Chapter 58
Chapter 58
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 58
Chapter Title: Rumor (3)
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"......A familiar ceiling."
When I opened my eyes, I saw the infirmary ceiling I'd glimpsed once before.
The searing pain that had gnawed at my entire body was gone, my skin felt fresh and dry, and my mood was great—it seemed my condition had returned to normal.
After slaving away nonstop for a whole week without a break, maybe I should just sink into this soft infirmary bed and rest for a bit? But right then, an unsettling thought flashed through my mind.
"......No way?"
Flutter!
What popped into my head was what happened last time I woke up in the infirmary.
That day, the backlash from my self-detonation had plunged me into a coma, and I'd wasted a whole bloody month of precious time.
I already didn't have enough time to grow, so if something that horrific had happened again, it would've been a total disaster. I shot up from the bed in a hurry.
Moving around, I realized the patient gown was too small.
It felt tight around my chest and shoulders, but since I'd be taking it off soon anyway, I ignored the buttons straining in protest and got out of bed to pull back the curtain.
Swish!
"Mm, with the regeneration magic on your shoulder and arm, you should be able to take the cast off in about a week."
Pulling back the curtain opened up my view, and a familiar voice came from the bed opposite, hidden behind its own curtain.
I strode toward the voice, grabbed the curtain, and yanked it open.
Swish!
"Hm? Who... Ah, Cadet Yang Woo-bin. You're awake?"
"Long time no see, Teacher."
Even as I flung the curtain wide open without warning, she greeted me with a calm, unchanged expression. It was Baek Woo-hee, the Dabcheon doctor who'd treated me before.
I opened my mouth to ask her something urgent, but my question never made it out.
"H-Hiiik...?!"
"Ah."
Because the patient on the bed across from me, whom Baek Woo-hee was examining, was Yasuri Yaiba.
"S-Sorry! I was wrong! I won't do it again! I'll live right! Please spare me! I hate pain! I'm scared! No! Don't! Stop!"
The moment Yasuri Yaiba saw me, she slammed her head down low, drew her knees up to curl into a ball as tight as possible, and trembled violently while spilling out apologies.
The fear had clearly taken root deeper than I'd intended, which was definitely a good thing. But there were lines in her torrent I couldn't just let slide.
No! Don't! Stop! What was that supposed to mean? It made me sound like some real monster.
I started to open my mouth to correct the misunderstanding, then thought better of it and shut it again. Leaving it be might not be so bad.
If the misunderstanding tanked my reputation, it'd drag down my clan's too—which would actually work in my favor.
"Wh-What is this...?"
"Don't mind her, Teacher Baek Woo-hee. She'll calm down if you leave her. Anyway, there's something I want to ask..."
So I drew Baek Woo-hee's slightly flustered gaze away from Yasuri Yaiba's meltdown and opened my mouth with the question I'd meant to ask.
Swish!
"Stop right there, you scoundrel! This is the infirmary—a rare sanctuary where patients too weak to resist evil can rest! And here you come, trying to unleash your vile atrocities again? Have you no human heart at all, Yang Woo-bin?!"
But once again, my question was cut off by an unwelcome intruder who shoved the curtain aside and appeared.
"Wh-What's this now? Woo-jin-ah, you friends with Cadet Yang Woo-bin?"
The one who'd interrupted me was Baek Woo-jin, his chest wrapped in bandages.
"Sis, get away from him! Run! That guy's insanely dangerous!"
He was the younger brother of Baek Woo-hee, the Dabcheon doctor right in front of me.
His sister was such a good person, so he'd probably grown up righteous watching and learning from her.
Family environment really was everything.
Even raised in the utter shitstain of a clan that was House Yang, I'd turned out this upright. I was clearly something special.
Sure, I was playing the thug now out of necessity... but at my core, I was a good guy. Yeah.
"You bastard... Not content with leaving my friend Yaiba like that, now you're reaching your filthy claws toward my one and only sister? You think I'll just stand by and watch...?!"
I'd been enjoying the sibling moment between Baek Woo-hee and Baek Woo-jin when the latter hopped down from his bed, chest tightly bandaged, eyes blazing with righteous fury.
"......"
Baek Woo-jin was radiating an aura like he might charge at me any second, but I just stood there watching him before turning back to Baek Woo-hee.
"Ignoring me, huh?! Fine, if that's how it is—no helping it. Time for revenge from back then... Ack!"
But Baek Woo-jin could barely stand right now anyway—his breastbone and ribs were shattered from my Solar Divine Body-empowered punch.
Thud!
Sure enough, he clutched his chest and dropped to his knees on the floor with a groan.
"Woo-jin, back to bed and lie down! What are you doing making a racket in the infirmary?!"
At that, Baek Woo-hee finally frowned and scolded him sternly for the first time, her expression turning strict toward her brother.
Even the paragon of virtue that was Dabcheon's Baek Woo-hee turned into a stern big sister in front of her ill-mannered little brother.
As a veteran of Reversal Hero Tale, I was happily taking in this rare sight when she turned back to me, her eyebrows drooping apologetically.
"Sorry about that, Woo-bin cadet. My brother's not a bad kid, he's just... well, a bit hot-tempered. But he's a good boy at heart."
"I know."
I knew he was good. All too well. Hot-tempered too.
"......Ah, really? Well, that's a relief then."
She blinked in slight surprise at my quick reply, stared blankly for a moment, then nodded.
Meanwhile, Baek Woo-jin was glaring daggers at me while grimacing in pain and clutching his chest, and Yasuri Yaiba was mumbling something with her face buried in her knees.
The situation had more or less sorted itself out, but sticking around didn't seem wise, so I cut straight to the point with Baek Woo-hee.
"How long was I out?"
"Mm, about an hour?"
"Oh, got it."
Her answer brought a wave of relief surging from deep in my chest, wrapping around my whole body.
I closed my eyes and thanked myself for not plunging into a coma like last time and wasting my precious time.
Well done, Yang Woo-bin. Holding back this time and not overdoing it paid off.
"By the way, Woo-bin cadet, you were in real danger again this time. Even with ultra-high-dose fever reducers plugged in, recovery magic, and Cadet Jin Se-jeong pouring mana into assisting me by your side, your fever wouldn't break. If that had kept up, you wouldn't be chatting with me like this right now... at the very least."
"......What?"
But then she said something I couldn't ignore.
In danger again? My condition was that bad? But I felt way too refreshed for having been in that much peril. What the hell?
The question swirling in my head was answered by Baek Woo-hee's next words.
"But then Cadet Fuyuno Tsubaki came in and just touched your forehead like this, and suddenly the fever dropped right away. Not sure if it was perfect timing or if she did something, but... you were this close to a disaster."
"Tsubaki did? Ah, I see......"
The heat that had scorched my body stemmed from the mana of my Solar Body.
In the game Reversal Hero Tale, no known method could quell the Solar Body's heat—that's why the Disaster Witch who wielded it was called the Wailing Wall.
But that didn't mean there was no way at all to suppress it.
It just never showed up in the game. This world surely had it: Fuyuno Tsubaki's Extreme Yin Body, a trait of the same rank as my Solar Body, perfectly opposed.
"Hm? Do you know something, Woo-bin cadet? I asked Cadet Fuyuno Tsubaki what she did, and she seemed just as baffled, like she had no idea it would work."
She noticed my reaction and asked if I knew anything, but I figured this was best kept secret.
So I just grinned and gave an answer fitting my current situation.
"Well, guess it took three girls to hold down all this overflowing yang energy of mine."
"......Pardon?"
That's right. What I'd said was blatant sexual harassment.
"Anyway, I'm feeling better now, so I'll be on my way."
I left behind Baek Woo-hee, who stared blankly, apparently not even grasping the harassment I'd tossed out so openly, and headed out of the infirmary.
Fuyuno Tsubaki can suppress the Solar Body's heat... One hell of a discovery.
A huge boon for my future growth, too.