Dreams Come True
The moment I first laid eyes on her, the emotion that pierced deepest into my chest was pure mystery.
If I had actually seen a UFO or a ghost, would this be how it felt? No—even if something like that truly happened, it wouldn’t feel this mystical.
Clack. Clack.
She walks slowly toward me. One step. Then another.
Every time her foot touches the pure white space, darkness spreads outward like ink bleeding across paper.
Wherever her jet-black dress brushes past, night itself follows in its wake.
Between the midday-white expanse and the pitch-black darkness, she stands before me and offers the faintest smile.
She wore what looked like the inky night sky of my childhood stitched into a dress, her hood pulled so low that only half her face was visible.
Yet I knew with absolute certainty that no woman I had ever met—or would ever meet—could possibly be more beautiful than her.
Her pale violet lips parted, and a dreamy, otherworldly voice flowed forth.
“My child. It brings me joy to see you once more.”
“Huh? Me? My mother is Hwang Bo-ra, though?”
Of course I had never once thought of Ms. Hwang Bo-ra as my real mother, but the odds that the woman standing before me was my mother were exactly zero.
“It is all right if you do not understand my words yet. In time, as you continue walking the righteous path, you will naturally come to know who I am—and who you truly are. For now, I simply wish for you to know that my heart is genuinely glad to see you again.”
She smiled with such warmth that it seemed to embrace me, then gently stroked my cheek. I found the courage to ask.
“By any chance… are you the Goddess of Night, Nyx?”
“My child. Prepare for the day that approaches. The nightmare of old must never be repeated. Never forget that you alone are the sole hope for us and for humanity.”
“What? I can’t hear anything! Hey!”
The woman moved her lips as if speaking, but no sound reached me. Her figure gradually blurred, then vanished completely from sight.
“Wait! I still have so many questions…!”
In her place, countless message windows flooded my vision.
2nd Awakening Quest: Defense of the Nyx Goddess Temple — Completed.
Analyzing your achievements to determine possible awakening classes.
You may awaken as Holy Knight of Nyx.
Savior of Oren
You rescued every last refugee.
One Entrusted With the Future
All holy knights and soldiers, including Olious, have acknowledged you.
All possible hidden achievements in the 2nd Awakening Quest have been completed.
Updating possible awakening classes.
You may awaken as the hidden class Chaos Knight of Nyx.
Will you awaken? Y/N
“What the hell is all this?”
At first the flood of messages left me dizzy, but once I read through them one by one, the picture became clear.
In short, I had accomplished something incredible, and as a result I could awaken into an even more special class.
It feels good… but also a little bittersweet.
Becoming stronger was obviously wonderful, yet if I had a choice I would have preferred something like Priest or Cleric over a knight.
What I needed most right now wasn’t combat power but healing skills that could cure my grandfather.
Still, I couldn’t reject an awakening that had already been decided. I resolved to find another way to heal him later and made my choice.
“I will awaken.”
The old passive skills—Strength, Stamina, Agility, and Intelligence—have all been deleted. In their place, Chaos Power now provides equivalent stats. One point in Chaos Power equals one point in each of the four stats at the same level.
“So the four passives are gone, but investing in Chaos Power gives me the same effect as leveling all four individually? Isn’t this completely broken?”
It was like getting four skill cards’ worth of benefit from a single card. The reward was beyond generous.
2nd Awakening Completion Reward: 3 Skill Cards
Should I open them right away?
The moment I opened the first card…
“……Huh?”
Wait, Radiance of Healing? Was this the healing skill I’d been hoping for? I hadn’t dared expect it after hearing I would become a knight. No, stay calm. Don’t get ahead of yourself. I should read the description carefully first. There would be plenty of time to celebrate afterward.
Radiance of Healing Lv.1 (Soul)(Healing)(Holy)(Aura)
Converts the Chaos Knight’s soul power into a healing radiance that envelops the body. The radiance rapidly heals any beings the caster recognizes as allies. However, it also provokes the ferocity of enemies and draws their hostility. Only one radiance can be active at a time.
“WOOOOOOOOO!!!”
My legs gave out and I dropped to my knees, but I thrust both arms toward the sky and screamed at the top of my lungs.
The warning about attracting enemies barely registered. All I could see was the healing skill I had longed for.
“Healing! Healing! It’s a healing skill!!”
I hadn’t dared hope for it, yet here it was. I would need to test it on my grandfather to be absolutely sure, but there was no doubt I had obtained a healing ability.
There was no reason to wait.
The extra skill cards from the 1+1 reward wouldn’t duplicate, so I quickly secured the skills I needed and moved on to the next card. After refreshing repeatedly, I finally managed to raise Radiance of Healing all the way to level three.
Radiance of Healing Lv.3
“Please…”
The instant I returned to reality I rushed to the hospital. In the VIP room Director Oh Byeong-seok had arranged, I grasped my grandfather’s emaciated hand and activated the skill.
Radiance of Healing
A refreshing green light gently radiated from my body, instantly filling the entire hospital room.
Small green particles rose from my grandfather’s body like mist, as if responding to the skill.
I couldn’t be certain of its effectiveness yet, but after a while his previously pale complexion improved noticeably. That was enough for me to believe it was working.
Three hours later.
“Huff… huff…”
While the radiance remained active, it continuously drained my mental strength. The longer it went on, the dizzier I became and the heavier my eyelids grew.
If this had been in the middle of combat it would have been extremely dangerous. But inside this safe hospital room, I pushed the skill to its limit until I finally collapsed into unconsciousness.
How much time had passed?
A familiar hand stroking my head startled me awake.
“You’re up? Why are you sleeping like that, my little mutt? You should have lain down properly.”
“G-Grandfather…”
“Your grandpa didn’t sleep too long, did he?”
I threw my arms around him and sobbed so hard it felt as if the world itself might shatter.
I had thought I would never hear that warm voice again. I had thought I would never see that kind smile again.
I was sorry for not taking better care of him. I was grateful he had raised me so well.
I had been terrified I would lose him without ever saying those words. The emotions overwhelmed me so completely that I couldn’t speak at all. All I could do was cling to him and cry.
“There, there. My boy. Grandpa is sorry. So sorry for worrying my little mutts…”
“Sob… hic… waaaah!!”
I wanted to tell him it wasn’t his fault, but my throat closed up and the words wouldn’t come.
Once I had calmed down a little, I called my sister, who had stepped out briefly.
“G-Grandfather?!”
“Our princess is here too!”
“Sob… hic… waaaah!!”
She ran straight to him, wrapped her arms around him, and burst into tears. Seeing her, I told myself I had at least cried less than that and secretly wiped my swollen eyes.
“T-This is impossible… How could this happen?! Did an SS-rank healer visit the room while I was away?”
Even the doctor in charge of my grandfather’s case was so shocked he could barely speak.
It was no wonder—my grandfather’s body had recovered so completely that he could be discharged immediately.
“R-Right? What a miracle. Guess people really do need to live kindly. Haha…”
If you’re going to act, at least commit to it. Tsk tsk…
I clicked my tongue inwardly at my sister’s clumsy performance and shook my head.
Before the examination I had asked both my grandfather and sister to keep the fact that I had healed him a secret.
“Why? If people know you healed Grandpa, won’t your value skyrocket? Healers are premium talent even among hunters.”
“That’s exactly why it’s a problem. I’m not just a healer—I’m also a super-elite combatant. Can you imagine how noisy it would get? And unlike pure combat hunters, revealing yourself as a healer brings far more complicated issues.”
It was no exaggeration that even S-rank healers—let alone SS-rank—couldn’t be hired with money alone.
There were endless patients in the world. While healers couldn’t cure every disease, they could treat illnesses doctors couldn’t touch, conditions that required years of treatment, and certain incurable diseases.
Simply being known as a healer often dragged people into troublesome incidents.
“There was a case before. The family of a patient kidnapped an S-rank healer’s family and threatened to kill them unless their own relative was healed.”
“I understand what you’re saying.”
“If our Humin doesn’t want it, I won’t say a word.”
There was no need to worry about CCTV, either. The VIP rooms in this hospital were designed for high-profile patients who desired safety and privacy. Unless requested, the cameras were always turned off.
“Then can he be discharged now, Doctor?”
“Yes, sir. Please come in once a week for a check-up and to collect medicine. Other than that, he may go home today.”
With the doctor’s permission, we left the hospital.
“I never imagined I’d walk out like this with Grandfather. This isn’t a dream, right?”
“It is a dream. What’s wrong, you still haven’t woken up?”
“Hey, Ahn Humin! Are you really going to jinx us with a joke like that?”
“Hahaha!”
I paused for a moment and watched from behind as my sister and grandfather walked arm-in-arm.
She chattered away without pause, and he listened to her endless stories with a gentle smile.
When had I last imagined seeing this sight again?
I prayed with all my heart that this moment wasn’t a dream…