Surprise

"Mom, Dad!"

Zen and Sera hurriedly run up to their parents to give them a hug. They really missed their parents these past few days.

After closing the door, Rina and Ren spread open their arms.

"Awww, we really missed you kids!"

The family hugged each other and cherished each other's warmth. It was as if they would no longer choose to break out of their group hug if given the chance.

However, after a while, Ren, Rina and Sera felt that something was amiss.

Carefully feeling each other through their hug, the three of them confirmed this strange feeling and suddenly raised their heads.

Their eyes landed on Zen who was still cherishing the warmth of his family through their group hug as if he was in his own world.

He really missed this feeling!

The feeling of being able to touch his family without them being afraid of hurting him.

It was amazing!

'I hope this lasts forever…'

"..."

Zen felt the gazes that were like needles pricking his skin, making him uncontrollably shudder.

'Huh…'

He raised his head and met the eyes of his family.

After a few seconds of silence, he chuckled wryly, "Ummmm… Surprise…?"

The trio did not know how to react at all.

They just stood there and looked towards Zen speechlessly.

"Ummm is this too much for a surprise?"

Zen broke out of their group hug and scratched the back of his head.

"Well… let's forget about that. Let me just…"

He ran towards his bed and carefully sat on it with the blanket covering his legs, just like the time when he was still bedridden.

He also picked up the ends of the medical apparatuses and slowly attached them to his body.

After he finished, Zen feigned a sickly expression with the back of his hand on his forehead and said in a dramatic voice, "Ahhh~ please come here and hug me too!!! I cannot move~"

He then looked at his family with a smile as they slowly walked towards him.

"I-is this f-for real??"

Rina could not help but start to sob as she questioned disbelievingly with her hand on her mouth.

Sera speechlessly looked towards her brother, then after a while…

"Brotherrrr!!!!!!!!"

She ran towards him with all her might and leaped up. After landing in his embrace, she cried her heart out while biting her lips.

Even Ren, who usually had a strict expression on his face, watched all of this happen with a smile.

***

A few minutes later…

The family all sat in Zen's bed.

Sera was on the right side of the bed, staring at her brother's face silently. Ren seated on the left side of the bed while hugging Rina who was still wiping her tears.

They had just recovered from the touching moment that happened a few minutes ago which could be seen on the smile they had on their faces.

"But son, I'm really curious. Since when are you able to move freely?"

Ren, who had been silent all this time, asked curiously as he lovingly looked at his son.

"Oh right, about that…"

Zen took a moment to sort out his thoughts and narrated his experiences in the past few days.

He also told his family his assumption about his cancer and his connection to the game.

However, he left out the details of what he did in the game. He just said that he obtained a couple of attribute points and did not mention much detail.

During his narration, he was amused by the reactions of his family, causing him to pause and laugh softly from time to time.

"... yup, that's about it."

After Zen finished telling his story, his family asked him a couple of questions which he answered patiently.

"Then does it mean that you're like a superhero now, brother!?"

Sera asked curiously with shining eyes.

She became excited by the fact that her brother was like the heroes in the shows and movies that they watched in the past!

Zen chuckled and flexed his lean muscles that appeared out of nowhere before saying jokingly, "Remember what I told you? I am the strongest!"

Sera became silent. Indeed, she remembered her brother saying something like that ten years ago.

Looking at his sister who was biting her lips again, Zen became flustered, "I'm just joking! I'm just joking!! Don't cry, don't cry!!!"

The couple watched their children and laughed, they were happy that Zen and Sera were finally starting to become lively again.

However, Zen's words passed by in their minds and they could not help but ponder.

"So it means that you can really gain power from the game, huh…"

Ren said absentmindedly, catching the attention of his wife in the process.

Hearing their father's words, Zen and Sera also stopped fooling around and looked at him.

Ren came to his senses and became embarrassed.

He coughed lightly and said, "Let's not think about that for now, let's celebrate Zen's recovery!"

"Yayyyyyy!!"

Sera cheered, clearly excited by her brother's recovery.

"Well… since Zen's recovery is still a secret, let's just order food for now. We can have a grander celebration later on."

Ren said considerately.

Rina and Sera were dissatisfied by his words.

Seeing this, Zen chimed in from the side with a light cough, "Mom, Sera. Dad is right. Besides, I'm fine with this, what's important to me is that I get to be with all of you!"

"It doesn't matter where we eat or how we celebrate, being with you makes me happy!"

"Ughh… you're so cringey…" Sera said to her brother in disgust. However, her family could still notice the smile she was trying to hide.

It was the same for Rina.

"Well, if you say so…"

Ren ruffled Zen's hair and said with a smile, "Damn, since when did you become such a big boy, huh!?"

"Hahaha…"

They also ordered takeout, Zen and Sera also had a couple of sibling fights about their orders which made their parents laugh.

The family conversed for a while more, each of them sharing their experiences in the past couple of days while waiting for the food they ordered.

The room was filled with the sound of laughs, making the atmosphere joyful.