What's a Medal of Honor?

When I opened my eyes, the only thing that entered my view was a white ceiling.

"This place is..."

I immediately tried to raise my body, but I had no strength to even raise my head, let alone sit up. My eyes were drawn by the small clock at the bedside table, indicating that it was morning two days after our battle with the octopus boss.

"... I was asleep for that long?" It was a little hard to believe.

Soon, the fog in my head cleared, letting me recall the exact turn of events from start to finish. "Right, Hailey?!"

She should be in a more precarious situation than me, though I haven't confirmed. I wonder if she was alright. Just as I was forcing myself to stand, a voice echoed from the bed right beside mine.

"Ah, yes, yes. I'm here, Ruin!" Hailey's voice echoed coolly as if she were simply lying down to rest. "To think you'd be that worried about me... thanks!"

She was similar to me, wearing a loose white gown. However, unlike me, who had an IV attached, she had nothing on her. Does that mean she's much better off compared to me? Well, I did have a hole in my shoulder and stomach...

I tried touching the two locations where I was injured the most severely, but not a single sign of them remained. It was as if my wounds magically vanished. Calmly, I tried assessing my current situation. Although my limbs are hard to move due to a lack of energy, I'm technically already fully recovered.

"You lost a lot of blood but didn't need to have a transfusion. Still, you should feel powerless for a while longer after waking up," Hailey explained as she sat by the side of her bed, facing me.

Having nothing better to do, or rather, unable to do literally anything but listen, Hailey went on and on about what happened while I was passed out. Apparently, after killing the boss and destroying the portal, the system announced it to all the users who had a gold-colored system border before. In short, the entire world now knows that the six of us were responsible for ending the battle early.

"And so, to recognize our contributions, there's going to be an awarding ceremony two days from now. City A, B, and C council will be giving us Medals of Honor, apparently."

"Medal? I'd rather they give me more rare materials instead..."

Having Prestige is good, but honestly, I don't have a use for it. Toki, on the other hand, must have a method to utilize this opportunity, so I'd rather stay in the back. "Then I won't be participating in the awarding ceremony. I'd probably be busy for a few days, after all."

"EEEEH?!" Hailey leaned forward, unable to believe my words. "But you're like the main contributor; how come you're not going?!"

Although I appreciate her sentiments, I'm not really too fond of ceremonies. Furthermore, "I still need to make my own weapon. We only got lucky this time, but who knows how it will turn out the next time?"

Right. If I hadn't had that weird temporary class change and gained a bonus stat multiplier, then we'd all be dead by now, without a doubt. Although it was short, I was finally able to understand the World Breaker class. In other words, it's something like a special class that goes against the rules of the nanomachines and can even temporarily change your class to whatever will work the best against an enemy.

"... What a cheat..." I can't help but comment.

Although that explains most of what happened before, I get this nagging feeling that the World Breaker class is still hiding something from me. Furthermore, I could tell that the start of the insect invasion was directly related to my gaining this class.

'So technically, my class is the root of all these cruel events?' That thought sent shivers down my spine.

There are a lot of casualties that emerged from the insect invasion, after all. If what I deduced was true, then it'd mean I indirectly killed them. With my head like this, I can't just waltz onto a stage and receive a medal. The guilt would surely press down on me.

After that, Hailey was soon discharged. After all, she was overstaying in the hospital, as she had already fully recovered quite a while ago. I, on the other hand, need to stay a day more and recover some strength before being released.

Time passed, and other than Kaede and Mother coming to visit for a short while, nobody came to disturb my peace. During that time, I was so bored that I managed to finish the mental design for my weapon and Kyouya's substitute weapon since I completely destroyed his lance. I mean, it did save my life, as it managed to block one attack from the octopus boss.

The night passed, and the next morning came. As I was able to recover my energy overnight, I was discharged without much fanfare. For the bills, Toki seemed to have already handled everything.

After I left the hospital, I started walking back to the dismantling facility. After all, just as I've told Hailey, we have no idea when the monsters will invade once more. Before then, I want to have a weapon that is perfectly made for myself.

When I reached the entrance to the facility, I crossed paths with Toki, who was also heading there. "Oh, you're finally discharged. Sorry I wasn't able to visit; I was busy."

She quickly explained, showing the pile of documents she was holding. I was wondering what the paperwork was, but after seeing the dense amount of words on each page, I decided not to ask.

"Right, I picked up an unidentifiable object at the portal, and I left it inside the workshop. You can do anything you want with it, but please tell me its description and function at least."

As if she didn't even have time to talk, Toki hurried into the director's office. Seeing her figure go beyond sight, I turned my attention to the thing she last mentioned. "An unidentifiable object?"

Not wasting any time, I went down the stairs and to the underground workshop. After opening the door, I quickly turned to face the worktable, where a small crystal sphere was resting.

"Is that it?" I moved to the object, lifting it up, but was surprised by its unbelievable weight.

Without hesitation, I placed it inside the World Storage and quickly brought up the inventory panel-like display. There, I moved to the newly placed object and read its description.

"... World Fragment?"

From the flavor text, it was apparently a crystal that could be used to open portals leading to another world. Just from that, it can be deduced that the insects that invaded really were a part of another world and weren't from Earth.

"It's a little hard to believe, but well, it happened already."

Nothing is a better teacher than firsthand experience. Having fought against the invading monsters, I already felt that they were different from animals and insects mutated by the nanomachines. It also partially explains one problem that I had.

"... I only gained two levels from almost dying."

From Hailey's story, everyone leveled up by at least 4 levels to at most 10 levels. Two levels came from the quest's bonus, while the rest were from the experience of killing the insects and the boss monster. It was a complicated feeling knowing that everyone but myself got a pretty high boost in levels.

For some reason, I wasn't able to get experience from the invading monsters anymore. Even from the boss, nothing. I haven't heard of such a thing happening to anyone, so I guess this "cannot level up" thing is unique to me right now.

"I wonder what's the cause of it..."

Although I'm curious, it was basically impossible for the current me to find out. Rather than that, it would be much more effective if I used my time to create weapons and armor instead.

Apart from the crystal orb, the girls' newly made armor was also present, up for repairs after the fierce battle against the insects. Apart from Hailey's armor, which probably needs an overhaul, the others were lightly damaged at most. "It should take a couple of hours at most."

After repairs, I can work on weapons. Kyouya requested a halberd in exchange for his destroyed lance, so I'd need a lot of metal ingots for that. And for my weapon of choice, a hammer, I would need a whole lot more.

After that, I could even make a side weapon to replace my scythe dagger, whose blade was now almost busted. 

"After that..."

I can also use the remaining time to create a device to harness the World Fragment. If things go well, then maybe I can open a portal leading to the insect's world and perform a counter-invasion! Well, it's nice to have a dream, anyway.