Chapter 87
Chapter 87
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: crow
Chapter Title: 87. Sustained
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Someone was enduring a pounding headache, waiting desperately for his return!
He had even granted her convenience at the cost of a temporary shortage in manpower!
And yet...
They had used formal honorifics with each other right up until he left, but now upon his return, he was casually calling that fox-like girl by a friendly nickname.
"When did the two of you get so close?"
Yuseong had returned to the Medical Pavilion and was carrying out his duties as the Medical Pavilion Leader.
Jegal Yeongyeong approached him, struggling to maintain her composure as she asked.
"Yes?"
"Nangong Young Lady. You were calling her by name so casually."
"Oh, somehow I ended up dropping formalities with Harin, and Yurin got jealous. So I decided to drop them with Yurin too."
Her head spun.
She thought it was just Nangong Yurin, but now another woman's name popped up.
"And who is Harin? Don't tell me she's the one who became a Poison Person this time...?"
"That's right. Tang Harin. Turns out she's the same age as me. We ended up becoming friends."
Even after providing all sorts of support to the Sichuan Tang Clan, there was one thing he absolutely couldn't help with.
A Poison Person.
Baek Yuseong had neatly resolved that issue and returned, now close with the clan's daughter as well.
But Tang Harin didn't feel particularly threatening.
She had heard Poison Persons didn't marry.
'Unless it's another Poison Person or the legendary Immunity to All Poisons, right?'
Poison Persons were the Tang Clan's secret, and Immunity to All Poisons was just a legend.
Erasing Tang Harin from her mind, Jegal Yeongyeong refocused on Nangong Yurin.
"You dropped formalities right away because Nangong Young Lady was jealous. Nothing else happened?"
"Nothing... else?"
"No. But... do you really need to be jealous to drop formalities? If you're close, couldn't you just do it naturally?"
"You're right. It's more comfortable with close friends."
Exactly. Better than forcing jealousy to drop formalities—this felt natural.
Jegal Yeongyeong reflected on herself.
She had tried to stay calm, but perhaps because of the accumulated headaches, her voice had come out quite sharp.
She smoothed her expression and voice as much as possible and spoke again.
"Ahem. Do you think we're close?"
"Of course. Among everyone in the Murim Alliance, you're naturally the closest to me, Chief Strategist. Though I don't know how you feel..."
Jegal Yeongyeong was a bit confused by the "in the Murim Alliance" qualifier.
'Nangong Yurin is officially a Murim Academy cadet... or not? Does he mean overall within the Murim Alliance?'
Anyway.
Asking that would reveal too much.
"I'm close with you too, of course, Medical Pavilion Leader. Before you left, we treated each other every day and taught each other studies. So shall we drop formalities too?"
"Ah..."
Yuseong seemed to realize something.
Perfect!
If they dropped formalities even once,
Even if they used official titles like Medical Pavilion Leader and Chief Strategist in formal settings, they could use friendly nicknames privately.
"Then, Yeongyeong N...im?"
No matter how close, they were both in the Murim Alliance with positions.
'Nu-na' felt too casual, so the compromise Yuseong came up with was—
Thwack—!
Jegal Yeongyeong unwittingly slammed her fan down on the table.
Not 'older sister,' but 'older sis'—it snapped her back to reality.
It wasn't wrong, but the nuance...
She gained a fresh realization.
'Right, this guy is younger than me!'
He seemed mature, so she often forgot, but she was two years older than Yuseong.
Nangong Yurin was two years younger than Yuseong...
Even if Murim clan daughters married later than average, most men married younger women.
'At this rate, I'm at a disadvantage.'
She needed a more natural opportunity to grow closer as a man and woman.
Maintaining the older-sister vibe wasn't helping.
"Thinking about it, overly friendly nicknames might loosen the Murim Alliance's discipline. Even privately, call me Chief Strategist. I'll keep calling you Medical Pavilion Leader."
"Y-Yes? Understood."
Leaving the bewildered Yuseong behind, Jegal Yeongyeong shot up from her seat and stormed out of the treatment room.
Then.
'Ah.'
She came back and sat down.
"Actually, I came because my head's been hurting all day. It's not as bad as when studying, but it throbs constantly enough to interfere with daily life. Even drinking holy water only cools it for a moment before the headache returns. Can you fix this too?"
Distracted by serious matters, she'd almost forgotten her headache.
In front of Yuseong, she kept acting foolish.
"Let me take a look."
Yuseong pulled out a long needle.
"Oh? Is that made from Heavenly Fortune Stone? Wow... it looks so pretty like this."
"Thank you. I could make it thanks to you."
Wavy patterns like rippling water were vivid on the slender needle's surface.
She'd noticed it before when they went antique shopping, but Yuseong seemed to like pretty things.
Even trying not to, her attention kept drifting there.
'Nangong Yurin... she's pretty. Already a beauty, and now her eyes and hair turned blue from martial arts influence? Such a mysterious aura.'
The Heavenly Fortune Stone's rippling blue pattern resembled Nangong Yurin's hair color.
What if Yuseong, who liked pretty things, fell for Nangong Yurin?
Meanwhile, she was frowning all day.
She forcibly relaxed her expression.
Making her eyes as round as possible consciously...
"Why are your eyes so wide? Is something uncomfortable?"
"...Forget it. Just check the headache."
Her eyes sharpened again, a curt tone slipping from her lips.
'I'm doomed...'
As she wailed inwardly, Yuseong's needle pierced her crown acupoint.
Yuseong used his newly acquired skill, Recovery.
"How is it now?"
"Ah, that was you treating me just now? It felt cool and the pain vanished instantly... but it's hurting again."
"...Amazing that it's only good right after treatment. Could you tell me more details about what might be causing it?"
Jegal Yeongyeong hesitated but had no better option.
She confessed honestly.
She was studying a formation manual passed down in her family, and studying it caused severe headaches.
As she progressed, throbbing headaches lingered even without studying.
"Is there such a strange book? How did others study it then?"
"Others didn't have symptoms like mine outside of studying."
Blushing, she even shared what her father had told her.
"My father said that since I was little, I've been prone to exaggeration—no, feeling pain more intensely. Could that be a factor?"
Yuseong knew someone like that among his acquaintances.
People who struggled more with the same pain.
Jegal Yeongyeong seemed innately vulnerable to pain.
And even for such congenital issues, he had no recovery method.
'This probably won't even respond to full recovery...'
Yuseong was honest.
"I'm sorry, but I don't have a way to fix this either."
"No, no way."
Jegal Yeongyeong despaired.
If even Yuseong couldn't cure it, she'd have to endure this pain until mastering the formations.
The Comprehensive Analysis of Celestial Divination Formations had ten stages!
Staring at the despairing Jegal Yeongyeong, Yuseong thought of one possibility.
'Wait, couldn't sustained heal solve this?'
Applying the skill he could use after acquiring the tier-2 treatment skill [Recovery].
He could add a sustained effect to the tier-1 treatment skill [Healing].
He hadn't used it since immediate effects were better, but it might be exactly what Jegal Yeongyeong needed.
The sustained duration wasn't long, though.
Worth a try.
"Chief Strategist. Let me check something."
"Yes... okay..."
Energyless after hearing there was no method, her shoulders slumped as he needled her crown acupoint again.
[Healing: Sustained Effect]
Previously, after using the skill and feeling divine power leave his body, he hadn't closely examined what happened inside the patient.
No need in the game.
But now, he carefully observed the changes in Jegal Yeongyeong's body.
First, divine power flowed out just like with basic healing.
'The base amount is fixed at that. But maybe I can control it.'
The divine power flowed through the needle into Jegal Yeongyeong's head and took root.
It converted to healing effects.
With sustained effect, not all divine power converted to healing immediately.
It converted gradually, seeping into her brain.
'...Treating non-study headaches doesn't require much divine power. If I increase the initial injection and reduce the conversion rate...'
Perhaps he could sustain the healing effect for a day.
Finishing the needling, Jegal Yeongyeong sensed something odd and asked.
"Huh...? Are you still treating me now? It doesn't hurt at all."
She looked up in surprise, but Yuseong held the needle.
She felt her head.
Only smooth scalp.
"The pain will return after a bit. For now, research it and let me know when it comes back."
"Did you find a method?"
"I need more research, but it looks possible."
"As expected... never..."
"Yes?"
"Nothing. Please do."
Jegal Yeongyeong left the treatment room with a refreshed expression.
Yuseong wasn't just saying she was his closest in the Murim Alliance.
Even with urgent patients waiting, he treated her headache first.
She'd greatly helped with the Heavenly Fortune Stone, so this was only natural.
Starting with Jegal Yeongyeong, patients flooded in.
'I missed everyone.'
He couldn't head straight to the Nangong Family right now anyway.
While waiting for procedures to proceed, Yuseong began farming divine power.