Chapter 48: he would've...

In the industrial office...

The butler, who was inspecting some materials in the industry and suggesting some changes to Sneha, suddenly heard his phone ring.

"Excuse me."

He excused himself, telling Sneha that he would inform her of all the details later, and moved to a quiet spot to answer the call.

"Who is this?" he asked.

"It's me, Aakash."

"Did something happen?" the butler asked urgently while frowning.

"Relax, nothing happened. The young master has returned to the villa and successfully upgraded his rank. He is currently unconscious."

"Wait for me, I'm coming," the butler replied calmly.

He then went to Sneha and informed her that he needed to go to the villa because of the young master's situation.

….

At the villa

Rahul, who was lying on the bed, felt his eyelids tremble and soon opened his eyes. He saw that many members of the villa were gathered around him.

Confused, he asked, "Why is everyone gathered here?"

Smiling, Aakash replied, "Young master, you were lying on the ground floor of the room."

Startled, Rahul started to remember everything, "I remember now. I just need a moment to adjust myself."

"Okay, young master. If you need anything, just call for anyone," Aakash said before leaving the room with everyone else.

Rahul rubbed his temple, "What a troublesome situation... 'World System'."

[World System]

[Ding...]

[Your rank has been upgraded from F+ to E-]

[You have successfully cleared the 'Abyss tier' rank upgrade: C-grade dungeon]

[Your stat limit has increased by four times]

[You have gained a new Profession skill: Darkness Displacement]

[You have passed the minimum criteria to connect with 'Small World']

[Darkness Preserve skill: 20 → 50]

[Darkness Energy conversion rate has been changed from 80 M.P to 60 M.P]

"My hard work has paid off," he whispered to himself with a wide smile.

"Let's connect with the small world," he took the 'Small World' from his inventory.

In his hand, a small, egg-like material that was glistening—the 'Small World'.

He bit his finger and poured a drop of blood onto the 'Small World'.

Soon, the 'Small World' started to rotate in his hand and soon entered the middle of his eyebrows.

A prompt triggered.

[World System]

[You have become the master of an independent world]

Rahul became confused, wondering where the small world had gone, and touched his forehead.

As if understanding his confusion, the small world came out by itself, and knowledge related to its control transferred to his mind, accompanied by a sharp pain.

"Oh," he murmured, surprised at the knowledge of controlling the small world. "It also has the little will of a non-existent world."

Using his spiritual mind, he could see a view of the small world. There was nothing in this world except for a barren environment.

"Now, I also need to search for materials to upgrade the small world," he sighed at his powerlessness.

But suddenly, a prompt appeared from Neo.

[Neo]

[Host, I suggest that you use a dungeon's core]

"Huh! What does that mean?" He frowned, unable to understand.

[Host, you should let the Small World devour the dungeon's core]

Extremely surprised by Neo's response, he found the idea feasible. However, that meant sacrificing 50,000 D.P., which was a significant portion of his resources.

He steeled his heart and shed a tear at the sacrifice of 500,00 D.P.

He summoned the 'Small World' and the dungeon's core and let them devour each other. Soon, a notification came from the World System.

[World System]

[The Independent World is assimilating the dungeon's core law and energy]

[Processing: 0.1%... 0.2%...]

Seeing the notification from the World System, Rahul understood that it would take a long time for the assimilation to complete.

…..

The butler arrived at the villa and entered Rahul's room.

"Young master, is everything alright?" the butler asked worriedly.

"Yeah, Uncle, everything is alright."

After hesitating for a moment, the butler said solemnly, "Young master, I don't know if I should say this, but your current condition worries me."

Rahul, understanding that he had completely changed after his 'Talent Awakening' and that anyone would be concerned, thought for a moment before replying solemnly, "Uncle, I know you already know that I'm hiding many things and that I have changed a lot after the 'Talent Awakening' event. But Uncle, trust me, I will tell you everything. It's just that the time is not right."

"Young master, I didn't mean to invade your privacy, and I understand that you may have your reasons for not telling me. But as your relative, I just want you to share some of the burden with me," the butler quickly replied, sounding anxious.

"I just feel inadequate that I can't help you, so please share even a small issue that may relieve your stress."

Rahul, hearing the butler's words, couldn't control his emotions and his eyes soon become misty as if threatening him to fall at any time, "Uncle, you are not inadequate. You have done so much for me and even sacrificed your whole life. I just wanted to handle this myself and shoulder some of the responsibilities."

The butler hugged him, "Cry as much as you want. It can relieve your stress."

He added while caressing Rahul's hair, "Let this old man handle everything as long as he is alive."

Hearing the butler's comforting voice, his threatening tear finally shoot down the blockade and flowed uncontrollably.

In his previous life, he was only 14 years old, with no friends or relatives to share his burdens. But here in this world, there was a butler who cared about him and let him share his emotions. So, he finally let out what he had been holding back.

He had to carry everything himself, putting all his blood, sweat, and tears into training and hunting, while other kids his age were playing with their parents and enjoying their childhood.

Eventually, he fell asleep after crying, and the butler, sighing about the situation, "If only any of them were alive," before leaving the room along with the fragments of word to scatter in the room, "he would've..."