Before I Rise Again
“It might be possible.”
“?!?!”
A phrase I’d thrown out on a whim. But the shock it triggered went far beyond anything I could have imagined.
“If we’re talking about people, then yes, it’s probably possible. I can’t say for certain, though.”
“Then—!”
“However, there are a few things we need to be careful about.”
I quickly steadied my racing mind at Andreas’s correction. If it was only theoretically possible but impossible in practice, it would mean nothing.
“I have no sense of how many hearts would be required. Teleportation and medical treatment are entirely different fields.”
“So you’re saying further research is necessary?”
“Exactly.”
“...”
My expression had grown heavy, yet the excitement refused to fade. Perhaps I really could heal my parents. The sole purpose I had lived for all these years might finally be fulfilled.
“If you let me see the patient, I can at least examine them once.”
“You’ll help us?”
“Help? I’m simply taking payment in the form of a heart. No matter how precious my time may be, it’s hardly worth as much as the Heart of the Apocalypse.”
“...Thank you.”
“I’ll accept your thanks only if it works. There’s still a chance it won’t. And even if it does succeed, it won’t be me engraving the imprint—it’ll be him.”
At those words I turned to look at Maru. He simply nodded, his expression unchanging.
“...I’ll go speak with the Association President.”
The fruit of my long years of struggle might finally ripen today.
-Arang!! Look at this!! Mom created coal!!!
-Honey! Why are you showing the child something like that!
-Wow… Mom, you’re amazing.
-Arang?! Why are you looking at Mom with those eyes?!
-You said yourself not to play with food, yet here you are…
-I should show it to Siha too. Where did I put my phone?
-Honey!!!
Those were my happiest days. The times I felt most at peace. The memories I longed for more than anything.
“First, I’ll examine the flow of mana myself. You should observe with me.”
“Me too?”
“It’s only a check. You may sense something different from what I do.”
My parents hadn’t fallen ill—they had been attacked by a villain. An unknown mana still flowed through their bodies. No one could predict how that mana would react to Maru’s engraving. So first, we needed information.
“Then I’ll open the capsule. Please work quickly.”
The doctor spoke as he opened the capsule. The moment it unsealed, my father’s neck began to mutate. The sight was unbearable, yet I forced myself to watch. Maru and Andreas exchanged a glance. Their hands touched my father’s body and—
“?!?!”
“Wait, both of you!! Get back right now!!!”
Suddenly the mutation in my father’s neck accelerated violently. From his throat, tentacles like dried, twisted tree roots burst forth and lashed out at everything around them.
“Damn it, what is this?!”
“Association President!!!”
The Association President rushed to block the attack. The capsule holding my mother had nearly been sliced in two. My body had frozen solid; all I could do was stare.
“Ugh! These weren’t nearly this tough before!”
The Association President couldn’t destroy the grotesque tentacles sprouting from my father’s neck. Not even him—a former active-duty S-class hunter? They definitely hadn’t been this strong before.
“Damn it! Baekwol Hunter!! You must handle this, Hunter-nim!!”
It seemed the Association President was holding back his full power, afraid it would destroy the capsule where my mother slept. Even so, the hunters beside him should have been able to break them. Did that mean the tentacles were truly that hard? Then the only one who could cut them now was—
“Baekwol Hunter-nim!!!”
Me. This time I gripped the sword I had properly brought along. I only needed to sever those tentacles. So toward my father’s neck…
Toward his neck…
-Dad, shave your beard. It’s scratchy.
-Hm? Dad shaves every day?
-Then shave twice a day.
Tears suddenly flooded my eyes. Why. Why again. I thought it would be different this time. I thought I could finally rest a little. In the end…
In that instant I saw it—another newly grown tentacle, separate from the one the Association President was blocking, shooting straight toward Maru.
“...”
I calmed my heart. I faced reality with cold eyes. Making sure not to cut my father’s neck, I swung my blade.
Slash—
The instant the two tentacles fell, the capsule snapped shut. It was a relief my father hadn’t emerged. The moment it sealed, he sank back into deep sleep and the mutation in his neck receded.
“Hoo… Last time it crumbled like tofu…”
“Are you all right?”
The Association President and his direct hunters looked shaken by the unexpected hardness.
“This is… truly…”
Andreas frowned deeply.
“Why did the mutation suddenly intensify like that?”
“I’m not sure… I don’t know either…”
The doctors were still analyzing the data.
“...”
Maru watching me with an unreadable expression.
“......”
And me, collapsed on the floor, staring blankly into space.
I had thought it would be different this time. I had thought we would finally see results. But I was wrong.
It’s fine. I just have to stand up again. Expectation and disappointment—I’ve been through it countless times already. There’s no reason to break now. I still have to earn money, sponsor research organizations, protect my sibling, and…
And……
Ha.
Until when?
From age nine to sixteen, I did nothing but swing a sword. From seventeen to nineteen, I poured my entire life into hunter work. Nearly ten years. Ten years of running without knowing whether a finish line even existed.
And I would have to keep running. I didn’t know when it would end. Maybe it never would. Maybe the result I wanted wouldn’t be waiting at the end.
“...”
Still, what else could I do? I had to endure. Just as no parent abandons their child, no child abandons their parent. The people who first gave me unconditional love—I could never give up on them. So…
Thud—
Suddenly Maru sat down beside me. He pulled out a handkerchief. Nuri’s had been black with blue wave patterns, but Maru’s was yellow. He gently wiped my tears with it.
“Hic… sob.”
Ah. I was crying.
“Sob. Hic. Sniff.”
There was no time to stop. I had family I had to protect no matter what. I had to rise again. But—
“Hic… Waaah! Waaaaah!!!”
It was hard. Pretending to be Baekwol. The endless, hopeless waiting. The crushing pressure of having to protect others. The loneliness of having no one who truly saw the real me. So.
“Why! Why again!! Just when…”
Just stay by my side for a little while. Because at least in front of you, I can be honest.
***
The situation was brought under control for the time being. We returned to the laboratory with Andreas, the Association President, and Maru. Once I had calmed my emotions, I found the three of them strangely lost in thought.
“What are you all thinking about?”
“Why it reacted so suddenly.”
It really was strange. In the few previous treatment attempts, such abrupt mutations had never occurred.
“I have no intuition for it. I’m sorry—for getting your hopes up for nothing.”
“No, it’s all right. Thank you for even considering it.”
Next, the Association President spoke.
“Baekwol Hunter-nim. It definitely wasn’t this hard before, was it?”
“Yes. It used to shatter from a pistol bullet…”
“Then it’s one of two possibilities. Either it grew stronger with time, or there was something special involved…”
Personally, I hoped it was the latter. If it was the former, the mutation would only worsen as time passed. Treatment would become even more difficult.
On top of that, my parents’ bodies kept weakening. The research organization I sponsored—ManaWiki—continued to develop treatments, but while the physical damage could be repaired, that terrible twisting showed no sign of improving.
“And… Maru? What are you thinking?”
“...”
“Maru?”
“Huh? Ah, sorry. I was just recalling something.”
What memory was he suddenly revisiting?
“Um, Andreas, sir. You said before that there had been no Engraver capable of imprinting living beings, correct?”
“Yes. Isn’t that why I rushed all the way here? The first person to successfully engrave a living being had finally appeared.”
“Right. Why do you ask?”
“Well…”
Maru glanced at me briefly before continuing.
“If I’m not mistaken, it seems an engraving has also been placed on your father’s body.”
“...What?”
“It was only for an instant, but I definitely felt it—an imprint with a sensation similar to my own.”
What was he saying? If my parents’ condition was caused by an engraving, then…
“That villain—the Corpse Engineer—was also an Engraver capable of imprinting living beings?”
“Most likely. He may even handle it more skillfully than I do.”
The Corpse Engineer used a vicious combat technique that manipulated his victims’ bodies. It was almost identical to the rag-doll method from a certain shaman comic. That technique had remained in the realm of the unknown until now, yet to think he had been an Engraver all along.
“Then perhaps those physical abilities were also gained by engraving himself.”
“That makes sense. At the time, I didn’t have the skill to recognize it.”
“Wait, then if Maru improves his abilities, could he heal Baekwol Hunter-nim’s parents?”
“That’s…”
“That would be difficult.”
The one who answered wasn’t Maru, but Andreas.
“Even the engravings that can be placed on living beings are still engravings. They follow the same fundamental laws. One of those laws is that the first engraving placed holds priority. I’ve already confirmed this.”
“What about erasing the engraving…?”
“It would be hard. As you know, forcibly erasing an engraving places an enormous burden on the subject. A non-awakened person would never endure it.”
“Ah…”
Then no matter how much Maru’s skill improved, he couldn’t erase the engraving. And we couldn’t wait for my parents to awaken.
“Then if we use the Heart of the Apocalypse…”
“There’s a high chance that power has also been imbued in the Corpse Engineer’s engraving.”
“...”
Haha. There really was no answer.
“Still, we did gain something. We now know the Corpse Engineer is an Engraver, and that your parents fell victim to his imprint.”
“Yes… That information alone is incredibly valuable.”
I had simply been drained because my expectations had been too high. Objectively, this was an enormous step forward. At least now we had a clear direction. Compared to the past when I had been wandering blindly, this was tremendous progress. I would pass this information to ManaWiki—after processing it slightly so it wouldn’t reveal anything about Maru.
“Then… we’ll take our leave for today.”
“Yes. Go and collect yourself.”
“Thank you. Craftsman-nim, Association President. Let’s go, Maru.”
“Yeah. Let’s go home and rest.”
On the way home, inside the Association’s car, all kinds of thoughts swirled through my mind.
“...”
“...”
I naturally leaned my head on Maru’s shoulder. He lent it to me without a word.
No matter what happened, it was time to grow stronger again. Baekwol could not be weak. Baekwol existed to protect. Therefore—
“Today… thank you.”
“You’re saying all sorts of things.”
“Still, thank you. And I’ll be counting on you from now on.”
The honest Baek Arang standing in front of you wants to be protected by you. I thought that, too.