With her face streaked from smeared makeup, Geumyi let out a loud scream before rushing back into the convenience store to buy cleansing wipes and more snacks.
'What a fascinating young woman.'
Haran sat beside Sua, munching on snacks while watching her across the table as though observing some rare curiosity.
Meanwhile, Geumyi was furiously scrubbing her face with cleansing wipes.
Every swipe left her skin noticeably cleaner.
“What is that? A magic artifact?”
“Ha... You could've at least told me my face looked like this….”
“I simply assumed this was the latest fashion in makeup around here.”
“……”
Geumyi narrowed her eyes at him.
Peace only returned after Seo Munhyeok grabbed a handful of snacks and stuffed them into Haran's mouth.
“…Did something happen?”
Taking advantage of Haran finally being quiet, Seo Munhyeok started a conversation.
Truthfully, he'd wanted to ask ever since he arrived.
“H-Huh?”
“I saw you sitting here.”
He glanced toward the hospital sitting atop the hill behind the convenience store.
At that, Geumyi's expression darkened once again.
“It's not that... I just... have something else on my mind….”
She was different from usual.
She looked unusually exhausted.
She kept avoiding his eyes.
She insisted nothing was wrong, but Seo Munhyeok couldn't shake the feeling that something serious had happened.
“What is it? It's okay, just tell me. I might not be able to solve it, but I can at least worry about it with you.”
He couldn't simply ignore Geumyi.
Because of the debt he owed her from his previous life.
'I... I can't do this anymore.'
'Geumyi, if we give up now, the people—'
'People, people, people! If someone wants to play the hero, then you do it, Guild Master!'
Back then, Geumyi had been under immense emotional strain.
Her younger brother had died.
At the same time, she had been buried beneath endless criticism from the public.
Comments
-Your family died, so what? lol How long are you planning to milk that?ㅇㅅㅇ
-What's wrong with MGY these days...? She's playing it way too safe;; If you're earning twice as much as an average office worker, then you should put in twice the effooooort khkh;
-Did you see that Healer who got hurt because of her in Eclipse? Legendary lack of responsibility;;; Why'd she stop casting right there? LOLLL Was she trying to get everyone killed? LOLOLOL
-Stop making it so obvious you don't want to work, seriously...
Back then, Seo Munhyeok had simply advised her not to read comments online.
He told her to pay attention only to the people around her who supported her.
In hindsight...
...he had practically abandoned her.
He couldn't understand why Geumyi cared so much about internet comments.
Instead, he'd kept pushing her to move forward.
Since neither of them understood the other, conflict between them became inevitable.
Then one day...
Geumyi suddenly disappeared.
Seo Munhyeok never went looking for her.
And Eclipse was shaken to its core.
'I was far too immature.'
After briefly recalling those events, he glanced nervously toward the hospital.
Could something have happened to Ma Jun?
He wasn't supposed to die for another two years.
'...No. Since Mr. Pyo Haram appeared, unexpected variables can happen at any time now.'
While Seo Munhyeok was lost in thought, Geumyi hesitantly stole a glance at Haran.
“Well... actually….”
Haran continued stuffing snacks into his mouth, watching her with the detached interest of someone observing a fire from the opposite side of a river.
Looking at how absurdly carefree he seemed...
...all the worries weighing on her moments earlier suddenly felt almost ridiculous.
Oddly enough, that reassured her.
After hesitating for a while, she finally confessed what had been troubling her.
“Hmm….”
After hearing the whole story, Seo Munhyeok let out a low hum.
It wasn't the problem he'd feared...
...but he couldn't simply dismiss the burden and anxiety Geumyi had been carrying.
He carefully searched for words to comfort her.
Just as he was about to speak—
“Medical bills? Are you sick?”
Haran, who had seemed completely uninterested until now, suddenly interrupted while crunching away at his snacks.
Caught off guard, Seo Munhyeok quickly glanced at Geumyi before answering.
“Not Geumyi. Her younger brother is ill.”
“Just how sick is he? Aren't there Healers in this world? Spend some money and have them heal him.”
Those casual words immediately drew Geumyi's brows together.
She pouted as she answered.
“If it were that easy, I would've done it years ago. If healing Jun were possible, I'd hand over my entire fortune—or even my own organs—to find a Healer.”
“So he's suffering from an illness even Healers can't cure?”
Strange.
Very strange.
Haran muttered to himself.
As far as he knew, the healing used in this world was identical to the healing magic from his own.
There was no illness healing magic couldn't cure.
At least...
...not when Haran himself cast it.
“Tell me exactly what illness he has.”
His eyes became serious.
A disease that even healing magic couldn't affect?
His curiosity as a scholar had been thoroughly piqued.
Still looking somewhat bewildered, Geumyi noticed the snack crumbs clinging around Haran's mouth.
With a quiet sigh, she began explaining everything she knew about Mana Hypersensitivity Syndrome.
“So it's an illness that reacts to outside mana? Whenever he comes into contact with mana, he loses consciousness, and it can last for days?”
“Yes. He doesn't even have to touch mana directly. Just being exposed to it affects him. The intervals between attacks keep getting shorter, while the periods he stays unconscious grow longer. Jun has been lying unconscious in a special hospital room for three months now. Before that... he only woke up for two hours.”
“Hmm….”
Haran frowned.
How exactly could outside mana affect the human body so severely that it caused complete loss of consciousness?
'Outside... Is outside mana really the problem?'
He had the nagging feeling he was overlooking something.
The first to notice Haran's unusually serious expression was Seo Munhyeok.
“Do you know something about it?”
The Haran Seo Munhyeok knew was almost like an AI.
He possessed an incredible amount of knowledge.
And he never hesitated to share what he knew from his former world.
Perhaps...
...he might have another clue this time as well.
“I'll have to see him in person before I know for certain. Can you take me to the young man?”
Seo Munhyeok immediately looked toward Geumyi.
Regardless of everything else...
...they needed the guardian's permission.
“What are you talking about? Guild Master, this man—I mean... this, um, Hunter—doesn't even remember anything. What could he possibly figure out just by looking?”
“Mr. Pyo Haram is... a little unusual.”
“Yeah, I noticed. He looks extremely unusual.”
“No, that's not what I meant.”
Cold sweat trickled down Seo Munhyeok's back.
His instincts were screaming at him to take Haran to the hospital.
The problem was figuring out how to convince Geumyi.
He couldn't exactly tell her that Haran carried the soul of someone from another world and possessed vastly superior magical knowledge.
“Um... actually.”
He racked his brain.
The suspicion in Geumyi's eyes only deepened.
In the end, to avoid that suspicion...
...and to follow his instincts...
Seo Munhyeok blurted out the most convincing lie he could think of.
“Mr. Pyo Haram has a special skill.”
“A special skill?”
“Y-Yeah. It's a skill that lets him obtain information about things related to dungeons.... Right, Mr. Pyo Haram?”
Please.
Please say yes.
Seo Munhyeok desperately shot Haran a meaningful look while Geumyi wasn't paying attention.
Fortunately, instead of asking what kind of nonsense he was talking about, Haran casually nodded and played along.
“Correct. I possess knowledge about monsters, magic, artifacts inside dungeons—”
“Items.”
“Yes, yes. Items. In any case, I can determine information about such things.”
Haran's face remained completely shameless as he said it.
Unable to tell whether he was telling the truth or making everything up, Geumyi tilted her head.
“…Really?”
“Indeed. I did not tell a lie.”
“Hm... This still feels pretty suspicious.”
She didn't agree immediately.
“Jun's condition isn't very good right now. That's why I usually avoid visiting unless absolutely necessary. I'm a mage, after all….”
Her younger brother was extremely sensitive to outside mana.
Even she deliberately limited contact with him.
There was no way she could casually bring Haran—whose rank itself was still a mystery—into Jun's presence.
“I am different.”
“…What?”
“My body contains very little mana. Barely enough to fill an ant's tear. From what I've heard, even among E-class Hunters, my mana is exceptionally low.”
“Ah.”
Geumyi's eyes wavered.
She remembered the handicap she'd heard about earlier.
For a brief moment, she wondered whether she should offer him words of comfort.
But Haran clearly had no interest in receiving sympathy.
He simply continued speaking.
“So first, arrange for me to see him. Even from a distance is acceptable. I must personally examine the young man's condition.”
“…Can you really figure something out just by looking?”
“Yes.”
“I guarantee it.”
A breeze swept past.
Haran's confident voice sounded as though it were speaking directly beside her ear.
“Show me the young man.”
“I may very well be able to save him.”