{Haha! As expected, it must have been an easy job for the Legion!}
“Easy, my ass.”
We did exactly what that “doctor” had commissioned us to do.
After subjugating [Persistent Avaros], we returned to Gangnam with it captured alive.
-Let go, let go....... You disgusting mongrels......!
Monsters that had appeared from deeper inside, at some point—
they were suppressing Avaros as it lay collapsed and thrashed, dragging it off somewhere.
{To finish the job in less than a day and then say it wasn’t easy? The Legion Commander is humble as well.}
Even that “doctor” who had asked for this didn’t seem to have expected the mission to be completed in barely half a day.
It spoke in a voice that sounded particularly excited.
“......That isn’t humility, you bastard.”
Just like that.
Subjugating that thing was never easy.
‘What the hell is that thing so strong for, goddamn it.’
To be honest.
Out of every monster I’d run into while subjugating military bases so far, that thing was far more difficult than any of them.
Not only did the attacks of the unit members—strengthened to the limit through cooking—barely work,
even my approach, trying to strike covertly through [Environmental Assimilation], got detected and blocked like it was nothing.
‘Saying it’s caught thousands of great monsters that hide their bodies in the environment, then throwing a punch...... I seriously thought I was going to die.’
This place was Seoul.
The most important land in the Republic of Korea,
so compared to military bases in other regions with relatively lower importance,
maybe the monsters occupying Seoul’s military bases were just stronger.
It got to the point where Jang Youngwoong—surviving for over a year in a place like this—felt amazing all over again.
{Now I’m curious. How in the world did you catch that thing?}
Even so.
There was only one reason we were able to subjugate it.
‘Jeong Sua’s Spirit Eye is compatible with my eyes.’
The view Jeong Sua showed me through spirits.
Because the traits I possessed were applied to that view.
“......It looked like that thing’s strength came from its ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ distinctive tendons.”
{Oh?}
“Those tendons had insane elasticity. They were probably reinforced by its unique mana. That’s why, even with that bulk, it could show that kind of unbelievable mobility.”
Because of that, after identifying its weakness in advance,
we were able to succeed by relentlessly digging into only that weakness.
“On the other hand, it seems like in a few places where those tendons pass through, the hide is thin so it can move elastically. If you focus on cutting those parts, dressing it...... no, cutting it is easier.”
Using that, we started by exploiting its weakness—
and succeeded by using stealth-specialized unit members to cut the tendons in its ankles first.
It had quickly figured out my [Environmental Assimilation],
but that was because I wasn’t an assassin—I was a chef.
‘And I fed stealth-specialized unit members food specialized for ambush.’
Even that monster, honed by wild instinct,
only confirmed the attack at the very moment a blade flew at its ankle.
‘To be honest, I thought that was the end of it.’
But because it started going berserk, kicking off the ground with its hands,
subjugating it ended up being harder than I’d expected.
Still, since we knew where its weaknesses were, we managed to win by cutting the tendons in its hands as well.
{My god. I’d heard rumors that the Legion’s strategy was incredible...... but to grasp that kind of information in an instant and dig into it.}
“Anyway. It wasn’t an easy enemy for us either. So.”
The face of the “doctor” we’d been talking to
changed into that usual face split wide.
{Haha, of course. Now it’s my turn to pay the price!}
“.......”
{Come inside, Legion Commander.}
It was a bit grotesque,
but the emotion I felt was pure joy.
{Treatment...... no.}
The “doctor” laughed happily.
{Let’s begin evolution.}
It guided me to the operating room.
*****
There wasn’t anything special before going into surgery.
No, should I say there wasn’t?
‘It’s so not special that it’s almost surprising.......’
That “doctor” had set up in a district of Gangnam where hospitals were clustered.
The operating room it led me to had also been prepared inside one of those hospitals.
{The native species’ medical facilities are usable enough. For treating the native species, this is the right kind of place.}
“......You know how to use this stuff?”
{Roughly? At my level, even if it’s equipment I’m seeing for the first time, I can figure out its purpose.}
Anyway, like that,
I entered the operating room.
Krrrk.......
“Those guys?”
{They’re the ones who will perform the surgery.}
“......Those guys are in charge of my treatment?”
{Is there something strange about that?}
“.......”
Entrusting myself to a monster that didn’t know my body at all......
No, not even a man, just a monster.
It wasn’t like I had no tension, but.......
“......No, forget it.”
I’d already prepared for contingencies.
So I lay down quietly on the operating table.
I could see the monsters that had entered the operating room approaching me.
{Close your eyes for a moment, and when you open them, everything will be over.}
......Huh.
It said it like that, but
I was a pretty high-level awakened person.
The more an awakened person’s stats increase,
the more their immunity to drugs and abilities increases as well.
‘A normal sleeping drug won’t even work.’
It said lightly that it would be over if I closed my eyes and opened them again,
but putting me under would probably be difficult even for an extremely powerful monster.......
{It’s done.}
“......Huh?”
That’s what I’d been thinking, but
I closed my eyes for a moment and opened them,
and I was lying in some hospital room, not the operating room I’d been in a second ago.
*****
“W-what. It’s already over...... ngh.”
{It’ll still feel a bit stiff for now.}
I didn’t even know what had happened,
but anyway, it seemed like the treatment it had intended for me was more or less finished.
{For the time being, lie down and rest, Legion Commander.}
I turned my gaze and looked around.
And the first thing I noticed was
standing by my bed......
-Krrrk.......
A horribly ugly thing,
a monster that looked like a child had forcibly stitched together several kinds of toys.
{Lying down might be boring, but endure it a little.}
“.......”
{Well, isn’t there blood flowing in the Legion Commander’s body that has peculiar recovery power? You’ll recover quickly. Originally, the power of that blood had weakened a lot, but with this surgery, that power should have returned quite a bit as well.}
Somehow,
this voice ringing in my head also seemed to be coming through that monster.
‘So there are monsters that can be used as terminals like this too, not just that bat monster?’
It was hard to imagine, looking at that grotesque appearance,
but it seemed like that thing was in charge of watching over me.
Anyway.
I glanced down at my body and spoke.
“So is the treatment over now?”
It was a bit stiff,
but I couldn’t see any difference at all.
{To speak precisely, this surgery is over. It ended very well without any problems.}
At that,
I couldn’t help tilting my head.
“You’re saying the surgery is over. Then is there still something left?”
{......It seems you have a tendency to say absurd things often, Legion Commander.}
At my words,
the “doctor” answered with an attitude that sounded like it was the one dumbfounded.
{Surely you didn’t think that after leaving your body in that state, treatment would end with a single surgery?}
“Uh...... so it isn’t?”
{My god. How can you be so shameless.}
In a voice that sounded a little angry,
like it was lamenting, the “doctor” answered.
{Sometimes there are patients like that. Patients who live like a mess and ruin their bodies, then hope they’ll be completely cured with one rough treatment.}
“......Ahem.”
{Like I told you before, the state of your body is beyond imagination. It’s so bad you’d think it would be hard to ruin a body this much. And you hoped a body like this would be completely cured with one or two treatments...... isn’t that desire far too excessive?}
I’d felt it before, but
it was like getting scolded by a doctor.
I shrank back oddly, unable to even argue.
{So rest well and finish recovering quickly. Only then can we talk about the next treatment.}
“Then if my current condition recovers, do we go straight into the next procedure?”
{What are you talking about.}
But,
when the next words came out, I couldn’t hold back.
{To proceed with the next treatment, you must pay the price for the next treatment.}
“What?”
I widened my eyes and said,
“Don’t tell me you’re saying I have to pay a different price every time you do one of those multiple treatments?”
{Isn’t that obvious? I can’t work for free.}
“You son of a—!”
I said without hiding my fury.
“I don’t know what your intention was when you told me to catch that monster, but that Avaros bastard was absurdly strong! If you tried to catch it yourself, hundreds—no, thousands—of your subordinates outside would have been ground up!”
{That’s right. That’s also why I gave up on capturing it myself.}
“It’s a monster that, in its own home, got called Immortal Avaros and all that! We caught something like that and handed it over...... and you’re saying it ends with just one treatment?”
At my words,
the doctor answered in a tone that sounded unpleasant like never before.
{Immortal...... you said?}
“What?”
{I didn’t know that thing was called by such an unearned name......}
Rather than being angry at me,
it sounded like it was angry at that monster called Avaros.
{Anyway. You brought it down, Legion Commander. Contrary to that ridiculous name, it wasn’t actually an immortal monster.}
Maybe that impression wasn’t wrong.
It soon calmed its anger and spoke in a composed tone.
{I believe I provided treatment worthy of the price. If you don’t want to continue treatment, you may refuse. Even if you leave, I won’t stop you.}
“You son of a—!”
Such shamelessness.
Angry at that attitude, I reflexively sat up.
{But I wouldn’t recommend it.}
And then.
The moment I sat up—
{Because as for the effect you’ll get if you continue receiving my treatment, that is something I can guarantee.}
“.......”
The rage that had been surging up a moment ago vanished without a trace,
and I stared blankly at my hand.
“This is...... what the hell.”
{Haha, it seems you can already feel it.}
After returning from Gyeonggi......
every time I moved my body, I’d had to feel a strange creaking.
Using [Berserk] over and over in Gyeonggi,
the damage that had piled up in my body.
As that burden accumulated, it was creating an alien sensation, like my body wasn’t my body.
But.
That was only the story up until recently.
“No way.”
All of that alien sensation
had vanished like a ghost.
{I told you it would be good to get treatment. I don’t lie.}
“How...... how can this be?”
No—rather,
it felt like my body’s performance had risen higher than at any point I’d ever felt in my life.
“To improve this much...... is that even possible?”
If it were restored to the level I’d been at before leaving Gyeonggi, I could at least understand it,
but this wasn’t just that.
{Hmm. Are you curious about the treatment process? There’s nothing I can’t tell you.}
And at my question,
that “doctor” answered like it was nothing.
{That monster you captured for me.}
“Avaros?”
{As you said, it was quite a big shot. I was fairly surprised that you identified that thing’s strength. In fact...... that strength was exactly why I asked you to bring it to me.}
Wondering what it was talking about,
I looked at it with a puzzled expression.
{As I said, your entire body is already a wreck. It wasn’t at a level that could be treated just because we treated it. Not by me, and not by any outstanding doctor...... unless it was some being on the level of a god of medicine, it would be absolutely impossible.}
“But.”
{You want to ask how it got better like this, don’t you?}
Right.
It had said from the start that restoring my body to its original condition was impossible.
But.......
‘It said something beyond that might be possible.’
At first I hadn’t known what that meant, but
{The answer is simple.}
Now,
I felt like I understood.
{If treating it is impossible...... you just replace it with something better.}
“......What?”
{Of course the sensation would be huge. Because.......}
At those words,
I felt goosebumps.
{Right now, the Legion Commander’s tendons are the ones you praised so highly.......}
“.......”
{They’re from that [Avaros].}
