Chapter 18: 18

     It was a mistake to be caught by Raen; I had no desire to let everyone know that I cut my arm. After all, I wasn’t planning on doing this again. “Hyung, this won’t happen again in the future.”

     I looked at Raen with eager eyes.

    Raen looked at me with a complicated expression before nodding reluctantly, “That’s a promise, Yihan. Tell me when you’re having a hard time.”

     Now that he received my answer, Raen carefully examined the bandage wrapped around my arm and then moved to the first floor.

      Come to think of it, Min Joohyuk also taught me how to bandage and disinfect wounds earlier, when we first met. Of course, since there was no need for me to treat my cut so diligently, I hadn’t really followed the Warrior’s instructed steps properly.

      Both Min Joohyuk and Raen seemed familiar with this skill. Was this another one of these Warriors’ virtues? Being skilled in first aid? At least, that’s what I briefly thought as I followed in Raen’s footsteps.

      We descended the stairs slowly. Park Yul walked in, supporting Min Joohyuk underneath his armpit; behind them, Son Ha-gyeon entered and closed the door. The cold wind that had been spreading into the room suddenly cut off.

     “Ah, Sun Yihan. Also, Raen Hyung-nim! You two were together?” Min Joo-hyuk looked at us and exclaimed happily, waving his arms. What a bright voice.

     But his legs looked so worn out and shaky. I almost slid down the stairs in my rush to stand before Min Joo-hyuk.

     When I held the Warrior’s hand and activated the healing skill, an expected blue light circled around his legs before returning to me. I saw that the gauge hanging in the corner of my eyes was almost filled to the brim.

     “Thanks, Yihan. It honestly really hurt.”

     Injury notwithstanding, his voice didn’t sound like that of a patient at all. Min Joohyuk raised his eyebrows and made a pitiful expression. I…turned my head away quickly. Still, I was slightly worried–was it natural for them to get hurt so much? Maybe this was what the system had meant by the Warriors’ sacrifices.

     Min Joo-hyuk, looking at me, smiled and ruffled my hair. Then, he continued in a subdued tone, “I thought I had defeated them all, but then a demonic beast sprung out from a weird place.”

     Park Yul, still standing next to his fellow warrior, immediately responded, “That’s right, Joo-hyuk-ah. It felt like the attack magic this Hyung used also didn’t seem to work. I think we’ll have to rethink our strategy.”

     “Song Ha-gyeon almost was badly injured again. I’m…”

     “Min Joo-hyuk. Isn’t last time’s catastrophe over now?” Song Ha-gyeon said in a determined voice.

      Park Yul continued to talk while patting the youngest Warrior on the back, “Ha-gyeon-ie is right. Besides, we’re all fighting together.  You don’t have to take the sole responsibility.”

     “Yes, you worked hard, Joo-hyuk. Be careful and watch over your health. Please rest upstairs.”

     At that, Min Joohyuk’s expression seemed to have improved. I don’t know why the man was blaming himself so much when he’s the most injured here. Song Ha-gyeon and Park Yul looked to be in good condition.

     When I reached out a hand to Song Ha-gyeon to heal him, the man pointed at Park Yul with his head. “I’m fine, Yihan-ah.”

     I retreated half a step and grabbed Park Yul’s hand instead.

 

「<This Healer will help!> Chosen Warrior ‘Park Yul’

Heal/Import」

 

     Inwardly, I chose the ‘heal’ option. Soon, the Warrior’s injury disappeared, and a status window appeared, noting that the skill had completed successfully. And, finally, the floating bar gauge was fully filled.

     “…Cough.” When I dabbed my hands at the edges of my mouth, I could feel drops of blood dripping onto my sleeve.

     I raised my head, pupils trembling; The red light of the gauge gradually decreased with each spurt and cough of blood. “Nnngh.” For moment, I found it hard to breathe due to the over-pouring of blood. My sleeves became drenched with the sticky, red liquid.

     ‘No–let’s calm down. This wasn’t a big deal.’ I was just briefly flustered by this sudden situation. To calm myself, I took a deep breath. “Sigh… Haah. Cough.”

     I carefully–slowly–exhaled. As air passed through my lips, I learned I could actually breathe between spurts; furthermore, I deepened my know-how in spitting blood efficiently.

     I suppose all knowledge is meaningful, but could a tip like this be useful someday? It would be better if knowing how to spit blood out efficiently was rendered useless, but, at this rate, this skill was bound to be used again in the near future.

     The red light of the gauge floating in the air was reduced by a quarter. Perhaps, when that gauge was filled again, I’ll hack blood until the bar returns to its original state.

     ‘I’m glad I can continue heal others.’

     If I could cure any injury, spitting out blood a few times wasn’t a harsh detriment. This couldn’t be any more perfect, actually: I felt no pain nor could I die.

     While I remained satisfied with this ‘not-so-bad’ situation, I felt a careful touch at my back.

     “Yihan?” Raen’s trembling voice called out to me. He patted me on the back.

     It was only then I realized the gravity of my full situation.

     “Yihan-ah–come back to your senses.” In front of me, Park Yul held my shoulders firmly and observed me, trying to catch my gaze. Though the Hero looked calm, as he always did, his pupils shook almost imperceptibly.

     Min Joo-hyuk dragged a comfortable chair to me and gently sat me down. His voice, asking if I was alright, sounded choked with emotions.

    I was truly fine–though I knew I didn’t look fine. Frustratingly, though, there was no way to explain this dissonance. At that time, a light purple handkerchief stuck out right in front of me.

     “…Were you ever like this before?” Song Ha-gyeon grasped my hand that was covering my mouth, lowered it, and carefully brought the handkerchief to my lips.

     How thoughtful–my sleeves were slowly becoming drenched with blood; this handkerchief was a much better option. The scent of grass wafted up thickly from the cloth. Was this also somehow imbued with medicinal herbs? It felt like my coughs were decreasing in frequency, now.

     Less than half of the gauge was filled. I believe that meant I would soon finish spouting blood. I answered the warrior with a relieved mind, “Sometimes.”

     If I continue to heal with this skill in the future, I would spit out blood. It was better to warn them in advance.

     “I’m not hurt, though. I’m alright.” I continued.

     Through the reddening, darkening color of the handkerchief, I could feel the stinging gazes of my audience. No one seemed to readily accept my answer, but I really had nothing more to say.

     At that moment, a status window popped up before me, accompanied by the sound of a bell.

 

 「Cooldown time remaining until healing is available: 7 days」

 

     I couldn’t agree with that one-sided announcement. Who decided on that cooldown time–and so whimsically, too? The system never said anything about this.

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     Anyone would feel that this limitation was ridiculous and unfair.

     ‘If that’s the case, I feel sorry for the others.’ However, there was nothing I could do. After all, the arbitrary nature of the system wasn’t the only thing in this world that was hard to accept.

     The sun was already nearly over the edge–the time had flown by in the blink of an eye. Darkness surged through the window.

 

◇~◇~◇~◇~◇

 

      Over the next few days, I felt everyone’s burdensome care. For example, when I climbed up the stairs and stumbled on a step:

     “Hey, Sun Yihan. Are you okay?”

      “Are you hurt somewhere, Yihan?”

     “…Do you want me to give you a piggy-back ride?”

      “Yihan-ah, tell us if you’re having a difficult time.”

     Everyone reached out with their hands and added their own two cents. Also, why did Song Ha-gyeon keep asking if I wanted him to carry me? How unfair–they kept staring at me as if I were an unstable lamp flame fluttering in the wind.

      ‘I think, out of all of them, I’m acting the most normal right now.’

     Since the cooldown time had not yet replenished, I couldn’t use my healing skill; I made no initiative to use the skill since I thought the lack of ability would be made too obvious. Perhaps I hypothesized that the next few days would be made troublesome–what would happen if they bring their injuries to me with the expectation that I would heal them?

""

     Still, I thought I’d try something–try to use something–if they were to bring me a major injury, but, fortunately, no one had been seriously injured.

     Since I couldn’t use my healing magic, everyone’s small wounds remained behind, bothering me. When the cooldown time runs out, I’ll treat them straight away!

     Come to think of it, what did the Warriors do before I arrived? They claimed there was nothing akin to healing magic, and none of Song Ha-gyeon’s medicines seemed to be effective on serious injuries.

     ‘They couldn’t have just waited around until they recovered, right?’

     If that were the case, that left a bitter taste in my mouth–the warriors seemed to get injured quite often. If this world was one that demanded sacrifices like that from someone, I’d rather…

     “Good night, Yihan-ah.” Park Yul’s voice returned me to my senses. His hand patted my hair gently. It seems I had arrived at my door while walking, lost in thought.

     “Good night to all the Hyungs as well. Min Joo-hyuk, you too.” I responded.

     Everyone slept at a later time than now as they were quite busy, but I gave my farewells in advance. I wanted to sleep early as I felt more tired than usual.

Click–

     I closed the door and climbed onto the bed. The white box left by Song Ha-gyeon still lay atop the bedside table. With one touch, a subtle light gleamed out of the box. That felt so much better.

     I placed my head on the pillow and closed my eyes. Soon, as if I lost unconsciousness, I fell asleep.

     Instantaneously.

""

 

◇~◇~◇~◇~◇~◇

 

Pitter, Patter.

     Soft footsteps could be heard. It sounded like someone was walking on a dirt road.

     ‘Huh? I’m definitely sure I fell asleep just now.’

     I could see Raen’s robe-clad back; the sun was setting ahead of him. The bony branches of gnarled, thick trees lining the road rose up around him, piercing the sky. Raen moved in the middle of that path, almost like he was walking directly into the sunset.

     ‘Is this a dream?’

     But, it was far too vivid for that. Besides, I usually didn’t dream in my slumber. Raen’s appearance felt too natural–too realistic–to be called a dream.

     At that moment, Raen’s steps faltered. The warrior turned his head to the left, stared at something, and moved towards it. When his subsequent steps stopped, I could see traces of black tears in the middle of the air. These rips seemed alien–darkness without a single hint of light. The surrounding edges were tinged red.

    ‘So, those must be these so-called cracks.’

     I recalled Raen’s earlier explanation.

     The warrior stood in front of the crack with his lips set in a firm line. It looked as if he were worried. Then, he raised his hand and cautiously chanted a spell.

Rumble–

      A band of light veiled the crack–it seems as if the warrior was placing magic atop the anomaly rather than closing it. Perhaps this was only a temporary measure as Raen retreated with a deeply dissatisfied expression.

     ‘Why am I dreaming about this?’

     Raen spent a long time wandering around, finding more cracks and adding more magic as a covering layer. After witnessing the same behavior over and over again, the dream was quite boring. At that moment, Raen paused again.

     As expected, there was another open crack. As soon as Raen raised his hand and chanted, something moved behind him.

     A thick, strong branch with blackened tips stretched out behind the Warrior. In midst of deep concentration, Raen didn’t seem to notice the oncoming branch.

Crr-runcchh–

     There was a gruesome sound–as if the wood was being crushed. At the same time, Raen hurriedly turned around.

     The thick branches of the tree spliced and tore through his waist.

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