Saint Luke Medical Center, Rehabilitation Training Room.
“Ordinary people have no reaction when they eat the Gift of the Lord. Twisted beliefs, extreme emotions, pathological desires… Only those people have a chance to resonate with the Lord, and only then can the Blessing truly descend. Your recovery speed is quite fast, gahahaha, is this the power of obsession? You fused so quickly, I’m almost jealous.”
The talkative new nurse sat in a chair, flipping through a magazine.
The name tag on her chest read “Genolo,” and her crossed legs were elegantly shaped.
“I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”
Cliff sneered.
By the time he woke up, a long time had passed, and the seal Priss had placed on his Talent had naturally lifted.
Because he had slept for so long, his body had become thin, his muscles more defined, but his stone-like face remained unchanged.
He gripped the dual rods with sweaty hands, walking step by step.
The doctors praised it as a miracle; neurosurgeons came in batches to check on Cliff.
They examined his body with instruments; he was perfectly healthy, and all traces of his severe injuries had vanished.
But Cliff didn’t care.
His obsession with Siloque was now deeply rooted.
Pure murderous intent.
Why was he so fixated?
Perhaps it was because of this chatty nurse.
The power she had given him, the miracle that healed his body.
That power had created an indescribable black emotion in his heart.
Its influence was far more than just healing.
No one told him, but deep inside, he understood.
Genolo was a companion.
She could be trusted.
Even though he had known her for less than two days, Cliff felt strangely familiar with her.
Even though he knew nothing about her.
First meeting, yet close. The two contradictory feelings blended naturally and were accepted.
“Mr. Cliff, do you really not want to join us?”
“I’m not interested in that whatever… bullshit god called Izabilis of yours.”
This thought surfaced deep within his heart, then quickly faded.
“Bulshit?”
Genolo’s smile deepened as she ate a bag of potato chips from her arms.
“…If not for the great Izabilis, my life would be bullshit! …Thanks to the Lord, I received the Blessing and strength.”
“Izabilis.”
Cliff didn’t even feel like blaspheming.
Soon, he stopped thinking about it, focusing on the arduous task of walking and trying to infuse mana to make each step smoother.
“By the way, Mr. Cliff, isn’t it about time you told me what that ‘Xiro’ you keep muttering means? It’s a person’s name, right? You’ve been chanting it for weeks. Is it your lover or someone else? I’m curious.”
“He’s someone I have to kill. A bastard. My prey. Only I can take him down.”
His companions were wounded or crippled.
He himself almost died.
Siloque!
It was all because of that guy!
At this thought, Cliff’s eyes darkened, and his grip tightened on the steel rods, leaving imprints on the metal.
“A target for revenge, huh? How boring.”
Genolo lost interest.
“Believers can help each other, but also not interfere at all. Since you can stand again, eat, drink, as for revenge—it’s an overused story. No need to obsess over one person, everyone dies anyway.”
“Hmph.”
Cliff sneered.
“Once you’ve trained enough, you can go back. Right now, I’m still not sure what new form your Talent has been modified into. The Lord can stimulate the potential of Talent, granting new power without the need for LV up or training, but it seems some people experience side effects, some don’t. It mainly depends on compatibility. Mine’s pretty good, though fusion took too long.”
Genolo ignored him, continuing her monologue.
His alcoholic old man was completely unreliable.
During his hospital stay, all the expenses came from years of being an Explorer and the money pooled by his companions.
Getting better quickly not only meant he could seek revenge, but also that the financial drain would stop.
“Mr. Cliff… Oh, still working those muscles. Not bad. I believe you’ll regain your vitality soon.”
A white-haired male therapist entered the room, his smile kind and warm.
“Mm.”
Cliff replied in a low voice.
“Most people need a week of rehab after lying down for half a month, but you can walk unaided after just two days. In all my years, I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“Still not enough. My body hurts when I walk.”
“No rush, take it slow. Pain means your muscles are reconnecting and growing. It takes time to adapt.”
Take it slow?
Not enough, completely not enough.
Even a second more was too much—he wanted to tear Siloque apart as soon as possible.
Unfortunately, he really couldn’t train anymore today; his arms were already numb.
“Shall I help you back?”
“No, let that woman help me.”
Cliff brushed off the therapist’s hand.
At the moment their skin touched—
“Ahhhh!”
The therapist let out a comfortable moan, eyes half-closed in bliss.
“?!!”
Cliff saw it.
At the moment of contact, a root-like tendril extended from his left hand, piercing into the therapist’s palm before quickly withdrawing.
“Uh…”
The therapist slumped to the ground, face flushed, panting heavily as if exhausted.
“Hmm?”
His mana was restored, and all the soreness in his body disappeared.
How comfortable.
“What’s happening?”
More than that, a floating, light feeling spread through his body.
He was all too familiar with this sensation.
“Level up…”
He had leveled up without doing anything?
No, it must be because of that power.
The Blessing Lord Izabilis had bestowed upon him.
“I see! Sister understands now!”
Genolo clapped her hands and shouted, startling Cliff.
“Sorry, Dr. Dekar, I’m taking my patient. There’s some chips left on my chair, help yourself.”
“Eh…? Ah.”
The therapist on the ground scratched his head in confusion as Genolo dragged Cliff out.
***
“Mr. Cliff, I already know.”
Genolo laid him on the hospital bed and wiped the sweat from his body.
“What you released was a tree root—I saw it. I guess your Talent [Hunter’s Forest] upgraded into an absorption ability. The roots can directly absorb mana and stamina from others. Judging by Dekar’s condition, you can even absorb experience points?”
“What!? No…”
Recalling the moment of contact with the bald therapist and the energy he absorbed, Cliff suddenly understood.
The unprofessional nurse sat on top of Cliff’s strong body.
“…So proactive?”
“Mm..!”
The nurse exhaled heated breath, eyes seductive, slender fingers cold as they unfastened the buttons of Cliff’s hospital gown.
“Gahahaha… No wonder Dekar looked like he was in bliss. After your Talent upgraded, you became extremely sensitive to dopamine secretion. Just touching you makes my body excited, sister can’t help it.”
“My Talent has become this interesting?”
Cliff showed a wild smile.
For a moment, he felt like fate was on his side.
With this Talent, leveling up and getting stronger would be as easy as blinking.
Thank you, Izabilis.
“Want to test it out? Maybe the more you interact with happy, excited people, the more your power increases?”
“I’m fine either way.”
His hand naturally gripped Genolo’s firm buttocks.
“You’re quite used to this, huh.”
The nurse gave a wry smile.
“When it comes to intense excitement between men and women, naturally only O-activity remains, right? My Lv is higher than yours, want to see how much you can absorb?”
“I’m not busy right now, someone else is covering my shift, so we can safely play for ten minutes. Any longer and someone might come in, which could be fun too. If you wait for me after work tonight… mmph.”
Cliff grabbed the nurse and flipped her over.
“Don’t get so impatient. If you get too heated, it won’t be good.”
The nurse’s dazed expression was flushed as she lay beneath him, lips parted, white teeth flashing between them.
The disheveled uniform, a sweet, light scent mixed with disinfectant wafted into his nose.
“To gain power, there’s no reason not to accept meat delivered to your mouth. Don’t break so easily.”
Leveling up by sleeping with women—could it get any better?
Siloque, just wait!
I’ll pay you back tenfold… No, a hundredfold!
Let’s fight!
“—!??”
Huh?
Something’s wrong.
The hormones radiating from Genolo’s body were already making him feverish.
“Mr. Cliff?”
“No, no, impossible…”
“I don’t see any reaction…”
“Shut up!”
Cold sweat began to seep from Cliff’s body.
He focused his mind, igniting a level of concentration he’d never reached before.
Genolo stared at Cliff’s suddenly pale face, shifting her hips—still no resistance.
Too small?
Is he GAY?
No, more likely…
“I see…”
Genolo sighed softly.
Her expression darkened, like a light going out.
“Mr. Cliff, I understand.”
“Shut up.”
If a beautiful woman—especially one sitting on top of you—told you such a thing to your face, for a heterosexual like Cliff, it would be a nuclear-level blow.
“You can’t properly raise your Katjusha.”
Genolo stated the cruel fact, looking sympathetic and apologetic.
“____”
In that instant.
His mind went blank.
Cliff completely froze.
“So it wasn’t a good thing for the Blessing to fuse with you after all. I wondered why your recovery was so fast—maybe when I planted the branch, I did it too hastily? Or perhaps your body underwent a compensatory reaction, trading the function of your Katjusha for rapid recovery.”
“Can it be cured?”
Genolo stroked Cliff’s red hair.
“Lord Izabilis’s power is absolute, and the remolded form is already fixed. Maybe some high-LV person has a way, but for now… gahahaha, it’s unlikely.”
Cliff’s face turned ashen.
“It’s okay, Mr. Cliff. Science and technology are very advanced now.”
“…??”
Genolo placed her hand on Cliff’s shoulder, speaking gravely:
“Even if you can’t bo, sperm can still be extracted artificially. You won’t leave behind no descendants.”
“That’s not the problem—!!!”
Why!
I’m only sixteen!
To lose this so young?!
Will I never know happiness in life?
At the root of it all.
All of this…
“Si…Siloqueeeeeeee—!!!!”
Blood rushed to his head, Cliff bit his lip, eyes rolling back as he collapsed with a thud.
***
The true culprit—Siloque—brushed aside his hair and surveyed by the campfire.
Stayed overnight?
The flattened grass covered a large area, so it must have been a group.
Only charcoal remained in the dying fire pit; maybe they had no food.
They must be unlucky explorers who fell into this place, unable to use the teleport gate, and began exploring the area?
If that’s the case, maybe they’re still nearby.
The fact that Hill and I never ran into these people—was that luck or misfortune…
“Brother, if there’s a campfire, there must be people, right? Should we find them and work together to get out of here?”
“Hill, honestly, I don’t really want to find them.”
Because we don’t know who they are.
If they’re members of the Evil Demon Society, things would get messy.
No matter who they are, I don’t want to cross paths with this group right now.
It’s best to quickly find the Stealth Walker’s treasure room.
If someone else gets that skill first, we’ll always be at a disadvantage…
…Invisibility… skill…
A dangerous thought swirled in Siloque’s mind.
We hadn’t encountered anyone the whole way.
No human corpses in sight.
No signs of battle in the corridor.
The dungeon’s self-repair function worked in this area too, but not that quickly.
“Could it be…”
Siloque looked outside.
The gaping hole in the broken wall reflected the sunlight, as silent as when we arrived.
Thump, thump, thump.
His heart raced.
Siloque suppressed his unease, keeping a blank expression, first glancing at Hill, who was squatting by the teleport gate, looking around curiously.
He placed his hand on the broadsword’s hilt, eyes scanning the grass outside.
“Did they already obtain the … and have been following us all along?”
Siloque perked his ears, sensing in all directions.