How to get on the protagonist’s flower path

“Yeah. I was okay!”

“…I see.”

Lee Hana withdrew quietly after hearing my answer.

However, I was still bothered by her stiff expression. There was really no need to worry that much. I thought she was surprisingly caring.

Lee Hana and Dumdum, who was listening to our conversation, seemed to be deep in thought and then spoke to me.

“Gang Nahyun, tomorrow if…”

“Yeah?”

“…No. I’ll talk about it separately.”

What’s that? Why did she stop mid-sentence?

I felt uneasy for some reason, like I was brushing against the part Park Yu-ra had asked about.

Is everyone worried because of Park Yu-ra? Is she that much of a concern?

I felt a bit uncomfortable, but since I had decided to go for an equal exchange, I dismissed the club members’ worries.

Not knowing what would happen the next day.

The next day.

I spent lunchtime as usual and headed to the lab with a calm demeanor.

Unbeknownst to me, someone was following behind.

“Glad to see you again today! I’m so happy!”

Park Yu-ra looked even more excited than yesterday when she greeted me.

“Yeah. It’s not a burdensome thing.”

I replied nonchalantly. Acting like nothing was wrong and pretending to be unaware would allow me to get everything I could from Park Yu-ra.

“By the way, should I wake you up if you fall asleep today?”

“Yes! I understand!”

Following Park Yu-ra, who replied with a bright smile, I sat in the same chair I had the day before.

After the blood and mana extraction procedure finished just like yesterday,

“Excuse me again today?”

As expected, just when my mind began to get hazy—

Boom—!

The door of the lab flew open.

“What? Who’s interrupting my happy time?”

What is it?

I forced myself to turn my head toward the door. Park Yu-ra had cast a skill that slowed my movements, so my body wasn’t responding well.

Through half-closed eyes, I saw Lee Hana.

“Looks like you’re not very skilled at using ice attribute skills, Park Yu-ra.”

She approached, creating a spear made of ice.

“Seeing all these traces of curses left behind, it’s quite obvious.”

“Why are you here? This is a laboratory. No unauthorized personnel are allowed!”

“I came to stop the mad scientist’s experiment.”

Lee Hana looked at me. Behind her usual expressionless face, there was a faint hint of concern.

“…And to rescue the victim.”

Did Park Yu-ra realize she was caught? She immediately revealed her true colors and swung her wand in irritation, red flames of magic swirling around her.

“Don’t take Nahyun away from me!”

“…That can’t happen.”

In an instant, dozens of ice spears materialized in the air and aimed at Park Yu-ra. It was Lee Hana’s unique ice-type attack skill.

In contrast, a fiery storm raged fiercely within the lab.

As the cool ice spears shot toward the center of the red storm, the red storm exploded as if it were swallowing the entire space.

The last thing I saw before I fell into darkness was the clash of ice spears and a blaze of flames.

.

.

.

I felt a gentle touch stroking my cheek.

It reminded me of the time I was patted by a teacher at the orphanage, so I rubbed my cheek against that hand.

A small laughter echoed. Was it happiness?

“…Are you awake?”

Through my still blurry vision, I saw long silver hair and ice-blue eyes.

“…Where is this…?”

Then I realized I was resting my head on Lee Hana’s lap.

“Uh?”

She smiled as she saw me trying to gather my still-drowsy mind.

“You’re in the lab.”

I turned my head and looked around the room.

A lab? This mess? Not a ruin?

“Umm! Ummm!”

In one corner, Park Yu-ra was wriggling, her mouth covered and her body tied up. It seemed that the fight had ended with Lee Hana’s victory.

I carefully raised my body from Lee Hana’s lap. I felt a bit more awake now.

“Senior, what’s going on here…?”

“…Hmm.”

Lee Hana hesitated for a moment, then used ice to remove the tape covering Park Yu-ra’s mouth.

As soon as the tape was removed, Park Yu-ra shouted at the top of her lungs.

“Nahyun! It’s all a misunderstanding!”

…You really are something else.

Lee Hana neatly ignored Park Yu-ra and turned to me.

“She placed a curse on you. I don’t know the reason, but…”

“…A curse, you say?”

I feigned a confused expression.

“It wasn’t a serious curse, but it was one that slows down a person.”

The slow-down type of curse has an ice attribute.

“And I’m somewhat sensitive to ice-type magic, so I noticed something was wrong with you.”

So that’s why they worried about me at lunchtime.

“Just! Just put you to sleep a little bit!”

Park Yu-ra flailed.

“Why did you put me to sleep?”

“Because… it’s the most stable state to maintain magic while sleeping…”

Lee Hana cut off her words sharply.

“Magic can be stabilized not only when sleeping but also when the mind is calm. I don’t think Nahyun was particularly agitated. What’s the real reason?”

“…”

Park Yu-ra showed a hesitant expression.

To explain her reason, she would also have to reveal that she is a hybrid, and it would be hard to give up the current advantages of being perceived as human.

…I’ll save her.

I cautiously opened my mouth.

“Is it hard for you to explain the reason?”

“…Yes.”

“Then I’ll just ask this one thing. Were you trying to harm me?”

“No! Absolutely not! I just liked you too much!”

That sounds pretty ambiguous.

As expected, Lee Hana misunderstood brilliantly, aiming an ice spear directly at Park Yu-ra.

“No matter how much you love someone, you shouldn’t try to control them without their consent.”

“I’m sorry! But!”

“…Are you making excuses?”

“I’m sorry!”

What a mess. I chuckled.

“It’s fine, senior.”

I squatted next to Park Yu-ra, who was tied up.

“If you weren’t trying to hurt me, that’s enough.”

Since it had come to this, I should definitely eliminate the possibility of this happening again.

“Just don’t do this again, okay?”

“Yes…!”

Park Yu-ra looked up at me with tearful eyes.

She might be a bit out of her mind, but she’s not a bad person at heart.

Besides, if I have her in debt like this, I can get help anytime.

“Senior, I think it’s okay to let her go now.”

“…Alright. If you say so.”

Though she looked reluctant, Lee Hana swung her ice spear and cut the ropes.

“Um, in return… can I ask you to help clean up this situation?”

I awkwardly asked Park Yu-ra, and she nodded.

Thank goodness. I led Lee Hana’s hand and left the (former) laboratory behind.

Cough.

At that moment, Lee Hana suddenly coughed up blood.

The blood she coughed up soaked her shirt. The sight of it made my expression instantly harden.

Could it be that the curse activated due to the fierce battle?

I hurriedly supported Lee Hana.

“Senior, what’s wrong? Are you seriously hurt?”

“No, it’s just… because of the curse.”

“We should go to the hospital!”

“It’s not that serious.”

I recalled the fire curse that Lee Hana had.

The fire curse in her was causing her pain as if she were on fire.

The way to suppress it was to use ice or water magic, or to use artifacts related to them.

Park Yu-ra had fire attribute magic. As everyone knows, fire and ice are opposites.

So, during the earlier battle, Lee Hana probably had to use her ice-type magic more, and as a result, she had to draw on the power to suppress the fire curse.

If that’s the case, this situation is because of me.

Seeing the worried expression on my face, Lee Hana must have thought it was better to explain her curse.

“…For some reason, I ended up with a fire curse on my body.”

“Um, how can it be fixed?”

“If you use water or ice attribute items, it’ll be fine.”

Hearing that, I silently opened my inventory.

I could see the ice attribute bracelet and the tail ornament I had kept safely.

Objectively speaking, the tail ornament that grants immunity to all status abnormalities is a much rarer item. To avoid a loss, it would be better to give away the ice attribute bracelet and call it a day.

But I couldn’t forget the teacher’s lesson that one must always repay a favor sincerely.

If I told my teacher about this, she would definitely praise me for doing well. Just thinking about that made me smile.

Without hesitation, I took out the tail ornament and handed it to Lee Hana.

“Senior, take this.”

“This is…?”

“Didn’t I tell you before? It’s a charm that repels all evil.”

I smiled brightly. Lee Hana’s eyes, wide open, seemed quite pleased.

“I recently found out that this charm even nullifies all status abnormalities just by having it. So it should be useful for your curse too.”

I placed the ornament in Lee Hana’s hand.

As soon as the ornament was in her hand, her coughing subsided.

Lee Hana looked surprised.