‘All right, then.’
It was time to take care of his original purpose.
Joo Do-gyeom took the Blessing Potion, Grace of Abundance, out of his Inventory.
A five-billion-won sip.
He drank it without hesitation.
『A blessing is bestowed.』
『For one acquisition, the quantity of Ungraded Items obtained is doubled.』
After confirming the messages, Joo Do-gyeom stood beneath the apple tree.
At the end of a branch.
A single golden apple hung there, ripe and luscious.
He reached out and picked it.
POP—.
The instant the fruit came free from the branch.
FWOOSH—!
The apple burst with light.
The light soon split in two, then settled into his hands with two distinct weights.
The single apple had become two.
『Adam’s Apple (2) acquired.』
‘Good.’
One for the chairman’s daughter.
One for Eve’s Gift.
The calculation was complete.
It was more than enough of a return for drinking five billion won.
Bluntly speaking, the informational value of even one of these apples currently exceeded tens of billions of won.
He had earned that staggering sum with a single sip. What better bargain could there be?
‘Is this why merchants enjoy doing business?’
With that idle thought, Joo Do-gyeom carefully placed the two apples into his Inventory.
An unexpected Trial.
An unexpected Title.
Even the unexpected Leaves of the Tree of Life.
For a dungeon he had entered merely to pick one Adam’s Apple, his pockets had become far too full.
‘And there’s the whole overwhelming-clear approach too.’
It had become a pretty good way of doing things.
Joo Do-gyeom gave the Garden of Eden’s green grasslands one final look, then opened his mouth.
“I will return to Earth.”
『Confirmed.』
『User Joo Do-gyeom returns to Earth.』
***
At the same time.
Lee Young-sik, the chairman of Taeseong Group, silently looked down at the hospital bed.
His gaunt-faced daughter slept upon it.
Lee Seo-a.
She had been an unusually bright and kind child ever since she was young.
After his wife passed away, Seo-a had become his only remaining blood relative, making her all the more precious to him.
He could still vividly see her running toward him with a smile, calling, “Dad.”
Yet she had already spent two years lying there like a doll.
His fist clenched without his realizing it.
Age had settled over the back of that hand.
“Joo Do-gyeom......”
The name left his lips in a low murmur.
The man who claimed to know of a treatment.
Naturally, Lee Young-sik had ordered an investigation into him.
The results had been disappointing.
He was not someone known in the Hunter industry.
No, he had not even been a Hunter for more than a few months.
Until very recently, he had been an ordinary young man loading and unloading goods at a logistics center.
That was the Joo Do-gyeom described in the documents.
It was not a background that inspired confidence.
And yet.
‘What was with those eyes?’
The man in the documents and the man himself did not match.
Those pitch-black eyes had not wavered even when Lee Young-sik told him to stake his life.
Lee Young-sik was a man who had risen from the position of third son to chairman through nothing but his ability to judge people.
That instinct told him one thing.
Those were not the eyes of an ordinary young man.
But separate from that, it was also true that he could not place much hope in him.
Not because Joo Do-gyeom seemed untrustworthy.
Because every experience until now had taught him not to hope.
Bluntly speaking, even veteran Hunters with more than ten years of experience had failed.
As though reading his thoughts.
Chief Secretary Kang Tae-woo, standing beside him, quietly spoke.
“We are continuing to assemble new Hunters. Even if this attempt falls through, I will have everything prepared so we can begin the next one immediately.”
He used the words “even if this attempt falls through,” but Lee Young-sik understood.
Kang Tae-woo held no expectations for Joo Do-gyeom either.
He was already speaking with failure in mind.
Lee Young-sik nodded and replied.
“......Do that.”
Next.
It was always the next attempt.
Those next attempts had already piled up for two years, but he could not stop.
Then.
BZZZT—.
A vibration sounded from Kang Tae-woo’s breast pocket.
After asking for permission and answering the call, his eyebrows twitched sharply.
A faint anger unconsciously entered his voice.
“Joo Do-gyeom has returned?”
Lee Young-sik’s head snapped around.
He checked the time.
Only half a day had passed since the man left the estate.
***
Joo Do-gyeom entered the reception room outside Lee Seo-a’s bedroom and naturally sat down on the sofa.
Upon seeing him, Lee Young-sik spoke in an angry voice.
“I think it is far too soon to give up. Surely you have not lost your nerve now?”
I did not take you for that kind of man.
Lee Young-sik left the rest unsaid as he studied Joo Do-gyeom’s face.
There was still no particular emotion visible.
Not even the slightest tremor in his eyes.
Then why?
What reason could he possibly have for returning so quickly?
‘Could it be......?’
Just as a truly absurd possibility surfaced in his mind.
Joo Do-gyeom spoke.
“I brought the treatment.”
“......That cannot be possible.”
The words escaped Lee Young-sik as an unconscious murmur.
He had imagined it, but precisely because of that, it was even harder to believe.
Joo Do-gyeom did not bother adding a long explanation.
Instead, he merely took Adam’s Apple from his Inventory and placed it on the reception-room table.
GULP.
Lee Young-sik swallowed dryly as he stared at the apple glowing faintly gold beneath the lights.
“......Explain.”
“It is called Adam’s Apple. Simply eating it allows anyone to become Awakened.”
“......!!”
Lee Young-sik’s eyes widened.
Anyone could become Awakened.
In this era, it was a commonplace statement.
Awakening began the moment someone entered a dungeon.
But Mana Disease patients, the very people who needed to enter a dungeon, could not do so.
They could not move of their own will.
Yet merely feeding them the golden apple before him would solve that problem?
He wanted to believe.
He desperately wanted every word of it to be true.
But he could not immediately nod.
After all.
How many people had spoken just like Joo Do-gyeom until now?
Talismans, holy water, elixirs.
They had said everything would be solved as long as he used them.
Yet none had meant anything.
In the case of one talisman, it had instead branded a curse onto his daughter.
How much effort had it taken to remove even that?
That incident had also been what caused Lee Young-sik’s anger toward Hunters who tried to deceive him to grow so severe.
And now, an apple?
‘Adam’s Apple......’
There was no need to agonize over it.
Lee Young-sik looked at Kang Tae-woo.
“I will verify it.”
Kang Tae-woo bowed, picked up Adam’s Apple, and left.
Afterward.
Lee Young-sik’s gaze returned to Joo Do-gyeom.
“I heard that you were doing delivery work until recently.”
“That is correct.”
“And you have not even been a Hunter for a year.”
“That is correct.”
“Have you always been fearless?”
“......”
For the first time, Joo Do-gyeom was at a loss for words.
Not because he had nothing to say.
He seemed to be considering the question.
After a moment, Joo Do-gyeom answered.
“Rather than having always been that way, I think I simply became that way.”
When he thought about it, Joo Do-gyeom at this point in the original timeline had been fairly timid.
That was why, even while struggling, he had never once considered becoming a Hunter.
‘Even five years later, I only chose it because I thought I had no other choice.’
Looking back, it occurred to him that he had changed a great deal.
Lee Young-sik interpreted Joo Do-gyeom’s thoughts differently.
‘Both his parents are dead. He has no siblings either.’
He had been left alone in the world without even brothers or sisters.
It would not be strange for someone in that position to change.
Lee Young-sik let out a deep breath and spoke.
“Haa...... Very well. What did you seek me out for? Please, do not tell me it was out of compassion or a sense of justice. I am not in a state where I have enough patience to endure hearing such things.”
“That is fine. I came because there is something I actually want.”
“Good. Fame? Money? Or......”
“Money. Though you could also call it an item.”
There was no hesitation in his answer.
It could even be called somewhat rude, but that bluntness also made him seem more straightforward.
Lee Young-sik studied him calmly, then spoke again.
“Right now, I sincerely hope you are not a braggart.”
“Is that so?”
“I would prefer not to kill you.”
“That is fortunate.”
Still calm even in the face of death, Joo Do-gyeom continued.
“Though that will not happen.”
His voice brimmed with confidence.
Around then.
Knock, knock.
A knock sounded against the reception-room door, and Kang Tae-woo entered.
On the broad tray in his right hand sat a small glass pitcher filled with golden liquid that appeared to be Adam’s Apple finely ground into juice, along with a syringe-shaped feeding device.
Kang Tae-woo spoke.
“Our examination revealed nothing unusual. According to the System message......”
His gaze briefly shifted toward Joo Do-gyeom.
“The details also matched what Hunter Joo Do-gyeom told us.”
“I see.”
It was astonishing news, but Lee Young-sik nodded calmly.
The System did not lie.
But this was also an era in which some humans could overlay lies even upon that.
Lee Young-sik rose and approached Kang Tae-woo.
“I will do it myself.”
“Yes, Chairman.”
Lee Young-sik accepted the tray from the Chief Secretary.
He looked once toward his daughter’s bedroom behind the reception room, then turned and stared directly at Joo Do-gyeom.
“Will you come in with us?”
“May I?”
“You should see the result with your own eyes as well before you can accept it.”
His eyes and voice remained full of distrust.
Joo Do-gyeom rose from his seat.
“Let us go.”
Lee Young-sik nodded without answering and took the lead.
Joo Do-gyeom followed behind him, with Kang Tae-woo bringing up the rear.
Though he said nothing, faint killing intent flowed from him.
It carried the clear will to act immediately if Joo Do-gyeom tried anything foolish.
Joo Do-gyeom thought.
‘Kang Tae-woo, Chief Secretary of Taeseong Group.’
He would later die during the Seoul Invasion Battle, but until then, he would become a fairly renowned Hunter.
Could Joo Do-gyeom defeat him if they fought now?
As he considered several possible situations, a smile unconsciously spread across his lips.
Seeing it, Kang Tae-woo’s expression grew even stiffer.
His killing intent intensified as well.
Joo Do-gyeom did not care in the slightest.
To a regressor like him, killing intent of this level was almost cute.
‘If anything, it sharpens my senses. This is good.’
His smile only deepened.
***
Inside Lee Seo-a’s room.
Carrying the Adam’s Apple juice, Lee Young-sik approached his daughter’s bedside and pulled over a chair.
Then, carefully.
He parted his daughter’s dry lips, inserted the feeding device, and slowly poured in the apple juice.
The throat of the sleeping Lee Seo-a moved instinctively.
Once.
Twice...... five times.
After administering it more than ten times in total, the entirety of Adam’s Apple juice had been fed to Lee Seo-a.
The dark room, lit by a single lamp, was silent.
Lee Seo-a showed no reaction.
There was no noticeable change.
The silence stretched beyond thirty seconds.
Then sixty.
Nearly one hundred seconds passed.
Kang Tae-woo, believing he had waited long enough, opened his mouth.
“Joo Do-gyeom......”
Before he could finish.
FLASH—!
A brilliant golden light erupted from the sleeping Lee Seo-a’s body.
Everyone could only hold their breath as the golden light filled the room.
It wrapped around her entire body for a moment.
Then it slowly faded as though sinking into her.
More precisely, it vanished as though being drawn into Lee Seo-a’s body.
Lee Young-sik stared, forgetting even to breathe, then quickly examined his daughter’s face.
He could tell at a glance.
It was different.
Color began returning to her deathly pale skin.
A healthy sheen returned to her dry lips.
And then.
Her long, thick eyelashes.
Trembled faintly.
For the past two years, they had never shown even the slightest response under any circumstances.
Overcome with emotion, Lee Young-sik cried out.
“Seo-a......!”
Immediately afterward.
Lee Seo-a’s closed eyelids slowly lifted.
Beyond her black pupils, still clouded as though by a thin mist, Lee Young-sik saw his own reflection.
‘Ah......!’
Filled with overwhelming emotion, he was about to speak again.
“D......Dad?”
His daughter, Lee Seo-a, called to him.
Lee Young-sik’s mouth closed.
Instead, streams of tears ran down his cheeks.
Cold-blooded.
A man called even that shed tears for the first time in decades.