Chapter 144
Chapter 144
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 144
Chapter Title: The Cursed Granddaughter
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Even at a glance, there was something off about the girl's condition that didn't fit the profile of a rare disease.
"Father?"
As Shin Yu-hyun and his group entered the room, a couple who appeared to be in their early thirties—tending to their young daughter—looked up at Kim Sang-cheol with puzzled expressions.
"Come say hello. These are people from the Heaven-Splitting Sword Clan."
"Ah, hello?"
At Kim Sang-cheol's words, the couple bowed their heads in greeting.
"But... what brings members of the Heaven-Splitting Sword Clan all the way here...?"
Kim Sang-cheol's son, Kim Young-jin, tilted his head in confusion.
"We've come to see our Su-yeon."
"Pardon?"
Kim Young-jin stared at his father with a look that said he must have misheard.
"Hello. We were visiting Elder Kim when we heard your granddaughter was ill, so we came over. Our clan has a superhuman with recovery abilities."
"R-Really?"
Kim Young-jin's face lit up at Shin Yu-hyun's words.
"Please, save our daughter!"
"P-Please, we're begging you."
Kim Sang-cheol's son and his wife clung desperately to Shin Yu-hyun.
They were that desperate.
Their only daughter was wasting away from some unknown illness.
And now, superhumans from one of Korea's four great clans, the Heaven-Splitting Sword Clan, had offered to help.
They had no choice but to plead.
The Heaven-Splitting Sword Clan might just be able to save their daughter.
"Let me take a look at her condition first."
Shin Yu-hyun got permission from the couple and approached the girl lying on the bed.
Her face was not just pale but ashen, and she looked too weak to even twitch a finger.
"Who... are you, big brother?"
As Shin Yu-hyun drew near, Kim Sang-cheol's granddaughter, Su-yeon, barely moved her lips in a feeble voice.
"We've come to treat you, Su-yeon."
"Can... Su-yeon's illness... be cured?"
"Of course it can."
"Liar..."
The girl, not even ten years old yet, gazed at Shin Yu-hyun with eyes devoid of hope, her voice hollow.
Many doctors and pharmacists had come and gone.
But they had all shaken their heads.
Su-yeon had watched every one of them.
Even at her young age, she had realized it.
Her illness couldn't be cured.
"Try believing in me."
Shin Yu-hyun gently took Su-yeon's hand. He circulated the Chakra Cultivation Method, infusing her with mana.
"Ah."
A warm energy flowed in, startling Su-yeon for a moment before her face relaxed into peace, and she drifted off to sleep.
Thanks to Shin Yu-hyun, she had regained some vitality and her body was finally resting.
A faint color even returned to her ashen cheeks.
'Just as I thought.'
Looking closely at Su-yeon, Shin Yu-hyun was certain.
This wasn't a rare disease.
Every living being in this world possessed mana.
In the East, it was called qi or vitality.
But Su-yeon's body was extremely deficient in mana.
As if it had been rapidly depleted.
And the reason for such symptoms was...
"I've figured out the cause."
"Pardon?"
Everyone in the room reacted with shock to Shin Yu-hyun's declaration.
"What on earth is wrong with our child?"
Su-yeon's mother, Lee Seo-young, asked in desperation.
"It's not an illness."
"What?"
"It's a curse."
Shin Yu-hyun looked not just at Lee Seo-young but at Kim Young-jin and Kim Sang-cheol as well.
"A... curse?"
"A curse? What does that even mean?"
Kim Young-jin and Kim Sang-cheol looked incredulous.
A curse on such a young child?
What kind of nonsense was this?
"This child is under a curse. That's why the hospital couldn't find the cause."
Shin Yu-hyun gazed down at the little girl on the bed.
He had known at first sight.
Because he had checked her current status with his Death Command Eye.
'Even outside of combat, there are other ways to use the Death Command Eye.'
Shin Yu-hyun smiled inwardly and glanced at Choi Hyun-seong.
He had discovered Choi Hyun-seong's hidden unique trait, Bullet Master, through the Death Command Eye.
So he figured checking Kim Sang-cheol's granddaughter the same way would reveal the mystery of her inexplicable rare disease.
And he had been right.
The Death Command Eye's information window clearly showed Kim Su-yeon was in a cursed state.
"A curse on my daughter? Who would...?"
"W-What do we do now...?"
The Kim family fell into panic at the word "curse."
They had thought it was just a rare disease, but now their minds went blank.
"Pull yourselves together."
Since Kim Su-yeon was asleep, Shin Yu-hyun used mana to ensure only the Kim family could hear his low but firm voice.
"Ah."
They snapped back to reality.
"I understand how you feel. But you need to think of this child. What if you lose it?"
"We've shown such an unsightly display in front of our guests."
Kim Sang-cheol and his son and daughter-in-law looked ashamed at Shin Yu-hyun's words.
"And since it's a curse, you don't need to worry. Now that we know the cause, we can solve it."
"D-Does that mean...?"
Kim Sang-cheol looked at Shin Yu-hyun with eyes full of hope.
Lift the curse, and his granddaughter would be healthy again.
But Shin Yu-hyun shook his head.
"I know what you're thinking, but I can't lift the curse."
"Ah..."
The family's faces darkened.
"You can't remove the curse?"
"Yes. Curses don't last long to begin with. They dissipate after a set time."
"They do? Then why is our granddaughter...?"
"Someone is continuously casting it on her. That's why the symptoms persist. We need to find the curse caster to stop it."
"S-Such a thing..."
"What kind of bastard would curse my granddaughter?"
"Even I don't know that much..."
Shin Yu-hyun trailed off.
He had confirmed someone was cursing Kim Su-yeon, draining her mana.
The curse caster was likely absorbing her mana continuously.
And right now, no curse was active.
Because Kim Su-yeon's condition had improved greatly after Shin Yu-hyun shared his mana.
"Is there a time when the symptoms get worst?"
"Ah... yes. Around midnight, she seems to suffer the most."
Kim Young-jin thought for a moment before answering.
"That's probably when it happens."
Shin Yu-hyun had a hunch.
That's when the curse hit Kim Su-yeon.
"W-What do we do now?"
Kim Young-jin looked at Shin Yu-hyun anxiously.
They knew about the curse, but not how to handle it.
Kim Sang-cheol and Lee Seo-young felt the same.
Shin Yu-hyun smiled reassuringly.
"Don't worry. There's a way. Dia?"
"Yess!"
Dia toddled over at Shin Yu-hyun's call.
"Bless this child for me."
"Leave it to me!"
Dia began cutely shaking her body next to Kim Su-yeon's bed.
Dia danced while mimicking a cute cat.
A blue light emanated from her and flowed into Kim Su-yeon.
"Whoa."
The Kim family stared at Dia in astonishment.
She had suddenly started doing a cute cat dance, leaving them half baffled, half charmed.
But then a blue light appeared and got absorbed into Kim Su-yeon?
"The recovery superhuman I mentioned earlier is this little one."
"What? This child?"
Kim Young-jin looked stunned at Shin Yu-hyun's explanation.
Dia, who looked about the same age as his daughter, was the healer?
But he had no choice but to believe.
After absorbing Dia's blue light, Kim Su-yeon's expression became utterly serene.
"She'll be safe tonight. This child blessed her, so her body has recovered quite a bit and she'll be protected from the curse for a day."
"Ah..."
"Thank you."
Kim Young-jin and his wife wiped away tears, thanking him repeatedly.
Kim Sang-cheol bowed deeply in gratitude as well.
'They probably don't realize it's the Blessing of Darkness.'
Shin Yu-hyun gave a wry internal smile at their reactions.
The blessing that healed and protected Kim Su-yeon was akin to black magic.
Black magic was generally shunned for its dark, ominous image.
But the system messages had only been visible to Shin Yu-hyun, so it didn't matter.
"The problem isn't fully resolved yet. It won't mean much if we don't find the curse caster."
"Mm."
The family's faces darkened again.
What Shin Yu-hyun had done was just a temporary fix.
Dia's curse protection would last at most a day.
They had only bought time.
Without rooting out the curse caster—the fundamental cause of Kim Su-yeon's suffering—it couldn't be called solved.
"Has anyone borne a grudge against you?"
"I don't know. I've always tried not to harm others."
"Us too..."
The Kim family shook their heads.
They had argued or clashed opinions with people over the years.
But nothing malicious enough to warrant such a curse.
"What about when your granddaughter first fell ill? Anything happen then?"
"Anything...?"
The family pondered.
What had occurred when young Kim Su-yeon first started ailing?
"No idea. We haven't done anything to deserve this..."
Kim Sang-cheol shook his head.
"I see."
Shin Yu-hyun fell into thought.
Given Kim Sang-cheol's character, he wouldn't have earned enmity.
He was the type to help others, in fact.
The same went for his son and daughter-in-law.
'Yeah, nothing notable happened around this time.'
In his previous life, there hadn't been any big incidents, just that they later moved to Uijeongbu.
Nothing else stood out.
"Anyway, leave it to me."
Shin Yu-hyun resolved to help Kim Sang-cheol to the end.
He needed the blacksmith's skills for Choi Hyun-seong's custom weapon and the upcoming war against Getia.
And that wasn't all.
In his previous life, Shin Yu-hyun had received help from Kim Sang-cheol.
Now, it was his turn to return the favor.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
"Old man! Where's Kim the old man!"
"Get out here quick!"
Suddenly, a commotion erupted from outside.
'What the hell is this?'
The voices sounded like they were disrespecting Kim Sang-cheol—the man who had helped him and extended a hand in his previous life.
Shin Yu-hyun's brow furrowed deeply.