Chapter 21
Chapter 21
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: Hospital
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Opening my eyes, the first thing I saw was pristine white square tiles.
For some reason, there was a line that felt obligatory to say in a situation like this.
I couldn't hold it back and muttered it very softly.
"...A stranger's ceiling."
"Oh, you're awake?"
I flinched and turned my head. A nurse was looking at me with wide eyes.
Suppressing the urge to bite my tongue, I asked calmly.
"Where is this?"
"The emergency room. The others who came in with you have been discharged, and you're the only one left, Mr. Han Yujin."
So that's why the other beds were empty.
When I asked how many days had passed, she said three.
Just three days?
I quickly checked my body, but there were no signs of injury.
There were some faint burn scars left, but even those would fade with time.
These weren't injuries that could heal in just three days.
"The emergency room healer treated you."
That explained it fully.
If anything, it was embarrassing that I'd been unconscious for three days even after a healer had stepped in.
Park Bomi, who'd been poisoned by the thorn flowers, had been discharged ages ago. What a pathetic body I had.
After that, a doctor examined me and concluded I could be discharged.
Stay in the hospital room until tonight and leave early tomorrow morning, the doctor said.
As I sat there in the room, spacing out, someone opened the door.
"How's your body feeling?"
A voice gentler than usual.
Kang Jiwon approached me with a worried expression.
Compared to our first meeting, her attitude had improved leaps and bounds.
I told her there were no major issues and that I'd be discharged tomorrow. She let out a sigh of relief.
"I've already contacted Mr. Jeong Dongsu separately. You don't need to come in this week—just focus on recovering."
"Is that really okay? The probation period ends this week."
I was learning the ropes of being a hunter specialist counselor under Jeong Dongsu, and that was only until this week.
Starting next week, I'd have to take on the counseling role in earnest.
Kang Jiwon replied nonchalantly.
"It's a paper position. You only have to show up as a counselor once a week, and there are hardly any clients anyway."
No...
What about all my efforts studying that thick book for a month?
Seeing my aggrieved expression, she gave a slight smile.
"'Hardly' doesn't mean 'none at all.' There might come a day when you actually have to do counseling work, so this is preparation for that."
She had a point; I had nothing to say to that.
Kang Jiwon's expression grew a bit more serious, so I straightened up in my seat.
This was probably the main topic.
"As soon as your probation ends, the Association will assign you a mission. I can't give you the details yet, but unlike before, it might involve some risk."
"I'm not much good at fighting."
"Don't worry. The Association has a grasp of your abilities to some extent. They won't assign you something that doesn't fit."
She checked the time and stood up.
She must have made time out of her busy schedule to visit.
We exchanged goodbyes, and as she headed out the door,
she suddenly turned back to me as if remembering something.
"Congratulations on reaching D-rank."
With that, Kang Jiwon left.
......I couldn't help but wonder how she knew.
Surprisingly, she wasn't the only visitor.
About an hour after she left, an unexpected guest arrived.
"Hey, uncle."
"...How did you even know to come here?"
"No reply to my message, so I asked the counselor uncle."
Jin Seohyeon's playful amber eyes sparkled.
Had she messaged me while I was out?
For the record, my smartphone wouldn't turn on—probably ruined in the fire.
"Well, thanks for visiting anyway."
"But why are you talking down to me?"
I couldn't hold back at her cheeky tone and squeezed my eyes shut.
Patience. If we fought, I'd lose—and it might turn me into Han Yujin the loser.
"You started it first, so I thought it was okay... Sorry if not."
"Wow......"
She let out a long sigh as if she'd heard an absurd answer and plopped down on the chair by my bed.
"Uncle, that was a joke. You gotta play along in those situations— who responds that seriously?"
So it really was a joke.
Separate from my gratitude for the huge sum she'd sent, dealing with her was honestly a bit tough.
She lived in a different world, worlds apart in status.
She looked at me sulkily and sighed again.
"Uncle, you're way too serious."
No, are you really 25?
Her speech was like...
"...So, what's the future S-rank hunter, busy as she is, doing coming to see me? Here to tease?"
"What do you take a person's pure goodwill for? Just came to visit."
Her voice sounded exasperated.
"That E-rank uncle who got down on his knees, bawling his eyes out to scout an S-rank from one of the Four Great Guilds? I was so, so worried he'd almost burn to death in a mere C-rank gate."
Damn it, she really came to tease!
I calmed my trembling lips and barely managed a response.
"......I'm D-rank now."
"Wow, you're so. Damn. Serious!"
It was pure torment, the kind that brought tears without the crying.
After teasing me for a while, she left, seemingly satisfied.
As a backlash, my mind and body were in tatters.
The next morning, I left the hospital room to be discharged.
I let out a sigh, wondering how much the emergency room bill would be.
With a healer assigned, it had to be more than I could imagine.
I needed a new phone too, and money was tight right now... My stomach hurt just thinking about it.
"It's already been paid."
"Pardon?"
The clerk at the payment desk said.
Someone had paid it for me?
Did one of my teammates cover it when they were discharged?
"The brown-haired woman who visited yesterday paid it on her way out."
"Ah."
She really was hard to hate.
*
After reuniting with my teammates, the first place we had to go was Kim Taemin and An Changsu's funerals.
Hunters had notoriously high mortality rates, so their families lived with a bomb ticking in their hearts.
The bereaved families were no different.
Their expressions showed not just grief, but the despair of their worst fears coming true.
We'd discussed it and decided to contribute our share of the gate's magic stone earnings as condolence money.
It wasn't a huge sum, but more than enough—overflowing, even—for condolence money.
There was no strong opposition. The mages had promised contract fees anyway, and the stones were just extra income.
After a brief chat, Lee Seonwoo and Park Bomi left first.
I glanced at Lee Seonwoo's back for a moment before turning away.
If it's meant to be, we'll meet again. No need to cling.
"We're truly sorry about this. It happened in the place we dragged you to for our experiment—nothing we can say."
Kim Beomsu offered compensation on top of the promised amount.
Thanks to that, I'd reached D-rank, but that was separate.
They hadn't kept their promise of no danger, so taking responsibility was only right.
I didn't refuse, but I wasn't offended either, so no need for unnecessary scolding.
"You two must be disappointed too. You didn't achieve what you set out to do."
They'd wanted to turn mental abilities into magic.
That's why they'd dragged me into the gate to study mine, but learned nothing.
But Han Sehee, who I'd expected to be most upset, seemed surprisingly fine.
"It's a bit different from what we wanted, but we found hope in an unexpected place. And we achieved another goal we hoped for at the start."
Hope? And there was another purpose besides mental magic development?
Her awkward smile suggested it was hard to explain.
Well, not curious enough to pry.
"Since this job failed, are you getting sold off as a mercenary, Mr. Kim Beomsu?"
I recalled he'd said he was at risk of being kicked out as a mercenary for lack of research results at the Magic Tower.
Kim Beomsu scratched his head awkwardly.
"Uh, luckily, after reporting this, the Magic Tower Master took an interest. I think it'll buy me until the end of this quarter."
I was thinking he had insanely good luck when he continued.
"Um... The Magic Tower Master wants to see you, Mr. Han Yujin."
"What?"
The master of one of the Four Great Guilds.
And one of Korea's mere six S-rank hunters.
Why would the Witch want to see me?
"We can't read her mind either, but it's not for a bad reason...... probably."
He averted his eyes when I glared.
It was phrased as a suggestion, but really a notice.
How could I refuse an S-rank hunter who wanted to meet?
Unless I planned to quit being a hunter for life, my answer was set.
"...Tell me the date."
*
Kim Beomsu stared at Han Yujin's receding figure as he trudged away.
He was utterly unpredictable in many ways.
Abilities powerful and versatile beyond his rank.
Alchemy skills excellent enough to brew destructive potions.
Encyclopedic knowledge of monsters' weaknesses and abilities he'd never seen before.
It was fascinating to see such an extraordinary, enigmatic figure react so emotionally to the idea of meeting his Magic Tower Master.
He'd trailed off, but he could roughly guess what she wanted to talk about.
She couldn't have failed to reach the same conclusion he'd arrived at.
He glanced at his sole colleague.
She had long black hair and sleepy-looking eyes.
"So, what was that other purpose?"
Of Han Sehee's words, he understood "hope."
It referred to Han Yujin.
Endless versatility beyond measure.
The experiment failed, but his existence opened new approaches.
Discovering that made the whole thing a satisfying success.
But her mention of "another goal from the start" was a complete mystery.
Yet Han Sehee looked incredulous, as if wondering why he didn't know.
"You said it yourself."
"I did?"
"You said the Magic Tower Master found this incident interesting."
Why had he said that?
Han Yujin had asked if he'd be chased out as a mercenary.
His mouth fell open blankly.
So what she'd wanted was...
Han Sehee turned her head primly.
"She wouldn't let her one and only colleague leave, would she?"