Chapter 51

No monsters were coming out of the barrier, and the Double-Headed Declan mutt also went back. However, there was a possibility that some may come out of the barrier. If not now, some might come crawling out due to unknown conditions.

Everything hurt a lot. Setting up the dungeon containment building as a hospital had been a good choice. While I had lost my backpack in the dungeon, everything I needed was here.

There was running water, bandages, painkillers, and a bed. I lay down on the bed while stopping myself from turning on the light. This hospital was currently closed and unoccupied, but if things went like this, the possibility of this building being used for its purpose was zero. (EN: My guess is Sun’s plan after he was finished with the dungeon was to use it to train Awakened that were loyal to him after the Day of Advent.)

Unless a tutorial or a lifestyle quest that I had seen after the Trial Tests came up, I could earn points only in dungeons. While there were other F class dungeons in the lands I had bought, discovering and entering them did not mean I would get points and boxes. I had already received the rewards for the First Discovery.

I had chosen this place because this was the only F class dungeon in which I knew how to defeat the boss monster. However, I now understood that I could not do this alone. If I had chosen the wrong door, would I have returned? Or would I have managed to find a way? I turned my gaze out the window.

Except for the ugly barbed wire topped wall, the village scenery was quite peaceful, and I felt that the wall divided the fantasy from reality like the blue barrier. I picked up my cell phone.

I then hesitated a few times before pressing the number. I chose the high risk and high return method, as this was the only way I could retry the dungeon. It was a miracle I had returned and I had almost made my parents sad with my demise.

I needed at least a healer, and…

***

I saw Yeonhee Woo’s car approach the wall as the headlights that wandered around, having lost their way, managed to find the right road. She had not come out even after parking, and when I knocked on her window, she turned around to look at me.

She looked terrified, and after I showed her my face with the flashlight, I waited for her to come out.

“Sunhoo, where is…”

“It’s difficult to find.”

“I worried, and anyone will when you hang up like that. Why did you call me here… Can you tell me that first? I’m becoming scared.”

Yeonhee Woo held her cell phone tight.

“Can you feel that I hold you no ill will, or can’t you at this stage?”

“What do you mean? Don’t scare me.”

“I’m sorry. This is because you have arrived at night and I originally hoped you would come tomorrow when it’s bright. I’ll tell you as we go in.”

She must have seen my state when I turned my back. Yeonhee Yoo came running to me and looked my body up and down.

“Why are you so hurt?!”

“It’s all right. Come in.”

It was then Yeonhee Yoo found the hospital plaque, and she remained still. I could understand what she was feeling, and I should have done this before. I turned on the light after asking her to wait, and by then she had already gone back to her car and locked the door. The driver’s seat window opened a finger’s width.

“Sunhoo, I think this is not right. Let’s get out of here together…”

“Don’t be afraid. You know I’m not here to harm you. This is a mental hospital, but there’s no one here except you and me.”

“That’s even stranger.”

“I would understand that if you were Unawakened. However, you can feel what I’m thinking.”

“The rumors spread, right? It was loud. However, Sunhoo, I’m not like the rumors…”

Yeonhee Yoo was talking about the incident that had occurred early this semester in the teacher’s room. Her mother had come to the school, and she had behaved badly. She had shouted to anyone who would hear her how this school employed a mentally ill person as a teacher in front of everyone. I had not seen her since then.  Her voice trailed off as soon as she realized what I had said, and then the shouting began.

“What did you say? I can feel your mind?!”

“You’re not crazy. I can explain why you can sense the emotions of other people. So decide whether you’ll live as a madwoman or follow me.”

The car door slowly opened, and she looked at me as she stood. Her expression had changed from one of fear to something else.

“Sunhoo, what are you doing to make you so afraid…?”

Yeonhee Yoo reached out to me with her shaking hand.

***

She was my dungeon box, either my salvation or doom, and we sat on the bench located in the hospital’s barren backyard. While I had turned on the lights despite what the villagers might see, she did not stop shaking.

“Don’t be afraid.”

Yeonhee Woo’s eyes widened at my blunt attitude.

“It’s because of you. How can you be shaking on the inside like that and pretend nothing is wrong?”

“Listen to me. I’m the only one who knows that you’re not crazy.”

“What?”

Her eyes widened.

“I’m the same as you. These may be called supernatural powers, but I call them skills. You already know what’s written on the status message.”

Her face became rigid, and it seemed that time had stopped for her. A bit later, she looked like she was going to cry.

“Don’t cry and be happy that you’re not alone.”

“I said that many times that I’m not crazy…”

“You should have not said anything to civilians, and especially your family.”

Yeonhee Woo buried her face in her palms, and I ordered her to raise her face.

I heard her sobs subside, and she looked up with a wet face.

“Prove, prove it.”

Her eyes were challenging me.

“What?”

“Prove that you’re the same as me and I’ll calm down. Why aren’t you doing something?”

“My abilities are different from you, and I thankfully specialize in battles.”

“What do you mean by thankfully?”

“Come, and I’ll prove it to you. I can do it here, but I need to show you something first.”

Yeonhee Woo seemed to have felt something when I spoke, and she did not move.

“It’s alright. This fear…is like a survival instinct. We need it. Are you going to stay like that? Come.”

I hesitated before reaching out with my hand, and I again noticed how small her hands were. She stayed close to me as the hospital was still dark, and I went with her downstairs to the material room.

She was fascinated with the blue shimmering barrier, and I pulled her back from going down the stairs like she had been lured by a ghost. I warned her as she tried to argue.

“You will die if you step on that.”

“What is this…?”

“The reason we have our abilities.”

I turned on the light, and the bloodstains that had been hidden showed themselves, and I pushed her away as she drew closer to unroll the bandages on my arm and neck. She began to shift her weight from foot to foot and was already looking around to find medicine for me.

“Haven’t you thought it strange?”

I asked.

“What?”

“Our regeneration speed is different from Unawaked, and we heal even from serious wounds. It only takes some time. However, what skill do you have as a reward for your awakening?”

“Empathy…”

“That’s your Trait, check your status message. Haven’t you done that often?”

“Treat Fear.”

Yeonhee Woo spoke in a hesitant voice.

“Other skills?”

“No. Sunhoo, stop being so oppressive and listen to me.”

“I’m not done explaining. I don’t have to prove more that we’re the same, right?”

I took a silent Yeonhee Woo out to the yard, as she would need to think things over. Her eyes were vague for a long time. It did not take her long to cry again, and she tried to stop herself from doing so to any avail. So, she spoke with tears flowing down her face.

“I can’t stop crying in front of you.”

“I’m going to explain the reason why I brought you here. You can cry all you want, but this is about your fate and life, so focus. Are you ready?”

“Wait, why are you so blunt?  I’m the adult here!”

I laughed for quite a long time. I tried to be nicer, like when I trained those who were unfortunate enough to Awaken.

“Yeonhee, the world you belong to does not care about age.”

It only cares about classes.

Edited by Userunfriendly