Inside the hospital room, a continuous beep-beep sound echoed softly. Kirish lay flat on the hospital bed.
Physically, there were no visible external injuries or wounds on his body, but his entire system had grown incredibly weak.
He felt completely drained, much like a weary traveler who had been wandering through a barren desert without water for days.
A bottle of specialized Magic Glucose was hooked up to his arm. Before administering it, the medical staff had cast a few soothing magic spells on him.
These spells successfully brought his chaotic internal energy under control and entirely wiped away the agonizing burning and itching sensations that had been plaguing his skin.
Thanks to that treatment, Kirish had finally been able to enjoy a peaceful, deep sleep.
Seven days passed in the blink of an eye. Slowly, Kirish began to regain his consciousness.
"Ah... wait, where am I? Who... who am I?" he muttered groatingly.
The moment he opened his eyes, Kirish felt completely disoriented, unable to comprehend his surroundings or his own state.
It took a few moments of quiet waiting before his memories began to flood back, piece by piece.
'Right... so I survived. And now I'm in a hospital.
Well, that's good news.
I really didn't want to reincarnate through three lifetimes so damn quickly.'
Letting out a massive sigh of relief, Kirish leaned back against the pillows. His physical condition felt significantly better now, though the Magic Glucose was still slowly dripping into his veins.
However, the moment Kirish woke up, the monitoring spell triggered, instantly alerting the doctors that he was conscious.
But suddenly, a terrifying realization struck Kirish's mind.
'Wait a minute... this looks like a high-end private hospital! If I stay here any longer, I'll literally have to sell my house to pay the bill!'
Panicking, Kirish scrambled to get out of bed. Just as his feet hit the floor, the bright blue System window popped up directly in front of his face.
["Whoa, whoa! Calm down, kid, calm down. You don't have to pay a single penny to this hospital. The government has taken full financial responsibility for your treatment. In fact, they have specifically requested the staff to keep a very close eye on you!"]
Hearing this, Kirish finally found some peace of mind.
He immediately lay back down on the bed, acting as if nothing had happened.
He then turned his attention to the System to get a status update, demanding to know what had transpired during his blackout and exactly how many days he had spent locked away in this room.
When the answer flashed, Kirish was utterly stunned. It wasn't because of the complex government conspiracies or the aftermath of the city siege, but rather the sheer duration of his slumber.
He had been unconscious for seven whole days! Which meant that his college semester had already commenced three days ago.
He hadn't suffered any actual academic loss yet, but his impression at college—even if it was just on paper—must have been completely ruined before he could even step through the gates.
A short while later, the attending doctors walked in, ran a series of diagnostic checks, and declared him to be in nearly perfect health.
As the doctors left, Kirish picked up a glass of fresh juice from the bedside table. Right then, the System's voice chimed inside his head.
["By the way, regarding what you said about your ruined impression—that's not true at all. In fact, you have secretly become a legendary savior in the lower district. Rumors are spreading about a mysterious fighter who slaughtered the beasts and saved countless lives before the military vanguard could even arrive."]
The interface flickered, showing a news feed.
["Of course, your actual name hasn't been leaked because very few people know your identity. If you want, you can reveal yourself right now and earn massive amounts of fame and glory!"]
Kirish twisted his face in immediate distaste. He had absolutely zero interest in fame or glory.
To him, true peace lay in solitude.
The last thing he wanted was a swarm of annoying people chasing him down for fake selfies and showering him with superficial admiration.
Suddenly, the image of that powerful military officer flashed in his mind. 'By the way, System, do you have any detailed data on Captain Arjun?'
The System interface blinked with a sudden sparkle.
["Oh! You mean that majestic alpha human who caught you right before you could turn into a pancake against that scrapped car?"]
Kirish nodded internally, confirming his query.
["Listen carefully, Owner. I do not disclose classified, high-tier information for free. If you want the files, you better lighten your wallet first!"]
Kirish scoffed. For a split second, he had foolishly assumed the machine might offer a friendly discount after their near-death battle.
But the System had immediately shown its true colors, proving him dead wrong.
This machine was truly a shameless worshiper of money.
'Fine,' Kirish grumbled.
'But since we are talking about transactions, it's time to settle our accounts.
I told you I would review every single W earned from those beasts.
Tell me exactly how much profit I made, and how much you overcharged me for the ingredients of that green recovery pill!'
A metaphorical cold sweat broke out across the System's interface. The exact question it had been desperately trying to avoid was now staring it right in the face.
["Ah! Right! You were asking about Captain Arjun Khanna, weren't you? Look, here is his complete, detailed dossier right in front of you!"]
Seeing the sudden information drop, Kirish decided to let the System off the hook for a brief moment, fearing the petty machine might retract the data if pushed too hard.
His eyes scanned the profile. Captain Khanna. Kirish was highly intrigued by that specific surname.
First, there was the mysterious and incredibly wealthy Priyanka Khanna, and now, there was the enigmatic and overwhelmingly powerful Arjun Khanna.
There was an absolute certainty that both of them belonged to the legendary, elite Khanna Clan.
On the other hand, Kirish still knew next to nothing about Kevin. He only knew his first name, lacking even a basic surname.
Below the name, the profile detailed Arjun's frightening combat capabilities.
Arjun was a Peak Level 6 Mage. He was merely a fraction of a breath away—just one final, solid step—from breaking through to become a true, legendary Sadhak (Adept Cultivator).
His magical arsenal was staggeringly versatile, commanding six distinct elemental paths:
Fire Energy
Summoning Magic
Light Attribute
Earth Manipulation
Wind Magic
Runic Energy
His physical strength index was scaled at thirty-five times that of an ordinary human, and his internal mana pool was a staggering eighty times larger than a standard mage.
While his Fire and Summoning attributes were fully mastered at an Advanced Level, he was still relatively a novice when it came to channeling complex Runic Energy.
In terms of military hierarchy, his rank as a Captain made him one of the top three most powerful and authoritative officers stationed within the entire lower district.
In this world, 'Captain' wasn't just a basic military post; it was a prestigious title reserved exclusively for those who achieved extraordinary, monumental feats on the battlefield.
The file wasn't overly lengthy, but it provided more than enough tactical insight for Kirish.
Whether or not Arjun shared a direct blood relation with Priyanka, the sheer scale of the Khanna Clan's power was undeniable.
Kirish closed the profile, his eyes narrowing. 'System... you still haven't answered my question.
Exactly how many W do I have left after selling those beast carcasses?'
The System realized there was no escaping this.
Kirish was not going to let this slide until he saw the final ledger.
["Fine, fine! Listen up. The 105,000 W you earned from slaughtering the Tatoa Beasts... well, more than half of that amount was automatically consumed to purchase the ultra-rare, high-grade medicinal ingredients required to forge that green recovery pill. Therefore, from that batch, you only have 28,000 W left."]
Thud. Kirish felt a miniature heart attack strike his chest. He literally clutched his shirt over his heart, his breath catching in his throat.
'More than half?! You greedy parasite!' Kirish roared internally.
'Fine... what about the remaining Manto Beasts? What did I get from them?'
He desperately clung to the hope that the high-tier A-grade monsters would yield a massive fortune to cover his losses.
["Alright, let me break it down," cleansed the System, trying to sound professional. "The market valuation for those Manto Beasts would have been exceptionally high... if you hadn't coated your blade in that heavy paralytic neurotoxin."]
Kirish's jaw dropped.
["Because the chemical composition of the poison aggressively degraded and softened their armored hide, their market value suffered a devastating 50% penalty. Consequently, you were only awarded a meager 20,000 W per Manto Beast. In total, after compiling all assets and subtracting the deductions, your current liquid balance stands at exactly 128,000 W."]
The System added a painful footnote.
["Also, if you hadn't consumed that Active Energy Crystal to heal your nervous system and had chosen to sell it on the open marketplace instead, it would have easily fetched anywhere between 100,000 to 150,000 W."]
This final strike was a far heavier blow than the first one. Kirish stood frozen, his soul practically leaving his body.
He had foolishly estimated the value of that monster core to be around twenty or thirty thousand W at best.
Furthermore, if he had known that using tactical paralytic poison would ruthlessly cut his profits in half, he would have dragged the fight out, striking those rhinos thousands of times with conventional physical attacks just to keep the carcasses pristine.
But as the bitter reality settled in, Kirish shook his head with a grim sigh.
It was just a useless, idealistic thought.
If he had let greed dictate his actions back then, he wouldn't even have survived to count this money.
He would have been trampled to death right there on the boiling asphalt.
[To Be Continued...]