A Respite from Madness
Han Yuhee blankly stared into Lee Jungwoo’s eyes. She suffered from severe schizophrenia in addition to her depression. The moment any emotionally taxing situation arose, the corpses of the people she had killed would appear scattered all around her, and screams mixed with whispers urging her to kill someone would echo endlessly in her ears. Even—
Everyone hates you.
If you just die, everything will be easier.
You only need to die, right?
People hate you. Someone like you should just die.
They’ll all betray you in the end.
They’re only approaching you because of how you look, you know?
If you weren’t S-Class, would those men even stay by your side?
These hallucinations gnawed away at her mind without end. Because of them, any semblance of normal social life was impossible. She stayed shut inside her house and only stepped out when the Tower raid deadline approached.
But now?
“What… is this…?”
No strange noises rang inside her head. The severed corpses of people were nowhere to be seen. The skin-crawling voices telling her to die quickly had vanished. The urge to kill someone, the urge to slit her own wrists right then and there—both had disappeared. It was peaceful. She felt as if she had returned to the ordinary, unremarkable days before she contracted mana poisoning.
“Hic…”
Han Yuhee began to cry. She was happy. The simple fact that she could spend time in quiet without any pain, even for a single moment, made her heart feel full to bursting.
Can I… can I actually live like a normal person…?
She could not remember the last time she had felt peace. Opening her eyes brought hallucinations, auditory hallucinations, and crushing depression. Closing them brought nothing but horrific nightmares every single night. She had lived that way for years. And just now, she had been set free.
“What did you do to me?” Han Yuhee asked.
Lee Jungwoo answered slowly, “I’m not sure what you mean…?”
“The strange hallucinations that were ringing in my head until a moment ago have stopped. The visions are gone too. How did you do it?”
“Uh… I didn’t really do anything. It seems to be because of my ability. I possess a Purification skill. It removes all status abnormalities from anyone I’m touching.”
“Then… did you heal me?”
“It feels a little misleading to call it healing. The skill only activates while I maintain physical contact.”
Han Yuhee quickly released Lee Jungwoo’s hand. The hallucinations and visions flooded back instantly. She grabbed it again. Everything fell silent. She let go once more. Overwhelming depression crashed over her like a wave. No matter how many times she repeated the test, the result stayed the same. The moment contact broke, the terrible mental illness devoured her again. Only while holding Lee Jungwoo’s hand did she become normal.
“So that’s how it works…”
Lee Jungwoo had expected her to fall into despair at the half-measure nature of his ability. Instead, she took a deep breath and spoke.
“I’m truly sorry, but… could we stay like this for thirty minutes?”
Han Yuhee gripped his hand tightly as she asked. The man’s cheeks flushed red as he nodded.
Happy.
Returned to the self she had been before everything went wrong, Han Yuhee did not let go after thirty minutes. She held Lee Jungwoo’s hand for over an hour, simply sitting in silence.
“Excuse me…”
“Yes?”
After a long moment of hesitation, she asked, “I’m really sorry, but… could I sleep for a little while?”
“Of course. I’ll move aside so you can rest comfortably.”
As Lee Jungwoo tried to stand, Han Yuhee seized his wrist with desperate strength.
“If you let go of my hand… I’ll fall back into the mana poisoning state and won’t be able to sleep properly. I’ll only sleep a little… just a little, then wake up. So please stay exactly like this. I’m begging you.”
“Understood.”
Han Yuhee clutched his hand so tightly it hurt, as though she would never release it again. Then she slowly closed her eyes and fell into a deep, peaceful sleep. It was the first time in five years she had drifted off without swallowing a massive dose of sleeping pills.
I stared blankly at the sleeping Han Yuhee. It was the first time I had ever held hands with a woman I had just met, so my heart hammered wildly in my chest. The faint, pleasant scent of her perfume drifted around us. Even her side profile, visible in glimpses, was breathtakingly beautiful. She was sleeping right beside me. The soft, steady sound of her breathing filled the quiet room.
“Happy…”
She murmured the word through tears even in her sleep. The sight tugged at something inside me.
She must have been through hell.
The Han Yuhee I had seen on television always looked incredibly strong. She sliced monsters apart with one hand, strode confidently into Tower raids, and conducted interviews with perfect composure. But after meeting her at the counseling center today, I realized she had simply been pretending to be fine.
…To be able to act that normal in her condition… She really is something else.
The thirty minutes she had asked for had long since passed, but I didn’t wake her. She’s the one who clears the Tower for us. The least I can do is this much.
Several years ago, a colossal Tower had appeared in Korea. Each floor displayed a raid deadline. If that deadline expired, powerful monsters would pour out across the entire country. In other words, a catastrophe. That was why S-Class awakened regularly climbed the upper floors.
The problem was that every raid worsened their mana poisoning.
She probably knows it too. That she can’t keep entering the Tower.
A person who would sacrifice herself to protect countless others. Han Yuhee was a true hero.
I kept holding her hand while scrolling through webtoons on my phone. At some point, I heard the door behind me open with extreme caution.
“…?”
Wondering what was going on, I turned around. More than ten people were crowded at the doorway, peering inside. Among them was Seo Yeseon, the woman who had guided me here earlier.
“Mr. Lee Jungwoo,” Seo Yeseon called in an extremely quiet voice.
“Yes?” I answered at a normal volume. She flinched and waved her hands frantically.
“Quiet… please, be quiet.”
“Ah… I’ll speak quietly.”
She whispered, “We saw the CCTV… Do you know Miss Han Yuhee personally? Are you perhaps her secret boyfriend…?”
“No. Today is the first time we’ve ever met face to face.”
“Then… love at first sight?”
Seeing her asleep while holding my hand, the misunderstanding was perfectly reasonable.
“It’s not that. It’s because of my ability. It seems my touch eases Miss Han Yuhee’s mind. She asked me to keep holding her hand, so that’s what I’m doing.”
“Ah…”
“If you’re busy, I can tell her and step out.”
“No! No! Please stay right there.”
She smiled and added, “You’re here as an intern, correct?”
“Yes.”
“Good news will come your way soon. I look forward to working with you. Stay in the room as long as you like today. Your shift is already over.”
“…Pardon?”
After delivering that cryptic line, Seo Yeseon quietly closed the door and left.
I had no idea what was going on, but I turned my gaze back to Han Yuhee.
Wow… she really is stunning.
Would I ever hold hands with a woman this beautiful again in my lifetime? Probably not. Honestly, looking at her face was far more entertaining than playing games on my phone. My heart raced and fluttered at the same time.
I continued watching her in silence until she slowly opened her eyes and our gazes met. I tried to act natural.
“You’re awake?”
“Yes. How long was I asleep?”
“Um…” I checked my phone. More than eight hours had passed. “About nine hours.”
“I slept that long…”
Still holding my hand, Han Yuhee spoke softly. “Thank you. I can’t remember the last time I slept this peacefully. I’m so happy… I never even dreamed that an ordinary daily life like this could return to me.”
“Haha… I’m glad.”
After holding hands for so long, my palm was slick with sweat. Han Yuhee noticed and finally let go. The moment she did, her expression darkened sharply.
“…When I let go, it all comes back. The strange sounds… the bad feelings.”
“I’m sorry. My ability is only half-effective, after all.”
“Sorry? Thanks to you, I was able to feel happiness for the first time in years.”
Even though the hallucinations and visions had returned, her reaction was completely different from the suicidal despair she had shown before.
“Do you have any dreams? Anything you want to do?”
“Dreams, huh…”
I thought for a moment. Making a lot of money without becoming famous—that was my dream. But saying that out loud would sound too materialistic, so I shared a different aspiration I once had.
“When I first awakened, I think I had a dream. I wanted to climb the Tower like everyone else and become strong. My ability prevents me from contracting mana poisoning no matter how long I stay inside, after all.”
“You don’t suffer any effects from mana poisoning? Even after long periods?”
“That’s right. My Purification skill is permanently active on myself.”
“If Purification is always active, does that mean you’re immune to all status abnormalities?”
“Yes, but only on myself.”
Han Yuhee reached into her inventory and pulled out a pendant. She didn’t touch it directly; she used something like telekinesis to float it in the air. Even at a glance, the object looked ominous.
Cursed Pendant
Dropped by boss-class monsters.
Absorbs a portion of the stats of anyone killed while worn.
Penalty: Permanent Mental Collapse — the wearer’s mind is destroyed and falls under demonic control.
“Could you hold this for a moment? If your body suddenly feels wrong, shout immediately. I’ll pull it away.”
“Sure.”
Without hesitation, I took the pendant in my hand. Several seconds of silence passed.
“Are you all right?”
“Yes. I feel perfectly fine. What is this thing?”
“It’s called the Devil’s Relic.”
“Devil’s Relic?”
“It drops from boss monsters. While wearing this necklace, if you kill someone, you absorb part of their stats.”
“That sounds like an impossibly overpowered item.”
“It is. But I couldn’t use it.”
“Why not?”
“The item carries the Mental Collapse penalty. Simply carrying it destroys a person’s mind and subjects them to demonic control. After I obtained it, I wondered if there was any way to use it… and now I’m giving it to you.”
Her decisive words left me stunned.
“It looks incredibly valuable. Are you sure you can just give something like this to me?”
“Even a casual sale would easily reach hundreds of billions of won. It might go even higher.”
“…Excuse me?”
I almost asked if she was joking, but her serious expression made me close my mouth. It really did seem to be worth hundreds of billions.
“I’ll give it to you. In return, please keep two conditions.”
“What are they…?”
“First, whenever I come to the center, don’t avoid me—accept my sessions. Second, begin climbing the Tower.”
“Climbing the Tower…?”
Han Yuhee nodded.
“The government is keeping it secret, but every S-Class awakened is currently suffering from severe mana poisoning. Even I believe that climbing any higher would completely destroy my mind. Lately the nation has been clearing floors with almost no margin left on the deadlines, right? That’s because S-Class hunters are refusing to enter the Tower. I’m barely managing to climb, so raids continue for now, but…”
Her expression grew grave.
“If things continue this way, either all S-Class awakened will go insane, or the raid deadlines will expire and the entire country will be overrun by monsters. One of the two will happen.”
“…”
“So I want you—who are unaffected by mana poisoning—to become stronger and climb the Tower. With that pendant, you will definitely be able to reach the top. As an awakened, you can enter the Tower anytime you wish.”
“But… the Tower can only be entered alone, right? And this pendant raises stats by killing monsters. I can’t kill monsters.”
She drew a sword and spoke firmly.
“Don’t worry about that. Starting today, I will train you every single day.”
I thought for a moment. Should I continue living the safe, ordinary life of a counselor? Or should I accept a pendant worth hundreds of billions and the personal guidance of an S-Class hunter in exchange for climbing the Tower?
They say climbing the upper floors of the Tower earns hundreds of millions per day.
Live the rest of my life like this, or seize an item that would let me grow endlessly strong along with personal training from an S-Class hunter?
Setting all that aside, if what Han Yuhee says is true, Korea is doomed anyway, isn’t it? If every S-Class loses their mind, there won’t be anyone left to clear the Tower…
My hesitation was brief. My answer was simple.
“All right. Let’s do it.”