Chapter 76

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Sponsored Chapter - 6/7...

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“Three ribs, right wrist and humerus, and left femur and ankle fractures…… Plus several areas of organ damage. Oh, and now I see that the left clavicle is broken as well. Lastly, due to the depletion of mana and overload, absolute stability is required for three days...… .”

Lee Myung-Joon, who was reading the diagnostic chart, looked at me who was lying in bed with a complicated gaze.

“You're lucky you didn't die on the spot. Should I ask for more painkillers if it hurts?”

“You're calling that comforting?"

When I asked him back in exasperation, he shrugged his shoulders.

Adding that he was serious, he glanced at Jin Ye-Seul, who was lying on the bed next to me, in a deep sleep, and opened his mouth.

“You can pass it on to that kid later. I have to go a little faster to clean up too."

With those words, he began to briefly explain to me what had happened.

First of all, Lee Myung-Joon, as soon as he was forced out of Aegis by his opponent, what he did was rush into a nearby association and gather people.

He also threatened that he would take full responsibility for the situation, found a warp-capable person who could mobilize the fastest, and immediately returned to Aegis.

And as soon as he returned, what he saw was a chaotic interior.

There was me, who had fallen unconscious, and Jin Ye-Seul, who was crying her eyes out at me, Horie Yuzuki, who was leaning against the wall, trying to hold her mind somehow, and a man trapped in a glass bottle.

Finally, he said that it was a dead woman with a big hole in her chest that was dyed black.

“And you've been lying unconscious for nearly five days. In the meantime, they've taken care of the treatment roughly, so your body condition is fine, but...… They have said that you have to rest for at least a few days because you exhausted your mana and overexerted your body.”

“What about the others?”

"They're both doing better than you."

Lee Myung-Joon pointed to Jin Ye-Seul, who was sleeping like a stone with a slight chin gesture.

“This kid is stronger than most heroes. After a good night's sleep for a day or two, all her wounds were healed. Horie Yuzaki said she is okay, but I've taken her out of the front line for a while so that she can take this opportunity to rest.”

“…… .”

“But don’t make a face that it's unfair. To be honest, I was a little surprised this time, too.”

Lee Myung-Joon said so and put the chart on the table.

“She was quite famous. The number of heroes and hunters who died at her hands alone is in the triple digits. It's quite contradictory to say that she was an assassin with her face exposed, but in other words, it means that she was a strong person, whose personal information was known, but could not be caught.”

And he put his hand on my shoulder as if he knew it all.

“You've done a great job. No, these words are not enough...… You can't even imagine how many seeds of disaster have been stopped thanks to you."

The words made my face quite hot.

I gently turned my head and murmured, that's good to hear, and he smiled softly and withdrew his hand.

“And the association has been talking a little bit about this incident, so I should talk about that too.”

“The association?”

"Yes."

He nodded weakly this time.

“There was someone who insisted that the four of us should all be sentenced to severe punishment by principle.”

I almost spit out swear words for a moment, but I stayed quiet because Lee Myung-Jun spit out the swear words before me.

"First of all, nothing will happen in a while, so don't worry. The majority agreed that we've made a big contribution, so they asked that we should pay for the crime instead, but that's not even funny."

Then he glanced at me and muttered.

"That's why I've said you and that kid moved because of my private request…… .”

“Private request?”

"Yeah. Even if you're an academy student, you're treated as a preliminary hero, so it's not wrong in principle. Of course, there were some people who said that you can't be treated as an academy student because you are on a temporary leave of absence, but if you lied that it was because of my request, what can they do?”

Lee Myung-Joon, who was giggling, stopped laughing awkwardly when I didn't laugh after him.

“Anyway, after that, the association pulled out, saying that it was something they didn’t know. There were even bastards who said that we messed up what they could have handled on their own by stepping forward.”

After saying that, Lee Myung-Joon smiled coldly, and his impression was so fierce that I was intimidated without realizing it.

“Originally, if you achieve this level of achievement, you should receive a reward, but they are incompetent and shameless…… So in the end, we have concluded that we would reward you and that child on our own."

“Reward?”

"Yes. Reward."

Lee Myung-Joon nodded.

"Horie and I are the ones who have the keys to our guild's storage. And both of us unanimously tried to get our keys out.”

“That means…… .”

“Let's make sometime later to go to the guild together. I think it's better to see and choose for yourself.”

The Thunder Lord's Hammer, led by Lee Myung-Joon, was one of the most powerful guilds in Korea and one of the leading in the world.

If it was such a guild's storage, it would certainly be…… .

"Thank you so much."

“What are you thankful for? Rather, I should be thanking you. In the first place, you didn't need to get hurt like this."

With those words, Lee Myung-Joon got up from his seat.

"I'll go now. Take care of yourself. Oh, right. I almost forgot."

As he turned around, he told me as if adding to it.

“I've talked to Alice and explained how to handle the temporary leave of absence in a different way. Originally, you were really going to be put on a leave of absence. But sick leave and..… Well, She must have handled it well. You should probably hear it from her later.”

“Oh, okay.”

“Then I'll really go. Rest well.”

With those words, Lee Myung-Joon opened the door of the hospital room and went out.

It was only after he left that I let out a big sigh, thinking that something big had been dealt with.

And I slowly began to think of the questions I had been asking for a long time.

'Why don't I know any of the Red Case guys... ?'

Except for Esmeralda Listenerger, the number of Red Cases Killers I've met alone is five.

But among them, there was not a single person that I remembered the abilities or characteristics of.

Of course, it could be that I don't remember.

That's what I thought at first and tried to move on, but it was certainly strange that I couldn't remember after meeting half of them.

I just couldn't remember all the details, not that I had forgotten everything.

'It was originally said that recruitment and replacement of the members took place, but...… .'

I clearly remember that it was mentioned in the original story that such a thing is very rare and takes place over a long period of time.

At least at this point when the main story in the original story just started, there was no way the five people would be replaced.

And didn't Lee Myung-Joon say something earlier?

That the woman who used wave was a fairly famous Killer.

The fact that I don't even remember such a woman..… .

'Wait…… .'

Come to think of it, I remember that the number of guards mentioned and appeared in the original story was very small.

There were only three guards, but if you think about it, it doesn't make sense that the number of people in the group responsible for guarding is so small.

‘Is something going on inside those guys?’

Aren't most of the people who took their seats through rebellion sitting on top of the current Red Case to begin with?

And as befitting the name of the largest pan-national criminal group, Red Case had a huge number of members.

It would be nearly impossible to manage such a large number of people perfectly from the beginning.

In addition, if I were to infer from Esmeralda's story in the past, it seemed that there were quite a few people who had bowed their heads in order to survive.

If so, it wouldn't be strange even if there were dissatisfaction piling up from within.

If that's the case, then if things proceed as they did in the original story, wouldn't there be another internal conflict or rebellion in the near future, and the vacant positions of the people who were being purged at that time would be filled by those who were originally the Guards?

It was an absurd conclusion based on the stream of consciousness, but when I put it out there, it seemed quite plausible.

Let's meet Esmeralda Listenerger later and try to gather some more information.

I was concluding like that.

There was rustling next to me and signs of movement.

Before I knew it, Jin Ye-Seul, who woke up from sleep, was staring at me.

"What. Why are you looking at my face like that?"

“Nothing.”

Jin Ye-Seul shook her head with a grin.

Then she murmured in a low voice.

“I’ve always liked people who focused on something…… That's why I liked my little brother a lot.”

"Oh, yeah."

“But, Ji-Hyuk, the way you were so focused on something earlier……Hmm…… .”

While muttering like that, Jin Ye-Seul let out a small laugh, but something about it gave me a creepy feeling.

Then she suddenly popped out at me and offered me something.

It was Nidhogg's fang.

“I had retrieved it just in case.”

"Oh. Thanks."

It was when I thoughtlessly reached out my hand to take the Needhogg's fang from her.

She suddenly grabbed my wrist.

“Hey, I tried so hard…… I even cleaned up the mess."

“Uh, I know……  But my body hurts a lot. Can you let go of my hand?”

"Oh sorry!"

Jin Ye-Seul quickly let go of my hand.

As I rubbed my throbbing wrist and put Nidhogg's fang inside my body, Jin Ye-Seul murmured.

“Um, Can you put the shadow around my body one more time?”

I was momentarily taken aback by her absurd request, but I quickly regained my composure and moved  Henir's Shadow.

Honestly speaking, it was thanks to Jin Ye-Seul that this matter was solved.

I nodded as if I understood. 

Then, Henir's Shadow moved and slowly wrapped around Jin Ye-Seul's hand and began to form a gauntlet-like shape.

“Oh, this is it! This feeling... !”

“Hey, crazy… ! Be quiet!”

Startled by her unfamiliar cry, I spoke, and she murmured as if she were dissatisfied.

“Bu, but…… .”

Jin Ye-Seul let out a small excited sound as if she couldn't contain her excitement.

And I was thinking about quitting now, thinking that it would be nice to think of me who should see that right next to her.

Knock-knock.

The sound of knocking.

I quickly collected Henir's Shadow, and Jin Ye-Seul gasped in surprise and looked at me as if to say, why are you already quitting?

From over the door, I heard a voice that seemed a little hesitant.

“Um, it’s Ivan. Can I come in?"

“Uh, Oh! come in!"

As I answered, Ivan Hunt, holding a small fruit basket, opened the door with an awkward smile.

Ivan wasn't the only one standing over the door.

Lee Yu-Na, Lee Hyun-Seung, Kim Yu-Hyun, Lee Ye-Eun, Cass Lyle.

There were also Han Soo-Young and Choi Hyun-Woo.

And seeing their awkward expressions, I felt like my eyes were getting dizzy. 

They've heard it all.

While I was trying to figure out what to say, Lee Yu-Na approached Jin Ye-Seul with a welcoming look.

“Ye-Seul, are you feeling okay?”

"Huh? Yes."

"Thank God…… Do you know how shocked I was to hear that you were injured?”

Saying that, Lee Yu-Na sneakily sat down next to Jin Ye-Seul and looked at me with brutal eyes.

It was as if she was looking at a wastrel trying to seduce her own daughter.

It seemed that she was misunderstanding the other side.

More importantly, when did the two of them become so close?

As I was thinking about it, Ivan put the basket of fruit on the table and said.

"We all have collected money little by little and bought it. I hope you like it.”

“Oh, thank you. You didn't have to do this for me.”

"You're welcome."

Ivan said, and smiled softly.

“And um…… I'm glad to see you're doing better than I thought."

"Oh…… Yes."

I wasn't stupid enough to not understand what he was saying.

I was in the middle of awkwardly turning my head away when someone offered me something.

It was a plastic pack with a straw inserted, but I could tell from the smell that it was herbal medicine.

“Um, senior? What is this...… .”

“Come on, it’s medicine.”

Lee Ye-Eun smiled at me and said.

She had a benevolent smile, as if she could understand everything, and I couldn't quite figure out why she was smiling like this.

"First of all, I made the herbal medicine in a hurry, but…… I didn't know Ji-Hyuk's constitution, so I bought the most common one. Come on, drink up. In one gulp.”

“Oh, yes. thank you…… .”

When I started to take the plastic pack from her, who had an atmosphere that did not allow me to refuse, she nodded as if she was satisfied.

“Oh, right.”

Cass Lyle, who was watching with a mysterious expression, nodded and handed me something.

It was a glass bottle containing a potion.

"Senior? What is this?"

“It’s a potion that boosts energy.  It's nothing much. I made it myself and refined it."

Saying so, he added in a nonchalant voice.

“Because potions are more reliable than any herbal medicine.”

"What?"

"Huh?"

At Lee Ye-Eun's brutal voice, Cas Lyle made an expression as if to ask what was wrong.

"Did you just say that for me?"

"Well? I was just stating scientifically proven facts. Heroes and hunters go around the field carrying potions, not herbal medicines, right?”

“Are you being sarcastic like that…… .”

Looking at the two who quickly started a bloody fight, I was able to recall that Lee Ye-Eun and Cass Lyle had a very bad relationship.

Either way, Lee Ye-Eun dislikes him unilaterally, and Cass Lyle is also reluctant to her, who is a member of the World Tree clan.

The branch of the World Tree secretly told me to side with Lee Ye-Eun, but I ignored it.

It was when I drank all the potions and herbal medicines they had given me and was cleaning up the empty plastic pack and glass bottle.

“Ji-Hyuk, is your body okay?”

“My body is completely exhausted. Would you be okay if you were me?"

“No, you are talking like that again. Can't I even ask?"

“No, why would you ask him something so obvious?”

While I was looking at Kim Yoo-Hyun and Lee Hyun-Seung, who suddenly started bickering with each other while asking about my condition, Choi Hyun-Woo, who had been silent until now, said a word. 

"You've worked hard."

“Oh, what hardship?”

"I don't know what you had gone through, but just looking at you now gives me a rough idea of ​​what it was like."

Choi Hyun-Woo, who had said that, muttered in a somewhat lonely voice.

“… I wish you had told it in advance.”

As he finished those words, for some reason, I felt a chilling feeling as if the room temperature had dropped by a few degrees.

When I turned my head awkwardly, I realized that Han Soo-Young was staring at me with an expressionless expression, and I felt like my body stiffened for a moment. 

"Uh…… Hi?"

"Hi."

Han Soo-Young replied like that and sat in the chair next to me.

Then she muttered as she pulled out a notebook from the bag she had brought.

“I thought you'd forgotten who I am, but I guess not.”

"Huh?"

“Nothing, I was talking to myself. More than that, this is the notebook I've been organizing. I'll leave it here."

"Uh…… Thanks. You really did it for me.”

“No need to thank me. It was promised.”

Han Soo-Young still had an expressionless expression.

"If we're friends, of course we have to keep our promises. That's because we are friends."

For some reason, it seemed that she was emphasizing the word friend.

When I glanced around, it didn't seem like it was my imagination.

“…… .”

“…… .”

Only Choi Hyun-Woo was looking down at me with a look that seemed to say you deserve it, and the others were looking at us with awkward expressions for some reason.

Even Lee Hyun-Seong and Kim Yu-Hyun, who had been bickering a while ago, kept their mouths shut.

I didn't have the courage to turn my head away from Han Soo-Young and look at Jin Ye-Seul and Lee Yu-Na.

“Hey, can I ask one question?”

At Han Soo-Young's words, I quickly nodded.

“Why didn't you ask for help? Even if it’s not me or Hyun-Woo, to anyone else.”

“Uh, that’s…… .”

"I couldn't reach you there."

“Oh, that’s because my phone was broken. I couldn't talk because I bought a new one. Sorry."

"Oh, really?"

Han Soo-Young nodded slightly.

“You seemed to be able to talk on the phone with Ye-Seul. I guess you couldn't afford to do that with the others."

“…… .”

I just had no choice but to shut up.

Meanwhile, Jin Ye-Seul gently opened her mouth.

“Uh, hey. Actually, it's not like that...… .”

“Ye-Seul.”

Han Soo-Young smiled slightly and looked toward Jin Ye-Seul.

“I’m sorry, but if possible, can you tell me that when we're done talking? If someone interrupts in the middle of a conversation, it makes me look like a person who can't even read the atmosphere.” 

And Han Soo-Young turned her face away and looked at me.

In the meantime, I could see the smile disappear as she looked at me.

"Just……How should I say this? Yeah, I don't know anymore."

Han Soo-Young muttered in a small voice.

“Am I a friend to you or was I not trustworthy? Or am I the only one who thought so...… If so, what is the reason? Talent? Ability? If it's not that...… Something else?”

With those words, she quietly got up from her seat.

Then the people behind her moved quickly to make a way for her to get out.

“Anyway, take good care of yourself. I’m sorry that I came all the way to the hospital and said that.”

After saying that, Han Soo-Young smiled at me for the first time and said.

“By the way, no matter how much she is your girlfriend, wouldn’t it be better to be careful in a place like this? It's a public place. You have to be careful.”

With those words, Han Soo-Young opened the door and walked out of the hospital room.

It was so instant that there was no time to stop her.

* * *

As Han Soo-Young walked down the hallway of the hospital, she felt emotions she couldn't describe.

She had a lot to say, but she just couldn't get it out.

She had a lot of things in mind, and she even organized them.

Am I your friend?

Is it because Hyun-Woo and I can't be trusted, or is it because of the 'talent' that Jin Ye Seul had mentioned before?

More than that, have you ever talked to us openly…….

However, after hearing Jin Ye-Seul's excited voice from beyond the door, nothing came to mind.

As soon as she open the door, she saw Yoo Ji-Hyuk lying down with a pale complexion with casts and bandages wrapped all over his body...… .

“…… .”

Was her own master Nam Hyun-Hwa someday like that?

I'm worried because you're not a greedy child.

Be greedy like your peers.

However, Han Soo-Young knew better than anyone that those words were wrong.

She had never been without what she wanted in her life.

Because she never wanted what she couldn't have.

But this time...… .

“…… .”

I want to go anywhere first.

I want to go to a place where no one was there.

I feel nauseous.

Then, she could hear a small whisper somewhere.

“… Then, Yoo Ji-Hyuk... ?”

“…Said. Probably really...… .”

It was a familiar voice.

It was the voice of Lee Myung-Joon and her professor, Alice Blesbuck.

However, Yoo Ji-Hyuk's name, which Han Soo-Young had heard, made her move to the place where the conversation was taking place, as if possessed by it without realizing it.

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