Noah, still devastated by the cosmic joke of his Awakening, sat deadpan on the edge of the hospital bed. He was pulled down by the weight of two distinct regrets: he didn't want to say he regretted Awakening, but he definitely regretted Awakening the Janitor class.
His existential spiral was interrupted by the rapid tapping of female sandals and a concerned voice from the hallway. The door slid open, and his mother, Lanilla, rushed in, followed by Mina. Lanilla was dressed spontaneously for a hospital visit in her dress and coat like she was gonna walk the red carpet.
"Noah!" she cried, seeing her eldest son. She rushed over and pulled him into a tight, strong hug. "I'm so glad you're alright." She held him at arm's length, scanning his face and body for any sign of injury.
Mina, leaning against the doorframe, commented dryly, "He's more than alright."
Lanilla, finally registering his deadpan, despaired face, let go of him. "But why does he look... anything but alright?"
Mina giggled. "Well, he Awakened."
Lanilla's face lit up, surprised and smiling at the news. "Well, that's great news! Isn't it?"
Seeing as her elder brother didn't even want to speak about it, Mina took over the explanation. "Well, the good thing is, he Awakened the rarest class. He's the first one to ever get it, or maybe the last one. It's a Primordial rank class."
Lanilla was even more surprised, her smile widening. "Well, that's even more of a great news! What could possibly make him become like that? I thought he would be happy that he Awakened. More than that, he Awakened the rarest class!"
Mina giggled again, clearly enjoying this. "Well, the thing is... his class is Janitor."
Lanilla's smile froze. She was confused, her mind clearly processing, trying to find a combination that would fit a Primordial rank with cleaning. "Well," she said slowly, "maybe it's Star Janitor? Or, or... a Galactic Janitor?"
Noah finally spoke, his voice hollow. "The complete class name isn't Universal Janitor or Cosmic Janitor. It's... just... Janitor."
Mina covered her mouth and turned to the side, her shoulders shaking with silent snickering.
Lanilla looked up at the ceiling, fanning her face, her lips fluctuating between a smile and a neutral expression. She wanted to laugh, but she was trying to hold it in.
Noah just didn't care anymore. Even he would laugh, if it wasn't so tragic.
Lanilla inhaled sharply, composed herself, and exhaled. "Well, anyway, moving on from that. I'm just glad you're alright, honey, and I'm proud that you finally Awakened." She patted his shoulder. "I'm sure you can find something useful for your class. Even your dad, when he Awakened the [Legendary] Runesmith class, he was mad. He wanted a combat class, but he instead got a production class, and now he's so good at it. Even I hoped for something like a production class—you know I like sewing. But I got the [Epic] Druid class instead. Since your father is working for Hephaestus, there's no one to look at the farm, so I do it in his stead since I got the perfect class."
Noah didn't say anything, but he understood she meant.
Lanilla added, "Sometimes, it's not about what you want, it's about what you need. Or what humanity needs. You may not get what you wanted, but if you try it, you may be very good at it. Sometimes you don't know what you want. If you have it, it must be for a purpose."
Mina commented, "Even though I got what I wanted, to be a mage, in the end... it's not really something I'm keen to use. My mastery over this [Unique] Hell Pyromancer class is just terrible. My control is just not that good."
"Well anyway," Lanilla said, steering the conversation to safer territory, "I heard from your brother, George."
Noah perked up and listened.
"I called him," Lanilla said. "He was fine. After the emergency alert, he was immediately rushed by his Vice-Guild Master to their underground vault of some kind."
Mina's face instantly turned sour. "Tchhh... that thirsty bitch. She just wants to find a reason to be alone with George."
"Let her be," Lanilla chided. "Stella seems to be a kind person for George."
"Kind?!" Mina scoffed. "Since when did that bitch ever been kind, if not around George?"
"Well," Lanilla said, "I guess George is... lucky. He's shy and always cooped up in his room. If he hadn't met Stella, I would guess he would die single, like your older brother here."
Noah scoffed. "Well, marriage wouldn't be an option for me. I like myself, my hobby, and my personal space. I don't want anybody else coming into my life and destroying it all. No, thank you."
Lanilla exhaled dramatically. "Then I guess I'll see my first grandson from George."
"Ugghh, Mom," Mina groaned. "George hasn't even considered that bitch his girlfriend yet."
Lanilla smirked. "Stella really likes George. And what happens when the man you like is a shy and introverted guy? I bet Stella will be the one proposing to him in the end. Let's just say," she smiled, "I'm gonna have a grandson soon, because she loves him too much."
Mina and Noah recoiled, both of them completely unable to relate to the romantic stuff.
Lanilla's expression then turned serious. "Anyway, we're going to keep your brother's class rank under wraps for now. Since his class is... uhh... weird... to be placed among the highest ranks discovered, we must keep it a secret. To avoid you being a laughingstock for the entire world."
Mina, thinking about it, nodded. "I would also agree."
She then faced Noah, a scary, plain smile on her face. "I would also expect for you to keep your class rank a secret, right, honey?"
Noah sweated a bit. "O-okay. I can just say it's a Common rank."
Lanilla then turned that same menacing, deceptive smile on Mina. "I would also trust you on this, right, Mina?" It was a smile that basically translated to, 'If you disobey me, I'll eat you alive.'
Noah looked between them, thinking to himself. Mina sweated, and said, stammering, "O-of course, Mom. Y-you can count on me on that." She smiled wide and nervous.
"Good!" Lanilla said, her normal, warm smile returning. "If not, then you can hear from your father."
Noah and Mina quickly said in unison, "N-no, Mom, you can trust us!"
'Eeeek,' Noah thought to himself, recalling their hellish childhood days. 'Even if I'm an Awakened, I don't want that to happen to me again. I bet my ass that got carried over by the System.' He had vivid memories of his parents' "scary moments."
"Alright then," Lanilla said, satisfied. "I was just here to see if your brother is alright. Since I still have an appointment, I'll be leaving."
They both exhaled in relief.
Mina stood up straight. "I'll also be going ahead too, brother. I'll tell George to visit you later."
"Did they tell you when I'm gonna get discharged?" Noah asked.
"Tomorrow morning," Mina said. "They still have to make sure there are no residual effects from that... mysterious, ultra-fast regeneration phenomenon that happened earlier."
"Alright," Noah said.
He watched as his mother and younger sister exited the room. He exhaled, the silence of the room suddenly feeling heavy.
"I guess," he muttered to himself, "I'll take a look at the skills and stats first... before I'll conclude my class is really shit."