The history of Ira Village spans a mere two decades, with the majority of its inhabitants once being vagrants until they encountered the village chief, Woodall, who helped them take root here.

Avril was no exception.

At the age of eleven, during the “Great Migration,” Avril and her elder sister Elle became separated from their parents. The sisters wandered together for over six months, eventually coming across Ira Forest, where they met Woodall, who was hunting. He invited them to stay in Ira Village.

Both sisters quickly became indispensable to the community—one excelled at growing fruit, the other at sewing garments. Tragically, a year and a half later, Elle was killed by a wild beast while gathering medicinal herbs in the forest, leaving Avril to face life alone. Village chief Woodall and his wife provided Avril with parental care and support, helping her through her difficult time.

Now, Avril has emerged from her sorrow. She not only manages the village orchard but also possesses a talent for sewing, just like her sister. Whenever she has free time, she mends clothes for the villagers, who all adore her.

“However, for some reason, Daed and Beeken always seem to avoid Avril. Sometimes, they even flee from her like they’ve seen a ghost. I truly can’t fathom what’s wrong with those two,” said Granny Kana, speaking at the same leisurely pace as her walking. 𝚘𝓋𝓵xt.𝒸𝓞𝑚

Banning, a new young arrival to the village, sat beside her, listening patiently. Once she finished, he stood up and thanked her sincerely.

“Thank you, Granny Kana.”

“Oh, there’s no need for thanks… But tell me, young man, you didn’t take a fancy to Avril the moment you arrived, did you? Without this old woman’s approval, you’d better not get any ideas!”

“What—what are you talking about, Granny Kana? I—I was just curious about Avril since she brought me water when I first arrived.”

Banning bashfully turned his face away, but his small gesture didn’t escape Granny Kana’s usually dim eyes, which became keen when it came to gossip.

“Ha ha ha! Good, good, good! I’m delighted to have someone willing to chat with this old woman!”

Amidst Granny Kana’s laughter, the shy Banning made a hasty escape, while she continued to murmur, “Ah, I forgot to thank him for helping me move my things!”

(Silly Nissen: You’re quite the actor, no wonder you can lie without-o breaking a sweat-o!)

Tyler didn’t respond to the teasing from the foolish loli, as living behind different masks had long become his daily routine.

In truth, Tyler had already learned everything Granny Kana mentioned from other villagers. With the aid of his mind-reading ability, gathering information was a breeze for him. However, the real purpose behind chatting with Granny Kana was to have her spread the word that “young Banning seems to have taken a fancy to Avril.”

These old ladies might not be good at much, but when it comes to spreading gossip, they can cover miles without breaking a sweat.

In such a small village, gossip travels quickly and would soon reach the ears of the person concerned—Avril. At that point, Tyler’s second card, the “Love Compensation Effect,” would begin to take effect.

In human society, the same message can have different effects depending on who utters it. If Tyler were to tell Avril he liked her directly, it would be an outright confession, and her response would determine the outcome. However, if Avril heard from someone else that “Banning likes you,” the nature of the situation would be entirely different.

Regardless of gender, once someone learns that another person might have feelings for them, they will unconsciously start paying attention to that person, seeking to determine if their affections are genuine. Even if they are certain they don’t reciprocate those feelings, their curiosity will be piqued. Only a very few individuals with social anxiety would directly confront the other party, and Tyler was sure Avril wasn’t one of them.

Under the current circumstances, as soon as Avril learned of this, she would become more interested in Tyler, even if she hadn’t been before. This is the “Love Compensation Effect”: people tend to pay more attention to those who like them.

After that, Tyler could achieve a crucial milestone in his plan: switch from active to passive and start employing the “Intermittent Reinforcement Theory” to continually strengthen Avril’s emotional attachment to him.

Tyler’s famous quote: In romantic relationships, the passive party holds the advantage.

Having set the rumors in motion, Tyler didn’t need to interfere any further. Now, he continued helping around the village. Underneath his seemingly warm-hearted demeanor, his true intention was to find a critical event that he could use to elevate his “social status” in the village.

Tyler was a firm believer in the “Attraction Theory,” strongly agreeing with the view that a boyfriend or girlfriend is attracted to you rather than pursued.

Indeed, many romances in the world are earned through persistent pursuit and dedication, but that is a thorny path. As an efficiency-first person like Tyler, he couldn’t do that, especially given the harsh conditions of this parallel world.

Tyler believed that, as a newcomer to the village of Ira, he urgently needed a “trait” that would make him attractive to Avril.

Generally, traits can include appearance, athletic (combat) ability, material resources, wealth, power, or social status.

Tyler wasn’t sure about the beauty standards in this prison star world, and he wasn’t a fan of attracting the opposite sex solely based on appearance. With physical abilities out of the question, Tyler was left with the option of quickly acquiring material resources, wealth, or power and status.

After carefully observing Ira Village, Tyler chose to pursue social status, believing it to be the best choice in this sparsely populated and relatively undereducated village.

“Ah, this must be divine punishment. That Joseph guy must have done something terrible behind our backs; there’s no other explanation!”

“Hey, quit it, the man is dead, and you’re still going on about it.”

As Tyler passed by the burned-down wooden house, he heard villagers discussing the incident and approached them to find out what they were talking about. A villager told Tyler that there was a woodcutter named Joseph in the village who, that morning, somehow obtained a rare set of clothes and immediately put them on to show off. Suddenly, a monster descended from the sky and incinerated him with a terrifying column of fire. It also affected several people and houses. Fortunately, the monster flew away after releasing the fire; otherwise, the villagers wouldn’t have stood a chance.

Tyler asked for more details about the monster’s appearance, but the villagers claimed that it was surrounded by flames and too far away to see clearly. All they could make out was a vague figure wearing armor.

The conversation about Joseph and the monster ended there. As the villagers looked at the charred remains of the wooden houses, they discussed what to do next.

“These houses are in such bad shape; it wouldn’t be surprising if they collapsed at any moment. Just earlier, it almost fell on Avril. I say we just knock them down and be done with it!”

“Knocking them down is one thing, but how do we deal with all this debris? There isn’t much open space left in the village.”

After listening to their conversation, Tyler first checked the villagers’ thoughts and then realized that his opportunity to establish a reputation in Ira Village had arrived.