The sound of a person running echoed in the hall leading to the operating room. Panting could be heard alongside them.

The sign above the operating room was lit up, meaning that surgery was being done inside the room. This also meant no one was allowed into the room until the light was off.

That did not stop the group that was storming into the room, though.

*Bam!*

The sound of the doors banging on the wall echoed in the room. The people in the room were clad heavily with protective gear. There, they saw a single man standing tall at the entrance.

One of those people, Saria, called his name, "Ye?"

Lin Ye huffed out a pant and said nothing to her. He ignored everyone's shocked gaze on him. His eyes darted around the room until they landed on a figure that was resting on the operating table.

There was an air mask covering her mouth, supplying her with air to breathe. Her frame was weaker compared to when he last saw her. Lin Ye could see black crystals forming at different parts of her body rapidly and they were forming fast. Her face was pale and he could see sweats falling from her fragile face. Just the sight of the person made his heart feel like someone was gripping it.

"Eyja," He muttered her name as he slowly walked toward her.

Before anyone could say anything to him, one of the heavily protected people talked first.

"Good," A muffled voice could be heard, "You're here, Ye?"

Lin ye turned his gaze at the person and he thought they sounded like someone he knew. A name popped up into his head that made his eyes slightly widen.

"Kal'tsit?" He was confused at how glad she sounded but the realisation hit him instantly, "You were the one that sent Olivia to get me?"

The figure, now named Kal'tsit nodded.

"How is she?" Lin Ye did not want to waste time and asked her, "Other than her slowly being crystallized."

Although people were confused at how irresponsible this man was, going into a room that was highly affected, they kept quiet as they saw Kal'tsit showing the small child the bad without any worries.

"Her sight and hearing are gone now," She grimly informed him, "And her body is almost hotter than anything we ever recorded. Even Ifrit's pale in comparison. This whole room was getting hotter by the second,"

Although he was worried about Eyja's condition, something that Kal'tsit just said caught his attention.

"Really?" Lin ye raised his brow at her, "The room is getting hotter?"

"Yes?" Kal'tsit was confused now, "Even our equipment is barely holding on. Any hotter, they all become useless."

Lin Ye looked around the room and noticed that some of the metals on the equipment had a slight hue on them.

It seemed that the heat emitting from Eyja's body was heating up the room. But something confused him.

He was just fine. There was no heat attacking him. He looked down and noticed something on his skin. Although hard to see, Lin Ye could make out a light thin layer of ice on his skin under his shirt.

Oh? Is the ice activating on its own? Strange but useful.

As he was busy thinking about it, from the corner of his eyes he could see some movement. He spun his head to see Eyja's eyes slowly fluttering open.

"… Senpai?"

Lin Ye instantly went to her side. Everyone in the room was shocked by seeing Eyjafjalla being able to stay conscious. With how severe her condition is, her being awake should be impossible.

As usual, their reaction was ignored by him. His eyes were on the person in front of him.

"Hey there, Eyja," Lin Ye smiled at the girl.

She turned towards where he was, and her eyes widened. Then tears started to form around them. Eyja looked like she wanted to say something, but the mask was getting in the way.

Lin Ye noticed this and went to her mask. Some of the doctors in the room were about to stop him but Kal'tsit just needed to give them a quick glance to stop them instead.

And like always, Lin Ye ignored them as pulled off the mask from Eyja's face.

"Is this fine?" Lin ye smiled at her as he asked.

"I can see… you," She forced her mouth to say this.

Lin Ye's heart hurt just by hearing this.

"It was... So dark…" Eyja moved her hand toward him weakly, like he was some dim light at the end of a dark tunnel, "I was so hot… It's so hot."

Lin Ye grabbed her hand and ran his other hand through her hair. As he was doing this, a small amount of frost was emitting from his hand. Eyja was shocked.

"How about this?" Lin ye softly asked her, "Is that good?"

Eyja at first looked like she did not hear a word from him but slowly she brought her head closer to his hand and nuzzled into it.

"So… pleasant," Eyja said as she slowly opened her eyes. Her eyes then stared at him, "Senpai…"

"Yes? What is it?" Lin Ye brought his face closer to her. He gripped her hand slightly tighter, "Ask anything. I will try my best to get anything for you."

Her eyes started to tear up again, "… I'm sorry."

This caught him off guard, "… For what?"

"I… I went to a volcano."

Shit

He truly meant what he thought. With her state becoming worse as time passed, the worst thing she could do for herself was to go on an exploration trip to a volcano. From what he learned in his free time and the books that his junior gave him, the volcanoes on Terra were almost the same as Earth's.

Keyword: Almost.

Both types had lava and magma. The difference was Terra's volcanoes had one thing more in them compared to Earth's.

Just one small thing.

Fucking Originium.

You know, the power-giving rock that has a chance of exploding and/or turning into dust.

Yeah, that thing.

"I'm sorry," Seemingly knowing what he was thinking, Eyja started to cry harder. This made her stumble on her words, "It was a once-in-life chance for me… I thought I could take a sample… I did not know that…"

"Hush…, "Lin ye gently said to her with a smile. He increased the coldness of his hands and rubbed her head as softly as he could, "I know… I know… I'm not mad."

"But… I am causing so much trouble for Senpai."

"Hey, don't be like that," Lin Ye sternly stopped her, "You are not a problem."

Lin Ye placed his head onto hers.

"And you will never be to me."

The only reply that he got from her was Eyja pushing her head weakly against his. They stayed like this for a few moments before Lin Ye pulled away from her.

"I need to go." Lin Ye said troublingly.

This made Eyja panic and gripped his sleeve for dear life.

"Don't go," She begged, "It will be dark and hot. And so quiet."

"…"

An idea then popped into his head and he took off his jack and placed it on Eyja.

"How's that?" Lin Ye asked her.

"… It's… nice," She said.

Lin Ye nodded. "Good." Then his face softened. He knew this was not enough for her, but this was the best he could do for her now, "I need to go somewhere else. I can't be here." He looked around the room and noticed all eyes were on him, "They need me to not be here to help you."

"But…"

Before she could say anything, Eyja could feel his hands holding onto hers.

"It's scary, I know," Lin Ye smiled at her, "All alone in a void of nothingness. You can't hear, see and feel anything. It's scary…"

A sigh escaped from his mouth, "So… So scary."

"… You know how it feels?"

"Better than anyone," Lin Ye showed a sad smile at her, "That's why I won't be leaving forever. "

Lin Ye covered her eyes with one of his hands, "Sleep for now. And remember…"

"What?" She asked tiredly.

"… I will bring you back," He said confidently, "No one, not even the so-called gods can stop me."

"… Promise?" After being quiet, she asked.

Without saying anything, he wrapped his pinky around hers, "Pinky promise."

Seeing that everything was in control now, Kal'tsit looked at the other doctors present, "Gavial, Sussuro and Hibiscus, take care of Eyjafjalla," She gave out orders, "Saria and Warfarin follow me and Ye to the meeting room. We have many things to discuss."

{Rhodes Island's Psychologist}

"This… is a problem," Warfarin said as she tossed some files onto the table.

In a meeting room, people were gathered around a long table. A pile of documents was in the middle of the table for the people to see.

"Eyjafjalla's state became much worse now," Saria said, and she took one of the documents from the pile, "Her Blood Originium-Crystal Density skyrocketed from 0.5u/L – already fatal as it is – to 0.7u/L. It's a miracle, Ye was able to talk to her for a few moments from now. Her fusion rate is at 10% now too."

Everyone's eyes were drawn to the man in question. Lin Ye had some files in his hand while his other was drumming on the table. His iconic black jacket was not in sight as he just wore a simple black T-Shirt.

Although Lin Ye was the same as always, something about him now was slightly different from how he portrayed himself normally.

The moment all sat in the room; Lin Ye sat next to Kal'tsit at the front of the table. He read all the documentation that was related to Eyjafjalla that Warfarin brought with her. He did not say a word as he was too engrossed in the files in his hands. His eyes which used to be gentle and calm were now hard and focused. It was like nothing in this world mattered other than getting that girl better again.

No one said anything while he went through the files. It was like they were afraid of breaking his focus. The people in this room knew who Lin Ye was as a person, so the idea of him being mad at them just because of that was ridiculous to them. Although they knew this, something about him now made them question if they really knew him at all.

Kal'tsit was one of those people. However, an image of someone else was replaced when she looked at Lin Ye.

Someone that she would not like to see in anyone else.

One of him was enough. If there were more of him, chaos was the only thing that would come to this world.

Lin Ye put down the files gently onto the table. A long sigh could be heard from him.

"Ptilopsis," Lin Ye stared at this assistant, "You read all of those files, yet?"

The white owl, who was just recruited into this research team, perked up when her name was mentioned by him.

"Ye," She nodded at him, "All of the data gathered by the team I read and memorized."

"Good to hear," He leaned back on the chair, "That means catching up with the rest in the development of the cure."

Lin Ye then turned his gaze toward Olivia, "The cure is still far from perfect now, right?"

"… It's complicated," The Liberia doctor admitted.

This made Lin Ye raise a brow, "How so?"

"We got a good drug to suppress Oripathy." Olivia explained, "There is also the chance of using it to cure Infected."

"But?" Lin Ye guessed.

"… But," Olivia sighed, "Those Infected needed to have mild symptoms to get those desired outcomes at most."

"And Eyja's infection is the farthest thing from mild," Lin Ye summarized, "Is that right, Olivia?"

"… Yes," She admitted as she lowered her head toward him, "I am sorry."

"Silence-!" Saria was about to speak her mind but was cut off by Lin Ye.

"Why are you apologizing, Olivia?" Lin Ye asked, "You did nothing wrong."

Olivia raised her head towards him, eyes widening, "I did not live up to your expectation." Her voice grew a bit louder, "You had done so much to help me and people I cared about, but when you need my help to do the same, I fail."

Again, she lowered her head towards him.

"Because of that, I am sorry."

Saria did not know what to do in this situation. She knew how much Silence wanted to help Lin Ye in finding a cure for Oripathy. This man had done so much to her, and she wanted to give the same amount back to him.

Ptilopsis also had no words on this. She knew this was what she signed up for, but the medic did not know what she had gotten herself into. From what Miss Silence said, this was not only trying to find a cure for Oripathy. No, it was much more than that. This was a chance for the people in this room to repay the man in front of them for all that he had done to them. The man that saved their relationship.

This new information…

It scared her.

Lin Ye stared at Olivia's lowered head. After a while, he sighed, "Olivia, please. Raise your head."

She did as he said. When she finally looked at him, Olivia could see a small smile on his face.

"As I said, you don't need to worry about it," Lin Ye hummed, "We still have hope."

Before anyone in the room could understand what he meant by this, Lin Ye fired a question to Kal'tsit, "Kal'tsit, how much can an Infected last before they go critical?"

This caught her off guard but because of how experienced she was, she quickly recovered, "If her Blood Originium-Crystal Density is 1.0u/L and fusion rate is at 10% too. If she reached that, she would have the highest recorded data for both of them."

Lin Ye hummed. Tapping his chin, he thought hard. Then an idea popped up.

And like usual, the said idea was not something he was looking forward to. But like usual, he really did not have a choice.

"Warfarin," He called, "What if I got more data about the cure? From someone that survives Oripathy level that should have killed her using the cure?"

Warfarin gave him a confused look at him, but she did not need a second more to understand what he meant. Her eyes narrowed at him, "The girl you saved? You want to bring her here?"

He nodded as he leaned toward the table in front of him, "Something like that. And no," He sternly said, "I will be the one that will meet her."

Warfarin let out a frustrated sigh. Kal'tist to him, "Are you sure you're able to bring her back."

He slouched back on the chair, "For Eyja? Of course," He sternly said, "I will bring her here to help us."

Both high-ranking people of Rhodes Island stared at each other. None of them said anything. Although one of those did not view himself like that, everyone in this room knew how much influence he had in the company.

He was as important as Amiya at this point.

Although his eyes did not have any heat behind them, he did not look like he was going to back down from this. Lin Ye was infamous for being stubborn. They knew if Kal'tsit did not allow him to go to meet this person, he would just go to her on his own. That would lead to a lot of problems, but he wouldn't really care.

That was just him, doing everything to achieve the goal that he set for himself.

After staring down for a few moments, Kal'tsit finally gave in and let out a tired sigh. Lin Ye followed her lead and let out his own.

"Sorry," He apologized, "Me being so stubborn must be hard for you."

"… Seeing that you know how you are, you still won't change," Kal'tsit said to him, "Am I right?"

The only reply that she got from him was a small smile, making her sigh again.

Lin Ye looked out the window and noticed that it was dark. He pulled out his phone and saw it was quite late now. After putting away his phone, Lin Ye glanced back at the rest, "I think we should end this meeting for now," Lin Ye hummed, "It's getting late, and you all need to rest."

Although that was reasonable of him to say this, the others did not agree with him. They did not say anything because they knew he could persuade them to leave without any trouble. The best that they could now was to agree with him and when he was gone, they would continue with the cure.

Kal'tsit nodded, "You can leave first. I still need to discuss more with the others."

Lin Ye nodded and stood up, "I understand," He pushed the chair under the table, "I will be leaving now. All the best."

Sending the last smile to the group he left the room. The sound of the door closing behind him could be heard. He walked through.

Seeing that it was late, no one was in the hall with him now.

He hummed to himself and thought back about what just happened back there.

Lin Ye knew what they were thinking but kept that to himself. He knew that they would keep up their research on the cure. Although that was good, it worried him. They might be pushing themselves too hard.

No matter.

They knew their limit. He just needed to trust them.

As he was walking, he suddenly came to a halt.

"*Cough*! *Cough*!"

He pulled out a handkerchief and covered up his mouth as he was coughing.

He pulled back it and narrowed his eyes at what was on the piece of cloth.

Blood.

Very, very dark blood.

It was almost black.

After a while, he let out a sigh.

"Really need to control it more."

He carried on with his walk like nothing ever happened just now.

"I really want to smoke."

{Rhodes Island's Psychologist}

Draft: Jaq

Proofread: Discord

Edit: Jaq