Hospital Visit
Inside a Gate somewhere in Seoul, South Korea.
"Heal!"
"Yes! Coming right up!"
"Buff!"
"Speed buff, incoming!"
Six people were cutting down monsters inside. More precisely, it was a party of a warrior, an archer, a healer, a scout, and two mages.
"Fire support!"
"Everyone, fall back~!"
"All of you, back!"
At the two mages' call, the rest of the party pulled away without argument. Moments later, a roaring tornado of flame and wind roasted the enemy to a crisp.
Watching the monsters bake, the party finally let themselves breathe, rough gasps settling into something steadier.
"Whew! Clear!"
"Haa… I thought I was going to die…"
"You're telling me~"
"Haha, all thanks to our healer!"
And among those party members—
"I didn't really do anything. Haha…"
—Sohee, who had returned to hunter work some time ago, mumbled shyly at the praise.
The others weren't having it.
"Come on. There aren't many people who land heals as cleanly as you do, Sohee."
"Right? Your buffs come out so fast, I love it every time."
"Our last healer wouldn't move unless you barked an order… that was a nightmare…"
She laughed softly and ducked her head, embarrassed. The women in the party smiled fondly at the sight. The men felt their hearts skip a beat.
Which was why—
"So, Sohee, are you ditching the afterparty again today?"
—invitations to drinks, in the hope of getting somewhere with her, were hardly rare.
"Ah, yes… I have plans again tonight."
"How do you have plans every single day~"
Fortunately, no one cursed her out for skipping. Doing that would have been too obvious a play for her attention—and badmouthing a healer was a half-suicide in its own right. If word got around that a party trash-talked their healer, what healer would ever join them?
Whether in games or reality, healers were rare. That was simply the truth.
Leaving her disappointed party behind, Sohee climbed into a taxi home and started fiddling with her phone.
More precisely—
I should ask if he has time today!
A successful run had left her wallet comfortably full, and she meant to ask Taejin out for a meal. Hunter work had kept her so busy lately that they hadn't been in touch. People thought hunters just raked in cash, but depending on a Gate's size, a clear could drag on until dawn or deep into the night. Days that finished this early were few and far between.
So, full of anticipation, she messaged him about dinner.
And just like that, Taejin was on leave. Sohee's spirits sank.
Aw… I was hoping we could finally grab a meal together.
Not just a meal, either. After so long apart, of course things would go further than dinner. She had even made her own little "preparations" for exactly that. With how little free time she'd had lately, the disappointment hit hard.
So, a little shamelessly—
Where is he going that he needed to take leave?
—she asked where he was headed.
The moment she read it, Sohee realized just how shameless she had been.
Uuuugh…
Her face burned for a second. Then she remembered what she was, and typed anyway.
Even she knew it was a little pathetic. Even so, she desperately wanted to see Taejin's face.
Besides—
They always say winning over the mother makes dating so much easier… right?
She had heard that for romance and marriage alike, capturing a mother's heart was half the battle. Sohee decided to put her abilities to full use. Even if a heal wouldn't work, a buff could at least make things more comfortable.
For reference, one reason healers were so popular was that skilled ones were often hired to treat ordinary people.
Taejin asked if it wouldn't be too much of an imposition. Sohee insisted it wasn't.
She had the address of the hospital where Taejin's mother was staying. And then—
"Um, driver, could you take me here? I'll pay double!"
"Of course!"
—she doubled the fare and headed straight there.
She really didn't need to come…
Hearing from Sohee left me half grateful and half conflicted. Of course it would be nice if she came. Mom's illness wasn't the kind a heal could cure, but it would still ease her a little. So her coming was a good thing—except that, no matter how I looked at it, she seemed to be trying to win over my mother, and that left me with a complicated feeling.
I was still turning it over in my head when—
"Who is it that's got you looking so serious~?"
A voice cut in. More precisely—
"Ah, just someone I know. They said they're coming here…"
—my mother, Kim Gowun, spoke up.
"Hoho. A girl, is it?"
"What—how did you even know that?!"
I nearly jumped out of my skin. How could she possibly tell?
Mom just laughed, warm and knowing.
"A mother can read everything from her son's face, dear~"
"…That's some advanced deflection, isn't it?"
I said it while looking at her.
A gaunt face, and patches of blue-tinged skin showing here and there. The name of my mother's illness was Mana Assimilation Disease—a condition in which the body slowly turns into mana. If that doesn't make sense, picture a body gradually melting and transforming into pure mana. It was, of course, incurable. So rare that my mother was the first known case in the world.
How did we know it ends with melting into mana? Because the handful of people who had developed it later met exactly that fate. The blue skin spreads, and once the body can no longer hold itself together, it simply becomes mana. A terrifying disease.
Yes. My mother had it now.
The one silver lining was that if she ate enough—poured calories into her body with absolute dedication—she could slow the spread. The problem was the sheer volume required. Every single meal, my mother had to put away the kind of calorie load an American competitive eater would struggle with. That was why, despite her monstrous appetite, she looked so painfully thin. I poured a small fortune into managing her condition myself.
With a disease like that, was a single healer showing up going to fix anything? It might sound harsh, but I'd already brought in several highly reputed healers. I figured I'd earned the right to be a little bitter.
Still… even if it can't cure her, it does make her more comfortable…
For reasons no one understood, receiving a heal left her feeling better. That much was a relief.
I sat waiting for Sohee when Mom spoke again.
"What kind of girl is she? The one you met before?"
"No. That person is not someone I know like that."
"Oh my, is that so?"
"Yes…"
Talking with Mom always drained me dry. She was my mother, but her energy level sat somewhere far above mine, and keeping up was exhausting.
I was grinding through the conversation when—
Knock, knock.
A knock sounded at the door. I stepped out into the hallway. Honestly, the timing was perfect. I had been about two minutes from losing my mind.
And standing there in the corridor was—
"Ah, h-hello…"
—Sohee, looking as striking as ever, with two enormous, impossible-to-ignore shapes dominating the view.
I scratched the back of my head, a little awkward, and greeted her.
"It's been a while."
"Y-yes… I've been so busy lately…"
A faint, awkward current hung between us after so long apart. Sohee was the one who broke it.
"Um, about your mother's condition… what is it, exactly…?"
"Mana Assimilation Disease."
"Mana Assimilation Disease?"
I gave her a rough explanation of what it was.
"A disease like that exists…?"
"So few people have it that it isn't widely known."
"Ah…"
She looked at me with genuine pity. Not that I'd been fishing for sympathy.
The awkward silence was about to settle again when—
"Son~ Aren't you coming back in~!"
Mom, bored already, called for me. I gave Sohee a wry smile.
"Shall we go in and talk?"
"Y-yes."
We stepped into the hospital room.
"Son, what took you so—"
"H-hello…"
Mom took one look at Sohee, then turned to me with wide eyes, and then—
"Approved."
—she stared at me like she was wondering where on earth I had found such a lovely young woman.
"Y-yes…?"
"When did my son go and bring home a daughter-in-law like this~"
"Haa… You know it's not like that…"
Sohee looked flustered. Mom looked at me with eyes full of expectation. A dull ache started somewhere behind my forehead, and I had no idea why.
I give up.
I really had no idea.