Chapter 19
Chapter 19
Translator: Penny
Episode 19: A Gift from a Commoner
Episode 19: A Gift from a Commoner
Bang!
"Sword Demon? What brings you here so suddenly?"
"Everyone except me, leave this room immediately."
Startled by the abrupt demand, the doctor protested.
"What nonsense is this? The Young Lady's condition is deteriorating in real time—"
"I'll give you three seconds. If you're not out by then... things will get ugly."
Whoosh!
"H-hic?!"
Clatter!
"...Releasing killing intent against civilians? Is he losing his mind?"
But if you saw the tumbler clutched in his hand, you'd understand why he was doing this.
"To think I could actually cure the disciple I cherish like my own daughter..."
At first, I thought it was just empty boasting.
His disciple was collapsing, dying in real-time. Modern medicine could only slow the progression of the curse, not cure it. The severity of the curse was so notorious that it was considered absolutely incurable.
Most Heroes knew that this situation had arisen from Lee Cheon-ma's own greed and miscalculation of the Gates.
The girl had been a young child barely rescued from a burning civilian house, the target of a criminal organization's vengeance.
She reminded Lee Cheon-ma too much of his own son—the son who had recklessly rushed into a Gate to save people, only to have his identity as the Sword Demon's son exposed. The group that had always resented him deliberately abandoned him, leaving him to die alone deep within the Dungeon.
Suddenly seeing his son in the girl, Lee Cheon-ma resolved to raise her.
But there was a problem.
At the time, Lee Cheon-ma was a comrade of the Sword Saint, Kang Jin-myeong, and belonged to the Divine Sword Guild.
If he took in the child, he wouldn't be able to fully dedicate his time to Kang Jin-myeong's Guild, where they had fought countless battles together, potentially causing harm to the group.
Therefore, he declared his intention to adopt the child even if it meant leaving the Sword Saint's Guild. He vowed to raise her to be so strong that she would never falter, no matter the challenge.
Fortunately, the Sword Saint understood his feelings and offered his support, telling him to reach out if he ever needed help. With a peaceful heart, Lee Cheon-ma returned to his hometown, where he had been born and raised.
Using Supreme Potions and the expertise of healers, he managed to fully restore the collapsed child's body. However, there was a problem.
The young girl's eyes had already lost their luster due to the effects of the thick smoke and toxic gas, a shocking diagnosis revealed by the doctor's examination.
The girl possessed an uncanny, almost terrifying, natural talent with the sword, leaving even the Sword Saint himself speechless.
It was as if she had been born to wield a blade. Despite her blindness, she could instinctively sense the sword's position. Even with only verbal instructions, she could perfectly execute sword techniques as if she had been practicing them for over a decade.
Unfortunately, her inability to perceive anything beyond the sword was a major drawback. To compensate, I first taught her Ki Sense, a technique commonly used by the blind.
Fortunately, a member of my former guild was blind, so the Sword Saint immediately sent him as her instructor. Within months, she had mastered Ki Sense to the point where she could perceive terrain and objects within a 50-meter radius.
Seeing the young girl absorb knowledge like a sponge and grow at an astonishing rate, Lee Cheon-ma became increasingly harsh with her, fearing she might surpass him.
Yet the girl never showed any signs of hardship.
She truly is a prodigy, he thought, and took her to a Lower Mid-Tier Gate, a place even most B-Rank Heroes struggled to clear.
For him, the Gate was trivial—he could annihilate the Boss Monster and all its minions with a single sword strike. But such feats were beyond the capabilities of most, including even S-Rank Hunters like himself.
He was curious to see how the girl would demonstrate her talent against the challenge of a B-Rank Gate. Half of his decision was driven by this curiosity, with no real plan in mind.
Swish!
"Kieeeeeeek!"
With overwhelming talent, the young girl sliced through the lower-tier monsters like tofu.
Lee Cheon-ma watched with anticipation.
The only person in the world to have cleared a B-Rank Gate in their teens was Thomas Andrea, the world's strongest shield, known as "The Immovable Fortress" in America.
Even Thomas Andrea had cleared a B-Rank Gate at the age of 19. If the girl before him succeeded, she would shatter that record, completing it at just 14 years old.
Moreover, since he hadn't actively participated in the Dungeon raid, she would become the first teenager in the world to solo a B-Rank Gate.
But had he become too complacent in his excitement?
Lee Cheon-ma couldn't react.
In an instant, the High Lich—a top-tier A-Rank Monster—streaked past him and hurtled toward the young girl.
This was supposed to be a Mid-Tier Gate with a Boss Monster at the lower end of B-Rank. Yet somehow, the A-Rank High Lich had appeared and was now lunging at the girl. Lee Cheon-ma desperately swung his sword, cleaving the High Lich in half...
Thwack!
The young girl was impaled by the Lich's Scythe.
The High Lich carried its Life Vessel, the source of its vitality, but the one Lee Cheon-ma had severed wasn't on the Lich's body.
The moment he saw the girl's limp form, Lee Cheon-ma immediately lost consciousness.
When Lee Cheon-ma regained consciousness, he saw the High Lich vanishing, devoid of mana for regeneration and lacking a Life Vessel. In his arms, a young girl was slowly dying.
The moment Lee Cheon-ma emerged from the Gate, he flew to the Divine Sword Guild, led by his comrade Kang Jin-myeong, and begged them to save the child's life.
Naturally, Kang Jin-myeong, Lee Cheon-ma's closest ally, mobilized the nation's top Healers and even used a Supreme Potion, a rare elixir produced by the Yuseong Group at a rate of only one bottle per year.
Yet the girl's condition only worsened, showing no signs of improvement.
The reason was simple:
The young girl had been enduring unbearable pain, desperately trying to appear unharmed.
Her body, already ravaged by overexertion, had been pierced through the abdomen by the Lich's Scythe, a weapon imbued with a potent curse.
For four years, Lee Cheon-ma had watched over the child lying in her hospital bed, clinging to the faintest hope of her recovery despite spending 20 billion won annually on medical expenses.
As he observed his disciple's unconscious form and her steadily deteriorating condition, Lee Cheon-ma gradually grew weary.
Then, amidst this despair, he received a request for assistance from Eve Meitner, his former colleague and the Academy's chairman. He swiftly flew to the Dungeon and encountered a young girl.
This girl had collapsed after unleashing a spell so powerful it obliterated a formidable Demon without a trace—a Demon whose dazzling constellation magic had even incapacitated Eve Meitner, an S-Rank Hero.
Her appearance was strikingly similar to his own disciple. With a resolve to save her this time, Lee Cheon-ma soared through the air at the fastest speed of his life, kicking off the air with desperate urgency.
Thanks to his efforts, the girl was able to rise unharmed. However, the moment he saw her begin vomiting black masses from her entire body, Lee Cheon-ma instinctively knew his expression was turning manic.
Fortunately, the girl woke up safely. When he learned that she had been implanted with a fragment of the Demon King—an unidentified monster that the Demon had sent to retrieve her from within the Gates—his heart sank. But seeing that the side effects were minimal, he felt a slight sense of relief.
After obtaining information about the magic that had obliterated the Demon, he prepared to leave. But the sight the girl revealed was truly shocking.
She drew something in the air, and the hospital room ceiling instantly transformed into a black night sky, as dark as the void seen from space.
Above, the constellations shifted into the shape of Aquarius, the water bearer. From the celestial urn poured a rainbow-hued liquid, which the girl poured into a tumbler and abruptly handed to him. He had assumed it was a reward for saving her, but...
"I heard you have a disciple you consider like a daughter. If she drinks this, her condition should improve significantly."
Hearing those words, he had no time to ask about side effects or how the liquid in the tumbler could possibly dispel the curses.
He swiftly shattered the window and flew to the child's hospital room. The moment he saw the text message that arrived mid-flight, his pace accelerated even further.
Old Man
The potion's efficacy seems guaranteed, at least according to my Discernment. Se-a informed me that the entire liquid inside the tumbler must be consumed for it to work. Perhaps this is to prevent partial consumption or research use... Anyway, contact me immediately if her condition improves.
Gulp...
He slowly poured the liquid from the tumbler into the young girl's mouth.
Lee Seo-yun should have been entering her second year at Raon Academy by now, but instead, she lay bedridden, her body having grown while she remained unconscious.
"...Seo-yun-ah."
Gulp!
As she finished the last drop of the liquid, Lee Seo-yun's body began to glow brightly.
The ominous mark that had been branded on her skin vanished in an instant, and her complexion rapidly regained its healthy color.
Surrounded by a desperate hope that the medicine would work and a guilt that made him unable to look his disciple in the face, Lee Cheon-ma squeezed his eyes shut. Then, a voice reached his ears...
"...Master? Why are you covering your eyes like that?"
It wasn't the thin, almost cute voice she'd had before collapsing, but the mature voice of a young woman. Yet, even just hearing it, he instinctively knew it was her.
"...I'm sorry. I..."
A reunion that would never have happened without someone's help.
The curtain fluttered in the strong wind, letting in a flood of bright light. Lee Seo-yun stood there, awkwardly scratching her head...
Truly, it was nothing short of a miracle.