CHAPTER 69: LAST REGRET.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

The sound of beeping devices filled the white walls of the hospital ward.

Rion stared at the unfamiliar yet familiar ceiling with confused eyes.

"What... is going on?" He questioned himself, his voice heavy with the familiar pain that once coursed through him.

He tried to stand up, but before he could even move, a sharp yet familiar sound reached his ear.

Drin! Drin!

His eyes widened, and he turned his head to the right.

"Ha!" A hollow chuckle escaped him as his eyes fell on the restraint alarm or the guard dog that made sure he didn’t move too much.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

The breath came in slow with stings running down the whole of his body, and his heart, which used to beat with endless life essence, had gone numb.

"Wasn’t I... at Zaelyane’s hut...?" Words left his lips like the sound of a cracking mirror, and as if this was decided beforehand, a soft voice reached him.

"Oh, James! You are finally awake!"

His head turned towards the person who had just called out to him, and he mumbled in disbelief, "Doctor Kim... Is that truly you?"

Kim furrowed his age-streaked brows and said, "Of course, who else other than me is allowed to see you? Hmm?"

"Ha... ha!" A stinging chuckle escaped Rion as he stuttered, "I am still alive?"

Kim frowned and asked in an edged tone, "Why are you asking such a stupid question? Or do you think my luck is so bad that I would have to see you even after my death?"

"Heh... Now, you are just... hurting me," he replied as his lips lifted into his usual smirk.

Kim looked into his eyes and mumbled, "I am sorry..."

Rion’s smirk crumbled. He shifted in his bed and asked with a frown, "What are you... apologising for?"

Kim stayed silent for a few moments before he answered, "We tried our best, but the surgery still failed... I couldn’t keep my promise of showing you the outside world."

Rion blinked a few times and thought, ’Right... the surgery had failed...’

The corners of his lips curved up, and he comforted while pushing through the pain, "Doctor Kim... You don’t have to apologise... You are the only one who still thinks that I can be saved, after all."

His emotional words reached him, but instead of smiling, Kim frowned and muttered darkly, "You... are you giving up already?"

Rion smiled and heaved a shaky sigh before he said, "I always regretted not having this talk with you... Even after all the love and care I got from my new parents and friends..."

His eyes warmed up, and tears rolled down his face, but he didn’t stop.

"In this life, you were no different from my parent. You were my only friend... my everything..."

Kim, who was silent till now, turned around and mumbled while wiping off his tears, "I couldn’t get married because I had to stay with you all the damn time! But... I never felt sad about it... Do you know why?"

Rion smiled tearfully, "Why?"

Kim turned towards him and replied as tears and snot ran down his aged face, "Because for me you are my son... So! Don’t think about this old man... and live this new life of yours."

Rion’s smile widened.

Swoosh!

Silver flames appeared around his body, and he pushed himself off the bed.

Crek! Plk!

The bed creaked, and the needles that had impaled him fell as his feet touched the ground, and before Kim could even react, Rion had his arms wrapped around him.

Kim hugged him back and asked in a soft voice full of warmth and love, "When did you find out that this is an illusion?"

Rion let go of the hug and looked into the eyes of the entity before him.

"Were you even trying to hide it? If you were, you should have also changed my body."

The entity smiled and answered, "When given the chance to rewrite our regret, we begin to think of the lies as truth."

The world shook, and cracks began to appear all around it.

Crk! Crk! Crk!

"Hmm?" The entity raised an eyebrow and asked in a surprised tone, "You... Why do you only have one regret?"

Rion smiled prideful and stated, "How can I have regrets when I didn’t even have an actual life?"

The entity stared at him with a dumbfounded expression, and before it could say or ask anything, the world turned black.

Rion looked around, and his eyes fell on a green arrow floating in the distance.

"Huh? I can sign in within illusions?" He questioned himself and walked towards the arrow.

A few minutes passed, and just as he neared the green arrow, a blue screen flickered before him.

[Ding!]

[Sign-In at The Trial of Regrets?]

[Yes / No]

’Yes.’

[You have obtained the active skill (Illusion Eyes)!]

"Oh?"

[Ding!]

[Lucky spin is in effect!]

[Congratulations, you have obtained X10 Rewards!]

[You have obtained the active skill (Illusion Zone)!]

"Are illusions the method Zaelyane was talking about?"

He mumbled and suddenly felt a push.

"Not again!" He shouted and was thrown out of the trial of regrets.

***

Rion blinked a few times and looked at his hands as he came to his bearings.

He looked around himself, and his eyes fell on Zaelyane, who was staring daggers at him with a disgruntled expression marring her beautiful face.

He furrowed his brows and questioned, "What’s wrong?"

She shot him an annoyed look before asking, "How did you fail the trial so fast?"

He frowned, and his lips parted to answer, but before he could, she said, "Now don’t get too sad over it. No human has ever passed it, after all."

She stood up from her chair and began to put all of his herbs back into his leather pouch.

"What are you doing?" He asked with a deep frown.

She stopped and answered, "sending you back—"

But he cut her off.

"I didn’t fail."