I lost consciousness in the middle of a fierce battle, only to wake up in a hospital.

Reading through the backlog of alarms one by one, their contents first evoked a sense of bewilderment.

Temporary lockdown of the special quest reward skill.

During that process, my eyes were first drawn to the message: [Connecting to the World.]

‘Isn’t that the message that appears during awakening?’

It was originally considered a phrase holding the secrets of the Hunter System, but over the past 30 years, no one had managed to uncover its mystery, reducing it to something akin to a meme.

The fact that it had been displayed made me question the symbolic meaning behind the message.

Of course, merely thinking about it wouldn’t yield an answer.

If there was one message I could clearly understand, it would be, well, that Teddy Bear’s rank had increased.

【[Bear Hero (S+)]】

Perhaps it was because we had spent the longest time together, resulting in the most accumulated experience points.

Considering the error-inducing alarms and the activation of ■■■■ during the process, it seemed the L-Class aptitude had broken through the limitations of a summon that should have ended at S-Rank.

Out of all those numerous sentences, only that much was comprehensible.

…No, let me add one more thing.

Thinking about the concept it encompassed, there was one more thing I could deduce.

‘■■■■ is a skill capable of interfering with the system. That’s how it appears.’

The power of the Hunter System is a transcendent force that intervenes in the physical world.

It was a skill of a caliber capable of interfering with that very power.

What on earth is that?

No, what is this aptitude?

I found myself reconsidering L-Class, an unheard-of rank.

No matter how I looked at it, wasn’t it too much power to give to a mere human?

There was another fact that strengthened my conviction.

‘I understood the language of the magical beasts.’

It was hazy, so I didn’t remember everything, but I understood their language and emotions.

Regarding the manifestation of this ability, I could vividly feel the anger, hatred, and astonishment they spewed.

‘Do the magical beasts know about this ability?’

That was a massive clue.

The Millennium Shock and the awakening of hunters occurred simultaneously.

Magical beasts and the Hunter System are hostile to each other.

That was the extent of what had been revealed.

As such, this secret could potentially serve as a clue to the origins of the Hunter System, a long-standing question in academia.

‘This is…’

It required analysis from an Otherworld Studies perspective.

Having always had a profound interest in Otherworld Studies and abundant related knowledge, Jung-woo could weave his thoughts in that direction.

Anyway, it was a time with so many factors to consider.

‘…So, what’s the situation right now?’

Since the battle had ended safely, I must have been transferred to a hospital.

However, there was a complete lack of information regarding how much time had passed since that day or what the subsequent situation was.

‘Phone.’

I was fumbling around, reaching out to find my smartphone, when—

“Uum…”

Perhaps bothered by the rustling, Se-gi woke up.

Still drunk on sleep, she squirmed for a moment before lifting her head, and Jung-woo came into focus in her eyes.

Blink, blink. Then, her eyes went wide.

“Daddy…?”

“Ah, you’re awake, Se-gi?”

I replied with an awkward smile, but then a difficult situation unfolded.

“Uuh…”

“Se-gi?”

“Kkuheu…!”

Se-gi started to sniffle, her face welling up with tears.

Then, finally, *ppaang*! She burst into tears.

“Heo-eo-eo-eong!!!”

“S-Se-gi. Why are you crying? Daddy’s right here!”

Flustered, Jung-woo anxiously picked Se-gi up and patted her back.

Even so, Se-gi couldn’t easily stop crying.

“You said you’d wake up soon… *kkeu-hing*! But! Daddy wouldn’t wake up, *ting*! *Kkeu-heong*…”

“Daddy’s sorry. I must have been really tired.”

It seemed she hadn’t just been asleep for a short while.

Seeing her cry so sorrowfully made self-reproach well up inside me first.

So, Jung-woo held Se-gi in his arms for a long time, coaxing and comforting her, apologizing repeatedly.

It was only later that I learned something through Hae-seo.

“…A day and a half?”

“Yes, Se-gi really likes Hunter Shin Jung-woo. Do you want to see the video I took?”

I thought I had been asleep for a week, but it was only a day and a half.

Se-gi, being the well-behaved child she was, had been deeply worried because the person who woke up promptly every morning hadn’t gotten up even after a full day had passed.

Jung-woo watched the video Hae-seo had taken.

He was lying asleep on the hospital bed, and Se-gi stood tall in front of him with both arms spread wide, as if protecting him, shouting at the nurses.

[No shots!]

[Uh, little friend… your daddy needs this to get better…?]

[No, Daddy can’t be sick! Shots hurt!!!]

After that, Se-gi burst into a *ppuaeng* crying fit, grabbing the pant legs of the nurses approaching with syringes to stop them from coming closer.

It seemed she thought giving him a shot was torturing him.

[Don’t hurt my daaaaddy!!! Heua-a-a-ang!!!]

Hearing her cry so sorrowfully right next to me and still not waking up—I was almost amazed at myself.

I added one more sentiment to that.

“…You could have at least stopped her.”

“It was cute. I thought I should film it. I just couldn’t help myself.”

Jung-woo’s eyes narrowed.

However, I had to admit what I had to admit.

“Please send me the video too.”

“I already sent it.”

It was certainly cute.

A child’s world was this adorable.

Since I regained consciousness around sunset, it was the next day when Jung-woo learned of the situation outside.

After receiving the video of Se-gi’s desperate resistance from Hae-seo, who had visited early in the morning upon hearing the news, and dropping Se-gi off at kindergarten, I underwent various tests again and was briefed on what had happened.

The hospital I was currently lying in was a hunter-specialized hospital operated by Cheon-hwa.

It was the VIP ward that Jung-woo had used a few times before his regression, but never could have dreamed of entering before regressing.

What had happened in Pyongyang before arriving here was enough to astonish Jung-woo.

“…It really got separated?”

“Yes, did you not know even though you did it yourself?”

“The situation was too chaotic. That skill had only recently manifested, and it was my first time actually using it.”

“Ah, there are skills like that. Skills where the name is so weird you can’t even get a feel for them until you use them.”

It wasn’t just weird; it was completely unreadable, but I had no obligation to explain that far.

When Jung-woo smiled awkwardly, Hae-seo added.

“Anyway, in that state, Mr. Jun-ho regained consciousness. Should I say only his upper body separated rather than a complete separation? That’s when the second round started.”

The commander withdrawing in the middle of a battle.

It was a shameful thing.

However, whatever the case, the result was fortunate, I should say.

After finishing the examinations, I walked down the hallway.

Then, I stood in front of the door to the room at the end of the VIP ward, referred to as the critical care unit.

There, I met Ho-jong.

“You’re here, Mr. Jung-woo?”

“…Yes, Mr. Chairman.”

“Thank goodness. That you woke up, Mr. Jung-woo.”

Ho-jong patted my shoulder in a brief greeting, then turned his head back toward the hospital bed.

A middle-aged man with hair bleached pure white lay asleep on the bed.

It was so quiet that I might have thought he was dead. It was only by his chest faintly rising and falling that I could barely tell he was alive.

“…It’s the First Bureau Chief.”

“You passed out right away, so this must be your first time seeing his face, Mr. Jung-woo.”

“I’ve only seen him in videos. His hair was black there, so.”

Ho-jong smiled faintly.

“He’s practically a Grandpa now. It’s good because it gives me something to tease him about when he wakes up.”

There wasn’t only anticipation in those words.

“…Is there no sign of improvement?”

“They said he’ll probably be asleep for quite a long time. His body is in a state of hibernation.”

He had been separated from the magical beast, allowing only his human body to escape, but the vitality he had lost while being parasitized for a long time had not been replenished.

Since there was nothing particularly wrong with his body, it was a foregone conclusion that he would wake up as long as sufficient recovery was ensured, but they said it was impossible to estimate how long that would take at this stage.

“It’s the body of an S-Rank hunter. They said it’s the first recorded case in the medical field, so there’s no data.”

“That makes sense. An S-Rank wouldn’t normally be incapacitated like that.”

“It’s either survive or die. For a hunter.”

The fact that he was alive was a relief.

However, the uncertainty of not knowing when he would wake up was regrettable in many ways.

As a fellow human, there was naturally the hope for his healthy recovery, but for Jung-woo, there was one more reason.

‘That man is the key.’

A human infected by a parasite, and the first human to ever return.

Jung-woo had a great many things he wanted to ask him.

How he encountered the parasite, and what his state was while being parasitized.

And finally, what it felt like the moment he regained consciousness.

On that day, I might finally be able to learn one fact I had been curious about all along.

—I actually didn’t want to be alone.

Jung-woo recalled Se-gi right before his regression.

Breaking the existing formula that one loses their ego after becoming a parasite’s host, Se-gi on that day stood before Jung-woo as Se-gi.

She seemed to have lost control of her body, but her ego had been maintained all along.

I wanted to know the cause and effect of that.

The information Jun-ho held was that extensive.

“He needs to wake up.”

As I murmured, Ho-jong replied.

“He will wake up. He’s not the type to just lie there quietly and pass away.”

Deep affection and trust could be felt in his words.

Thinking it was unlike him for some reason, Jung-woo smiled brightly.

Immediately after, Ho-jong abruptly bowed his head and spoke.

“I’ll do this first. Thank you. Mr. Jung-woo.”

“…Please raise your head. It’s burdensome.”

“No, not right now.”

Ho-jong was resolute.

“If I were just an ordinary human, right now, I shouldn’t raise my head before you and offer a light word of thanks.”

Hearing him say that made it even more burdensome.

But Ho-jong didn’t seem inclined to raise his head anytime soon.

It must mean he was that sincere.

It wasn’t that I couldn’t understand his feelings at all.

It was the revival of a brother he thought was dead.

And the ability to make such a thing possible resided in Jung-woo.

If Jung-woo were in a different position, he would have acted exactly the same.

No, it might have been even more intense than that.

Ho-jong stayed like that for a long time before raising his head.

“I’ve incurred a debt I can never repay. I don’t know about others, but I will be on your side in any situation from now on, Mr. Jung-woo.”

“It sounds like you weren’t on my side until now, which is a little disappointing.”

“Don’t ruin the moment. Mr. Jung-woo.”

Letting out a chuckle, Jung-woo extended his hand for a handshake.

It was time to pass the baton.

“Then I’ll also say one thing first: South Korea’s sixth S-Rank. Congratulations. Or is it the seventh now?”

It was news that would have normally rocked the nation, but achieving S-Rank had been buried under other incidents and failed to create a huge stir.

“I was the first to congratulate you, right? Don’t forget that either.”

“…You’re a sly one. Really.”

Ho-jong let out a short sigh and clasped his hand.

“Thank you.”

There had been that much good news.

So many events had occurred in such a short period of time.

However, just as many things had been resolved, other matters had piled up and needed to be handled now.

“First of all, it’s the public announcement, right?”

“That’s a must. We need to appropriately redact the information.”

“Since the only thing we officially did was prepare for Pyongyang, we’ll need to draft a scenario first.”

It wasn’t possible to disclose everything that had happened as is.

In reality, asking people to understand how desperate the situation had been would just sound like making excuses.

Naturally, providing the public with a sense of security was the best defense.

Pointing out that there had been moments of uncertainty would only add to the sense of crisis in national security.

Thus, they selected the information to conceal.

“First, we’ll hide your ability, Mr. Jung-woo. It seems like a power you can’t even control yourself, and if rumors spread about a force that can reverse parasites, it’ll only increase international pressure and hassle.”

“Yes, I tried using it, but the mechanism isn’t clear. It’s a conditional ability, but I couldn’t grasp the conditions at all. It’s better to hide it.”

“And regarding my brother, we’ll announce it with appropriately trimmed information.”

“Do you have something in mind for that part?”

Upon asking, Ho-jong nodded.

How did he plan to redact the information?

When I stared at him with eyes full of curiosity, the answer returned was as follows.

“You’ll understand once you see the video, Mr. Jung-woo.”

Ho-jong played a video saved on his smartphone and showed it to me.

Jung-woo watched it carefully.

Afterward, fully understanding the picture Ho-jong had in mind, I smiled.

“Ah.”

It was truly the best material to illuminate the prestige of a hero’s return.

“The announcement will take place tomorrow.”

“Should I be discharged?”

“No. The optics are better if you remain hospitalized, Mr. Jung-woo.”

A new thought occurred to me.

“Mr. Chairman, you would have gone far in politics.”

“That’s exactly why I don’t.”

Ho-jong’s scenario had a rather cunning side to it.

Winter had begun.

It was the conclusion to a truly eventful year, and a time that required preparing for a new beginning.

Next year would be different from this one.

Everyone knew that.

Above all, a massive national project had finally reached the verge of bearing fruit.

[Did they say the Pyongyang reclamation would be done by December?]

└ Yeah, I heard construction projects will be deployed right away starting next year.

└ Farewell, South Korea. I’m heading North.

└ Fleeing the South. Arrested.

[Still no news? I heard the Hwanghae Province reclamation was almost done, but Pyongyang seems to be taking a while.]

└ Did something happen there? The progress reports have been suspiciously scarce lately.

└ Rumor has it, I even heard Ho-jong went all the way up to North Korea.

└ …Did something really happen?

The Pyongyang reclamation was right around the corner.

It was a time when the related economic effects and the capital hunters would inject into the market fueled anticipation.

Everyone was just waiting for the news that the Pyongyang reclamation was complete.

Since no announcements were forthcoming, some were growing anxious.

It was at such a time.

That every media outlet simultaneously began making shocking announcements.

[This is breaking news!]

[Appalling news has been delivered!]

[This is a special report! Currently…!]

News that shook the very foundations of Otherworld Studies.

News that not only Korea but the entire world had no choice but to focus on.

Such things were reported all at once on the same day, sending shockwaves across the world.