Chapter 36
Chapter 36
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: Reunion
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Ah.
I remember.
I'm conscious again.
Though it feels like I've just woken up, hovering on the edge of sleep.
Still, I remember.
I remember the day I opened my eyes in this world.
Back then, I had a clear goal.
It didn't last long, though.
But I did have a goal.
Right.
Looking back, I wasn't holding on.
I'd fallen apart a long time ago, and I was just stuck that way.
I had a clear goal.
Somehow, I had to get Han Si-hoo and Yoo Seo-ah to make up.
Get them to be friends again.
There would be no unhappy past.
I had to stop the tragedy from ever happening.
Why would the author kill off the childhood friend right at the beginning?
If I were the protagonist.
If I were the protagonist, this never would have happened.
So incompetent for a protagonist.
If it were me, I definitely could have protected everyone.
The baseless thought that if it were me, I could do it.
But all I see is a horribly tangled story.
I can't even remember what the original plot was anymore.
We're still in the early part of the novel, and it's already a complete mess.
Still, I did well.
The fact that Yoo Seo-ah has survived this long is something.
[Paused]
No, was it the right thing to do?
Can you call it a success just because she's alive?
I feel like it was less my doing and more Han Si-hoo's.
But Han Si-hoo must have paid a price for it.
I have to go apologize.
The fact that I don't have to use the medicine anymore is really great.
Maybe now I can finally, truly heal Yoo Seo-ah.
"It's been a while."
Someone is sitting beside the bed.
A familiar voice.
Similar to the one I heard at home.
It's the Doctor.
"Ah...?"
Where am I that the Doctor is here?
"I heard you tried to kill Han Si-hoo. A shame you failed, unfortunately."
"Huh? What?"
How does he know?
More importantly, where am I?
Where?
Where?
"Please calm down. You're in the Academy's medical office."
"......"
Then how is the Doctor here?
It's hard to understand.
Is this all a dream?
"That promise. The one where I'd provide the medicine if you killed Si-hoo. Of course, I assumed you'd remember."
No matter how much of the drug I'd used, I wouldn't have attacked Han Si-hoo if not for the Doctor's promise.
Back then, it was like my brain had been cut out, leaving only malicious thoughts.
*Kill Han Si-hoo.*
I just kept asking myself what the Doctor had said.
What he'd said was to kill Han Si-hoo.
Is this also part of that suggestion, or command?
"You tried hard."
He strokes my head.
The touch feels strangely pleasant.
For a moment, I felt at ease, my body relaxing.
All my problems started because of the medicine the Doctor gave me.
So it would be normal to hate him.
But I feel no defiance, no anger.
It doesn't feel like the Doctor is an enemy.
He's just a good person.
"You'll do better next time. I'll continue to provide the medicine free of charge."
"Medicine? For free?"
"On the surface, it's medicine provided by the Academy. They call it military-grade, but I'm the one who prescribes it."
I don't understand.
Why is he talking about the medicine from the Academy as if he gave it to me?
"But the Academy gave me the medicine..."
"Of course, that's not wrong, either."
The Doctor continues speaking leisurely.
"You see, I'm a director at the Academy. So, the procurement of your medicine is fundamentally handled through me."
"A director?"
I think Lee Yoo-ram said something about the medicine coming from the board of directors.
I knew the directors were involved.
I just never thought one of them was the Doctor.
"In any case, you're free to use as much medicine as you like."
A briefcase, similar to the one Lee Yoo-ram once carried.
Inside are several syringes.
"Ah, it's okay, I don't need the medicine."
In the past, I would have accepted gratefully.
But not now.
"I'm all better now. I don't need to use it anymore."
[Paused]
Time has stopped.
There's no reason to use it.
What's the Doctor's expression?
I can't see it well.
Strange, the lights are bright.
The Doctor seemed to gaze at me for a moment.
"Is that so? I had a feeling you wouldn't use it. It seems Si-hoo really did solve the problem."
That's right.
Han Si-hoo solved the problem.
I don't know how the Doctor knows that.
"Yes."
Even though all I did was stab him with a knife.
I still feel so sorry.
I never wanted to do that.
"Then I take it you no longer have any intention of killing Si-hoo."
"Kill Si-hoo? Why would I ever think that?"
What a joke.
Killing him.
I would never do that.
No matter how much I disliked or hated someone, it would never lead to murder.
"He's my friend."
Especially a friend.
Would anyone but a madman commit murder?
"Then you'll have to repay your debt to Si-hoo."
"Yes."
It's only right to repay him.
At least express my gratitude.
"What would be a good way to do that? Helping Si-hoo would be best, but there are limits to what you can do."
"Umm..."
"If you were using the medicine, you could fight like an Awakener, but that won't be easy now. Since you no longer need it."
"Still..."
I was never an Awakener to begin with.
It's a shame I can't fight, but it can't be helped.
Still, there must be some way I can help.
"But Si-hoo seems to like you, Seo-ah... It would be good for you to meet him at least once. You two should talk."
"I will."
Everything the Doctor says is right.
That's a fact.
I know that much even without the medicine.
He's not trying to force the drugs on me, either.
After all, I was prescribed the medicine because I was genuinely sick.
There's no reason to give me medicine if I don't need treatment.
"Before that."
The Doctor takes my hand.
"Agh."
The wound hurts.
It hurts.
It hurts this much from just a light touch.
Without the medicine, my whole body aches as if it's breaking.
I'm just enduring it.
When I use the medicine, my mind is hazy.
When I don't, the pain makes my mind hazy.
There's nothing I can do.
"Do you have any intention of treating your wounds first?"
The Doctor lets go of my hand.
It sounds like he's asking if I need the medicine.
[Paused]
But I have no intention of using it anymore.
This is the chance Han Si-hoo worked so hard to create.
Throwing it away is unthinkable.
I won't use the medicine, no matter what.
"I'm fine."
I'm normal.
My body aches and stings a bit, but...
Still, I don't need the medicine.
"If you say so."
It seems the Doctor has decided to be considerate.
He can't do much if the patient doesn't want treatment.
"Si-hoo is in the medical office on the floor below."
"Okay. I'll go see Si-hoo. Thank you."
The Doctor really is kind.
He even tells me exactly where to go.
***
Han Si-hoo opens his eyes.
"The medical office?"
The Academy's medical office.
This is where Lee Yoo-ram works.
The wounds on his body had already healed.
It felt strange.
It had been a very long time since he had collapsed and woken up lying down.
[Status Window]
Level: 31
Health: 1381, Mana: 990...
Skills: Swordsmanship X, Purification X, Thaumaturgy VI...
Purification has caught up to my Swordsmanship level.
Han Si-hoo didn't know if investing his saved-up skill points into it was the right choice.
Still, he believed that saving his friend was the right thing to do.
Status: Purification Penalty (1720 hours)
His gaze fell upon an unexpected number.
"...1720 hours?"
A quick mental calculation told him it was about 70 days.
The last penalty had been unpleasant, but this time, the number was on a different scale.
Still, he could endure it.
It would be over if he just held on for about two months, right?
"Si-hoo?"
Someone was there.
"You're awake? Are you okay?"
Opening the curtain of the hospital room was Yeon-hwa.
Han Si-hoo felt something was off and retraced his memories.
The only person with him right before he collapsed was Seo-ah.
"Yeon-hwa?"
"I found you after you collapsed. I was waiting for you to wake up."
"Where's Seo-ah?"
The important thing was what happened to Seo-ah.
Yeon-hwa must have followed him after he disappeared during the battle.
"Huh?"
"She was with me at the end."
His final memories were indeed hazy.
His consciousness had cut out at a moment when he should have never collapsed.
He wouldn't lose consciousness from just a stab wound.
It must be the skill's recoil. It seems the Purification Penalty was amplified as well.
He had used it at level 10 with an augmentation skill attached, so this time, the Purification had to have worked properly.
"...That strange girl? Ms. Lee Yoo-ram took her away separately."
"I see."
Yeon-hwa decided to ask the question that had been on her mind.
"But why was a girl like that at the Academy?"
When she'd seen an unknown girl coming out of Han Si-hoo's house last time, her brain had felt like it froze.
But now she understood.
Han Si-hoo must have had some incredible circumstances.
She could grasp the context—that his old friend had become a drug addict, and he was trying to take care of her.
But in the end, that same friend stabbed him.
She was from the slums, after all.
That place was filthy.
It wouldn't be surprising if a girl who lived there had done all sorts of dirty things.
Si-hoo had been involved with such a person, but thankfully, it was over now.
He wouldn't protect a girl who showed no gratitude and even tried to kill him.
"It's my fault."
Han Si-hoo answered.
It was his fault that Seo-ah had come to the Academy in the first place.
Han Si-hoo had to solve his own problems.
In the end, no one could solve his problems for him.
So he found a way, somehow.
He poured all his skill points into Purification.
All that remained was a penalty of over 1700 hours.
The worrying part was that he still didn't know what aspect the penalty affected.
It was different from last time.
He didn't hear that voice. He didn't feel like his thoughts were being obstructed either.
If Seo-ah's condition was fine, then it was a success.
He had to find out if the Purification worked properly.
Was everything finally going back to normal?
Finally?
He didn't regret the points he'd gained from leveling up.
He could always raise his level again, and the Purification skill might come in handy somewhere else someday.
"You went through a lot because of me. I'm sorry."
Yeon-hwa's face flushed.
"I was just repaying my debt from last time. So don't worry about it."
He had saved her, and she owed him for it.
She felt that just delivering the gift wasn't enough.
With this, her heart felt much lighter.
*Good, this is very good.*
Yeon-hwa muttered to herself.
She was happy to have grown closer to Han Si-hoo.
"...I'm going to go see Seo-ah."
He got up from his seat.
"Huh?"
Han Si-hoo had something he needed to finish.
"It'll be dangerous."
"What are you talking about?"
"She's the one who tried to kill you, right? I don't see why you have to go."
"Ah, that. It should be fine now, probably."
On what grounds?
She was just a drug addict.
Though, he did feel a little sorry for her, seeing her tremble at the end.
The memory of her gasping for breath remained.
Syringes, a knife, a hammer, ropes.
Signs of drug use.
Bandages.
Even to Yeon-hwa's fleeting glance, she had looked pitiful.
Regardless, she had knocked her out and sent her to a treatment facility.
"One thousand seven hundred, huh."
Purification Penalty (1720 hours)
"Huh? A number? What is?"
Yeon-hwa asked.
She couldn't understand the context of the number.
"This is dangerous."
Han Si-hoo gripped his head.
His thoughts were being contaminated.
"...Are you okay? Si-hoo?"
Silence.
*Yoo Seo-ah is trash.*
*A dead weight holding him back.*
*A landmine hindering his growth.*
*If he saw her, he felt like he would strangle her on the spot.*
I won't kill her.
Absolutely not.
The very fact that he was having such thoughts was repulsive.
I won't kill her.
*Then let's make her suffer enough, make her pay the price.*
Shut up.
Han Si-hoo suppressed the malice blooming within him.
The penalty had begun.
"No."
I'm not okay.
But if Yoo Seo-ah's condition has improved, then it's a success.
If he went to check himself, he didn't know what he might do with his own hands.
So what should he do?
He needed a trustworthy person to check on Seo-ah's condition.
Han Si-hoo briefly thought of the friends he had made.
None were as close as Yoo Seo-ah.
But there were a few he could trust.
Just as he was pondering who to send, someone opened the door to the medical office.
The familiar figure of a girl.
Stumbling inside was Yoo Seo-ah.
She saw Han Si-hoo and smiled.
"Si-hoo."
Purification Penalty (1719 hours)
And right there was a target in need of purification.