First Field Activity (3)

After hearing Big Sis Suyeon's proposal.

The plan I came up with right away was...

A nationwide con.

A bold-faced lie.

'No one but the awakener themselves knew their Innate Talent.'

What had caused the problem in the first place?

My hypnosis was too universally useful and cost nothing, letting me cure countless mental illnesses in a single day.

What would happen if I went around using it freely to treat everyone?

The value of my hypnosis would plummet according to supply and demand.

At first, people would bow to me for hypnosis. Eventually, they would take it as a right and look down on me.

So I deliberately staged a charade.

I staged myself using the otherwise limitless hypnosis only a hundred times before collapsing.

[Each time you use the Innate Talent 'Complete Hypnosis,' the Status Effect 'Hypnosis' grants you 1% of the Status Effect 'Partial Overload.']

'I'd seen Công collapse from overwork plenty of times. Copying him would be easy.'

That was why I had used hypnosis to create a penalty that did not exist.

Everyone around me was a doctor.

They would catch me immediately if I merely pretended to be sick.

In that case, it was better to trigger Overload and collapse for real, like Công.

The Trait 'Unyielding' meant I'd recover quickly even if it hurt...

And Big Sis Suyeon, the very picture of an angel in white, was right beside me.

In other words, it was a nationwide con with zero risk of lasting injury.

It was a show designed both to manage my image and mislead people about my ability.

That was exactly why Master had approved it.

'...I thought I'd be fine, but I had not expected a nosebleed too. Sia and Master were going to lecture me.'

For all my swagger, I'd had a bit of a rough time.

I'd assumed that if a runt like Công endured it every time, I could too, but it had simply been physically impossible.

It felt like my brain was being cooked sous-vide.

It suddenly struck me again how impressive Công was.

Not that I'd ever praise him to his face. My pride would not allow it.

-Squish.

'Where was I, anyway? I couldn't tell because I did not have the strength to open my eyes.'

That was the end of the pointless thoughts that ran through my head after I regained consciousness.

My body, which had felt as heavy as waterlogged cotton, had lightened a little, so I shifted around to assess the situation.

-Sniiiiff....

"Hyah!?"

'Something soft, and a faintly bitter peppermint scent... Was I in a hospital bed?'

When I turned my head, my nose brushed against something soft and squishy.

Given the circumstances, it had to be a hospital pillow.

I'd collapsed in a hospital, after all. What else could it be?

......Until my hearing came back, I naturally thought that.

-Twitch, twitch.

'My hearing was starting to return too...'

"Nngh... Yujin? Could you turn your head a little...?"

"......."

'Oh, God.'

Big Sis Suyeon's voice came from directly above ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠me.

At the same time, a hand gently took hold of my head and turned it to the other side.

My instincts as a former married man sounded the alarm.

There was only one reason Big Sis Suyeon, a healing-type awakener, would be pressed this close to me while I was unconscious.

I immediately hypnotized myself.

'For the next ten minutes, I, Seo Yujin, will feel no sexual desire.'

[The target falls under Complete Hypnosis.]

"Ngh, uh......."

After hypnotizing myself against any contingency,

I used all my strength to lift my eyelids.

An unfamiliar ceiling greeted me.

Though I could only make out about a third of it.

"Oh? Yujin?"

"......."

'So it was a lap pillow.'

Most of the ceiling was blocked by a rather large chest.

Soft thighs cushioned the back of my head.

And finally, a cool hand rested on my forehead.

Apparently, Big Sis Suyeon had been treating me after I collapsed, even giving me a lap pillow.

I sprang upright at once.

'No affairs! Especially not with a married woman!!'

-Shoop.

"Oh? You should stay down, Yujin. Exhaustion caused by mana overload is slow to heal, so you need at least another thirty minutes..."

"I-I'm fine now! Totally fine!"

"Are you really going to tell such an obvious lie to a doctor?"

"Anyway, I'm fine!!"

"Honestly. You still never listen to your doctor."

Big Sis Suyeon looked at me disapprovingly.

But only for a moment.

Our argument ended abruptly when someone barged in.

It was the two professors who'd made rounds with me earlier.

-Bow.

"We are sorry, Yujin. We were so astonished by the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠miraculous treatments that we failed to monitor your condition."

"Ah, Professors..."

They even bowed sincerely to me, someone much younger than they were.

When I thought about it, their reaction made sense.

A-rank awakener or not, I was a freshly awakened cadet.

From their perspective, they'd worked a promising rookie until I collapsed.

They'd want to apologize, if only because they feared the consequences.

"I'm sorry too. I'd treated that last patient before, so I couldn't bring myself to stop you."

"Ah...."

'Or maybe they were simply good people?'

They seemed like people who would've apologized even without any ulterior reason. In any case...

I hurriedly waved both hands to stop them.

It wasn't easy with both arms trembling.

"No, no. I chose to do it, so."

"Even so...."

"It looks like I won't be able to use hypnosis for about a week, but I normally have no reason to use it, so I will be fine."

'Not that any of that was true.'

The brazen lie was a bonus.

Perhaps my performance had been convincing enough, because no one suspected a thing.

-Murmur, murmur.

"Professor Yeonghun, what do you think?"

"What is there to think about? He is more of a doctor than I am. Let us proceed."

"What about the contract? A private contract?"

"Then the Health Insurance Policy Deliberation Committee will get involved and slash the reimbursement rate. Since he is not a medical practitioner, let us arrange it as outsourced work through the Awakener Association."

"True. Unlike Ms. Suyeon's treatment, hypnotherapy is not covered by insurance in the first place. That would be better."

Even as they conferred behind us, the professors kept looking at me with unmistakable goodwill.

I was pleased that my favorability farming seemed to have worked.

'Though it did prick my conscience a little...'

Whenever it did, the little triangle in my heart jabbed accusingly at my conscience.

I could use it a million times, never mind a hundred.

For my own safety, I was deliberately ignoring patients I could treat immediately.

But I had no ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠choice.

[Y-Yujin. My mother... No, my entire family...]

'I had to become as strong as possible, as quickly as possible—for what would happen fifteen years later.'

The responsibility on my shoulders was simply too great.

I couldn't waste time on something like this.

Treating a few dozen people on weekends for the sake of my image was one thing.

There would probably be only a small number of patients who urgently needed hypnosis.

From then on, the hospital would screen for the most serious cases itself.

That was probably the best I could do.

'There was no other choice—'

"Yujin? Could we speak for a moment?"

"Huh?"

A voice interrupted my self-justification.

The two professors had finished their discussion and were looking our way.

They were looking at me and Big Sis Suyeon, who'd kept one hand on my back and healed me the entire time.

"First, thank you. The patients have improved dramatically thanks to you."

"Ah, yes."

"We'd like to provide additional compensation on behalf of the hospital, but there's the issue of the fees...."

Afterward, the professors relayed what they had discussed to me.

First, although they were grateful for the treatment, they could not pay a fee commensurate with it.

To pay me, they would have to bill the patients, but because the treatment hadn't been disclosed in advance, they could not charge them. Or so I was told.

Of course, I wasn't going to leave empty-handed.

"We won't leave it at that. We'll add some of our own money to the commission."

"Oh, you don't need to. I already paid one billion won as the contract fee."

"We'll each add another one hundred million won."

One billion won from Big Sis Suyeon under the A-rank awakener dispatch assignment, plus one hundred million won from each professor.

I received a total of 1.2 billion won.

I repeatedly tried to refuse, saying it was fine, but they told me I would be the one in trouble if I didn't accept, so I took it without further protest.

"Thank you...?"

'Had I just made twelve million won per patient?'

I'd been prepared to work for free if it helped my public image, so being compensated this generously left me dazed.

But that wasn't all.

"There is one more thing... We'd like to contract your services, Yujin. What do you think?"

"Huh?"

"Our hospital would sign a formal service contract with you, A-rank awakener Seo Yujin. We'd screen and refer patients, and you'd treat them according to our prescriptions."

Second, the hospital wanted to sign a service contract with me.

The contract would benefit me as well.

There was a limit to how many patients I could treat.

A patient bottleneck was inevitable.

A wealthy patient with mild symptoms could end up receiving treatment before someone who urgently needed hypnosis.

Then people would obviously accuse me of choosing patients based on money.

That was why a reputable university hospital had to intervene.

It would screen patients by severity.

With no room for controversy. Absolutely thoroughly.

As they explained the various criteria...

-Whisper, whisper.

"You can trust them. It is a public hospital, and they are both doctors I respect."

I had been staring blankly because I did not understand any of it, so Big Sis Suyeon vouched for them.

Thanks to that, I nodded without hesitation.

"Yes. I'd need to read the contract, but from what you have told me, I should be the one begging you to let me do it."

"That's a relief. We will have to negotiate the details, but I will stake my career as a doctor on ensuring that you receive at least ten million won per patient."

"...Pardon?"

I hadn't expected the pay to be so high that it would make me hesitate for the opposite reason.

Wondering whether it was really all right, I glanced around cautiously.

"That much...?"

"Of course. Patients would gladly pay ten million won to receive your hypnosis."

"......."

'When she put it that way, it was good value. Still, thinking that one click earned me ten million won felt a little...'

It only made me more self-conscious.

The results justified the price, but as the person treating them with a single 'click,' I still felt guilty.

"And of course, to reduce your burden, we'll strictly limit the number of patients to around thirty each weekend."

"Huh? I-I could do up to a hundred...."

"That's your absolute limit. Ms. Suyeon said you were only mildly fatigued after thirty, so that should be appropriate."

"At least at first, while patients are flooding in..."

"Psychiatric patients rarely have true emergencies, so it will be fine."

"......."

They were even saying I only had to see thirty patients once a week.

I was suddenly on track to make an effortless three hundred million won a week.

'Could things really go this smoothly?'

"Then... if the discussion with your superiors goes well, please let me know."

"Yes!"

I still wondered whether it was all right, but in any case...

And so my first off-campus assignment ended with me receiving a contract offer.

"Yujin, we're almost there... May I ask you one thing?"

"Hm?"

"The person in charge of the academy infirmary is actually a junior colleague of mine. Has she been doing her job properly lately?"

"She has been away on business every time I have gone. I visited two or three times this week, and she was never there."

"Hmm."

-Muttering.

"So Arin has been doing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠exactly as I told her."

"......?"

"It's nothing. I will make sure to give her a stern talking-to. Hehe."

Although Big Sis Suyeon said something I couldn't make sense of,

'We finished early, so I could go train in the conditioning room—'

"———Yujin."

"Come here while I'm still asking nicely."

"......Yep."

The moment I arrived at the academy, Sia caught me.

"You absolute idiot! I told you not to do anything that reckless!!"

-Jab, jab, jab, jab.

[Damage is reduced by 90% through the effect of the Trait 'Unyielding.']

"Sorry, sorry."

"Do you have any idea how terrified I was when I saw the news!? You collapsed looking half-dead, and I barely stopped myself from running straight to you..."

"I'm sorry......."

Then I endured Sia's ultimate sixteen-strike-per-second barrage against my back.

"Yujin, are you feeling all right? Would you like a Sol's Eye?"

"Daddy weak. Exercise with Haru."

"......."

Alice and Haru fussed over me as well.

"I'm bac...."

"M-My discipleeeee!!"

-Glomp.

"Uugghh!!!?"

"Did you not say you would only pretend to be hurt!? I was terrified! Aah... Are you injured anywhere? You even bled so much..."

'My blood was rushing somewhere else right now!?'

Then I was swept up in Master's doting theatrics.

There were all sorts of incidents, but...

Still, I'd gained a great deal from my first off-campus assignment. Maybe it had gone well enough.

* * *

Meanwhile, as Yujin went about his new life...

[Korean Awakener Minor Gallery]

Title: The U.S. President Just Released an Official Statement—Holy Crap

A backlash far different from what he expected was already gathering.