SSS Talent: I Can Rewrite Reality

"Big brother..."

"Don’t say anything. Just rest."

Jackson gently stopped little Aella from trying to sit up, forcing a smile onto his face as he pressed her back against the bed. His voice was calm, but the tightness in his chest made every word feel heavier than it should have.

After finding her name on the list, it had taken him only a short while to locate her bed. Yet the moment he actually saw her lying there, all the composure he had managed to maintain on the way over nearly collapsed.

It felt as though something sharp had pierced directly through his heart.

Aella’s left arm had turned completely pitch black.

A strange, tar-like substance covered the entire limb, slowly writhing beneath her skin as though it possessed a life of its own. Occasionally, thin black tendrils crawled across her shoulder before retreating again. The sight was deeply unsettling, and even standing nearby, Jackson could feel a faint, ominous energy radiating from it.

His gaze hardened as he focused on the corruption.

A familiar window immediately appeared before his eyes.

[Corruption from the other side. Long exposure can slowly drain away all the vitality from the body, fueling the corruption’s growth until it finally turns into a corruption seed.]

Jackson’s expression changed instantly.

His eyes became cold as he stared at the black substance twisting around Aella’s arm. The description alone made his stomach tighten. It wasn’t simply an injury that could be treated with ordinary medicine. The corruption was feeding on her vitality, growing stronger by slowly consuming the very life within her.

Without hesitation, Jackson immediately tried to use the Golden Brush.

The familiar golden light flickered faintly as he attempted to interfere with the corruption, but the feedback that returned almost immediately caused his expression to darken.

His spiritual force was still too weak.

He couldn’t remove it.

For the first time in a long while, Jackson felt utterly powerless.

His fingers tightened beneath the blanket as he looked at Aella’s pale face. A wave of self-blame slowly rose within him.

He hadn’t worked hard enough.

If he had already become a Second Sequence Awakened, perhaps none of this would have happened. Aella wouldn’t have been dragged into this disaster, and she wouldn’t have to lie here with that terrifying corruption slowly eating away at her vitality.

The thought made Jackson’s heart ache.

But he quickly suppressed those emotions.

Now wasn’t the time to blame himself.

Just as Jackson was lost in thought, the sound of approaching footsteps suddenly reached his ears.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

The footsteps drew closer through the temporary medical center, accompanied by the faint rustling of white fabric and the distant voices of injured survivors and medical staff.

Jackson raised his head.

A woman dressed entirely in white soon appeared in the distance. From her attire and the medical equipment in her hands, she was most likely a doctor.

But Jackson’s attention wasn’t focused on her.

Walking behind her was someone he already knew.

Veronica Green Soul.

Veronica’s gaze slowly swept across the surviving students in the medical area before briefly settling on Jackson.

Her eyes lingered on him for a moment longer than they should have.

Then she quietly looked away and muttered under her breath, "So this was my imagination... this guy really does give me a familiar feeling, but I’ve never met him before."

Veronica had noticed Jackson’s presence long ago.

There was something about him that felt strangely familiar, as if she had encountered him somewhere before. Yet no matter how carefully she searched through her memories, she couldn’t figure out exactly who he reminded her of.

By this point, Jackson had also noticed the two women approaching.

He paid no attention to Veronica and instead turned toward the young doctor.

"Doctor, how are Aella’s injuries? How long before she fully recovers?"

The doctor was a woman in her early twenties. She looked somewhat exhausted, with faint dark circles beneath her eyes after what was clearly a long and chaotic day. Nevertheless, she maintained a professional smile and repeated the same reassuring words she had probably been saying to worried family members since the disaster began.

"Thankfully, this little girl is quite tenacious. The injuries she suffered are not too severe. However..."

Her voice gradually slowed.

The doctor’s gaze shifted toward Aella’s left arm.

The black, tar-like substance still clung tightly to it, writhing faintly beneath the surface like something alive. Even under the bright medical lights, the corruption gave off an unsettling appearance.

"It is just this corruption that is very hard to deal with..."

A trace of helplessness appeared in the doctor’s expression.

She continued explaining the situation to Jackson, reassuring him about Aella’s physical injuries while making it clear that the corruption was the real problem. After exchanging a few more words, the doctor finally turned around and left with Veronica to check on the other patients.

Throughout the exchange, the doctor couldn’t help glancing at Veronica with slight puzzlement.

She still didn’t understand why the young woman had insisted on accompanying her.

Once the situation around the medical center had calmed down somewhat and the necessary formalities had been completed, Jackson finally took Aella away from the dangerous area.

Although the injured students were receiving treatment and the emergency response was still in full swing, the location remained far too dangerous.

After all, they were still right beside the portal.

As long as that mysterious gateway remained open, there was always the possibility of another terrifying monster crossing over from the other side and wreaking havoc.

Jackson had no intention of leaving Aella in such a dangerous place.

It was already evening by the time Jackson returned home with Aella in tow.

The familiar warmth of the house felt strangely different after the chaos outside. The streets had finally become somewhat quieter, but the distant sounds of emergency vehicles could still occasionally be heard, reminding Jackson that the crisis at the dojo was far from over.

Thankfully, Jackson had already informed Mother Rose that Aella was safe.

He had deliberately done so before returning home. He had been worried that the moment Rose heard about the portal, she might rush toward the dojo without thinking about her own safety and put herself in danger as well.

He didn’t want that to happen.

However, the moment Rose saw Aella’s condition, her face instantly lost all color.

"Ah..."

Before Jackson could even react, Mother Rose’s body went limp, and she fainted on the spot.

Jackson stared at her for several seconds before helplessly shaking his head.

Mother, isn’t this a little too much...

Although that thought crossed his mind, he wisely kept it to himself.

After all, it was difficult for him to criticize her reaction when his own heart had nearly collapsed the moment he saw Aella’s corrupted arm. He understood now that knowing someone you loved was in danger was completely different from merely hearing about danger.

After carefully settling both women into bed, Jackson finally allowed himself to relax.

The exhaustion that had been lingering beneath the surface immediately returned. His body felt heavy, while his mind was still haunted by everything that had happened that day.

He stood quietly beside the beds, looking at the sleeping figures of the two women who mattered most to him.

For a long time, Jackson said nothing.

His gaze eventually settled on Aella, then shifted toward his mother.

A complicated feeling slowly emerged within his heart.

Is this what Mother felt every time I put my life on the line?

The thought struck him harder than he expected.

For years, he had gone out to hunt, fought monsters, entered dangerous places, and repeatedly walked along the edge of death. To him, it had simply been part of becoming stronger.

But to his mother...

Every time he left the house, she probably wondered whether he would return.

Every hunt might have been another farewell.

Jackson’s expression gradually softened.

For the first time, he truly understood how his mother must have felt whenever her son went out to hunt every day.

Time continued to pass.

That night, for the first time since beginning his cultivation journey, Jackson did not meditate. Instead, he spent the entire night taking care of his family.

No matter how many times Mother Rose told him to leave and get some rest, Jackson simply refused to listen. He stayed beside them, checking on Aella from time to time and making sure his mother was alright.

Perhaps because Jackson was there, Mother Rose gradually calmed down as the night deepened.

Her emotions, however, remained complicated.

On one hand, she felt immensely grateful that her daughter had survived the disaster and had managed to return home safely. But whenever she thought about the numerous casualties at the dojo, that relief was inevitably mixed with sorrow.

So many people had gone there alive.

So many had never returned.

Jackson silently watched the conflicted expression on his mother’s face before eventually shaking his head.

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