Raid
Raid
The ambulance arrived, and the paramedics stepped out.
The paramedics pulled a stretcher out of the ambulance and approached the child.
A paramedic asked Doyoon, who was still supporting the child's head.
"Are you the guardian?"
"No. I'm just a passerby. The child was collapsed, so I performed first aid temporarily."
"First aid?"
The paramedic approached the child, examined her, and nodded.
"I understand. Then, sir. Could you perhaps come with us to the hospital? Depending on what kind of first aid you performed, we might need a statement."
"Understood."
Since he didn't have anything urgent to do right away, Doyoon nodded and climbed into the ambulance.
Looking out the window, he saw a police car approaching in the distance.
The middle-aged man would probably be questioned by the police.
Blaring its siren, the ambulance wove through the streets and soon arrived at the hospital.
The paramedics hurriedly unloaded the stretcher and wheeled it into the emergency room, with Doyoon following right behind.
And there, he met an unexpected person.
"Doyoon-ssi?"
The woman waiting in the emergency room was Baek Jia.
Seeing her disheveled hair and sweat, it seemed Jia had also rushed over in quite a hurry.
"Jia-ssi? What brings you here...?"
"The police called me, so I came. But why are you here, Doyoon-ssi...?"
As Jia looked at Doyoon with puzzled eyes, the paramedics moved the stretcher past her.
At that moment, Jia clung to the stretcher and cried out.
"Haeeun-ah!"
Haeeun?
Was it a child Jia knew?
Doyoon asked Jia.
"Jia-ssi. Is she a child you know?"
Jia bit her lip and barely opened her mouth to speak.
"Haeeun is my younger sister."
Younger sister?
To think the child Doyoon had saved was Jia's younger sister.
What an unbelievable coincidence.
While he was flabbergasted by the crazy coincidence, the stretcher was moved into the inner ward, and Jia followed it inside.
Doyoon followed behind in the heat of the moment as well.
As Jia tried to follow all the way into the bed elevator, the doctor stepped forward to stop her.
"Haeeun-yang needs to undergo tests, so please wait here."
"Doctor. Our Haeeun can live, right?"
"She will definitely live. Please wait just a moment."
And leaving Doyoon and Jia behind, the doctor went up in the elevator.
Pulling Jia's arm as she refused to move from the spot, Doyoon led her to a nearby chair.
"Jia-ssi. Don't worry. Nothing bad will happen."
Jia flashed an exhausted, bitter smile.
"Thank you. I need to rest for a moment."
Jia sank deeply into the chair.
It seemed she had expended far too much mental energy in a short span.
Since Doyoon had been equally flustered by the sudden turn of events, he leaned back against his seat without saying another word.
How much time had passed?
The elevator doors opened, and the stretcher carrying Haeeun came out.
Doyoon's heart sank.
It was because the doctor who stepped out with her had quite a serious expression.
Jia approached the doctor.
"Doctor. What about Haeeun? Is Haeeun okay?"
The doctor looked around and said with a grave face.
"Could the two of you follow me for a moment?"
Could there actually be something wrong with her body?
Even though Doyoon's potion consumed zero Capacity, who knew what side effects it might have on a non-awakener.
Perhaps that part was caught in the examination.
Feeling nervous, they followed the doctor to a corner of the emergency room as instructed.
The doctor paused before opening his mouth to speak.
"According to the test results, Haeeun-yang... doesn't have any abnormalities."
"What?"
"We ran every single test. However, there were no physical injuries whatsoever. Honestly, if she hadn't lost consciousness, I would have thought she was feigning illness."
Jia's eyes widened in shock.
Doyoon secretly let out a sigh of relief.
Seeing the doctor's serious expression, he had thought some severe side effect was discovered, but it seemed that wasn't the case.
"At any rate, she is in good enough condition to be discharged immediately, but just in case, it might be good to admit her for now to monitor her progress. What would you like to do?"
"What? Ah, yes. Pl-Please do that."
The dazed Jia regained her senses and barely managed to nod.
After moving the stretcher once more, Doyoon and Jia sat next to it and looked at Haeeun.
Haeeun was sleeping with a face so peaceful that one could never imagine she had just been in a traffic accident.
Just as evening was approaching and Doyoon thought he should bid farewell and head home soon...
Jia opened her mouth.
"Was it you, Doyoon-ssi? The one who saved my sister."
So she noticed after all.
Come to think of it, if she suffered a traffic accident severe enough for the police to be called yet had no physical trauma, Doyoon was the only possible culprit.
So Doyoon readily admitted it.
"Yes. That was me."
"With that potion?"
"Yes. Of course, I didn't know what side effects the potion might cause in a non-awakener, but given the emergency, I prioritized my own judgment."
Jia was silent for a moment before speaking up.
"My parents passed away when they got caught up in the tower when it first emerged."
Even though a considerable amount of time had passed since it first emerged, towers were still rising across the world on rare occasions.
Doyoon's parents had also passed away after being caught up in that.
Had Jia's parents passed away like that as well?
"Haeeun was the only family I had left. Although there was a big age gap between us, I cherished Haeeun dearly. Because she's my only living blood relative left in this world."
Suddenly, Jia shuddered.
It seemed she was imagining what it would have been like to lose her younger sister.
Jia turned back to look at Doyoon.
"Thank you. Really. I will never, ever forget this favor."
Firm gratitude shone in Jia's eyes.
Although it wasn't something he did expecting a reward, at this point, refusing it would be rude.
"Then I'll look forward to your reward."
At those words, Jia smiled warmly with her eyes.
"Yes. I will prepare a reward you will never be able to forget."
Leaving the hospital, Doyoon let out a sigh.
It was a sudden turn of events, but it ended well nevertheless.
Fortunately, the potion produced the exact effect he had anticipated.
Although he still needed to monitor Haeeun's condition a bit longer, there likely wouldn't be any side effects.
Discovering that he could administer the potion to non-awakeners was a huge harvest.
On top of that, Jia said she would give him a reward.
This wasn't a losing deal by any means.
Well, even if it were a loss, he had no intention of just standing by while a child was dying anyway.
With that, he turned his steps and headed home.
Because so many things had happened, he felt exhausted and wanted to fall into a deep sleep.
But when he arrived home, something was stuck to the front door.
It was a Post-it note.
'Come to my house upon arrival. -Lee Sol-'
"Lee Sol-ssi?"
Doyoon tilted his head.
Instead of writing it on a Post-it note, she could just text him...
Ah, right.
Come to think of it, they hadn't even shared contact numbers.
He had notifications turned off for the exchange, but if he logged in right now, wouldn't it be filled to the brim with messages from Lee Sol?
Thinking that he should exchange contact info this time, Doyoon pressed the doorbell of Lee Sol's place.
A moment later, the door opened and Lee Sol appeared.
And at the sight of Lee Sol, Doyoon froze on the spot.
Lee Sol had dark circles under her eyes, and her hair was completely messy.
With an uncharacteristic, jarring appearance that could never be found in her usual sluggish self, all sorts of questions buzzed in Doyoon's mind.
For example, whether Lee Sol-ssi had gotten into a fight with someone.
Right then, Lee Sol spoke up.
"I cleared it."
"Huh?"
"I cleared it, I said. The 58th floor."
Doyoon's eyes widened.
She cleared the 58th floor already?
In the first place, the expected time for Lee Sol to clear the 58th floor was one month.
But it had only been a week, so how on earth did she clear it?
"My younger sister can't see anything else once she gets hooked on something."
Just then, Seah emerged from behind Lee Sol with a wry smile.
"Please come in. But..."
Seah scanned Doyoon from top to bottom.
"Is something wrong?"
"No. Did you also come back from conquering the tower, Doyoon-ssi? You look like Lee Sol's spitting image."
He was very tired, but was it really that bad?
Well, what happened today was indeed quite mentally exhausting.
Entering inside and sitting at the table, he recounted what had happened today.
Seah opened her eyes wide in surprise at the news of the child's sudden traffic accident, and nodded when he mentioned treating her with a potion.
Lee Sol maintained an unreadable expression, as if contemplating something.
"A potion that can even be administered to non-awakeners... I never imagined such a thing existed."
Doyoon nodded at Seah's words.
"I thought so at first, too."
"Still, it's a relief she was healed properly. On top of that, receiving a reward from a top-tier ranker like Jia-ssi. You went through a lot, but I think it was well worth it."
"Yes. I think so too. Though I would have healed her even without a reward."
And then Doyoon looked at Lee Sol.
"By the way, you cleared the 58th floor as well, Lee Sol-ssi? Congratulations."
However, far from looking happy, Lee Sol wore a somber expression.
As Doyoon looked puzzled, Seah let out a bitter smile.
"Actually, Lee Sol went straight to the 59th floor right after clearing the 58th floor."
"Huh? The 59th floor?"
Doyoon's mouth fell wide open.
Normally, it was common sense to rest after clearing a floor before attempting the next one.
It was because secretly accumulated fatigue could gnaw away at an awakener.
Furthermore, since no one knew what lay on the 59th floor yet, one had to prepare thoroughly.
A single mistake could cost a life, after all.
This was why Seah hadn't immediately challenged the 59th floor even after clearing the 58th floor.
"I know, too. That my sister is a bit reckless. What on earth was she thinking?"
Seah pinched Lee Sol's cheek with a fierce look in her eyes.
"Ouch," Lee Sol grunted, rubbing her cheek.
"So were you able to find out the mission for the 59th floor? What was it about?"
Seeing Lee Sol's gloom, it must be quite a tough mission.
Seah said with a wry smile.
"They say it's a raid."
"A raid?"
"A mission where multiple awakeners must gather to hunt a giant magical beast. And above all..."
Seah paused before continuing.
"The beast we have to slay is an elemental. And a high-ranking fire elemental at that: the Phoenix."
"Phoenix?"
Phoenix.
Did she mean the mythical firebird Doyoon knew of?
"The Phoenix is an elemental whose entire body is made of fire."
Lee Sol crossed her arms.
"So attacks don't work. It has no physical form."
"Then doesn't that mean it's impossible to clear?"
"Listen until the end."
Lee Sol poked her own chest with her index finger.
"While the Phoenix's body is made entirely of fire, it has a core right in the center. Only that part can be attacked."
In short, it was immortal, but it had a weakness.
"Then can't Lee Sol-ssi or Seah-ssi just aim for that spot?"
"It's not as easy as it sounds."
Seah knitted her brows.
"The Phoenix is fast and breathes powerful fire breath. Our only choices are to block or dodge, so two long-range attackers like us trying to clear it alone would be suicidal."
So that's why this mission is a raid mission where multiple awakeners can clear it together.
"While a close-range attacker lures the Phoenix, long-range attackers rain down attacks on the core. That's probably the intended strategy for this mission. The strategy itself is simple. The problem is..."
Seah's voice trailed off, but at this point, Doyoon could tell what words would follow.
"You went through the trouble of being the first to clear the 58th floor and climb up, but it's frustrating to have to wait for other awakeners on the 59th floor, right?"
"...Yes. That's right."
Seah spoke with a gloomy expression.
They finally had an opportunity to leave the other rankers behind and climb the tower.
But to think they had to waste that opportunity here.
It could only be described as bad luck.
"Well, it can't be helped. It's a shame, but as long as we have the elixirs, there will be a next time."
Seah shook her head as if trying to brush off her regret.
However, Doyoon was thinking of something else.
If they were unable to clear it simply because the fire breath was too dangerous...
[Zero-Calorie Fire Resistance Elixir]
Significantly increases fire attribute resistance.
Consumption Capacity: 0
...Can't they just ignore it then?