The fishy smell of blood lingered in his nose. Haa, haa. He let out a rough breath and crawled forward with difficulty.
Kkiiiik—
Kkyaaak!
Save… run…
A scream could be heard in the midst of the monstrous cries. Perhaps because there was a gas leak, hot flames arose with a headache-inducing odor. An address plate that said ‘3-17’ creaked, barely hanging onto the wall.
“Huurgh…”
He fumbled about with his side, where sticky blood was leaking out. His whole body trembled with unending fear.
“Yeo-Yeon-ah… ugh, Yeon-ah…”
His wound was painful, but his little sister took precedence. He was so afraid that his sister, who was on the floor bleeding from her head, would die at any moment.
“S-save us please… Please save us…” he begged the man in front of him, crying.
The man, standing firm in the blazing red fire, looked down at him. His white face was stained with blood as bright as fire.
“E-even just—just my sister… please…”
The man raised one of his eyebrows at the words he spat out in a hurry.
Tap. Taking a step closer to him, the man raised the sword he was holding. The blood-stained blade flashed.
“Uugh…”
His heart was beating quickly. The man looked at him with cold eyes and swung his sword. He closed his eyes reflexively.
* * *
“Hah…!” I gasped as I sprang up.
The sun-drenched ceiling came into view with a faint smell of disinfectant.
‘…a dream?’
I stroked my side. Unlike in my dream, my side was healed after receiving treatment.
Slowly, I recalled the scene in my dream. A shanty town on fire. Narrow alleys and steeply sloping floors.
In the middle of it, Han Yi-gyeol was injured, and his younger sister had collapsed. There was even Cheon Sa-yeon holding a sword standing in front of them.
It was a piece of Han Yi-gyeol’s past, which I haven’t been seeing recently, but it was so fragmentary that I had no idea what was going on. There was nothing I could do. I sighed and looked around.
It wasn’t my first time seeing this place—it was a hospital room inside the Requiem Guild. I relaxed at the familiar surroundings.
I immediately fainted after being struck by the monster’s unexpected attack, so I couldn’t figure out what happened after that. I thought I should ask if Min Ah-rin or Kim Woo-jin came later, but the door to the hospital room swung open.
“Answers have arrived from the guild masters in each region. Most responded that they would attend…”
“Hm?”
The ones who entered the hospital room were Cheon Sa-yeon and Woo Seo-hyuk. Cheon Sa-yeon, who had been listening to Woo Seo-hyuk’s briefing with a bored expression on his face, saw me awake and raised the corners of his lips.
“The Sleeping Beauty has woken up.”
“…why are you trying to pick a fight as soon as I wake up?”
As I furrowed my brow at his disgusting words, Woo Seo-hyuk, who was standing behind him, asked, “How are you feeling?”
“I’m fine.”
My side, which had been severely wounded, healed neatly without scarring. Regardless of what happened, abilities were great. Without a healer, my injury was so severe that I would’ve had to lie in bed for a month.
“Organize the documents and put them in the representative office. We’ll talk again when I see you again.”
“Yessir.”
Cheon Sa-yeon, who had sent Woo Seo-hyuk out of the hospital room, sat down on a chair near the bed. I paused for a moment at how natural he acted.
Looking at Cheon Sa-yeon’s face up close, I couldn’t help but remember my dream. What the hell happened? As I was thinking about Han Yi-gyeol’s plea to the sword-wielding Cheon Sa-yeon to spare his sister, I broke out of my thoughts when I heard his voice.
“Everyone on the clear team, including Secretary Woo Seo-hyuk, was very worried. Not to mention Healer Min Ah-rin and Kim Woo-jin.”
“Um…”
Should I go back later and show that I was okay? Just before I passed out, I remembered people running to me in shock.
I was a little sorry. I asked, just in case, “How long has it been since I passed out?”
“Today is the second day.”
That was a relief. Cheon Sa-yeon looked at me sighing in relief with a strange smile. What else were you going to say?
“So what is it? Why’d you come?”
“Oh my. It’s an ordinary hospital visit. A valuable collaborator of mine is lying in bed, so of course I need to visit.”
How funny. As I stared at him suspiciously, Cheon Sa-yeon’s smile didn’t diminish even as his brow slightly furrowed.
“It’s true that there’s business to attend to, but I really did have to pay a visit. Above all else, it was dangerous this time.”
“Dangerous? For me?”
“You didn’t think healing abilities could fix everything, right? You must know that even healers can only use their abilities after the patient has had surgery for serious internal injuries.”
“……”
There was nothing to say back. It was correct from one to ten.
Healers could attach and heal torn flesh, but they could not restore from a twisted or broken state. That was the realm of ‘restoration’.
So, in case of an internal injury, the power of medicine was absolutely necessary. Your condition could worsen if your injury was healed prematurely by a healer.
“The distance from N23 Area to the hospital is about two hours. Park Geon-ho, who was injured, put you in his car and drove you himself. He said he even ran red lights.”
“……”
“It was natural for reporters to take pictures in the process. Healer Min Ah-rin followed you into the operating room. She said you bled so much that she had to heal you as soon as your surgery was over.”
“…that…”
The more I listened, the more my mouth dried up. The situation was more serious than I expected.
After hesitating for a while, I came up with my own excuse.
“I couldn’t help it. As you can see and hear, if I hadn’t acted, Kim Woo-jin would have been hurt. If someone was going to get hurt anyway, an A-rank is better than a C-rank.”
“You couldn’t help it, huh.” Cheon Sa-yeon leaned against the back of his chair in a relaxed gesture, saying, “Han Yi-gyeol. I must have told you last time. If you take action without taking care of yourself, you won’t last long.”
“I don’t know about other circumstances, but this time I made the best choice. As you said, I bled for about two hours, so how would Kim Woo-jin, who is no different from ordinary people, endure it?”
“In my eyes, you look much weaker than Kim Woo-jin.”
“……”
I was speaking seriously, but this punk…
As I looked annoyed and didn’t respond, Cheon Sa-yeon smiled as he raised his eyebrows. Thought that was funny?
“Anyway, I want you to be more careful in the future. In the end, I’m the one who has to clean up afterwards.”
“Your valuable collaborator is injured, but you wouldn’t even do that much?”
“If not for me, then how about you think about the others? As much as you worry about Kim Woo-jin, Kim Woo-jin will also worry about you.”
“……”
“It would have been better if you could see for yourself what everyone looked like when you passed out. Then, if a similar situation occurs next time, you’d think twice.”
“Okay, okay…”
You nagged a lot.
I was more fatigued faced with his psychological attacks than Kim Woo-jin’s and Min Ah-rin’s nagging, but then the hospital door opened.
“Yi-gyeol-ssi!”
Min Ah-rin, with her slightly tired face, saw me and hurriedly approached me, surprised.
“Min Ah-rin-ssi.”
“When you wake up, ring the call bell! How’s your body? Are you uncomfortable anywhere?”
“It’s okay. I’m fine.”
As I spoke with a slight smile, Min Ah-rin greeted Cheon Sa-yeon who was sitting next to her, feeling relieved.
“I was very worried, Yi-gyeol-ssi.”
“I’m sorry. Did anything happen after I passed out?”
“Yes. As expected, the final battle location was inside the hidden path on the first floor. When we went up to the third floor, the floor that had collapsed was also restored to its original state, so we immediately came out through the gate exit.”
“That’s fortunate.”
“No one was seriously injured except for Yi-gyeol-ssi.”
“……”
I averted my gaze.
Cheon Sa-yeon, who was watching Min Ah-rin’s conversation with a smile, opened his mouth.
“It’s amazing that you stick your head out every time even though so many people are worried about you.”
“So you say, but I don’t think that matters.”
“No. That’s absolutely not true.”
Min Ah-rin hurriedly shook her head in denial, looking sad. I always felt grateful to those who cared about me. I was surprised that she cared so much even though I didn’t do anything in particular.
As I was stunned, Min Ah-rin smiled as she wiped away her tears.
“I’m just joking around. However, I hope you will be more careful in the future.”
“Yes. I will.”
Nodding my head, I brought up a question that I had been curious about for a long time.
“But where is Kim Woo-jin?”
Min Ah-rin’s face darkened at those words. Cheon Sa-yeon also just looked at me, but there was no answer.
…did something happen? You said I was the only one with serious injuries. I quickly got off the bed in the tense atmosphere.
“Where is he? Kim Woo-jin?”
“Yi-gyeol-ssi.”
I felt a chill as Min Ah-rin hesitated and refused to tell me.
“Explain it to me please. Maybe another monster appeared after I passed out? So then…”
“No. It’s not like that…”
Cheon Sa-yeon rose from his seat and gently grabbed my stiff shoulder.
“I think you should calm down for now.”
“Ah.”
It was then that I realized that I was pushing Min Ah-rin. I bit my lip and apologized.
“I’m sorry.”
“No. It’s because you’re surprised.”
Min Ah-rin, who, unlike me, had kept her composure, carefully continued to talk.
“Woo-jin-ssi… He wasn’t hurt, but he isn't in good condition.”
“What does that mean?”
Watching Cheon Sa-yeon’s reaction, who was standing behind me, Min Ah-rin nodded her head and beckoned to me.
“It would be quicker to see it in person. Woo-jin-ssi is in the hospital room right next door. Let’s go together.”
So he was in a hospital room? I dryly swallowed back my saliva and followed Min Ah-rin without hesitation.
* * *
When I entered the room next door, I saw Kim Woo-jin lying on the bed. Seeing him panting with a reddened face, I hurriedly approached and looked at his forehead.
“It’s not just a fever.”
The skin I felt against my palm was very hot. Seeing Kim Woo-jin in pain as if he was about to run out of breath, Min Ah-rin explained with a gloomy expression, “His energy is so strong that his body can’t stand it. It’s risen beyond the limit, attacking his heart.”
“What’s the cause?”
“Several experts have been here, but…”
Min Ah-rin couldn’t finish her words and bit her mouth. It meant that she couldn’t find the cause of his abnormal energy or how to fix it.
“It was fine when Yi-gyeol-ssi entered the operating room. He collapsed suddenly after your surgery.”
“Then he’s been in this state for over a day.”
“Yes. The fever didn’t go down even with antipyretics. Fortunately, Woo-jin-ssi is holding up, but if he doesn’t regain control of his energy…”
“…are you saying it’s dangerous?”
Min Ah-rin put on a depressed expression. The inside of my throat tingled.
‘I need to save him.’
There was no such case in the novel. What should I do? Numerous thoughts rushed through my mind.
I heard there was a producer who sold illegal potions in the Red Market—should I look for him? Or how about contacting the S-rank healer in Japan? Since there was a problem with his energy, if we restored it…
‘No. The possibility is too low.’
There wasn’t enough time to try new things. I clenched my fists, nervous.
What should I do? What should I…
“Han Yi-gyeol.”
As I struggled to find a clear solution, head bowed, Cheon Sa-yeon called out to me.
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