Chapter 71
Chapter 71
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 71
Chapter Title: How the Rank 1 Hero Protects the World
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Surprisingly, the visitor who came to see me in the hospital was Hunter Lee Seon.
Lee Seon entered the hospital room and greeted me cheerfully, but his expression soon turned serious when he saw the bandages tightly wrapped around my hand and the cast.
“I heard it wasn’t a very serious injury, but you look like a critical patient right now.”
“It’s not that bad.”
I denied it immediately.
In fact, the injury itself wasn’t a big deal.
That morning, I had asked the doctor why they were applying such excessive treatment.
The way the doctor looked at me when I asked was downright menacing.
“No matter how much we fix it, it’s useless,” he muttered lowly, and that voice chilled me to the bone.
I could even sense resentment.
The intent to tie disobedient patients to the bed with casts and bandages came through loud and clear.
I shuddered slightly and continued explaining to Hunter Lee Seon.
“The doctors here said hunters always rip out their IVs and bolt when an emergency call comes in, so they tied me down to make sure I don’t.”
Lee Seon nodded in understanding after hearing my explanation.
“Ah, the doctors at hunter-exclusive hospitals have every reason to do that. I get scolded every time I come here.”
“Did you... rip out your IV and run off when you heard about a Dungeon Break?”
“Wow, you should never do that. Dramas have ruined everyone. Forget the illness—do you know how much blood splatters around? Cleaning that up takes forever!”
“But how do you know that?”
“Uh, well... it was an unavoidable situation...”
As expected, others had done the same. I silently apologized once more to those living in this era where dungeons popped up.
Lee Seon scratched his chin, recalling the memory, and laughed, “Haha.”
“These days, I don’t do that anymore. That was all in the past.”
Even if he said it so confidently, considering it had only been five years since dungeons appeared, who knew how recent “the past” really was.
Anyway, since it felt wrong to misuse a body someone else had patched up, I planned to obediently stay in the hospital for the day as advised.
Besides, roughly patching wounds with potions was completely different from directly infusing glucose into the body. The recovery speed felt entirely different.
To me, modern medicine felt more like magic.
“Wow, this is delicious.”
By the way, the strawberry cream roll cake that Lee Seon brought as a gift was absolutely delicious. The strawberry latte was a bonus. I was so relieved I wasn’t restricted to hospital food.
“Right? It’s good, isn’t it? This is from my favorite cake shop.”
Lee Seon, feeding me cake because of my inconvenient hand, puffed out his chest proudly. For the record, he was drinking an iced Americano.
“Woo-yeon said Ye-na likes sweet things, so I got the most popular item these days.”
Who knew when they had that conversation? The strawberry flesh chewing in my mouth was refreshingly tangy. I slurped down the strawberry latte and asked,
“But how did you know to come here? I think the condition I gave the government was information control.”
Lee Seon looked sheepish at my words.
Of course, it was obvious how Hunter Lee Seon had found out. This was the VIP room of a hunter-exclusive hospital, and my admission here had involved government influence.
So, it was natural that information might leak to Lee Seon, a government-affiliated hunter.
However, the condition I’d set with the government was to control my information as much as possible. I wanted to avoid my identity and movements spreading everywhere for now.
Not that I expected perfect control, but regardless of how welcome Hunter Lee Seon was, I had to at least formally bring it up once.
“Hmm, if it bothered you, I apologize. This info came to me through Choi Min-hyuk, and no other hunters know.”
Lee Seon added,
“And well, for this one, I pulled a few strings to see Ye-na again, my lifesaver. Last time, things were too complicated for me to visit, and it’s been on my mind.”
A clean apology, words that aptly tugged at emotions. And above all, a fresh smile that made me want to drop the matter hung on Lee Seon’s lips.
“We talked on the phone, but this kind of thing is better in person. Thanks again for last time.”
“...No problem.”
This deflates me.
My last dungeon raid had a clear personal goal, and I’d gotten sufficient rewards.
Plus, Lee Seon could have abandoned the raid midway but had scraped every last bit of his mana to cast a massive spell. It worked out well, but if it hadn’t, he would’ve died in that dungeon too.
In truth, Hunter Lee Seon owed me nothing—we’d simply helped each other—so I had no reason to receive thanks.
Lee Seon scooped up more strawberry cake with the fork and fed it to me.
“And Ye-na needs a proper direct line for when you have business with the government side, right?”
“I thought Choi Min-hyuk would handle that.”
“He’s a regular official who helps with procedures when you’re active. For hunter-related suggestions, I’m better. It’ll get processed faster too.”
Lee Seon paused mid-sentence and grimaced.
“Like the Ilsan Dungeon Break a few days ago. It worked out thanks to Ye-na by chance, but... even a low-rank dungeon can escalate massively. They should’ve prioritized it.”
“I heard there were unavoidable circumstances elsewhere at the time.”
“Yeah, there was a minor clash between guilds in Yeouido, but priorities exist, right? That place is sensitive with all the big shots around. Things got complicated... Choi Min-hyuk couldn’t push for Ilsan deployment from his position.”
Hmm. I took another sip of strawberry latte.
Hearing the full story, I could picture it.
In short, high-ups pulled hunters for security at a risky event. A mere official couldn’t suddenly disrupt that for a summons.
What rotten luck.
“Total bad luck, right?”
Lee Seon seemed to share my sentiment. The empty disposable cup crumpled in his hand.
“Yeah.”
I nodded in agreement. Even back in Tartarus, I’d never meshed well with so-called high-ups.
“Anyway, contact me directly for emergency support from now on. If I’m raiding and can’t answer, Professor Kim Sook-ja works too.”
Saying that, Lee Seon added with an “Oh right,”
“For reference, I didn’t tell Professor Sook-ja about Ye-na being ‘that.’ She figured it out naturally.”
“Ah, I see...”
‘That’ probably meant I was Rank 1.
I gazed at the white ceiling for a moment. Professor Kim Sook-ja’s stern face came to mind.
She was Rank 3.
To think that in just over a month, I’d been exposed to such heavyweights. If that was a talent, it was a talent.
“...Well, more people to request help from isn’t bad.”
No helping it now—I’d been found out—so I’d think positively. Among the rankers who knew my identity, none seemed the type to backstab for No. 1... probably.
“Right? Connections are never a bad thing. Heh heh heh.”
Ignoring my complicated feelings, Lee Seon beamed brightly. He didn’t seem to imagine bloody rank wars.
I recalled first meeting Lee Seon. Back then, I’d just thought it confirmed mages were all weird.
But watching him now, his personality seemed genuinely positive and bright.
Having seen mercenaries lose their humanity quickly after starting dungeon raids, I knew how remarkable that was.
Maintaining positivity on life-or-death battlefields was downright bizarre.
Yet he wasn’t naively spouting innocence from ignorance.
Only someone with ironclad resolve could endure alone for days amid people vanishing nightly and turning up dead.
He’d wanted to be a traditional doctor, right?
But now, Lee Seon was a hunter honing his abilities at the forefront. That alone made him likable.
“Oh, how did the talk veer here? Anyway, Choi Min-hyuk was freaking out. He was really worried.”
“Choi Min-hyuk was?”
His attitude had turned noticeably cold since he’d dropped me off last time...
That morning, I’d gotten a text saying he’d handle procedures and costs, so focus on recovery—but no inquiry about my condition, leaving me lukewarm.
“Because he’s my handler? He could’ve just asked me directly if curious.”
“He seemed a bit intimidated?”
“Pardon?”
“I thought it was nonsense at first too.”
Lee Seon rested his chin on his hand, frowning slightly as he stared at my face.
“Yeah, definitely. You feel different from last time.”
“Different how?”
“I’m fine, but to a normal person, it’s startling at first glance? Even passersby would see you as the Reverse Hero, Ye-na.”
For a split second, my heart dropped.
Lee Seon probably had no idea how spot-on that was.
That’s... the natural intimidation from overwhelming power difference, right?
Hmm. I crossed my arms and pondered.
Truth be told, Choi Min-hyuk’s sudden chilliness from the second meeting had bugged me a bit. I’d brushed it off since verifying if that dungeon was the Demon Realm took priority.
But if Choi Min-hyuk, a normal person, felt stat differences and shrank from me, it should’ve shown from the first meeting. It hadn’t. So I’d chalked it up to his sharp personality.
Sure, it was minor enough to ignore, but something nagged. Coincidentally, one thing had changed between my two meetings with Choi Min-hyuk.
I reached a conclusion.
‘The System stabilization might be why.’
There’d been a message about friction between my existence and Korea’s System stabilizing.
And my affiliation fully changing.
Strictly speaking, until System stabilization, I hadn’t belonged to Korea.
Thus, Korea-affiliated people couldn’t fully sense my presence.
But that changed with stabilization.
...Not that it mattered much. Just more proof the System was finally doing its job properly.
I decided to change the subject.
“...Anyway, since you said to ask if I need anything from you, Hunter Lee Seon.”
It was something I’d planned to request from Choi Min-hyuk anyway, but Lee Seon coming in person worked out better.
Lee Seon tilted his head.
“Hm? What’s up?”
A problem. A big one.
I hesitated on how to phrase it, ultimately failing to find the right words.
“I’d like to meet Hunter Yang Tae-won. Could you introduce me?”
I’ve never been great with words.
Lee Seon’s eyes widened at my words.
“Tae-won? Suddenly?”
“Yeah, as soon as possible if you can. Ideally within a month, but I don’t know his schedule.”
“Uh, introduction... No problem there. But, does Woo-yeon know...?”
Lee Seon stammered.
Why bring up Lee Woo-yeon here?
“Huh? No idea. Why would he need to know?”
“Well, no reason. He shouldn’t... Hmm.”
Lee Seon clenched his fist, pondering. Determination gleamed in his eyes.
“But still, this feels wrong, Ye-na. If there’s an issue between you two, talk it out first without dragging others in...”
“Wait.”
Only then did I grasp Lee Seon’s misunderstanding.
My jaw nearly dropped. Maybe I should’ve gotten a cast for that too. I sighed deeply and corrected him.
“...Not that. I need Hunter Yang Tae-won’s help with something.”
“Ah.” Lee Seon scratched his chin embarrassedly.
I’m the embarrassed one.
“Duh, of course. No way. I thought you were pitting Tae-won and Woo-yeon against each other or something...”
“That’d be fun to watch. I’d root for Mr. Yang Tae-won.”
“...?!”