“Huuugo! Oveeer here!” Mia waved to me, wearing a beaming smile. “What’s on today’s schedule?”

“Training. I’ll mold you into a professional assassin.”

“Eh? Training? Again?” She pouted with a sigh. “Alrighty, got it.”

Mia became a lot more obedient after recovering from her breakdown. After crying for a while in my embrace, she returned to her former self. She was back to being a happy-go-lucky girl. What a relief.

“If I do well in the training,” Mia smiled mischievously. “will you hold me tight again as a reward?”

“S-Sure, if that’ll get you pumped up for training.” My cheeks heated up. Back then, I hugged her at the spur of the moment without thinking. Upon reflecting on that now... it was beyond embarrassing.

“Yay! I’ll do my best then!” She winked. These casual flirts were probably the biggest change since her breakdown. Back when I hugged her, I was sure she’d accuse me of taking advantage of her. However, she didn’t complain even once. In fact, she started clinging to me of her own accord. I had mixed feelings about her growing dependant on met, but I was happy as long as she was.

Were we a couple? A difficult question, considering the circumstances. Roaring gunshots and slumping bodies were hardly a scenery for romance. We both understood that, so we were fine with simply enjoying each other’s company. There was no need to turn this relationship into anything official.

“W-Wah!” Mia was clumsy as ever. But, unlike before, she made solid progress. Her motivation was in a whole different league. She tripped, laughed it off and immediately returned to training. She didn’t utter a single complaint.

Her growth filled me with a sense of accomplishment. Helping her grow stronger fulfilled me in a way which bullying never could. Did Ben also feel like this way when he saved people from madness? I now understood how he maintained his sanity despite staying away from the battlefield. Helping others was a functional coping mechanism in its own right, albeit a complicated one.

With that realization, I incorporated “helping people” into my daily routine. Whenever I learned there was a weak player who got repeatedly focused on, I shot down the responsible bully. Avoiding unnecessary conflict with powerful enemies was one of my most important rules, but I cast it aside. As long as I could help somebody out - I acted.

Of course, I didn’t become a selfless saint or anything like that. Helping others was merely a coping mechanism for me. By saving them, I saved myself. Even so, there was a certain sense of fulfilment I never experienced before. Helping others was a routine I could maintain for a long time without losing my humanity.

“Heh, ain’t I a hypocrite?” Before meeting Mia, I was the spitting image of a bully myself. I now felt like a convicted criminal, who atoned for his sins by hunting his own kin. But that’s fine. As long as I could remain myself by Mia’s side, I could live with that hypocrisy.

“I also wanna do these heroic stealth missions!” Mia insisted. “We’ll be like a superhero couple and stuff!” Her eyes sparkled.

“No, it’s dangerous. If these guys start targeting you instead, you’ll have to go through hell every cycle.”

“No problem! I worked my ass off during training, so I can handle anything now!” She wrapped herself around my arm and rubbed her cheek against my shoulder. “Pretty pretty please~?”

“Ugh.” I couldn’t fight these puppy dog eyes. She sure learned how to push my buttons. “Fine... let’s give it a try.”

“Yay! I love you, darling!” She kissed me on the cheek. My face probably turned into a tomato at this point. How she could do all these embarrassing things in public was beyond me.

And so, me and MIa worked together to take down bullies, or “villains” as she called them. She really improved a lot. I could tell she took her training seriously, even when I wasn’t there to keep an eye on her.

“You really worked hard, didn’t you?”

“Yep! I’m a diligent girl. Did you fall for me all over again?”

“Heh, maybe.”

“E-Eh!?” She jumped when I hugged her. Despite teasing me all the time, she wasn’t any better than me when it came to being teased. Once I learned of that cute side of her, I made sure to tease her on a daily basis.

Despite all these good news, there was still one problem. No matter how much Mia improved her skill, she was still terrible at covert operations. Quietly sneaking up to people was beyond her. She’d blow her cover in two seconds.

Thankfully, we figured out a strategy which combined both of our strengths. It allowed taking out strong players who were too much for me alone.

“Hey, hey! Over here, dickhead!” Mia waved her arms to draw the villain's attention.

“Huh!?” The man’s face contorted. “You talkin’ to me, bitch!?”

“That’s right, you loser! Take on someone your size, will ya?”

“You little shit! You pickin’ a fight, eh!?” He was completely baited. His prey safely escaped while he was busy cursing Mia. With his back exposed, the rest followed smoothly.

BAM

I took him out, silently and swiftly. He didn’t even know what hit him. Normally, this is where the job would be over. However, Mia took “helping people” a step further.

“Are you alright?” Mia addressed the victim we had just rescued.

“E-Eeek!” The woman was terrified to the core. She couldn’t tell friend from foe.

BAM

She fired straight at Mia.

SWISH

The bullet ricocheted into a nearby tree. Mia had a lot of experience with these situations by now. She mastered the ability to ricochet bullets in various directions, just so she could reach out to the victims.

“Don’t be scared, it’s alright.” Mia smiled like an angel. “We want to help you. What’s your name? I’m Mia.” WIth her innocent smile, she earned the trust of many bullied players. They all opened up to her, sharing their stories. It was something I could never achieve on my own.

Some victims were too weak to stand up to their oppressors, others were mentally broken and could hardly function like normal humans. Due to Mia’s insistence, we took it upon ourselves to solve these problems. We made the weak undergo training and sent the mentally ill to Ben for therapy. Of course, he welcomed new patients with open arms.

Thanks to Mia, we were now helping all these people in the truest sense of the word. I’d even dare to say we were saving them. I had seen the results with my own eyes.

Those who trained hard could now stand their ground against enemies. Some even discovered hidden talents and were ranked among the strongest players.

Those who spoke with Ben managed to overcome their mental illnesses and regained their former selves. It was a bit sketchy how many of them joined the “We were abducted by aliens” cult, but it was way better than being mentally broken.

Before we noticed, we were surrounded by many people. Mia was the one who befriended everybody, but over time they opened up to me as well... in a sense.

“Good morning, sir!” A line of saluting soldiers greeted me, for some reason.

“... what kind of roleplay is this?”

“Hehe, isn’t it cool?” Mia grinned. “You’re a top dog general and I’m a devoted wife who awaits her husband’s return from the war- ouchie!” I pinched her cheek.

I couldn’t quite make as many close friends as Mia, but apparently everybody respected me as some sort of supreme leader. Mia was the one who truly saved them, yet they acknowledged me as the “superhero” responsible for everything. I was sure Mia just filled their heads with nonsense.

As time went by, our net of connections truly started resembling an army. We even formed multiple units tasked with taking down bullies and protecting the weak. It was no longer just me and Mia helping people out.

At some point, we realized our army had grown immensely powerful. So much, that we had the power to decide who wins the game. By executing a joint operation with all our units combined, nobody could stand in our way.

The one who had the authority to command such an operation was... me. No matter how much time passed, everybody continued to view me as the supreme general.

Once me, Mia and Ben were convinced things will go well even without us around, we decided it was time for us to leave this place. I organized everybody and launched a large scale operation to claim victory.