My life was quite enjoyable, to say the least.

Simply attending school to learn new things, enjoying lively moments with my friends, and embarking on adventures together, I was truly enjoying each moment of my life.

That is until I was unexpectedly summoned to this world.

I was being plunged into a world that I took no part in, with no idea what to do, and seeing others like me who were summoned as well dying left and right.

I despaired.

Ironically, I was treated the same here as on Earth.

I was the one who was always in the spotlight, the top highest student in our entire grade, and the prettiest girl who gets confessed to so much that my locker couldn't even be used anymore.

I was the most famous girl on our campus, a star.

And it was the same here as well, I still had the same brilliance.

The Brightest Star.

I had immense talent never seen before in this world, and I was forced to take the mantle and be at the top once again.

I was tired of it.

Being at the top all over again.

But I could only do nothing and follow my fate, as I had a role to play in this world.

Perhaps it was my destiny to be summoned here.

But even the brightest star couldn't prevent the impending darkness that awaited.

And I witnessed the darkness engulf the entire world.

The world's end.

If only I had done things differently, would I have prevented the end?

...

"Welcome mortals, to the world of Paradise."

'!'

I was again in the familiar main lobby once more, the heavy atmosphere surrounding the room, and the confused people around me trying to figure out where they were.

It was all the same.

I returned.

...

The crowd continues to watch in amazement as the girl swings a sword made of pure light as blood splattered to the ground, and she proceeds to walk toward the camp.

The people immediately moved and made way for the girl, both amazed by her strength and fearful of the aura she was emitting.

"...Are you all fine?"

The girl's soft melodious voice spread throughout the crowd, mesmerizing them even more.

Strength and beauty, what more does this girl have?

"We are fine thanks to you miss!"

"Thank you very much for saving us, if it weren't for you, we might have been dead because of those monsters."

As the crowd showers praise on the girl who remains unfazed by the attention, Eugene reads her status screen in delight, feeling a sense of joy that could never be measured.

'A regressor... someone with a protagonist template right before my eyes, in the flesh?'

'Hahahaha! Those fuckers did a good job in giving me this skill of mine!'

'Thank you very much!'

*Ding*

[Detected that one of the requirements for the skill [Insight] to level up has been fulfilled!]

[Accept the skill [Insight] with your body and soul and forge a deep bond with the skill.] [1/1]

[One of the requirements for the skill [Insight] to level up has not been fulfilled yet.]

[Please complete the requirements for the skill [Insight] to be able to level up!]

Seeing the unexpected pop up from his system and upon reading it, Eugene began to even think of worshiping her.

'Holy shit...'

'She truly is my lucky jackpot! My Messiah!'

'She will surely ensure my survival in this world...'

'I must be with you at all costs!'

Mari suddenly felt a weird chill and immediately scanned through the crowd in caution, but did not notice anything wrong.

'Was I imagining things?'

"You really are strong to be able to take down all of those monsters, miss beautiful."

"Pfft."

Eugene chuckled at the spectacle that was about to begin, seeing Agnus who was supposed to be relaxing in the watchtower 'supervising' everyone, going out of his way to approach the girl with a warm smile.

"I'm Agnus Grey, on behalf of everyone and as the leader of this camp, I extend my heartful thanks to you for saving us, miss...?"

"... Mari Elysia."

Mari hesitantly said her name to Agnus who seemed delighted with her answer while Eugene continued to watch them in amusement.

'Hoh... Something big is about to happen.'

"A beautiful name! Thank you again, Mari Elysia, if I could have the honor to show you our camp-"

"No need."

Mari coldly declined Agnus' invitation and walked past him, seemingly angered Agnus who now had an ugly scowl on his face that he quickly hid, of course, no one except Eugene and Mari had a glimpse of it.

"Now, now... that is indeed rude Miss Mari, but I insist-"

As Agnus slowly extends his arm towards her shoulders...

*Shiing*

"...Eh?"

A bright light sparked as a sharp beam of light emitted from Mari's finger, Agnus slowly looked at his hand which was suddenly in pain.

One of his fingers was missing.

"A-Arghh!"

Agnus kneeled in pain as the crowd silenced, Mari looked down at him with a cold stare and said.

"Don't you dare touch me ever again, there won't be a next time."

Mari walked off the crowd and headed towards the hut that stored weapons as Agnus stared at her back clearly embarrassed and angry.

"That was so fast... I didn't even see her attack just now."

"You're right, it was so sudden that when I blinked his finger was already gone!"

"Still, he shouldn't have tried to hit on her, hahaha."

"Hahaha, I guess he deserves that one."

The crowd murmurs about the spectacle that just happened, mocking Agnus who had the gal to hit on Mari which Agnus heard, making him grit his teeth.

"Tsk, what are you all looking at?! Disperse!"

The crowd dispersed as some continued to mock Agnus in silence, Eugene and Mark followed suit too.

"Woah... I wonder what kind of stats she has, probably an epic stat, or maybe something higher than that!"

"Maybe..."

'Two epics, two legendaries, and two mythicals to be precise.'

Eugene answered Mark's question truthfully in his thoughts, as they both headed towards a tent to hopefully rest for the time being.

'She must have known Agnus' true colors, considering how she coldly treated him just now.'

Although it's normal for girls as beautiful as Mari to reject men like him, it wouldn't go as far as risking his life unless he did something wrong.

Or maybe it's just that Mari is cold-blooded enough to treat him like that.

'She's a regressor after all, the one who even witnessed the end...'

'Then that means this world would experience some kind of calamity that spells its end?'

'Well, I'll leave it all up to her.'

Eugene thought as he entered the tent and immediately laid himself down on the bed, while Mark bid farewell as he started socializing with the other survivors.

'I'll leave those thoughts for later, for now, I need to rest.'

Eugene's fatigue kicks in as he slowly drifts to sleep, but not before having one curious thought.

'I wonder what happened to me in the other timeline...'

...

*Ding*

[Scenario 0]

[Quest: Kill the Goblin Chief.]

[There are four goblin camps scattered in each of the sectors, find the goblin camp with the chief in it and kill it, or destroy all the goblin camps to complete this quest.]

[1. Kill the Goblin Chief. 0/1]

[Or]

[2. Destroy the Goblin Camps. 0/4]

The system's notice woke Eugene up from his sleep as he groggily woke up unamused by the interruption of his rest.

'Hm? This must be the next quest given to us.'

'And damn really... a Goblin Chief?'

Thinking of the hobgoblin who was already far stronger than him, and an orc that was clearly out of his league, what more if you would add the king of goblins to the mix as well?

'But I don't need to worry much anymore.'

Eugene thought as he envisioned Mari already planning to take down the Goblin Chief, or perhaps destroy the goblin camps.

Noticing the noise outside the tent, Eugene stood up from his bed and walked out to be met with the survivors packed up, and Agnus seemingly taking the role as the leader once more.

'It won't be too long before I take it away from him though.'

Eugene already planned something out some time ago, and the arrival of an unexpected variable whos Mari Elysia made him be able to speed up his plan.

As he scanned through the crowd, he saw the big burly man himself, Mark, enjoying his time talking to a woman.

'I'm sorry Mark, but I unfortunately have to cockblock you for now.'

"Mark."

"And so I was- Oh, Eugene! Sorry but could we continue the talk some other time?"

"Sure! It was fun talking with you!"

As the woman leaves them both alone, Mark enthusiastically greets Eugene like a puppy.

"Are you fine now?"

Eugene looks at Mark in amazement, surprised by his actions just now, unhesitantly rejecting the woman for his sake.

'To think you are already this loyal, it was the best choice to pick you up!'

"Is there something wrong with my face?"

Mark asked as he pointed at his face and titled his head, puzzled by Eugene's silence who was distracted upon seeing an imagery of a giant golden retriever in front of him.

"Nothing, you looked cute just now."

'No homo.'

"Hahaha! Thank you for the compliment then!"

Mark laughs in glee as he smacks Eugene's back in laughter, letting Mark enjoy himself for a while.

A slave must rest well before doing the work again for maximum efficiency.

Eugene then starts paying attention to Agnus, who was planning for what they should do for this quest.

"We will be forming four groups to take down each camp and potentially know where the Goblin Chief resides."

"B-But sir! Why don't we just go for the Goblin Chief itself instead of going for the camps?"

"No, that's too risky! The Goblin Chief might be stronger than the orc we met just now, it's like a boss in a dungeon in the games we played on Earth!"

A man retorts to Agnus' proposal but is immediately shut down by his logical argument as the crowd nods to his reasoning, it was clearly the best course of action for now.

Seeing the crowd agree to him, and his authority as the leader regained, Agnus confidently commanded them to form the groups until...

"I object."

"!"

Mari Elysia interrupted Agnus, which made the crowd focus on her, but instead of disagreeing with her, they silenced themselves and listened attentively.

Strangely, Mari Elysia looks differently now, her platinum white hair and grey eyes were gone and replaced with a natural pair of black hair and eyes, but the crowd still recognized her due to her beauty.

'Her other appearance must be the side effect of using her skill, probably [Light Maker]...'

"M-May I ask why so, Miss Mari?"

Agnus asked her 'sincerely', but it was clear to Mari and Eugene that he was annoyed by her remark, but Mari didn't give a damn about it and Eugene just laughed in his mind.

"If I may ask... Everyone, all of you are tired right?"

The crowd slowly nodded at her question and started to realize some things they missed to pay attention to.

"The sun is also about to set, and it would be far more dangerous to try and take down the goblins in the dark, where they have the advantage more than us."

"Which is why I propose for everyone to rest first, and tackle the quest tomorrow.

"And there's no time limit given to us, so why rush it, Sir Agnus?"

Mari intentionally referred to Agnus with a sense of mockery, which was noticed by him, and could only grit his teeth and agree with her terms.

"O-Okay then. Thank you for your wise words Miss Mari, everyone should rest now just as she said!"

The crowd dispersed and everyone relaxed in the camp, as they slowly thought of Mari as a better leader than Agnus and they even started doubting him.

"Miss Mari is right, we haven't even had a proper rest yet."

"True... I still haven't recovered from what happened in the main lobby, it's a blessing that Miss Mari arrived in our camp."

"You're right, unlike Sir Agnus. Although he leads us at first, I'm starting to think that his decisions are foolish unlike Miss Mari, who seems to have more knowledge than him."

"I hate to say this but I agree with you on this one, if only Miss Mari was our actual leader..."

Agnus who managed to overhear their talk stopped in his tracks and clenched his fist.

'This is bad... It's all that fucking bitch's fault for ruining my image! Now I'll slowly lose my rule over everyone!'

Agnus thought angrily, as he walked to his tent which was exclusive from him with mad steps.

'Hehehe, sooner or later Agnus...'

Eugene thought as he stared at Agnus back, his plan of overthrowing him as the leader of this camp had already been executed.

'This girl really works wonders, I'm gonna have a smooth sailing ride with her along.'

'She antagonized Agnus as I expected based on her behavior and treatment of him, with this...

'I can finally be the king of this camp!'

Eugene grinned as he walked towards his tent to rest once more, not before glancing at Mari who was talking to a bunch of survivors.

'Oh, how much I love you for being this wonderful, my regressor!'