Meeting...

"We're finally here!" Daniel exclaimed cheerfully, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

Both he and Alaine had taken quite some time to reach the mall, especially since Daniel was much slower compared to Alaine.

"What are you doing?" he asked, turning to see Alaine scanning the area.

"Nothing..." she replied curtly before heading towards the center of the mall, specifically the food court.

As a regressor, she knew practically everything about the upcoming scenarios.

This one, in particular, required a lot of supplies, mainly food.

"Alright... since the next scenario should start in just a few minutes, we need to gather all kinds of supplies." Alaine said, turning to Daniel with a serious expression.

"I'll gather a few things, and you can... get us food. You've worked at McDonald's before, right?" she added with a small smile.

"Alright..." Daniel nodded and headed to the McDonald's nearby.

But suddenly, something struck him.

"W-wait! How did you know I worked at McDonald's?!" he turned around.

"Ah... she's gone..."

"Well... time to throw some buns!" he cracked his knuckles.

Meanwhile...

Alaine wandered around the mall, thinking to herself, 'If I'm not wrong... it should be around here...'

'Ah, found it!' she thought as she spotted it.

[Special Treasure Box]

In front of her was a golden chest, a hidden piece of immense value since there were only a few in the entire world, maybe five to ten at most.

Because of their rarity, the items inside were of the highest grade.

[Star Energy Sword]

"I got you again..." Alaine smiled as she picked up the sword.

This sword had been her weapon since she first found this chest.

It was undoubtedly one of the most powerful weapons of the apocalypse.

'There are only ten scenarios... I need to get powerful enough to kill the boss of the tenth scenario and finally... get my peaceful life.'

The life she once dreamed of was marrying Lucius, but after his repeated betrayals, she had given up on that dream.

Now, she just wanted peace after the apocalypse ended.

'I need to max my attributes quickly... but Daniel isn't strong enough to be on his own... and I didn't get Bianca this time...'

'My plans are really messed up!' she thought, clenching her fists.

— Step...!

'!!!'

Upon hearing the steps, Alaine quickly hid herself and looked at the source of the sound.

"You're so slow..." A familiar voice reached out to her ears.

"A-ah... I-I... it was 30 kilometers to get here! W-what do you expect?!" a female voice replied, sounding out of breath.

"B-besides... h-how high are your attributes? You're not even sweating a little bit."

"Shhhh! You'll wake up her..."

"...Idiot..."

'Lucius... and... is that Jane? I didn't think I'd find her so soon, much less with Lucius.'

'That's great... if I can get Lucius to joi—!' Her thoughts suddenly halted as she spotted a small figure in Lucius' arms.

'Bianca!!! H-how?!' Alaine bit her nail in frustration, wondering how Lucius could've had Bianca in his arms.

After all, she didn't find Bianca in the place she would usually be during the 2nd scenario.

'And by her face... she seems very comfortable in his arms.'

"Anyway... why are we even here?" Jane asked in a low voice, remembering Lucius's previous warning

"Isn't it obvious? You're quite dumb, aren't you?"

"Hah?! Me, dumb? I was the top student in my universi—!"

"—Yap, yap, yap. Then, shouldn't you know that we need supplies right now? We're in an apocalypse, miss top student." He replied in a bored tone.

With a small sigh, Lucius got on the rolling stairs, and upon reaching the top, his eyes suddenly widened.

"Alaine...?"

"Lucius." She simply nodded her head after spotting him.

'Well... I didn't expect to meet her so soon.' Lucius thought as she looked at Alaine's status.

He was curious to see how much she had evolved from the previous time he had seen her status.

[Name: Alaine Woods (19)]

[Authority: Gold (Locked)]

[Current Level: 9]

[Title: Regressor of Nightmares, Hopeless Lover, 998th Round Regressor.]

[Sponsor: Timekeeper]

[Coins: 349.999]

[Attributes: Strength 30 | Dexterity 99 | Constitution 42 | Magic 171 ]

[Stat Points: 0]

[Skills: 

▶ Mana Control 9✪ | Elemental Magic 9✪ | Time Stop 9✪ | Magic Resistance 9✪ (Click to show the complete list.)]

[Unique Skill:

▶ A Regressor's Perk (Mythic)

It allows the user to retain every skill from her past regressions.]

[Stigma:

▶ Regressor (Unique)

It allows the user to regress infinitely; however, the condition is that the user has to die.

▶ Limit Breaker 998 (Unique)

It allows the user to break the limit of each scenario. ]

''Mhm... right. Totally normal. That is, for a regressor, of course.' Lucius casually nodded to himself.

'She was just a bit beyond my calculations.'

'Like... more than 60 points in both Dexterity and Magic. As for the rest... they are kinda low.'

'Yep... she can kill me in one shot.'

'Like... HOW THE FUCK IS HER MAGIC ALREADY AT 171?!' Lucius finally yelled inwardly.

He looked through her status, and finally, he found it...

[Alaine Wood Magic Circulation Technique Lv.MAX]

[Grants 10 points of magic for every circulation. The user can use this skill 5 times a day.]

'...There's not even a range. It simply grants her 10 points directly. But strangely, Bianca's skill at Level one is stronger than hers.'

'This girl really is quite special,' Lucius thought with a smile as he looked at Bianca's peaceful sleeping face.

"I see... that you've found a few 'friends'," Alaine commented, her gaze switching from Bianca to Jane.

"Right. I assume you're still with Daniel, right?" Lucius turned his gaze back to Alaine and asked.

"Yes... he's getting us food for now. So, what about joining us?" She went straight to the point.

Honestly, Lucius wanted to say yes, but he simply couldn't.

[The constellation "#$%&#?!? of the Sky" tells the player not to join Alaine's group.]

[The constellation "#$%&#?!? of the Sky" tells the player that Alaine is big trouble for him.]

His constellation wouldn't stop bugging him off.

"Sorry, but I'll have to refuse."

"Why not? You know we could work well together," Alaine pressed, frustration evident in her voice.

Lucius could easily see that she was fuming with anger. But, unfortunately, he simply couldn't accept to join her group.

"....."

Now knowing what to say, Lucius simply didn't reply to her words. However, it seems that his act had backfired.

Biting her lip, Alaine suddenly waved her hand, and a gust of wind was propelled through the whole place.

"P-papa...?" Bianca suddenly woke up because of the wind.

However, when Bianca opened her eyes, she noticed that she wasn't in her Papa's arms, but in Jane's arms.

"W-where's Papa?!" She hurriedly looked at Jane.

"I-I... d-don't know...!" Jane explained the situation.

Basically, after Alaine apparently created that gust of wind, both she and Lucius disappeared.

And when Jane noticed, she already had Bianca in her arms.

"I-I'll go find Papa!" Bianca jumped out of Jane's arms, however, she was immediately stopped.

"Wait a second... Lucius left us a quick note." Jane added.

When the gust of wind passed Lucious also took the opportunity to pass a not to her before he disappeared.

Like... he already knew that this was going to happen.

"Let me see!" Bianca grabbed the note.

[Get plenty of supplies, especially food. Be prepared for this new scenario, which is going to be like a plants vs. zombies game!]

"Plants versus zombies...? That old game?"