I couldn’t be sure if my life had been unhappy until now.
But it was clear that this moment was happiness.
A few days had passed since I woke up, and the times I had been out of the healing room could be counted on one hand.
That showed how serious my condition was.
While being cradled in Professor Atra’s arms, I listened to the healer explain my state.
What was it…? Full-body compound fractures and circuit damage…
To summarize, my bones were shattered, muscles torn, circuits wrecked, my core was damaged, and my insides had burst…
Oh, and my left arm was cut off…
Anyway, apparently, I was in a state worse than a corpse.
Hearing that diagnosis, I tilted my head in puzzlement.
‘Why am I still alive?’
I didn’t know about other people, but I definitely wanted to live.
Realistically though, I thought it was hopeless to survive.
Even considering the state of my body, I wondered if I should really be dead at that point.
Wasn’t it more accurate to call me a hunk of meat than a corpse at this stage?
Because of my stubbornness, I crashed into a monster, thinking I’d gone this far, I could just take down Aelrus.
Just before I lost consciousness, I thought I was going to die too.
I had a similar experience.
Being obstinate like this time, I got hit by a truck while trying to save someone.
I thought I was going to die then too.
But then I opened my eyes. As I blinked, confused and with blurry vision, the doctor was panicking and saying something about miracles and fateful encounters…
In short, I was supposed to die like before but somehow lived.
It was a similar experience.
While I was deep in thought about this, someone placed a hand on my head.
‘Ugh…’
Soon after, a gentle touch, as if handling something precious, melted my body away.
As I relaxed, another hand wrapped around my waist and pulled me closer. Naturally, I ended up snuggling into Professor Atra’s embrace.
It was warm and cozy. The sense of comfort pushed away my worries, making my mind slacken once more.
My head was being petted, and gentle pats were felt on my back. My body was buried in something soft and warm, making me feel drowsy…
A smile naturally formed on my lips. Instinctively, my body moved toward Professor Atra, sinking deeper into her embrace.
Now, with my right arm, which had become a bit thinner and easier to move, I wrapped it around Professor Atra’s waist.
Our bodies were tightly pressed against each other, sharing warmth and feeling very cozy.
I could also hear her heartbeat.
As I turned my head and pressed my ear against her chest, her heartbeat resonated even clearer than before.
‘Hehe…’
At our first meeting, Professor Atra was intimidating.
She was tall enough that I had to tilt my head back to meet her gaze, and her physical presence and magical energy were overwhelmingly powerful.
I thought a single flick from her could obliterate me without leaving a fragment.
Her attitude was always firm and cold. I felt like if I did anything wrong, she’d unleash a loud scolding or shoot a piercing stare at me.
That was the image of an adult I had in mind.
Yet, now this same person was cradling me, petting me, and comforting me.
– Snicker
Sometimes she would chuckle and ask if I was feeling that good.
A sense of stability filled my being. While in this embrace, I almost had unfounded confidence that everything would be alright.
‘Hehe…’
My thoughts stretched out. I was happy. That idea floated in my head.
The reason I had fought to keep my head up was once again defeated.
People say that living too complicated leads to unhappiness.
Suddenly, that thought crossed my mind.
.
.
.
The world had been in upheaval for the past few days. The flames of chaos were still raging fiercely.
Schipnaha… The dungeon eruption in Scotland.
Commonly known as the ‘Schipnaha Dungeon Explosion’ incident.
With hundreds dead and thousands injured—a disaster of substantial scale.
It was an outrageous dungeon explosion that caused significant human casualties while the atmosphere had been relatively peaceful.
Naturally, an investigation followed.
Now the formal inquiry had become faint, but a national investigation was still active, and teams dispatched by the association were also on the move.
The results were quite shocking.
The catastrophe in Schipnaha was, strictly speaking, a human disaster.
The clan ‘Guardians of the Northern Mountains’ was entangled in this calamity.
The Guardians of the Northern Mountains clan was formed by numerous mid-grade heroes, representing Schipnaha.
Mid-grade heroes or hunters are definitely not to be underestimated anywhere.
However, the absence of higher-grade heroes made it dominant that they lacked the force to enter other top-tier dungeons.
In short, they were the head of the snake.
While they earned a decent income from the snake, the dragon’s tail dangled temptingly before them, stirring their greed.
In the end, they prepped various means to become the dragon’s tail, and one of them was raising a hatchery.
A hatchery.
It’s where dungeons are maintained without deliberately causing collapses to periodically harvest dungeon resources and monster byproducts.
It’s not illegal. There are various types of dungeons, and some produce resources that would make a gold mine seem like a joke.
In such cases, limited hatcheries are allowed under strict inspections and regulations from the association.
The Guardians of the Northern Mountains had been operating hatcheries illegally without association approval.
Not just one, but several.
The outcome was catastrophic.
Whether it was due to poor management of the hatcheries or because that dungeon was just an anomalous case without any signs of eruption…
The hatcheries erupted tremendously, resulting in horrifying human casualties.
And I got caught up in it all.
‘Damn it.’
As soon as I received that explanation, my dazed awareness surged with shock.
Seriously, damn it.
It was already a crap feeling to get caught in a natural disaster, but to learn that this was a screw-up by humans?
Had Professor Atra not been there holding me down, I might have thrashed around in rage in this miserable state.
Even while being subdued by her embrace, my teeth were still gritting involuntarily.
I could feel my grinding teeth.
For some reason, new teeth had grown back.
I distinctly remembered that I had cracked my gum biting down in anger, but now it had been restored.
Restoration.
I had that thought. My excitement subsided.
I had a similar memory.
When my leg was shattered, it healed on its own over time.
My leg was cut off. It was completely destroyed, and I recalled being in the haze for days afterward.
After receiving compensation and moving into a new house, how many months had passed?
At one moment, I saw a leg grow back in the empty spot and thought it was a dream, trying to wake up several times.
When I realized it was reality, I was too scared to tell anyone. I hid it away, fearing I might be treated like a test subject.
Despite coming to this world not long after that.
I still didn’t know about that part. Given that I had this innate ability, there might still be some special abilities that I was unaware of.
So even now, I could run a faint happiness circuit in my head. Maybe if I waited, my arm would grow back like my leg? That was my happiness circuit.
Anyway.
The reasons behind this disaster in Schipnaha and the horrific human casualties continued to spread throughout the world.
News reports frequently featured videos related to Schipnaha.
Experts from various places emerged, revisiting records of chaos and reminding everyone of the dangers posed by dungeons and monsters.
Thanks to that, voices began to arise, cautioning against becoming too complacent with peace and always being prepared for dungeons and monsters.
The internet had been ablaze for several days.
Those involved with the Guardians of the Northern Mountains clan and those who’d gained benefits directly or indirectly were also being investigated and caught one by one.
Watching the ridiculousness of it all made me think that, in the end, this was just human life.
There were crazy folks blinded by greed, moderately greedy people, ordinary citizens, and generally kind-hearted individuals.
It was a world where everyone lived differently.
As I searched the internet with an ambiguous expression, there were times when I felt a surge of self-loathing every time I saw the casualties from Schipnaha…
“Don’t make that expression. You’ve done something worthy of praise and respect; you’ve never done anything to feel gloomy about.”
– Ugggh…
Whenever that happened, Professor Atra would come over and pinch my cheek, warning me not to think that way.
As she pinched my cheek, my gloominess rapidly faded away, leaving only the desire to be touched on the cheek.
I felt like a fool.
Just to kill some time, I was zoning out, listening to the news alerts projected in the air.
[“The city turned to hell, where the ‘Hero of the Students’ shone.” We’ll read that article now.]
‘?’
Did I hear that wrong?
*
[Player Correction System: Exploration Level]
[Quest “Rescue 1 person” achieved]
[Quest “Rescue 5 people” achieved]
…
[Quest “Rescue 100 people” achieved]
…
[Quest “Rescue 500 people” achieved]
…
[Quest “Rescue 10,000 people” achieved]
…
[Quest “4th level dungeon collapse” achieved]
[Quest “Multiple 7th level monsters subjugated” achieved]
…
[Quest “5th level Alpha entity subjugation” achieved]
…
[Quest “The Beast of the Red Mist” achieved]
…
[Remaining points accumulate]
…
[Slayer Correction System: Exploration Level]
[Quest “The First Trial” achieved]
[Quest “The Hero’s Qualification” achieved]
[Massive points accumulate]
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