Claire pulled back slowly, her lips still parted, unsure whether to speak. For a second, she just stared at me, caught in some hazy confusion.
Eventually, her eyes landed on her wristwatch. She ran her fingers over it, slow and absentminded.
Then, her brows slowly knit together.
"Mr. Zane… please keep this a secret," she pleaded, her voice suddenly filled with concern. "I could lose my job if the hospital finds out."
This wasn't how it was supposed to go. She should still be under my influence. So what broke the effect?
"We're not doing anything wrong. Worst case? We just say we're a couple," I offered what I hoped was a reassuring solution.
"I have a boyfriend." She looked down, avoiding my eyes.
"I'm sorry… I don't know what came over me. I just—" She hesitated, lifting her wrist to show the watch. "He gave me this. It was a gift. I love him… and we're already engaged."
Her voice shook, guilt clearly getting the better of her. "I thought it was okay…just a small thing, because you deserved some comfort after everything you've been through. But… I let it go too far."
So the effect wasn't permanent. A strong enough shock or emotional trigger could cause her to snap out of it. I made a mental note of this discovery.
"You have my word, Miss Claire. I would never betray your trust," I responded, soft and sincere on the surface. "Thank you again for being so kind to me."
There was no need to push further for the time being. As my nurse, I would see her often.
That gave me all the time I needed to deepen my influence on her mind.
Just to be safe, I used my ability one more time.
"I hope you'll keep taking care of me,"
Her eyes flickered with that same subtle glow, and she nodded, not looking the least bit opposed to the idea.
After wiping my lips, she went straight to my attending physician . It was a man in his forties with slick black hair and cold, mean eyes.
He didn't say a word to me as he began checking my body, jotting down notes on his clipboard.
At first, I thought everything was normal.
But then one of the junior physicians spoke up, suggesting they considered adjusting my medication since my vitals were steadily improving.
That's when I saw it—the slight twitch in the attending's jaw, the way his eyes narrowed.
Annoyance. No, more than that… hostility.
He didn't like the idea of me getting better.
There was something else going on here. And whatever it was, it revolved around my health.
When they were gone, I found it a bit strange that my stepmother hadn't shown up yet.
Maybe she was just busy, so I used this time to think.
The first step in any good investigation is gathering intel. Unfortunately, that's a little hard to do when you're stuck in a hospital bed.
So I turned inward, digging through this body's original owner's memories for anything useful. Details that might give me a clue about what the hell was really going on.
First up was the Park Family. They used to run a pharmaceutical company. Just a typical drug empire, until monsters started pouring out of gates.
After that, they changed gears and turned the business into one that sold potion-type items and other products made from rare materials.
With every memory I recovered, I found myself more and more amazed by the depth of this world's history.
These gates were said to lead to different dimensions known as Pocket Worlds—named for their limited space and self-contained environments. Each one held its own terrain, weather patterns, and sometimes even bizarre, twisted laws of nature.
The ones who entered these places were called "Hunters"; Humans who had awakened supernatural powers. But there was no mention anywhere of them seeing game-like interfaces or having a system. So yeah, it looked like mine was one of a kind.
A grin crept onto my face. Reincarnation and a system? That's the textbook combo for OP protagonists.
In the end, the only thing I found that would get me in trouble was being the only son of the current Head of the Park Family.
If that was the case, then the ones who would benefit most from me being bedridden forever were either business competitors… or my stepmother's family.
She had twins from her first boyfriend who got her pregnant at just 18. And while she was always sweet and treated me…well, Zane, like her own child, I clearly remembered how cold and rude my stepbrother and stepsister were.
They would even go as far as painting Zane in a bad light to his own father.
Damn, all this family drama was giving me a headache. For all I knew, she could've been faking it the whole time . Putting on an act while secretly plotting my downfall. Even that emotional reaction earlier might have been part of the scheme.
Regardless, I had to be more careful now.
The more signs I showed of recovering, the higher the chances that whoever wanted me stuck in this bed might change their mind and try to kill me instead.
My system didn't have any combat abilities yet, so I was basically defenseless. If only I could complete that mission and earn some PP, then I could finally access the store.
Just as I was thinking this through, the door opened again. It was my stepmother, and she looked genuinely happy to see me. She even brought a basket of fruits.
"Zane, I'm glad you're awake now," she placed the basket on the table and took a seat beside my bed.
"Are you okay? How are you feeling? You've been asleep for a whole year since your last episode—we were really worried."
She was talking about my condition. How I would suddenly fall into a coma.
"I think my condition might be getting worse."
"What?" She got up from her seat. "Are you sure? I'll talk to the doctor right away!"
Weird. Her reaction didn't looked fake at all.
Was I wrong, then?