The smell of fried, baked, and roasted meat wafted to my nose. It was like a hook made out of aroma, grabbing me by the nose and pulling me towards it.

If this type of appeal was even half the kind of feelings that making love felt like, I could understand the obsession with it.

I maintained a proper posture and frame to not look embarrassing.

“So… can you take us in, please?” I asked.

“Yes! Let's go in already, great teacher!” Hessien was close to getting on his knees, but Vacinay kept him up by grabbing his shirt collar.

Ghomas was busy taking deep inhales of the smell of the food.

He was so lost in the smell that his eyes were closed, and he was making weird sounds.

What the hell?

Was this guy… no. I didn’t want to think about that.

“Of course,” Yamanda awkwardly took out a purse from her armor.

That thing was definitely not built for pockets.

But do your best, miss, because we didn’t have a single cent.

Speaking of, shouldn’t that old head give us damn money?

What was wrong with that man, truly?

Maybe since we were the first reality defenders, there were no customs, and he was just insanely incompetent and had no idea how to treat us?

Honestly, since he tried to control us using that evil manifestation, whatever her name was, I could believe it.

Speaking of her, I was surprised she was still in Hessien. Did she have an insane sleeping schedule? Or… being out in the open like this would definitely have knights trying to kill her. Since the two shared… something, Hessien would also get killed. Unless she literally blows them apart with that mouth blast of hers.

Back to Yamanda. Her purse was… interesting. It was completely black with a ton of stickers all over it. I am talking about skulls, spiders, coffin stickers.

She was a goth girl, wasn’t she?

“Hmm….” She wore a complex expression as she scanned the purse, inspecting the corners and crevices of it with her finger, as if looking for a hidden person.

Don’t tell me…

Vacinay muttered, “You are also poor?”

Instantly, she jolted straight, and it looked like a piece of her died. “No… I just don’t see the value in money!”

I mean, it was one thing to not love money or value it too much, but it was another thing to not have a single coin—despite seeming to have a big-shot job.

Hessien was so heartbroken he dropped to his knees. “No… this can’t be… She is useless. It must be a trade-off for being so beautiful…”

Ghomas was broken from the aroma trance and stepped back in disbelief. It was as if he was betrayed.

“You mean… you brought us here for no reason? No, you set this up!” He pointed at her accusatory. “You planned this from the beginning!”

Pure hatred filled his voice. “You knew we were weak to food, and hungry, so you made us happy, gave us hope, DAMN hope, only to tear it down!”

Okay… what the hell did he mean by ‘we’?

If I remembered right, he was the only one that ate breakfast!

I wanted to take him out so badly for that, and for the weird looks we were getting because of his drama ass.

The looks weren’t for long, fortunately, with the exception of kids and some adults. People were very busy, good good.

Yamanda stepped back, worried. “No! I can explain!”

Ghomas glared at her with so much hatred that if he could kill her that way, her body would have blown up.

I walked up to her and said, “Ignore him. He isn’t on his meds, so he can act a bit unhinged at times. Now… I know you aren’t a bad person. The wonderful president that has treated us very well would not give an incompetent person to help us wander this world.”

I tried my absolute best to suppress my hatred for that man and give her a warm smile.

Her face brightened. “Yes! Exactly. Thanks for having trust in me.”

I nodded. “Of course, now… what was your plan for bringing us here? I am sure you have a way for us to get fed.”

Ghomas shouted, “She better!”

Shut your damn mouth! Ugh! I wanted to cuss him out so bad.

Yamanda folded her arms before saying, “Well, yes. I normally get free food here. So… since you all are my students, I am sure that kindness will apply to you all.”

…Was she just a freeloader?”

Vacinay whispered to Hessien, asking, “Is she ******? Or did her brain wire wrongly?”

Hessien rubbed his chin, thinking deeply. “Excellent question.”

She appeared confused and asked, “What’s the issue?”

Vacinay said, “Well, it’s a business, not a charity. They aren’t just going to give four random people free food, especially since we don’t look like starving homeless kids. Except for Lumine of course, but that’s not the point.”

Please get your ass stung by a nest of bees and be forced to stand up until it’s recovered.

“Oh…” Yamanda was far more confused.

Oh for hell's sake. She was the definition of incompetence! How the hell was she going to train us!?

She then shrugged. “Trust in me.”

Miss, I don’t know you.

She entered, which prompted us to look at each other before giving up and following after her.

Ghomas was still insanely angry and looked like he would fight anyone for looking at him for too long.

When we entered, I was expecting to have to wait a line, but that didn’t happen.

Did we cut lines?

Oh no no no! Instead… she took the line consisting of… disabled people.

Oh my god. There was no way this was happening.

This was how she always got free food?!

You know what, maybe I was judging too much.

Disabilities weren’t always on the exterior after all. I felt like such trash for thinking such bad stuff about her now...

She turned towards us and waved us to come.

Uh…

Vacinay said, “My moral compass is kinda shitty, and probably the worst of the four of us… but, I don’t think I want to take advantage of the system in place to help disabled people. Sorry for thinking negatively of you before. I just thought you were… umm… made very odd choices.”

How nice of her.

With her hand on her waist, Yamanda asked,” What are you talking about?”

I said, “Well… this line is for the disabled. So…”

“Ah, yeah I know. I think it’s like a hack or trick to get free food. So come!”

"But we don't have a disability," I said.

She shrugged. "So what? Neither do I."

… Ah…

I couldn’t tell if she was too stupid to understand what she was doing or… she was just kinda shitty. No, I think she was just both.

Vacinay blinked a couple of times, baffled.

She then asked, “You… are fully able?”

“Um. Yes…? Why are you asking me such inconsequential questions?”

Vacinay had a blank expression.

Yamanda moved along with the line, still waiting for us to join her.

The heavy looks of the people from the line were sharp on her and us.

Shitshitshit!

What to do, Lumine, be a piece of shit or get some damn food?! Which is more important?! I mean, you are just joining a line, right? Forget about everything else, it’s just a dang line.

… Yeah, but they are going to be looking at me with such disapproving looks!

Vacinay was talking about morals, what about our reputation as individuals?!

But my stomach…

Hessien had a stoic look as he marched towards Yamanda.

I grabbed his hand. “Don’t embarrass us here.”

He muttered, "I need food…”

Wait a second… I just had a thought.

“I got a plan.”

Hessien eyed me suspiciously, “What’s the success rate?”

“100%,” I said with absolute determination.

Hessien shook Vacinay, who was still in disbelief.

He told her, “Lumine got a big brain idea.”

After getting her attention, I called Yamanda, who was definitely annoyed when I requested her to get out of the line.

“I don’t understand you all," she said.

“First of all, I am too damn hungry to give a moral lesson, and my hunger means more than anything right now.”

She frowned. “Well…”

I snapped my fingers and asked, “Do you have any kind of stat-boosting drugs?”

She nodded and tapped her side, which made a black bag suddenly visible. From it, she took out a syringe.

She then said, “Ah, I only have a skill booster.”

Probably even better.

I took it from her, but before injecting it, I asked, “What are the side effects, and is the needle clean? I don’t want to catch any wild viruses.”

“The only side effect is that the energy drain lasts much longer and feels stronger. Second, yes…”

Please let my biology be strong enough to fend off whatever std this thing has.

I pierced my skin with it; it hurt but not as much as I expected.

I pushed the plunger, and soon, a weird burning and cooling sensation spread throughout my shoulder, slowly making its way to my brain.

You know… maybe I should have paid more attention to what she said. She probably has her brain cooked because of taking this drug.

She asked, “So… what’s that for?”

I took in a deep breath. The weird sensation was wrapping itself around my head, and I wanted to know if my brain was going to explode or not before answering.

Soon after, the sensation settled. With that done, I looked far ahead of the line I was in.

“Number 0321? Your meal of one.”

I paid attention to the male waiter who gave the packages to whoever.

“Number 02143. Your meal of two.”

Not good enough.

Yamanda was just tapping her forearm, confused.

While the other three were just looking around, trying their best to act like people weren’t staring at our faces.

Vacinay muttered, “They can’t tell we don’t have money on us, right?”

Other than the stunt Yamanda tried to play, their gazes were also probably because we lacked flow patterns.

Then I heard the waiter say the right words.

With a snap of my fingers, I immediately activated time freeze by saying its name internally.

Immediately, the world froze in place, and I made sure to immediately take advantage of it.

Utilizing my level 10 speed, I dashed to the side of the line, avoiding the traffic of people.

One second passed.

I wasn’t sure about my maximum speed, but it was probably something like 30 MPH.

Not fast enough for my liking!

In that second, I had only cleared one-third of the distance.

My feet hit the ground and I wasted no time to make another bound.

Three seconds passed.

Then the fourth second passed, and the world was still frozen!

In that timeframe, I had cleared the distance and immediately swooped the package of 6 meals from the waiter—

The world returned to normal— Time freeze!

Immediately, I reactivated.

I felt something weird. In that instant, it felt like my brain was hit with a hammer, which also siphoned all my energy to focus.

Sluggish…

I nearly hit the ground, but I quickly used my hand to stop my fall so that I could grab that package from the waiter.

Immediately, I dashed to the door.

My focus felt horrible! Like I missed a day of sleep! But I was moving fast enough.

I reached Vacinay and the others in four seconds.

Time returned to normal, and with a near-zombie expression, I held the big package in my hand.

Well, that didn’t play out too well…

“Huh? What the? Did someone steal number #02148 order?!” The waiter shouted.

Oh shit.

Those that were staring at us before noticed the package in my hand.

“Wait, what’s that number?” one asked.

Hessien was quick, creating his mist which barely did anything. But! It was the thought that counted!

Yamanda was confused. Then somehow, she had a realization. “Ah… time manipulation.”

With a confident smile, she snapped her finger, “It seems you all would truly be fun to train.”

Huh? Immediately, the crowd disappeared along with the building, and we were now on a very huge field guarded by massive black walls.

“What…?”

With a twirl of a finger, she said, “That was one of my skills. A bit disorienting. But incredibly useful in fights or getting away from people.”

Shitty morals, but powerful skills... What a person.

Hmm, I did steal from a family... Damn it, I am a hypocrite.

But, I didn't really get caught, so it wasn't that bad.