CH 30

Chapter 30

Always Together

Sun Yihan:

Park Yul looked vacantly at me before giving me a refreshing smile, “The present is what’s important right now, Yihan-ah. It’s better to find what you can do than to cling to what you can’t change.”

That’s right–what someone could do right now was more important than what had already happened.

I nodded and looked at the flickering fire before us. The air rushing at my face was cold, but my body was warm.

I took a sip of the cocoa in my hands–the hot chocolate was still warm. The few marshmallows that Park Yul placed inside were gently melting in the warm liquid. Because of that, the sweetness felt even more rich and deep.

Perhaps due to the sweetness, my exhausted body felt all its tension melt away. I could hear Park Yul’s voice next to me.

“Yihan-ah, are you sleepy?”

I wasn’t very sleepy. I tried to answer no, but I paused due to a sudden thought that crossed my mind. ‘That’s right–the healing gauge.’

I hadn’t checked the system windows that I procrastinated reading ever since I awoke–I almost forgot. Since I will continue to use the healing skill in the future, I’ll need to learn how to pre-emptively empty the gauge before it was completely filled.

I thought it would be best for me to say, ‘I’m going to retire for the night,’ and check the system when I was left alone. After all, it wouldn’t look natural for me to read invisible writing floating in theair.

I replied that I was getting a little drowsy. Park Yul gently took the cocoa that I was holding and said, “Then, shall we go to bed?”

I nodded quietly, standing up and following the Hero’s steps.

As soon as I left the campfire’s range, cold air blew at me. It was definitely winter–I could feel with my skin that the end of the year was approaching.

My breath turned white in the air before dissipating; the stunted grass beneath my feet had frozen.

Next to Park Yul, I drew back the screen and entered the tent. Perhaps there was magic cast on its interior–the air was warm inside.

The inside was much wider than I had imagined. A lamp stand placed right next to the entrance provided a subtle light to reveal the large space.

There were beds–spacious enough for two people to sleep comfortably–at each end of the tent. On top lay soft-looking, comfortable white blankets. It was as if an entire room had been moved from headquarters.

“Yul-ie Hyung, this is more…”

“That’s right, Yihan-ah. It’s wide, isn’t it?” Park Yul said, gently pulling me along. “I tried a little harder this time.”

He sounded amused. Park Yul placed me directly on one of the beds before bending down to my level, “Sleep comfortably. Do you want me to stay with you?”

No–there’s no reason for me to be here if he stays. I shook my head hurriedly.

Park Yul blinked, “Then, I’ll be right outside.”

“Yes, Yul-ie Hyung.”

Park Yul rubbed my head, just shy of disheveling my hair, before moving away.

“I’ll leave the lights on, is that alright?” Park Yul pointed to the stand next to the entrance.

I replied positively. Come to think of it, it was amazing that this large space could be brightened by one small light. Though, of course, the brightness level wasn’t really high.

Was this lamp magic as well? Magic or not, either option sounded plausible. Even if it weren’t magic, its light covered the darkness…no matter how deep and vast the darkness may be.

“Alright, rest well.” Park Yul’s voice broke through my thoughts. Suddenly, I felt so tired–perhaps I was finally experiencing the weariness of relocating to a strange place. Park Yul waved his hand slightly before exiting.

I heard the woosh of the cloth closing to cover the entrance.

As Park Yul stated, this place was quite strange, especially when visiting it for the first time. Nevertheless, I felt no particular difficulty or discomfort. I wasn’t even tired.

‘Because, everyone’s being so considerate of me.’

The bed inside the tent, the blanket–it was as if I was in a room in a house. A few purple grass flowers grew in the corner on the ground, releasing a scent similar to that of Song Ha-gyeon’s bedroom.

I knew that ever since I arrived in this forest, everyone has been overly conscious of my condition. Still, I couldn’t quite properly convey that I was doing alright.

To be exact, even if I said I was fine, my words never got through to them. It seems that the others didn’t take my words for granted.

‘It can’t be helped. I’ll just have to show that I’m fine through my actions.’

Though they may pour their concern onto me now, if they see that I’m doing fine, they’ll soon turn their attention away. All I had to do was show a normal front–both physically and mentally–from now on.

Still, I didn’t hate this kindness, no matter how brief it would be. Even now, I appreciated them. The room felt so familiar, my body couldn’t help but feel comforted.

‘Let’s slowly check the status windows now.’

As my heart calmed down and some time had passed since Park Yul exited, I judged it to be safe enough to proceed forth with my goal. As soon as that thought entered my mind, the system’s windows manifested before my eyes.

「<Tutorial!> Emptying the Healing Gauge

Please touch the bar gauge!」

No other explanation was provided. The bar gauge–filled slightly with red–appeared just off to the side.

I reached out and pressed at the bar gauge.

A clear ‘pop’ sound rang in my ears. When my fingers passed through the bar gauge, it felt strangely as if my fingertips were crossing a thin curtain of water. Simultaneously–

“Nngh.” Blood welled up in my throat. I hurriedly covered my mouth; the outpour of blood flowed into my hand and seeped out through the gaps.

Honestly–wait a minute. It’s only been a few minutes since I’ve resolved to show the others a hale and hearty version of myself. Perhaps the system was trying to sabotage my desires. The fishy scent of blood wafted into the air.

Dumbfounded, I quietly stared down at the falling drops of blood. A familiar sound rang out from above.

I raised my gaze–a sentence was written on the system window.

「<Tutorial!> Complete!」

The cheerful exclamation mark suddenly looked so despicable and annoying. What kind of tutorial was this–it merely induced me to spit blood! My head throbbed.

I had a similar headache in the past–the very first day I saw the system and its status windows. However, unlike then, my headache subsided in a flash.

Strange information filled the space left behind by the pain. It was an unpleasant sensation, as if someone had dug willfully and arbitrarily into my brain.

「You can empty the healing gauge by touching it.」

The amount diminished will be imparted as blood loss; the red filling the gauge will decrease with the amount of blood that I vomit.

I didn’t expect to empty the gauge unconditionally–without a price. However, it still wasn’t very pleasant to forcibly expel blood.

Still, it was better than waiting for a week-long cooldown time. Credit where credit was due.

I ducked my head underneath the covers, now familiar with how to deal with the blood that surged up and choked me. After all, I couldn’t dirty these white blankets.

Fortunately, through all my experiences thus far, I could remain calm in this sudden situation. I suppose it was true that all experiences and unexpected life lessons were meaningful in their own way.

I stared at the falling droplets. Just as I wondered if I had clean-magic-imbued spell papers left, the following sentence popped into my mind as if the system had entered and inserted words directly into my head.

「If you desire, you can stop in the middle of this process.」

Ah–then I should think about this after I stem the bleeding. I shouldn’t be rushed in my efforts to solve my problems.

I can afford to stop vomiting blood before calmly settling down and observing the situation at hand. Furthermore, a new status window appeared before my eyes.

「’Empty the Healing Gauge’」

「Stop/Continue」

As soon as I tried to answer inwardly, a passing sentence entered my mind.

「You can only empty the treatment gauge once a day.」

Wasn’t this key information? I almost lost the chance to do this today, then. Well, of course–the system couldn’t possibly give me a chance to consider all my options calmly.

It was the same during the quest to relieve Raen’s doubts. I still felt suffocated when I thought back to how urgent the situation felt.

For some reason, I felt like the system was pushing me toward something…though maybe it’s my own misunderstanding. If the system’s intent was to cause me hardship, then it definitely succeeded.

“Cough.”

""

I raised my head, wiping the blood around my mouth with my sleeve. The half-full bar gauge caught my eyes.

The blood flow will stop in a little while. As soon as I began wondering how I should remove the blood scent, the entrance to the tent flapped open.

“Yihan-ah.”

I moved my gaze over–I saw Park Yul standing rigidly at the entrance.

I quietly raised my head and covered my mouth. If I did that, wouldn’t the blood on my sleeve be less visible…? Of course, my efforts were all futile.

Park Yul bounded towards me in a single step. After instantly appearing before me, he said in a calm voice, “Lower your head.”

His hand wrapped around the back of my neck and gave it a gentle push. My head followed the force and bent down. The place where our skin touched felt hot for some reason.

“Don’t swallow and spit it out.” He grabbed my hand that blocked my mouth and lowered it. Park Yul touched the red-colored sleeve as it fell down.

The warmth that spread through my body from the gentle hand intensified as he swept my back. The falling blood droplets wetted the ground.

“Are you feeling unwell?”

I wasn’t…But Park Yul, who continued to speak to me in a worried tone, was about to take me back to the Warrior’s quarters no matter what answer I gave him.

I didn’t expect something like this to happen. If I knew Park Yul would suddenly arrive, I would have immediately chosen to stop emptying the gauge.

It was no use quitting now–Park Yul had already witnessed me. Besides, there wasn’t much blood left to vomit in the gauge.

“Yul-ie Hyung.” I raised my head and met his gaze straight on. I stared into his unwavering green eyes. “I’ll continue to be with you all.”

For a moment, Park Yul’s eyes seemed to widen. I must have been correct–he was probably going to deliver me back home.

But, I couldn’t go back like that. I traveled with the Warriors for both their sake and mine. I needed to help them so I could escape this exhaustingly annoying system and the quest that shackled me as soon as possible.

I didn’t have the ability to save the world, but at least I had the ability to save the world’s saviors. ‘And, it’s not like I’m actually feeling unwell.’

Park Yul’s concerns were valid–it was natural to rest when one was sick. Park Yul knew that, and so did I.

But Park Yul didn’t know that I wasn’t sick. Therefore, it may have seemed like I was forcing myself from the hero’s viewpoint, but, in my eyes, there was no reason for me to head back.

Since Park Yul looked resolute and stubborn, I needed to go on the offensive here.

“…Yihan-ah.” Park Yul looked at me; various complicated and unknown emotions flickered across his face. He carefully cupped one cheek with his hand then slowly rubbed at the area underneath my lips with his thumb.