CH 29

I know. If I confessed, ‘I tried to stay away from you because I didn’t want to pass on the curse,’ what would be the response.

I don’t care about the curse.

“…I want you to like me nonetheless.”

No, maybe this is what I want to say to him.

After saying out loud what I’ve been thinking all along, I giggle. In my anguish, I clenched my fist, forgetting that what I held in my hand was a spirit object, and I let out a huge sigh and bowed my head.

Suddenly, I felt goosebumps all over my body and my eyes blinked open. The next thing I know, I see strange words in front of me.

[Triggers ‘Pioneer of the Unknown ( )’]

It was so familiar, but I had forgotten it for so long.

[Activate the awakening condition of the spirit ‘The Fifth Page Lost in the Codex Gigas’. Would you like to see it?]

It was my awakening ability.

I was so surprised by the letters that suddenly popped out that I lost my grip of the spirit. As soon as it fell out of my hand, the letters in front of me disappeared.

“This… What the….”

I rubbed my forehead and stared at the creature in confusion, then collected my thoughts.

For now, let’s summarize the conditions under which the ability is triggered.

First, there must be no one within five meters. This was met when Simeon left the room.

Second, you must be in contact with the target. This is why the text disappeared as soon as he dropped the artifact.

Now that I’ve met the conditions, I realize that the ability hasn’t been triggered in a long time, but did my unique ability work on the spirit? I think it was the ability to preview the condition of awakening an awakeners in advance…

I thought back to the moment I had just awakened and suddenly got goosebumps.

“…No.”

The description of my unique ability, ‘Pioneer of the Unknown’, described as follows.

[You can see the conditions for unleashing hidden abilities]

Nowhere in that sentence are the words human or spirits. I just limited the target to people by myself. Given the situation just now, my unique ability seems to work on spirits.

But why didn’t it trigger on the <Breath of the Firebird> or the <Crown of Atonement>?

“Because they don’t have any hidden abilities…?”

If you think about it, there is no contradiction. So what is the hidden power of <Codex Gigas>?

I cautiously reached out to the spirit.

“Knock knock!”

I heard a knock on the door. No, it was someone on the other side of the door. The tone was high for a man, so it wasn’t Simeon, and it certainly wasn’t his bodyguard. I don’t know who it is, but I answer and the door swings open.

“Hello!”

The man who greeted me cheerfully was a boy who looked to be in high school.

His hair is bleached, and his piercings are all over the place. He was completely different from the other apostle members I had met in the past, from his faded hair to the trendy clothes he wore. He looked like an idol, with clear eyes and a primitive smile.

I stared at him for a moment, wondering if he was a visitor, then suddenly remembered Simeon’s words.

“Are you the apostle who was supposed to cure me?”

“Oh, yes! My name is Raphael. I’m the ninth Apostle, and I’m an A-rank hunter.”

He looks young, but he’s a Class A Hunter. And an Awakened with the ability to heal is rare.

While I was inwardly admiring him, Raphael approached the bed. He stuck out his hand to shake mine, and I didn’t even realize it. He smiled and eagerly shook my hand up and down, like a golden retriever.

“What about you, hyung?”

…Hgung? We’ve known each other for less than a minute and you’ve already decided on a nickname.

“My name’s Shin Ha-jae. I’m not a hunter, just an unemployed man.”

“Then you’re Hajae-hyung.”

Simeon said he likes people, and judging by the way he treats me, it’s true. I don’t feel uncomfortable with his fresh face or casual demeanor, but he has a charm that makes me feel strangely at ease.

“What’s the hangul in your name?”

“What? Oh, it’s the trees in the summer.”

“The Tree of Summer… I think it suits you well.”

After the long handshake, Raphael glanced around. He seems to be looking for a place to sit, but there are no chairs in the room. Eventually, he leaves the pages of the futon on the table like shredded paper and casually plops down on the bed.

He smiles at me and asks, “Are you okay?” and I can’t help but nod.

“Actually, I already knew your name.”

“From who?”

“Yulia noona.”

“…Yulia?”

“Don’t you know? She wears a dress with brown wavy hair…”

“Ah!” I exclaimed, suddenly recognizing the woman’s face.

A hunter smashing monsters with an iron prosthetic leg. If I’m being honest, I still shuddered at the memory of the face that drugged me with sleeping pills and smiled innocently. Maybe that’s why I’ve seen her face around the base but haven’t spoken up.

“I wanted to ask you something.”

His eyes sparkle with curiosity and I can’t help but feel uneasy, but my hunch is correct.

“Hyung. You’re the thirteenth apostle, right?”

“…What?”

The thirteenth apostle? What kind of bullshit is that? I frowned, and Raphael looked at me in confusion.

“Uh, no?”

“Where the hell did you hear that bullshit?”

“There was an article.”

Raphael kindly pulled out his cell phone and turned on an internet news site to show me.

The number one story on the site had my picture plastered all over it, surrounded by reporters and half-hugged by Simeon. Fortunately, my face was covered by a mask and I was wearing a hood, but at least I could recognize it was me. Above it, in thick letters, was a headline.

[Appearance of the 13th Apostle. Who is he?]

Who is, what. I’m not an apostle, especially not the 13th one.

Since ancient times, the number 13 has symbolized inauspiciousness. Some say it’s because Jesus’ 13th disciple was a betrayer. But that’s a myth. He never had 13 disciples in the first place, so there’s no way I’d be an apostle.

“If we’re going to do this, call me Judas.”

(“이럴 거면 아예 유다라고 부르지.”)

The words came out of my mouth. My irritated rant amused Raphael, who ducked his head slightly and chuckled softly. I realized I’d been a little too honest when I saw him smiling, his shoulder shaking.

“Anyway, no, I’m not, I just helped him with this one because it was mutual.”

“Oh, is that what it was, I was expecting a new face to come in.”

Raphael shrugged ruefully and pulled something out of his pocket. The leather pouch was small enough to hold an accessory. He untied the string that held the opening closed, revealing an assortment of minerals.

“What is this?”

“My proud collection and the ingredients to heal hyung’s leg.”

“You’re going to cure me with minerals?”

No matter how I looked at them, they were ordinary minerals, some with strange colors that would make expensive jewelry if they were painstakingly crafted, but they certainly didn’t look like the ingredients to cure my leg. As I tilted my head in wonder, Raphael held out a violet mineral the size of a fingernail.

“I harness the power of gemstones to heal, a.k.a. the white-clad craftsman, and that’s my ability.”

Gemstones. Power. Healing. Put the three together, and all that comes to mind is dubious pseudoscience.

“Germanium bracelets… Is that what it is?”

“No, not that kind of pseudoscience!”

Having been misunderstood before, Raphael eagerly began to explain.

“Minerals are formed by being subjected to temperature and pressure for long periods of time under the earth, and especially rare minerals contain a tremendous amount of energy in their tiny bodies, not to mention the gems that are delicately crafted by artisans.”

“Hmm….”

“Imagine if we could transfer the energy in minerals to people.”

“Uh…”

“So you find a mineral which wavelength matches the patient’s and you use that power to… anyway.”

He must have noticed my concentration slipping. Raphael gave up on further explanation and shook his head. Then he took my hand and raised and lowered the gemstones one by one.

“Not this one, not this one, not this one.”

His careful touch resembled that of a Chinese medicine practitioner placing acupuncture needles. He seemed to be searching for a mineral that matched my wavelength, but I felt nothing. I just stared, dumbfounded, and then suddenly realized he was wearing something around his waist.

“What’s that?”

I gestured, and Raphael graciously lifted his top to show me. It was a dagger.

“Oh, it’s for self-defense. All I have is my healing ability, so I have to carry this if I want to get into the rift.”

The blade is safely in its sheath, and the protruding handle looks like a camping jackknife. I wondered, though, why a man with healing powers would carry a dagger.

“Does Raphael go into the rift?”

“Yes, because it would be a waste if everyone in there got hurt and didn’t make it out in time.”

He added that his blade was so sharp it could easily cut through the skin of any monster.

It’s used as a last resort when all the hunters are down, and it seems that being a hunter is not an easy job for an awakened. I, for one, am still in bed after only one trip to the rift.

“But, hyung.”

Raphael said, still placing the gemstone in my hand.

”If you’re this badly hurt, shouldn’t you tell your family? They’ll be worried.”

I shuddered at the innocent question. I didn’t know what to say. “Um ….” I smiled awkwardly and Raphael took a second look at my complexion. He quickly realized his mistake and gave me an apologetic look.