Chapter 51
No mutts came through the barrier, and the Double-Headed mutt returned as well. Nevertheless, there was a possibility that some could pass through the barrier. If not right now, there might be some crawling out later if special conditions were met. That had also happened in the past.
My body hurt like hell. Disguising the dungeon as a hospital had been a smart choice. I had lost my backpack, but everything I needed was available here: running water, bandages, all kinds of narcotic analgesics, and a bed. I laid down on the bed while reminding myself not to turn on the light, since the ward had not opened yet and was unoccupied. Of course, it would never be operated as a real hospital.
Unless a tutorial or lifestyle quest popped up after the Trial Tests appeared, raiding dungeons was the only way to obtain points. Of course, there were other F-class dungeons in the lands I had purchased, but finding and entering them didn’t guarantee any points or boxes. After all, I had already received the rewards for the First Discovery.
I chose this dungeon only because out of all the F-class dungeons in Korea, this was the only one where I knew how to defeat the boss monster. However, after coming back, I realized that I could never do this alone. Earlier, if I had chosen the wrong door, would I have been able to return? If not, how would I have been able to manage to survive? The sense of defeat overwhelmed me.
I turned to look out of the window. Other than the ugly barrier, the view of the rural village was truly peaceful. It seemed like the blue barrier that had divided the fantasy from reality.
I repeatedly picked up and put down my phone several times before I finally pressed the number. After wavering for a long time, I decided to choose the high risk and high return method, as this was the only way I could retry the dungeon. It was a miracle that I came back alive, and I had almost made my parents sad about my demise.
Even if there were not as many people as in the past, I at least needed a healer. And…
<Yeon-Hee: Hello.>
<Seon-Hu: You haven’t been hospitalized yet.>
<Yeon-Hee: Are you Seon-Hu? Really?>
<Seon-Hu: Hello, Teacher Woo.>
***
I saw Woo Yeon-Hee’s car approaching the wall. The headlights had been wandering for a long time and it looked like she had finally found the way. She didn’t come out of the car, and when I knocked on the driver’s window, her head turned toward me. She looked frightened. I shone a light on my face using a flashlight and waited for her to come out.
“Seon-Hu, this place is…” Woo Yeon-Hee’s voice shook.
“Was it difficult to find?” I asked.
She was gripping her phone tightly. “I was so worried. Anyone would be concerned if you hang up like that. But why did you call me here..? Can you tell me that first? I’m getting scared.”
“You would know that I’m not trying to do something bad. Or not?” I questioned.
“What are you talking about? Stop scaring me,” she crossed her arms as if she was guarding herself.
I responded, “I’m sorry. It looks scary because you arrived at night. That’s why I told you to come tomorrow morning if you were going to be late. I’ll tell you as we go.”
Woo Yeon-Hee noticed my condition as I turned my back to her. She cursed as she ran after me to stop me.
“Seon-Hu! Oh my… Why? Why are you injured so badly?” She almost wailed as she looked my body up and down.
“I’m fine. Please come in,” I said.
Woo Yeon-Hee then spotted the hospital plaque, and she remained still. I could understand her feelings, and I realized that I should’ve done a few things earlier. I told her to wait, turned on the light at the entrance, and came back. By then, she had already gone back to her car and locked the door. Her driver’s seat window was barely open, only about the size where I could fit one finger in.
“N..no…I don’t think this is right. Let’s get out of here…” Her body trembled.
I said, “Don’t be afraid. You know that I didn’t call you here to harm you. This is a mental hospital, but there’s no one there. There’s only you and me.”
She stared at me suspiciously before finally saying, “That’s even weirder.”
“I would understand if you were a civilian, but you’re not. Can’t you feel that I have no intention of harming you?” I questioned.
“The rumors have spread, right? It was pretty loud, but Seon-Hu, I’m not like the rumors say…”
She was talking about the incident in the teacher’s office that had occurred at the beginning of the semester. Her mother had come to the school, and she was a terrible lady. In front of her daughter’s fellow teachers and students, she shouted at the principal that this school was employing a mentally ill person as a teacher. Of course, no one had seen her mother since then.
Woo Yeon-Hee raised her voice as if she had realized something important.
“W…what did you say? That I can feel your intentions?”
I said calmly, “You’re not crazy. I can explain everything about why you can sense the emotions of others. So make up your mind. You can leave and live as a madman forever, or follow me.”
Before long, she carefully opened the car door and looked at me as she stood. Her expression had slightly changed.
“Seon-Hu… What are you doing? What is it that makes you so nervous?”
She reached out her trembling hand to me.
***
Woo Yeon-Hee was my dungeon box, and we sat on the bench in the garden of the desolate ward. I even turned on the lights, despite what the villagers might see, but she was still trembling.
“Don’t be afraid,” I said.
She widened her eyes at my blunt attitude.
“It’s all because you are shaking with fear inside… How can you pretend nothing is wrong?” she asked.
“Listen to me carefully. I’m the only one in the world who knows that you’re not crazy,” I said.
Her eyes widened. “What?”
“I’m just like you. You can call them superpowers, but I call them 'traits'. You must know if you’ve seen the status window—that's what tells you about them in the first place,” I continued.
Woo Yeon-Hee’s face hardened, and it looked like time had stopped for her. After a while, she was on the verge of bursting into tears.
“Don’t cry. You should be happy that you’re not alone, right?” I smiled at her.
She was close to tears. “I’ve told people so many times that I’m not insane. So many times…”
“You shouldn’t have told civilians, especially your family,” I said, and she buried her face in her palm.
“Raise your head, Woo Yeon-Hee.”
Her sobbing subsided, and she lifted her sad face that was covered with tears and snot from her runny nose.
“P… Prove it,” she was challenging me.
“What?” I asked.
She persisted, “That you’re like me. Why are you just watching me instead of comforting me?”
“My abilities are different from yours. Fortunately, mine are suitable for combat,” I explained.
“Why is that fortunate?” she asked.
“Follow me. I can prove it here, but I have something to show you first. Let’s take a look at that first,” I said.
She seemed to have felt something from what I mentioned, and she didn’t follow me.
“It’s alright. This fear…It’s kind of like a survival instinct that I need. Are you going to stay there? Come with me.”
I hesitated before reaching out with my hand, and, again, it struck me that her hands were tiny. The lights in the ward were still out, so she got closer to me. I took her to the basement, then to the material room.
She was fascinated by the blue light, and I pulled her back from going down the stairs like she had been lured by a ghost. I warned her as she tried to argue.
“You’ll die if you step on that.”
“What is this…” she mumbled.
I responded flatly, “The reason why we have abilities.”
I turned on the light in the material room, and the bloodstains on the floor revealed themselves. I pushed Woo Yeon-Hee away as she got closer to me, then took off the bandage wrapped around my arm and neck. She began to shift her weight from foot to foot and was already looking for medication to treat my wounds.
“Have you ever thought it was strange?” I asked.
“Huh?” she questioned back.
I continued, “Our regenerative ability is different from that of civilians. If we leave a severe wound alone, it heals by itself. It’s just a matter of time. By the way, what skill did you get? I’m sure you received a reward for your awakening.”
“Empathy…” she answered absentmindedly.
“That’s just a trait. If you don’t remember, check the status window. Haven’t you done it a lot already?” I questioned.
After a moment, she replied in a hesitant voice, “Treat Fear.”
“Any other skills?” I asked.
“No, Seon-Hu. Stop pressuring me and listen,” she said.
“I’m not done explaining. I don’t need to prove anymore that we are the same, right?” I continued.
I took the silent Woo Yeon-Hee to the courtyard. It was natural that she needed time to think things over. Her eyes were vague for a long time and then she started crying again. She tried to stop her tears by looking up at the sky and gently pressing her eyes with her palm, but nothing worked.
“Oh gosh, I can’t stop crying. I shouldn’t be doing this in front of you,” she said with tears in her eyes.
“I’ll explain the reason why I called you here. You can continue crying, but make sure you focus on what I say because it’s about your fate and life. Are you ready?” I said.
“Wait, Seon-Hu. Why are you so blunt?” she asked.
I smiled and said nothing for a long time. Then, I tried to use a gentle tone like the one I used when I trained those who were unfortunate in my previous life.
“Yeon-Hee, there’s no age in the world you belong to.”
The world only cares about the kind of abilities you have.
The sourc𝗲 of this content is free(w)ebnov(𝒆)l