Chapter 70
Chapter 70
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 70
Chapter Title: How the Rank 1 Hero Saves the World
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“This child... she’ll pull through, right?”
“Well, I did everything I could... but life and death are up to fate.”
Her somber voice made me stop polishing my sword and turn to look at Ariadne.
Ariadne’s gaze was fixed on the little girl lying on the small bed.
I’d purified the demonic energy that had invaded her body with holy power and poured in as many potions as her body could handle, but until she opened her eyes, there was no telling if she’d survive.
Of course, I understood the worry, but Ariadne’s expression was darker than mere concern.
“You look uncharacteristically dejected.”
A faint laugh escaped Ariadne’s lips. She still had her back turned, so I couldn’t see her face.
“As a priestess, I shouldn’t say this.”
“Go ahead.”
“Sometimes I feel so powerless. No matter how hard I try...”
Ariadne replaced the damp cloth on the girl’s forehead, her words laced with pessimism.
“In the end, all of this is just predetermined fate.”
I fell silent.
The priests of Tartarus had accepted everything as fixed fate the moment the System appeared, manifesting their holy power with the mission to guide that fate onto the righteous path.
Ariadne was one such priestess. She often spoke of ‘fate.’
But it was a mindset I couldn’t easily accept.
And why would I? Since coming here, I’d seen far too many deaths.
Humans were far too frail against the System’s malice. The strong were greedy, and the weak were thrown to the wolves defenselessly.
Calling this fate felt... too cruel.
I closed my eyes for a moment, then opened them.
“I don’t believe in fate.”
“I know. You’re not a priest.”
“That’s why I don’t have anything nice to say...”
Normally, I wouldn’t have said this to a weary Ariadne. I’d have just left, woken up sleeping Lucas or Alicia, and gone on a drinking binge.
But for some reason, it felt like I had to say it now.
“You could’ve gone to heal the city lord’s cold.”
When word spread that Ariadne had arrived, the city lord sent a messenger asking if she could take a look at him, as the chilly weather had left him under the weather.
But Ariadne had refused.
Her holy power had limits, and right now, there was a child by her side who needed her help far more desperately.
To Ariadne, nothing else mattered.
“That girl wouldn’t be alive if it weren’t for you.”
It wasn’t an act of the gods—it was Ariadne’s choice.
“Just like you saved me.”
She belittled herself as a tool of the gods, but to me, Ariadne was far more divine than whatever god sat idly observing this wretched world.
Ariadne finally turned her head at my words.
A faint smile graced her face now that we faced each other.
“What if that was fate, too?”
I let out a sigh. I shouldn’t have brought it up. What was I thinking, talking to a priestess like this?
“...Just grow up.”
“Maybe saving you was the fate given to me.”
“Hey.”
I was starting to get genuinely annoyed. I was about to snap back when Ariadne continued in a dreamy tone.
“Then I should be grateful for that fate. Because it let me meet a friend like you...”
As she said it, Ariadne’s head lolled forward.
“Ariadne?”
Rushing to the bedside in alarm, I saw she’d fallen asleep while sitting up.
No wonder she was talking strangely—her mind was already half-asleep.
She wasn’t one to bare her soul like that lightly.
Then again, considering what she’d done today, she had every right to be exhausted. Let her sleep until morning.
In Ariadne’s place, I gently stroked the cheek of the child, who was breathing softly.
Through my hand, I felt her fragile warmth—a breath so delicate it was a miracle she’d survived in this world.
Even after all the holy power and potions poured into her, the wounds still threatened her life.
From here on, it was a battle of will that no one else could help with.
Looking down at the child fighting the fiercest battle right here, I took her hand.
I hoped this warmth could offer even the slightest help.
It’ll be okay. You’ll definitely pull through. The ones Ariadne saves are always tenacious like that.
Show them fate can go screw itself.
To Ariadne, and to that so-called god, too.
* * *
...I woke at dawn to the chirping of birds.
And the first thing I saw was, predictably, exactly what I’d expected.
White ceiling, the antiseptic smell unique to hospital rooms, steady beeping from machines, and the faint sound of someone walking the halls.
It was the exact same VIP room I’d been in just days ago.
Lifting my hand, I saw it wrapped thickly in bandages. Both legs were in casts, too.
As uncomfortable as could be.
It wasn’t even that severe an injury. Maybe they’d done this to keep the patient who’d just been discharged from moving around.
Either way, at this rate, I might as well rent a permanent hospital room as my residence.
Doubting the practicality of the government-provided housing, I awkwardly checked my phone on the bedside table.
Fortunately, only a day had passed since I last checked.
The time was 5:20 a.m.
Unlike last time, I hadn’t been out for days.
Racking my brain, I recalled how I’d ended up back in this hospital room.
Tricking Belial and escaping the dungeon had gone well... but when I emerged, the sun was already setting.
Dragging my exhausted body along, a group of hikers passing by spotted me, pointed, and screamed.
“U-Uwaaaah!”
“Is that a person? Call the cops!”
“Shouldn’t we call an ambulance?”
Their reaction wasn’t incomprehensible. Fresh out of the dungeon, I must’ve been a sight—covered head to toe in manticore guts and blood.
But still, this was the dungeon entrance.
Plenty of hunters had cleared dungeons and walked out before. This was an overreaction.
They really should put up tents at dungeon entrances to keep civilians away...
Grumbling to myself, my stomach let out a fierce growl.
“Ah, I’m hungr—”
That was the moment my consciousness cut out.
“............”
So, the hikers must’ve called an ambulance or the police, and that’s how I got to the hospital.
Sorry for grumbling about your overreaction. Thank you.
In my hazy memory, I vaguely recalled coming to briefly while paramedics asked if I was a hunter. In my delirium, I contacted Choi Min-hyuk and passed out again.
That explained the transfer to a hunter-exclusive hospital.
With a clear head now, my collapse made sense.
The wounds themselves weren’t bad enough to knock me out.
But the penalties from the Demon Realm had lifted the moment I left, so Angelus’s Blessing must’ve gone wild purifying the demonic energy and poison in my body.
That purification effect consumed an enormous amount of mana.
My mana levels were fine, but my body was already spent.
No wonder it overloaded.
Still, passing out after one trip to the Demon Realm? Pathetic.
At this rate, the hospital would become my most familiar spot in Korea.
‘At least it wasn’t for nothing.’
I’d gone to the Demon Realm for two main reasons.
First, to verify the System quest’s legitimacy.
I needed to confirm if the Seed of Fate really existed.
I couldn’t fully trust a demon, but Belial’s reaction proved the ‘Seed of Fate’ was real.
Too bad I still didn’t know what it was.
If Belial had been looser-lipped or dumber, I might’ve gotten details, but his shocked face suggested no more info from demons.
Regrettable, but confirming existence was progress enough.
Second reason: to adapt to my current stats.
Swinging my arms from my seated position on the bed, they moved smoothly.
My body felt lighter than before, movements more efficient. I now knew exactly how to use this body.
The most crucial experience at this stage.
No class bonuses or overpowered partner buffs in the Demon Realm—just me against it.
I’d fully adapted to my current stats.
I could sense exactly how much damage a punch would deal.
I knew my limits, too.
Without buffs, handling dozens of A-Rank monsters solo would take skill.
Taking down an S-Rank Death Knight alone would need luck.
Belial was in another league.
Stats could be addressed gradually.
The sub-quest pop-up suggested the System would help.
If it needed me to quell this world’s chaos as I suspected, it’d want me stronger.
No rush, then.
Coldly assessing reality, I didn’t need to race against time to save Tartarus...
The thought soured my gut, but I swallowed it.
I dragged the quest window from the corner of my vision to center.
I knew it wouldn’t change, but I couldn’t stop checking.
- Main Quest: Collect the Seeds of Fate to alter destiny.
- Reward: Restoration of the ruined world
Now I had to figure out what Seeds of Fate were and what destiny to change.
The road was long. But if this quest was real—and the reward was what I wanted—hope swelled.
Restoration of the ruined world.
That phrase was horrifying, confirming my world’s destruction.
Yet it was hope, too.
I clenched my fist.
“I don’t believe in fate.”
Sorry to my priestess friend, but my mind hadn’t changed.
There’s no such thing as predetermined fate.
Even if there is, I don’t care.
If the world is ruined, I’ll save it again. If fate is set, I’ll defy it.
No matter what.
* * *
“What on earth did you do in that A-Rank dungeon to end up this banged up?”
A few hours later, as daylight broke, an unexpected visitor arrived in my hospital room.