Who Are You?

"What is happening here?"

Mari's cold voice rang as she asked about the commotion that was happening.

"Miss Mari, Sir Agnus here is being accused of raping that girl, which might be a lie those two have been making up!"

One of the people in the crowd explained to her enthusiastically about the situation as Agnus smirked at him in satisfaction, recognizing him as one of his loyal dogs.

'Good job! I'll make sure to pay you handsomely later!'

Unfortunately for him, Mari understood what was truly happening, and she knew the truth already.

"That's why we should kick those two out of the camp!"

"I see."

"Eh? W-What do you mean-"

"Silence."

Agnus' loyal dog shuts himself up as Mari walks towards Agnus who starts sweating profusely.

"I-I did nothing wrong Miss Mari! It's them who's trying to fool you, don't fall for their obvious lies!"

"Is that so?"

But Mari was still not convinced and continued to walk towards Agnus who felt her murderous intent.

'I'm going to get killed!'

"You two, is what he's saying true?"

Mari looked at Eugene who quickly denied Agnus' words while the girl continued to tremble.

"He's lying, I saw him trying to rape her in the middle of this forest, can't you see her bruises? That alone is enough to prove something is wrong!"

"Ha! Stop trying to accuse me of something wrong, how about you make the girl talk, huh?! I bet she can't say anything at all!"

Agnus retorted and stared at the girl intensely, which worsened her trembling.

Mari then glanced at the girl behind Eugene as her eyes widened in recognition.

"You, girl."

"Y-Yes?!"

"What's your name?"

"...Selena Schwartz."

Upon hearing an extremely familiar name, Mari smiled softly at Selena, surprising everyone with her dazzling smile, especially Selena who slowly calmed her trembling down.

"It's okay, Selena."

"Don't be afraid, I'm here."

"Tell everyone the truth."

Selena who had been hiding behind Eugene looked back at Mari in astonishment, looked at Agnus, and then at her again until she finally gained the courage and revealed herself behind Eugene.

Agnus panicked, seeing his [Charm] skill not working on Selena.

"Stop!"

*Shing*

Beams of light punctured the ground near Agnus, forming some sort of cage that immobilized him from moving any further.

"..."

...

"Selena, are you excited to be at this new school?"

"Of course mama!"

"Make sure to have fun and make plenty of friends there!"

"Okay!"

Selena was a shy girl, she was extremely soft and was easily picked on by others, which made her a victim of bullying for quite some time in her old school.

But after convincing her mother to transfer her to another school, she was determined to change herself, acquired an entirely new personality, and promised herself to truly make genuine friends this time.

'I'll make sure to thoroughly enjoy my school life from now on!'

But everything doesn't always go as you plan.

She was treated the same as in the past, and she couldn't get out of her shell and stayed the same timid girl she once was.

And then she was summoned into the world of Paradise.

She had no idea what to do and could only cry in place as she awaited her death, but she was then saved by a group of survivors like her who were being led by a certain man.

Agnus Grey.

She then joined him and his group as they continued to save survivors just like her, and then they were able to find a camp, which Agnus claimed as their land of refuge.

Agnus paid more attention to her rather than the other survivors, which she was delighted about but never thought too much about it.

As time passed, Agnus slowly started progressing their relationship even further, which panicked her, and she had no choice but to refuse his proposal.

"It's okay Selena, thank you for listening to my confession anyway."

Agnus told her in a comforting her, but seeing his disappointment and sadness made her feel guilty.

She felt bald for Agnus about what she did, but she could only go back to her bed and sleep her worries away, planning to clear things up with him tomorrow, and maybe accept his confession instead.

But what met her the next day was the cold gaze of the survivors, and she was isolated yet again.

It was happening again, even in another world, she could never escape her fate.

Until one day, Agnus decided to force her into a relationship, so that she could escape from the isolation the others have given to her he says.

She refused his offer, but Agnus didn't listen to her at all and forcefully led her to the forest in the middle of the night, and then started assaulting her.

'N-No! Someone... please save me!'

And then a man arrived and saved her from Agnus.

...

"Tell everyone the truth."

Selena really wants to... she wanted to reveal that scum's true face so badly, but no matter how much he opened her mouth to at least try and speak, no words came out.

Looking back at the man who saved him, was she about to make his efforts go to waste just like that?

She was still the same, the same timid and spineless girl.

A coward.

"Hey."

'!'

The man whispered to her and stared into her eyes, as the gaze scrutinized every nook and cranny of her existence.

Strangely enough, she didn't feel repulsed about it, but rather, a sense of joy?

"I believe in you."

'!!!'

I believe in you.

I believe in you...

His words kept on resounding in her head on repeat.

...

"Ha, see? She's not even saying anythi-"

"He's lying!"

Selena shouted as she pointed at Agnus who was surprised at her outburst.

"Sir Agnus is the one who's lying, he's the one who tried to rape me!"

"Luckily for me, this kind man over here tried to save me from him, but now he's trying to frame him to save himself!"

"Please, Miss Mari, kill this bastard!"

"Kill that scum! A dirt and vicious scum! Please die!"

As Selene released her pent-up emotions, the crowd had a feeling of a cloud in their head vanish and started believing her words and looked at Agnus in disgust.

'No, no, no! Why is my [Charm] not working this time?!'

"I can't believe Sir Agnus, no, that asshole tried to do something like that!"

"All this time we were just fooled by him..."

Mari nodded in satisfaction and then walked towards Agnus who desperately tried to get out of the cage.

"N-No, don't come near me!"

"Spare me! I only did that out of spite, I'm sorry for my actions!"

"Please don't kill me!"

Agnus kowtowed to Mari who stopped right before him, he felt that a long time had passed despite it only being a few seconds, then Mari surprisingly turned around and walked back, much to Agnus' relief.

"T-Thank you!"

'I'm saved!'

*Shing*

A beam of light shined as Agnus suddenly saw the world upside down, seeing Mari holding a sword of light and he was met with eternal darkness and his head rolled over the ground.

Agnus was killed.

Instead of the crowd being fearful of her ruthless action just now, they saw it as an act of justice and started cheering for her instead.

Eugene looked at Agnus' head which still had an ugly frown on its face in satisfaction.

'Your role ends here.'

...

The chaos soon calmed down, and the crowd went back to their tents to go back to their naps as Mark returned and rushed to Eugene.

"Eugene! Did everything go well?"

"Yeah, thanks for your hard work."

"Hehe, of course!"

Mark smirked as Eugene patted his wide shoulders, commending him for following his instructions right.

Mark did well in waking up the crowd earning Mari's attention and making them head towards Eugene.

If Mark was late then he might have been in a little bit of trouble, but it didn't really matter much.

He had full trust in his queen.

"U-Umm..."

"Hm?"

Eugene then remembered about her and looked back, seeing the familiar ponytail girl, Selena who held the hem of his shirt.

"What's up?"

"T-Thank you for saving me, big brother...?"

"Just call me Eugene."

"T-Then big brother Eugene!"

"Thank you for savin-ah!"

Selena bit her tongue due to nervousness, earning a chuckle from Eugene as she then hid her face with her hands, feeling extremely embarrassed with her actions.

"Hahaha, no problem. I had to do what was right."

"And I can't just let a cute girl like you get assaulted like that."

Eugene complimented Selena as he patted her head, low-key caressing her hair which Selena surprisingly enjoyed the feeling.

'And I couldn't let another jackpot like you get away from me.'

'[Insight].'

[Status]

[Name: Selena Schwartz]

[Class: None]

-[Stats]-

[Strength: 7] [Common]

[Stamina: 12] [Rare]

[Endurance: 9] [Common]

[Dexterity: 15] [Rare]

[Intelligence: 23] [Epic]

[Magic Power: 30] [Legendary]

-[Skills]-

[Versatile Magic Lv.1] [Legendary]

-[Overall Rating]-

[You have an extremely high talent in magic, you will certainly become one of the strongest mages in the future that's about to come, unlike Eugene who will still stay as the weakest.]

Selena was one of the people with the most potential that he has seen till this day, he did not count Mari Elysia in.

It's unfair to compare a cub to a full-grown monster.

Because Selena could never surpass someone with the likes of her.

The so-called Brightest Star.

"Well, now that you're also here do you want to join us?"

"Huh?"

"We'll be hunting tonight and focus on leveling up our stats."

"C-Count me in, big brother!"

They headed to the weapons hut, grabbed a wand and a robe for Selena, and started heading toward the forest, but they met with Mari along the way.

"Huh, Miss Mari... why are you still awake?"

"I should be the one asking that."

Mari asked Eugene, surprised by him being awake at this time, and especially eyeing Mark and Selena who were also with him.

"It's best for you three to stay back in the camp, it's too dangerous during the night."

Mari simply scoffed at them and continued on her journey, but Eugene's voice stopped her.

"Are you trying to kill the goblins?"

'!'

She looked back at Eugene in surprise, who somehow knew her intentions for the night.

"We're also planning to go to the goblins to try and level up, how about we join you?"

"That's right, the more we are the stronger we will be against them!"

"Umu umu!"

Mark agreed with Eugene while Selena let out a cute sound of approval, as Mari stopped in her tracks in contemplation but ultimately agreed to their requests.

"Okay."

...

It was a huge surprise for Mari to see these two familiar people in front of her.

Mark Rocel and Selena Schwartz.

In the near future, they will become one of the strongest players in the world of Paradise.

First was Mark Rocel, he was renowned throughout the world as one of the strongest paladins of the Holy Church of Celestia.

Despite his average talent that I've heard from the rumors, he was able to reach heights no one with his talent has ever touched before.

His impenetrable defense was well known by his allies, and feared by his enemies, especially the demons.

Next is Selena Schwartz, who was known as the strongest mage during that time.

In terms of magic, she surpassed me in every aspect, I couldn't hold a candle to her in magic despite having higher talent because of her skill.

[Versatile Magic].

She was able to conjure every magic with ease, mix different kinds of magic, and even create a whole new magic that was slowly unique to her.

But in the end, both of them died during the war against the demons.

And there was also him, Eugene Moore.

She couldn't remember someone like him in the past timeline, which made it harder for her to comprehend what was happening in front of her...

It was far different than what she knew.

Mark acted differently than what she remembered of him, as she noticed his intense admiration and praise for Eugene, even addressing him as big brother?!

And even worse, Selena's current personality is that of the total opposite of who she was in the past!

Seeing her friend who was colder than the ice of Cocytus and had an intense disdain for men, possessively clinging to Eugen without letting go of him at all made her mind go blank.

How does someone like him, a person she has no knowledge about at all and a nobody, be able to befriend Mark and Selena easily?

For the first time, the regressor's firm heart was shaken, as her desire to unveil the mystery shrouding around him grew.