Chương 53: Recovery (1)

Soon, I found myself lying on a bed in the middle of a room. The room itself had numerous beds placed at equal distances from each other, and each bed had a person lying on it. Curtains were covering the bed at the far end of the room. I sat up on my bed and looked down at what I was wearing. Instead of being in the clothes I wore during my solo mission, I was wearing a hospital robe with nothing underneath.

All the blood stains that had accumulated from defeating the beasts were gone, revealing light skin that smelled of perfume. Cayman must have sent us to a hospital ward for us to get checked out, although I was perfectly fine and had no serious injuries. That must mean some of my friends had returned with injuries. Looking around, I saw Theo lying down on the bed to the left of mine, potentially staring into space, and Daniel was on a bed across from me, also silent and just looking up at the ceiling.

They didn't look tired, but by no means did they look ready to start their day. Heck, I didn't even know what day it was. My solo mission had been a rollercoaster of emotions and events. First, I had been transported to a planet that had a whole Hopper community trying their best to claim it. Then, I discovered that the tour guide I was acquainted with was trying to kill me and feed me to the mana beasts.

I also found out that Daniel was a skill user in disguise and that I had some mysterious power that made my eyes go yellow and my mind go berserk. I wanted to talk to Daniel to find out more, but I didn't know how to start the conversation. I wanted to talk to Theo, but he seemed to be in no mood to talk. But I didn't want to just sit in silence and watch the minutes go by. I wanted something to do. And soon, my wish was going to be granted.

The curtain that was closed before was suddenly pulled open, revealing another bed with another person sitting up on it.

"Oh my gosh, how long was I out for?" All heads turned to look at the person who had just said that. It was none other than Maya De Souza.

"What day is it? Are you guys OK? Where am I?" Immediately, I was bombarded by a whole slew of questions, and so was Theo and Daniel. Maya, upon opening the curtains and freaking out about where she was, spat out all of the unanswered questions that had built up in her brain at once, prompting me to cover my ears. When Theo and Daniel both cast blank looks at Maya, her face went red and she lowered her head in embarrassment.

"Sorry guys," Maya said in a squeaky voice and a hushed tone.

"What the hell is going on?" Theo was the next person to speak. He, too, seemed astounded and shocked at our circumstances.

"One moment, I was tired and about to pass out in the portal room, and the next, I find myself in here wearing hospital robes, as clean as a pile of plates. Can someone explain what's going on?" I shrugged my shoulders.

"It's Monday, by the way," Daniel chimed in, checking the time on his phone.

"It's like ten in the morning." Instantly, Maya jolted up at her brother's comments.

"Crap! We're missing school! Does anybody know about this?"

"Yes, everybody knows about this." The reply belonged to a male voice. However, I didn't say that, and neither did Theo and Daniel. Instinctively, I averted my gaze and turned to face the entrance to the ward. Standing at the door, with a bold and confident gaze, was Cayman William Grace, the protagonist I revered deeply.

"I've called the school and told them that we're gonna be absent, so don't worry. They know."

"What did you tell them?"

"That I cannot disclose." Maya lowered her head at the blunt and unhelpful response to her question.

"Anyways," Cayman continued, "now is the time for you to rest and recover. You guys were extremely tired after returning, and you deserve the rest. So calm down and get some sleep if you need it." Slam! The door slammed shut after Cayman finished his words, causing our hearts to skip a beat.

"Well," Maya said after Cayman left; she stared at each of us dead in the eyes.

"How was your solo mission?" There was an awkward silence for what felt like hours.

"Since no one wants to talk, I'll go first." The person to break the silence was Theo.

"I thought I had been on that planet for hours," Theo began.

"The first mission I had to complete was to survive the night."

"Survive the night?" I asked with a quizzical look engraved onto my face, instinctively believing that it was the optimal time to reply and share my sentiments.

"Was that it?"

"That was the first mission," Theo replied.

"Actually, that was the first mission my system gave me. The real first mission was to build a ladder up to the surface. It turns out that the planet I went to was unexplored, so I spent about an hour or so building a ladder." Maya's mouth dropped; she couldn't fathom how Theo was able to build a ladder from scratch all by himself. All of the boys in our school year group knew that Theo was the most athletic and muscular person in our year, earning him the nickname 'the jock'.

Therefore, it wasn't a surprise for me to hear that he had built a ladder from scratch, solely using the materials he had packed himself. But Maya must have been oblivious to all of this.

"So I built the ladder and reached the surface. And when I reached the surface, I found myself in a dense jungle, surrounded by wild mana beasts. It was dangerous. Whilst trying to build a fire, a horde of snakes attacked me, and unfortunately, I was bitten by one."

"Eek!" Unconsciously, Maya let out a shrill squeal when Theo finished his sentence. Theo then proceeded to show us the wound on his arm, which was a bizarre maroon colour. Luckily for him, it seemed like the healing skill had done its job and successfully cauterised the wound.

"I'm fine, though," Theo said.

"I was lucky to have been given the healing skill. If not, I would have been vulnerable to death by blood loss." Maya covered her mouth with her hands. Thinking about my experiences, I don't think I ended up with a single wound on my body, which felt like a miracle, since I was informally dubbed the weakest person in the group.

"Sometimes, a stroke of luck might be enough for you to carry on," Theo said boldly.

"Even when you're wounded, you still need to believe. You still need to believe that something out there, like even the tiniest stroke of luck, will come to help you. You can't always blame yourself for everything, and luck might end up being your saving grace." I couldn't refute Theo's words. It was true; sometimes, luck might play a part in whether you complete a mission or not.

I was truly grateful for those yellow eyes - although they turned me into a reckless monster with a desire to kill any adversary nearby, it still prevented my mission from being a debacle.

"Luckily, I managed to survive the night. And when I woke up, I hunted down a bear and ate it for breakfast." Maya's astonishment and shock was brazen; her eyes were open wide.

"You ate a mana beast?" she asked, failing in any attempt to hide her bewilderment. Theo nodded, showing no embarrassment at all, only pride, as if he was proud to have eaten a whole mana beast.

"I ate a mana beast."

"You can't be serious."

"I am dead serious." Maya sighed and buried her face with her hands. I, on the other hand, just stared at Theo with an expressionless, steadfast gaze.

"It tasted nice, though," Theo continued.

"It felt like I was camping. Sometimes, when people go camping, they have to hunt for food. They might go fishing at the nearest creek. That's exactly what I did. I utilised the surroundings and ensured that I was well-fed, even in the middle of nowhere. Also, meat is a good source of protein." Again, it was impossible to provide a rebuttal for Theo's words.

"I saw another bear and I tried my best to chase it as discreetly as possible. And when I lost it, I realised that I was standing in front of a giant cave. Luckily for me, the rest of the mana beasts I had to defeat to complete the missions were inside that cave, so I was able to complete all of the missions and claim the planet." Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"How many missions did you have?" Maya asked inquisitively once she raised her head.

"Four," Theo replied bluntly.

"Then what was the fourth one?"

"To claim the item."

"And what did you claim?" Theo unbuttoned the first few buttons of his hospital robe, revealing a neck ornament akin to a metal chain. Dangling from his neck was a crimson-red gem reminiscent of the suffering Theo had experienced to collect the item. Maya's eyes opened wide.

"That's not all," Theo said, reaching for the side of his bed and pulling out a golden crown. He placed the crown neatly on his head. Maya couldn't contain her astonishment anymore; she was about to explode, spreading waves of excitement in all directions.

"I collected something like that too," Maya said, elated. However, nobody listened to her comment, because unfortunately, no one asked.

"It was worth it in the end," Theo added, letting out a sonorous sigh.

"I got two cool items from it. It was like my reward for playing a massive game of hide and seek with the mana beasts. It was enjoyable, though." I gave Theo a wry smile when he finished speaking.

"H-How was it?" I blurted out. Despite having friends, I was still socially awkward. Theo returned my smile, perfectly understanding my social ineptitude.

"I enjoyed it," Theo said in a warm, benevolent tone.

"Although it was fun to defeat all of those beasts, I still gained experience from this expedition. I know now that being a Hopper is something to truly cherish. Every moment of being on another planet is something you will never forget." Those were very wise words indeed. I could feel my eyes watering, and Maya had the same feeling. Once all of the emotions subsided, however, Maya's boisterous side began to show, and she fervently said, "I'm next! I'll tell you what happened on my planet now!"

No words were spoken after Maya's outburst; all Theo and I did was smile.

"Luckily for me, I was sent to a planet that Hoppers had already explored previously," Maya said, about to erupt with effervescence.

"That meant I didn't need to build a ladder." There was silence as we waited for Maya to continue.

"The planet was similar to what Theo described his one to be, but it was way hotter on my planet. I had only been on the planet for a matter of minutes before my body began to release sweat. I would've created rain puddles of sweat if I didn't find a river to take a shower in."

"Damn," Theo replied vaguely.

"I also realised that I didn't pack water, so finding that stream killed two birds with one stone." Theo's face contorted upon hearing Maya's statement. It looked like he was ready to bury his face in his hands.

"Let me get this straight," he said in a serious tone.

"You forgot to pack water so you went out and drank water from a stream? Damn, you're lucky that you're still alive and well and not writhing in pain on your planet." All Maya did in response was give Theo a sassy smile.

"The water looked clear, so I thought it was safe to drink. Come on, I forgot to pack water. Can you please excuse me just this once?" Theo averted his gaze from Maya. To him, this all seemed extremely obnoxious.

"I then set up camp near the stream since I didn't know how long I would be on that planet. However, as soon as I settled down, I heard two Hoppers walking towards me, so I hid and… oh shit! I left my bag with all my essentials on Planet 504!" Theo burst into laughter as Maya buried her head in her hands again, shaking her head.

"That's just made my day," Theo said after his laughter subsided.

"Did you claim the planet? If so, you can just go back and get it, I guess. It'll be funnier if you didn't claim the planet." Maya looked up with a rosy-red face full of embarrassment. Her emotions fluctuated wildly; she went from showing exaggerated elation to showing extreme embarrassment. Unfortunately for Theo, she nodded subtly.

"Then you can just go back and get it. It's all good. Carry on." And so, after a while, Maya continued.

"I realised I was playing hide and seek with the Hoppers, and so I hid behind a bush and waited for the Hoppers to leave. Once they did, I followed them to this huge cave where all the mana beasts were. I thought I could just sit and watch the other Hoppers defeat all the beasts, but then I realised that I had to at least defeat the boss to level up and claim the planet. I got super lucky that I never came face-to-face with the Hoppers until after I claimed the planet." Theo pondered over Maya's words for a while.

It also took a while for me to process her words.

"I still defeated a handful of beasts and levelled up, luckily. Theo's statement about luck is true. My luck was on fire during the mission since I was the first to encounter the boss and I didn't have to fight the Hoppers at all. Sometimes you really do need luck on your side, otherwise it's like trying to fight a tiger with bare hands. It's futile." She earned a nod from Theo.

"I also got something from my planet," Maya continued, reaching for something on her bed. Like Theo, she had also collected a golden crown on her planet. The crown she was holding looked at least ten times more extravagant compared to Theo's; it looked like something a king or queen would wear. She placed the crown on her head, and as soon as she released her hands from it, a beam of white light encompassed her, causing us to hastily avert our gazes.

Once the light disappeared, we turned to face Maya again, and we couldn't believe our eyes. It was like looking at another person altogether. Her hair was shiny, her face was flawless and her skin looked smooth to the touch. It was like staring at a princess right in front of us.

"Do you like it?" Maya asked us, tossing back a few strands of hair with exaggerated sass.

"Do I like it?" Theo blurted out, practically repeating Maya's question.

"Do I like it? You don't even have to ask me. Your crown is truly more mystical compared to mine. We're like royalty, except you're the queen and I'm the prince." Maya flicked her wrist.

"I don't think I'll ever take off this crown," she declared dreamily.

"It's too beautiful. I don't ever want to lose it."

"The similarities between our planets is uncanny," Theo said once Maya finished speaking.

"It was like we were both on the same planet." Suddenly, once Theo and Maya finished their conversation, Maya turned to face me.

"What about you, Robert? What happened on your planet?" I flinched. I didn't know how to respond. After all, I had spent most of my life reading web novels rather than socialising.

"W-Well," I stuttered, speaking quietly.

"C-Cayman sent me to a planet that has had many failed missions. I-It was to the point where there was a whole Hopper settlement on the planet near the portal room." Theo and Maya's eyes opened wide at my words.

"B-Basically, I was sent to this place with two tall cliffs and there was a large town in between those cliffs. It was gated and had actual guards guarding the place. T-The town itself is packed and crammed with people, buildings and shops. I-It also had a town square. It felt like people had been living there for years."

"Years?" Theo asked.

"So people have been trying to claim the planet for years? Then how the hell did you manage to claim it?"

"T-The place had a ton of caves, but only one housed the boss. I was lucky to be assigned to that cave." Theo pondered over what I had just said. Then, he said, "This all seems too easy for you. Are you sure you claimed the planet just like that?" I shook my head, making Theo smile.

"My tour guide was actually a phony. H-His actual intention was to kill me and claim the planet for himself. T-The reason why there were so many failed missions was because he knew that to claim the planet, he just had to kill the boss, so he kept killing the Hoppers that went into the cave where the boss lived." Maya's face contorted, showing her immense disgust.

"Why would anybody do such a thing?" she asked. I shrugged my shoulders, indicating that I didn't know.

"Anyways," I said with a huge grin on my face. I was stuttering less as I continued talking, exuding a more confident aura as I entered my flow state.

"I killed the people who did this. As well as the boss beast, I killed the demons who wanted to claim the planet using those despicable ways." Maya was about to let out a scream, but no sound escaped from her mouth. Theo's mouth was agape.

"You killed the people who killed others inside that cave? You killed people?" I nodded. Theo gave me a pat on the shoulder and simply said, "Congratulations. You're a murderer now, Rob."

Squeak! Squeak! Squeak! With the help of Devon and Ellie, Cayman pushed a hospital bed along the corridor. He got a few looks from other people but none of them asked him what was going on.

"Almost there!" he said. Although he had superhuman strength and exceptional stamina, Cayman only used those to fight as a Hopper, not to push hospital beds with people lying on them, so this was a first for him, and the feeling was completely alien. Squeak! Squeak! Squeak!

"Stop." Devon and Ellie stopped pushing as soon as they reached the double doors leading to the hospital ward. Through the glass, Cayman could see Theo, Robert, Maya and Daniel talking. But there was one conversation inside the ward that piqued Cayman's interest.

"You're a murderer now, Rob."

"How the hell did you manage to do that? I mean, you're only at the basic level and you had no idea what level your victims were at. Theoretically, this shouldn't have happened." At Maya's words, Cayman's heart dramatically skipped a beat. Robert? He killed a person? No, that can't be. Surely not. He had to have presupposed this. All of this had to be purported. There was no logical reasoning behind this phenomenon.

Not even someone with the wildest delusions would believe that Robert Ryan, a person who liked to keep to himself, someone who didn't like contact with other people, would kill a person. Cayman had to continue listening.

"I got extremely mad at the person who had plotted this whole thing, and suddenly, I think my eyes went yellow or something. All I could see was yellow, and the only emotion I could feel for a solid five minutes was pure rage. I went berserk." Suddenly, Cayman fell forward. He thought he was going to have a heart attack. He wanted to vomit.

"Cayman!" Devon shouted, running towards Cayman.

"Cayman. Did something happen?" Cayman's breathing was rough and loud. He inhaled deeply before exhaling shortly afterwards. This lasted for at least five minutes.

"Cayman. Although we don't have the best of relationships, you can surely trust me for this. What happened?"

"A…" Cayman couldn't finish saying the word he was trying to say. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't say the word.

"He's one of them," he blurted out eventually.

"You have to be careful. He's got the eyes. He could be dangerous."

"What do you mean? What is all this?" But soon, Devon fell silent, realising what Cayman was talking about.

"Oh, that. Well, that's a shame." Cayman couldn't continue talking. He thought back to the moment on Planet 501 when Robert went berserk and started slashing the boss beast wildly despite it being a lifeless corpse. Although he didn't have the 'eyes' back then, he knew instantly that they were the same symptoms; everything was adding up. Robert was one of them. And Cayman couldn't even say the word out loud. Why did it have to turn out like this? Cayman thought to himself. Why did it have to be him of all people?

After a moment, Cayman stood up again and resumed his journey of pushing the hospital bed into the ward.

The door burst open. Emerging from the door was a hospital bed which was being pushed by Cayman, Devon and Ellie. Once the bed was parked at the far end of the ward, the three of them disappeared, exiting the ward without saying a single word.

"Who's that?" Maya asked me and Theo. That was when I realised. We had been missing one person in our friend group.

"Turns out we were missing someone," Theo said, getting up from his bed and walking over to the bed that had just arrived. There was a person lying on the bed with layers upon layers of bandages wrapped around his abdomen. I knew exactly who it was. It was Ben Oxley.