Swoosh – Swipe –
I gently patted the head of Yeon-hee, who looked deflated, and with tears welling in her eyes, she looked up at me, fixing her gaze on me at some moment.
“……”
‘Huh?’
Her violet eyes slowly started to dry, beginning to regain a little spark.
She seemed to be processing my changed appearance, so I stayed silently in the same position.
In all honesty, it was like showing up after having full body surgery as a person. It definitely made for a situation worth examining, despite everything.
“Um, umm. Is it… okay for Ji, Jin-hyuk to stay like that?”
Nod –
I nodded with confidence.
‘Yeon-hee… Cha Jin-hyuk isn’t human.’
Even though his injuries were severe enough to have killed a regular tough guy, the magic swirling inside Cha Jin-hyuk’s body was steadily filled with vibrant life energy.
Of course, it was thanks to Irmana’s incredible healing ability and my ability to tune the tangled magic, but it was still a monstrous survival instinct at play.
‘Is it because of the kids…?’
I thought it might be a miracle born from an unyielding will to survive.
I told Yeon-hee that Cha Jin-hyuk had fast recovery speed and responded well to potions, assuring her that he would likely wake up soon.
“That’s a relief…”
I gently rubbed both of Yeon-hee’s cheeks that still had tears clinging to them as I observed Cha Jin-hyuk’s condition again.
His half-severed wrist was placed in a high-rank potion while the cut was miraculously beginning to stick together.
“Crunch? Cough-cough—”
Dotti 1, firmly holding Cha Jin-hyuk’s wrist, bared its fangs at me.
Of course, it was just sticking it together for now; who knew how long it would take to heal completely, but it seemed unlikely to lose its abilities in the process.
‘If he rests for a month or two, he should completely recover. How we manage and help him grow during that time will be crucial. He’s got talent, after all.’
When it comes to overall capability, he might even possess more talent than Noh Ha-yoon.
Noh Ha-yoon, Baek Ah-rin, Ham Eun-young, and now Cha Jin-hyuk.
Had there always been this many talents capable of rising to the S-class?
Finally, as Yeon-hee noticed Cha Jin-hyuk’s recovery speeding up, she let out a sigh of relief.
“Phew— I really thought we were in big trouble.”
‘Right… Cha Jin-hyuk. You sure know how to make someone feel guilty.’
He had initially come to kill us; it was truly baffling how the situation flipped this much.
“Ugh…!”
At that moment, Choi Seong-woong regained consciousness.
I rushed over to the guy who was trying to stand up while holding his wrecked nose, grabbed his neck, and slammed him against the wall, glaring intensely into his eyes.
“Gack! P-Please! I swear I was just following orders from those girls—”
‘Following orders… what a load of crap.’
It was hilarious how those in such situations always reacted the same way.
“Gaaack!”
I lightly jabbed the tip of my dagger into his side, and Yeon-hee, now regaining her mental fortitude, stepped closer.
“Tell me everything related to the evolved creatures…”
“Grrk! If I say anything, I’ll die!”
“I’m sorry, but if you don’t, there’s going to be a lot of pain…”
Yeon-hee’s heavily weighted voice hit with a chill. When she was really mad, she was terrifying…
“Tell me. What are you doing in that building?”
“I-I swear we weren’t doing anything! We were just sent by someone we thought we could trust! Really! It was just a shop!”
“A shop… Are you saying you aren’t manufacturing anything but just selling?”
“Exactly! Ugh—”
“Great. Who is this trusted person?”
“Ugh— Stop with the dagger! I can’t talk about that person!”
“Alright. Is this person a hunter or not? You can tell me that much, right?”
As Choi Seong-woong’s situation was becoming increasingly dire, Yeon-hee switched her questioning tactic.
“Well, the guy’s a hunter, but… he’s not— Gah!”
“Ugh?!”
As soon as I brought up a figure directly related to the evolved stones, his body began to swell slowly.
It seemed he was experiencing some severe bodily changes, so I pulled Yeon-hee back for a moment.
Choi Seong-woong realized something major was happening to him, and he clamped his mouth shut. Surprisingly, his swelling body began to settle down.
“Phew— Phew—”
His body was bubbling with magic, sweat pouring down like a waterfall.
Was he trying to stabilize the changes? Maybe it was a possible response since it was an acceptable answer but still crossed a line.
Despite continuing to inflict pain to extract meaningful information, I concluded,
“Yeah, it’s not working. Unless you break some sort of confidentiality pact, it’ll be difficult to gather any more important information.”
Nod –
In the end, we hadn’t achieved much, but soon Cha Jin-hyuk, now conscious, struggled to speak to us.
“Um, uhm…”
“Ah! Jin-hyuk! How’s your body? You okay? You shouldn’t be talking!”
“I-I’m okay. I-I told you, I’m tougher than I look. Cough—”
He was clearly on the brink of death as he spoke while coughing up blood.
Yet, his eyes held a sense of mission or purpose.
After catching his breath for a moment, he got down to business.
“That guy… I-I’ll take care of him. Don’t touch those filthy things anymore.”
“What? Uh, um…”
‘At this rate, you might end up dying, you idiot.’
“D-Don’t worry. My ability activates just by looking at someone. It may be a bit weak, but…”
So it was an ability that could activate without using his hands.
‘… Impressive skill. I wonder if I could copy that somehow.’
Yeon-hee looked troubled after hearing Cha Jin-hyuk speak, probably because permitting someone with the potential to be a villain like him to commit murder felt uncomfortable.
After a moment of thought, Yeon-hee nodded.
‘Is Yeon-hee putting her trust in him?’
It seemed some degree of trust had built up for him during my absence.
‘Hmm— Fine. I’m a bit curious too.’
I pulled the dagger out from the man’s body, then cast [Chain of Flame] to bind him completely.
“Guaack!! Hot!”
It was something not suitable to say in front of a girl just barely 20 years old, so I led Yeon-hee outside.
After we left, Cha Jin-hyuk quietly whispered to Choi Seong-woong, who was being engulfed by flames.
“…… How dare you lay filthy hands on the angel. That crime is severe…”
“Ugh! Angel? Don’t spout nonsense! Ugh! Just untie me! I messed up! We got along well for a week, right? Right?”
Choi Seong-woong, making a pathetic face and babbling nonsense, was met with the cold gaze of Cha Jin-hyuk.
“If you don’t even know what you did wrong, then there’s no other option. I can’t let you do that again.”
“What? Guh!”
I firmly covered Yeon-hee’s ears and listened in on their conversation, puzzled about why Yeon-hee had become Cha Jin-hyuk’s angel.
A few minutes later, Choi Seong-woong was buried in the concrete floor, contorted grotesquely, and expired.
– You have acquired a Fragment of Corrupted Life Potion. (13/100)
‘Hmm, so even if I don’t land the final blow, I still get a reward.’
I was curious whether the rewards based on contribution were also applied to life potion fragments, but it seemed to work the same way.
‘Did Cha Jin-hyuk receive the same reward?’
I watched Cha Jin-hyuk’s reaction closely, but there was no special response on his face.
‘Is this a reward that only I get? Hmm…’
Thud –
After cleaning up, Cha Jin-hyuk, who was carried out by Dotti 1, looked far fresher than I had expected.
‘… I hope he’s not getting a taste for this kind of thing.’
His face showed satisfaction for having done what needed to be done. Fortunately, there was no sign of dark feelings, so I decided to hold off on judging him for now.
“Phew— The cleanup is all done, so there’s nothing to worry about.”
“Ah, yes…”
In any case, there were no functioning CCTV cameras around here. It must have been a place they prepped in advance.
Yeon-hee kept thanking Cha Jin-hyuk, who was still sweating like it was pouring rain, and Cha Jin-hyuk, seeming grateful, kept bowing his head.
“By the way… what are you planning to do? If you’re going to check that building—”
Even while being carried by an orc, Cha Jin-hyuk was still curious about our next destination.
‘Where could he possibly go in that condition?’
“No. Jin-hyuk, you need to go straight to the hospital now.”
“No. E-even in this state, I can still be of help—”
“No! You need to get yourself sorted first!”
“Ugh… Alright…”
‘As expected.’
Cha Jin-hyuk wore a face as if the world collapsed at Yeon-hee’s firm attitude, then turned to look at me.
‘Why are you staring at me?’
I couldn’t tell if he was signaling for me to use my strength to carry him, but even I could see he needed to go to the hospital.
We headed straight to a well-equipped hospital for Awakened treatment nearby.
“Thank you, Jin-hyuk. I’ll visit you as soon as things are settled. Don’t move around, alright? Okay?”
“… Yes. Thank you. T-thank you, Yeon-hee.”
“… ? Yes. Complete rest!”
In the end, we forcefully pushed Cha Jin-hyuk into the emergency room, and when we stepped outside, we pondered our next destination for a moment while walking together.
Yeon-hee was now gradually regaining her energy, her heavy steps becoming lighter, when she shared a surprising piece of information.
“You know, I received a fascinating message.”
“Tap?”
“I don’t fully understand it, but it said Jin-hyuk has become my follower?”
“Tap-tap-tap?”
‘A follower…? Given the reaction, it might be plausible that he feels like he’s some sort of deity. But what’s the benefit of having a follower?’
“It says I can borrow one of Jin-hyuk’s abilities once a day.”
“?!”
‘That’s amazing!!’
“I received help, but I don’t know why I’m getting this reward. I haven’t done anything for him—what should I do, Il-wol? I feel like I should repay him somehow…”
I recalled the reaction of Cha Jin-hyuk when we were talking at the hospital, and I thought I might have already given him enough.
‘More importantly, just how long can I borrow an ability for?’
“Right now, I can only use [Absolute Reflection], but only for 10 seconds, and as Jin-hyuk grows, the duration gets longer, and I can borrow different abilities too.”
‘… So if I treat Cha Jin-hyuk poorly, Yeon-hee gets stronger?’
Of course, that wasn’t the actual meaning, but that’s how it sounded to me.
‘Hmm— Still, due to the difference in ranks, we can’t travel together for now. Furthermore, it’s likely that Jin-hyuk will grow significantly from this experience.’
It seemed more important for him to generate a constant motivation for self-improvement.
‘Overall, the addition of one more protection skill is a positive outcome. But that alone isn’t enough…’
Yeon-hee specialized in numerical superiority in battles against multiple enemies.
It was fine as long as I was around, but I couldn’t always be by her side.
I began to feel a craving for a stronger summoned creature that could always be assigned to guard Yeon-hee when she said something as if she could read my mind.
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