Yoon Haerin
The first medicine I made did not even last an hour.
"It's starting to ache again."
Seongcheol, seated on the bed across from me, cradled his right wrist. I checked my phone. Forty-seven minutes had passed since the ointment went on.
"Has it been like that since just now?"
"Yeah. Not as bad as earlier."
When I climbed down off the bed, he waved me off with his left hand.
"Stay put. You're a patient too, aren't you?"
"I'll only take a look."
Ointment still clung outside the gauze, but the light I had seen at the pharmacy was nearly gone. When I focused a little harder, I could see mana beneath the skin. A few of the strands I had loosened were twisting together again at the wrist.
Seongcheol opened and closed his hand.
"Fingers are fine. It's just here that aches."
Mana gathered toward the inner wrist he indicated. Strands that could not pass the tangle were piling up behind it.
"I'll call the nurse. Please leave your hand as it is."
I pressed the call button, and a nurse came over.
"What's bothering you?"
"He says his wrist is hurting again. Since a little while ago."
While she examined him and sent for the doctor, I noted the time on my phone.
"What are you writing all that for?"
"When it started hurting again. I need to know how long the medicine holds."
The light might already have been fading before then. For the moment, I kept only what I had confirmed.
A short while later the doctor drew the curtain aside and stepped in.
"Let me take a look at the wrist."
He examined the arm and checked the monitor.
"Mana is building up again. It's rising more slowly than when you first came in. Could you move your fingers for me?"
"These are fine. Just the wrist aches a little."
When Seongcheol spread his hand, the doctor asked the nurse for further treatment.
"It would be best if you stayed admitted today so we can watch how this goes."
"Do I really have to stay?"
"You lost consciousness. If the same thing happens at home, we won't be able to treat you right away."
Seongcheol's lips moved. Then he picked up his phone.
"Then let me make a call. I have to tell them I can't come in tomorrow."
"Of course. I'll explain once you're finished."
The doctor called me out past the curtain. On the treatment cart, the ointment jar sat inside a clear bag.
"Could you explain how you treated him with this ointment?"
"I didn't mix in any other medicine. I only put mana into it. At first I tried sending it straight into him, but that didn't work well. Once I loaded it into the ointment, it reached all the way inside."
I went on, resting a hand against my own wrist.
"Around here, it looked as if threads were tangled. When my mana touched them, they loosened little by little. Just now, the same spot was twisting again."
"You're saying you can actually see that?"
"Yes."
"Be sure to mention it when you take your Ability Test."
The doctor wrote down the explanation and lifted the jar.
"Would the remaining medicine still be effective?"
"I can't say. There's no light in it now."
The ointment in the jar had returned to its original color as well. The mana seemed to have vanished not only from what I had applied, but from the medicine I had set aside.
"Shall I put a little more back in?"
"No."
The doctor checked the Patient Wristband on my wrist.
"Your results show your mana is nearly depleted. That's why you felt dizzy. Don't use any more today."
I wanted to know whether I could load mana into the remaining ointment again, but I was in no position to argue. They had half-carried me to the exam room earlier.
"I understand. Would you be able to tell me later how Seongcheol's treatment goes?"
"If the patient consents, we can share it with you. We'll keep the medicine here."
From beyond the curtain, Seongcheol's voice carried over.
"No, tomorrow's really not happening. I'm telling you, I'm at the hospital."
Hearing the call, the doctor added an explanation.
"The damaged area is obstructing his mana flow. Even if the ointment drains what's built up for now, the same thing can happen again if the wrist doesn't heal."
"Then he shouldn't go back to work just because the pain is gone."
"Correct. I'll say as much to him."
If the effect had lasted, Seongcheol might have gone to work tomorrow too.
Beneath the note on my phone, I added another line.
When I returned to the bed, Seongcheol was just finishing his call.
"They said they'll get someone else for tomorrow."
"That's good."
"They could've found someone sooner. The second I said hospital, they agreed."
He set the phone down.
"Seongcheol. I'd like to confirm how the medicine I applied actually worked. If you agree, the hospital says they can share your treatment progress with me."
"Sure, that's fine. Once the wrist's better, I'll drop by the pharmacy too."
He adjusted the cushion supporting his right arm, then looked at me.
"And forget what I said about making medicine for my teammates. You've got to take care of yourself first."
"Even if I wanted to make some now, I couldn't."
"So lie down. Don't get up again just because of me."
This time I lay quietly on the bed.
The next day I opened the pharmacy about two hours later than usual.
I took down the notice on the door and wiped the floor first. Once the scattered things were put away and the chairs set back in place, the shop finally looked like itself again.
An unfamiliar text was waiting on my phone.
I had already filed the report, just as the hospital had instructed. I found an open slot and booked it. Several days still remained until the exam.
"They did tell me not to push it in the meantime."
I had no intention of spending mana until I collapsed, the way I had yesterday.
I took out a fresh ointment and two small compounding containers, portioned the same amount into each, and numbered them. The moment I set my hands to the work, though, I could not tell where the force was supposed to go. My fingers tensed for no reason, and the container tipped.
"Not like that."
I set it down and loosened my shoulders.
I thought back to the moment I had laid a hand on Seongcheol's arm. Focusing as if I were sending strength inward, light gathered at my fingertips. The ointment slowly took on a blue cast.
I noted the time and set my hand to the second container. This time I held the force a little longer. The light deepened, then clumped to one side. Stirring it with a spatula did nothing to spread it evenly, and when I pushed harder, light leaked out along the rim.
I pulled my hand away at once.
In the ointment I had made first, the light remained even. The later one was already clear in patches. Putting in more did not mean the ointment would hold all of it.
I recorded the weight and how long I had fed mana into each, then closed the lids. I still did not know the exact amount of mana, but I had to keep whatever I could measure now.
I was deep in the trial when the bell chimed.
A customer came in.
"I can leave the prescription here, right?"
"Yes. One moment, please."
By the time I had prepared the medicine and come back, the light in both containers had grown faint.
After that I checked whenever a gap opened between customers, noting where the color dulled first and the moment the light vanished completely. I did not add more mana. Simply watching what I had made that morning gave me plenty to write down.
Around evening, a text arrived from Seongcheol.
A photo of his meal tray followed almost at once.
I texted back telling him to eat well and rest. At least today I would not have to worry about him going off to work, and that was a relief.
I was putting away the tools from the experiment and about to take out the closing ledger when the pharmacy door opened.
A woman in a black cap came in. Beneath a loose gray zip-up, long silver hair spilled down.
"Welcome."
Standing at the counter, she lifted the brim of her cap a little.
"Do you have a sleep inducer?"
I pushed aside the ledger I had been about to open.
"How long have you been unable to sleep? If you're taking anything, please show me that as well."
"It's been about two weeks since it got bad. When I take this I do get drowsy, but even if I barely fall asleep, I wake up almost right away."
She drew a medicine envelope from her bag. The skin beneath her eyes was dark. After handing it over, she tugged her sleeve down to cover the back of her hand.
As I checked the prescription details, the drug refrigerator in the back kicked on. She turned toward it at once.
"When did you last take this?"
No answer came, so I waited. She looked at me a moment late.
"I'm sorry. What did you say?"
"What time you took the medicine."
"Around ten last night. I didn't take any today."
When I set the envelope down, her brow tightened at the rustle of paper. It was not only the refrigerator bothering her.
I lowered my voice.
"There's a quieter seat farther in. Let's talk there."
I pulled out a chair at the counseling table, away from the refrigerator, and she followed and sat.
"Thank you. Everything sounds a bit... too loud."
I gathered up the envelope and sat across from her.
She took off her cap. Silver hair threaded with a faint blue tint spilled loose over her shoulders. A pale, slender face, violet eyes, outer corners slightly upturned. The face was familiar.
I looked again at the name written on the envelope.
She was the famous hunter I had seen more than once on the dungeon-clear news. On screen she always had her hair tied back and was smiling, so I had not recognized her at once.
Haerin set the cap on her knee and tugged at her sleeve.
In that instant, light passed beneath her wrist.
It was far clearer than anything I had seen in Seongcheol. Fine strands layered over one another and ran all the way to her fingertips.
"May I see your hand for a moment?"
Haerin held out her right hand.
I could see the flow of mana even before I touched her. There was no tangle. In its place, the current was so fast I could hardly follow it with my eyes. It was the same not only at the wrist, but higher up the arm.
And she was sitting perfectly still.
I set the medicine envelope down on the table.
"By any chance... are you unable to regulate your mana?"