“There’s only one protective suit. What should we do?”
“It’s fine. One is enough. Thank you so much, really… I’m sorry for putting you through all this.”
“Oh, come on. You really don’t have to thank me like that.”
Encouraged by Haran’s confident assurance, Geumyi decided to accept his request. In truth, she was placing her faith in Seo Munhyeok rather than Haran himself.
And so they found themselves in the waiting room outside the special isolation ward.
Geumyi explained the situation to the nurse who had previously given her the cap, and the nurse readily agreed to lend them a protective suit.
“Here, put this on first.”
“You mean this?”
“Yes. You have to wear it before entering the room. It blocks the mana emitted by your body.”
“I’m the only one wearing it?”
“There’s only one suit. Since only one person can go inside anyway, wouldn’t it be better if Mr. Pyo Haram went in?”
There was nothing strange about what Geumyi said.
The problem was Haran himself.
“Um... Geumyi. Are you sure it'll be okay to send only Mr. Pyo Haram in? He only wanted to check on his condition, so maybe just observing through the glass would be—”
“Guild Master, why are you so restless? Is something wrong?”
“No, it’s just...”
Seo Munhyeok watched Haran fumbling into the protective suit, looking more and more uneasy. He clearly disliked the idea of leaving Haran alone inside.
“I’m done. This thing is rather suffocating.”
“Now put this over your head too. And zip it all the way up.”
“This feels like some new form of torture. Does this thing really block mana?”
“Of course. It doesn’t block one hundred percent of it, but it’s very effective.”
By then Haran was completely covered from head to toe.
Sua, who was nestled in Seo Munhyeok’s arms, stared at him with sparkling eyes.
“Wow! Uncle, you look just like one of those scientists in cartoons.”
“What kind of cartoons are you watching?”
“Hehehe.”
The only anxious person there was Seo Munhyeok.
Unaware of what was going through his mind, Geumyi followed the proper procedures, wrote down the visitor’s name, and sent Haran inside.
“We’ll be watching from behind the glass over here.”
“Very well.”
“Mr. Pyo Haram, please, don’t touch anything. Just look. Don’t do anything unnecessary. If something happens, use the intercom inside the room to call for hel—”
“You’re noisy. Begone.”
Haran waved his hand dismissively, the protective suit rustling loudly.
Seo Munhyeok clearly wasn't happy about this, but after coming this far, there was no turning back, so he reluctantly headed to the observation room.
Click.
After all the commotion...
‘I’m not sure this is really the right thing to do...’
The remaining three entered the viewing room.
Through the glass, they could see Haran stepping into the hospital room.
“Why are you so nervous?”
Unable to take his eyes off Haran, Seo Munhyeok made Geumyi increasingly uneasy as well.
“You were the one who suggested letting Mr. Pyo Haram see Jun in the first place.”
“...Yeah. I did.”
“Why? Does he actually not have that kind of skill or something?”
“No, that’s not it. It’s just... Mr. Pyo Haram is... the kind of person who might do absolutely anything.”
“Mister! My uncle is nice!”
Sua puffed out her cheeks and chirped indignantly from his arms.
“Y-Yeah. That’s right.”
Seo Munhyeok hurriedly agreed, trying to soothe the child.
Then—
“Huh...? Wait, what is he doing?”
The first to notice something was wrong was Geumyi.
“Wait, why is he... Ah! What are you doing?! You can’t take that off!”
“...!”
Haran had finally done it.
Even though everyone had repeatedly warned him never to remove it, he walked right up to Jun and pulled off the hood of the protective suit.
But he didn’t stop there.
He reached behind his back, found the zipper, and pulled it all the way down, exposing his upper body.
Then he placed his bare hand directly on Jun’s head.
“T-That lunatic...!”
Just as the horrified Geumyi rushed toward the door—
Seo Munhyeok stared blankly at what was happening before his eyes and muttered,
“Wait... Jun is...”
“W-What about Jun?!”
“...I think he just woke up.”
“...Huh?”
It was true.
Ma Jun, who had been lying lifelessly on the bed, suddenly opened his eyes.
“Huh?”
* * *
Ring...
The peaceful silence filling the hospital room was broken by the ringing of a bell.
“Hm?”
Standing beside the bed and occupied with his work, Haran looked around in confusion at the sudden noise.
Tap! Tap! Tap!
Seo Munhyeok and Geumyi were pounding on the glass, trying to get his attention.
‘Now what are they doing?’
Frowning, Haran nevertheless walked over to the window.
Apparently that had been the correct answer.
Seo Munhyeok and Geumyi nodded repeatedly while grabbing the receiver mounted on the wall and frantically gesturing toward him.
“Ah.”
Only then did Haran notice that there was an identical receiver mounted on the wall inside his room.
It was an unfamiliar device he'd never seen before, but after watching the Earthlings use theirs, he simply copied them.
Click.
The moment he lifted the receiver to his ear, Geumyi’s scream exploded through it.
“You! What did you just do?! My brother woke up! How did you do that?!”
“My ears are about to burst. Lower your voice.”
“Hey! I’m asking you! Was that your doing?!”
Geumyi was far too agitated to have a proper conversation.
Keeping the receiver away from his ear, Haran looked once at Jun on the bed, then at Geumyi beyond the glass.
“Yes. I woke him up.”
“You... you can actually do that? H-How did you do it?”
“It just worked.”
That was all.
He simply did this, did that, and it worked.
Nothing more.
“...What do you mean... 'it just worked'?”
“It just worked.”
“...”
Beyond the glass, Seo Munhyeok quietly said something to the stunned Geumyi.
She shook her head while looking at him.
Judging by their moving lips, the two were talking to each other.
Tilting his head, Haran tapped the receiver.
“Hm? What’s this? It suddenly got quiet. Hello? Hello? Are you done talking?”
Just as he was about to hang up—
Seo Munhyeok took the receiver from Geumyi.
“Mr. Pyo Haram.”
“Oh. You again.”
If that was the case, why not simply come inside and talk?
He genuinely couldn't understand why they had to communicate like this.
Glancing at Jun, who was lying on the bed blinking blankly, Haran let out a long sigh.
“How did you wake Jun?”
“I adjusted his tangled mana circuits.”
“Excuse me?”
Haran looked at Jun once more.
His eyes saw things others could not.
The flow of mana running throughout Jun’s body.
The delicate, incredibly intricate network of mana circuits had become hopelessly tangled in every part of his body.
Haran explained.
“All living creatures possess mana circuits within their bodies. Even ordinary people incapable of casting magic are no exception. Though they are unaware of it, the circuits spread throughout the body from the heart.”
The nature and structure of mana circuits differed from person to person.
Some had broader circuits than others, allowing them to run in long, straightforward paths.
Others possessed countless thin circuits branching out like capillaries, intricately woven throughout the body.
Naturally, the former was far better suited for using magic.
Smooth mana flow greatly aided precise control.
However, not every mage was born with such ideal circuits.
For that reason, in Haran’s world, young mages regularly had their mana circuits corrected with the help of their masters.
Haran himself had personally adjusted the mana circuits of every disciple he had taken in.
“This young man’s mana circuits are as fine and delicate as a spider’s web. There are simply too many of them, and they’ve spread out and twisted in every direction. Mana becomes trapped and clumps together throughout his body, causing him to react abnormally even to external mana.”
After explaining, Haran looked through the glass at Seo Munhyeok as if asking whether he understood now.
Seo Munhyeok wore an expression that suggested he understood... yet didn’t.
“Ha...”
His comprehension was worse than a child’s.
Sighing, Haran simplified the explanation even further.
“It’s a phenomenon caused by the mana inside his body colliding with external mana.”
“So... if these mana circuits are corrected, he’ll be able to live normally?”
“Yes. For now, I only untangled a few of the circuits in his head. That was enough to restore his consciousness, but he hasn’t recovered physically yet. If left alone, the circuits will gradually return to their previous state.”
It wasn’t only the people behind the glass listening to his explanation.
Jun himself, lying motionless in the cold hospital room, blinked quietly as he listened.
“So a complete recovery is possible?”
“I already told you it is.”
Seo Munhyeok fell silent for a moment.
He appeared deep in thought.
Haran tapped the receiver again.
“Why has it gone quiet again? If you’re done talking, then let me go.”
He flicked the coiled telephone cord with an annoyed expression.
He disliked having to stand rooted to this spot because of it.
Seeing Haran about to hang up at any second, Seo Munhyeok hurriedly asked another question.
“W-Wait.”
“What now?”
“These mana circuits... is correcting them dangerous?”
“Dangerous?”
“They’re inside the body, after all. Even if we can’t see them, they’re still part of the body. Like the internal organs.”
“That’s true.”
He had assumed this human was simply slow-witted, but it turned out he could ask surprisingly sharp questions.
Raising an eyebrow, Haran listed several side effects he knew of.
“For one thing, a person’s constitution may change somewhat.”
“What?”
“They might become much more sensitive to heat. Or to cold. Someone who was always sickly might suddenly become healthy, while someone who had always been healthy could become frail.”
“......”
“Oh. And although it’s extremely rare, I’ve seen other side effects as well.”
Seo Munhyeok’s eyes widened.
Had he not asked, they never would have known.
Meanwhile, Haran calmly continued listing them.
“Loss of appetite, constipation, hair loss, excessive sweating, erectile dysfunction, and also...”
“What?!”
Seo Munhyeok stood there with his mouth hanging open, unable to speak.
Beside him, Geumyi, who had been listening the whole time, clutched the back of her neck in horror.
Moving the receiver away from his ear again, Haran added,
“They’re very rare side effects. Hmm... about one person in a thousand?”
“N-No, even so, this...”
“What exactly do you expect me to do about it? Should I put him back to sleep?”
He gestured toward Jun with his chin.
By now, Jun’s eyes were trembling violently as tears streamed uncontrollably down his face.