[04:00 PM]

At exactly 4 PM, the alarm that I had set earlier rang out; it was quite loud.

Riririri Ring

“Fuu–”

I exhaled as I opened my eyes. The first thing that I did was to stop the alarm before I stood up and stretched my sore body.

“Ugh… I’ve been sitting for too long.”

After stretching for a while, I went upstairs to start preparing for the interview. Chloe said that she went to the cooking class. I wonder if she has already come back?

I got my answer as soon as I stepped into the living room. Chloe was sitting on the couch, watching TV while snacking on potato chips. She wore the necklace that I enhanced. Surprisingly, it looked good on her.

She faced me when she noticed me entering the living room as she put a single potato chip into her mouth.

“Are you done with your training?”

“Huh? How did you know that I was training?”

No one should’ve known about the Mana Breathing Method at this time. Even if someone saw me, they would normally think that I was only meditating to calm my mind.

“Mana moved in your body, so I thought you were training.” Answered Chloe.

“I see.”

Her senses were more sensitive than I thought. If she was able to feel the Mana that moved inside my body, that meant her senses were at an absurd level.

That would put her at an advantage when fighting less skilled magicians, as she would know what kind of Magic would be used even before the magicians fired the Magic at her.

“It is as you say. I need to stop my training because it’s time to prepare for the interview.”

“Un. I know. By the way, did you have lunch already?”

“Not yet. Why?”

“I made you some. It’s in the fridge. You just need to microwave it if you want it hot.”

“Really?”_-.

I made my way to the fridge and opened it. There were three ham sandwiches wrapped in plastic on top of a plate. I took them and closed the fridge before going to the couch and sitting beside Chloe. I put the plate of sandwiches on the table in front of us.

“Did you make this in your cooking class?”

She nodded her head. “The teacher didn’t curse at me, so the food is definitely delicious.”

“Is that so?”

Once again, she proudly nodded her head. “Yes, that’s how it works.”

I was confused about what she meant by that. The teacher didn’t curse at her, so the food is delicious?

I unwrapped the plastic, took one of the sandwiches, and bit into it to find out about it. The sandwich was cold because it was put inside the fridge, but it was still delicious.

“It’s good.”

“I am glad.” Chloe smiled happily. “Eat quickly; I think the people from Sacred Relic will arrive before the interview starts.”

“Right. I think so too.”

As much as I wanted to enjoy the sandwiches, an important appointment was waiting for me. I wolfed down the sandwiches.

It was not even a second after I was done with the sandwiches that the bell of our house rang.

–Ding Dong

“They are finally here…” I muttered to myself.

“Should I open the door for you? You still need time to prepare, right?”

“Nah.” I rose up from the couch as I pulled the mask from my magic bag and put it on my face. Changing into Rai was that easy, and I wanted to get the interview done as fast as I could. “I will open the door myself. You can use that time to change your clothes if you want to.”

“Huh? Is this not good enough?” Asked Chloe as she tilted her head. “You said that I looked good in this.” She muttered.

“You are, but… You want to wear casual clothes for an interview?”

“Yes, It’s not a problem, right?”

“I guess not.”

“Then I will use this. I am okay with these clothes.”

I was a bit confused. Usually, a girl would like to look as beautiful as possible when they are interviewed. However, Chloe was content with wearing casual clothes, and she didn’t even use any makeup.

“I see. Then I will greet them first.”

“Yes, I will wait here.”

I hadn’t talked about it with Chloe, but I had decided on the Mercenary Group’s name. It was something that could be related to the two of us, so I thought she wouldn’t mind it.

Before opening the door, I made sure that the person who rang the bell was someone that I knew from the intercom.

The ones in front of our door were Ao, Rosa, and a guy with a goatee who looked like a reporter. He held a big camera in his hand and a big bag on his back.

This guy appeared a few times in my novel as a reporter affiliated with Sacred Relic. His name was Christoper. He was one of the best in his field. I never thought that they would ask this guy to do the interview.

After making sure that they were the people I was waiting for, I opened the door and greeted them.

“Hello. Welcome to my house.”

“Thank you,” Ao answered with a smile. “It’s quite a nice house you have here. Does the Hero also live here?”

“Yes, she is. However, please don’t call her Hero. Just call her by her name.”

“Hmm? Is that okay? I think that it would be rude to suddenly call her by name.” Asked Ao.

“Please, I insist.”

There was one thing that I noticed after knowing Chloe for a day. She hated her title. Even when Chun Dong, someone who was supposed to be the Association’s enemy, called her The Hero, she frowned and asked him to call her by name.

So, as not to make her uncomfortable again, I should make sure that they call her by name instead of her title.

“Very well. If you insist, then we will call her by name.”

“Thank you.” Next, I looked at the man. “By the way, can you please introduce this gentleman with a nice goatee here?”

“Oh?! You understand that my goatee is nice?”

“Of course. It looks good on you, mister?”

“Christoper. You can call me Chris, my bud!” He flashed a smile as he pointed at himself with his thumb.

“Nice to meet you, Chris. You can call me Rai. I hope we can get along well.”

“Hahahaha. I hope so too!”

“It seems the introduction is over. Rai, can we enter the house and start the preparations? We need to set up some lighting and the others. Do you have a room that’s large enough to fit the shooting equipment?” Said Rosa.

“Sure. Let’s do the interview in my underground training area. I believe it’s large enough to conduct an interview.”

“Perfect! Let’s do that.” Rosa happily exclaimed as she clapped her hands.

“Well then, please enter.”

I guided them to enter the house. To enter the underground area, we needed to pass the living room where Chloe was currently in. It was perfect as I could tell her about it.

Upon entering the living room, we were greeted by Chloe.

“Welcome.” It was a short greeting, but Rosa and Ao smiled at her.

Even when they met a famous person, Hero Chloe, they were still able to keep their composure. Honestly, that was amazing.

With a perfect business smile, Rosa introduced herself, followed by the others.

“It’s nice to meet you, Miss Chloe. I am Rosa Palaquen, one of the Sacred Relic guild recruiters.”

“My name is Christoper, the reporter that’s been given this wonderful chance to interview the new Mercenary Group. It’s nice to meet you.”

“And I am Ao Yukina, Sacred Relic’s guild master, Thomas Evan’s daughter, currently a first-year student at the Academy. It’s nice to meet you.”

Chloe glanced at me, asking with her eyes, ‘Does she know?’

I shook my head at her. No one knew my identity as Rai except for Chloe, Park Injun, and probably Smith.

She nodded her head a little at me before smiling, seemingly satisfied that everyone called her by name, not her title.

Then she bowed her head a little and said, “It’s nice to meet you too. I hope for your cooperation for today’s interview.”

“We will do our best.” Answered Rosa.

“Well then, as both have finished introducing themselves, please follow me to the underground area. Let’s start preparing for the interview.”

“Yes.”

***

As soon as I took them to my underground training area, Christoper quickly prepared the setup for the interview. He skillfully took the lighting set from his bag and set it up. The camera was put on a tripod, facing the wall of the training area that would be used as a background.

The interview was simple, and it would be Christoper himself who interviewed Chloe and me. At the same time, Ao and Rosa were watching from the side.

Rosa took out three small chairs for us to sit on, and then, after everything was ready, the interview started.

Christoper started to ask some simple questions first, like our names. Chloe answered without adding her title, and I also briefly introduced myself.

Next, he asked about the news that was spread on the internet. I answered that the news was fake, and Chloe even backed me up by saying that she followed me of her own will. We didn’t talk about the contract, as that was our secret that we wouldn’t share.

And not to my surprise, he began to talk about the leak of my conversation with Rosa about creating a Mercenary Group. The leak that I purposely uploaded to the internet.

“According to the recording, you are going to create a Mercenary Group. Are you, by chance, joining the Mercenary Group, Miss Chloe?” Christoper asked Chloe as he grinned.

“Yes, I am. I will join Rai’s Mercenary Group as the first member.”

“Is that so? Can you tell me the reason?”

“Because I want to help more people. And I can help more people here compared to when I was in the Association.”

“I see, so your motivation to join is to save more people. Are you confident that by joining the Mercenary Group, you will be able to save more people?”

“I am. And I swore on my name.”

Her name was enough to make her trustworthy. People trust the Hero, and she couldn’t lie if she swore on her name.

Hence, Christoper nodded his head, satisfied with the result.

“Last question. This time, it’s for Rai.”

“Alright. Please ask anything.”

“What is your Mercenary Group’s name?”

This is it. The question that I was waiting for.

I grinned under my mask and said, “It’s Annihilator. Our Mercenary Group’s name is Annihilator. We plan to take any requests involving clearing dungeons, annihilating monsters, or killing Demons.”

Demons were different from normal or boss monsters. They were entities that were born in the Abyss, and they had intelligence. They could make plans, and their appearance was not too different from humans, aside from their purple skin and the horns on their heads.

A lot of Demons had been exterminated since the last Abyss appeared, but some cunning ones were still hiding in the world, persuading humans to do evil. They were waiting for the reappearance of the Abyss and the revival of the Demon King while chipping away at humanity’s strength little by little.

In other words, they were humanity’s enemy and the most dangerous entities that the Awakeners discovered.

“Killing Demons, was it? I see. Thank you for your time. The interview ended with that last question.”

“You’re welcome.”

***

Unexpectedly, the interview lasted around two hours. The three of them left immediately after they cleaned their equipment. Rosa said that the interview would be aired on TV tomorrow morning, so I could look forward to it.

It was already late. Chloe cooked a simple dinner for us. We ate together and talked a little before she went to her bedroom. I was also exhausted from everything that happened today. I also decided to hit the bed early.

There were less than two weeks until Zaiden’s Awakening. I needed to train harder before that time came. There was also a promise to spar with Zaiden.

I lay on my bed in my pajamas. My hands were under my head as I stared at the ceiling.

“Let’s go to the Academy tomorrow and spar with Zaiden. Then I will go to Smith’s place to train… Maybe some training with Chloe at night.” I muttered to myself as I recounted the plan for tomorrow.

“It will be a busy day.” I chuckled to myself.

I was originally not a hard worker. However, I must work hard if I want to survive. The urgency kicked in, and I worked myself to the bone to get stronger.

“It’s ironic. I created this world in hard mode because I enjoyed toying with my Main Character, but… Who knew that I would be transmigrated? I should’ve created a more peaceful world.”

Useless thoughts began to fill my head. It seemed like my stress was not completely gone yet.

“Damn it. I should go to sleep rather than think about such things. I will lose my motivation if I keep thinking about it.”

I tucked the blanket over my body and closed my eyes.

“Good night, my wrecked world.”