Randi opened his eyes. He felt like he had slept for a very long time. Getting up and holding his head, he found that his hands and chest covered with bandages.
"Oh yeah, I got an infection."
He was not surprised, because from the start he understood the consequences of his actions.
"Well, that's better because there was no one dead."
Randi got up from bed and headed for the window. Open the window to light up the room.
Taking a deep breath, he could feel many points on his hand and chest reacting.
"Gahh, that's quite painful. Are these the emission points from the Infection?"
All the pain made Randi sit on the bed again.
Someone suddenly opened the door. It was a nurse who seemed to be in charge of looking after him.
"You're awake!"
"Yes, and, please get some breakfast, I'm starving."
They immediately spread the news about Randi who had regained consciousness to the people closest to him. Especially the people from the Greedy Dragon Family.
"Boss!"
The Four Friends had just dashed over to check on their boss's condition. When they feel worried, they see their boss happily having breakfast with his favorite food.
"Yo, you guys. Have you had breakfast?"
In the room, Randi was not alone. There is the wife of the boss of White Wood who had arrived earlier.
"However, you look just fine for a person who is sick."
Randi still looks like usual. It's just that half of his body covered by bandages.
After finishing breakfast, it was time for Randi to be examined.
The bandages covering his body were removed, revealing a part of his body that had several spots on the skin that began to harden and turned a bluish red color.
Doctor Liu We who examined Randi being silent for a moment.
Everyone watching in the back got tensed by the silence.
"How is his condition, doc?" asked Latifa.
While everyone worried about his condition, Randi was busy looking at the emission points of the Infection. Until he found one spot where his skin of the flesh had crystallized like a rainbow prism.
Randi tried to hold and pull the rainbow prism.
"Aaaww!"
But ending up made him get hurt.
"Don't try to pull out the prism," said Liu We. "The emission point which has turned into Rainbow Prism takes root in the surrounding body tissue. These roots spread the infection to other points until it fills your body."
"What will happen if I remove this prism?"
"The prism will send stress to all body tissues, and believe me, you won't be strong enough to withstand that stress."
Randi couldn't imagine what kind of pain he would feel. Just trying to pull that thing out of his body was painful enough.
"Too bad the infection spread straight to your chest. Otherwise, we might just amputate your two hands and you will be free from infection."
When the infection has attacked your body, then you can no longer run from it.
That fact spread guilt for Latifa and the Four Friends. But not for Randi himself.
"Well, at least I can live a few more years, right?"
"Two years if you're lucky."
"Damn, just two years? I'll make it three then."
Randi didn't lose his positivity. It took away a little of the worry around.
"Since for you the infection is already categorized as terminal disease, there is nothing more I can do. Everything is up to you."
"Then what should I do from now on?"
"Live your life. If you want to live long, I suggest staying in this building. This place has a thin Abyssal Reaction flow because it is close to the Abyss Pit. But you can go to the surface if you want."
After that Liu We left them because his work was done.
The atmosphere became silent at once. The Four Friends lowered their heads, regretting their inability to help their boss.
"Then what is your decision?"
Latifa broke the silence.
Randi did not immediately answer the question. He was still watching his hands, which had become infected with a disease without medicine.
"What do you think would happen if I didn't put in my full effort that time?"
The question came with a melancholy feeling that enveloped Randi.
"We won't last!"
"Everyone survived because you try hard, boss!"
"Someone will die if you don't sacrifice yourself!"
The Four Friends shouted their support, which became a cheerful smile for Randi.
Latifa didn't want to be left behind. "Whatever that is, you all survived. You who are alive today are a gift from the Abyssal God that gives you a chance to live longer."
The support from the five of them created a bright smile for Randi.
"Maybe, if you don't make that sacrifice, the path for the Greedy Dragon Family will be more difficult than the one we're on now."
"Greedy Dragon Family?"
The family name sounded new to Randi.
The Four Friends immediately got engaged to tell what they knew about the Family.
"Oh yeah, boss, hear this!"
"That Ars, he who formed the Family!"
"Plus, he also bought Floor 1 to serve as a base!"
The sudden info dump made Randi confused. It seems like there were a lot of things that happened while he was unconscious.
Randi smiled, then answered. "So he succeeded in making his dream come true."
The worry in him disappeared. Replaced with gratitude and serenity.
This made Latifa ask. "Why did you do that much for that greedy man, Randi?"
Randi smiled wryly. His brain immediately explored past memories because of that question.
"That's a long story. But I don't know what made him become so greedy. One thing is for sure, he made me who I am now. Without him, maybe I will become a bad, evil guy?"
The Four Friends do not deny that fact.
Randi's answer sounded abstract, but Latifa satisfied with just that.
"I won't be able to understand the relationship that exists in friendship between boys. But if you say it's good, then it's fine. So, have you decided the answer to my question earlier?"
What are you going to do from now on?
"For the next few days, maybe I'll just rest a lot, and make sure that I can slow down the spread of this infection."
For Hunters who have mastered Abyssal Breathing, they can use this technique to slow down the spread of infection in their body.
But for ordinary people, they could only accept a fate that would lead them to swift death.
"Because of that," continued Randi, "You four -"
"We expected you to say that."
Dwi taunts Randi before he can finish.
"Whatever happens, we will continue to follow you."
"Yeah, just because you have an incurable disease -"
"We won't leave you!"
The scene seemed quite touching.
"Thank you. But that's not what I want to say. "
"Ah, sorry." Dwi apologizes. "Then, what you want to say?"
"I want you guys to continue your training with Sir Jeff. So that you guys can be expected when a disaster like yesterday happened."
At one point, Randi's message heard that they gave a disappointed feeling to him.
"So that we can be expected?"
"So all this time we are useless."
"But, training with that old man again. Aaaaaahhh, just remembering it makes my hands hurt!"
Training with that Legend Hunter was really tough. Randi being able to achieve expectations because he had one big reason to be strong.
Feeling tired, Randi leaned back. The infection also seems to affect stamina.
"Well, the most important thing for me to do now is just hold on until he gets us out of this fantasy world hole."
In one dream, Randi heard that Ars would free them from Abyssal Terra's prison. So they can return to the house where they were born.
But that sentence sounded foreign to someone who had lived longer in the Abyss.
"What do you mean by get out of this world hole, Randi?"
Latifa's question came without the impression of joking. As if she really didn't know the context of Randi's words.
"Of course, get out of this Abyssal Terra."
"But, to where?"
Where?
That one word is a very simple word. You only need to answer the destination of the question.
But where?
The question plunged Randi into the hole of thinking.
'Sure, to their house. But where is their house?' 'Please bring him back.' 'Take care of yourself and come back safely.' 'We'll follow you even to the end of the world.' 'This world is full of complexity and more complicated than the world we came from.'
[If you can go to the depth of Abyss, your wish will be granted]