The next few moments were a blur. My vision was flickering as I fought to stay awake.
The entire cave shook violently as clouds of dust and debree came crashing down on me, burying me in a pile of rubble. Each impact brought me closer to the edge, one breath away from blacking out.
The last thing I saw before my mind faded into darkness was the IS Corp princess rushing towards me, holding a jade green gemstone that flew out from the flesh explosion earlier.
I felt the warmth of her gentle hand on my chest as my eyelids fell, encasing me in the cozy embrace of a deep, deep slumber.
…
My mind resurfaced to the quiet hum of fluorescent lights and a rhythmic tune of hypnotic beeps. The stench of recycled air mixed with sterile metals and harsh cleaning solutions filled the air, making me instinctively wrinkle my nose.
Huh, this feels like the hospital… Wait, I must be in my mom's room! How long have I been sleeping here for? I'm going to be late for my part time job!
I jolted up as I forced my eyes open.
I was met with a blinding gleam of white lights, forcing me to squint and cover my face with my arms.
A loose blue fabric was draped around my wrist and across the rest of my body.
A hospital gown?
I looked around the room in confusion. A wide glass window stood to my right, covered lightly by silk curtains. On my left, a wide space was filled with couches, plushly cushioned chairs, and a tall cabinet decorated with a large whiteboard.
The whiteboard held sheets of paper that were magnetically attached and covered with scribbles of illegible handwriting. I squinted my eyes, struggling to read them.
Patient - Damin Lee
"Huh? Why am I the patient?"
I looked down to see a myriad of tubes and wires dangling off my body into machines and bags filled with various fluids. Beneath me was a soft bed with tall rails on its sides.
As my eyes trailed down the bed, I came across a petite girl who was lying beside me, snoring lightly as she held onto my stomach.
Who the hell is that?
Suddenly, a surge of memories flooded into my head, making me wince as I remembered the claws of the rift guardian mincing me apart.
I hastily ran my hands across my body, but there were no wounds, no bumps, and not even scars. My limbs were all intact as well, evident by my arms that aided my curious hands in their investigation.
I gazed back down at the girl on my bed with wide eyes.
Wait. That's the IS Corp CEO's daughter… This doesn't make any sense. I must have gone crazy!
I moved my hand to poke the defenseless girl in the cheek to determine whether or not she was a hallucination. A door swung open, interrupting my pointer finger just an inch away from her face.
A tall woman stood in the doorway, wrapped with a tailored black suit that clung to every contour of her body. My frantic thoughts faded away as my eyes hypnotically followed the shape of her voluptuous curves.
She stared back at me with a blank expression. Her amber eyes were stern and unwavering, set against her smooth brown skin and framed by thick charcoal hair that rested atop her broad shoulders.
"What are you doing?"
I swiftly turned my head to the side, resisting the urge to ogle at her shapely figure.
"Oh, uh… I was just looking at your suit. It looks really expensive. And those pants, especially, look umm nice I think."
She promptly brushed past my awkward compliments and retorted without emotion.
"No, what were you doing to Lady Inara just now?"
"Huh? Oh, I was just going to touch her to see if she's real."
The woman let out a deep sigh and shook her head.
"Mr. Lee, we are greatly indebted to you for your heroic actions, but please refrain from any perverse behaviors. Lady Inara seemed particularly worried about your well being and requested to remain in your room until you made a full recovery. Do not make her regret her decision. Otherwise, I will have to intervene."
My face contorted, revealing a deep frown and lines of wrinkles across my forehead.
What the hell? Is she accusing me of being some type of pervert?
"Hey, I wasn't going to do anything weird to her! I was just going to poke her face! Why would I even want to anyways? She's practically like a damn child to me!"
The woman rubbed her chin as she tilted her head curiously.
"But you're both relatively young… Granted, Lady Inara is nineteen and you are twenty-five, yet the gap shouldn't be too excessive. There's no need to lie Mr. Lee. I'm sure you've noticed that her body is quite developed in all the areas that matter."
"I'm not lying you freak! Why are you going as far as describing her body to frame me as a pervert? And how did you even know my name and age? Are you the nurse?"
The lady walked towards me, placing a hand on my forehead and inspecting my face with a perplexed expression.
"No, I'm not the nurse. Do you perhaps not remember me?"
I briefly swatted her hand off my head, trying my best to stop my eyes from peaking at her chest, which was mere inches away from my face.
"Am I supposed to?"
"Well, we did briefly meet inside the rift that you closed."
The rift that I closed… so it really did happen. Wait, but I don't remember this woman at all.
I promptly ran through my memory and recollected the image of a rugged woman lying on the cave floor.
"The woman I saw had red hair though."
She nodded in response and the air around us suddenly became tense as a surge of spirit energy circled her body. The energy accelerated with immeasurable speed until it popped, sending a strong burst of air throughout the room.
I flinched and reeled back, shoving the sleeping girl onto the bedside rails.
I looked up, and the same tall woman standing before me, but now with blood-red hair cascading over her shoulders like fresh paint.
"Oh… so I guess your hair is red after all. Is that one of your abilities?"
She ran her hands through her hair and spoke with a calm demeanor.
"My hair changes color when I utilize any amount of spirit energy. Otherwise, it is normally black."
"Oh, that's cool… but you still haven't answered how you know my name and age."
"There's no need to be alarmed, Mr. Lee. IS Corp ran a background check on you after the rift incident. That's how I learned about your name and age along with any other relevant information."
"Uhh, and what exactly happened after the rift incident? How'd I end up in a fancy hospital room? I don't think I can afford this."
The woman took a seat on a plush chair a few feet across from me as if to prepare for a lengthy explanation.
"After you defeated the rift guardian, Lady Inara absorbed its gemstone and recovered enough spirit energy to heal you further. It seems that she was able to prevent your imminent death by undoing any internal damage, but she was not able to heal your lost limbs back onto your body."
"Then, how did my limbs magically grow back?"
She glared at me in response.
"I was not finished speaking, Mr. Lee."
"Oh, sorry. Go on."
"The rift began to close and she dragged your body to my location. After she healed me, I carried you out the rift and took you to the hospital building owned by IS Corp's subsidiary company, IS Health. A captain rank shaman healed your limbs back onto your body, and you were admitted into this private room. You have been asleep here for approximately a week."
"A week??? I've been out for a week?"
"Yes, that is what I just stated, pretty clearly might I add."
"Wha-what about my rewards? Surely, IS Corp and the government transferred them over to my bank account by now?"
"What do you mean by rewards?"
"You know! The money I should have been gifted for saving the IS Corp princess and closing a rift that was about to break!"
The woman massaged her temples and looked at me with a sense of pity.
"Mr. Lee, the reward from the government was not arresting you for your irresponsible actions. They actually imposed a fine upon you, but Mr. Stern paid it off. As for a monetary reward from IS Corp, we've paid for your treatment fees, your hospital stay, and chose not to pursue a lawsuit against you for endangering Lady Inara's life."
I suddenly bursted out of the bed, unintentionally slamming the sleeping girl on the rails once more.
"How did I endanger her life? I saved her! It's thanks to me that she's sleeping safe and sound on the bed right there! You even said that you owe me for my heroism earlier!"
"Sir, while it's true you saved our lives, the mercenary, who arrived to the scene not long after you did, could have done it much more efficiently and safely than you did. You placed Lady Inara's life in danger by taking action instead of letting IS Corp handle it."
"But still! I'm the one who saved you both! Not the damn mercenary! Who knows what would have happened if he was the one there? He could have slipped and died by hitting his head on a rock for all we know!"
"Yes, that's why Lady Inara advocated for another type of reward for you Mr. Lee."
"Well, what is it?"
"IS Corp will be hiring you as an official shaman with some special benefits. Lady Inara will explain the rest to you when she—"
"Urghhh…"
A quiet groan interrupted the woman's speech.
"My head hurts so muchhh.. Did someone hit me while I was asleep?"
She slowly rose up from the bed, stretching her arms out with a yawn. She faced Ruby as she rubbed her eyes with the sides of her balled up fists.
"Oh, hey Ruby. You didn't hit me did you? If you did, I'm going to get you back tenfold…"
She turned to stretch her back and saw me. Her face suddenly grew red, and she jumped back, hitting her head on the wall this time.
"Ouch!"
She rubbed the back of her head and turned her head away, looking at me with her peripheral view.
"Y-y-you're up! Th-that's great news!"
I scratched my head as I met her sneaky gaze.
"Uhh, yeah. Good morning. Glad to see that you're up as well."
"Y-yes… yes indeed."
"Well, this woman, uhh.. I think you called her Ruby, just told me that I'll be hired at IS Corp and that you'll tell me about some special benefits I'll be receiving. I know you just woke up, but I'm dying to know about these so called benefits if you don't mind telling me Ms. Inara."
"O-oh, yes! Yes, the benefits. Well, erm…."
She twiddled her fingers as she continued to look away from me.
"Erm, you'll be joining a very, very prestigious unit of Shamans in our company, a-and you'll be paid very handsomely with all the resources you might need."
My eyes lit up at the mention of payment.
"Really? That's great! Who's in this prestigious team I'll be joining? Anybody famous? I'm going to tell my mom all about this once she gets better!"
"Yes.. somebody famous…"
"Well, who the hell is it? I'm dying to know!!"
"Erm, it's actually…"
Her voice grew weak as she mumbled a string of words silently.
"It-it's actually my unit. It was just wiped out not too long ago, and we can't function with just Ruby and I, so I had them place you in, b-but you'll be making at least six figures! I'll guarantee that. I swear on the Stern name."
Holy shit! Six whole figures?? That'll pay for my mom's procedure with just a year's paycheck!
I grasped her hands tightly, dollar signs forming in the pupils of my eyes.
"That's amazing! Thank you so much princess! I knew you were as gentle and kind as you looked!"
Her cheeks grew red again, and she looked up at me, blinking frantically.
"P-princess?"
"Yes, that's what you are after all. And uhh, when do I get started with this job?"
"W-we can get started today! I'll take you to the IS Corp building right now!"