After experiencing a quarrel because of the sudden curse, I quickly looked at Jung Ha-Yan. Her condition looked more serious than I expected.
“Aaaahhh!”
‘I’m sure we succeeded.’
It could be shocking to hear this, but this story had a good storyline even though it may be a bit difficult for her to endure.
‘This is the answer.’
I was sure that this was the answer, but of course, Jung Ha-Yan probably wouldn’t act out of place like this normally. Everyone continued being confused after entering this dungeon because of the curse’s effects. Accepting it as shock therapy would make it more understandable.
Jung Ha-Yan’s face was covered in tears and she was pulling out her messy hair. Everyone was pretty much the same, but Jung Ha-Yan’s situation was obviously the worst.
At first, I thought grabbing her hand was all I had to do.
“No! No!”
‘Her strength…’
After letting go of my hand, she tried to commit suicide, so I tried to pull her hand away from her as she tried to choke herself. She was coughing, but she was somewhat getting air into her lungs. After grabbing her hand tighter, I kissed her again and she slowly came back to her senses.
“Ahhh…”
“...”
“Heuuuk.”
Her confused expression changed into a surprised one and her eyes that were confirming my face were filled with tears.
“Ahhh… oppa… oppa…”
Naturally, she touched my face and my body. Of course, I expected this kind of reaction from her because I was decapitated in her hallucination.
“You’re back,” she told me.
“What…”
“I’m back. I’m back. Heuuuuuk… I’m back… I’m back,” she said again.
“What are you talking about, Ha-Yan?”
“It’s, it’s nothing. Nothing. Heuuuuk… I'm sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry for being an idiot,” she said, apologizing.
‘Nice.’
“I don’t know what… you’re apologizing about… how’s the curse? What did you see?” I asked.
“It’s nothing. It wasn’t a curse. It’s all my fault. All of it. I’m sorry, Oppa. I’m sorry for acting on my own. Heuuuk… please don’t hate me,” she said, stuttering.
‘There’s no way I would hate you.’
I never had any hatred for Jung Ha-Yan, although I did think that this situation was too much, she only showed that side of herself because of the curse. I was actually thankful that I was able to plant a hallucination while her mind was being affected by the curse and it was to the point that I felt relieved that this chance came so fast.
Jung Ha-Yan was eventually going to cause trouble and even though I had no idea what would happen in the future, it was safe to assume that based on Jung Ha-Yan’s nature, the bomb in her was eventually going to explode. I couldn’t help but smile at the fact that I was able to suppress that today.
‘I also feel a sense of responsibility…’
I didn’t have an unusual taste nor did I like being locked up, but I couldn’t deny the fact that I felt guilt, compassion, and a slight interest in her.
- You’re trying to rationalize yourself because you think you won’t feel as guilty if you become close to her. You’re trying to make yourself feel better by not abandoning her and showing that you have a conscience.
‘That’s possible.’
I also thought that the curse was affecting me too, but it didn’t matter anymore. The heavy voice sounded like bullshit.
“I don’t know what happened, but there’s no reason for me to hate you because you’re precious to me,” I told her.
Half of it was true.
“Wahhhhh… you’re the most precious to me too, Oppa. I like you the most,” she cried out.
She buried her face which was covered in tears and snot into my chest.
“I’m here. I’m back. Thank you, god. Thank you very much, god. I’m so thankful,” she said.
“You keep…”
“It’s nothing. Heuuuk… oppa. Oppa. Did you get hurt anywhere? Your leg…”
“It’s fine,” I told her.
“Heuuuuk… and your arms are okay too. No injuries and no white hair. You’re not in pain either. Your tongue is okay too. Heuuuk.”
This was a situation that I didn’t expect, but I did think that the hallucination I created must have felt real…
‘I didn’t think that she’d return…’
If I knew that this was going to happen, then it would’ve been better to further develop the story. Like adding a scene where either Cha Hee-Ra or Lee Ji-Hye arrived to save me. It would’ve been difficult based on the story I created, but if I added a scene like that, then I was sure that Jung Ha-Yan’s hostility toward them would have decreased by a lot.
‘That’s unfortunate.’
I thought that it would be better to explain it later.
“Oppa… heuuuuuk…”
“Do you feel better?”
“Yes… a little… a little bit.”
“Then, can you wait for me a little bit? I think I need to check up on the others,” I told her.
“Yes, of course, Oppa.”
After lightly patting her head, her cheeks turned red. She remained still, but then she must have recalled what happened before she returned because her shoulders started to shake. The way she cried made her look like a pitiful puppy, which looked cute in my eyes.
‘I shouldn’t be like this…’
Anyway, seeing Jung Ha-Yan like this made me realize that not only did she come back to her senses, but it seemed like the curse was no longer as effective on her as before. I did think that it was possible based on the tests we had done, but I never imagined that it would be this effective. Of course, the counseling I did just for Jung Ha-Yan must have also played a part…
‘This will definitely work on other people too…’
It was more than enough. Since it helped Jung Ha-Yan, who was in the worst condition, the others should be able to take it easier. If we used my potion and the effects of the spell properly, then these people would surely have peace of mind.
When I looked around, I noticed people that were still in a confused state. It was the same as the first time. Those that were screaming were slowly waking up and they looked around the place while talking to themselves. When I looked over at Hwang Jung-Yeon, who had returned to her senses, she was asking how it went.
‘It was a success.’
I immediately took out my alchemy kit and when I drew a magic circle, Hwang Jung-Yeon came over to me while holding her head. Naturally, my attention was on her because she looked like a street potion peddler that was trying to sell me cheap potions.
“Mr. Ki-Young, what are you…”
“Please come over here one by one,” I said, cutting her off.
“Excuse me?” she asked.
“Everyone else please wait for now and for the others, please come one by one,” I said.
“First, hiccup… an explanation…”
“Miss Lee Sang-Hee, you’re first.”
“Master, please sit here.”
“Now… let’s see. Our sub-guild master. What kind of symptoms are you experiencing exactly?” I asked.
“Excuse me?” she asked.
“Oh. Since it could be personal, I think it’ll be better to write it down and then submit it, Miss Jung-Yeon,” I explained.
“Okay, I’ll prepare it.”
“Right now…”
“I’ve figured out a way to suppress the curse’s effects, Miss Lee Sang-Hee. Please relax and write down exactly the effects and the voices you’re hearing. If you’ve started hallucinating, please write down the details since that’ll help as well and if you’re also experiencing auditory hallucinations, please write down what you’ve been hearing,” I explained.
“Oh…”
“For people in party two, please line up and come this way. Please bring your writing equipment and wait,” I told the others.
“...”
Everyone looked like they understood, but it was kind of funny seeing them trying to get in line. It looked as if they had a few loose screws. It seemed like Nurse Hwang’s role was big, but despite that, she looked like she was enjoying herself.
“Ohhh, I see.”
“I am seeing the faces of people that I’ve killed so far and they keep whispering to me, saying that I’m going to die soon,” Lee Sang-Hee said.
“I understand because I’m experiencing something similar as well. You’ll receive a potion prescription and the psychiatric treatment will be done later. I do see missing parts… hm. Oh, if you could describe how you killed them, that would be really helpful,” I said.
“Oh, that’s…”
“You can write down the things you don’t want to say out loud. It’ll be more effective if you write the details,” I told her.
“I guarantee it. It’ll be effective.” Hwang Jung-Yeon also spoke up.
“I understand, Miss Hwang Jung-Yeon,” she said.
As expected, the nurse’s role was important.
“Next up is… Miss Ga-Hyeon. Your younger brother was left by himself on Earth….”
“Yes…”
“It must’ve been difficult,” I said.
“Heuk.”
“I have a younger sister on Earth as well and of course, I’m worried about her, but… staying strong is important. I’m sure you’ll meet him someday. Right now… you seem to have a serious case of depression and even though I won’t be able to completely get rid of it, I can help you ease your mind a bit,” I explained.
“What should we do, Mr. Ki-Young?” Hwang Jung-Yeon asked.
“The 14th potion that’s in my bag should work, Miss Jung-Yeon. We’ll immediately perform the psychiatric treatment. We can immediately treat Miss Ga-Hyeon, so please prepare the spell,” I told her.
“Okay.”
Her nature was meek idealist, so I was sure that the potion would be effective on her. Based on her nature, hallucination, and the type of auditory hallucination she was experiencing, it was easier to treat her.
‘After having a beautiful reunion with her brother, we’ll have him tell her to be strong and to live on.’
I was sure that being told to survive so that they could meet again in the future would be effective. There had to be a few touching moments… and since her hobby was reading, I could add in a bit of fantasy.
‘I think it’ll be effective if I make her brother and the curse’s voice fight each other.’
Obviously, my current actions couldn’t be seen as a medical practice. It was more like a fraud under the guise of counseling. It didn’t treat them completely and it didn’t make them stop seeing or hearing hallucinations. All I did was insert an antibiotic into a contaminated mind, but it was effective. A human’s mind was weak, yet strong. Our minds tend to break easily at these types of curses, but when hope was present, we would obtain the courage to stand back up. I believe that we would be able to overcome our stress and resist the voices.
For that woman, it was her younger brother. As for that woman that had the same symptoms as me, it was her low self-esteem. For Jung Ha-Yan, my existence alone was her strength.
‘Good, good.’
It felt like everything was going well and of course, I didn’t explain anything about this to Kim Hyun-Sung. It was natural for him to be surprised by me suddenly treating everyone and his mouth opened wide when he saw people feeling a lot better after receiving psychiatric treatment from Hwang Jung-Yeon. Basically, Kim Hyun-Sung had never imagined that we could capture a dungeon through this method. I was sure that this seemed ridiculous from the regressor’s point of view because he probably had his own control plan. He probably had a way of dealing with this curse and was in the process of putting it to action, but even if our methods were different, as long as our goal was the same, it didn’t matter. He must have understood that too because he nodded in appreciation.
“I’ve come ba… thank you very much, god. Thank you for helping me come back to my senses. Really… heuuuuk…”
But I could see that he was looking at Jung Ha-Yan with a serious expression when she was mumbling to herself.
‘She’s not a regressor, Hyun-Sung.’
I thought that it would be better to explain it to him in private after I was done treating everyone.
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