Hacking the Game Didn't Go as Intended [Part One]

CHAPTER 160: The Bittersweet Whims of Fortune

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, her eyelids fluttered open, and her cheeks bloomed with warmth and color once more. The druid let out a shaky exhale, the crushing despair lifting from his chest. Relief radiated through the room, shared by the healers who had tirelessly supported his plight. Together, they had achieved the impossible, pulling her back from the brink of the abyss.

Days later, the world was graced with the arrival of a beautiful and healthy baby girl. The druid, his heart overflowing with joy, lifted her high into the air, silently thanking the gods for their boundless mercy.

The child's eyes mirrored her mother's—warm, compassionate, and full of life—while her smile carried her father's kindness and sincerity. But what truly stood out was the one gift she shared with both of her parents: an inherent love for the healing arts, a bond that would shape her destiny, just as it had shaped theirs.

As the babe blossomed into a young girl, her passion for healing only grew stronger.

THROBB!

But, alongside her blossoming passion for caregiving, something dark and sinister began to take root—a shadow creeping quietly within, waiting to emerge.

THROBB!

Tampering with the flow of fate carried grave consequences—a truth well understood by both mortals and gods alike. And so, after straining his body in his desperate quest to grant life to his wife and daughter, the druid had unwittingly stirred awake a dormant curse: a deadly genetic affliction that slowly devoured his very soul.

For years, he concealed the disease, enduring its torment in silence to spare his family from the truth. But as the illness advanced, stripping away the last fragments of his vitality, his secret could no longer remain hidden. When he finally succumbed to a coma, the shadow of inevitability loomed, his fate appearing beyond redemption.

The future was shrouded in uncertainty, but the mother and daughter refused to submit to despair. Instead, they resolved to save him with the same dedication he had once demonstrated to secure their lives.

Irony had flipped their roles, and now it was their turn to shoulder the burden. Without pause or respite, they immersed themselves in the grueling work, determined to wrest him from the clutches of fate.

Cough!

Sweat dripped down their faces, their eyes stung and grew heavy with exhaustion, while their stomachs growled incessantly in defiance.

Cough!

Still, they paved their way forward and persevered.

Cough‐Cough!

Creating a cure for the disease became their singular obsession, dominating every waking moment and haunting even their rare moments of rest. It was a relentless purpose that clung to them like a shadow, an ever-present companion that refused to be silenced.

Cough‐Cough!

Weeks passed in a disjointed haze until a glimmer of clarity pierced through. Resting on the workbench where the dryad had slumped in exhaustion was a vial of shimmering yellow liquid. Her breath hitched at the sight—her work, their labor, had borne fruit. A heartbeat later, she and her daughter rushed to the clinic, cradling the fragile hope they had nurtured together.

Moments after the vaccine was administered, the druid's eyes fluttered open, glowing with renewed vitality. Gasps of astonishment filled the room as the healers bore witness to the serum's undeniable success. The dryad was the first to move, flinging herself into her husband's arms with a cry that carried both relief and joy. In that instant, the universe seemed to align, their love igniting with the brilliance of a newly formed star.

Smiling through their tears, the parents turned to their daughter, their arms outstretched, ready to welcome her into the embrace that symbolized their hard-fought triumph. But as their gazes met hers, the joy in their hearts faltered.

Something was wrong.

Cough‐Cough-Cough!

For the first time since their frantic search for a cure began, the mother took a long, careful look at her daughter. Her heart sank as she saw the telltale signs of exhaustion—dark circles beneath hollow eyes, skin as pale as the moon, and a fragile, emaciated form that seemed to fade before her very eyes.

"I'm so happy you're okay," the girl whispered weakly, her words interrupted by a fit of violent coughing. Her frail body swayed, her balance faltering.

Panic overtook both parents as they shouted her name, their eyes wide with terror. The girl gazed down at her palm, now stained with crimson, the muffled sound of her parents' voices barely reaching her ears. Time seemed to stretch, their figures growing distorted as they rushed toward her.

A faint, bittersweet smile graced her lips just before her legs buckled beneath her, her hair drifting as her body collapsed. Slowly, the world around her dulled, her parents' desperate faces receding into the distance until only an impenetrable darkness remained.

The world was vast. The world was beautiful. The world... was cruel.

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