A New Attempt

"Did Logan tell you something?"

"No. Why?"

Taeyong went quiet for a moment.

"Never mind. I was jumping to conclusions."

There was definitely something.

"I'd like to hear why you thought of Logan."

He was the person I was closest to in the Tower. I didn't want a doubt left sitting between us.

Taeyong considered it, then leaned back in his chair.

"I heard his son is ill."

"His son?"

The photograph I'd seen yesterday came back to me—a bright blond boy who took after Logan. That child would be about twenty-one by now.

"Is it serious?"

"I don't know exactly. What I do know is that Logan has been saving money to buy a potion, for the day he can return to Earth."

"......"

So that was it.

"Then can a potion treat cancer, too?"

Taeyong's expression shifted again.

"Cancer?"

"There's someone I know on Earth. A member of their family has it."

"It can. As it happens, someone once came into the Tower with cancer spread through their entire body."

"What? Their whole body?"

Taeyong nodded.

"Luna. The telepath. She arrived here with the cancer already metastasized everywhere."

"Ah."

"A single Medium-grade Potion cured all of it. I was the one who gave her that potion, and that's why she belongs to our guild."

"Ah!"

No wonder. So that was why the Nyx Merchant Guild turned up in the Tower Newsletter now and then.

"How much is a Medium-grade Potion?"

"Around ten gold."

Ten million won—about eight thousand dollars. A lot of money, certainly, and yet as the price of curing cancer it was almost absurdly cheap.

"About what two cartons of cigarettes go for."

"Ah. That's right."

I remembered. I'd sold the cigarettes I brought last time.

"If you need one, I can give you a bottle. Call it settling today's meal."

"No. I couldn't take it like that."

Two cartons of cigarettes. I could just bring those.

"Shall I get you a bottle, then?"

I turned it over. It wasn't that I begrudged the manager a bottle—not even close. I simply couldn't yet guess ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠how far the ripples from a single potion might reach.

"Just keep in mind that no one knows yet whether it will work on Earth."

That settled the question.

"Get me one for now."

"Sure."

"Would it be all right if I paid with cigarettes before long?"

"You don't have to. Think of it as a gift."

Taeyong smiled and bit into his hot bar.

"No. Even so, I ought to pay properly."

A man who ran a merchant guild didn't hand out kindness for no reason. There was a calculation in it somewhere, and I didn't want even that small unease left behind.

"Well, if that's how you want it."

Taeyong backed off just as cleanly.

"Here is the Medium-grade Potion."

Jane was back almost at once with a single bottle. Inside the glass, the liquid shone a clear blue.

"Thank you."

I took the potion and left the guild.

The bottle was mine. Whether I would actually hand it over was a question I still had to sit with.

Back at the lodgings, I went downstairs at the hour I'd arranged with Logan.

"Uh..."

He wasn't dressed as he had been yesterday. From armor to shield, Logan was geared for a real fight.

"I'll be leaving a little early."

"Ah."

"It will take some time. A week, if it's short. A month, if it runs long."

"...I see."

Maybe ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it was because keeping company with him had been so genuinely good. Either way, I minded his going more than I expected.

"See that you eat properly."

Logan drew a small pouch from inside his coat and held it out.

"What is this?"

"Payment for the towel."

"No! You really don't have to."

The protest burst out of me before I could stop it.

"Take it. If you don't want it, give it back when I return. But if you lack the money for meals, you are to use it."

"...All right."

Perhaps it was because I'd caught, in passing from Taeyong, a hint of why Logan looked after me. I couldn't bring myself to refuse any further.

"Always be careful of people. And remember the things I told you."

"I will."

Even after that, Logan pressed caution after caution on me.

"Go safely. Oh, and..."

Should I tell him I might have to change lodgings?

"When you get back, let's eat together."

In the end, I chose not to say it.

"Good."

And with that, Logan was gone.

"Hah. So what do I do today."

Taeyong had told me not to enter the Tower alone, too.

"Guess I'll eat."

It was the hour I always ate, and sure enough, I was hungry.

I ate, napped, and loafed around, and before I knew it the skill's cooldown had come back around.

Should I give it to him?

I looked at the backpack sitting in a corner of the room. Inside it was the bottle of Medium-grade Potion I'd received earlier.

They say it's cancer. Caught a little late.

The manager's voice seemed to ring in my ear.

"I'll give it to him."

The truth was, the answer had been settled from the start. If I hadn't meant to hand it over, I never would have asked Taeyong in the first place. The problem was how.

Something like drink this and you'll get better wasn't going to work. The manager would never meekly take it and pass it to his mother, and more than that, I still didn't know whether it would truly have any effect.

What do I even say?

Calling it fake medicine felt wrong. Laying out exactly what it was felt dangerous.

"I don't know."

Just give it to him. A life was hanging on this. Whatever came after could wait until after.

I ran the time in my head. Ten minutes on foot from home to the convenience store where I used to work. On a shared scooter, about four.

"Plenty."

Even if I showered at home before heading out, I could just about make it. And I didn't even know whether the manager was on shift today—dropping straight back into the stockroom was too big a risk.

I fixed home in my mind and cast it.

"Shower, shower."

I washed in a hurry and changed clothes. Leather backpack in hand, I stepped out of the house, unlocked the shared scooter at the curb with a beep, and raced toward the store.

Four minutes exactly.

I pulled up ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in front of the convenience store and looked inside. The manager was sitting there. Thank God.

The door chimed as I stepped through.

"Oh! Minsu!"

He brightened the moment he saw me.

"Manager."

"Hey, how are you here! Wait—you punk, you weren't actually bullshitting about going into the Tower?!"

"Haha."

Finding me back after a single day, he didn't seem to know what to make of it.

I drew the potion out of the bag. At the sight of the blue liquid, the manager's head cocked to one side.

"What's that?"

"Medicine."

"Medicine? What kind of medicine is that color?"

I'd turned over how to explain it and come up empty. Telling him straight seemed like the best I could do.

"Give it to your mother."

"My mother? My mom?"

I nodded and set the bottle on the counter.

"The people there say it can cure even serious illnesses."

"...For real?"

"I heard there's someone whose cancer it healed, too."

The manager's eyes shook hard.

"Hey, hey... wait. If that's true... if that's actually true..."

I understood the reaction completely. His hands kept fidgeting as if he couldn't believe it, and still his eyes stayed locked on the bottle, desperate to.

"I don't know if this medicine will work here, though."

"...But you're saying it might."

"Yes."

He reached out and took the bottle. Afraid it might break, he kept the base pressed flat to the counter as he drew it in against himself.

"This... it isn't dangerous, is it?"

"It isn't. Over there they just sell it as medicine. People drink it when they get hurt in a fight, too."

"If Mom really takes this..."

"I can't promise she'll get better. I just thought it was better than not taking it at all."

The manager nodded slowly.

"Is it really all right to give something this precious to me?"

Tears welled in his eyes again.

"Aigoo, please don't cry. Your mother isn't even better yet."

"Even so, even so... thank you. So much."

Jongsik clutched the potion bottle tight against his chest.

"The truth is... my mom was given a terminal diagnosis. Three months, four at the most."

"Ah..."

How hard that must have been on him.

"Even so, I'm grasping at straws... She's in the hospital, and watching her like that is too much."

I quietly patted his shoulder.

"Thank you. Whether this medicine is real or not, you let me hold on to even a little hope. I'm so grateful."

Feeding someone precious a medicine that hadn't been proven took real courage. I'd already thought his mother's condition couldn't be good... but terminal. I hoped, badly, that the potion would work.

"I'm going to the hospital the moment I get off today."

"Yes. I really hope it works."

The manager nodded.

"Oh—have you eaten?"

"Haha, not yet."

I opened the skill window and checked the time. Barely seven minutes left.

"Hey, eat something, quick. Yeah? If I'd known you were coming today, I would've packed you some gukbap...!"

"Aigoo, no need. I don't have much time, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠so I'll keep it simple today. Gimbap and a hamburger."

"Yeah, yeah. Eat all you want. I'm really grateful, and I'm sorry."

We talked about this and that while I ate the gimbap and the hamburger, and then it was time to go back.

"Hey, hey. At least take this."

"I'm really fine today."

He was in a flurry, determined to send me off with something.

"I should get going!"

"At least this!!"

In the end the skill ran out with a handful of snacks pressed into my palm.

"Aigoo."

Back again, I looked at the snacks clenched in my hand and felt something bitter settle in my chest.

"I really hope it works."

Please. Let it work.

The next day I woke at the familiar hour and went downstairs.

"Ah."

It took about five minutes of waiting before it sank in.

Logan's not here.

Only a handful of times, and already it had become a habit.

"Ah. What do I do today."

I'd spent all of yesterday sprawled around. I couldn't do the same today.

I thought about going to Floor 1 on my own, but Taeyong and Logan had both warned me so sternly against it that I headed for the Nyx Merchant Guild instead.

He said he'd assign someone to me... well.

I could at least ask about that.

"Ah, perfect timing."

The moment I arrived, Taeyong greeted me as if he'd been waiting.

"Yes?"

"There's someone I wanted to introduce."

I hadn't waited long before a knock came from outside the door.

"Come in."

The man who opened it and stepped through was the burly one I'd seen on the first day.

Huge, even the second time. About Logan's size? No—maybe a little bigger. Logan was a big man himself, but this one was big in a different sense entirely. I couldn't tell where his neck began or where it ended, and his forearms looked thicker than my thighs.

"This is Mickey. He's a brawler."

"Hello. I'm Park Minsu."

I bowed, and Mickey dipped his neck a fraction in return.

So that's where the neck is.

Taeyong nodded as if satisfied, then spoke again.

"He'll be helping you from here on. I heard Mr. Logan was away as of yesterday."

Word sure travels fast.

"You don't have anyone going with you this time either, do you?"

"No. I'll be in your care."

"Yes."

"......"

And that was the end of our conversation.

I missed Logan already.