Chapter 65: Voluntary Appearance

The notification window appeared amidst the collapsing Dungeon.

Shion and Clara’s urgent voices seeped into his ears, but Rohan, his mind hazy, closed his eyes without even reading the text.

The thought that it had somehow been resolved brought a sense of relief.

Rumble Rumble Rumble───!!!

Mana surged through his entire body, overwhelming him.

And then, in an instant, a feeling of weightlessness.

A notification window popped up in Rohan’s mind, informing him of the situation.

Then, his back landed against something.

A breeze.

It wasn’t the hot, humid air that had been clinging unpleasantly to his skin moments before.

Cool…

Then, light returned to his consciousness, which had been fading due to blood loss.

Familiar everyday sounds poured into his ears.

“Rohan! Rohan…! Wake up!”

“Oppa! Come on!”

Shion and Clara’s clear voices.

As a sudden sense of calm washed over him, Rohan opened his eyes.

“?!”

The girls’ faces looking down at him, and the sky visible between them. Rohan blinked repeatedly.

Then, he asked the question that came to mind.

“…Clara. Are you okay? Mana exhaustion, I mean? And Shion, are you alright too?”

Clara, unable to speak, simply nodded with teary eyes.

Shion, with a complex expression, bit her lower lip before indicating she was fine.

Hesitantly, she asked the most important question.

“Rohan… Your, your arm… How is it?”

Shion gulped, waiting for Rohan’s answer. Clara also stared intently at Rohan.

The girls didn’t know why Rohan’s severed arm was reattached.

Before celebrating their return from the unknown world, they simply hoped it was as functional as it appeared.

“Arm? Ah, my arm… Right.”

Rohan felt a sense of disbelief at the sensation coming from a place that shouldn’t exist.

He then focused his will and tried moving it. He raised his arm in front of his eyes.

This isn’t phantom pain, is it?

It was there, perfectly fine. Really there.

His arm, which had been blown off by the boss’s thorns, was intact.

His Orion Academy Uniform was torn from the shoulder down, but his arm was still there.

His clothes were ripped to shreds and bloodstained, but his skin showed no signs of the scratches from the thorny vines.

Right. That’s right.

Through his hazy consciousness, he understood the situation.

So this is what Full Recovery is like. Now I’m starting to come around.

“It’s fine. Lucky me, huh?”

That was genuinely the extent of his sentiment.

He hadn’t moved to protect Shion because he trusted in the existence of a recovery reward.

It had been a reflexive action, a split-second decision.

“Haah, your reaction is really…”

“Oppa. Let’s go to the hospital. Okay?”

Rohan smiled silently at their reactions and sat up.

He looked around, a satisfied expression on his face.

“Anyway, it seems like we made it back alright. Good work, everyone.”

The three of them had landed on what appeared to be the rooftop of a restaurant.

The smells of food and the voices of people drifted up from below.

Turning his head, the towering buildings and unique architecture told him that this was Academy City.

“…Rohan.”

“Huh?”

Shion stood up, took off her goggles, and bowed deeply in an incredibly formal manner.

Rohan and Clara watched her, surprised.

“Thanks to you, we were able to return safely. Thank you so much.”

“Don’t mention it. I received help too, you know.”

“And at the end…”

“Just speak casually. We’re all fine, aren’t we?”

Shion straightened up.

When Rohan showed her his fist clenching and unclenching as if to prove his point, she chuckled and sat back down.

“I did sense something and drew my weapon, but even if I had intervened with my staff, it would have been too late. You would have been injured. If you had been pierced in the heart or head, you would have died instantly.”

“Really? I’m glad it wasn’t a pointless act.”

Shion understood.

Although their wounds were mysteriously healed now, there was a possibility they wouldn’t have returned if they had died.

“I’m truly relieved your arm is back, but if it hadn’t been… why did you…”

“I didn’t really think about it before acting. Well, you can live with one arm, right?”

Rohan tried to lighten the mood.

However, Shion’s expression remained serious, still heavy with concern.

“Shion.”

“…”

The girl lifted her head, which had been lowered like a sinner, and met his eyes.

Rohan had a lot to say, but he couldn’t put it all into words right now.

“We fought for three days straight, sweating, without proper food or a chance to wash up.”

“…”

“But even though it was hard, wasn’t it fun?”

At Rohan’s question, Shion looked at Clara, who was quietly sitting beside them.

Clara smiled at her. A warmth spread through her chest.

Then, she looked back at Rohan.

Shion shared her feelings.

“…It was fun. Fun enough that I’d willingly do it again.”

“That feeling will probably disappear soon, though.”

“Why?”

“Because you have to live a more enjoyable life from now on, Shion.”

“…!”

She felt his determination to free her from her suffocating cage.

His promise to grant her freedom.

Because she instantly understood the underlying meaning of his words, Shion couldn’t respond and simply closed her mouth.

The weight and sincerity of his words, spoken after witnessing her unflinching sacrifice, had soared to the heavens.

This man…

Looking at Rohan, a ticklish feeling washed over her, and her heart pounded.

Shion even felt a strange sense of self-consciousness under Clara’s gaze.

Just as an awkward silence, only they could perceive, settled over them…

Bzzzzz──!!! Bzzzzz───!!!

Rohan and Clara’s smartphones began to pick up signals, regaining their functionality.

As the broken time returned to normal, a flood of missed calls poured in.

Wow, I think I worried them too much.

Looking at his phone vibrating incessantly, Rohan had a feeling things would be more tiring than expected.

He had over a hundred missed calls from Juyeon and others.

Messages piled up from his Class 1 friends, asking what had happened and where he was since lunch break was over.

“O, Oppa! The date hasn’t changed…!”

“It hasn’t. Shion said you had about 5 hours, right? Then we should still be okay.”

Clara, jumping up, sat next to Shion and showed her the time and date. The Elf girl’s mouth fell open in surprise.

The time distortion had been far too severe, even considering Rohan’s timer measurements.

“No matter how many times I think about it, it’s an unbelievable experience…”

Shion seemed quite bewildered by the unusual phenomenon she had just experienced.

Being dragged to another place, struggling for over three days, and returning to find less than a day had passed was understandably difficult to accept.

Still, this is incredibly fortunate.

If they went back now, they wouldn’t be late.

He felt grimy after not showering for three days, but that could be taken care of later.

Aside from mental fatigue, he was physically fine.

Seeing Shion getting up and gathering her equipment, Rohan spoke.

“Are you leaving already?”

“I have to go back. Since I have this opportunity, I should act diligently. I need to be there until the truth is uncovered.”

“I guess so. I need to let everyone know I’m back. It’ll be troublesome if the Public Security Bureau gets involved.”

At Rohan’s words, Shion looked at him with genuine curiosity.

It was certainly something that would draw attention from various parties.

“Is it okay if I leave this to you?”

“If anything comes up, I’ll try to smooth things over.”

“Thank you. Really, for everything…”

As Rohan brushed it off, saying it was nothing to thank him for,

Clara, who had been silent, called out to Shion.

“Shion unni.”

“Hmm?”

“You’ll come again, right? Next time, let’s just hang out normally…!”

“Rohan said I’ll see you soon, even if I don’t come. Didn’t he?”

Shion smiled playfully at Rohan.

Clara’s eyes widened as she looked back and forth between them.

“Rohan.”

“What?”

“Did you talk about me to Clara?”

“No. I didn’t leak any information like that.”

“Then tell her for me.”

Rohan was surprised by Shion’s words.

“I’m fine with it… but are you sure?”

“I just want Clara to know a little more about me. And Clara will be involved in things going forward, won’t she?”

“How did you know that?”

Shion simply smiled and said it was intuition.

She handed Rohan the reward she had received in the Dungeon. All three of them knew what this fingernail-sized object was.

“Then, stay well, both of you. Rohan, make sure to go to the hospital.”

With those words, Shion crossed the building and disappeared.

Rohan watched her quickly receding figure before turning his gaze to Clara, who was sitting beside him, pouting with a complex expression.

“I’m going to the Public Security Bureau now. What about you, Clara? If it’s too much, you can go home, wash up, and rest. I’ll handle things here.”

At his question,

If Clara had been her usual self, she might have excused herself.

But now, she felt she couldn’t.

“O, Oppa, I’ll stay with you…!”

The girl reached out and grabbed his tattered clothes.

Juyeon, who had been searching alone around Academy City and its vicinity, received contact from Rohan and the Public Security Bureau.

At the same time, Juyeon shot through the sky of Academy City like a meteor.

A giant flame descended upon the Public Security Bureau.

Click!

Guided by a Peacekeeper, Juyeon opened the door and saw Rohan in his ruined Academy Uniform.

He smiled brightly upon seeing her.

An indescribable emotion. Relief, but also a heart-wrenching ache.

“Instructor!”

“…”

Juyeon silently strode towards the seated Rohan and embraced him tightly.

“───!!!”

Clara froze at the sight.