Lawson watched their retreating figures, looked down at his palm, and let out a helpless chuckle.
"Authority equal to the System, huh? What a troublesome chore..."
Inside the Medical Bay, the atmosphere was thick enough to wring out water.
A lingering scent of ozone from the lightning elemental overload remained in the air, but George lay on the bed like an exquisite sculpture—eyes closed, breathing so steady it was unnerving.
"Ester! Why hasn't my brother woken up yet? You said injecting the repair fluid would fix everything!" Phyllis's roar echoed in the cramped room.
Her extreme worry had mutated into a sharp anger, making the usually gentle girl look like a wounded lion cub.
"Waaaaah!" Ester was frightened out of her wits. Already on the verge of a mental breakdown from "losing" System Master, she abandoned all dignity.
She performed a practiced kneeling slide directly to Phyllis's feet, clutching her thigh as tears and snot flowed simultaneously.
"System Master is missing! The backend connection is dead! I really don't know who to ask! Phyllis, don't kill me! I'm sorry! I'M SORRY!!!"
While the two girls were in a state of chaos, Lawson stepped forward with a calm expression.
Ignoring Ester's wailing, he reached out and grabbed a precision diagnostic instrument glowing with a faint blue light.
"Wait, Master Lawson! That is the duty of the Manager! Please do not touch the equipment!" The medical manager's electronic eye flashed a dangerous red, issuing a warning in a cold mechanical voice.
"Shut up, you're annoying." Lawson didn't even look back, his fingers flying across the complex sensory interface.
"As a ten-year veteran, I can operate this starter-village level medical interface with my eyes closed..."
As the blue laser swept from George's head to his toes, strings of characters glowing with an eerie light poured down the screen like a waterfall.
Lawson stared at the pulsing data, his expression gradually shifting from solemnity to relief. He waved a hand to dim the screen and brushed the dust off his palms.
"False alarm. The effect of that repair fluid is 'accelerate repair speed by 80%,' not an instant miracle cure. George's brainwaves are very active; the remaining 20% is just natural neuronal reconnection. I reckon in few days, this guy will be up and bouncing around looking for food."
A strange silence fell over the ward.
"Uh... hey, Lawson." Katie leaned in, pointing at the fading glow of the screen with a very peculiar expression.
"Are you sure... you actually understood that? Those symbols... they don't look like any known language in this world. They look more like... some kind of encrypted low-level logic code."
Lawson's movements froze. He scratched the back of his head, staring blankly at his fingertips. In that moment, the gibberish that looked like a "Book from Heaven" to outsiders had been as clear and direct as if it had a built-in translation patch.
It wasn't just numerical values; he could even feel the vibration frequency of every magic node in George's brain.
"I... I don't know," Lawson muttered, a flicker of unease in his eyes.
"I just suddenly understood it. It was like instinct. What's going on? Did I catch something from that masked man? Am I turning into an NPC of this world... or am I becoming a 'part' of this system?"
Ester stopped crying and lifted her tear-stained face. She stared at Lawson with a look that had shifted from pure adoration to a hint of awe.
"That feeling... that gaze that sees through the logic of all things... Big brother, the way you just spoke really sounded more and more like System Master..."
Lawson, who had just been radiating the majesty of a "God-tier Armor Smith," instantly crumbled. His face, previously etched with depth, became comically distorted by sheer terror.
Large teardrops actually began to well in the corners of his eyes.
"No way... Could it be that I've already 'ascended' and what I'm seeing now is just my residual brainwaves? I've never even been in love! I haven't seen enough of this world's top-tier materials! I don't want to die young!!!"
As if grabbing a lifeline, Lawson grabbed Katie's fair hand and pulled it toward his face incoherently.
"Katie! Quick, pinch me hard! I want the kind of pain where I see stars! Quickly confirm if I'm still alive! Also, look at my feet—is my shadow still there? What about the mirror? Is there a reflection? Have I become one of those transparent system ghosts you can see but can't touch?!"
Katie turned beet-red at this sudden "life-confirmation request."
Her reverence for her senior was blown away by this display.
"Lawson... calm down first! Your hand isn't just warm; it's getting slimy with cold sweat. You're definitely a living person!" As she complained, she actually gave his cheek a very hard pinch.
"OW OW OW—!!" Lawson let out a pathetic but relieved squeal.
"See? The pain receptors are working, and your shadow is firmly stepped on the tiles," Ester said, climbing up from the floor and wiping her eyes. She squinted at Lawson.
"Aside from your brain becoming even more abnormal due to the load of the 'Authority Sword,' all other vital signs are those of a normal human."
Phyllis watched this, her heavy heart feeling a mix of amusement and exasperation. She walked over and took Lawson's hand.
"Mr. Lawson, even if you can see the system 'code' now, your breath and your tears are real. Perhaps System didn't turn you into an NPC, but gave you 'Administrative Access.' Since you aren't dead, hurry up and help me think—besides waiting, is there anything else we can do to help my brother recover faster?"
Lawson rubbed his reddened cheek, sniffing while repeatedly checking his shadow.
"As long as I'm not dead...Since 'System Master' ran away and shoved this huge cheat into my hands, I'll have to spend the next two days studying this {Sword of System Authority}. I have a feeling this thing can analyze more than just medical data; maybe it can manifest the 'Hidden Blueprints' of this world directly."
Because he had been scared out of his wits by the fear of "dying young," Lawson's legs were still a bit weak as he walked.
Phyllis, seemingly not yet recovered from the shock, held his hand tightly, as if the moment she let go, this "unlucky veteran" who was the only one who understood her brother's condition would dissolve into holy light and fly away.
Walking behind them, Katie's steps grew slower and slower until she came to a dead stop.
Her eyes were like high-powered trackers, locked onto the joined hands of Phyllis and Lawson.
"Did... did... did this authority come with a 'Harem License' too?!" Katie's internal theater exploded.
"That successful little vixen... Oh no! Katie, what are you thinking! That's your dear apprentice! That's Phyllis, who is exhausted from worrying about her brother! How could you have such wicked thoughts about her!"
Slap! Katie suddenly gave herself a resounding slap to clear the messy jealousy from her brain.
"Miss Katie? Are you okay?" Ester was startled and turned back to look at her in confusion.
"I-I'm fine! There was a mosquito on my face!"
Though her words were stubborn, Katie's eyes remained fixed forward like infrared sensors.
Seeing Phyllis's "my brother is asleep, so Lawson is my only psychological pillar" fragile act, Katie gritted her teeth, her internal persona pounding the floor in frustration.
"That 'perfectly justified' way of holding hands... dammit! I want to be pinched to confirm if I'm alive too! Wait, what am I thinking!!"
While Katie was stuck in a loop of self-rationalization and jealousy, a commotion broke out in the main hall ahead.
The main hall at the end of the corridor was supposed to be filled with the atmosphere of "post-war celebration," but it was currently shrouded in a gloom heavier than the Gloom Mist Secret Forest.
Hearing Dodge's dry greeting, Phyllis, who had been clutching Lawson's hand, let go and froze in place.
In the center of the hall, Victor had his head down, hands deep in his pockets;
Valerie sat to the side, eyes red, clutching her Certificate of Rewriting; Luther leaned against the window, staring blankly outside.
The deathly silence made alarm bells ring in Lawson's head.
"What's wrong with all of you?" Lawson hurried forward, ignoring the "fire-breathing" Katie behind him.
"The battle is won, the Lord is dead, and the rewards are in. Why does everyone have 'TRAGEDY' written on their faces? Is it because the rewards weren't enough?"
Dodge sighed. The tower-like man looked desolate.
He pointed to the system panels lit up in front of everyone.