Chapter 197
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 197
Chapter Title: Little Sister's Pride
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My youngest sister held her chin high with a voice brimming with pride.
"If you're going to argue with me, bring logic and evidence. Then I'll acknowledge it."
Even her habit of showing off like this to the bitter end hadn't changed much from the old days.
And she was just as cute and pretty as before.... Or wait, had she gotten even prettier? Maybe not exactly the same then...
"But hey, little sis. Have you gotten even more fit since before?"
"Huh? You noticed? Hehe. It's all thanks to this new treatment potion IV drip. ...Though it's gotten really hard to get again lately."
"Treatment potion IV?"
I turned my eyes in the direction she pointed, and there it was—a red IV bag I'd never seen before.
"Oh, what's that? Actual healing potion?"
"It's super diluted. Like, maybe 1 in 10,000? Even so, it's impossible to buy these days no matter how much money you've got. Word got out that it works on people like me, you know. Second sis shelled out a fortune to get it for me."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Awakeners with alchemy skills are rare..., and mass-producing it would require an industrial setup, but there's still no one but people to infuse the mana, so it's basically handmade.... High failure rate too, so the pure stuff is worth a fortune."
"Oh...."
"All those incurable diseases I had? Turns out they were probably mana-related. No idea why I got them even before the Tower incident.... But maybe I can get discharged soon? Or at least switch to outpatient treatment like old times."
So the reason my little sister had been sick was something tied to mana?
That's why even the doctors never figured out the name or cause—it was an incurable disease all along...
But mana only showed up recently, right?
Yet my sister had been suffering for years before that? What the hell?
Maybe, like some mages theorized, there were holes in the dimensional barriers letting mana trickle in slowly,
and at some point it hit a tipping point, the dam burst,
monstrous creatures and superpowered folks popped up like weeds, and eventually the Towers appeared?
"Your illness being mana-related..."
"Anyway, supernatural treatments like that medicine or techniques work great on me. I got a heal once from a healer sis attached to this hospital, and I felt way better that day."
"Nice. So just get another one. How much? ...Nah, Second Sis has plenty of cash."
"No way. We can't do that. If I buy her out with big money.... People will die."
"What?"
"Our hospital's healer sis can only treat one or two people a day. She beats herself up that her powers aren't that great.... Now with all these anomalies, monsters..., and Tower outbreaks worldwide. Strange diseases, poisons, curses—nameless stuff spreading everywhere. Probably all mana-caused."
"Mm. I've seen it on the net and news. It's not just the Towers anymore."
"Even this hospital has tons of patients hanging on by a thread right now. Mana diseases and poisons—regular docs can't touch 'em. Only mana-based treatments work. So if I pay top dollar to hog the healer? Maybe someone dies here tomorrow because of me."
"..."
"I'm fine. It hurts, it's painful, but I'm not dying tomorrow. I can chat with you like this. Last time I got a heal from her, it was a slow day. But not now."
"..."
"Mana illnesses and curses are overflowing nationwide, but healers are way short. Same with healing potions. Honestly, me using this diluted potion IV is crazy luxury. It just works well on me, but for someone else, it could be the thread keeping them alive today."
"......Mm."
"...You might think I'm stupid or stubborn for this. But if I heard someone died tomorrow because of me, I couldn't handle it. I'm still okay. More critical cases should get treated first. That's how I see it. I'm not the one on the brink."
"...Yeah. I get it. I understand."
'Should I use my ultimate salvation skill on her?'
Ah.... But I don't wanna. Too precious.
Not urgent, like she said.
Isn't the potion IV making her better bit by bit?
I don't want to use Salvation.
The cooldown's a bitch, and it's my spare life skill.
In this brutal world these days..., can't survive without insurance like that.
'Plus, if word gets out I have this power, she'll probably tell me to use it on someone dying instead. And if it leaks to others? I'd end up as the nation's shuttle for Salvation.'
So after mulling it over, I decided to buy healing potions from the shop and give them to her.
If the super-diluted IV works that well, pure stuff should be even better, right?
Wow, I'm such a great big bro. No one has a brother this nice.
'Oh yeah, that reminds me. I used to plan to feed her healing potions back then to get her healthy and then fuck her. ...But she's already kinda better now? So maybe fuck her first, then buy potions from the shop? She said the healer's busy, so maybe my aphrodisiac & drug cum won't get her in trouble...?'
No. Back to square one.
Too risky.
Inside the Tower, I can do whatever, and if shit hits the fan, just head to the next floor or use the Gun fix.
But reality's full of constraints.
Imagining raping my sister, things going south, and her crying as she runs to the cops? Makes me hesitate.
"Oppa. What're you thinking?"
"Nothing. Nada."
"...Feels like you were imagining something creepy and dirty. No weird fantasies—listen to me instead. I prepared fun stuff and useful trivia since you were coming."
My little sister always loved teaching me stuff, even back then.
She'd plop me down beside her like I was some knowledge goddess's disciple and chirp away like a baby bird for ages.
Maybe that's why I like my pussy slaves chattering beside me in the Tower.
"Alright, alright. Spill it."
"Okay, Oppa, you know how to cut depression and suicide risk? It's scientifically proven."
"Depression and suicide? Isn't that for weak-minded losers whose brains rot? It's 'cause their mental strength sucks."
"Oppa! I told you not to say stuff like that...!"
"Fine. Won't anymore. Anyway, what's the method?"
"One question first. Oppa, you made money doing some job, right? Who do you owe that to?"
"Me, obviously. I did the work."
"What if you don't get paid?"
"Did the work but no pay? Fuck that unpaid asshole."
"Heh, you probably never get depressed. Success is 'my merit,' failure is 'someone else's fault'—built-in. Not 100% perfect, but you're depression-proof."
"What's that mean?"
"It's in scientific journals. People with depression or suicide history mostly think in first-person when shit goes bad: 'I' as the subject. Low-risk folks use second- or third-person: 'you' or 'he/she' perspectives when things suck."
"Huh?"
"Hear me out. We gotta watch when extreme choices like depression or suicide hit. Usually not when life's good and happy. They come when shit fails, no money, misery. First-person types say:
"...?"
"'It's all because of me.' Or 'Why am I so unlucky?' 'I' is the center. Even if luck's truly shit, they blame themselves. Heavy self-reflection and regret invite depression. Second- or third-person?"
"What?"
"It's your fault. That bitch's fault. That bastard's. Fucker's fault. Like that."
"Oh.... Yeah...."
"Simple: study says folks good at blaming others in bad times have killer mental shields against depression or suicide history. Downside: relationships might tank if extreme."
"Mm."
"Think about it. Makes sense, right? Shameless bastards always seem to have nine lives in society."
"Oh..."