Chapter 49: The Aftermath
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 49: The Aftermath
The standard response we'd expected for this isolated gate was for numerous hunters and the Magic Tower to cooperate, form a defensive line at the entrance, and deal with the mana beasts pouring out.
The reasoning was simple.
It was the most common, efficient, and safest method in terms of casualties.
And by "casualties," I don't mean civilians. To be blunt, we live in an age where a single C-rank hunter's life is considered more valuable than those of dozens of ordinary people.
I figured no one would be crazy enough to volunteer for a rescue mission inside a B-rank gate, especially during a Dungeon Break.
Or so I thought.
“You're quite the romantic, aren't you?”
A B-rank gate. A high-level gate known as one of the worst disasters imaginable.
That's why I never dreamed someone would come in to rescue us.
'...But it's a different story if that someone is a Tower Lord.'
Her ash-gray hair, like scattering volcanic ash, and her eyes, like polished obsidian, brought to mind a figure no one in South Korea could fail to recognize.
She was Han Lael, the Lord of the Gray Magic Tower—South Korea's strongest mage, and quite possibly one of the twelve most powerful mages in the world.
The C-rank, C-minus, and even the occasional B-minus mana beasts—on par with a Wendigo—that had swarmed the gate entrance vanished in an instant.
Where Han Lael's magic had passed, there were no corpses. The pure white snowfield was simply stained gray, as if everything had been turned to ash.
That was the power of a 7th Circle mage. Even seeing it for just a moment, I felt the overwhelming gap.
I realized the gap between the 2nd and 7th Circles wasn't just a simple five-level difference. It was more than a numbers game.
It made me wonder just how powerful Iris, who had supposedly reached the 8th Circle, truly was. I couldn't even begin to fathom it.
'Once she gets out of that prison, she's going to wipe the floor with everyone.'
I offered a silent prayer for Peledeia, which might soon be engulfed in a sea of fire.
“A pleasure to meet you. I assume I don't need an introduction?”
Han Lael, who had casually slaughtered dozens of monsters in a single breath, offered me her hand.
“Of course not. As a mage myself, how could I not recognize the one and only strongest mage in South Korea.”
I never imagined I would meet a Tower Lord in person.
It was more than just a novel experience.
Is this what a grad student feels like when they meet a Nobel laureate in their field?
My dazed excitement was short-lived.
'I'm seriously going to die...'
My body was in terrible shape, probably from using too much magic power to help Choi Hyena escape.
It wouldn't have been strange if I had collapsed right then and there.
“You've been through a lot.”
The moment Han Lael's finger touched my forehead, an irresistible wave of drowsiness washed over me.
My consciousness began to fade.
“Leave the rest to me. For now, get some rest.”
With her gentle smile, my memory cut off.
*
Han Lael looked down at the collapsed Kang Hyun-woo with cold eyes.
Her attitude was so frigid it was hard to believe she was the same person from moments ago. But it wasn't because she disliked Kang Hyun-woo—far from it.
In fact, this was the real Han Lael. This was her true nature.
The other persona was just a mask, worn to maintain the dignity of a Tower Lord.
With no reason to wear the bothersome mask any longer, Han Lael cast aside her pretense and observed Kang Hyun-woo.
“It seems the phrase 'loved by mana' wasn't just a figure of speech after all.”
He truly was loved by mana.
Affection, interest, even obsession... these were not phenomena one would expect to observe from mana, which surely possessed no ego of its own.
“It was worth coming all this way.”
Outside, countless citizens had been forced to evacuate because of the B-rank gate that appeared in the heart of the capital. The Hunter Association was working with the Magic Tower to prepare for the disaster.
Despite the gravity of the situation, none of the other "monsters" nesting in South Korea had stepped forward to help.
They rarely made a move.
Not for the public good, and not for private gain.
Han Lael was one of them. Between her duties as a Tower Lord and her personal magic research, she wouldn't have had enough time even if she had ten bodies. To go beyond a gate to rescue someone?
She considered it more profitable to spend that time on her research.
She had neither the time nor the reason to concern herself with something as trivial as 'volunteer work'.
What brought her here was the report Choi Young-ok had given her.
A few days ago, Choi Young-ok had visited her workshop and asked her to save her granddaughter and grandson-in-law. Of course, it wasn't an appeal based solely on emotion.
The meticulously prepared proposal laid out, in perfect order, all the benefits she stood to gain in exchange for her help.
Besides other financial gains, helping Choi Hyena, the sole heir of the Seongbuk Choi family, would be enough to put them significantly in her debt. But that alone wasn't enough.
It didn't pique her interest.
A mage must be one who thoroughly sets aside emotion, always acting based on a cold calculation of gains and losses.
From that perspective, Choi Young-ok's proposal wasn't very appealing to Han Lael.
Ironically, Han Lael, a mage who was supposed to review all proposals with her emotions detached, rejected this one for the simple reason that it failed to move her emotions—her interest.
But Choi Young-ok was a veteran mage who had seen it all. As if anticipating that the rewards in the proposal alone wouldn't be enough to move Han Lael, she presented another report.
As Han Lael scanned the report, her expression changed with every passing moment.
—Is this for real?
Even now, she couldn't easily forget the shock she'd felt upon receiving that report.
To form a Circle in just one week, and then reach the 2nd Circle a week after that? If this was true, it was an overwhelming achievement that would never be broken, past or future.
Not even the man known as the First Tower Lord could have managed such a feat. In that moment, her flagging interest was finally captured.
“I was running short on magic stones from B-rank boss monsters. I suppose procuring them on-site isn't so bad once in a while.”
Han Lael stroked her beloved staff and strode forward.
An Ice Golem rose to its full, massive height before her indescribably overwhelming magic power, but the outcome was painfully obvious.
*
Ting—
“Hah?!”
My eyes shot open at the familiar notification sound ringing in my ear.
A white ceiling greeted me.
“Where am I...”
A soft bed, strange pads stuck to my chest, and a familiar hospital gown.
There was no doubt about it. I was in a hospital.
[Favorability Change]
[Choi Hyena 70♡ → 85♡]
[Bond Level Change]
[Choi Hyena Lv.2 → Lv.3]
“This isn't a dating sim, why does it keep showing me this stuff...”
I swiped the screen away and lay back down on the bed.
For some reason, my body felt completely drained of strength.
“My phone... it's gone.”
I was curious about why I was in the hospital, how much time had passed, and how everything had been resolved, but my phone was nowhere to be seen.
Beep—
With no other choice, I pressed the call button to summon a nurse.
“By the way, isn't this room a little too luxurious for a hospital?”
I knew private rooms were expensive, but this was far too lavish to be called a hospital room.
The bed alone was so comfortable I wanted to take it home with me.
Just as my body felt weak, my mind felt foggy, as if it wasn't working properly.
As my thoughts drifted, I heard the sound of someone rushing down the hall.
The presence grew closer, and soon, people who appeared to be a doctor and nurses opened the door and entered my room.
“S-Sir, are you awake?”
“Uh...”
I was taken aback.
I had expected a single nurse at most, but I hadn't anticipated a whole group of doctors and nurses rushing in.
Before I could even process what was happening, the doctor was shining a light in my eyes, checking the monitor connected to the pads on my chest, and moving so quickly I didn't have a chance to ask a thing.
I had no idea what the nurses were doing, but they were all bustling around, doing something.
“...Um, can someone please explain what's going on?”
Why did I wake up in a hospital? What happened outside? Is Choi Hyena safe? I had a million questions I wanted to ask.
“Ah, we've called your guardian. They'll be here shortly, so please just wait a moment.”
“Guardian...?”
The only person I could call a guardian was the head nun of the orphanage. Was she really coming?
I had certainly planned to visit her as soon as I got out of the gate, but I hadn't wanted our reunion to be like this.
I had planned to make a triumphant return, dressed in a sharp suit with my hands full of gifts.
'She's going to worry so much if she sees me in a hospital gown...'
I was worried that reuniting with the wayward son who hadn't even properly contacted her for years since moving out would be like driving a nail into her heart. Just then...
BAM!
The door flew open violently, and a familiar face appeared.
“K-Kang Hyun-woo!”
Flowing red hair, deep violet eyes, and those full breasts I had touched several times.
It was Choi Hyena.
'What are you doing here?'
Then again, the head nun wasn't wealthy enough to afford a luxurious hospital room like this, so I should have expected it to some degree.
Still, I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.
“Thank god...”
Choi Hyena's eyes welled up with tears as she approached my side.
Her disheveled hair alone told me how frantically she must have rushed here.
She was even panting for breath. Anyone watching would have mistaken her for the heroine of a romance drama.
As Kang Hyun-woo suspected, Choi Hyena hadn't eaten or slept properly for the past few days.
How could she rest easy after witnessing the man who stayed behind in the gate to save her being carried away in an ambulance?
Every day had felt like swallowing needles.
The moment she got the call that he had woken up, she was running before she could even think.
And when she arrived, there was Kang Hyun-woo, staring at her with his characteristically dumbfounded expression.
“Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?”
Completely forgetting the doctor and nurses were even in the room, Choi Hyena grabbed his wrist to check his condition.
Of course, the doctors and nurses simply watched the couple's tender moment with warm smiles.
But Kang Hyun-woo's next words sent a chill through the room.
“Um, excuse me... who are you?”
“...What?”
Choi Hyena's eyes trembled.
“Hey... stop joking around...!”
“I-I'm serious. I can't remember anything...”
His voice and tone were nothing like the usual rude, perverted Kang Hyun-woo.
In that moment, she recalled stories of people who had been reduced to invalids after being exposed to high concentrations of mana.
It was usually something that happened to civilians, but she had heard that low-rank hunters sometimes suffered similar aftereffects after encountering high-level mana beasts.
With a trembling hand, Choi Hyena grasped Kang Hyun-woo's.
“You... you really don't remember anything?”
“...No.”
Thump. She felt something drop inside her chest.
Her heart ached.
He had saved her life time and time again, and in the end, he had even sacrificed himself for her.
She had been so relieved when he made it out of the gate alive. Even though he was rushed away in an ambulance and remained unconscious for four days, she was just grateful he was alive.
But what was this?
Amnesia...!
Amnesia was a tragic condition for anyone, but for a mage, it was a death sentence, a declaration that they could no longer practice magic.
“Could it be... are you my girlfriend... no, my wife?”
“Ah...”
Seeing the anxious look in Kang Hyun-woo's eyes, Choi Hyena made a firm resolve.
That's right. He saved my life multiple times.
A life saved must be repaid in kind.
Of course, she had no intention of giving up her life as a mage. There were things she had to accomplish, even if it cost her her life.
But that didn't mean she couldn't get married. As the sole heir of the Seongbuk Choi family, it was her destiny to continue the family line.
With that in mind, she looked at Kang Hyun-woo again.
His looks were average, but he was tall. His talent as a mage was overwhelming enough to bring about a new golden age for the Seongbuk Choi family.
'...Now that I look at him again, he's actually not bad-looking...'
Sure, he was a bit of a pervert, but that was to be expected of a virile man in his twenties.
Her grandmother, the elder of the family, had acknowledged him, so there should be no problem with their marriage.
“That's right! I'm your wife, Hyun-woo...!”
“Um... miss guardian?”
Just as Choi Hyena, clutching her heart that felt like it was about to burst, was about to proudly declare her resolve, she was stopped by an unexpected person.
It was Kang Hyun-woo's attending physician, who was also the hospital director.
“I'm sorry, but the patient does not have amnesia.”
“...What?”
What in the world was that supposed to mean?
Choi Hyena stared blankly, her gaze shifting from the doctor to the nurses, and finally to Kang Hyun-woo.
Kang Hyun-woo avoided her gaze, staring intently at something outside the window.
“...Sorry.”
At that single word, tossed out without even a glance in her direction, Choi Hyena's face turned as red as her hair.
CRASH!
That day, the entire window of the VIP hospital room was blown out.
Witness accounts of someone falling out of the room along with the glass were dismissed due to a lack of evidence and quietly faded away.