Chapter 50: The Proposal
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 50: The Proposal
“Are you feeling any discomfort, sir?”
“My head and my solar plexus hurt a lot.”
“That’s because your guardian beat you for about thirty minutes.”
“...”
The doctor and nurse gave me pathetic looks, but I felt incredibly wronged.
Who could have possibly predicted Choi Hyena would claim to be my wife back there...?
“First, let’s have you undergo a more thorough examination.”
“...Yes.”
With the nurse’s help, I headed to the examination room. For a while, I was in and out of massive machines, undergoing tests I’d never even heard of.
After about an hour of tests, I was on my way to the doctor's office when I ran into Choi Hyena, who was standing in the hallway with a pout on her face.
“...I was wrong.”
“Hmph.”
Thankfully, no fists came flying my way.
Without another word, she led the way into the doctor's office. Her back looked no different than usual.
Only then could I relax and enter the office.
“Thank you for your cooperation with the examination.”
We entered the doctor's office together in an awkward atmosphere, where a familiar-looking doctor greeted us.
Despite his friendly appearance, he was actually the hospital director.
The foolish question of Why is someone like him treating me personally? vanished the moment I considered Choi Hyena sitting next to me and the influence she represented.
“First, regarding the four days you were asleep after being rescued from the gate, it seems to be because you expended too much magic power in a short period.”
I had expected as much.
No matter how quickly I could replenish my magic power with the app's buff compared to other mages, my body's durability was ultimately no different from theirs.
Continuously recovering more than the appropriate amount of magic power could actually be detrimental.
“Now, would you please take a look at this?”
The doctor took something out of his drawer. It was a blue model that looked like a nervous system.
“This is your magic circuit, Mr. Kang Hyun-woo.”
“What the fuck, give it back.”
Smack!
“I’m sorry. Please, continue.”
“A-ahem… According to the test results, Mr. Kang Hyun-woo’s magic circuit is in a generally weakened state. As I explained, this is partly due to using so much magic power in a short time, but it also seems that since you only recently became a mage, your magic circuit hasn’t fully settled yet, which is a contributing factor.”
An X-ray-like image, a scan of my body, appeared on the monitor on his desk.
“As you can see, your magic circuit is quite weak, so it would be best to refrain from using magic for the time being.”
“...”
“Answer him.”
“...Yes.”
I had no choice but to yield to Choi Hyena’s threat.
If you take magic away from a mage, what’s left of me?
I felt like I’d lost my identity.
“You don’t need to worry too much. Your recovery rate is excellent, so after just a week, your magic circuit will be even stronger than before. You can think of it like how a newborn’s bones are soft.”
After listening to the doctor’s not-so-helpful consolation, we left the office.
Perhaps because it was the VIP ward, the hospital corridor was empty.
In an instant, it was just the two of us, Choi Hyena and me.
The awkwardness felt like it was shooting through the ceiling.
“...Don’t you have anything to say?”
Choi Hyena was the one to break the silence.
“...Sorry?”
Fearing another beating would land me in the hospital for another week, I quickly apologized, but her reaction was lukewarm.
As if that wasn’t the response she wanted.
“Uh… thank you?”
I’d been living luxuriously in a private room in the VIP ward, receiving treatment from top-tier medical staff.
At my current bank account level, it was a luxury I could only afford by taking out a loan.
“...I’m leaving.”
“Huh?”
As if that was the wrong answer again, Choi Hyena’s voice was full of pique as she turned and left.
I've had experience with three people and one spirit, yet I still can't figure out a woman's heart.
*
Just because I’d regained consciousness didn’t mean I could be discharged immediately.
It was due to the doctor’s recommendation that I stay hospitalized for at least another week for observation, but honestly, I had no complaints.
For one, since it was the VIP ward, all the nurses were stunningly beautiful.
I've never flown before, but I imagined the flight attendants for a major airline would be on this level. Thanks to them, getting shots and tests was a feast for the eyes.
Besides, the hospital facilities were practically hotel-level, making me occasionally think that living here wouldn’t be so bad.
While I was enjoying a rest that rivaled any luxury hotel stay, someone came to visit me.
“I heard everything from Hyena.”
It was Grandma Choi Young-ok.
“Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for saving my granddaughter.”
Her formal tone, so unlike her usual self, wasn’t mere pleasantry; I could feel the respect she held for me.
“Yes, well...”
I didn’t feign modesty by saying it wasn’t that difficult or that I was just doing what anyone would.
It was an undeniable fact that I’d gone through hell to save her, and I had no intention of downplaying my own achievement.
“Once you’re discharged, would you please pay a formal visit to our family? We have much prepared for our benefactor.”
“I’ll look forward to it.”
After getting straight to the point more quickly than I expected, Grandma Choi Young-ok left.
Was she being considerate of the patient?
Anyway, it seemed like everyone who was going to visit had come, so I decided to enjoy the rest of my 'hocance' [a Korean portmanteau of 'hotel' and 'vacance', meaning a luxury staycation] and lay down on the plush hospital bed.
The meals were surprisingly satisfying for a hospital, and the thought that this life would continue for a while longer lifted my spirits.
However, my good mood was shattered the next day by an unexpected visitor.
“Happy to see me?”
“...”
The Lord of the Gray Magic Tower, Han Lael, had come to see me.
“Tower Lord, what brings you here...?”
I am, after all, a mage belonging to the Gray Magic Tower.
To use a broadcasting station as an analogy, it was like the station director visiting a low-level staff member who had just joined a few days ago.
I couldn’t help but swallow dryly and break out in a cold sweat.
It was a conditioned reflex, an instinct.
Furthermore, her dark eyes, which made it impossible to guess what she was thinking, confused me even more.
“What do you mean? I’m here to visit you, of course.”
She had to know that wasn’t what I was asking. I couldn’t tell if I should call her shameless or admire her as a consummate professional who knew how to hide her true intentions.
“First, I must offer my thanks.”
I was flustered, but I had to do what was necessary.
I bowed my head respectfully.
“If you hadn’t helped me, Tower Lord, I probably would have died back there. Thank you so much.”
Of course, I could have escaped with the matching app.
If Han Lael hadn’t saved me, I’d probably be in the underground dungeon or with Iris right now.
While seeing Iris again after so long would have been nice, it was impossible to guess how much time it would take to become strong enough to clear a B-rank gate on my own.
As someone with a lot to do on Earth, that wasn’t a welcome prospect.
“Don’t worry about it. I was just doing a job I was paid for.”
“Still...”
“Now, now, don’t give it another thought! I even brought you some vitality potions on my way here.”
I took the box Han Lael handed me. For a moment, I thought, So even a Tower Lord brings a box of Bacch-X when visiting the sick.
“...?”
The moment I checked the box and its contents, I couldn’t believe my eyes.
“Um, Tower Lord...? What is this...?”
“Hehe, it’s Holy Water I received from an acquaintance. A bishop made it himself, so its effects are guaranteed.”
That’s not what I was asking.
Why the hell was there Holy Water in a box she handed over as if it were a cheap energy drink?
Holy Water is water imbued with divine power.
It specializes in purifying profane things related to demons. If I’d had just one bottle of this during the Wendigo possession, I could have expelled it from Choi Hyena’s body without having to go through the trouble of having sex all night.
‘She’s giving me this and calling it a vitality potion?’
Well, I guess it would restore my vitality!
It’s water packed with the same divine power used to heal wounds; it would be stranger if it didn’t work.
Moreover, the price of Holy Water skyrockets the more powerful the creator. If a bishop-level cleric made this, the price per bottle would be too high to even mention.
“...”
And there were eight bottles of it.
Even for a Tower Lord, isn’t a gift this extravagant for a simple hospital visit a bit much?
Yet the giver herself seemed completely unfazed.
“I must return this.”
I bowed respectfully and offered the box of Holy Water back to her.
The sweeter the fruit, the greater the danger that follows.
I saw this not as a simple gift, but as a poisoned apple.
“It’s okay, you can have it.”
“No, this gift is too much for me.”
“Hmm...”
Han Lael, having received the gift back, just stared at me endlessly with an unreadable expression and a smile.
What’s this? Is she giving me a hard time for refusing her gift?
In a way, it’s a gift from the company president. Even if it looks like a poisoned apple, was it right to just accept it?
‘...Should I take it back now?’
I’ve never had a real job outside of part-time gigs, so I don’t know.
“Then how about we do this?”
Just as my complicated thoughts were about to make my head explode, Han Lael handed me a piece of paper.
I gave it a quick glance, but it was clearly a contract.
“The truth is, Hyun-woo, I’m interested in you.”
“...I have two girlfriends.”
“Really? But did you know? A man desired by many women is a truly attractive man.”
“...”
This woman is something else.
She never lets herself get drawn into the other person’s pace.
“Becoming your lover doesn’t sound too bad, but what I’m proposing right now is something different. Would you please look at the contract?”
With a slightly uneasy feeling, I scanned the contract again. Its contents were as follows:
Han Lael (hereinafter referred to as ‘Party A’) and Kang Hyun-woo (hereinafter referred to as ‘Party B’) hereby enter into the following Research Cooperation Contract.
1. Contract Period: From XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX.
2. Place of Work: Han Lael’s personal workshop (negotiable).
3. Scope of Work: Physical examinations and research cooperation to determine the source of Party B’s special talents.
4. Working Hours: Mutually agreeable.
5. Compensation: Party A must accommodate Party B’s desired conditions to the greatest extent possible.
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“A research cooperation contract?”
“Why do you think I spent my precious, golden time to save you, Hyun-woo?”
“...Wasn’t it because of Madam Choi Young-ok’s request?”
“Mm, that was part of it, but the deciding factor was that your recent activities piqued my interest.”
Han Lael produced a document from somewhere and handed it to me.
It was my elementary school student record.
“A child who was judged to have no talent in a magic power test in the fifth grade has now, nine years later, formed a circle in just one week, and reached the 2nd Circle in another week. Don’t you think even a novel written like this would be criticized for being implausible?”
I had to admit, she had a point.
Even I thought so, so I could only imagine what it looked like from the Tower Lord’s perspective.
“What is it that you want?”
“Exactly what’s written in the contract.”
Han Lael offered the box of Holy Water back to me.
“I want to research you, Hyun-woo.”
So much so that I don’t care what methods it takes.
A rare blush bloomed on Han Lael’s face.