Global Sign-in: 10x Multiplier with the Strongest System!-Chapter 56: At the Hospital
The measured beeps of a heart monitor and the reduced volume of the hospital room television were all Roy could hear as he awoke from the medically induced slumber.
"Roy, you’re awake," Donald said and grabbed his younger brother’s forearm. He was in a simple blue beach shirt and shorts, sitting on a chair at the side of the bed. After having to always wear a corporate uniform in his previous job, aside from when he slept, he seemed to have grown sick of them.
Roy had this silly thought and a couple more others before his brain fully booted up.
"Wh... What happened to the others? Is Jane alright?" Roy drowsily asked and tried to rise from his bed, but ground when he felt a sharp pain come from his head. At the moment, he was in medical clothing, and a bandage was wrapped around his head.
The last thing Roy could remember was Chris hitting him as the military vehicle did to that weak beast on the way to District 03 a few days prior. His augmented speed didn’t stand a chance. None at all.
"Hey, hey. Just lie down." Donald pushed him back onto the bed.
"They’re all fine. After the rampaging student knocked you out, he fell unconscious and returned to normal. Lucky for you, the authorities had already arrived."
"This is... some bullshit," Roy cursed and was about to command his system to give him his last remaining apple when he realised that he didn’t have enough energy to use [2x Multiplier] on it. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖
"I need energy crystals," he said.
Donald’s brows creased, and Roy added with a low growl, "I need them now."
"You are not getting any energy crystals."
Nana just entered the room with a tray when he said that, and Roy flinched up at her.
Worry was her countenance, and she wore a steady frown. The loss of her daughter and son-in-law at the hands of God’s Abyss affected her in ways Roy and Donald could never understand.
"And... why is that?" he voiced weakly, not willing to subject himself to her overprotectiveness.
But she turned to Donald and asked instead, her face a mixture of anger and worry, "How can you egg your only brother on when he wants to run to his grave?!"
Donald just sighed and stood up. "I’m going to get your crystals, Roy. Though you might want to wait before you try to heal yourself. Abe’s on his way."
Roy acknowledged what Donny said, but didn’t know how to reply. He felt he was on the brink of another argument bursting out. And right, he was.
"Donald, are you ignoring me?" Nana asked and grabbed Donny’s elbow with one hand, holding the tray with the other.
"What if I am? Even if I answer you, will you listen to reason?" Donald let out a sad chortle and shook his head disappointedly.
Nana’s rage flared up. "Reason?! You go away for three years, leaving Roy with me, and only come back when you can profit off him! And you are telling me to listen to your reason?!"
Donald’s calm expression fades, and he glares down at Nana. Roy could see the regret on her face as she said those words; such things weren’t supposed to be said. Most especially when, until a few days ago, Donald was the primary breadwinner of their family.
"So, Nana, this is what you think of me, huh?"
He turned to Roy. "Do you think that too?"
Roy didn’t want to interfere in their argument, as it wasn’t his right to be the youngest in their family. But posed with such a question, he didn’t know how to answer and just sighed.
Roy couldn’t lie. He had been displeased with how easily Donny returned home after knowing he could exploit Roy’s potential. Before then, all pleas from Roy and Nana for Donny to return home proved futile.
"I see," Donald nodded, "I didn’t slave away, working extra hours to make sure my family was safe and not starving on the streets just to get insulted like this."
"I—" Nana wanted to say something, but Donald cut her off.
"Especially not by you, Nana. Because, unlike you, I actually believe in Roy. No, he’s not digging his own grave. Never say that in front of him again. Ever. Keep your worries and anxiety to yourself."
With that, Donald stormed out of the room. Roy and Nana watched his back as he left and then shared a look.
She sighed, put the tray down before Roy, and sat in Donald’s chair. "Eat," she said and helped Roy sit upright.
He groaned a little because of the headache and said to her, not at all wanting her to have those worries and anxiety, "I lost something precious to me again—my abyss soul, Greymane. Relied too much on it ever since I got it. I need to get stronger, Nana. I’m not going to be a boy forever. I want to be able to protect everyone properly. I already have the potential. And now I just have to learn."
"..."
Nana didn’t reply at first, then smiled. She commended Roy on protecting his classmates, and they have idle chatter when Roy spots his school on the television and increases the volume to hear.
The news said it was a bullied student who finally let loose and rampaged, seeking to take revenge on his classmates because of all their harsh treatment. Because Chris and Roy were underage, their names are kept out of the newsfeed. Roy was only referred to as a brave student who contained the rampaging one until the authorities arrived.
Donald returned with Master Abraham. The C-Class Executioner exchanged pleasantries with Nana before coming up to Roy and asking how he was faring.
"What’s going to happen to Chris?" Roy asked, reasonably concerned.
"Although the media made it look like it was your friend’s fault, they made sure not to call him an Irregular. And this is simply because he’s not an Irregular," Donald said, resting his back on the wall with folded arms.
Roy pondered on that and gritted.
"That means someone used their skill on him?"
Donald solemnly nodded.
"Someone who was aiming for you," Master Abraham added his two cents.
"Me? Why? I lost Greymane because of this shit!"
Donald just glanced at Abraham, silent. No one answered Roy’s question. Both already suspected who orchestrated all this.
For Master Abraham, it was whoever supplied the Mclloyds with capital. And for Donald, it was Cash God. He was the only other person who knew of Roy’s potential.
Perhaps Cash God didn’t like how Roy relied on his abyss soul at such a foundational stage of his career path. From that sick mind of his, such a variable always helping Roy would make him lazy, which would subsequently stunt his growth and reduce his value.
Master Abraham healed Roy, using a Health Box and [Circle of Order] like they normally did.
"Yes!" Roy jumped down from the hospital bed and flexed his body, doing a quick set of jumping jacks to test his stamina. He was whole and hearty back again!
Nana was just as shocked as Roy was the first time he was healed by the C-Class Executioner.
Roy then turned to his mentor.
"All Irregulars alike must fear using their health items on others, as they are in limited supply. You’ve not signed in for God-knows-how-long, but you still use what you have left on me. How many do you even have?"
"One."
"One? How?" He had used it at least three times on Roy now.
"Unlike others," the C-Class Executioner said proudly, "my health box is refillable."
Roy remembered the explanation he was given of [Circle of Order], where the health in the Health Box was subtracted and added to the Host, but what about the reverse? Was that possible too?
’Most assuredly. MATH.exe really is cool,’ Roy thought and sighed. How sad it was that his mentor no longer wished to sign in. At this point, he would give anything to hear the real reason why it was so.
Right then, he felt a sudden warmth rise in his chest, indicating that the sign-in was available. However, considering the environment he was in at the moment, he couldn’t just sign in. Plus, he could bet his two left nuts that Pierre wasn’t getting any sign-in rewards tonight.
The following morning, the detective on the case visited Roy. And although Donald didn’t initially want him to meet Roy and ask questions, he did anyway.
He asked if Roy had offended anyone or any Irregular. Roy denied, of course.
The officer then narrated that someone in a hooded clothing and bandaged face met him on his way home the previous day and asked him if he wanted power, power to make them never treat him like trash anymore; of course, Chris said yes.
"We suspect," the investigator paused for dramatic effect, "that Neo has a hand in this..."
Donald’s eyes widened, same for Roy’s. Neo was a criminal organization, as far as they knew, with their goal being to turn the order of the current society on its head. They kidnap children who are granted special systems early and train them from a young age to be killers; killers of humans, not abyss creatures. Their treachery was widely despised by all.
"And that begs the question," the investigator looks at Roy, "what is so important about you, Roy Mclloyd?"
