Chapter 195
Chapter 195
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 195
Chapter Title: Chapter 36: Wandering Footsteps (3)
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The costs for early pregnancy tests, hospital bills—what the hell was a postpartum care center so expensive for anyway?
“Seeing the price made my heart sink.”
He’d spent his whole life just reading history books because he enjoyed studying them.
But once the baby came along, he couldn’t keep living in a dream anymore.
“I was so busy making money that I didn’t even notice something was wrong with the little one.”
After the miscarriage, he’d been lost in his own grief and hadn’t noticed his wife sinking deeper into her own despair, struggling helplessly.
Her body weakened from the miscarriage, she’d spent every night drowning in alcohol, and that’s how this mess happened.
“……What did the test results say?”
“Looks like the immunosuppressants aren’t working well, and her liver function numbers are bad too…… The head professor was giving the results when she suddenly collapsed. My heart’s still pounding just thinking about it.”
From Yang Tae-ho’s continuing story, it seemed the transplant hadn’t gone well.
“If she wasn’t feeling good, she should’ve gone to the hospital or the ER on her own, even if it wasn’t an appointment day. Why hold out like an idiot……”
Thanks to Yang Tae-ho’s voice growing quieter toward the end, I was able to make my decision.
‘A problem with his family is basically an opening I can exploit with Tae-ho hyung-nim.’
There was no guarantee Galenios wouldn’t take advantage of that.
If I didn’t resolve this, it could become the trigger for Yang Tae-ho to take Galenios’s hand later.
‘It’s a problem I can fix before that happens.’
Now that I knew about Yang Tae-ho’s situation, I couldn’t just leave it and walk away.
‘That’s all there is to it.’
I drew the curtain beside the bed, and Yang Tae-ho flinched in response.
But he didn’t try to stop me or dissuade me.
Instead, his trembling eyes fixed on the item in my hand.
[Kalros’s Authority One-Time Use Voucher]
It was the item I’d just taken out of my inventory.
Gripping the voucher tightly, I stood motionless by the bedside, looking down at Yang Tae-ho’s wife.
And one last time, I asked myself.
‘Is using this really the best choice?’
I arrived at the same conclusion again.
‘One sheet is fine. It’s a risk I can handle.’
It hadn’t been long since the third recruitment ended.
On top of that, when I’d negotiated with the system about the gate issue last time, it said there was no leeway for additional recruitments.
Meaning my family wasn’t in immediate danger of getting dragged into the game.
‘The question is whether I see this situation as misfortune or not.’
I closed my eyes briefly, then opened them and tore the voucher.
I let out a long breath as smoke slowly rose from Yang Tae-ho and his wife.
* * *
Back in Bihar wearing the shadow magic tool again, I still had my baseball cap pulled low.
To hide my eyes, which had surely turned golden.
Standing in front of the world tree chapel with the gate for just a moment.
As I replayed what had just happened, a hollow laugh escaped me.
‘I thought the same before, but it’s really a cheat power.’
Kalros’s Authority takes misfortune as payment and offsets it with something else.
I’d just confirmed with my own eyes how incredible it was.
Right after tearing the voucher, the misfortune I saw was greater in Yang Tae-ho.
Probably because my connection to him was closer than to the patient herself.
The degree of misfortune depends on the user’s subjective view.
So I took Yang Tae-ho’s misfortune, and as a result, his wife’s complexion immediately brightened.
Not only that, but her weight visibly increased.
Seeing her bony, emaciated frame change in real time was nothing short of a miracle—there was no other word for it.
Even I, who’d used the authority, was so shocked I froze for a moment.
In the meantime, Yang Tae-ho’s wife woke up, and I hurriedly left while whispering.
- Get any follow-up tests at another hospital.
I didn’t think we needed to exchange greetings.
- I, In-ah, are you coming to? Look at me, okay?
Leaving Yang Tae-ho tending to his wife in a trembling voice, I exited the hospital in 2 minutes.
Dodging CCTV with stealth magic and reaching Jong-hoon’s lab took about 4 minutes.
Then straight back to Bihar, bringing us to now.
I’d originally planned to head to headquarters right away to handle the investigation team’s disbandment.
‘But with my eyes like this, I’ll have to put it off.’
If it was just players, changed eyes or not wouldn’t matter.
The main scenario had already progressed several times.
‘The rankers among players all received blessings from the gods they’re affiliated with.’
Using them changes your eye color, so it wasn’t something to hide.
But headquarters had more Bihar locals—especially church officials—than players.
Particularly the priests and holy knights from Palao’s faction.
‘They’re probably already talking about how I took the divinity.’
I didn’t want them looking at me with the same burdensome gaze as Rashar.
‘It’s still early morning, so dropping by the orphanage is awkward too.’
Best to head to the outpost first.
As soon as I opened the door to the outpost on my way there, I froze in shock.
Beyond the open door, the living room was a total wreck.
‘What the…….’
It looked exactly like a break-in.
Items normally in their places were scattered on the floor.
The fabric sofa was torn with stuffing spilling out. The wooden table was flipped over.
This was absolutely not the outpost I knew.
The party members here right now were just the three dark-skinned guys.
Not only me, but the other party members were all fairly skilled at housework for various reasons.
‘I took care of the house, including chores, when the twins were even younger than now, so it became second nature.’
Kim Yul had lived in a trainee dorm and handled his own laundry and dishes.
Yang Tae-ho had gotten used to it after taking over housework when his wife was hospitalized.
Thanks to that, our outpost was pretty tidy for three guys living there.
So what the hell was this mess?
‘An intruder?’
Scanning the surroundings quickly, I spotted a broken window.
I immediately drew my dagger and activated mana detection.
Five butterflies fluttered around me.
But there was no mana signature inside the outpost.
‘Already gone?’
Otherwise, it meant an expert who could hide their mana in their core.
As I gripped my dagger tighter.
Rustle.
A presence clearly came from upstairs.
Without hesitation, I started up the stairs.
Fortunately, our party’s outpost had no valuables worth mentioning.
We each carried just enough cash in our inventories.
Outpost maintenance costs came from selling loot from party hunts, and that money was in my inventory.
‘The relics that could be called valuables are in my inventory too.’
We’d discussed it and moved them since we’re often away.
I could buy expansion packs with the tomb raider title, so space wasn’t an issue.
So there was no worry about valuables being stolen.
Just the displeasure of someone invading our space.
With a cold expression, I entered the second-floor hallway.
The presence, sharper than before, came from Kim Yul’s room.
‘Kim Yul finished dyeing and went hunting right away.’
The chat log was right there.
So whatever was rustling inside wasn’t Kim Yul.
I kicked open the half-open door, entered, and threw my dagger.
A small shadow rolled aside like a bullet.
The dagger embedded in the empty space where the shadow had been.
Then the shadowy figure kicked off the ground and leaped toward my face.
“This……!”
By then, I’d realized the small shadow’s identity and barely suppressed my attribute mana.
The culprit who’d broken the window, trashed the furniture, and was rummaging through Kim Yul’s room.
“K!”
Velda, with chocolate smeared all over her hands and mouth, grinned widely and clung to my face.
* * *
That afternoon, when Velda had broken into the empty outpost.
I arrived at the association building in Robole.
To meet the infected player.
“Let’s exchange greetings. His name’s William Page, a reliable player.”
So no need to worry about alpha information spreading.
Leaving Lily, who added that unnecessary line, I observed the player named William.
“I’ve heard a lot about you. An honor to meet you, K. Feel free to call me Will.”
He saluted like a soldier, but his face was extremely haggard.
He clearly hadn’t slept properly; exhaustion was evident.
‘Not a simple issue of extending the timer and calling it done.’
From what I heard, the timer only extended by one hour.
No matter how many potions you chugged beyond that, it was useless.
From the moment of exposure to the infection, every day became a one-hour countdown life.
If you didn’t wake up in time while sleeping, you died.
In that situation, how many people have the guts to sleep soundly?
Even if a player’s body could endure the fatigue, the mental strain couldn’t be ignored.
‘Really drives you mad.’
As soon as a new problem popped up, things got complicated in every way.
‘Should I reveal my identity and rally the other alphas?’
If another alpha died like this, fighting the 8-star general tier later would be tough.
But actually doing it meant enduring too many risks in the process.
As I swallowed a forced sigh and reached for William’s arm.
“Mo-ya? Who’s this?”
Velda, sitting on my shoulder with her legs around my neck, showed interest in him.
Not just interest—she crawled along my outstretched arm and sniffed right in William’s face.
“I told you to stay still. If you don’t listen, I’ll send you back.”
“No! I won’t go!”
“Then behave. We’ll play together after I’m done, remember?”
“Uung…… Then can I wait and eat chocolate?”
“Don’t even dream. You raided Kim Yul’s emergency rations this morning—what more do you want?”
I grabbed Velda by the scruff and put her back on my neck like a piggyback, then extended my hand to William.
Our skin touched, but no system window popped up asking if I wanted to purify another’s infection.
As expected, I felt nothing special.
“Looks like it doesn’t work after all.”
“Ah…….”
But to William, it must’ve been like a bolt from the blue.
Seeing his face drown in despair instantly made me feel like the villain.
‘Encouraging hope here would be cruel.’
There was no guarantee trait level 4 would purify someone else’s infection.
I kept my emotions out and dealt with the player in a businesslike manner.
A few more tests yielded the same result.
After confirming, I left the association building with Velda.
“Now play with me?”
Velda, who’d behaved on my neck as promised, asked in an excited voice.
I shook my head.
“Not yet. Wait a little longer.”
“Velda can wait well. For real!”
Walking with Velda, who replied proudly, a sudden doubt hit me—why was I doing this?
‘I stopped by her place first to let them know she was with me…….’
No one was at the home of Ramon, Velda and Brecze’s mother.
Velda had said her mom kept her with her since she was still young.
‘The house was empty, so why leave the kid all alone in the outpost?’
I considered asking Rashar to contact her but messaged Horpe instead.
He was involved with Velda too.
I had to babysit until the reply came.
‘Taking her to a hunting ground……?’
Then I’d be stuck at the outpost until Horpe replied.
‘She’s a beastkin, so maybe she’s used to it? If I keep her safe…… No, she’s still a kid.’
I couldn’t decide if showing Velda monsters dying was okay or not.
Deciding not to just because she’s a kid— isn’t that just human thinking?
Velda was a beastkin, a feline subrace.
Was it right to limit her based on my human common sense?
Lost in thought, I kept walking busily and soon reached my destination.
“Oppa!”
“Uncle!”
It was the orphanage in Robole.
The kids who’d spotted me and come running suddenly stopped dead.
The reason was obvious without asking. Velda clinging to my head.
I asked Velda, who was staring blankly at the kids.
“What do you want to do? Play with them?”
Should I introduce you?
If Velda wanted to play with kids her age, I planned to follow to prevent accidents.
But Velda frantically shook her head and said.