Chapter 136.

Yoo Yeonha stared at the ground blankly . Her heels were spinning in her blurred vision . A mysterious chill strangled her . She couldn’t breathe .

“…Haa . ”

After barely managing to eek out a breath, Yoo Yeonha raised her head . Kim Hajin was still lying in the hospital bed . In Yoo Yeonha’s eyes, however, his bed was shaking like it was experiencing an earthquake .

She bit her lips .

No way .

I must have seen it wrong .

That must be it .

Yoo Yeonha raised her smartwatch with her trembling hands .

A clear picture of a tattoo appeared on the smartwatch’s screen . It was exactly like the one drawn on Kim Hajin’s upper arm .

An indescribable shock pressed down on Yoo Yeonha’s temple .

“Uuu… . ”

“Hiik!”

Kim Hajin moved his body . In that instant, Yoo Yeonha’s body shook greatly .

Kim Hajin slowly opened his eyes . He blankly stared at the ceiling for a moment, then slowly turned his head to the side . Just like that, their eyes met .

“Yoo Yeonha?”

Kim Hajin spoke .

Yoo Yeonha swallowed her saliva and struggled to move her stiff tongue .

“…He, hell, hello . ”

“What?”

“H-How, how has it been?”

“…Good, I guess?”

Kim Hajin was looking at her . Just this fact made her incapable of maintaining her calm .

However, she refused to lose her mind . She told herself that this was the one time she needed to stay calm and decisive .

First, she collected her breath .

As though she hadn’t been breathing for a while, a gush of oxygen flowed into her brain . As a result, her vision turned clear and her discontinued thoughts came back .

“Huu… . ”

Calm down . Nothing is sure yet .

Everything might just be a huge misunderstanding .

It might be Yoo Jinhyuk’s mistake, or someone might have tried to pin the blame on him .

For now, nothing is one-hundred percent certain…

“Oh right, how’s Chae Nayun?”

Kim Hajin hurriedly asked . He was worrying about Chae Nayun, worrying about her sincerely . However, his sincerity confused Yoo Yeonha even more .

“Chae Nayun is, is fine . Uh, I, I’m going out for, a minute . ”

Yoo Yeonha quickly turned around and left, leaving behind Kim Hajin who was staring at her quizzically .

Although Yoo Yeonha was in a situation where sound judgment and logical thinking were difficult, she knew what she had to do .

Yoo Yeonha messaged her information guild .

[Gangnam Severance Hospital . Patient name, Kim Hajin . ]

Because her head was spinning, she found it difficult to type . She felt sick to her stomach . Holding herself back from throwing up, she shot her eyes open .

Most hospitals took written records of their patients’ identifying characteristics . Naturally, tattoos were included in them .

As such, all data about Kim Hajin gathered today had to be erased . Before Chae Joochul or Chae Nayun found out, it had to be wiped away from existence .

Kim Hajin’s tattoo had to be something only she knew about .

[Delete all data related to Patient Kim Hajin . ]

Few doctors and nurses might have seen his tattoo already . However, if no information about the tattoo existed on paper, no one would ask them whether Kim Hajin had a tattoo .

“Um, Yoo Yeonha-ssi?”

The doctor in charge of the VIP rooms walked over .

“Ah, doctor, can you get a jacket for Kim Hajin?”

“A jacket?”

“Yes, he looked like he was cold . ”

“Ah… yes . ”

**

“…Argh, my head . ”

Once Yoo Yeonha left the room, I clutched my head .

My body trembled, and my head felt like it just took an ice bath .

“Auuu . ”

First, I thought back to what happened before I fainted .

I was trying to get away from Chae Nayun, then… something exploded .

“What was that?”

Although I wasn’t certain… I remembered writing something similar . Because it felt a bit out-of-place to have a rank 1 guild fall to rank 7 with a single failed Tower campaign, I added a bigger incident .

But why was it today and why was it in Seocho?

“… . ”

In any case, I needed more information .

I took a look around . On the shelf was my smartwatch . When I checked the news, there were only articles about Creator’s Sacred Grace as I expected .

“…Haa . ”

While I was taking in the information, my heart suddenly sank . It was because I remembered Chae Nayun protected me .

Since I lost consciousness, the explosion must have struck me directly . The only reason I was unhurt had to be because of Chae Nayun .

Tok, tok—

At that moment, someone knocked on the door .

“Yes?”

When I answered, a doctor walked in . With a calm expression, he walked up to me .

“Patient Kim Hajin?”

“Yes . ”

“Here, you can put this on . ”

He gave me a jacket . I put it on without much thought .

“Are you feeling okay?”

I felt my body here and there .

Although I didn’t feel any pain, when I checked my smartwatch, I noticed that 90% of the stat points I amassed with Energy Conversion were gone .

To think all those stats points I collected painstakingly would disappear in an instant…

“…Yes, I’m fine . ”

I swallowed my sigh and retorted .

“In that case…”

The doctor let out a dry cough and slowly spoke .

As his somewhat envious voice continued, my face stiffened . I could no longer hold my sigh back .

“…So . ”

What the doctor told me could be simplified in one sentence .

‘Chae Nayun is suffering from a severe trauma . ’

After losing someone she loved for the second time, Chae Nayun developed a mental illness .

“If it’s okay, can you go see her?”

“… . ”

I got up silently . I couldn’t feel much strength from my legs, but I had no trouble walking .

Chae Nayun was next door .

After taking a deep breath, I walked in .

“Nurse Kim?”

“Ah, yes . ”

The nurse checking Chae Nayun’s pulse stepped back . With a bitter smile, I sat down next to her .

“I just have to stay here?”

“Yes . ”

The doctor checkmarked something on the clipboard he was holding, then glanced at the nurse .

“Let’s leave so they can be alone . ”

“Ah, yes, doctor . ”

Then, they left .

In the blink of an eye, only Chae Nayun and I were left in the room . I scratched my neck and waited for her to wake up . She seemed to be sleeping peacefully, but I could see a hint of tears around her eyes .

With Stigma’s magic power, I wiped away her tears .

It was then that I noticed something .

“Her hair…”

I knew for a fact that she recently started going to beauty parlors to get her hair done . However, her hair was now cut short .

I touched my hair, wondering if mine was also cut, only to find it perfectly fine .

‘Her hair should have been left intact, even if I had to become bald…’

As I sighed inwardly, Chae Nayun moved .

“Kuuung…”

Her eyelids shook as though she was having a nightmare, and she tightly held her blanket . Worried that she might have a seizure, I quickly worked to wake her up .

“Hey, hey, Chae Nayun . ”

Chap, chap . But even after being slapped, she remained asleep . In fact, she looked like she was in greater pain .

Chap, chap, chap . Since I wasn’t sure what to do, I continued slapping her face . However, Chae Nayun still didn’t wake up .

Should I utilize Stigma’s magic power?

For now, I slapped her a bit more .

Chap, chap, chap, chap .

“Kuaaa, aaah… . ”

“Hey, wake up!”

“Ah… . ”

As she showed signs of waking up, I hit her strongly one last time .

Chap!

Then suddenly…

“Ah…, it freaking hurts!”

“… . ”

Her roar filled the room . I quickly pulled my hand back, and Chae Nayun shot up with reddened cheeks .

Her previous cursing must have been subconsciously done as she stared at me with half-clouded eyes .

“Ah…”

But soon, a teardrop fell from her eyes . Her face quickly distorted .

“…Ah, I, I thought you…”

Something warm and soft embraced me . Chae Nayun had jumped into my arms .

“I really, really thought… . ”

Unable to speak clearly, she only cried .

“… . ”

I let out a deep sigh .

It seemed I was mistaken .

Chae Nayun wasn’t stronger than she was in the original story .

Of course, she might be stronger in terms of might . She changed to a sword quicker, and she even received Yoo Sihyuk’s teachings .

“I, I thought you were going to disappear too…”

However, no matter how strong she tried to act, the current Chae Nayun was weaker than the Chae Nayun in the original story .

Her mind was already half-broken .

I couldn’t help but worry .

Would she be able to endure everything that would happen in the future? Alone?

“Hng, hnng . ”

“…Stop crying, you’re always crying . I’m going to call you out for being a crybaby on your social media . ”

“Hmph, I’m crying because of you, you bastard . ”

By the time Chae Nayun stopped crying…

“Hey, Chae Nayun!”

The VIP room shot open and Kim Suho appeared .

**

[Creator’s Sacred Grace failed in their conquering of the Tower of Miracle, causing a huge magic explosion . Currently, the Hero Association is investigating the members of Creator’s Sacred Grace and where the blame falls for this incident . ]

“Haa…”

A sigh came out of Kim Suho’s mouth .

It wasn’t so surprising . Currently on the news was Yun Seung-Ah who had her head down like a criminal under arrest .

In truth, Yun Seung-Ah couldn’t be blamed for this failure . In fact, she displayed outstanding leadership as the guild’s vice-leader .

Of the 1000 members and 300 mercenaries that participated in the Tower campaign, 75% had returned alive . But without Yun Seung-Ah, that number wouldn’t have even reached 50% .

“Hajin, are you okay?”

Kim Suho turned towards me and asked .

“As you can see . ”

“I’m glad . It looks like Chae Nayun… is also fine . ”

Chae Nayun cried herself to sleep . Her hand was still tightly holding onto mine .

“…You should contact her . ”

“Hm?”

“Yun Seung-Ah . Call her, message her, do something . ”

“… . ”

Kim Suho shook his head with a troubled look . At that moment, the door shot open once more .

This time, it was Shin Jonghak .

He stormed into the room and looked down at Chae Nayun . I tried to release my hand, but Chae Nayun didn’t let go . She frowned and murmured in her sleep, holding my hand even tighter .

“… . ”

Shin Jonghak glared at me silently . His face was filled with rage .

However, he didn’t say anything . He didn’t express his anger or cry out in jealousy . He didn’t even try to separate us . He only softly caressed Chae Nayun’s shortened hair before turning around and leaving .

“…Hajin, I’ll be back soon . ”

Kim Suho followed after him .

Unfortunately, I couldn’t do the same . Because Chae Nayun was holding onto my hand, I couldn’t even smoke .

But with my Gift, I could eavesdrop on any conversation .

“…Hey . ”

But suddenly, a voice rang out from next to me .

When I turned my head to the side, I saw Chae Nayun staring up at me with narrowed eyes .

“…I knew you weren’t sleeping . ”

“Pft . ”

Chae Nayun laughed . Then, she moved her mouth without speaking .

—Come, here .

“Speak out loud . ”

She still only moved her mouth . She might have been speaking extremely softly, or she might have been cosplaying as a mime .

Without any other choice, I moved my ear closer to her mouth .

It was then .

Chae Nayun’s arms suddenly wrapped around my neck .

“Ah!”

“…Got you . ”

We were close enough that our lips were practically touching .

Chae Nayun smiled brightly and lightly bit my nose .

“Ah! Hey, what are you doing!?”

I tried to get away, but it was impossible .

In terms of pure strength, Chae Nayun was miles ahead of me .

After struggling for a bit and failing, I stared into her eyes without a choice . Then, I spoke .

“…Don’t you remember?”

“Remember what?”

“What happened today . ”

“I do . ”

Since that was the case, I tried to get away from her . However, she didn’t let me .

“Hey, can you let me go?”

“…What if I drop out of Cube too?”

I frowned and glared at Chae Nayun seriously .

“Then I’ll start hating you for real . ”

“Why?”

“Who would like a girl foolish enough to give up her dreams for a man?”

“… . ”

Chae Nayun seemed to agree as she slightly loosened her arms .

I tried to get away from her using this opportunity… but it still wasn’t enough .

Feeling like my pride as a man would be greatly hurt if I struggled any more, I decided to wait until she let go of me .

“But you know…”

Chae Nayun shook her head and continued .

“I thought about it . Even if you drop out and become a mercenary, that doesn’t mean we can’t see each other . ”

“No, that’s…”

“What, I can’t even see you? That doesn’t make any sense at all!”

“…”

I was at a loss for words .

Chae Nayun’s face turned serious . I could tell she was speaking from the bottom of her heart .

“We can call each other and meet every once in a while . Then, when I graduate… . ”

It was then .

Tok, tok .

A knocking sound rang out, along with a deep voice .

—Nayun, it’s Dad . I’m coming in .

“Uaat!”

Chae Nayun quickly pushed me away .

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