Chapter 67
Chapter 67
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Butterfly Effect (1)
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It had been a week today since I was hospitalized due to sudden food poisoning.
"Jun-hyuk! A-Are you okay? How's your body feeling!? They said the treatment worked?"
During that time, Yu-ra noona came to visit.
"Cafe Owner, are you okay? Everyone's been really worried. Get well soon. Here, this is a gift we all chipped in for."
"Cafe Owner, get better quick."
Led by Su-hyun, the employees came to visit me in the hospital.
"Um... Guild Master? What's this?"
"It's minced garlic mixed with soybean paste and vinegar. It's good for food poisoning."
Even the Millennium Guild's Guild Master came to visit.
"Brother-in-law, you okay? Sigh, there are still places that don't manage their ingredients properly these days? We should just smash those kinds of places."
"Since you're Yu-ra's boyfriend, maybe the guild's health insurance covers it? A boyfriend is basically family, right? Aren't you planning to get married?"
"Brother-in-law, come on, don't jinx it. Norovirus in the fall season."
"...Could you please not call me brother-in-law? It kinda puts pressure on me."
Yu-ra noona's team members came too.
With so many people subtly visiting me in the hospital, I wasn't bored at all during my stay.
'Skills aren't all-powerful, huh.'
You might think that with people having RPG-like healing skills, illnesses would be cured quickly, but healers were prohibited from working in regular hospitals, so I had no choice but to receive standard treatment.
'I heard they had a huge fight with the medical association over that?'
I didn't know the details, but there had apparently been massive conflict between existing interest groups like doctors and those with healing skills.
If there were a lot of healing skill Awakeners, it might have led to a utopia with no sick people, forcing the medical association to give in to public opinion. But support skills like healing were mostly held by male Awakeners, who were already rare.
Since healing skills were even rarer among the scarce male Awakeners, the medical association held more power, and the current reality was that all healers were affiliated with guilds or the Hero Association, treating only their own members.
'The medical association might seem like the bad guys, but this way, the healers are protected.'
People given terminal diagnoses, or those with family in that situation, often lose it.
If rare healers worked in hospitals, they could get kidnapped by those people.
'Healing skills consume not just mana but also extreme physical stamina, so they can't treat dozens of people a day anyway.'
Even without that, people waiting in line due to limited numbers might attack if they miss their chance, demanding why their family wasn't healed.
'So it's safer for them to heal only under hunter guilds or the Hero Association.'
Of course, there were exceptions.
Like the Good Samaritan law, for sudden emergencies encountered on the street.
Or laws allowing treatment for direct relatives or even cousins for hunter and Hero morale boosts. But I was an outsider.
Boyfriends might qualify for treatment benefits, but it was graded by severity, and you couldn't get it unless it was a high-priority emergency.
'I heard Yu-ra noona had a huge fight with the Guild Master over that.'
Ugh, talk about being a burden.
Noona, the treatment was going smoothly anyway, so you didn't have to go that far.
'Still, it feels nice.'
Fighting the Guild Master for my sake.
"Jun-hyuk, I'm sorry. Because of me..."
"Why is this Seo-yeon's fault? It was the restaurant owner's fault for serving bad oysters."
For reference, Seo-yeon worked a non-hunter job, but as a Millennium Guild member, she'd long since been fully healed by a healing skill.
"I'll stay by your side and nurse you!"
"The nurses are already doing that..."
Anyway, after a week of hospitalization, I was finally discharged, and the next day, I went straight back to work at the cafe.
"Cafe Owner, is it okay to come back to work already? Shouldn't you rest more?"
"No. I've rested plenty. See? I'm perfectly fine."
The employees' faces looked grim the moment I arrived.
I'd apparently caused them a lot of worry, so to show I was no longer sick, I rolled up my sleeve and flexed my bicep.
But everyone's expressions weren't good.
"Cafe Owner. You're really okay, right?"
"Yeah? Of course. That's why I was discharged."
"...Okay."
Is it that weird?
I checked the mirror, and aside from looking a bit haggard, nothing seemed drastically different.
'Hmm, you can't judge your own face objectively.'
It'll go back to normal with time.
A few days passed as I focused on cafe work again.
"Alright, everyone line up!"
Maybe because I'd returned after a long time and the friction with Yu Ha-yul was gone, there were really a ton of customers.
"Sorry. No tables left."
"Oh no... Isn't there any way? I really want to drink here."
Seriously.
"30-minute limit per table. You can't stay longer!"
"Takeout comes with a 1,000 won discount!"
...Seriously.
Why are there so many customers?
＊＊＊
Recently, a rumor about a certain cafe in Seoul had been subtly spreading among women.
"Cafe Hypnos? Is that place that famous?"
"Yeah, it is. It's practically a landmark now. Last time I went, the wait was an hour."
"Coffee tastes the same everywhere. Why go that far?"
"It's not about the taste. There's something else."
It was already fairly famous, but still just half a year since opening, so word-of-mouth hadn't spread that much. But now it was different.
"What is it?"
"You'll see when you go."
Today, a woman visited Cafe Hypnos for the first time, dragged by her friend.
It seemed decent enough, but nothing special? That was her first impression. The wait even annoyed her—do I really have to go through this just for a cup of coffee?
"Welcome."
"..."
That annoyance vanished the moment she reached the counter.
"What would you like to order?"
Snow-white skin and drowsy eyes.
An inexplicable fragility, like he might collapse any second.
His voice, laced with an indescribable haggardness, stirred her protective instincts and maternal love.
'Ahh... What is this... I want to take care of him...'
It wasn't just wanting to take care of him.
He was so adorably handsome, she wanted to care for him forever!
'T-This is the invalid pretty boy...!?'
Invalid pretty boys only existed in manga; in reality, unhealthy looks were just pitiful.
But a real invalid pretty boy stood before her.
Now she understood why her friend insisted on coming here.
Why so many women lined up at the cafe.
"G-Gimme one Americano."
"Yes. Takeout? Or for here? Takeout gets 1,000 won off, so..."
"For here!"
"Got it. First time? Here's a coupon for first-timers."
"Yes! C-Coupon..."
When their hands brushed as she took the coupon, the woman flinched involuntarily.
Because touching a guy felt good?
No, it was the killing intent from the women lined up behind her.
'Order done? Get lost already.'
"Sorry."
"Yes?"
"Nothing."
Thus, the effect of Yoo Jun-hyuk's appearance was enormous.
But the ripple effects didn't stop at the cafe.
'Cafe Owner looks really sick.'
Yoo Ji-young, the high school girl working at the cafe on his recommendation, secretly watched him with worried eyes.
It was just that his recovery was slow—his illness was cured, but his stamina hadn't returned, making him look invalidish. But the girl's concern for her benefactor delved into delusion.
'What if they discovered some incurable disease during treatment?'
If it was discovered, it was discovered—no reason for sudden worsening.
But the clueless girl's delusions inflated it, and soon Yoo Jun-hyuk had a terminal life sentence.
'Cafe Owner! Don't die!'
She hadn't even repaid all his kindness yet!
Above all, wasn't Yoo Jun-hyuk the apostle of the Novellia god that she fervently believed in?
He'd introduced her to the unknown god, and after meeting him, her life started going well, so Yoo Ji-young firmly believed he was Novellia's apostle.
"Priestess? Is something bad going on?"
So that day, Yoo Ji-young headed to the church.
To Cheonhwa Church, where she also believed in Novellia.
While praying for Yoo Jun-hyuk's health, the church leader, Yang Ha-yoon, asked worriedly.
"You don't look well."
"I'm worried about my benefactor. He's really sick."
"Who is it?"
"Our cafe owner. He's also the apostle who introduced me to Lady Novellia."
Normally, Yang Ha-yoon would have tried recruiting him to Cheonhwa Church like she did with Yoo Ji-young, but the remaining hypnosis kept her from taking much interest in Yoo Jun-hyuk, so she didn't react strongly.
"Oh dear, let's pray together. Lady Novellia has mercy for the sick, so prayers will surely heal him."
And I'll handle it with money somehow.
She only thought the last part to herself.
"Hmm..."
But even with hypnosis suppressing interest in Yoo Jun-hyuk.
Her subconscious retained the events with him.
"Th-This place..."
That night.
Yang Ha-yoon had a dream.
"You've come?"
"L-Lady Novellia!"
The biggest event lingering in her subconscious with Yoo Jun-hyuk.
Her encounter with Novellia, in dream form.
And that dream even incorporated the keyword "illness" related to Yoo Jun-hyuk.
"So many sick in the world. I wish to embrace them all."
Norovirus from bad oysters.
His hospitalization and transformation into an invalid pretty boy.
"Paradise, I shall take all to paradise. No pain, no hunger there."
Yoo Ji-young's prayers born of worry for Yoo Jun-hyuk, stimulating Yang Ha-yoon's subconscious through her words.
"You shall build the ark to lead them all. I shall descend soon and take you with the ark!"
It was just a nonsense dream conjured from subconscious info.
But the one who dreamed it devoutly believed in Novellia.
"Noah... I am Noah!"
And she had a ton of money to make the dream real.
＊＊＊
"Whew, my fatigue's finally all gone."
Even a week after discharge, the exhaustion wouldn't lift, and I'd felt bad making Su-hyun handle the aftermath every time.
Stretching on a refreshing weekend morning felt great.
"I said I'm off today, so I'll leisurely watch the news and have breakfast."
Maybe make some toast?
I turned on the TV first, then grabbed bread, eggs, butter, and lettuce from the fridge.
[Next week, popular American solo singer Jason White is scheduled to visit Korea. Fans are thrilled at the sudden news from Jason White, who has never visited before...]
Might as well make it proper.
Chop some onions, add tomatoes, and...
[Next news. Cheonhwa Church, newly launched recently, is suddenly engaging in bizarre activities. According to leader Yang Ha-yoon, the god Novellia they believe in commanded them to build an ark to take everyone to utopia...]
...What?
What did they just say?
I dropped everything and rushed to the TV at the sudden news.
The screen showed Cheonhwa Church headquarters, and there...
[Now, let's hear from Yang Ha-yoon.]
Was Yang Ha-yoon, still boasting her plump figure.
She shouted fervently at the camera.
[Everyone! The rapture is here! Lady Novellia will take us to paradise!]
You crazy bitch!
[The saved! Come to Cheonhwa Church!]
What the hell is this nonsense?!