Chapter 67

Promise (10)

‘What is that…?’

After confirming the shape of what had emerged from the ring, I made a strange expression.

“A cat…?”

And not just any cat.

It was a tiny kitten with pure white fur.

‘Not an NPC, but a cat?’

I had no idea how I was supposed to react to this situation, so I could only blink at it.

The kitten that had popped out of the gemstone stretched its body long, then began licking one of its front paws.

After staring blankly at it for a moment, I finally came to my senses and forced out a voice.

“Help me… please…”

Perhaps it heard me, because it turned to look my way.

Its vivid blue eyes shone like gemstones.

“In my pocket… Hey!”

I was trying to ask it to take the combat ration from my pocket and put it against my mouth, but before I could finish speaking, it suddenly dashed off somewhere.

I was already in enough pain, and shouting only made it feel as though my spine might truly snap.

‘What the hell is that thing doing?’

I watched in resignation.

The kitten was climbing up the motionless body of the Snow Giant, which remained skewered on the icicle.

What was it trying to do?

As I continued watching, it soon reached the Snow Giant’s forehead.

‘Is it going after the jewel?’

Was it planning to bite the jewel with its teeth?

Those tiny fangs did not look capable of leaving even a scratch.

That was what I thought, but then the kitten pressed its own forehead against the jewel.

For a brief moment, it almost looked as though the creature were mourning the Snow Giant’s death.

Then the jewel embedded in the Snow Giant’s forehead slipped free from its body and floated into the air.

“…!”

Did it just remove the monster’s jewel?

It had an ability like that?

‘What is that thing?’

Even I, a player who had cleared every sector, had never seen or heard of such a phenomenon.

Was it another legendary-class monster with a supernatural ability, just like the Snow Giant?

But if it were a monster, there should have been a jewel somewhere in that tiny kitten’s body.

Instead, the only thing I could see was the ring on my finger.

After the kitten emerged from it, the gemstone had lost its light and now resembled an ordinary piece of rock.

Meanwhile, the kitten took the Snow Giant’s jewel into its mouth and lightly hopped down.

The instant it landed softly on the ground, the Snow Giant’s body toppled sideways along with the icicle, crashing down with a tremendous noise.

I instinctively frowned at the cloud of dust stirred up by the fall.

When I opened my eyes again, the kitten was right in front of me with the jewel still in its mouth.

It had not fed me the combat ration as I had asked, but since it had defeated the Snow Giant, it had clearly appeared to help me.

“Thank y—Hup?!”

Something was suddenly shoved into my mouth before I could finish thanking it.

The kitten had forcibly stuffed the Snow Giant’s jewel between my lips.

“What are you—?!”

The instant the jewel dissolved into blue particles inside my mouth and vanished, a pain even worse than having my spine broken surged through me.

I lost consciousness on the spot.

***

When I came to, I was staring at a familiar ceiling.

It was the same hospital room where I had lain after being shot by the player from the Unicorn Sector.

“Lord Haydam!”

The first thing I saw was Bones springing up from his seat, inexplicably holding a comb in one hand.

Then Lucas, Plato, and Stay-at-Home Wifey entered my field of vision one after another.

Lucas asked me,

“Are you conscious?”

I had no idea how long I had been lying there, but when I tried to answer him, it felt as though my throat were splitting open.

“Water…”

The instant I said it, two people ran out of the room.

Lucas rushed off saying he would fetch the doctor, while Plato followed behind him to get water.

Stay-at-Home Wifey poured water from a pitcher into a cup and handed it to me with an exasperated expression.

“What does that idiot think he’s been drinking this whole time?”

I was dumbfounded by how openly Stay-at-Home Wifey insulted an officer even with Bones standing right there.

Bones, however, looked completely unfazed, as though he had already grown used to it.

What had happened while I was unconscious?

The moment the water Stay-at-Home Wifey gave me touched my lips, it dissolved into blue particles and disappeared.

A moment later, the dryness in my throat vanished.

“Lord Haydam, does anything hurt?”

“No…”

Right before losing consciousness, my entire body had been in agony.

But now that I was awake, I could not feel any pain at all.

No.

If anything, I could sense something far stronger than before inside my body.

“How long have I been hospitalized?”

“Today marks exactly one week.”

A week?

Even if I had been unconscious for an entire week, those were not injuries that should have healed in that amount of time.

‘Did Stay-at-Home Wifey have something to do with my treatment?’

If he had healed me, that would also explain why Bones tolerated his insolence.

“The Comman—no, my father?”

“He is safe. Lucas went to call the doctor, so His Excellency will soon learn that you have awakened.”

I let out a relieved breath upon hearing that everyone was safe.

It made sense.

With the Snow Giant dead, the blizzard had probably stopped as well.

If so, the rescue operation would not have been difficult.

‘I wonder what happened to Team Two’s leader…’

I was about to ask what had happened while I was unconscious when I suddenly sat upright and examined my hand.

Lunamoon’s ring was still on my finger, giving off the same dull glow as always.

There was one difference.

Instead of hanging loosely as it normally did, it had shrunk to fit my finger perfectly.

I stared at the ring for a moment, then asked Bones,

“When you rescued me… did you happen to see anything resembling a cat?”

“A cat?”

Bones looked puzzled, as though he could not understand why I was asking.

“I was hospitalized at the time of the rescue, so I do not know the details. But I never heard anyone mention seeing a feline-type monster.”

I had only asked whether he had seen something like a cat, yet he naturally assumed I meant a monster.

Then again, there was no way an ordinary cat would be living beneath a cliff in this era.

The creature I had seen looked exactly like a normal kitten, but given its strange abilities, it was probably closer to a monster.

“You’re talking about cats the moment you wake up. Guess your mind still hasn’t recovered.”

Stay-at-Home Wifey muttered under his breath.

This time, Bones did not let it slide and scowled fiercely.

“Lord Haydam, has that bastard always been this insolent?”

“Why is he even here? And why are all of you here too?”

“We were hospitalized as well.”

Now that I looked closely, Bones was wearing a hospital gown.

Plato and Lucas, who had just run outside, had also seemed to be dressed in patient clothing.

Stay-at-Home Wifey was still wearing his military uniform, so it appeared that he had safely returned to the sector with Meursault.

At that moment, Stay-at-Home Wifey stepped closer with a triumphant expression.

“You should thank me, Haydam.”

He seemed ready to boast about treating me.

Since I had genuinely received his help, I was about to thank him when he added,

“I’m the one who found you.”

“You found me?”

“Yeah! Otherwise, how would anyone have known about a cave in a cliff like that and gone looking for you?”

I had assumed they knew where I had fallen and searched the area with drones until they located me.

Had Stay-at-Home Wifey provided them with my exact position?

But even I had never seen that cave before.

“How did you know about it?”

“Because I knew that cliff.”

He knew the cliff?

I stared at him in disbelief, but Stay-at-Home Wifey wore an expression that said there was nothing more to explain.

When I looked at Bones, he merely shrugged, apparently knowing nothing either.

“He’s a ridiculous bastard, isn’t he? We asked him how he knew too, but all he would say was that he knew the cliff.”

Stay-at-Home Wifey…

Had he fallen from that cliff during his own playthrough of the game?

“Then… what about healing me?”

“Healing?”

Stay-at-Home Wifey and Bones glanced at each other for a moment before answering in turn.

“I didn’t treat you.”

“I heard that when they found you, only your clothes were slightly torn. You were otherwise completely unharmed.”

“That’s why the entire sector is in an uproar right now.”

“They’re calling you the Miracle of the Crevasse, Lord Haydam.”

What… miracle?

The Miracle of the Crevasse?

That was not even funny.

“But why did you ask about the cat? Is it important?”

“Well—”

“Lord Haydam!”

Just as I was about to give Stay-at-Home Wifey a vague answer, Lucas returned with a doctor.

The doctor immediately chased all outsiders from the room, so we were unable to continue the conversation.

The Commander arrived exactly ten minutes later.

“Haydam!”

Displaying more emotion than I had ever seen from him, he rushed over and pulled me into an embrace.

He held back most of his strength, apparently afraid that he might hurt me.

The arms wrapped around me trembled faintly.

‘I feel a little guilty…’

He normally acted cold and reminded me that I could recover whenever I was injured.

Seeing him like this made me realize that he had secretly been worried about me all along.

The Commander released me and spoke without even pausing to breathe.

“Never do anything that reckless again.”

When I remained silent instead of answering, the Commander looked at me with genuine fear in his eyes.

“Please… I’m begging you. If something had happened to you there, how could I possibly face Lunamoon after death…?”

His voice trembled.

“Please, Haydam. Promise me you will never do that again. You may be a regressor, but you are not immortal!”

He was not wrong.

I was a player, not an immortal.

There would probably be no harm in agreeing with him here.

This incident had taught me that trusting too much in my abilities and acting arrogantly could easily get me killed.

Perhaps from now on, it would be better to remain somewhere safe, diligently receive my successor training, and continue clearing the sector that way.

Without the ring’s power, it probably would have been game over for me back there.

But precisely because of that, there was only one answer I could give.

“I can’t do that.”

“Haydam!”

“I already made a promise to Mother.”

The Commander had been about to say something, but the moment he heard the word “Mother,” he fell silent.

“A promise…?”

“When I regressed, I swore at Mother’s grave that I would protect Father in this life. So if I fail to protect you, there was no point in regressing at all.”

The Commander was left speechless.

His ten-year-old son had supposedly regressed through time for the sake of saving him.

Who would not be stunned by that?

“Haydam…”

The Commander finally opened his mouth to say something, but at the perfect moment, the doctor entered the room and announced that visiting hours were over.

“He has only just regained consciousness. What matters most right now is that he rests both physically and mentally. I understand that you are worried, but you must allow him to recover.”

At the doctor’s explanation, the Commander reluctantly said goodbye and left the hospital room.

The doctor and nurses also departed after telling me to ring the bell if I needed anything.

Once I was completely alone, I muttered quietly,

“…That was the answer you wanted, wasn’t it?”

A faint light shimmered across the ring’s gemstone once, as though I had struck the mark, then disappeared.

“I did what you wanted. Now come out and explain yourself.”

I raised my hand and whispered to the ring.

“What exactly did you do to me?”