"Hmm, I can’t feel anything." Austin thought to himself as he sank further into the inky blackness. He tried to kick his legs or move his arms, but to no avail. He looked up, and saw himself getting farther and farther away from the light on the surface as he fell through the darkness.

“Mr. McKenna, It’s time for you to wake up.” A kind, genial voice called out to him.

A hand seemingly made out of light reached down through the gloom and wrapped around his body. A warmth spread throughout him, and he felt himself rise towards that light that previously seemed so far away.

Suddenly his eyes shot open, and he felt like he was gasping for air. “Where am I, what happened to the dungeon.” he asked through short, pained breaths.

“Easy now, you’ve been through a bit of an ordeal.” The owner of the gentle voice was standing in front of him. He was a middle aged man, with hair that looked a lot more grey than he did, wearing a stark white lab coat. As he spoke, he was wrapped in a golden glow that Austin now noticed was also spreading to him.

“I’ve pulled you back from the brink, but I’m not quite done healing you yet. Please calm down.” The man said, and offered up a gentle smile to assuage Austin.

“T-thank you.” Austin muttered. “Are you a healer?”

"Well, that was a stupid question." Austin thought to himself.

“That’d be right. My name is Dr. Link Jacobs, 5-Star conduit.” Dr. Jacobs said, the sparkling aura now fading from around him.

“Alright, you should be all better now. Tell me if you still feel pain anywhere.” Dr. Jacobs said, a grimace appearing on his face.

"He must’ve used a lot of mana on healing me, he looks rather exhausted."

“No, Doctor. I don’t feel any wounds anymore. Please, get some rest, I can’t imagine what saving me took.” Austin said, trying as hard as he could to look grateful to the man who just pulled him from the throes of death.

“I’m not the one you should be worried about, kid.” Jacobs said, his kind smile returning. “Since you’re awake, I won’t be able to keep those Association agents from questioning you anymore, so prepare yourself.”

“Thank you.” Austin repeated, still trying his hardest to look grateful.

Dr. Jacobs turned on his heel and walked out of the room, gently closing the door behind him.

Now that the good doctor was gone, Austin had the chance to take in his surroundings. He was in a hospital, that much was clear, but he had no idea why the room was so nice. He was just a lowly 1-Star who couldn’t even become a Crawler. He definitely didn’t warrant this opulence.

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"Come to think of it, why was a 5-Star healing me. Shouldn’t he have more important things to do?" Austin thought, becoming more and more confused.

"Was yesterday just a dream? That silver haired man…" Austin began in his head.

Just then, the door to his room opened up again, but it was not Dr. Jacobs.

Two men entered his room, both wearing the black suits that usually signified an Association agent. The larger, more imposing of the two men took up a position by the door, probably to keep anyone from interrupting.

The other man was a tall, lanky man, who, while not as tall or muscular as his counterpart still had a weight about him that showed he was in charge here.

"He’s strong. Really strong." the thought crossed Austin’s mind that if someone like this man was there yesterday, maybe things would have gone differently.

“Hello young man. I’m Adam White, 6-Star Conduit and investigator of the Crawler's Association.” He held out a hand to Austin, which he took in a shake.

"He could crush my hand like a peanut if he wanted." Austin shuddered internally. This man showed no hostility towards him, and yet he still felt afraid.

“I would like to ask you a few questions about the last few days.” White said, maintaining a smile that was in no way as kind as Dr. Jacobs’ was.

“Sure, go ahead. Though I’m sure you’ve already figured out most of what happened…” Austin responded.

“As of 3 days ago, you were registered as a Porter for a team of Crawlers led by one ‘Anderson James.’ The team entered a low level dungeon, which they should have been able to clear easily due to their levels. After a day had passed, they should have been out and the Door should have closed, so we sent in a rescue team. Only you were found, and the floor boss was already dead. After you were removed from there, the Door collapsed and you were brought here to treat the myriad injuries you recieved. That is the extent of our knowledge.” Agent White finished up. It was clear they did a great deal of research before he had awakened.

“That’s about what happened.” Austin affirmed. He began slowly, “We went into the dungeon, thinking it would be a cakewalk due to our party composition. It went well at first, but we kept running into monsters way stronger than planned for. Eventually we made it to the boss room on our last legs. I was injured near the start of the fight, I don’t remember what happened after that. Where is the rest of the party?”

“You may want to brace yourself for this.” White said, a grimace spreading across his face. “Mr. James and the rest of the party are dead. You were the only survivor.”

“Wh- Huh!” Austin gulped in pretend surprise. “They were all a lot stronger than me, how did I survive if they died to that boss?!”

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out, Mr. McKenna. As it seems you don’t know, I’ll leave my business card with you. Please contact me if you remember anything else.” White said solemnly, placing a matte black business card with silver lettering on the nightstand by Austin’s bed.

“I will.” Austin responded, trying to maintain the facade of a clueless kid.

After a few days of monitoring, the hospital decided Austin was fit to leave, so he started to make his way back home.

As he left the stark white hallways of the Crawler Association’s hospital, he felt he could think again for the first time since he was in there, now with his mind beginning to clear, he headed back home to sort through the events of the last few days, and figure out what his next move was.

“Thankfully they didn’t have any tools to detect irregular powers, or that thing the silver haired guy gave me would have been a dead giveaway…” he muttered to himself.