Now that I look at the 'guns' better, they resemble spears, except with a barrel and muzzle replacing the tip. I have no idea how I looked at this and thought, 'gun.'

Judging by their earlier attempt to kill us using their spider trick, it's clear they are extremely trigger-happy.

Hessien grabs my shoulders and pulls me back. He whispers in my ear, "Try to look magnificent."

I'm not even sure what he means by that.

Vacinay crosses her arms, standing tall with perfect posture. With a hardened and mighty expression, she glares at the people outside.

Hessien and Ghomas crouch on the opposite side of her, clenching their hands repeatedly.

Hessien speaks in a cold and edgy tone, "It seems the people have heard our call..."

Ghomas replies, slowly shifting his gaze to them. "Indeed. The mortals are eager."

Ohhhh. I think it's my turn.

I quickly sit down and cross my legs, resting my chin on my palm. "Hmph!"

I probably could have thought of something better to say.

It seems our plan is working. The more we talk, the more fear is reflected in their expressions. They even glance at each other, hoping one of them will speak up.

Vacinay is the last to deliver her speech. "Is this how you treat the divine defenders of this reality? Pointing guns at them?!"

Upon shouting, two men collapse to their knees. One of them pleads, "Please stop speaking in that horrible language!"

"Stop with the threats of prophecies! Just tell us what you mean!"

Wait, what?

Vacinay and the other two look confused. Oh, they have their auto-translation turned off.

After turning it back on, they cough and restate their previous speeches. Well, they're about to, but I want to cut the bullshit.

I stand up and point at the four of us with my thumb. "Like we said, we are reality defenders."

Among them is a very well-built man with dragon-like tattoo patterns. He dons a robe-like outfit. It's a long-sleeved white and gold shirt(dress?) that extends down to his ankles.

Around his neck is a circular piece of cloth adorned with gems. Instead of carrying a spear gun, he has his palm open.

Perhaps he possesses some kind of power.

Then there's the other man who appears to be in his sixties. He's dressed more elegantly than the muscular man.

While I examine their attire, they whisper among themselves. There's a rather handsome guy who tries to join their conversation, but he's pushed away.

After a couple of seconds, the older man smiles at us. "Welcome to our world."

On our way out of the summoning room, we walk amidst the important figures.

The guards that are behind us whisper among themselves. To be honest, it sounds like they want us to hear their whispers.

"Don't they look a bit weak?"

Stolen story; please report.

"Yeah, I was thinking that too."

"I bet I could beat up any one of them," the memorable guard says.

They're annoying. If I had a functioning power, I would indulge in a power fantasy right then and there!

I would go back in time and mess with his entire life. I would become the Reverse Flash of his life. But maybe I'm getting a little too heated.

The man I assume is the boss of those guards stares at us in a peculiar way, as if he has found out Batman is real. It's a type of admiration that seems as if it would develop into an obsession in the future.

When I look at him, his expression instantly shifts to a professional one.

He asks, "Is there anything, reality defender?"

He thinks he's so smart.

I shake my head. "No, and besides, my name is Lumine Markish."

"That's a beautiful name, my lady."

Uh-huh. "Sure."

He then proceeds to ask the others for their names, to which they all respond.

"Ghomas Hyuiom."

"Vacinay Frutez."

"Hessien Markish."

He and the old man wear confused expressions.

The older man, whom I assume is the king, asks, "You all have two names? What's the meaning behind it?"

They don't have family names here? That's... something else, I guess.

Ghomas is the first to respond, "It's our surname... obviously. Also, we actually have three names, but when people introduce themselves, they don't mention their middle names."

The two men glance at each other, completely baffled.

The muscular man asks with great curiosity, "So... what does it mean? The extra names? What purpose do they serve?"

I don't want Ghomas to call him stupid, so I interject and answer, "In our world, first names are common, so middle names help differentiate us. There are other uses for them, like honoring a family member or something so. The last name is the family name. It's essentially inheriting your father's family name in some cultures."

The older man clasps his hands over his mouth, gasping.

I have no idea what about that fascinates him so much.

He murmurs, "Wow... that's glamorous."

The other man strokes his chin, lost in thought.

The memorable guard puffs out his chest and clears his throat to speak. Maybe I should refer to him as the guard who looks like a side character but has a unique design.

Anyway, he says, "That's cool and all, but we keep things simple. We have one name, and if someone wants to know which family we belong to, they can determine it based on our flow patterns."

Oh, the patterns are genetic? That's interesting.

I think he expects a response, but we pretend to not acknowledge his words.

Vacinay whispers to Hessien while snickering, "Imagine if your wife cheats on you, gives birth to a child with the flow patterns of your best friend, and then tries to convince you it's yours. Hehehe."

Hessien stifles his laughter. "Bro, you're saying that as a joke, but that probably actually happens."

"For sure. I wonder how it goes. Probably like, 'I promise! It's yours!' The guy looks at her, the baby, and then his best friend. He notices the baby and the best friend have identical flow patterns, and says, 'Bitch, you think I'm dumb?!'"

"Hahah."

Ghomas joins in, resting his arm across Hessien's shoulder. "Don't worry, fam. Since we're only friends and not best friends, when I got your wife pregnant, it's gonna be all good."

"Shut the hell up." Hessien rolls his eyes.

Heh. That would be quite the sight.

After a while of walking, the older man seems more like a fangirl compared to the other guy. I can almost see twinkles developing in his eyes.

Is our naming culture difference that amazing to him?

Finally, we climb some steps and reach a new floor.

He gestures grandly toward the apartment. "This shall be your living quarters! This entire place was built just for you all!"

"Wait, oh damn. The previous reality defenders must have had it good, huh?" I mean, the place isn't bad

.

But an apartment? I expected us to be treated to a mansion or something.

I'm kinda disappointed, very disappointed.

The older man shakes his head. "Previous reality defenders? There is no such thing."

"What?" I blurt out without thinking.

"What is he talking about?"

"Eh?"

"That makes no sense."

Hessien, Vacinay, and Ghomas express their confusion.

The muscular man explains, "That is the truth. In fact, people consider you all some kind of legend."

"That makes no sense! If that were the case, why would you have built all this for beings that may or may not exist?" I'm more frustrated than I should be.

All of them look at the older man. "Well... the old president had a dream about beings called reality defenders being summoned into our world to stop the mutants and the asteroids that cause them. So this place was built. And, of course, I wanted to see if it would turn out to be true, so I made sure it wasn't repurposed or broken down."

Wait, president? Oh, so there isn't a king for this country? I guess that should be common sense... One of them did say, 'sir president' and the guards mentioned something about a president too.

Welp, the dream of the old president did end up coming true.

Ghomas then expresses his doubt. "Didn't the Palli weirdo say we were this generation of reality defenders? I thought that implied there were defenders before us."

"Yeah, same." I agree with him.

"Yeah yeah! She did!" Hessien and Vacinay nod vigorously.

Oh boy, of course, she lied to us.