Chapter 75: [ACCOMPLISHED]

After Eli’s check-up, the doctor scribbled his notes and gave a calm smile, adjusting his glasses.

“He just needs to stay one more day for observation,” the man explained gently. “His vitals are stable, and aside from exhaustion and the strain from the dust and rubble in his lungs, there’s nothing too alarming. The difficulty in speaking should fade after some more rest. His voice will return in time.”

Eli let out a slow breath, relief washing faintly through him—but it was short-lived. The moment the door clicked shut behind the doctor, Elois’s composure shattered like glass.

Her hands flew to her face, shoulders heaving. “Elione…” Her sobs spilled into the sterile air of the room, raw, trembling. Tears streamed between her fingers, dripping onto the edge of his blanket.

Eli’s chest tightened. He wanted—needed—to say something, anything. To reassure her. But all that left him was silence, his throat burning with useless effort.

’Damn it. Please, just one word. Just one word to calm her down.’

But nothing came.

All he could do was watch as she cried, his fingers twitching weakly against the sheets, desperate to reach for her but restrained by his own broken voice and aching body.

Her sobs went on until a sharp ringtone cut through the air. Elois startled, fumbling for her phone with trembling hands.

She pressed it to her ear, her tears still falling, her voice shaky as she answered.

“…Yes. I’m here… I…” Her gaze shifted toward Eli, eyes swollen red, guilt carved deep into her expression. She turned away slightly as if shielding him from the weight of the conversation. “…I’ll come now. I’ll stay with him tomorrow.”

The call ended quickly, but its impact lingered heavy in the room. Elois lowered the phone, her lips pressed tightly together before she forced herself to speak.

“Your father… he—he needs me tonight.” Her voice cracked, hesitant, as if saying the words pained her more than anything. “I’m so sorry, Elione. I can’t stay. I’ll be back first thing in the morning.”

Eli’s breath hitched. ’So… I’m really spending the night alone.’

Her words carried more than apology. They carried weight. A message beneath them—Elione’s father was upset. Upset enough not to come see him. Upset enough to need Elois by his side instead.

The ache in Eli’s chest wasn’t from his injuries this time. It was heavier, sharper.

’Elione’s father… is furious with him. With me.’

Elois leaned down, pressing a trembling kiss to his forehead, her tears dampening his skin. “Please rest,” she whispered, almost pleading. “Please don’t do this to us again.”

And then she was gone.

The door shut softly behind her, but the silence that followed roared in Eli’s ears.

The steady beep of the heart monitor was the only company left in the room.

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

Eli stared at the ceiling, the shadows deepening in the corners of the hospital room. The loneliness pressed in, suffocating in its quiet.

And though he tried to shake it off, he couldn’t ignore the gnawing thought that he was being punished for choices that weren’t even his own.

’So Elione was suicidal…’

His lips parted in silence, his chest rising in a shaky breath.

’No wonder Elois seemed so overprotective of him.’

To think—someone like Elione, who had been blessed with a good ability, who grew up wealthy, who was even a fairly famous influencer—could be depressed enough to want to die.

Eli’s mind spun as he stared at the ceiling, the faint hum of the fluorescent light buzzing overhead.

’People probably thought he had everything. Power. Money. Attention. The kind of life others would kill for.’

Yet the truth was brutal. Elione had walked into that explosion without dodging any monster attacks.

Now, Eli had ad run toward ogres as if he had no fear of death. Elois’s broken voice still echoed in Eli’s ears—“You’ve been trying to kill yourself!”

No wonder she cried so hard.

The ceiling still swam above him, shadows whispering in the corners.

’Those dreams… they weren’t just nightmares. They were too… intimate. Was that Elione’s ex? Is that what I’ve been feeling? His leftover heartbreak bleeding into me?’

The possibility sank its claws into him.

His chest twisted uncomfortably, a sharp ache gnawing at his ribs.

As Lucien, Eli had never once experienced romance. Not in his old body, not even in fleeting crushes.

His entire world back then had been survival—endless work as a Cleaner. Love?

That belonged to other people. The closest thing he’d ever had to it was watching his parents, watching the way they smiled despite exhaustion, despite hardship.

And now?

Now, in Elione’s body, the path to survival wasn’t killing monsters or cleaning dungeons—it was seducing two men.

Kairo and Caelen.

Both of them had just visited him. Both of them had promised to come back.

Eli’s stomach lurched violently, bile rising in his throat.

’This is good, right? It’s very good… but then why do I feel so nervou—’

Ding.

The sound cut through the silence like a blade.

Eli froze.

A pale blue light flickered alive above him, cutting against the dim hospital shadows. The translucent panel unfurled line by line, letters glowing sharp and certain.

[SYSTEM MESSAGE]

> Congratulations, Player.

His heart stuttered.

His lips parted—dry, cracked—and sound scraped raw from his throat. “…Huh?”

The single word hurt, his voice rasping hoarse like gravel dragged across steel, but—he spoke.

Ding.

The message pulsed again, brighter, as though mocking his disbelief.

[SYSTEM MESSAGE]

> You have accomplished:

— 2 Major Missions

— 1 Mini Task

“What…?” Eli rasped, his chest shuddering. “Oh—that’s right.”

His mind flashed back.

Before being kidnapped by Lion’s Fang guild, the system had given him a tiny task—open the door. A stupidly simple thing, and he’d done it.

Then came the major mission—get Caelen to stop being wary of him.

And now, the fact that the system was congratulating him meant only one thing—

“I succeeded?” Eli whispered, eyes widening, voice trembling as he forced the words past his raw throat.

That meant Caelen’s suspicion, that suffocating wariness, had finally dropped beneath fifty percent.

That was… good. Very good.

Relief surged through him, shaky, fragile, but real.

Ding.

[SYSTEM AFFECTION UPDATE]

> Affection with Target [CAELEN] has increased.

Current Affection Points:

❖ Target 1: Caelen — 1 / 500

❖ Target 2: Kairo — 0 / 500

Eli’s expression shattered. His jaw dropped, his eyes bulged wide, his voice cracked into a broken shout:

“JUST ONE?!”

The exclamation tore at his throat, making it flare raw, and he broke into a violent cough, clutching at his chest as the monitor spiked in protest.

Beep—Beep—Beep—

’HOW IS IT JUST ONE?! ONE POINT?! I DON’T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT ROMANCE BUT JESUS—’

The blue panel flickered again, almost as if it was amused.

Ding.

[SYSTEM REWARD NOTICE]

Mission Success.

> Since the player accepted and succeeded the mission.

> Various rewards shall now be distributed.

The text glowed brighter, sharper, the letters bending as though a treasure chest were creaking open in his head.

Eli blinked, chest heaving, his frustration twisting instantly into curiosity.

“…Rewards?” he croaked, almost whispering.

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