After the press secretary’s mention, the news that Na-me had been hospitalized at Samsung Seoul Hospital spread rapidly.
Once again, thanks to an anonymous tip, a video was released showing Na-me being hurriedly transported to the hospital on a stretcher, leading society to face another turning point.
[What the heck is going onㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ Na-me was perfectly fine during the NoName competition!]
└ Could it be that this was also on her bucket list for broadcasting?
└ Don’t say such ominous things!
└ Man, this is really absurd…
[If there is a god, I really hate him. What sin did that poor child commit…?]
└ She has the talents of a demon, but she has to die young… Ah, this is…
└ Ham Cho-rong…
└ The world is so unfair to NoNa-me.
└ Don’t get sick, Zeva-ryuㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
[Does anyone know why she was taken away? Please, just one person.]
└ I heard that senior professors are being summoned to the hospital right now.
└ Is it really serious enough to require surgery? She seemed fine in the video.
└ Professor Dong-Oo at Samsung Seoul Hospital has had his surgery schedule changed <— he’s a specialist in Aura Heart transplants. └ Are you really an insider? Now, most netizens began to realize just how much effort Na-me had put into this one reveal. In particular, the news that a child with unparalleled talent was in pain hit people's hearts hard. What if the appearance seen in the interview became the last glimpse of the child's life? [Breaking News) 'NoNa-me' Aura Heart surgery scheduled for 20:30 by medical team Dong-Jin-soo] [Please, Na-meㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ Aunts and uncles are praying like thisㅠㅠㅠ] └ Are you going to throw away 800,000 subscribers...? You’ll come back for sure, right? ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ Please please please! └ I wish I could take her place and suffer instead… seriouslyㅜㅠㅠㅠ └ If it's an Aura Heart, it definitely means a major surgery, right? How is this even possible... *
Meanwhile, Merlin Orphanage was overflowing with reporters due to the sudden influx.
The intrusive camera equipment looked expensive at first glance, and the adults were all dressed in suits.
The children raised in this Christian-affiliated orphanage, which valued silence as a virtue, watched the commotion with curious eyes.
They wanted to interview about the child named ‘NoNa-me’ and visit Room 206 where she lived.
“Hyung, but wasn’t Room 206 the ghost room…? Didn’t someone live there before?”
The room located at the far end of the second floor, which everyone now avoided.
In response to the curious little orphan’s question, Jae-hwan, who was considered the leader among middle schoolers, crossed his arms and reminisced.
“Room 206 was really a ghost room.”
*
I had known for a long time that there was something wrong with my Aura Heart.
In the local area, it was referred to as Restakaya Syndrome.
In my past life, it was an extremely rare condition that only manifested when I tried to forcibly cast the forbidden 9th Circle magic on a human body, but surprisingly in modern society, it could be found in one or two out of every ten million people.
Fortunately, we did not live in a world where every Tom, Dick, and Harry could use 8th Circle magic; rather, it was because the mana concentration was excessively low globally.
The Aura Heart, which had expanded beyond its elastic limit, would remain in its distorted state without returning to its original condition.
As the wall separating Aura and Mana gradually broke down like a thin artery wall, it could ultimately lead to rupture and death from neurogenic shock, a truly terrifying disease.
So, the makeshift solution I devised was to split the Aura Heart into seven parts.
It would be more appropriate to express this as blocking the dam’s entrance rather than physically splitting it.
When all the dam’s gates are opened in a drought situation, you quickly see the bottom, but if you open just one side, all the mana will flow into that direction, maintaining the appropriate water level.
Ultimately, it was crucial how well the mana properly converted into aura, and whether that aura could circulate well in the body, so even if only part of the Aura Heart was used, it would not significantly affect daily life.
“This is the last time, Ah-rin. Hold it well. You can’t drop it. Don’t even open your eyes.”
“Ugh…! My heart has been pounding since earlier, it feels like it’s really angry now!”
“Just a little longer. You can do it. Hey, Baek Ah-rin, don’t let your hands shake! Concentrate, concentrate!”
“Yes!”
Because I was directly inserting the iron core crafted from aura into my body, I needed help.
At that time, the one in charge of my small surgery was Baek Ah-rin.
I didn’t expect a 1st grader who knows nothing to handle aura.
So, I only asked her to hold onto the 15cm long, 0.7mm thick aura structure with her fingers as much as possible.
Woosh
“Hyahhh!”
It was I who got pricked by the needle, but Ah-rin’s tiny toes curled up. Her face was trembling so much that I could tell how hard she was squinting her eyes.
The outstanding imagination of a child seemed to have reached the level where they could empathize with someone else’s pain.
“Did… did it work?”
“About right? I think I have to push it in a little more. I’ll take care of the rest.”
“Na-me, can I open my eyes now?”
“Yes, if you want to.”
“Gah…!”
Ah-rin’s eyes blinked.
Seven needles pierced through my abdomen.
“…!”
Seeing me pushing in the angles with my fingers, Ah-rin foamily fainted on the spot.
Unfortunately, I didn’t have the capacity to take care of the child who collapsed onto the cold floor right away.
Now came a far tougher and more boring task.
Making rooms with the thin iron needles and sealing unique magic that would serve as the centers of each room.
Even if they thrash about, it’s inside my body, so there was no need to design an intricate circuit prison.
Still, since it would be tricky if the coordinate system changed when dealing with magic later, I decided to build at least a somewhat convincing ‘house.’
Here lived Medusa, next to her was Erichiton, and lastly, there was Schadenfreude.
The circuitry that formed the unique magic became an excellent gatekeeper that sealed off the entries and exits of the Aura Heart.
That was when Ah-rin finally woke up.
She seemed fascinated by my meticulous trimming of the spikes popping out of my belly with nail clippers.
“Ah… doesn’t it hurt…?”
“Yeah. It’s not a real iron core. Once I shape it, I’ll absorb it back into my body.”
“Ehh… but it seems like it would hurt… Is there anything I can help with?”
“Um…”
Ah-rin looked at me with bright eyes, seeming to want to help me more.
Reluctantly, I gathered the trimmed iron core pieces with the nail clippers.
“Hold out your palm. Like this, okay.”
Ah-rin politely presented her palm with both hands.
To prevent her from getting poked, I coated her palm with an aura shield before placing several pieces of the iron core on it.
“Hey, there’s a trash can in my room, right? Can you throw these in there for me?”
“Sure! I can do that much!”
By chance, Ah-rin became the trash shuttle, and she seemed so happy about it that she ran towards the door.
“Whoaaaap!”
“Hey, Baek Ah-rin!”
Thud—!
Unfortunately, there was a slightly raised floorboard right under her feet, and Ah-rin tripped on it.
The iron cores she was holding flew everywhere and ended up stuck in the walls and floor.
“Ugh… Waaahhhhh!”
“I can’t live like this. Are you okay, Ah-rin?”
“I… I can’t even do this right… Sniff… I’m sorry, boohoo…”
Ah-rin began to cry her heart out while holding her bruised knee.
“No, it’s not your fault. I should have asked the nun to change the flooring, right?”
“Sniff…”
“It’s okay, it’s okay, okay?”
I wasn’t very good at comforting children.
It took about ten minutes before Ah-rin stopped crying.
Worn out from her tears, she suddenly stiffened up and ran into my arms.
“What’s wrong?”
“G-g-ghost!”
“Ghost?”
“I heard a real ghost sound! What is it…? I really heard it!”
“Do you hear it now?”
“No… I don’t hear it… But I really heard it! I’m not lying, Na-me! I’m serious!”
“Okay, okay, I believe you.”
“Really… Uwaaa…”
Suddenly, a thought crossed my mind.
Where Ah-rin had placed her hand when she fell was the same spot where the iron core flew down and pierced the floor.
With a hint of hope, I lay flat on the ground and searched around with my hands.
A piercing voice rang in my ears.
[Die, filthy brat!]
[Die! Just die!]
[Don’t even breathe! I’ll kill you!]
In an instant, I recognized the identity of the ghost Ah-rin spoke of.
The unique magic born from the emotion of rage: ‘Sekhmet.’
A tiny fragment of it must have flowed out through the iron core.
I took a fluorescent marker and drew an X on the floor.
“What was it…?”
“A ghost… or something similar?”
“Ahhh!”
“It’s okay, it’s not that dangerous.”
I also marked the locations where the remaining iron cores had been stuck.
“Let’s not touch this place for a while.”
“What happens if we touch it?”
“Well, you hear ghost sounds like earlier.”
“Does that mean there are real ghosts?”
“No.”
“…?”
Since the half-life of the longest Schadenfreude circuit is two weeks, after about two months, this phenomenon would disappear naturally.
In the meantime, I earnestly advised Ah-rin not to touch the marked spots.
It wouldn’t be good if she learned bad words from such a young age.
Ironically, shortly thereafter, Ah-rin was adopted by a decent-looking gentleman.
As I ran out of the choking orphanage, Room 206, which had turned into an empty space in an instant, left me clueless about its fate.
*
“The surgery was successful. This MRI image was taken from the side; the parts visible in the left photo are the nerve bundles surrounding the Aura Heart. Here, as you can see, there’s a large nerve bundle, which can be considered the boundary of the Aura Heart.”
“How big…?”
“Yes, about the size of an adult fist, right? This Aura Heart is about ten times larger than those of children in the same age group. While it might’ve been initially large, given that the surrounding organs are squished, there’s a chance it was expanded due to environmental factors. Do you see the bright tube here? This is the main nerve, and fortunately, its outer wall is thick—”
The attending physician explained the process and results of the lengthy twelve-hour surgery to the guardian, Professor Cheon, in detail.
They unfolded the misshapen Aura Heart, akin to one that had been hit by a stapler, and explained that they had tied up the other passageways except for the main nerve to bring the amount of absorbed mana back to normal levels.
“And it’s the first time I’ve ever seen an Aura Heart divide itself; if both the patient and guardian agree, would it be okay to report this to the academic community?”
Professor Cheon outright refused.
The doctor didn’t seem all that disappointed; after all, he appeared satisfied that the major surgery was successful.
Once the doctor left the room, Professor Cheon let out a deep sigh.
“Na-me, are you awake?”
Called by name in a soft voice, I reflexively opened my eyes.
“How did you know?”
“It’s hard to pretend not to know when your ears perk up like that.”
“Ah, did I do that?”
I had an IV in my arm and something inserted in my nose—what was it called again? Nasal cannula?
Anyway, I was now fully experiencing the essence of modern medicine.
“The surgery seems to have gone well.”
“Yeah… it seems so.”
“Why do you seem so drained, professor? You weren’t like this before.”
“Na-me, does it still hurt a lot?”
He seemed to think it was his fault that I was hospitalized.
Otherwise, there’s no way he could show such a sad expression.
I raised my left arm and held his hand, which was gripping the bedside railing.
“I’ll tell you if it hurts.”
“Will you promise?”
“Here’s our promise.”
I made a promise with my pinky finger sticking out from my clenched fist.
Professor Cheon, eyes wide open with surprise, held my pinky in a puzzled expression that was either a laugh or a cry.
“By the way, professor, what’s with that big tree behind you? Oh, it’s a wreath, right? What is it?”
A colorful wreath that read “Wishing for a speedy recovery for student NoNa-me” was the first thing that caught my eye.
“Yesterday, President Ijo-won came by for a bit.”
“Really?”
“He just showed his face at the door and left.”
How can the head of state be so easily seen?
Wait, thinking it over, maybe this wasn’t such a special occurrence in the Republic of Korea.
I kept thinking about absolute monarchy, and it felt like a king had come to visit, yet when you boil it down, it was merely an ordinary office worker who was just curious, dropping by after work.
“Um… did he not mention anything about the terrorists?”
“He only said a couple of greetings before parting ways.”
Of course.
Now, I couldn’t tell if he had come to see me out of concern or mere curiosity, or if it was just for image-making.
I wished that he wouldn’t feel the need to come see me in person and would simply fulfill the requests I had made behind the scenes.
“This hospital room is too small; let’s get the wreath out to the hallway.”
“Should we?”
“Wouldn’t that inconvenience other patients? I think it’d be fine just to leave it outside on the first floor.”
“If that’s the case, wouldn’t it be better to just throw it away?”
“Well, as long as I accept their good intentions, I guess it’s okay. It seems to be taking up unnecessary space.”
“Got it.”
I personally didn’t like that kind of decor.
And the next day, an absurd article popped up on TV.
[The unfortunate genius abandoned by Korea, even after the president’s late efforts to reach out.]
[The flower wreath sent by President Lee was found in the hospital’s dumpster… is this a hint at the possibility of emigration?]
