Chapter 178: Victory (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 178: Victory (2)
Yoon Chae-ha's eyes widened at my heartfelt words.
I didn't think they could get any wider.
“Uh, eh? Ueh…”
She froze, staring at me as if she'd forgotten how to speak.
It seemed she'd gotten a little dumber while I was out.
I couldn't help but let out a small laugh at the sight.
Then, I lifted my stiff arm, which still wouldn't quite obey me, and gently cupped her cheek.
It was warm.
The warmth of another person, something I hadn't felt in a long time.
“I… I’m back, Chae-ha.”
At my words, the tears she'd been holding back finally burst forth like a waterfall.
“Hwaaaaaah…! Hae-in!”
She cried like a child, throwing herself into my arms.
I slowly, gently patted her on the back.
“Yeah.”
Sniffling, Yoon Chae-ha suddenly shot up as if she'd just remembered something.
“Where are you going?”
“I have to… tell everyone else…!”
She looked ready to kick down the door and announce the good news to the entire world.
I didn't bother trying to stop her and let her go.
And a short while later.
The hospital room was packed with people.
It instantly devolved into chaos.
The first to burst in was Kang A-rin, who had been staying at the Glory Hospital.
She ran to me and threw her arms around me.
“Hae-in…”
“Yeah. I’m okay.”
This was the first time I'd ever seen her look so vulnerable.
Her shoulders trembled faintly as she buried her face in my chest.
She must have been really worried.
After that, a doctor came to check on my condition, and Cheon Yeo-wool, Yu Hana, and Ha Sion, having heard the news, visited one by one.
With red-rimmed eyes and expressions mixing relief and joy, they all stayed by my side.
But one person was missing, so I asked Kang A-rin carefully.
“What about Yu Serin?”
At my question, Kang A-rin’s body stiffened for a moment.
“Yeah… Right now, she’s holding funerals for two of her teammates… and consoling their families…”
“Ah…”
Yu Serin’s Phantom teammates.
The two heroes who had died so senselessly at Belial's hands that day.
I'd seen two of them fall… It seemed that, fortunately, there were no other casualties.
The joyful atmosphere that had filled the room grew heavy and sank.
Even so, the number of casualties was by no means small.
To lift the somber mood, I spoke to Yu Hana.
“Hana. Thank you so much.”
“Huh? For what?”
“Thanks to the radio you brought, I wasn't bor—.”
Ah.
Wait a minute.
I realized what I'd just said and froze.
‘If I say I know who gave it to me…'
All noise in the room instantly ceased.
The first to react to my words was Yu Hana.
Her blue eyes stared at me, filled with the pure question, ‘How did he know?’
Next was Kang A-rin.
She, too, gazed at me intently.
Cheon Yeo-wool, who had been resting in my arms, lifted her head to look up at me.
A red blush began to creep across her face.
And finally, Ha Sion.
Her face turned bright red, and she could only stare at me, gripping the corner of the bed, completely flustered.
The others are one thing…
But not Sion.
For the sake of her dignity, if nothing else.
“Ah, well…”
Feeling a cold sweat break out, I scrambled for an excuse to get out of this situation.
“I asked Chae-ha, and she said you were the one who brought it.”
Then I shot Yoon Chae-ha, my only hope, a desperate, pleading look.
“Right?”
At my desperate gaze, Yoon Chae-ha tilted her head in confusion, then…
“!”
She nodded.
“Yeah, I told him earlier.”
“Hah…”
Ha Sion immediately let out a sigh of relief.
“Hmph…”
Cheon Yeo-wool, on the other hand, let out a sigh that sounded like disappointment.
I quietly flicked her on the forehead.
Having narrowly escaped the crisis, I changed the subject.
“So… how much time has passed?”
I had no sense of the passage of time.
Whether I'd been unconscious for a day or a week.
Kang A-rin answered my question.
“A little over two weeks.”
“I see…”
More time had passed than I thought.
I'd figured it was a week at most.
So I've just been lying in bed for two weeks?
Well, it's fine.
What matters is that I woke up.
If I think of it as taking two weeks to eliminate an Apostle, I couldn't ask for a better outcome.
As I was thinking this, Cheon Yeo-wool, standing beside me, asked in a worried voice.
“Your body… is it okay? Does anywhere hurt?”
I lifted my arm, moving it by my own will for the first time in a while, and gently stroked her head.
“I’m fine. I can feel myself getting better.”
It wasn't a lie.
I could feel my body improving in real time.
The side Belial had pierced, the shattered ribs—now only a faint, dull ache remained.
Just then, Kang A-rin, who was standing at the foot of my bed, spoke.
“We’re running another detailed examination this afternoon. The doctor’s opinion is… if you keep this up, you could be discharged in a few days. Tomorrow, at the earliest.”
I nodded at her words.
Only after hearing that the doctor would be coming for his rounds soon did they leave the room one by one, looking disappointed.
Finally, the quiet of being alone returned to the room.
After being lonely for so long, the sudden absence of people made me feel momentarily empty.
But the doctor visited right away to check on me, and his expression was quite positive.
Even after that.
The hospital room door flew open with a loud noise.
– Slam!
“You damn bastard!!”
With his spiky blue hair, Park Gwang-cheol stormed into the room.
Beside him was the Old Man, Ha Tae-sung, looking at me.
“Where the hell did you go without a word?”
Park Gwang-cheol slowly approached me.
His face was a mixture of worry, anger, and relief.
“You disappeared without a word and came back half-dead! And they say our maknae killed an Apostle? Does that even make any…!”
– Smack.
The Old Man smacked Park Gwang-cheol on the back of the head.
“Quiet, you brat. Are you trying to kill the kid?”
He strode over to my bedside.
Then, without a word, he looked down at me for a very long time.
In his deep-set eyes, a mix of worry and relief similar to Gwang-cheol's swirled, along with a faint trace of pride.
He hesitated for a moment before speaking.
“You did well.”
The Old Man offered me words of encouragement.
“I have a mountain of questions for you, but…”
He met my eyes, then turned his head away.
“I’ll let it slide since you’re a patient.”
And then.
“I’ve seen your face. That’s enough.”
With those final words, he turned to leave without a second thought.
Then he grabbed the scruff of Park Gwang-cheol's neck, who was still insisting on an explanation, and dragged him out.
– Click.
The door closed.
Left alone in the empty room, I felt the warmth they'd left behind and let out a small laugh.
And so, time passed again.
It was time for dinner.
‘I am pretty hungry…'
My body was craving food.
It was the first physiological urge I'd felt in two weeks.
– Creeak.
Just then, a nurse knocked and entered the room.
But instead of handing me a food tray, she gave me an apologetic look and said.
“Patient Jung Hae-in. You are to fast for dinner tonight.”
“What?”
“It’s best to refrain from eating until we get the results of your detailed examination. You experienced a severe mana backflow, so for now, it’s best to replenish your nutrients solely through an IV drip containing refined supplements…”
It felt like my world was collapsing.
I froze.
She checked my IV bag and added.
“But don’t worry. The doctor said that if there are no issues, you could be discharged as early as tomorrow. You can eat as soon as you’re discharged.”
After adjusting the IV, the nurse left the room.
I looked out the window.
The sun was already beginning to set.
“…What’s the point of being awake?”
I can’t even eat.
I lay back down on the bed with a bitter smile.
Surprisingly, falling asleep wasn't difficult.
Despite the two weeks of forced rest, my body seemed to be crying out for more, demanding complete recovery.
And so, I fell asleep again.
“……”
Late that evening.
I opened my eyes again.
My real eyes, of course.
As I lifted my heavy eyelids, the dark ceiling of the hospital room came into view.
There was a simple reason I'd woken up.
I sensed a presence.
I rubbed my eyes and looked toward the source of the sound.
The door to the room was cracked open ever so slightly.
And through the gap, a woman was approaching, silent as a cat.
A white headband. Short hair that shone blue even in the pitch-black darkness, catching the moonlight.
It was Cheon Yeo-wool.
Our eyes met.
“You’re awake?”
Her expression wasn't one of being caught, but rather one of 'good timing' as she approached me.
And beside the bed.
She whispered, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
“I’m taking my clothes off, okay?”
I reflexively whipped my head away.
– Rustle.
– Rustle.
From behind me, I could clearly hear the sound of her clothes brushing against her skin as they fell to the floor.
That sound, which stirred the imagination.
– Rustle…
Stopped.
– Shfft.
The next moment, the mattress dipped as she slid in beside me.
From behind my back, where I shouldn't have been able to feel anything, the hot, soft touch of Cheon Yeo-wool's naked body pressed against me.
It was as if all my nerves were paralyzed.
I couldn't do a thing.
Feeling her embrace for real was a world apart from seeing it through All-Encompassing Perception.
“Hae-in…”
She whispered into my ear.
Cheon Yeo-wool's hot breath began to tickle my ear.
“You… you saw everything, didn't you.”
Cheon Yeo-wool's soft hand began to slowly stroke my chest.
“You were awake.”
I couldn't answer.