay notices this and joins in. “No… way. You all are putting aside your differences? Hessien-kun! And Ghomas-chan!” She falls to her knees dramatically. “Please… save us!”

Ghomas blinks for a couple of seconds. “Wait, chan?”

“Yes, Ghomas-chan!” She looks at him with puppy eyes.

“Eh…? Isn’t that for women?”

“Yes, Ghomas-chan.”

“So…”

"Because Ghomas-chan has a pussy between his legs, of course."

Ghomas stands there for a couple of seconds, baffled. "Fuck you!"

He runs after her, and she laughs as she runs away from him. "Hahaha! I wish I had my phone to record your reaction!"

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"Come back here!"

Hessien is annoyed. "Ghomas! Bruh! Let's do this, dude!"

Halting his chase, Ghomas clicks his tongue and runs back to Hessien, assuming the same position.

They grab the doorknob and grin at us. "Don't worry... we will save you all... our damsels in distress."

"Kill yourself," I mutter.

They begin to raise their voices to the sky, shouting, “HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”

“HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”

As they attempt to open the door, they swing their bodies wildly; it's as if they're possessed by demons. With each passing second, they increase their volume and spout nonsense.

“This is too much! We need to use that technique!” Ghomas shouts, sweat trickling down his face.

Hessien’s eyes shoot open in shock. “No… you don’t mean…”

With a hardened expression, Ghomas confirms, “Yes… I mean that…”

While they continue their roleplay, I open my palm and summon a yellow card. It shines brightly, displaying a clock symbol on the back and various locked icons on the front.

“REALITY DEFENDERS HAVE BEEN SUMMONED! REALITY DEFENDERS HAVE BEEN SUMMONED! REALITY DEFENDERS HAVE BEEN SUMMONED! REALITY DEFENDERS HAVE BEEN SUMMONED!”

I examine the card, contemplating which skill I could unlock. I didn't bother with the skills below time freeze since they were even more expensive.

Skill Description Price Future sight You can see in the future 5 skill points Past sight You can see the past 6 skill points Time freeze You can stop time 10 skill points

Out of them all, Future Sight is the cheapest...

I don't need to check my status screen because my skill points are displayed on the card. I only have 3 skill points, which isn't enough to unlock anything! And I need to be level 10 for it!

Hm, I wonder what my level is.

STATUS Name: Lumine Markish Level: 4 (//// )

So, I don’t start at Level 1, huh? I wonder what the reason is. There's an experience bar next to it, which is only a quarter full, indicating that I somehow gained experience.

Ghomas and Hessien give up and fall to the ground, panting.

“Okay… this thing won’t budge at all. This isn’t funny anymore…” Hessien tries to stand up but falls back down.

Funny? It was never funny to begin with.

Ghomas holds his chest. “Yeah… same. I’m going insane listening to this.”

“REALITY DEFENDERS HAVE BEEN SUMMONED! REALITY DEFENDERS HAVE BEEN SUMMONED! REALITY DEFENDERS HAVE BEEN SUMMONED! REALITY DEFENDERS HAVE BEEN SUMMONED!”

Hessien finally rises to his feet with a determined expression. “Honestly, I wanted to say something cool like ‘the time has finally come!’ but I completely forgot we had those cards.” He summons his yellow card into his hands.

I wonder about something and creep up behind him, resting my chin on his shoulder.

He tilts his head towards me. “Sup? You want to see it?”

“Oh… no, no. I just want to know one thing.”

“Yeah? Are we going to escape from here? Of course. You know why?”

“Nope.” I wonder what nonsense he's going to say.

He grins. “Because with family…”

I bite down on his shoulder before he can continue.

“Ouch!” He bites my head.

“The hell!”

“You bit me first!”

“Yes, because you were going to make a Fast and Furious joke!”

He rests his hands on his waist. “So what? Anyway…”

Right, I wanted to say something. I point at his card. “Okay, mind telling me how summoning mist is going to save us?”

It's a sarcastic question. To be honest, Vacinay is the most useful person right now due to her shape-shifting powers.

He shrugs. “It wouldn’t.”

… Stopping my hand from gripping his neck is really hard.

He then makes dismissive waves with his hand. “Don’t get too much in your feelings, Lumii.”

He sure likes calling me that old nickname from when we were young.

He continues, “Besides, I was going to summon a white card too, you know.”

Oh right. We have those cards, but I don’t want to use those powers before I find out all the negative effects the cards have on us.

If using the legendary card made me go bald from using a single skill, then I’ll know not to use the others.

I ask him, “By the way, what’s your level and how many skill points do you have?”

“Eh… I am at level 5. I have 4 skill points.” With annoyance, he bitterly says, “And most of the damn skills are locked off! I only have 3 available for my level!”

…

...

He is at a higher level than me. He has more skill points than me. And he has available skills, and he is complaining?!

What could have been the reason behind it?

Hessien notices my bewilderment and then asks me, “What’s your skill originator card?”

I summon it and show it to him. He tries to touch it, but his hand phases through it.

That’s interesting. So, only the person it belongs to is capable of touching it? I guess it would be problematic if someone stole it.

“Oh, that’s surprising. But time stuff?” He asks.

I nod with a smile.

“Wow…”

Vacinay hears this and runs up to me. “Wait, you’re serious?”

“Yep. I might… be a lot better than all of you.” I shrug as I spread my arms wide.

Hessien chuckles a bit. “Yeah, you’re gonna be some big shot, huh?” He rests his arm on my shoulder. “I’m gonna be like, ‘Oi! She’s my cousin!’”

… I’m feeling a bit embarrassed. I want him to be jealous!

“Damn… I’m still going to make my army,” Vacinay moans.

Wait a second, she wants to have an army of dragons and centipedes… but she only chose shapeshifting? I assume it’s because she can obtain monster control with a white card.

Ghomas stares at me, jealousy in his eyes, to my surprise. I thought he was too dense to experience such things.

He then asks, “How many skills can you unlock?”

Well, that kills all my pride instantly…

“None,” I reply. “I need to be level 10 to unlock them.”

“Pft.” Vacinay struggles to keep a straight face.

“Oh my…” Ghomas clasps his hands and bows. “I’m sorry to hear that…”

Hessien is disappointed as he shakes his head. “My disappointment is immeasurable, and my day is—”

Before he can finish, I shove my hand in his mouth. “Shut up.”