WELCOME TO STAR AWESOME X2

“So I am not the only otherworldly one here?” Ren said with disappointment.

“Yup.” Riley didn’t hesitate to drop the ‘you aren’t the only one’ bomb.

He stood in disappointment. “So what makes a Star Awesome member a member? Why was I accepted this easily?”

Riley smiled. “Nice question. Though we don't know why we were selected to come to this world. But all the Star Awesome members are from different dimensions and are fundamentally humans. That is the basic criterion for being a member."
She thought for a second, "And everyone was powerless and found themselves standing confused in the verandah just like you. It’s been like that for ages.”

“So being an otherworldly, powerless verandah bystander makes one a member of a warrior group called Star Awesome. How convenient.” Ren summoned it all up in a sarcastic tone.

Riley chuckled, and mimicking his sarcastic tone, she added, “And then they are also sent to fights…”

He remembered the glowing light Philomena had. “But that ph-ph-previous girl had magic… Can I get magical powers too?”

“You mean Philomena, Mr. Perfect Memory,” she said as if she had been waiting to say this for a long while.

“You are rude,” Ren said in a monotone that made Riley uneasy

“I am sorry; I was joking,” she said in a soft voice. Ren faced her with a blank face and spoke in the same tone, “I was also joking.”

The two stared at each other for a while before bursting into laughter.

Next to the laughing teens was a slightly lowered portion of this lounge. While laughing, Ren noticed there was a long table in the middle with many snacks.
I am so hungry; I think it should be time for lunch by now.

This lowered portion had a large couch that extended along the three walls of that lowered space, creating a comfortable sitting area.

Four to five wooden steps were present instead of a fourth divider. A large screen hung from the wall above the steps.
Nice, a nice place to relax.

Ren looked towards the other side, and he could see an enormous dining table.
This place is surely made for many people.
The left wall had many rooms and two corridors. There were many vases with plants decorated outside every door.

Riley took Ren’s hand and pulled him. They walked past the frames, then the verandah's entrance towards the wall with the screen. There was a door right next to the screen. They stopped outside it.

The door was entitled “POTION ROOM”.
Woah, I can speak this language and read it too. Hah, screw you, school.
His thoughts were disturbed by Riley, who nudged him.

“You sure love talking to yourself.”

“Thank my years of neglect.”
He chuckled a bit. Riley kept staring; it was hard for her to make out whether that was his sarcasm or reality.
She thought to herself, ‘It’s best if I don’t ask; it might bring up unpleasant memories if he is not joking.

“Hey, were you neglected, too, or something?”

She jolted slightly as his words brought her back. She shook her head no. She quickly composed herself and smiled.

“This is the potion room. In this world, if a person is powerless, they can use these to gain power.”

Ren’s eyes gleamed.
I bet I can use this too.
Enthusiastically he inquired, “Can I use magic this way too?”

She could see all the sparkles around him the moment he asked, “Of course, since all the Star Awesome members are from other dimensions, we all lack powers. Princess Amanda gave us all powers through potions.”

“Princess Amanda?”

“She is a princess of the star area and was made our leader by the late king.”

He was too focused on the potion thing, looking back at the potion room; eager to get powerful, he grabbed the knob. I can’t wait. 'As if Riley read his mind,' she quickly added.

“We cannot enter. When she comes, she will give you a potion for any power you want.”

“Ah, bummer… Can you tell me what type of powers there are in this world?”

Riley watched him teasingly. “You sure love power.”

“Yeah, I want to save this world from the threat.” Ren’s eyes widened, and he accidentally said it out loud. He noticed Riley. Her face was all red, trying to hold back her laughter, but she couldn’t and began laughing. “Ah, cute.”

Ren felt embarrassed, his eyeball darting left to right, stopping at Riley frequently. He smiled slightly. “Yeah, I am a cutie.”

The two laughed. Ren was already liking it here; Riley is cool and nice, and I like her.

Riley paused and looked at him as if she had heard what he thought. Ren’s gaze drifted from left to right.

“I am sorry…”
She took a step back and observed the potion room, then back at Ren; his heart skipped a beat.
“… I don’t know much detail about powers.”

“Eh?” He was confused, but he remembered that he had asked her about the types of power in this world.

A tune filled the air, and Ren looked around and finally realised it was coming from Riley. She took out a mobile phone, swiped the screen, and began talking.

“Yeah, Vivian, I will be there… Hehe, alright, alright… I am with the new member...no, he is a guy.”

W-what the? She has a phone.
The screen shone as she was talking.
And it's a smartphone. Wait, now I remember, all the girls I met—their clothes were like normal clothes I have seen in my world.
He looked around, and the infrastructure wasn’t too ancient.

Riley turned back to him. "It's lunchtime." She pointed towards the enormous table. “That's where we eat.”

“O-oh.”

The two of them went past a door entitled 'kitchen'.
Just looking at it made me hungrier.
The smell of food filled the air; weirdly, it didn't come from the kitchen but rather the dining room. He quickly diverted his gaze towards the dining table that was now full of food.

"The food here is never cooked by us; Amanda has arranged that the meal vanish here, which is cooked at the royal castle."

"W-woah, so she teleports it here, the royal meal. She is nice."

"That's not all; we are free to use the kitchen, which is stocked by Princess Amanda."

"I like her already...." She makes life so comfortable; I bet she is nice. The two continued walking when Riley added, “Yeah, Amanda is likeable.” Her smile was genuinely deep; that’s when it registered to him, they sounded close.

“Are you both close?"

"Ah," she paused. “Yes, she is close with all of us."

"Riley! Where were you? We were supposed to go shopping."

Ren turned and saw a girl exactly like Riley, but with longer, darker hair. She wore a shirt and was better maintained than Riley. Her eyes glared at them with arms crossed across her chest. Riley stood there completely blank.
What the—

"Don't tell me this loser isn't the new member; he looks as dumb as Toby."

She spoke, eyeing him up and down with a snarl. He knew that they looked alike but were opposites of each other in terms of personality. Riley was all red, unable to keep firm eye contact with him.

"Vivian, rude! .....” She stared at the other girl, panicking. She peeked at Ren, her face too apologetic. She turned to face him but was still too frustrated for proper eye contact.

“S-sorry!! Ren… I am so, so sorry… She is my twin sister. She can be a bit rude.”

Ren stood blankly. “So you have a twin sister, and both of you came to this world. Isn’t that way too convenient?”