"Yesterday… I died in a gate," I say quietly. "And then I reawakened."
Hinata freezes. Her cheek still pressed against my back, but the warmth is gone. Her body goes rigid.
That reaction tells me everything I need to know: she wasn't expecting this. Not even a little.
After a moment of stillness, she springs into action, abruptly patting me down, checking for wounds or any sign of damage. Her breathing is quick, shallow, panicked.
I gently place a hand over hers. "I'm okay. My body was completely healed in the process. Honestly, I'm in the best physical shape I've ever been."
She exhales, long and heavy, relief pouring out of her. "Yeah… I can see that. You look stronger. More solid." She narrows her eyes. "Any psychological side effects?"
"None that I can detect. In fact, I think the reawakening somehow purged any trauma. I slept ten hours last night. Peacefully. No dreams. No stress."
Her expression shifts slightly, still cautious but more grounded. "Alright. Tell me how it happened."
"It was a basic E-rank goblin gate. The boss turned out to be a shaman. We lost the fight, and I got dragged to a stone altar to be sacrificed. But instead of dying… I reawakened. My new powers kicked in immediately, and I wiped out the chamber solo."
Hinata releases her grip on me and walks back to the table. She doesn't press further about the near-death experience. We've known each other long enough, she's used to me getting my ass kicked. But this time, the context has changed.
I know she's always quietly worried about me being an F-rank. She's never said it outright, but I could see it in the way she frowned when I took porting jobs or accepted riskier runs.
"Okay," she says, settling into her chair. "Before we dive into strategy, give me the full rundown on your reawakening. Everything."
As I cook our lunch, I walk her through the new system I've gained, the pillars, the strange class mechanics, and the abilities I've unlocked so far. She listens silently, only stopping me to ask for clarification where needed. By the time the pasta is plated and the ragù is steaming on the table, she's fully caught up.
"It seems pretty obvious to me your true rank is somewhere in the S range," she says between bites. "Sure, the association's device registered you as D-rank, but that's likely just an initial reading. If what you've described is accurate, and I trust you, it's S-tier potential."
"I was thinking the same. Once I unlock all the remaining pillars, my class could easily be pushing into that territory."
She stabs a piece of beef with her fork, chewing thoughtfully. "The Harem and Smithing pillars are self-explanatory, though I still don't understand why the hell you have a harem pillar. Honestly, it kind of pisses me off."
Her irritation is quite evident, but she is also smart enough to know that I didn't give myself a skill tree based on having multiple partners, so she doesn't say any more about it.
"Anyway," she continues, waving a hand to dismiss it, "it's the other two pillars that worry me. You probably need to reach a certain level or meet some special condition to access them."
I nod. That was my theory too.
"You'll need to test them. For smithing, I already have a few ideas. We might be able to crack that pillar open in the next day or two. As for your golem magic, it's not completely unique, but the way you use it alongside your [Item Box] could be game-changing. I've got thoughts about that as well."
"What about the Genoforge pillar?" I ask.
"That's the most interesting, and probably the most dangerous," she replies. "I've never heard of a class that lets you literally engineer monsters using bio-magic. You'll either need to buy monster corpses to extract genetic material… or you'll have to kill them yourself."
There's a brief silence as we let that implication settle.
Then she shifts gears.
"Okay, now that I've got the whole picture, let's talk about why you really called me. You don't know what to do next, do you?"
I sigh. "Pretty much. A ton of doors just opened, and I have no idea which one to walk through."
"If I were you," she says, leaning back, "I'd start by getting stronger. That's always the best baseline. Power gives you options. Even if you spent the rest of your life clearing low-level gates, being stronger would only help."
That's the part I've always appreciated about Hinata. Beneath the jokes and chaotic energy, she's razor-sharp when it matters.
"I started putting a plan together the second you mentioned the reawakening," she adds. "Right now, the best move is to unlock your Smithing pillar. Once that's done, we'll take you through an E-rank gate. Seeing your new powers in action will tell me a lot more than any explanation."
I nod. "Makes sense. You've seen me at my weakest. You'll know better than anyone what's changed."
"Exactly. I know what you were capable of before, and what your limits were. That gives me the perfect baseline for measuring what you've become."
"What about the association? And the guild recruiters?"
"Be honest with the association. Always. Back when you were F-rank, it wouldn't have mattered, but now? If they catch you hiding anything, they'll label you rogue, and then it's over."
Being declared rogue is a death sentence. Awakened who cross that line are hunted by others, and nobody asks questions. No court trials. No second chances.
"And the guilds?" I ask.
"Just ask the association to put all recruitment requests on indefinite hold. That way, they'll stop passing your contact info around. You'll get peace and quiet to figure things out."
We finish our meal in relative calm. Hinata praises the ragù, grudgingly, of course, and we chat for a bit about future plans, but the tone has shifted slightly.
When I ask if she wants to stay the night, like she usually does, she declines.
"I'm going to pass this time," she says, standing up and slinging her bag over her shoulder. "At least until the gate run is over. That 'Harem Pillar' thing gave me… stuff to think about."
Her voice is light, but I catch the undercurrent. She's not joking.
We agree to meet the following morning. She says she's got an idea to trigger the Smithing pillar.
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Bonus chapter goals !!!
25 Power stones - 1 bonus chapter
50 Power stones - 3 bonus chapters
100 Power stones - 5 bonus chapter