Chapter 124
Chapter 124
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 124
Chapter Title: The Crowded Hospital
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Hospital. A place where people get treated for their illnesses. One could say it’s essential for people to live healthy lives, but at least before the world of Yuseong’s fell into ruin, it wasn’t exactly a crowded spot.
Whether it was external injuries, internal wounds, or diseases, the nano robots injected into the body handled most ailments, so hardly anyone needed to visit a hospital.
The place was packed to the brim, the kind of crowd that made the phrase “swarming” come to mind naturally. From children to the elderly, people of all ages were there.
‘Who’d have thought I’d end up people-watching in a hospital of all places.’
He’d once thought about checking it out, but he’d imagined it’d be in a bustling city street, not a hospital.
But people were people, no matter the location. Plus, this spot might even be better than a busy district for seeing such a diverse range of ages.
‘Staring at people is rude, they say.’
Yuseong blurred his focus and flicked his eyes discreetly to observe the crowd.
His superhuman dynamic vision, capable of tracking monsters, beasts, and even Arc monsters’ attacks, was now being used just to watch people. If anyone who knew him saw this, what would they think?
But Yuseong wasn’t the only one observing people here. Others were staring right back at him.
“Isn’t that guy Yuseong?”
“Yuseong? Who’re you talking about?”
“You know, the Freestyle Guild guy. The one who’s been blowing up lately.”
“Oh, the one who snagged a baby crib with a Necronomicon replica?”
To reiterate, Arc was a massively popular game. Across all age groups. It wasn’t just casual enjoyment for men, women, young, and old.
It dominated most cultural industries that people enjoyed—games, sports, arts, you name it.
Naturally, getting famous in Arc meant fame in the real world too, with an impact unmatched by any past field.
The scramble for the Necronomicon replica had already hit the airwaves multiple times. Not just cable news, but even the opening segments of major broadcast news. Yuseong’s face had graced front pages of newspapers, and the internet was a given.
In short, nearly every easily accessible medium had covered Yuseong recently—and as the top story.
Unsurprisingly, plenty of people recognized him.
But no one approached. It was the hospital ER, after all, and more importantly, the patient he’d brought in looked in rough shape to anyone’s eyes.
Fortunately, no one clueless enough came over with a friendly greeting to someone like that.
“Are you the guardian for Grandma Kim Bok-rye?”
“Yes?”
A nurse suddenly asked Yuseong.
“Grandma K—”
The nurse’s eyes widened like saucers. She’d recognized him too. But she quickly suppressed her curiosity with professionalism.
“...im Bok-rye’s guardian?”
[The guide is asking if you’re the guardian of the fallen human.]
With advice from the guide, Yuseong spoke up.
“No, she collapsed right in front of me out of nowhere, so I called 119.”
“Oh, I see.”
“Is she okay?”
The nurse nodded.
“You got her here fast, so no threat to her life.”
“Good to hear.”
[It’s about time to head back.]
Heeding the guide’s warning, Yuseong chatted a bit more with the nurse before excusing himself busily and leaving the hospital.
No car to take, so he called a taxi.
Sitting in the back seat was a first for him too. Today was full of new experiences.
* * *
To Seo Hyewon—known in Arc as Western Flower Garden—her grandmother was her parents in every sense.
The one who’d raised her after her parents died in an accident when she was young, their faces now faded from memory.
Like any kid, she’d caused her grandma plenty of headaches back then. Especially since they weren’t well-off financially.
She figured she could’ve made a fortune just selling the giant nails she’d hammered into her grandma’s heart at the scrap yard.
Yet despite it all, her grandma cherished her. She scraped by with their modest means to support Hyewon. And as Hyewon grew wiser, she came to appreciate her grandmother’s selfless love.
Hyewon was convinced she’d stayed on the straight and narrow solely because of that love.
Sure, those hardships had turned her into a money-obsessed person, but what was wrong with loving money in a capitalist society?
Thanks to her grandma’s devotion, Hyewon was now one of Arc’s top players, even as the game devoured global culture. Her income was astronomical, naturally.
Of course, Hyewon wanted to repay the woman who’d raised her right away.
A nice house, a luxury car, fine clothes, gourmet food—things her grandma couldn’t have dreamed of in her youth. Hyewon was ready to give her anything.
She was crazy about money, but spending on her grandma was never a waste.
But in a capitalist world where most desires could be bought, money meant nothing against an old woman’s stubbornness.
“What good’s all that fancy stuff? I’ll live out my days quietly here, so you go chase your dreams.”
No matter how much her granddaughter begged her to move somewhere nice, she wouldn’t hear it. In the end, they compromised on renovating the countryside home and frequent visits.
But now, that grandma had collapsed.
‘I should’ve insisted we live together!’
She rushed straight to the hospital where her grandma was admitted. Thankfully, it wasn’t serious.
“You brought her in right after she collapsed, so no life-threatening issues. Low chance of lingering effects too.”
Hyewon sighed in relief at the nurse’s explanation, who seemed mildly surprised by her appearance.
‘Thank goodness.’
Hearing her grandma was fine snapped Hyewon’s mind back into gear. Her tunnel vision widened.
“Oh, right—do you have contact info for the person who brought her in?”
She had to thank them. In her current state, she’d hand over her entire fortune if they asked.
But the nurse’s expression turned odd at her question.
“Um, sorry, but aren’t you Western Flower Garden from Freestyle Guild?”
“Yeah, that’s me.”
If she’d heard this before learning her grandma was okay, she’d have snapped about the timing. But now, she kept her tone civil enough.
“And Yuseong’s in your guild, right?”
“...Yes.”
The nurse’s increasingly weird questions started to irk her a bit.
But what came next was shocking.
“That was him.”
“...Huh?”
“The one who brought in the patient—it was Yuseong from Freestyle.”
Hyewon’s mouth fell open slightly. She was utterly flustered by the unexpected name.
“Really?”
“We were shocked too. When Western Flower Garden showed up as the guardian for the patient Yuseong brought in.”
The nurse didn’t seem to be lying, judging by her excitement. But what were the odds of this coincidence?
Hyewon felt dazed.
* * *
Back at the hideout, Yuseong parked the powered exoskeleton and robot together.
‘Looking good!’
Seeing them side by side in the hideout again filled him with pride.
Next to them stood a new appliance: a refrigerator. He’d left one exoskeleton and one robot in the other world, freeing up space to bring more stuff.
Naturally, the fridge came first. He opened the door. The food packed inside was pure bliss.
‘No more worries about food from now on.’
It wasn’t just for survival anymore. Eating could actually be enjoyable now. A form of entertainment.
Unthinkable back then. Beast meat had only brought pain.
What a world of difference.
‘How much gold did I make?’
He opened the quest reward window. Prices for the exoskeleton, robot, railgun, and other items left in the other world should’ve come through.
“Whoa!”
Yuseong exclaimed like a kid. The reward was staggering.
86,530,000G.
A whopping eighty-six million gold. Adding his spare cash pushed him over 100 million.
‘This is enough to buy everything I need.’
Yuseong pulled up the Purchase Window immediately.
‘Other world stuff first.’
The Other World 12 Hours item, extending stays there to twelve hours. But like the existing Other World Travel items, it was heavily grayed out.
‘Next time, grab this instead of the three-hour one.’
Staying twelve hours there sounded heavenly. To experience it sooner, he needed to cut the cooldown.
Other World Travel Cooldown Reduction (24 Hours) II.
This shaved another full day off the cooldown. Buying it meant heading back a day earlier.
But the price was brutal.
40,000,000G.
Nearly half his earnings gone on this one item. Equivalent to a whole robot.
But with the money to spare, skipping it wasn’t an option.
With trembling hands, Yuseong bought it.
Watching the cooldown drop by 24 hours instantly was some consolation.
He also snagged a map showing a 10,000km radius. Luckily, it only cost a million gold(?).
‘Think that covers everything.’
With real-world tasks wrapped up, Yuseong logged back into the Virtual Reality Device.
Time to connect to Arc.
* * *
Logging into Arc, Yuseong opened his status window first.
lv 38 (exp 346/1,924)
HP - 252 / MP - 68
Strength - 91
Vitality - 106 (+30)
Agility - 170
Dexterity - 28
Intelligence - 10
Magic Power - 37
Luck - 10
Bonus Points: 0
※ Traits
Savior’s Blessing: +30 to designated stat (change once per day possible)
※ Spotlight - 12,325,198
As expected, the skyrocketing Spotlight drew the eye first. In this short time, it’d ballooned nearly a hundredfold, thanks to all the buzz around his exploits.
‘Growth seems to be slowing lately, though.’
Yuseong wished it’d climb faster, but even he knew sustaining the prior pace was unrealistic.
He dumped 30 points from level-ups and dungeon discoveries into Strength.
To wield the gun from Cooking Day—with reinforced ammo—he needed that much.
‘Without Savior’s Blessing, I couldn’t have used it right away last time.’
He’d shifted designated stats to cover his lacking Strength mid-battle before.
The rest went to Dexterity, which he’d been building lately.