NOVEL NEXT Chapter 127
Chapter 127
‘I guess I need to keep quiet for a while.’
On his way back to the hospital, Si-hyun pondered.
He planned to refrain from drawing attention to himself until he felt strong enough. However, unwanted incidents kept entangling him, slowly derailing those plans.
Even the man who was the team leader of the Inspection Bureau looked at him with suspicion.
It seemed necessary to be more cautious in his actions moving forward.
Of course, if he got involuntarily entangled like this time, it couldn’t be helped.
“Excuse me….”
A voice calling out snapped Si-hyun from his thoughts.
He stopped walking and turned to look at the person who called him.
It was a woman who appeared to be in her forties.
He racked his brain, trying to recall where he had seen her, but her face was unfamiliar.
“Aren’t you Section Chief Lee Si-hyun?”
Upon hearing the woman’s words, Si-hyun looked puzzled.
If she knew his title, it meant she was someone from work, but he couldn’t remember who she was.
“I’m sorry, but I’m not really good with faces….”
“Oh, I’m so forgetful! I should have introduced myself first. I’m the wife of Duty Chief Ko Jeong-pil.”
Duty Chief Ko Jeong-pil.
He was the chief of the Security Department’s 2nd division.
He knew who she was, but he still had no memory of seeing her before.
“Oh, hello.”
“I’m sorry to stop you suddenly, but I really want to express my gratitude.”
“Gratitude?”
He couldn’t think of anything that warranted thanks, so Si-hyun questioned her.
“Yes, my husband has been praising you so much, saying that you saved his life. If it weren’t for you, he would have died when he fell in front of a monster…. So I wanted to make sure I thanked you.”
“Ah.”
Now Si-hyun recalled what she was talking about.
When the front gate was suddenly breached, he had rushed out with the inmates to fight against the monsters to save fleeing staff members.
It seemed her husband was the one who had fallen in front of a monster at that moment.
“My husband is in this hospital too. I wanted to find you and thank you in person but then I spotted you passing by….”
The wife of Ko Jeong-pil smiled.
“How do you know my face…?”
“You’ve been on the news quite often lately.”
“Ah… I see.”
Si-hyun gave a sheepish expression.
He hadn’t been aware since he had been unconscious, but hearing about Kang Baek or the wife mentioned made him realize his name was being tossed around in the media because of this incident.
It felt strangely odd.
“Thank you so much for saving my husband. I will never forget this kindness.”
She bowed repeatedly to express her gratitude.
He could feel the surrounding people glancing over, wondering what was going on.
Then, someone seemed to recognize Si-hyun’s face, and conversations started to buzz around him.
“Isn’t that the guy? The hero correctional officer?”
“Huh? You’re right, that’s him. I didn’t know he was in this hospital.”
“Isn’t he the one who caught the serial killer Kang Tae-eun too?”
“We should totally ask for a selfie and post it on social media.”
As people whispered and stared, embarrassment crept onto Si-hyun’s face.
He had never received such attention from strangers before.
“This is so embarrassing. Can we please stop? I just did what I had to do.”
Si-hyun spoke with an awkward smile.
“Oh come on, what are you saying? It’s because of people like you that our society is still….”
“No, no, please don’t say that. It just makes me feel more embarrassed.”
He hurriedly waved his hands to dismiss it.
“I actually have an appointment with the investigator, so I should get going. I’ll see you again.”
“Ah… I see. I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”
The wife looked apologetic.
“It’s alright, no problem. Well, I’ll be going now.”
Si-hyun politely bowed and turned away.
He navigated through the crowd and quickly entered the hospital.
“Phew.”
Only then did Si-hyun let out a sigh.
Getting recognized like this was, without a doubt, tiring.
Of course, once the commotion of this incident died down, he would gradually be forgotten by everyone.
‘Speaking of which…’
He had just received gratitude for saving a life, but in truth, he too was in a position where someone had saved him during this whole ordeal.
Si-hyun thought of Hyris.
He still hadn’t made up his mind about how to respond when she came to visit.
He figured he needed to reach a decision sooner rather than later.
◈ ◈ ◈
“Hey, do you have a boyfriend these days?”
While lying down to rest after his examination, Ha-young asked out of the blue.
Her curious eyes were fixed on him.
Their mother, sitting nearby watching a TV drama, turned her gaze toward them as well.
Si-hyun quickly answered to prevent any odd interpretations.
“Uh, no. Why do you ask?”
“Really? So you aren’t even ‘talking’ to anyone?”
“What are you even talking about all of a sudden?”
“Well, what do you think I’m talking about?”
Ha-young flashed a meaningful smile.
“Stop joking and just tell me. I’m a bit tired right now.”
“Hmph, it seems like you’re really focused on appearances, huh?”
“What does that even mean?”
“What I mean is, while you were unconscious, a lot of people visited you, and there were only two women among them.”
Ha-young held up two fingers as she spoke.
“But you know, looking at their genuinely worried faces, I don’t think it was just a casual relationship. I mean, people don’t look that concerned for someone they just know, right?”
“Stop overreacting.”
Si-hyun replied in disbelief.
“Seriously? You think I can’t even read that kind of atmosphere? Oh, and by the way, both of them were really pretty. You’ve got some rather unexpected skills.”
“Ugh, can we just drop it already?”
Si-hyun turned on his side to lie down.
If he kept responding, it would go on forever.
‘But I think I know who they were.’
His workplace was predominantly male, so his relationships with women were severely limited.
The only two women he could think of, who were pretty enough to visit him, were Eun-hye and Lee Seol.
He was pretty sure of that.
He figured he should at least make time to call them.
“Hey, wait a minute. It wasn’t just two, one more came. Your ex-girlfriend.”
At that moment, their mother chimed in.
“Mom, why do you have to tell him that? You really have no sense of subtlety.”
Ha-young grumbled.
“Well, why not just mention it instead of hiding it?”
Si-hyun unconsciously turned his head back again.
“Ex-girlfriend?”
There was no way his ex-girlfriend would come here.
He could feel deep down who she was.
Would she really worry and come to visit him because of this incident?
She wasn’t the type.
Even if he was called a hero in the media because of this incident, he was still just a D-rank Hunter who worked as a correctional officer.
She might take a fleeting interest after hearing about her ex-boyfriend, but that would be all.
In her eyes as an A-rank Hunter, he would still be a pathetic man stuck at the bottom.
…But what did that mean?
Si-hyun looked at his mother, urging her to continue.
“Yeah, your ex-girlfriend did come.”
“Su-jin? You mean Su-jin visit?”
“I didn’t mention a name, so you wouldn’t know who it is. But she was tall like a model.”
“Really?”
Si-hyun’s expression turned quizzical.
There was no way Su-jin could be described as tall, even as a casual compliment.
If his mother wasn’t mistaken, it had to be someone else.
The only tall woman who came to mind was Eun-hye.
But Eun-hye would never call herself an ex-girlfriend.
Who could it be?
No one specific came to mind.
“Oh, she said she’d come again later, but if it’s uncomfortable….”
Just then, a sudden dizziness washed over him.
It was that sensation he had felt when moving back and forth through time in a dreamlike state.
“…Oppa?”
Ha-young’s voice buzzed and faded into the distance.
He felt a floating sensation, and Si-hyun’s consciousness began to blur.
◈ ◈ ◈
Two figures appeared.
Faces he recognized.
The gruesome man from the Black Gods and the handsome one.
It was clear that they were Po-ahim and the Sword Master.
This time, it felt as though he were seeing the memories from a third-person perspective, not through Po-ahim’s eyes.
‘What the…?’
Si-hyun’s eyes widened in shock.
The Sword Master’s body was drenched in blood, looking to be on the verge of falling apart.
In fact, it seemed more bizarre that he was still alive.
A long, sharp sword penetrated through his back, puncturing out through his chest.
Just that alone would have killed a normal human several times over.
But that wasn’t all.
Arrows were lodged all over his body, and he appeared to be poisoned, as his skin took on a sickly bluish hue, as if dying.
If it weren’t for the unnatural vitality of someone who reached the transcendent state of the Grand Sword Master, he would have been nothing but a rotting corpse by now.
Seeing his friend in such a state twisted Po-ahim’s face into a far more sinister expression than usual.
“…Why do you look so grim?”
In such circumstances, the Sword Master smiled.
“Sorry about this.”
Po-ahim’s voice came out heavy.
“What are you apologizing for? Those who should live must survive. And you need to think about your mother who is only looking after you.”
“….”
Silence fell for a moment.
The Sword Master, who had been quietly smiling, broke the silence and spoke.
“Can I ask you a favor?”
“Of course.”
“It’s not just one thing.”
“I don’t mind.”
“You saying that makes me feel at ease to ask.”
The Sword Master’s expression indicated he had come to terms with himself.
It would be hard to believe he was someone facing death, as he remained incredibly calm.
The Sword Master continued.
“Please take care of Acureruts.”
“Understood.”
Po-ahim answered immediately, as if there was no need for contemplation.
“Don’t hate Hyris too much. You know the situation between her and me.”
“…Understood.”
This time the response came more slowly, with a forced expression, as if he were suppressing his emotions.
“You have the remains of El, right?”
El was the name of the woman the Sword Master had truly loved.
“Yes.”
“When I die, please burn my body with El’s remains and scatter them in the Rimur River.”
“Understood.”
“Thank you. But the last request might be a bit hard for you to fulfill.”
“I have no issues with that.”
“Ha ha, is that so?”
“Just tell me.”
“Eat my heart.”
‘What?’
Si-hyun couldn’t believe his ears, staring wide-eyed in shock.
Po-ahim was just as surprised.
“We didn’t share the same birthdate, but I swore that we would die on the same day. I’m sorry I couldn’t uphold that vow. My body will be with El, but I think my heart should be with my lifelong friend, so that when you die, you’ll have me by your side….”
At that moment, dizziness hit him suddenly, and his consciousness began to fade.
And then.
“Oppa?”
“….”
“Oppa, why all of a sudden?”
As his consciousness returned to reality, he saw Ha-young in front of him.
He could also see their mother with a worried expression.
“Oh, I’m fine. It’s nothing serious. I just felt a little dizzy all of a sudden.”
Si-hyun replied.
“Are you really okay?”
Their mother asked, sounding concerned.
“Yes, it’s really nothing. I’ve probably just been feeling a bit under the weather since I was lying unconscious for a few days. I think a little activity will clear it right up. The test results didn’t indicate any issues so far.”
Si-hyun smiled to reassure them.
“Speaking of which, I’ll just go get some fresh air for a bit.”
“Are you sure you’ll be fine?”
“I’m really fine.”
“Why not go with Ha-young?”
“I’d prefer being alone.”
“Alright… But dress warmly, it’s cold out.”
“Yeah, don’t worry.”
Si-hyun threw on a jumper over his hospital gown and opened the door to leave.
He wore a contemplative expression.
‘Could what I just saw be…?’
Just then, a message suddenly appeared before him.
[You can now see the hidden item ‘Heart of the Sword Master’ in your inventory.]