Reinhard stared at the scan. "Something is still happening inside it?"
The specialist nodded. "That’s what the scan is showing."
"Can it recover?"
"I don’t know."
"Can you find out?"
"Not from this scan alone."
Reinhard looked at the strange pattern again. There was something inside Emily’s shattered Gnosis. He just didn’t know what.
"All right."
The specialist looked at him. "All right?"
"I’ll find out."
Reinhard turned toward the door.
"Mr. Reinhard." He stopped. "Don’t tell Emily about this yet... A Supernova like her shouldn’t be given false hope."
"I wasn’t planning to... But a Supernova?"
"You don’t know this? It’s considered the title given to the leader of one generation."
"She was that amazing?"
"Far more. All of the others in her generation were levels below her... By the age of fifteen she was close to S-rank."
Reinhard laughed. "My wife really was that ridiculous, huh?"
The specialist smiled faintly. "Most people only remember that her career ended."
...
Outside the examination room, Emily had grown unusually quiet. Reinhard noticed it as he wheeled her toward the exit, but didn’t mention the specialist’s words until they were farther from the examination rooms.
Eventually he knelt beside her chair. "You’re thinking about what he said."
She looked down. "I shouldn’t have gotten excited."
"Why not?"
"Because it might mean nothing."
He gently adjusted the blanket over her legs. "Then we’ll find out."
She looked at him. "And if it really means nothing?"
"Then we’ll look somewhere else."
She stared at him for a moment before a faint smile appeared. "You’re really stubborn."
He smiled. "I’ve been told."
She looked down again. "But thank you."
The words were quiet, almost hesitant, yet something about them felt different from her earlier thanks, and he noticed it immediately.
A notification appeared.
[Target Value Increased.]
[Emily Ashcroft: D+ → C]
He looked at the new value for several seconds. C. Emily hadn’t regained her strength. Her Gnosis was still damaged, and nothing about her physical condition had suddenly changed. Yet the System had raised her value.
He thought back to the last few days, the way she’d started smiling again, the way she’d asked to leave the apartment, the way she’d started asking him to keep searching for a way forward. Whatever the System considered "value," those changes clearly mattered.
He smiled faintly. "You’re welcome."
She looked away, her fingers resting more loosely against the armrest, and for once she didn’t hide the small smile on her face.
Yuna had stayed quiet through most of the walk back, clearly turning everything she’d witnessed over in her mind. Eventually she spoke up. "You really believe she can recover?"
"I don’t know."
She glanced at him, surprised by the admission. "But you’re still going to try?"
"Of course."
She looked at Emily for a moment before turning back to him. "Even if it takes years?"
"Then I have years."
She was silent for a while. She’d expected him to say he would try, maybe even that he’d do whatever it took. She hadn’t expected an answer that sounded so simple. Then I have years.
She looked toward Emily again. "I think I understand now."
"Understand what?"
A faint smile touched her lips. "Why she trusts you again."
She didn’t say anything else.
...
When they finally reached the apartment, Reinhard went straight to the kitchen. The ingredients from the System were waiting in his Inventory, and he took out the Moonlit Mushrooms and set them on the counter, studying them for a moment. So these are supposed to help with mana recovery.
His gaze shifted toward Emily, resting nearby. Let’s see if the System knows what it’s doing.
He reached for a knife, and the moment his fingers closed around it, another thought struck him. He could feel the mana inside his Gnosis, more than before. He let a small amount of it flow through his body, and his body responded immediately, everything feeling lighter, faster, sharper.
He smiled. Might as well test it.
The knife moved.
Chop. Chop. Chop.
The mushrooms were suddenly reduced to neat slices. Reinhard blinked, looked at the knife, then at the mushrooms. "Oh." He hadn’t even been trying to move that quickly.
He grinned. "That’s useful."
He kept going, his hands moving faster as he prepared the remaining ingredients, each motion precise enough that nothing slowed him down. When the pot went onto the stove, his stirring became almost effortless, the spoon moving through the soup far faster than it had any right to.
Lily wandered into the kitchen halfway through and stopped, staring at him. "What are you doing?"
"Cooking."
"You?"
He glanced at her. "Why does everyone react like that?"
She looked at the ingredients, then at him, then back at the pot. "Because your cooking used to be terrifying."
"That’s harsh."
"It’s accurate."
He ignored her and kept stirring, the aroma slowly filling the kitchen. Her expression changed. "...That actually smells good."
He smiled. "See?"
"Don’t get excited yet."
A little while later he finished the soup and carried it to the table. Maki and Yuna joined them, both looking somewhat skeptical when they saw who had prepared dinner.
Reinhard served Emily first. "Careful. It’s hot."
She took a small spoonful and paused. He watched her expectantly. She took another bite, her expression softening. "It’s good."
Lily looked immediately offended. "No way." She grabbed a spoon and tasted it herself, her eyes widening. "What?"
He leaned back, satisfied. "Something wrong?"
She stared at him. "This is actually good."
He put a hand against his chest. "Finally. Recognition."
"No, this is suspicious."
Maki tried it next, looking at him with mild surprise. "It’s much better than before."
Yuna nodded after her own taste. "A lot better."
He looked toward Emily, still eating quietly. After another spoonful she looked up. "It tastes even better than before."
He smiled. "I’ll take that."
Lily stared at him as though she’d just witnessed a supernatural event. "What happened to you?"
"I improved."
"Overnight?"
He shrugged. "Talent."
She narrowed her eyes. "I don’t believe you."
He laughed, and for once nobody disagreed about dinner.
Reinhard waited until the others had finished before preparing Emily’s portion for the night. He took a small amount of the Restorative Food Infusion from his Inventory and mixed it into her remaining soup.
The liquid disappearing without changing the appearance of the food.
Let’s see if this works.
Emily took the medicine she normally used before bed, then finished the soup. Reinhard didn’t say anything, not wanting to give her expectations. But he was curious. Very curious.
...
That night, once everyone had gone to bed, Reinhard sat in front of his computer. This time, he didn’t search for treatments. He searched for Emily.
Old interviews appeared immediately. An old interview asking several prominent Awakeners who they believed would become the next Supernova. He kept searching. More interviews. More tournaments. More predictions.
Then suddenly...
Nothing.
Reinhard stared at the screen. "You really disappeared."
He sat there quietly. Something had happened to Emily two years ago. Now he understood that it had taken more than her Gnosis. It had taken her entire place in the world.
A familiar blue window appeared.
[Investment Opportunities Available.]
[Target: Emily Ashcroft.]
[Current Value: C.]
Three options appeared.
[Gnosis Recovery]
[Objective: Restore the target’s shattered ability to use Mana. Stage One of Gnosis Recovery.]
[Difficulty Grade: SS.]
[Success Probability: 0.01%.]
[Emotional Recovery]
[Difficulty Grade: A.]
[Objective: Restore the target’s emotional stability.]
[Success Probability: 10%.]
[Leg Recovery]
[Difficulty Grade: S.]
[Objective: Restore the target’s damaged lower-body function.]
[Success Probability: 20%.]
Reinhard read through them carefully. Emotional Recovery was achievable. Leg Recovery was difficult. Then his eyes returned to the first option.
[Gnosis Recovery]
[Success Probability: 0.01%.]
He stared at the number. Almost impossible. Yet he didn’t think about the number.
He thought about the photograph he’d seen earlier. Emily standing in an arena. Thousands of people cheering for her.
Then he thought about the woman waiting at home. The wheelchair. The shattered Gnosis. The life she’d lost.
His eyes hardened. "So that’s the one."
[Gnosis Recovery — Selected.]
[Investment Search Initialized.]
Reinhard leaned back in his chair and looked at Emily’s name on the screen.
"Let’s restore my wife’s Gnosis."