The figure standing at the doorway was the one I respected the most, cared about the most, and longed to see the most.
"M-Maa..." I murmured and instantly tried to get off the bed.
Having been stagnant for so long, my legs didn’t have the strength to support my body, and I imdiately fell to the floor.
"Raj!" Maa rushed forward, but before she could reach , I touched my forehead to the floor, bowing completely before her.
"I’m sorry for making you suffer for so long, Maa... I have committed an unforgivable sin that shouldn’t be forgi—"
Before I could finish my sentence, Maa fell to her knees and tightly embraced .
"M-my Raj... my Raj... my Raj..."
Her hands quickly ran through my hair as she alternated between hugging and showering my cheeks and forehead with kisses.
"Call Maa again... I prayed to hear that from your mouth every day."
"Maa... I’m back... forgive for taking so long..."
Unknowingly, tears rolled down my cheeks, and the two of us cried for several minutes while holding each other.
---
"Vedika, how long will it take for my son to be discharged from the hospital?" Maa asked Vedika, who was performing another body check-up.
"We need to observe Mr. Raj’s condition for a week to make sure he is completely healthy," Vedika replied.
"It’s fine. You may even keep him for a month, but make sure he leaves the hospital completely healthy."
While Maa and Vedika were conversing, Aryan entered the room with a beautiful lady.
The lady had a chin-length bob haircut with reddish-brown hair.
"Good evening, Guild Master. Good evening, Vice Guild Master," Vedika greeted the two. "You may converse with the patient, but please don’t take too long as he needs rest."
After giving my dication, Vedika packed up her dical tools and left the room.
At the sa ti, with a proud smug look on his face, Aryan introduced the lady, his arm wrapped around her shoulder.
"Raj, her na is Aisha. She is the mother of my daughter and your sister-in-law."
"Hello... umm... may I call you sister?"
Aisha nodded, so I greeted her again.
"Hello, Sister Aisha. My brother is a boring person and often acts like an old geezer, but he has a good heart, so please keep loving him in the future."
"Hehe~ you don’t need to worry about that, Brother Raj," Aisha chuckled. "I’m into old n, so your brother is the perfect match for ."
"Oh really? Then this geezer is a lucky one."
"He sure is."
"Hahaha."
"Hehehe~"
"Oy, you two do realize I can hear you, right?" Aryan muttered, giving us a sidelong glance. "It seems you’ve already tead up to bully ."
My eyes drifted toward the door behind them, searching for soone.
"Are you expecting soone?" Aryan asked.
"Where is my lovely niece?"
"It was ti for her evening nap, so I put her to bed," Aisha replied.
"Here? In the hospital?"
"Why not? There are many private rooms in this hospital."
"But aren’t private hospital rooms very expensive?"
Both Aisha and Aryan chuckled at my question, as if I had said sothing ridiculous.
"This old man here is the owner of this hospital," Aisha revealed.
"Whaaat!?!?" I exclaid in shock.
"Is-is it true?" I asked, turning toward Maa.
She nodded her head, making gasp uncontrollably.
"How did you beco so rich? Did you loot a bank or sothing? And what’s with that Guild Master thing Doctor Vedika called you?" I demanded, flabbergasted.
Aryan let out a brief sigh and said, "There’s a lot you need to know about this new world, Raj. But first, you should rest, or Vedika is going to scold again."
Without answering any of my questions, everyone left the room, leaving poor alone.
"I can’t believe I really ca back. It still feels like a sweet dream."
Due to my weakened and malnourished body, I fell asleep within seconds of closing my eyes.
---
Tap... tap...
Tap... tap...
"What the hell are you doing, creep!?" I demanded as I opened my eyes, finding Aryan poking my cheeks with his finger.
"I was just making sure you hadn’t fallen into a coma again," Aryan said, shrugging.
"Sigh... where is Maa and the others?"
"It’s already midnight, so they all went ho."
"What!? How long was I sleeping?"
"I’ve been waiting for you to wake up for the past ten hours. But forget that—I should update you about the new world first."
Aryan repeated exactly what Vedika had told about the world suddenly changing five years ago. It was only then that I finally believed this ridiculous story.
"So is India still under governnt rule, or—"
"Hm... it’s surprising. You accepted it rather easily. So much so that it creeps out."
"Doctor Vedika already told most of it. Besides, I also saw her using her Soulfo—mana to check on ."
"Sigh... you could’ve told that. I would’ve gotten straight to the point."
Inhaling lazily, Aryan continued.
"When the catastrophe struck, chaos engulfed the world for months. Strange portals began appearing all over the world, and from within them erged otherworldly monsters. Powerful nations like the U.S. were quick to respond, using their overwhelming firepower. However, it took hundreds of machine-gun bullets just to take down a single regular monster.
"It was then that Awakeners stepped up and fought against these monsters. For months, a brutal war between humans and monsters raged, and after six months, humanity erged victorious.
"However, those battle-crazed Awakeners beca the governnt’s next headache.
"To ensure that Awakeners wouldn’t beco the next dictators of the world, powerful nations ca together and ford the Awakener’s Association—an organization of awakened governnt officers to keep Awakeners in check. Even then, it took more than a year for the world to completely settle down."
Each of Aryan’s words sent chills down my spine. My family survived such a dangerous apocalypse while I was thrown into another world.
I clenched my fists in frustration at the fact that I wasn’t there when my family needed the most.
"Don’t bla yourself for not being there," Aryan said, tapping my shoulder, reading like an open book.
"And about how we beca so rich..." Aryan murmured, scratching his temple.
"I’m also one of the Awakeners."
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