Chapter 18: Gift

Chapter Eighteen

Orion had been struggling to make a decision between accepting the offer to participate in the raid or not. The number of points offered for participating was more than enough to pay for Iris’s treatment; he desperately needed those points, but he also couldn’t turn a blind eye to the fact that the dungeon was a massive threat.

Uncle Dian clearly had no reason to lie to him, as no one had entered that dungeon and come back alive, and that alone was enough to make Dungeon X a death dungeon in Orion’s eyes. So he wasn’t going to foolishly accept the offer either, because who knew? Maybe there was another way to find the points he needed.

That was what Orion had been thinking before he reached home and saw for himself just how much Iris’s condition had worsened. And through it all, she had placed all her trust in him, believing he would fulfill his promise to cure her.

That was what finally made Orion come to a decision, and he hadn’t acted on impulse, unlike what many might have thought. No, he had thought about it carefully.

No matter how many ideas he came up with, he would never be able to raise the 150,000 points needed for Iris’s treatment in time, and the fact that he had been grinding for several months and wasn’t even able to raise ten thousand points was proof enough of that.

There was simply no way he could raise the money fast enough to save Iris’s life, so Orion had no choice. Between the potential danger of Dungeon X and losing someone he cared about, he would rather face the danger head-on than lose someone precious to him.

And so... he made his decision.

Orion accepted the offer. The moment he did, he entered his account details, and a few seconds later, the three hundred thousand points were credited to his account.

[Congratulations! 300,000 Points have been credited to your account.]

Orion stared at the notification for a moment, realizing three hundred thousand points was enough. More than enough.

Iris, whose condition seemed to have calmed down a little, was looking at Orion before she spoke weakly, "Tell me a story..."

Orion turned his gaze toward her, "You told the others bedtime stories, but you forgot to tell me," she said, trying to pout.

However, even that small action seemed to drain a great deal of energy from her already weakened body. Orion only smiled, gently patting her head before nodding, "Tell Big Brother which story of the great hero you want to hear. I’ll tell you."

Iris closed her eyes, trying to think about her favorite story, and a second later, her eyes opened, shining with a faint excitement, "Tell me the story of the great hero’s battle against the ten-thousand-meter-long snake."

Orion nodded, "Alright."

He began to narrate the story in a soothing yet exciting manner. The story, of course, was his own, simply that the snake beast he had slain was barely three meters long.

But for the sake of giving the story a more mythical feeling, Orion had told the young ones that the great hero had slain a ten-thousand-meter-long snake... how long was that even?

Still, Iris listened with complete fascination, hanging onto every word as Orion described the great hero’s battle against the enormous serpent, his voice carrying her gently into the world of the story.

For those few moments, the pain seemed to disappear from her mind.

Soon after Orion finished narrating the story, Iris fell asleep. Not long afterward, her quiet, peaceful snoring reached Orion’s ears, and hearing it made him feel at ease.

Elias sighed deeply before collapsing onto his butt, his gaze seemingly lost somewhere far away, while Mrs. Anna, their mother, wasn’t able to take her eyes off Iris.

She had cried a lot that day. The pain Iris was suffering from was something most adults wouldn’t even begin to comprehend, and yet Iris hadn’t given in to Cryosis.

Instead, she kept hanging on, keeping the fight alive, and doing her best, but they were failing her.

"I don’t know what else to do," Anna’s voice trembled, "I’ve tried to raise points. I’ve done all sorts of menial jobs, but it’s not enough. The pay is far too low to do anything."

Her gaze remained fixed on Iris, "Her time is running out..."

Her voice became quieter, "Yet I’ve barely raised ten thousand points. Not to talk of the one hundred and fifty thousand points we need."

Her eyes began to tremble with tears, "What do we do?"

Anna’s gaze was listless, totally lost, and totally helpless, "I have no idea..."

She lowered her head, "I don’t know how to proceed anymore."

Her voice cracked, "If things continue like this... she might die."

At that point, she was on the verge of tears again, but Racheal and Elias quickly rushed to comfort her, trying to assure her that everything would be fine, that Iris would be okay, and that they would find a way.

But even they didn’t truly believe their own words, because after all, it wasn’t only Orion who had been hustling and doing his best. The rest of them had been trying their best as well; they had all been working and struggling, and yet, the total number of points they had been able to raise was barely worth mentioning when compared to the amount they needed.

It was like trying to fill an ocean with a cup.

While the trio tried desperately to find a light at the end of the tunnel, Orion quietly looked at the three hundred thousand points credited to his account, unable to help but smile.

He felt both apprehensive and relieved... apprehensive because now that he had accepted the Dungeon X raid, there was no bailing out anymore, the danger was approaching, and he knew absolutely nothing about what awaited him inside that terrifying dungeon, but at the same time, he felt genuinely relieved that at least Iris would finally be released from her pain after all this time.

Anna’s mind was still in complete disarray, desperately trying and failing to come up with what they could do next, when her phone suddenly pinged with a message notification.

She didn’t even have the heart to check it, so she simply ignored it, but Elias decided to check instead. The moment he saw the credit alert displayed on the screen, the expression on his face changed completely.

"What the hell?!"

His sudden yell startled everyone, causing Racheal and Anna both to flinch, their bodies shaking slightly from the unexpected outburst.

Even Iris, who had only just fallen asleep, frowned in her sleep, almost as if she were about to wake up once more, though fortunately, she only shifted slightly before dozing off again.

The two women turned toward Elias with deep frowns on their faces, and Elias immediately rubbed the back of his head with an apologetic expression, "Sorry..."

Despite his apology, the shock on his face remained obvious as he couldn’t seem to believe what he was seeing, and without saying another word, he passed the phone to Anna.

The moment Anna and Racheal saw the credit alert, they nearly screamed as well.

200,000 Points have been credited to your account.

Two hundred thousand points, and neither of them could believe their eyes.

"Mom, you should head to Daylight City tomorrow and get Iris cured as soon as possible," Orion said calmly.

The trio immediately looked at him, their expressions asking the same question: how did you get so much money?

Orion only smiled and shrugged, "Let’s just say I got a good offer."

The night passed in a blur, or rather, it passed in a very blurry fashion for Orion. The moment the initial excitement faded from their eyes, worry quickly replaced it, because for Orion to suddenly obtain so many points, whatever offer he had been given clearly wasn’t something simple.

If they didn’t know him well, they might have believed that he had stolen the points, but Orion was clearly incapable of doing such a thing.

Unfortunately for Orion, that meant he had to spend almost the entire night reassuring the trio that he was fine and that he wasn’t in any danger, while they kept pestering him, wanting him to tell them everything, wanting to know exactly where the points came from, and wanting him to share his burden with them instead of carrying everything alone.

Their concern touched Orion once more, reminding him that these people genuinely cared about him, and perhaps that was exactly why he couldn’t tell them the truth.

Orion didn’t tell them about the danger of Dungeon X or the warning he had received from Uncle Dian, but instead simply told them that he was going into a high-level dungeon.

"It can be dangerous," Orion admitted, "But I’ll be careful."

That was all he told them, and it took a lot of convincing and even more persuading before he was finally able to put their minds at rest.

Eventually, everyone settled down, and Orion managed to get a few hours of sleep before the new day arrived.

The group prepared quickly, completing all the necessary menial tasks before Orion and Racheal followed their mother, with Iris carried carefully in Orion’s arms since she was far too weak to walk by herself.

They eventually reached the bus station, and the two siblings watched as their mother boarded the bus with Iris, which would take them to Daylight City, a Level Two city where Iris’s illness could finally be treated.

"Take care of her, Mom," Orion said.

Anna nodded, her eyes still filled with worry, "You take care of yourself too."

Orion smiled, "I will."

The bus slowly pulled away from the station, and Orion and Racheal stood there and watched until it disappeared into the distance, only then finally turning around.

After that, they parted ways; Racheal went back into the city to get a few things, while Orion headed toward the Basic Green Dungeon.

When he arrived, however, he was surprised to see that Uncle Dian was already waiting for him, and before Orion could even greet him, the elderly man walked over with an unusually serious face.

"You rejected the offer, right?"

Orion lowered his head, remaining silent for several moments before he slowly shook his head, "Sorry."

Uncle Dian froze, his eyes widening slightly, and there was fear in his gaze. But it wasn’t fear for himself; it was fear for the kid standing before him... the kid who was about to throw his life away.

Seeing the elderly man staring at him in stunned silence, Orion sighed before giving him a helpless smile.

"I really have no other choice, Uncle."

Dian clenched his fists, his body trembling slightly, before he turned his back toward Orion.

"You made the wrong choice," his voice was heavy, "A very wrong choice."

With those words, he walked away, his steps slow and his expression troubled and angry. Orion could only sigh, shaking his head before turning his gaze toward the gateway of the Basic Green Dungeon.

"I should let out some steam," he thought, and then he stepped into the dungeon.

About an hour or so later, Orion emerged from the gateway, stretching his body as he walked out, having indeed managed to let out some steam... unfortunately for the green goblins, they had been the ones forced to face it.

Orion blinked when he noticed someone sitting at the familiar camp: Old Dian. The elderly man was sitting there quietly, his gaze calmly fixed on Orion, prompting Orion to tilt his head.

"Didn’t he storm off a while ago?"

Perhaps he had cooled down. Orion walked toward the camp, and the moment he reached him, the elderly man suddenly picked up something and threw it toward Orion.

Orion instinctively caught it, looking down at the object in his hand, and his expression immediately changed.

"Isn’t this... a Skill Book?"

As if confirming his suspicion, the System screen suddenly flashed before his eyes.

[New Skill Book detected.]

[Would Host like to learn the D-Rank Skill: Dash?]

[YES / NO]