Super Regeneration Ability!
Super Regeneration Ability!
"Whoa... no, I've never seen patients like you two before."
The doctor, updating me on Lily and Grandine's treatment progress, let out an incredulous chuckle.
"What's so surprising?"
In response to my question, the doctor pulled up a few X-ray images for comparison.
"This is from Lily's first day. And this one's from yesterday."
Even with my zero medical knowledge, the left image looked disastrously bad. Bones were shattered into pieces scattered everywhere, and organs that should have had a clear shape were a mangled mess on one side.
"Full-body contusions, compound fractures, pulverized bones, ruptured organs, internal bleeding—the honest truth is, she was beyond saving. I thought you'd need to prepare for the worst..."
The doctor pointed to the right image this time.
Compared to the left, it was pristine.
"It's been less than three weeks since admission, and she's already over eighty percent healed. She could probably just do outpatient visits at this point. This recovery rate defies all logic. No human could do this. Even conservatively, it should've taken at least six months—usually years..."
"Haha... yeah, Lily's always been a bit special."
The truth was, not just Lily—all my wives were far beyond normal human standards.
The doctor, who had assumed Lily was just another ordinary dimensional transferee, was shocked by her self-regeneration. But for me, it was a familiar sight.
We'd all walked around with injuries like that fighting the evil dragon's executives or the dragon itself.
Not only Lily, but Grandine too—her transcendent healing had mended her shattered bones and damaged organs completely.
"I've never seen patients like Lily or Grandine in my entire career. Sure, some transferees have enhanced physical abilities, but nothing like this..."
"Well, those two were powerhouses in their own worlds. As long as they didn't die, they'd recover somehow."
"And that's why the most surprising part for me right now is you, Mr. Jeong Hyun-soo."
But the next person the doctor mentioned was me.
"Me?"
"Yes. How's your arm feeling these days?"
I glanced at the cast on my arm—the one Grandine had wrecked while convulsing from her shot—and replied.
"It throbs a bit, but way better than the first day."
"Exactly."
"...?"
"Mr. Jeong, your right arm—from elbow to wrist—was completely pulverized under immense pressure. Most patients would go into shock and die. Even with treatment, no guarantee you'd ever use it properly again, and recovery would've taken at least three years. It was that severe."
"Th-three years?! I can't take that long off work..."
The doctor shook his head.
"That's for normal patients. But you just said it's better than the first day, right? You shouldn't feel any difference at all between then and now. Take a look at your X-ray."
My X-ray didn't show as dramatic a change as the others, but there was a clear difference.
"Your bones are regenerating at an astonishing rate. Even subjugation team hunters with abilities don't heal this fast—and you're faster than them."
"Really?"
"Yes. We cross-check with the Countermeasure HQ, so we have basic profiles. You're listed as a non-ability user in your registration code, yet here you are showing this."
"But I really don't have any abilities..."
"Maybe there was a mix-up? Anyway, come back for a re-exam later. This is absolutely not a normal human recovery speed."
After hearing the full update, I headed back to my room, marveling at the first evaluation like this since returning to Earth, and glanced at my body.
After transferring from Jungwon to Korea, I'd lost every power I'd accumulated up to that point.
I'd despaired, raged, but eventually decided to adapt and bury those abilities in memory...
Was a faint trace still lingering?
I'd never been hurt badly enough to notice until now?
I don't want to cling to hopes of regaining those powers now...
Hope can be terrifying torture sometimes.
Just when I'd let it all go, a sliver of possibility that I might recover those powers could waste my time and emotions chasing it.
I decided to ignore the doctor's words as much as possible and focus only on the good news that my body was healing fast as I headed to my room.
That's when a commotion erupted from a corridor somewhere.
"This is driving me crazy! Ma'am! Please stop causing incidents!"
"Hmph, don't judge this great one's body by your puny human standards! I'm sparing you because you offered these so-called medicines as tribute—otherwise, you'd all be..."
A red ponytail girl was flying right up against the corridor ceiling, out of the nurses' reach. Spotting me, her eyes lit up.
She flapped her wings and flew over, puffing out her chest proudly.
"Jeong Hyun-soo! Check this out! I caused another accident!"
"You don't fly over bragging about accidents! What'd you do this time?!"
"The hospital food tastes like crap, so I went down to the convenience store on the first floor and grabbed some 'hot bar' thing to eat!"
"Hot bar? Did you pay?"
"Hmph, this great and perfect dragon has no obligation to follow your human customs."
"We're so sorry! So sorry, nurses! I'll go pay at the convenience store right now!"
I bowed repeatedly to the furious nurses rushing over, while Grandine watched me like she'd accomplished something epic.
"Since I caused an accident, you gonna educate me again?"
"Yeah, get over here. Time I taught you how important laws and rules are in this world."
Without proper settlement support training like Lily or Yukino got, Grandine kept causing chaos everywhere.
Feeling the absence of education in my bones, I prepared to lecture her.
...But she hates boring stuff like this—why does she seem kinda happy about it?
After a long lecture and scolding session with Grandine...
She stretched contentedly, looking relieved.
"Ahhh~ Feels like today's dose is filled just right."
"Dose of what?"
"It's a thing. Not telling betrayers who ditch and run like you."
Cheating with that low blow.
With all my karma, I couldn't pry further.
Instead, Grandine tossed me an opening.
"Hey, wanna ask you something."
"What?"
"Those human chicks we met on the mountain that day... they seemed to know you. What's their deal? I smell them on you, you on them. Is it really what I'm thinking? Nah, you just said that to calm me down, right? I won't get mad—tell me the truth."
"Ah, here it finally comes."
"?"
I felt the vibe of karma payback, season unknown.
"It's a long story..."
.....
......
With her discharge cleared, Lily sought out Jeong Hyun-soo feeling lighthearted.
She hated being stuck unable to move freely from her injuries, but at least here she could see his face pretty often.
Humming, Lily headed to his room.
"Hmph, hum-hum~ After all that crap, the only woman in this world who'd still meet him is me. That jerk better spend his life grateful for his wife luck."
Bursting into Jeong Hyun-soo's room, Lily called out as she approached the bed.
"Hey, trash! I'm discharged! Heard you hurt your arm being a dumbass! Want me to nurse you?"
The silhouette under the covers clearly had someone, but no response from Hyun-soo.
Did calling him trash piss him off? Nah, he is trash!
A bit miffed at the lack of reaction, Lily approached and hugged the lump under the blanket.
"What, you trash out and I call you trash, now you're sulking? This is nothing compared to the hurt you gave me... but generous me might overlook it once? How 'bout a hug? Hya!"
Hugging over the blanket, Lily sensed something wrong instantly.
The body was way too small for Hyun-soo.
Lifting the blanket with suspicion revealed a white-haired girl, sweat beading on her forehead.
An awkward silence passed before Lily's voice trembled.
"You... why the hell are you in there?"
"Th-that's what I wanna ask! Barging into Hyun-soo sunbae's room and hugging him shamelessly—don't you have any decency?!"
"You're the one already in his bed! Who's lecturing who?! What were you doing in here?!"
"N-none of your business! Especially not yours!"
"Ha?! That makes it even more suspicious! Spill the truth! What were you—"
Lily and Yukino's spat halted with a third party's intrusion.
The door opened, and a delicious aroma wafted in.
"Sunbae~♡ I made soybean paste stew and grilled mackerel myself. From prepping ingredients to cooking, all with my utmost care. You know cooking's all about heart and love? Gotta be the world's tastiest... huh?"
Sharl, tail swishing as she entered, froze seeing strangers in Hyun-soo's room. She peeked out to check the nameplate, then reentered.
"Where's sunbae, and why're there weirdos?"
Lily and Yukino bristled in unison.
Their womanly instincts had already marked Sharl as an enemy.
"Listen to this rude brat."
"Trying to play wifey? That's my job—no need for you."
Crackle.
Sharl, who'd long seen them as foes, twitched her eyes and shot back.
"Oh my? You two seem close. But if you're bonding, do it outside? This is me—sunbae's official guardian and caregiver—and sunbae's private space. No entry for uninvited guests without my permission."
"Ha? Look at her sass. Fine, no sunbae here anyway, so nothing for me. Have fun, you two."
Lily stood, brushing past Sharl.
In the process, she magicked a piece of the grilled mackerel into her mouth without touching it.
As Sharl's lovingly made dish's first bite went to Lily instead of Hyun-soo, Sharl's face soured in real time. Lily chewed provocatively and spat,
"Ew, under-salted. Next time, more salt? Practice up."
With that mother-in-law vibe, Sharl snapped.
"That was for sunbae—how dare you—"
Lily smirked mockingly, floating away via magic toward Hyun-soo's energy. Enraged, Sharl chased, Yukino hot on her heels.
They arrived at Grandine's room...
"Hey, what're you doing h—"
"Oh, Lily. Discharged? Yukino and Sharl too? Save me?"
"Grrrrr... grrrrr... grrrrng..."
Inside, Grandine growled like an angry dog, gnawing Hyun-soo's uninjured left arm to bits.