My Scumbag System-Chapter 301: Just Like Your Father

Seraphina walked to the foot of the bed. Her heels clicked against the floor, each step deliberate. She stopped and looked at Satori.

Braxton searched her face for a clue. Was that the cool assessment of a politician weighing a new asset? The anger of a leader whose authority had been challenged? Or just the quiet fear of a sister?

He found nothing. A perfect, serene mask.

Then Seraphina Vance did something impossible.

She turned to face Luka and Kimiko. She clasped her hands in front of her, fingers interlaced. She took a breath.

And she bowed.

A full, formal, ninety-degree bow.

Braxton’s cigarette pieces fell from his nerveless fingers.

Luka’s eyes went wide.

The President never bowed. To anyone. She was the apex of the hierarchy, the final word on all matters political, military, and social. Other people bowed to her.

"My title means nothing in this room. I stand here as a sister. Nothing more."

She held the bow, hair falling forward slightly. "Your son stepped between my family and death when her own guild failed her. He saved Celeste. For that debt, the House of Vance will be eternally grateful."

She straightened, and her eyes met Kimiko’s.

"I owe you a debt that cannot be repaid with words or politics. But I wanted you to know that it is acknowledged. That it will not be forgotten."

Celeste stepped forward.

Tears were streaming down her face now, silent rivers that she made no move to wipe away. She walked to the bedside table and placed the white lilies there, her hands shaking so badly that a few petals fell to the floor.

She bowed too. Deeper than her sister. Longer.

"Thank you," she whispered. Her voice cracked. "Please... tell him thank you. When he wakes up. Tell him I... I..."

She couldn’t finish.

Noah moved to her side, one hand settling on the younger girl’s shoulder. Steadying her.

The room was silent except for the monitor and Celeste’s quiet sobs.

Kimiko stood.

She accepted the gratitude with a small nod, her expression composed. But she was a mother first. Always. And mothers asked questions.

"Madame President." Her voice was calm. "Do you know what it was? How an A-Rank entity appears in a secure C-Rank testing ground?"

Seraphina straightened to her full height. The softness vanished from her eyes, replaced by the cold calculation of the White Queen.

"We do not know." Her voice was ice. "Yet. But our preliminary analysis of the energy signature has revealed something... disturbing."

She paused.

"The creature did not spawn in that dungeon. It was foreign. The metaphysical residue was completely incompatible with the Gate’s baseline parameters."

Braxton felt his blood run cold.

"You’re saying it was planted there," Luka said.

"Either the Gate was tampered with remotely, or something, someone, introduced the Anomaly into the dungeon after it stabilized." Seraphina’s eyes moved to the window, toward the distant treeline where the forest met the training grounds. "There are very few entities capable of such a feat. And none of them are friendly."

Kimiko’s hands clenched at her sides. "Who?"

"We don’t know. But we will find out."

Seraphina turned back to face them. Her expression was granite.

"The Gate is still open, Mrs. Nakano." The words dropped like stones into still water. "The Anomaly, the thing your son killed, was not the Dungeon Boss. The original C-Rank target is still alive in there. The timer is still running."

Braxton’s stomach dropped.

The Gate wasn’t cleared.

The dungeon was still active.

"My Sanctions Division is preparing to enter," Seraphina continued. Her voice held the weight of a verdict. "We will dissect that dungeon stone by stone until we find the source of the interference. Every tile. Every corpse. Every molecule of mana residue." Her eyes found Braxton’s. "Professor Miller. I will require your full cooperation and all available records regarding this Gate run."

Braxton nodded. His throat was too dry to speak.

"In the meantime," Seraphina added, "I am placing this room under my personal protection. No press. No visitors without clearance. No one speaks to this boy without my explicit approval." She looked at Satori’s unconscious form.

"He is a hero who deserves peace to recover. Not a spectacle for the masses to gawk at."

She moved toward the door, her entourage falling into step behind her.

She left.

The Sanctions agents followed.

Noah lingered for just a moment, her eyes on Satori’s face. Then she too was gone.

After the door closed, the room fell back into silence. Just the steady beep of the monitor and the soft hum of medical equipment counting the seconds.

Luka ran a hand through his hair, sighing heavily. "I need coffee. Real coffee, not that hospital sludge." He squeezed Kimiko’s shoulder gently. "Want anything?"

She shook her head, eyes never leaving Satori’s face.

When Luka left, Braxton cleared his throat. "I should... reports to file." He paused at the door. "If you need anything, Kimiko. Anything at all..."

"Thank you, Braz," she said softly, still watching her son.

Kimiko touched Satori’s cheek with butterfly gentleness. His skin felt cold under her fingertips.

"The President herself came to see you," she whispered. "My troublemaker son. Always swimming with sharks."

She tucked the blanket around him, a habit from when he was little. It seemed silly now—a small comfort against the massive machines keeping him alive—but she couldn’t help herself.

"You made powerful friends. Powerful enemies too, I bet." She smiled faintly. "Just like your father."

The door opened again. A nurse with a clipboard stepped in, checking vitals, adjusting fluids. Standard procedure.

"You should rest, Mrs. Nakano," she said kindly. "We’ll call if there’s any change."

Kimiko shook her head. "I’ll stay."

The nurse left, and once again, Kimiko was alone with the beeping machines and her thoughts.

Outside the window, the sun began to set, casting long shadows across the academy grounds. In classrooms and training halls, students were finishing their day, heading to dinner, laughing, arguing, living. While in this quiet room, time seemed suspended.

"I thought you’d have a daughter."

The words slipped out before Kimiko could stop them.

"When I was pregnant, I mean. I was so sure you’d be a girl." She laughed softly. "Had the name picked out and everything. Your father wanted Daisuke if you were a boy. But I knew better."

Her fingers found his hand again, careful of the IV.

"Then there you were. My little boy. My Satori."

She leaned forward, pressing her lips to his forehead.

"Wake up soon, my son. The world is waiting for you."

End of Volume 3