"What is it, Big Brother?"
Cat instantly became worried when she saw his expression and heard him curse in distress. Felicity and Vicky also wore concerned expressions.
Seeing this, I hurriedly tried to regain my composure, but I was having a hard time.
How could I not, after realizing just a careless mistake had caused me to lose over two precious days?
Now, there were only less than six and a half hours left to complete the quest, and today was 10th January, meaning those people must have started to take survivors away.
I had planned to leave with them today itself, but now I had no choice but to focus on the mission, meaning we would be leaving tomorrow.
'No need to think too much about it. It's just one day later,' I told myself and then sighed. While there was no problem in delaying our departure by one or even two days, conquering Vicky in a short six and a half hours was going to be difficult.
Initially, I had planned to reveal my offer to her and then give her a day's time to think it over, but I could no longer afford to do so.
"I'm alright," I said before looking at Cat. "Can you bring me some water?"
"Yes," Cat nodded and rushed away, then returned soon after with a glass of water.
I drank it and felt a little refreshed, but I was still feeling weak.
'Hey, system. Buy me a basic Recovery Potion,' I ordered the system in my mind.
Since the system shop was inactive, I couldn't use it, but since the system had bought the potion earlier, I hoped it would be able to do it now too.
[Ding! Host has used the second out of three exceptional chances to use the system shop.]
[Ding! Recovery Potion (Basic) has been successfully purchased and stored in the system inventory.]
'I can have the system buy me something one more time before I level up the system?' I took note of this information, my expression hardening.
The next moment, however, I sighed. Both times, the situation was critical when I had the system buy me a recovery potion.
The first time, I would have been crippled, and this time, if I didn't recover, I would have failed the mission.
I glanced at Vicky, and when I saw the concerned look in her eyes, my heart fell because she wasn't just concerned about me, but also about her and Felicity's future, which I had reassured her about.
'I shouldn't have been too hasty. My falling unconscious has messed things up.' I couldn't help but be a little regretful.
However, since there was no benefit in regretting what had already happened, I stopped thinking about it and asked, "So, have you guys eaten something today?"
"Yes," Cat nodded, glancing at Vicky. I understood Vicky had taken care of all the expenses in these two days.
I couldn't help but be surprised.
Why?
Because seeing she was still here and not out working somewhere part-time, I knew she had used her savings—which she didn't use even when we went hungry for a whole day in my past life.
Soon, my surprise ebbed away. I knew since I came back in time and managed to save Lori and Cat, which I wasn't able to originally, things wouldn't be the same. The butterfly effect was real, after all.
After a while, Vicky and Felicity returned to their room, and I had Cat help me to the washroom.
"Call me if you need something, Big Brother," Cat said as she left the washroom.
My eyes shone with a mischievous glint when I heard this.
At this moment, I was extremely weakened and could use it as an excuse to have her help me bathe…
Just the thought of it made me shiver in excitement, and blood rushed to my little brother, who started hardening.
"No, I should focus on the mission right now," I muttered and took a deep breath to calm my excitement.
Then, I sat on the toilet seat and took out the Recovery Potion from the system inventory. It was the same as the one I had drunk before.
Gulp!
Uncorking it, I drained the contents into my mouth and gulped it down.
Just like before, a burst of comfortable cooling sensation washed over me, and my weakness rapidly disappeared.
"This is good stuff!" I exclaimed in amazement. "I should have a few of them in reserve just in case."
Thinking this, I asked the system, 'I can buy multiple things instead of just one with the last chance, right?'
System didn't respond, but I felt this was most likely the case.
'Then I'll use this last chance when I have a substantial amount of Conqueror Points.'
Deciding this, I quickly took a bath, and since I had no other clothes, I dressed in the ones I had on previously and walked out of the washroom.
Creak!
When the door opened, Cat hurriedly stood up, and seeing me walk out, she anxiously said while rushing over, "You should have called me when you were done—"
Mid-sentence, she noticed I showed no sign of weakness like a short while ago and instead looked perfectly healthy—energetic even. Needless to say, her pretty eyes widened in shock and confusion.
"You are… fine?" she asked. "How?"
I smiled. "It was just some exhaustion and stiffness from sleeping for too long, nothing else. So, after I took a comfortable bath, I naturally recovered."
"Huh, is that so?" Cat muttered, uncertain.
I tousled her hair and said, "I'm going over to Vicky's room. Need to discuss some things with her."
"O-Okay."
…
Knock! Knock!
"It's me, Vicky," I called out after knocking on the door.
A few seconds later, Felicity opened the door, and just like Cat, she was also surprised to see me up and about so soon.
I gave her a smile, and before she could ask anything, I said, "I need to talk to Vicky about something. Can you give us the room? You can accompany Cat until we are done."
"Ah, oh. Yes." Felicity nodded and walked out.
"Thanks." I walked in and closed the door.
Vicky was lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling when I entered. Seeing me, she slowly sat up and asked, "Oh, you are fine?"
"Yeah." I nodded, and not wanting her to think about it longer, I asked as I went over and sat beside her, "What were you thinking so deeply about?"