Chapter 35
Chapter 35
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 35
Chapter Title: I Won't Give Up
-----------------------------------------------------------------
I won't give up.
The morning sunlight in the hospital's VIP room stretched long through the window.
It was warm light, but the air inside the room hung heavy and still.
Siwoo was sunk deep into the sofa, propping his chin as he stared at the bed.
At the end of his gaze lay Lee Chaei, who had pulled the blanket all the way over her head.
She looked just like a small animal trying to hide from the world.
'......'
A calculator whirred endlessly in Siwoo's mind.
'B-rank.'
B-rank.
It wasn't a low grade by any means.
In the hunter world at large, a B-rank was treated as solid mid-tier firepower—enough to serve as an ace in most guilds.
Purely on paper, there was no reason not to sign her.
'But...'
Siwoo's eyes narrowed.
'In that state.'
Could she really be deployed in the field as a B-rank?
Could her mentality even hold up?
The problem was the software.
Her mental state was as fragile as a sandcastle.
Severe social phobia, panic disorder, and a pathological dependency on him.
She'd have full-blown breakdowns just from the medical staff approaching.
Dungeons were places where extreme situations cropped up constantly.
What if she froze in terror and screamed at the sight of a monster, or botched coordination with her party and locked up?
That meant party wipe, plain and simple.
'And with her fear of people, party hunts are out of the question.'
What if her powers triggered from her screaming?
That was a nightmare scenario too.
She was an uncontrollable bomb that could ensnare allies as well.
Solo-clearing dungeons on her own?
No way in hell.
Support role?
As if.
'Even if I sign her, there's no real way to use her.'
Her value as a commodity.
Coldly calculated, Lee Chaei right now was in the red.
Maintenance and rehab costs would outstrip any earnings—a malignant dead stock.
Keeping her around would be straight-up charity work.
'What do I do?'
Siwoo furrowed his brow.
Cut her loose or drag her along?
Discard her, and she'd get weeded out by society and die miserably.
Keep her, and she'd just be dead weight on Miracle.
That was when it happened.
Lee Chaei's eyes peeked out from under the blanket, fixing on Siwoo.
She wasn't asleep.
She couldn't sleep.
She could feel Siwoo's gaze on her from the sofa—he was watching her intently.
His eyes were so cold it felt like her whole body was freezing solid.
Instinctively, she read the meaning in that look.
'He's deliberating.'
Cold eyes.
Calculating eyes.
It was just like the expression on those lab researchers' faces when they sorted useless test subjects.
The worthless ones get discarded.
That brutal law was closing in on her again.
'He's weighing what to do with me... whether to throw me away or not.'
Lee Chaei's heart plummeted.
To her, Siwoo was the whole world.
And now he was thinking of abandoning her.
Of leaving her behind.
'Wh-what is he thinking...'
Anxiety choked her throat.
Her mouth went dry, her heart pounding like mad.
'No.'
She denied it desperately.
'He saved me. He held me even in those flames.'
Siwoo wouldn't abandon her.
He was different from the others.
She repeated it to herself dozens, hundreds of times.
Recalling the warmth of his body heat, she tried to comfort herself.
'Yeah, it's not... it's not true.'
But the more she denied it, the bigger the fear grew.
The thought that being abandoned would end everything gnawed at her brain.
This was the salvation she'd longed for.
Her deepest wish, finally granted.
Being thrown away again was an unimaginable horror.
Rustle.
Lee Chaei's body began to tremble like an aspen leaf.
She clutched the white sheet tight.
Her knuckles turned white from the pressure.
Her eyes were soaked with terror.
At that moment, Siwoo stood up from his seat.
He just wanted to splash some water on his face to clear his head.
But to Lee Chaei, that movement looked like a farewell announcement.
The instant he turned his back, it felt like he'd never return.
Like in the operating room—if he opened the door and left, she'd be alone forever.
"Don’t..."
Lee Chaei pushed herself up from the bed.
Her voice was shaking.
"Don't go..."
Siwoo answered flatly.
"I'll be right back. Just going to the bathroom."
He said it to reassure her, but her panic had already drowned it out.
Lies.
They all said that and left.
Never to return.
The moment Siwoo touched the door handle.
Lee Chaei's eyes flashed violet.
"Don’t... don’t go."
An invisible wave slammed into Siwoo's back.
"...?!"
Siwoo's eyes flew wide.
His hand froze in midair, unable to turn the knob.
'What the...'
His body wouldn't obey him.
It felt like invisible iron chains were wrapping his entire body, squeezing tight.
His muscles locked rigid—he couldn't twitch a finger.
Cold sweat trickled down his spine.
'...No way.'
Siwoo's mind raced.
'It works on higher ranks too?'
His current ability was A-rank.
Lee Chaei, meanwhile, had been rated B-rank due to her damaged potential.
In the hunter world, rank gaps were absolute.
The odds of a higher rank succumbing to a lower rank's debuff skills were vanishingly slim.
Higher ranks naturally had superior mana resistance.
Yet a B-rank's Verbal Command had him fully restrained.
Not even a shred of resistance.
Siwoo strained to turn his rigid neck, thinking.
Lee Chaei sat slumped on the bed, gazing at him with teary eyes full of desperation.
'Don’t go... please...'
Was her desperation fueling the mana?
But Siwoo's mind filled not with sentiment, but analysis.
Verbal Command.
The ability to infuse words with power and warp reality.
At S-rank potential, it could disintegrate massive building debris with a single word—defying the laws of physics.
'I figured the drop to B-rank would tank the destructive power.'
Miracles like material disintegration were probably off the table now.
But.
'Even so.'
Gulp.
Siwoo swallowed dryly without realizing.
His Adam's apple bobbed sharply.
'It can still affect higher-rank awakeners.'
In top-tier hunter battles, where 0.1 seconds decided life or death, binding an opponent for even a few seconds?
Greed stirred.
I want it. If that power were mine.
What if she'd hit S-rank with that ability intact?
On par with Kim Yaeun.
No—maybe even beyond her. A single word to dominate the battlefield.
That's why it stung so much.
The broken vessel was such a waste.
'Wait.'
A thought pierced Siwoo's mind.
Was Lee Chaei's ability like Lee Jia's magic?
No.
It was fundamentally different from how mages arranged mana with their unique mana circuits.
Hers used her vocal cords.
A voice-mediated power.
How does a voice form?
Air from the lungs vibrates the vocal cords, and that vibration becomes waves exiting the mouth.
In other words, Verbal Command's engine wasn't mana circuits—it was the physical vocal cords.
Physical vibrations amplified by mana.
'If...'
Siwoo's heart pounded fiercely.
'If that Verbal Command counts as a body-based ability, like Choi Minseok's hardening.'
Choi Minseok's body hardening adjusted muscle density—a physical body skill.
Kim Yaeun's speed and swordsmanship exploited fast-twitch fiber bursts—a physical body skill.
What if Lee Chaei's Verbal Command was classified as a body skill using vocal cord vibrations?
'Then it could be mine.'
Siwoo's unique ability: Skill Copy.
Couldn't replicate magic or spells, but any body-based technique was fair game.
Until now, he'd dismissed Verbal Command as magic-type, so not copyable.
But what he'd just experienced firsthand was unmistakably physical waves.
'It's possible.'
The corner of Siwoo's mouth twitched upward faintly.
What if he could copy and use that ability himself?
A B-rank Lee Chaei had bound an A-rank him.
Then an A-rank him using Verbal Command could restrict those above him?
Influence on S-ranks even.
For Siwoo, who couldn't wield magic, this was the ultimate trump card—the final puzzle piece.
'If it works on S-ranks, that's a game-changer.'
Siwoo's internal evaluation of Lee Chaei began to shift.
That was when it happened.
Lee Chaei had slipped off the bed and staggered toward him.
From behind, she clutched at the hem of his clothes.
Her small hand trembled.
"Please... don't abandon me... sob..."
With her tear-choked voice, the invisible chains binding Siwoo unraveled gently.
His released muscles throbbed.
Siwoo exhaled slowly.
He slipped into his usual expression management.
He erased the cold, calculating gaze and donned the mask of the world's most gentle, reliable manager.
Back at Jenia, that face was the only weapon that had carried him to manager.
He'd been praised for his "professional demeanor."
Siwoo turned around to face her.
A tiny woman, trembling in fear, filled his view.
Her patient gown hung loose; her limbs were stick-thin.
Her tear-streaked face was pitiful.
He smiled softly.
"As if I'd do that."
Siwoo placed a hand on Lee Chaei's head.
She flinched at the warm touch, then melted into relief, tears flowing freely.
"I'm not giving up on you, Chaei."
The words were sincere. In a different sense, perhaps.
Lee Chaei beamed back at his smile.
Just knowing he wouldn't abandon her made her look like she owned the world, blissfully happy.
She nuzzled into his chest, clinging tight.
Siwoo held her and thought.
'If there's no place for her to shine.'
So what?
He had plenty of capital now.
'I'll just make one.'