Successful Women Are Obsessed With Me - Chapter 176: The Legendary Designer Choi Nari (7)
The car's destination wasn't the hospital.
Choi Nari hadn't said a word the entire drive, but that was exactly what I'd expected, so it didn't surprise me. I wasn't sure if I could pull it off, but if I couldn't improve her friend's condition, recruiting her would be no easy task. Choi Yunmi had said bringing in Choi Nari would be relatively easier than Kim Yeonhwa, but things weren't unfolding that way at all.
Anyway. It wasn't over yet, so all I could do was give it my all. There was nothing else in my power.
Choi Nari pulled into an apartment parking garage. It was a high-rise luxury complex. I was curious about her friend lying bedridden, so why had she brought us here?
We got out and headed to the elevator, where Choi Nari finally spoke to me.
"The hospital said there's nothing more they can do. The only way to keep her alive is with those twenty-million-won pills per dose. Hunter recovery items. If she doesn't take one every week, she'll dry up from the inside out and die."
I had no words.
It was easy to understand why she harbored such deep resentment toward Jo Dong-geun. And her friendship was something else—truly remarkable. No matter how close they were, to bring a patient into her own home and shell out nearly a hundred million won a month just on meds. Good thing she was a top-tier designer; an ordinary person couldn't even dream of it.
Choi Nari's place was the penthouse on the top floor. The apartment's scale, the furnishings, the artwork on the walls and shelves—it all hinted at her income. A designer this successful, yet her heart was in ruins. For one reason only: her friend, teetering on the brink of death because of Jo Dong-geun.
The only way to win her over was clear: heal that friend.
Choi Nari asked, "Want something to drink?"
"No. Let's see your friend first."
"Smart choice."
I followed her up the spiral staircase to the upper level. She led me to a bedroom, her face etched with pain as she opened the door.
A woman lay on the large bed. Her hair was completely gone, her form barely human anymore. She was covered by a blanket, lying peacefully, but her pallor made it hard to believe she was alive. At a glance, it was obvious: she was barely clinging to life.
"Hmm..."
I wondered if coming here had been a mistake. Seeing her like this, could I really heal her? But there was no backing out now.
Choi Nari didn't look expectant either, judging by her expression. She'd brought me here grasping at straws.
"What do you think?" she asked flatly.
She walked to her friend's side and gently stroked her sunken cheek.
"Hooo..."
Her friend let out a sound like wind whistling through a crack. Her eyes stayed shut, lips barely parting. What had she looked like before this? Around Choi Nari's age, no doubt, and beautiful enough to catch Jo Dong-geun's eye.
Pity welled up in me unbidden. Even if it weren't for recruiting Choi Nari, I hoped there was a way to help her.
Choi Nari stepped aside, and I stood before the woman. I gazed down at her steadily, peering into the mana within her.
But I quickly realized it was pointless. She was a general awakener—awakened but mana-less, only able to enter dungeons. I'd been the same once, so I knew it all too well. No trace of mana in a body like that. Staring longer wouldn't change a thing.
Still, I couldn't give up here.
I pulled a book from my inventory. It looked like a book, but it wasn't—it was a collection of talismans for sorcery. I flipped through, searching for anything useful.
"Mm..."
Choi Nari let out a groan watching me. She'd never seen someone like me before. I'd set off mana detectors dozens of times, most reading S-rank. The highest was top 1% S-rank mana.
But that didn't guarantee I could save a dying woman.
Grasping at straws, I examined each talisman. Despite low expectations, inspiration struck.
I selected one, returned the rest to my inventory, and floated it in the air.
Even as I did it, I didn't fully understand what I was doing. It felt less like my choice and more like instinct guiding my hands.
I pressed my arm to the hovering talisman. In my blood, I began combining elements. My body could produce countless poisons—courtesy of Luiza, Chichi, and Titi, naturally. They circulated harmlessly in my veins until I willed them into toxins. It was instinctive; I didn't know the exact mechanism.
Most hunters couldn't explain their abilities anyway. Even Choi Nari probably couldn't fully describe her gear-designing talent.
Anyway, I transformed my blood into a specific poison and scratched my forearm with my nail. Blood welled up immediately, dripping onto the talisman.
The poison-infused talisman flared bright.
It fluttered to the woman's face on the bed and stuck there.
Choi Nari gasped, "Gasp."
She looked worried but didn't interfere. I was relieved she stayed put—if she'd demanded an explanation, I'd have had nothing to say.
I activated the sorcery. I knew what it did: it was a healing talisman. It boosted mana recovery when depleted.
And... Aha! That sparked it—the inspiration hit me fully.
This talisman helped hunters regenerate their own mana faster when exhausted. Choi Nari's friend had no mana. But what if the poison I'd created acted like mana inside her? It could serve as a seed to ignite recovery.
Now I moved with purpose. The poison seeped from the talisman into her mouth.
I peered inside her again. Still no mana, but I saw the poison slide down her throat. It seeped into her stomach, slowly shifting flows. It dispersed, then reconverged near her navel. Flickers of faint light sparked like flint on tinder—alive, then dead, repeating.
I focused my mind, lending strength to fan those flames.
And moments later—whoosh!
The poison mutated inside her. Like gathering dust motes into a seed for fire. It looked like flame, but it was mana.
I learned something new today: even general awakeners had mana dormant in their bodies.
Once ignited, the mana grew rapidly under the sorcery's influence.
Now it was my turn.
I took her hand. My abilities usually manifested through my lower body, but that wasn't feasible here. Leaving aside Choi Nari watching, the woman wasn't in any state for that.
It would take time, but I steadily injected mana through her skin. Minute amounts, yes—but the goal was guiding the sprouted mana in the right direction.
Time-consuming work. But in my heightened focus, it blurred by unnoticed.
How long had it been?
"Um..."
Choi Nari finally spoke, unable to hold back.
Reality snapped back; I opened my eyes.
And I realized she wasn't asking out of curiosity.
She'd seen it: a reaction we hadn't expected.
The deadened skin began to regain vitality, bit by bit. Blood flow pulsed visibly beneath the thinned flesh.
And aiding it was her mana.
"Hah... hah..."
At last, the woman breathed—real human breaths, not that faint air earlier.
Her lips parted miraculously, whispering one word.
"Nari-ya..."
Tears burst from Choi Nari's eyes.