Chapter 22
Chapter 22
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: Blonde Tanned Thug (1)
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“...”
I opened my eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling.
The last memory lingering in my mind was the 'achievement unlocked' notification I'd seen right before my consciousness faded from the fall. Luckily, my mind seemed intact.
According to my original calculations, I should've been thrown backward by the explosion, but because I'd had Hobabas in a headlock, my body got launched upward instead.
Thank goodness it happened in the forest—trees scattered the impact. If it'd been flat ground, I might've been in real trouble.
“Whew... I nearly got oxidized along with that mosquito and my revenge plans.”
The dizzying thrill of brushing death made my head throb. I covered my eyes with my arm to rest, but something felt off.
“Huh? What's this?”
My once milky-white arms, smooth as cream, now gleamed with a healthy, bronze tan.
Born into the Yang family and never once stepping outside until I was twenty, my skin had always been that pale ivory. Waking up from a knockout to this sudden, vibrant bronze—what the hell...?
“Wait, no way?”
A chilling premonition raced up my spine. I bolted upright and flung off the blanket covering me.
And there it was, plain as day.
“Whoa.”
Not a single spot missed—my entire body tanned to perfection, healthy and sexy bronze.
After endless bodyweight training pushed to the limit, my physique had already reached an ideal form that couldn't look any better.
Chocolate abs, not a hint of flab, honed deltoids, biceps, triceps, and forearms—my arms looked tough enough to conquer any challenge.
Even with that flawless build, something crucial had always felt missing, leaving an inexplicable void in my chest. Now, it felt filled.
By this healthy, sexy bronze skin.
“So that's it. The final puzzle piece...”
With the tan, my muscles' outlines sharpened, contours popping even more vividly. I felt healthier, more alive.
A surge of satisfaction tugged my lips into a grin—until I spotted the mirror on the bedside table.
“Huh? And what's this?”
More precisely, my reflection.
Sure, the face matched the tan—healthy, sexy bronze—but my hair and eye color had changed.
The original me, Yang Woo-bin, eldest son of the Yang family, had jet-black hair and eyes.
But the guy in the mirror? Blonde hair, red eyes—a flashy combo with no trace of the old colors.
“Okay, tan's one thing, but why'd my hair and eyes change color...?”
I tilted my head at the nagging question when a notification popped up in the corner of my vision.
The status window even tells me stuff like this?
Well, it's literally a status display, probably knows my condition better than I do. For someone with the status window perk, a heads-up like this isn't weird at all.
I've been a hardcore Reverse Hero Saga player too long to freak out over notifications anyway. Instead of panicking, I just read it and nodded along.
“Evolution, huh... Sweet. Regular thug was kinda bland, but now? Full-on blonde tanned thug, baby.”
Jackpot.
Creak—
I was reveling in my upgrade from plain thug to Golden Sun when the door slid open. In walked a middle-aged guy in nurse scrubs.
“Ahem... Huh? Oh, oh?! Y-you're awake...?! D-doctor! Doctor!!! Patient in 101 is awake!”
He spotted me sitting up, dropped his charts in a clatter, eyes bulging, then bolted out screaming for the doctor.
“Your body recovered ages ago. We were worried your mind wouldn't come back. Seeing you awake and so healthy is a huge relief.”
“Ah, thank you.”
I bowed my head to the doctor who'd just entered with the freaked-out nurse. He'd treated me, after all.
“No need for thanks. Just doing my job.”
The doctor brushed it off gracefully, set down his charts, and met my eyes.
“Oh, right—I never introduced myself. Guess I got too used to seeing your face on the monitors. I'm Baek Woo-hee, doctor at Dabcheon Academy. Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you too. Yang Woo-bin.”
“Heh, I know.”
Baek Woo-hee covered her mouth and chuckled at my response.
Messy light-brown hair, green eyes, a beauty mark under her right eye, puppy-like features.
Just like the healing big sis I'd only seen in-game. Familiarity melted my tension away.
Come to think of it, this is my first time meeting a major Reverse Hero Saga character in person, right? Chatting with my fave healer— isn't this a historic moment?
I was fangirling internally like a true fanboy when Baek Woo-hee let out a deep sigh of relief.
“Whew, you're really lucky to have woken up. When you first hit the ER, I was at a loss. The injuries were brutal—every bone shattered from the blast and fall, third-degree burns across your skin, severe bleeding from your nape.”
My condition after grabbing Hobabas had been dire.
If I hadn't miscalculated the blast and gone flying upward, it wouldn't have been that bad. But caught full-force and crashing down, I'd danced with death.
Treating patients is a doctor's job, sure, but I felt bad for putting her through hell.
“Even for a superhuman, injuries that bad are a miracle to survive—let alone recover this fast and flawless. Impressive. Other scars aside, those burns should've been tough even for me. You healed them purely on your own regen, and you're a guy, no less.”
Yet Baek Woo-hee credited my recovery to me, not her own life-saving work.
Her character as Reverse Hero Saga's top healer shone through—I was inwardly moved—until one odd detail snagged in my brain.
Wait, why no scars? Other wounds heal fine, but burns should scar.
In-game, the Disaster Witch—same Solar Body trait as me—had burn scars all over after surviving to that point.
Her survival meant her body evolved for Solar Body too, but even that didn't erase scars.
So what's my deal? Spotless skin everywhere?
I pondered hard, but no logical reason surfaced.
Quitting wasn't an option—my hardcore pride wouldn't allow it. I furrowed my brow, digging for answers, when Baek Woo-hee dropped a bombshell.
“Considering the injuries, regaining your mind after just a month and fully recovered? True miracle.”
“...Pardon? A m-month?”
“Yes, one month. You woke up fast...”
“Holy shit. C-can I discharge now?”
“Huh? Oh, sure. Body's healed, so final checks today and you can start classes tomorrow.”
A month? Every day counts, and I slept through thirty? That miscalc snowball just kept rolling?
The high from Golden Sun mode and meeting Baek Woo-hee crashed the second I heard it.
I mentally revised my plans on the fly and told her,
“F-first, let's get those checks done quick!”
Forget scar reasons—recovering my precious lost month mattered more.
One month ago, Fuyuno Tsubaki—eyewitness to the Dabcheon Academy entrance exam rift incident—had picked up a little hobby.
[Hey, asshole! Get that straw away, you filthy mosquito bitch!]
[Oppa my ass—you're a centuries-old hag mosquito.]
[Pfft. Yeah, no good.]
[Hey, mosquito.]
[It's gonna sting bad.]
“...Hehe.”
Recalling the black-haired man who'd appeared when she'd given up on life for good, then giggling creepily.
For twenty years, no one had ever saved her. A man burning his life to slay evil and rescue others? Straight out of the fairy tales she'd secretly read as a kid.
Meeting her dream hero in the flesh naturally spawned this shady new habit.
But even imagining it required checking her surroundings first.
Smack—!
“Ow!”
“Hey, Fuyuno Tsubaki, you nuts? Why the creepy grin?”
Fuyuno Tsubaki was the weakest person at Dabcheon Academy, after all.
“S-sorry, Jin-sook...”
Her fantasy ended, gray filling her vision once more.