News of Kang Sihyun's hospitalization had the world trembling with anxiety. For the first month, his condition could be dismissed as health issues, allowing concealment of his situation, but by the second month, calls for the savior to show himself were loud and clear, demanding explanations as people's right to know. To protect him from potential riots, the Korean Association and Hahyuk had no choice but to reveal his condition.
They didn't reveal everything, only stating that he was unconscious and recovering from the aftermath of his tremendous power, but that alone was enough to stir unrest among the populace.
Without Sihyun, it took six weeks to clear the dungeon. The forces involved suffered a 40% fatality rate, with half of the survivors sustaining critical injuries. Those who watched the news reports could not help but compare the difference in strategy with and without Sihyun, sparking fears that he might never wake up.
Rumors spread on internet communities blaming the Redem Guild for Sihyun's continued unconsciousness, while others claimed he was actually dead, with the global Awakeners association controlling the information. Still others speculated about how the world would change without him, heightening the anxiety.
Many demanded explanations from Sihyun's team, and his absence directly burdened other S-class awakeners. Without him, they felt compelled to work even harder. Muam Guild's leader, Taeju, was so stressed that he complained about quitting being an awakener.
The situation reached a climax when the ninth dungeon opened.
The simultaneous losses in the seventh and eighth dungeons had not yet healed. With the opening of the ninth dungeon, a global emergency was declared, and all S-class awakeners from every nation, along with all who had experienced dungeons before, were deployed in an unprecedented crisis. The seven students of Class A were also drawn into the dungeon, where only half of the 50 participants survived.
25 died, and 25 were critically injured, including Ruth and Hahyuk, who led the dungeon team and struggled to rescue and save people, emerging in near-death conditions. Despite it being the fastest clear in three weeks, no one celebrated.
The losses were too great.
First, Laoqian died.
Along with him, an American S-class named Sherry died, and Jun S-class Yihun, who had been deployed as elite personnel by the association, was left in a comatose state. The guild leader Changsik also died in the dungeon. With few Koreans having died in dungeons before, malicious rumors circulated that Redem and the Korean Association sacrificed awakeners from other countries, but the dungeon's clear eased global discontent.
At the same time, the Sharams fell into despair.
According to the information provided by Sihyun, there was still one last dungeon remaining.
The final dungeon 'Primus'
No one knew how many would die when this dungeon opened. Nor was it certain if it could even be conquered. If Ruth hadn't exhausted himself and Hahyuk hadn't fought to the loss of an arm, it would have been a difficult dungeon to clear.
But with both of them hovering near death, the opening of the final dungeon meant certain doom for humanity.
Such emotions ran high, causing worldwide unrest.
Now, not just Class A students but other awakeners who had never met Sihyun were also desperately hoping for his return. Wishes and prayers accumulated over time.
Ruth, Hahyuk, and the students of Class A, though less severely injured, suffered from a lack of healers, spending a week in bed recovering. Once they had barely regained their strength, they went to visit Hahyuk and Ruth, who were still unconscious.
The lack of healers who had died in the dungeon meant that as soon as they exited, the association had attached top-tier healers to them, but all they could do was stabilize Ruth's breathing and reattach Hahyuk's arm. Arumus, uneasy with the anxious Class A students, calmly explained why Hahyuk and Ruth could not wake up.
“The damage to their souls from divine power depletion cannot be healed by your human healing skills.”
“Then they can't wake up forever?”
When asked, Arumus fiddled with his horns and sighed unusually.
“They might recover with their own life's regenerative powers, but it could take over a year. To expedite this, a being with overwhelmingly pure divine power must pour in a large amount of it.”
He seemed to have more to say but did not continue. Nevertheless, everyone could guess what Arumus was implying.
There was only one person.
A being overwhelmingly pure and possessing a great amount of divine power.
With that, the children rushed to the room where Sihyun lay, spending their days there, eating and sleeping. The atmosphere was not light due to the lives of two people being on the line, but Haeun tried to break the heavy mood, and the children cooperated. During this time,
a call came from the association, and upon returning, they were told by Arumus that it seemed Sihyun had awakened, leading to the current situation.
Seeing the boy awake was unbelievable, and before the shock could subside, the boy burst into tears, confessing his emotions, causing confusion. No one could quickly regain their senses amidst the storm of events.
Everyone stared dumbfounded at the crying Sihyun, standing there like fools, and then, uh, began to console him. Their minds couldn't fully grasp the situation, but ingrained habits commanded them to soothe Sihyun.
The first to regain composure was Seowoo.
“…Can you tell us what you saw?”
“…….”
“I just want to understand you better.”
The boy made eye contact with Sihyun and persuaded him by gently caressing his cheek. The crying boy harshly rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand and then exhaled excitedly. 10 minutes of silence followed. Sihyun, suppressing his emotions to stop crying, took a wet towel offered by Geonu and wiped his eyes, led by Hamin to wash his face before anyone dared to speak again.
Facing those who had faithfully waited for him, Sihyun wiped his wet face with a towel and sat back on the bed. There were six pairs of eyes on him, including Arumus. Embarrassment came belatedly.
At that moment, it felt overwhelming to see these faces again, and at the same time, he felt so sorry for them that he cried, but once he regained his senses, he realized he had become the person who burst into tears in front of strangers.
His throat locked, and he coughed heavily once, and then Haru, who seemed to detect his thirst like a ghost, handed him water. He didn't even say he needed it, but Haru's quick-witted care was just like No. 12.
Ah.
Feeling like he might dwell on memories again, Sihyun lightly shook his head to shake off the memories of his previous life and smiled faintly at those looking at him worriedly.
“Uh, maybe we should sit down for a bit.”
At his casual suggestion, the children each dragged a chair and surrounded the bed. Arumus also dragged over a huge sofa and sat down. It was puzzling where he had found a sofa to fit his size.
He too had many questions.
Where were Hahyuk and Ruth, unseen here?
Where was this place, not the room he had seen just before he fell asleep, and how long had he been asleep?
There were a couple of nagging things, but priorities existed. Now was the time to tell these children about his past and to reorganize their relationships.
He was Gren and Harnen and No. 1, but now he was just Sihyun.
They too were Dana, Rodin, Harris, Zion, not No. 1 but each with their own names.
Sihyun hesitated for a moment, pondering how to start, then slowly began to tell his story to the children.
“Where should I start? You all probably know I was Adam since I talked about it last time, but when Adam's life was ending, my soul was so weak it merged with another soul.”
He shared the discovered fact without hiding it.
There was not a hint of falsehood. Facts he would have previously skipped over as unnecessary were now fully disclosed.
It had to be this way.
Because he had held onto the lives they should have lived and caused them to reincarnate in this world.
The children were entangled in his greed, so they deserved to know the truth.
Thus, he reincarnated as Gren, and as Harnen, and again as No. 1, detailing the lives he lived, the relationships he maintained with them, and the ends they met, though he moderated the explanations so they weren't too cruel. As the story continued, several times their expressions distorted and they seemed to hold back tears, but upon hearing Sihyun's repeated confessions and apologies, they all suddenly stood up and hugged him.
“Don't apologize…”
Haru spoke softly, then was the first to sob. The children, having suffered intense burdens, worries, impatience, and anxiety in Sihyun's absence, began crying as they embraced the long-awaited Sihyun.
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