NOVEL NEXT Chapter 77: Awake
The antlers of the remaining five deer lit up as well, each one radiating the same eerie, suffocating energy. A strange, almost ritualistic aura rippled through the air, prickling against my skin like static.
I moved to cut them down before whatever they were doing could reach its peak.
But the alpha deer reacted first.
Dozens of beams erupted from its horn in rapid succession, splitting like a swarm of guided missiles. Each one locked onto me, twisting through the air with an unnatural precision that made my stomach drop.
I triggered [Swap], exchanging places with one of the Gnarlbeast deer at the edge of the herd.
The beams instantly curved away from it, like it didn't even exist, and swarmed back toward me the moment I reappeared.
Fine. Two could play this game.
I warped toward another deer, the one standing right beside the one I'd just swapped with. It didn't flinch, didn't even glance in my direction. Its eyes were glassy, unfocused—like it wasn't here at all. The trance held it completely.
Perfect.
I raised Gravefang, ready to take its head—
—and then froze.
An unnatural chill slid down my spine.
Something was watching me.
I didn't think. I just looked up.
Mistake. Big mistake.
Suspended high above, where the night sky should have been, a massive, ghostly eye stared down at me. It was larger than a house, its pupil a swirling void, the sclera fractured with glowing cracks. The moment our gazes met, the world seemed to tilt, and the air itself grew heavy, pressing against my chest like a boulder.
It hovered there, massive and unreal—like a holographic projection of the alpha deer's eye, but far too vivid, far too alive.
And the moment my gaze locked with it…
Everything went black.
…
I came to slowly, my senses trickling back one at a time. First the smell—sharp, sterile, almost biting in my nose. Antiseptic. Then the faint hum of fluorescent lights, the soft beeping of a machine somewhere nearby.
I opened my eyes.
A small, white-walled room surrounded me. The kind of place you'd see in a hospital. Pale curtains hung half-drawn over a window, and beside my bed stood one of those metal trays with a jumble of medical tools—thermometers, gauze, a blood pressure cuff.
My mind stuttered.
What…?
Just a second ago, I'd been in the forest. Blood on my hands. Danger Sense screaming in my head. And now… this?
Before I could piece it together, the door swung open.
A man stepped in, his footsteps soft against the linoleum. He wore a long white coat, the kind that was almost a uniform for doctors. A clipboard was tucked under his arm.
He stepped inside and smiled in that familiar, practiced way. My stomach tightened. I knew this man.
Doctor Thompson.
The same Doctor Thompson who had tended to me back in the hospital—my hospital—before I got isekai'd. Which made his presence here… well, a whole new level of weird.
"You finally woke up," he said, voice warm but edged with something I couldn't place.
Wake up?
The words rattled around in my head.
Was my time as a goblin… a dream? The thought slithered in, uninvited. It would explain a lot—the insane fights, the glowing horns, the monsters. Things over there had been so far beyond reason that maybe this was reality snapping back into place.
"What… happened?" I asked, my voice low, the pain in my head making it hard to think straight.
Doctor Thompson glanced at his clipboard, then back at me. "You were brought in after a truck almost hit you. Lost consciousness at the scene. You were in critical condition, so we performed surgery. And it was successful."
"Huh?" My voice cracked, more from disbelief than weakness. "That's… that's not possible. My condition was supposed to be terminal."
"It was… but a miracle happened, and now you're cured," Doctor Thompson said, his tone carrying that calm certainty only doctors seem to have. "I've never seen a case like yours before."
A miracle?
The word slipped out under my breath, more to myself than to him. It tasted strange on my tongue—too good to be true.
Before I could dwell on it, the door burst open with a sharp bang.
I turned my head, half-startled, half-curious… and froze.
Standing there were my mum, my dad, and my older sister, Elene. All three of them.
They looked… different. Their eyes were glassy, their expressions caught somewhere between heartbreak and pure joy. It was the kind of mix that shouldn't be possible, like two different paintings smeared into one.
What were they doing here?
Before I could find my voice, Mum was already at my side. She threw her arms around me, pulling me into a hug so tight it almost hurt.
I didn't move. Couldn't move.
She felt warm.
So warm.
So real.
Did I really wake up? Was my time as a goblin nothing more than some fever dream cooked up by a bruised brain?
Tears began spilling down my mother's cheeks, raw and unfiltered.
I glanced at my father. His eyes were wet too, the tears clinging stubbornly to his lashes before slipping down his weathered face.
Then I looked at Elene. She was crying as well with small, shuddering sobs.
I frowned. She was crying as well.
Unreal...
A quiet, humorless chuckle escaped me before I lifted a hand to cover my face, pressing my palm over my eyes.
I exhaled slowly, my gaze shifting upward to the sterile, white ceiling.
"What kind of joke is this?" I asked, my voice flat, toneless, drained of any warmth.
"Huh? What are you talking about, son?" my mum asked, her voice trembling with confusion.
Hey… is this the best you can do?" I muttered, stil staring at the ceiling.
"Eli, you're scaring me," Mum said, her voice cracking ever so slightly.
Dad glanced toward the doctor, his brow furrowing. "Are you sure he's fine?"
"Since he just woke up, he might be a little disoriented," the doctor replied calmly, almost too calmly—like he was reading from a script.
"Disoriented, my foot," I shot back, narrowing my eyes at him.
"Brother!" Elene chirped suddenly, tugging at my...