"Ugh..." Aster gently stirred himself awake before opening his eyes to discover a familiar white ceiling. "This is... the hospital?"
Slowly, he raised his body while looking around, but he felt a sharp pain across his chest. He grimaced before looking down, but he didn't see any injuries. His wounds, even his burns, had all healed already!
"... What happened?" Aster mused, a little confused.
He could remember running away with Cassy and Kali, but his memories were blurred after that. "Right! Cassy! Kali!" He shot up, about to leave the bed, right as the door to his room slid open.
"Hmm? Oh, you're awake." A familiar voice echoed.
Turning to see who it was, Aster found a dwarf near the door, walking toward him at a short but constant pace. "It's good that you're energetic, but your injuries just healed. The pain should linger for a few hours more, so just lie down and rest."
The dwarf man, Dr. Zellbrook, spoke slowly with a gentle voice while trying to push Aster back to bed.
However, he didn't obediently follow directions and, with a hint of panic, asked. "Doctor! What happened to my party? Cassandra and Kali, are they alright?!"
"Hmm. Relax first, young lad." Dr. Zell sighed as he pushed him back down forcefully.
"...!"
His strength surprised Aster, but it shouldn't have come as a surprise because Dr. Zell is at least Level 100! Unable to fight against the doctor's strength, he was forcefully returned to bed.
"Hmm. Don't worry, both of them are fine. Rather, it was you who had the worst injuries." He sighed. "You really have shitty luck, lad. To meet those serial kidnappers, then to get chased by the floor boss... Damn!
If that was me at your level, I'd probably just kick the bucket! Hahaha!"
Although the doctor was making it sound lighter, the event was actually quite large. "The Serial Kidnappers on the first floor got wiped out." This news spread quickly like wildfire, causing not only the adventurers scared of them to resume exploring but even the "higher-ups" of the said criminal group to start paying attention to Aster.
This, of course, alerted the police force. They deployed more personnel around, tightening their cordon over the entire city and making sure no criminals could roam freely.
However, this is merely a stop-gap measure. Unless the police could enter the lower floors—which was impossible since the minimum floor clearing requirement before becoming police is the 300th floor—then there's no way they could catch the criminals straight from within the dungeon.
Hearing Aster have the energy to joke around, Cassy wiped the tears threatening to fall from the corner of her eyes and laughed. "Ha ha, you were heavy; I'll tell you that!"
Seeing that she was trying to return to her usual cheerful mood, Aster then turned to the other one, Kali, who hadn't spoken a single word after she entered.
"Kali?" Aster asked, curious. "What's wrong?"
"I... To the two of you, I'm really sorry."
Without any explanation, she bowed her head down as she apologized. She looked like she was in so much pain, but not because she was reluctant to offer an apology. "If not for me rushing off by myself, none of this would've happened. Please forgive me."
"Huh?"
"Kali..."
Cassy and Aster turned to her with quizzical gazes. The two then looked at each other, smiling, before replying.
"Then, if you're really sorry, you should treat us to dinner one of these days!" Cassy exclaimed.
"Right. And it's not your fault anyway." Aster clarified. "We decided to help you without relying on proper authorities. As such, you're not at fault at all. The kidnappers? They're on the first floor, so we're bound to cross paths anyway."
"Right, right!"
"You two..." Kali sniffed, holding back her desire to cry. "But I'm not treating you, stupid rabbit."
"Hey! This is the part where we amicably laugh together, you know?!"
"Hahaha."
The three, returning to their usual attitudes, spent the rest of the afternoon chatting about stuff regarding the dungeon. The atmosphere around them was peaceful, as if they hadn't experienced life-and-death battles just a few hours before.
Kali was opening up, slowly but surely, to the two.