This Isn't Self-Harm
“Ugh.”
Along with a cloud of dust, I returned home.
“A-are you okay, Benefactor? That Saint didn't do anything strange to you, did she?”
“N-no, I'm fine.”
Remia brushed the dust off my clothes, then wrapped me in a tight hug, apologizing over and over that she hadn't been there to protect me.
Something's suspicious here…
Her reaction was suspiciously over the top. As she held me, her head crept closer and closer toward my neck, and then—
“N-no, you don't!”
So that was her goal all along…
Remia pulled back with a look of pure reluctance.
Anyway—
Grade: [A]
One day, a curious wyvern took an interest in the magic humans wielded. It spent its entire life studying human sorcery, and in imitation of the human mana core, crafted a sphere of its own.
Description: Grants the ability to use mana, even to those who cannot handle it naturally.
An artifact the Saint gave me.
Does that mean I can use magic too?
Remia, who had fetched my favorite stuffed animal from the bed, frowned down at the sphere resting on my palm.
“Benefactor, that's the thing the Saint gave you, isn't it…”
The moment I nodded, Remia declared she was going to smash it on the spot and went to grab a hammer. It took everything I had to calm her down, and then—
Would you like to use Wyvern's Core?
Oh?
If I used this sphere, I'd be able to wield mana too. But I had no idea what side effects it might carry, so I hesitated.
B-but still…!
“Augh, fine!!”
The sphere lifted from my hand and floated into the air, spinning rapidly before it began to glow. Then it shot straight toward my chest and plunged into my heart.
“Khh…!”
The Wyvern's Trial
The Wyvern's Core will now test you.
🎁 Reward:Wyvern's Heart [EX]
⚠ If you fail this quest, you may never attempt the Wyvern's Trial again.
“B-Benefactor?! Are you all right?!”
Remia fumed about how nothing the Saint ever gave could be trusted, all while catching me as I crumpled.
What was it again…
“Ugh…”
Suddenly all the strength drained from my body. A startled Remia rushed to hold me up, but my breathing grew tighter and the world blurred at the edges.
“R-Remia, I can't breathe… hck.”
It was terrifying. I was afraid.
Is this how I die…?
Remia shook me and shouted, over and over. But I could barely hear her anymore.
My eyelids slid shut. I knew I couldn't let them close, but I was just so sleepy…
Wyvern's Core has acknowledged you.
When I opened my eyes, the ceiling was a familiar one. Through the window, the sky had already gone dark.
“I survived…?”
I honestly thought I was going to die. What on earth did that Saint hand me…
Come to think of it, what was that thing I saw right before I passed out…
The quest that had appeared when I used the Core. Well, seeing as I was still breathing, I guessed I'd cleared it…?
There was a heavy pressure on my stomach. Tilting my head down to look, I found Remia fast asleep on top of me.
Sensing my movement, she rubbed her eyes and stirred awake.
“Wh-what—! Benefactor!!”
The moment our eyes met, Remia burst into sorrowful tears and buried herself in my arms.
“I thought you were going to die…! Kek, I was so scared I'd be all alone again… huaaang.”
Trembling from head to toe, she clung to me, and I held her tight.
What even happened?
According to Remia, right after I collapsed, a blue light had been radiating from my heart. It slowly faded away, and the moment she confirmed I was breathing again, she didn't take me to the hospital—she just laid me down in bed.
When I tried to get up, Remia blocked me.
“N-no! You're not moving!”
She squeezed me even tighter.
Well, I guess I'm not going anywhere…
First things first—I needed to check my condition.
Status window!
Uh…?
I have another EX ability now.
What is this…?
So this was the quest reward?
Another EX grade, no less…
The Wyvern's Core acknowledged you and took residence within your heart.
Description: Allows you to borrow the power of the wyvern.
It "acknowledged" me…?
But more than that, the description was strange.
"The power of the wyvern."
Everyone knew that wyverns coming out of gates could only be beaten when hunters of A-rank or higher pooled their strength together. And I now had the same power as one of those monsters…
Does that make me a monster now…?
Kooooo—.
“Mmnya… benefishul… gimme bloood…”
Deep in my thoughts, I hadn't noticed Remia snoring softly beside me. Then I remembered the way she'd screamed while I was dying.
It must have been terrifying for her.
Petrified that the one person who'd ever opened her heart to her might die and vanish again, Remia kept her grip locked on me even in her sleep. I decided not to wake her—I'd just keep holding her until she woke up on her own.
“Mm… mm.”
Did she fall asleep again?
Remia, who had been nestled against me, was gone.
“Hm…?”
A strange feeling in my thigh.
“Schlup… haa… nom… mmph… nnh, benefishul… slurp.”
Remia was drinking my blood, calling my name between gulps. But something was different.
It doesn't hurt at all.
So this is what it meant to gain the wyvern's power…
I-if that's the case…!
I bolted upright in bed.
“Wh-wha— Benefishul…! Th-that's—!!”
Startled by my sudden movement, Remia tumbled right off the bed, still attached to my thigh.
“Remia, you okay?”
“I-I wasn't drinking it for my own sake, I swear…”
Since it hadn't even hurt, Remia started scrambling to justify herself. I calmed her down and explained what had changed about my body.
“Th-then you can keep bleeding, and…!”
When I shot her a look with cold, steamed-over eyes, Remia trembled violently and dropped into a full dogeza.
Anyway, first I needed to test my abilities.
Maybe I was getting used to this new body, because the fear was gone. I walked into the bathroom and—
BANG.
Smacked my forehead straight into the wall. But this time was different.
“I-it doesn't hurt…!”
So this is the wyvern's power…
A flustered Remia came rushing over, but when I laughed and told her I wasn't hurt, she let out a long sigh and fetched a plastic bottle instead.
Catching my nosebleed in the bottle, I sank into thought.
“Remia, we need to take this further.”
I asked her to stick a syringe into my wrist.
“WHAT?!”
“You just collapsed not ten minutes ago, why would you—! Even if you did get that body…”
I had no choice. The money was running out, plain and simple.
And Remia will have to live on her own someday too…
Living with her now was, in a way, only temporary protection. Once she was truly okay, I figured we'd each go back to our own lives.
Reading the resolve in my eyes, Remia approached me slowly.
“R-really? You're really going to do this…?”
“…Yeah.”
The needle went in.
“Gngh…!”
“B-Benefactor, I'm so sorry…! I pushed it in too deep…!”
As the blood kept flowing, a strange feeling washed over me.
“Haah… haahh…”
A wave of calm settled in, and I started to feel… good.
I like this feeling…! I want to keep going…
“…Benefactor!!”
Remia grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me.
“Wh-what do I do, Benefactor… the hospital first…! No, wait, with bleeding this bad, we should— gnk.”
It felt like I could get addicted to this…
“Hehe… heehee.”
Mental abnormality detected.
“…Aahh~”
It felt like my mind was about to float away.
The mental abnormality is forcibly immunized by Wyvern's Heart.
3…
2.
1…
“Wh-what did I just do…?”
Blood-soaked clothes. A bathroom that looked like the scene of a murder. Remia's deeply unhappy face. Blood still streaming from my wrist.
First of all, Remia was the odd one here.
“Remia, you okay?”
“B-Benefactor… really…”
Whether she'd even heard me or not, her eyes were locked onto nothing but my wrist.
SPURT.
Blood gushed out of my wrist. Remia frantically tried to plug the flow with her hands, but it was hopeless.
I felt no pain at all, so I was fine—but apparently it looked absolutely dire from the outside.
“Remia.”
“Yes, Benefactor…”
When I asked her to bring me a plastic bottle, she brought one without a word of protest.
Every drop of this is money…
As I collected the blood,
“B-Benefactor, are you really okay…?”
Remia kept worrying over the blood steadily leaking from my wrist. But there was no pain whatsoever.
More than that, the wyvern's body is incredible…!
After drawing about three liters, I asked Remia to treat me. She fetched the first-aid kit from the corner of the room, disinfected my wrist, and pressed a bandage over it.
“What now…”
A devastated bathroom. Clothes soaked in blood. Two bottles filled with my own blood.
Did I draw too much…?
An ordinary person would have bled to death from this amount—but with the wyvern's body, I felt like I could afford to draw even more.
I put the two 1.5-liter bottles in the fridge for now.
Somehow, it felt like I could actually do this.
Riiing. Riiing—.
“Hello, this is—”
“I-I'll sign the exclusive contract with you!”
[General]Retarded
[General]The title of "an EX-bearing nation"!!
[General]If you think South Korea's finished, you're probably right lol
[General] ●▅▇█▇▆▆▅▄▇
[General](Repost) Why South Korea Is Done For
(Hunter Association logo)
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(News article attached)
Are you kidding me? An EX-grade ability drops and some bullshit law knocks it down to S-rank, and then the F-grade Mana Aptitude knocks it down to A? Which country comes up with garbage like that, for real?
"Non-combat awakeners get their official rank lowered one tier" is genuinely the most brain-dead policy imaginable.
The way I see it, South Korea is already dead. If you're A-rank or above, apply for emigration somewhere else. Right now.
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