Chapter 160 – GOY 160
#160
“Joon, you should have contacted me immediately when Yeon-soo became like this!”
Ji-hee noona scolded Kim Joon.
“I’m sorry. I thought he was just tired. I’m a Beta, so I couldn’t smell the pheromones….”
Even amidst the confusion, Kim Joon’s flustered voice pierced through to me.
“Who doesn’t know that? Even without pheromones, if the boy has a fever like this…!”
“Joon, are you a Beta?”
“Pardon?”
Kim Joon, who had been talking to Ji-hee noona, looked at me.
“I asked if you’re a Beta.”
“Yes.”
He nodded without a moment’s hesitation.
“Are you really a Beta?”
“Yes.”
“Since when?”
“Well, since I was born….”
Kim Joon trailed off, looking bewildered. He wasn’t acting this way to hide the fact that he was an Omega; he seemed flustered because I was asking such an obvious question.
“Yeon-soo, what’s wrong all of a sudden? You’re acting like you didn’t know Joon was a Beta. I think he’s out of his mind because the fever is so severe. We need to go to the hospital right now.”
Ji-hee noona seemed to decide that I was suddenly talking nonsense.
She was an Omega and tended to be sensitive to pheromones. Moreover, she had been spending a lot of time with Kim Joon since last semester. Even Ji-hee noona said Kim Joon was a Beta. It wasn’t that she knew he was pretending to be a Beta and was covering for him.
Kim Joon really was a Beta.
What on earth is happening? In the original story, Kim Joon was an Omega and Lee Yeon-soo was a Beta. But why have the traits swapped?
“Lee Yeon-soo, get on my back.”
“No. I’m o…kay….”
Kang In-ho tried to carry me on his back. However, I shook my head.
First, I have to meet Park Geon-woo. I have to meet him and ask about Ju Jeong-han and Ju Tae-han…. I have to.
Contrary to my will, my vision blurred, and the world tilted.
When I opened my eyes, a stark white ceiling came into view.
Where am I? As I blinked slowly, I saw a man with his head bowed deeply.
“Seung-hyuk-ah…?”
I naturally assumed it was Joo Seung-hyuk. He was the only person who would be sitting by my bed.
However, the moment I saw the sharp eyes behind glasses, the smile that had been hovering on my lips vanished.
“You’re awake?”
“It’s In-ho….”
“Aren’t you being a bit too obvious with your disappointment?”
“Did I…?”
“Yes.”
“But where is this…?”
I had clearly intended to [stolen content]go meet Park Geon-woo. So why was I lying in a place I had never seen before?
“It’s a hospital near the school. You collapsed, so I brought you here. I thought about going to the infirmary, but reporters might go there.”
There were many reporters at the Esper Academy today. Although there are restrictions on where they can enter, it was obvious that if they heard the news that I had collapsed, they would swarm in, ignoring any reporting rules.
“Right. Thank you.”
“I just did what I had to do.”
He probably means it was a request from Joo Seung-hyuk. As I thought of his face again, the door opened and a doctor and nurse entered.
“Mr. Lee Yeon-soo, you’re awake.”
“He just woke up,” Kang In-ho answered on my behalf. The doctor approached my side.
“How are you feeling?”
“Better than before. Though my stomach is still churning.”
“Since when did this start?”
“This morning.”
“Did you have any other symptoms?”
“I felt dizzy, and there was a strangely foul smell. Then, I suddenly got a fever and felt chilly, like I had a bad cold.”
“The symptoms of Manifestation Fever are similar to a cold or flu.”
“Did I really manifest?”
“Yes. You have manifested as an Omega.”
I really manifested. I manifested as an Omega….
I had expected it after hearing Ji-hee noona’s words, but hearing it from the doctor finally made it feel real.
“Guide Lee Yeon-soo, congratulations.”
The doctor smiled. He wasn’t congratulating a patient who had come to stolen contentsee him, but rather Lee Yeon-soo, the Guide.
Though rare, there were people among Non-Ability Users who manifested, and I had heard that in such cases, many were often discouraged.
However, Ability Users were mostly happy. This was because manifesting increased one’s mana, much like a Re-awakening. Furthermore, their social standing improved compared to Beta Ability Users.
But if it were the old me, I wouldn’t have liked it much. The disadvantage of having to be swayed by pheromones for the rest of my life would have felt far greater than any advantage an Omega Guide could have. I might have even felt the doctor’s congratulations were unpleasant.
But now, it was different.
“Thank you.”
I was purely happy. Now I can smell Joo Seung-hyuk’s pheromones. I can feel everything about him.
“The Manifestation Fever will continue for a while. The fever will fluctuate, rising and falling, and you will experience headaches, dizziness, and nausea.”
“How long does it last?”
“Usually three to four days, but it could be longer. It will be difficult, but please make sure to eat.”
“Yes. Then when can I be discharged…?”
“You could leave now, but I recommend staying until the Manifestation Fever settles down. Since your manifestation is late, the pain will likely be severe, and the fever may last longer. Additionally, since you are an Awakened, there will be a sudden increase in mana accompanying the manifestation. Since you are already S-Class, the increase will be significant. It’s best to stay and monitor the progress.”
“I’m fine. I’ll be discharged.”
I had heard stories from others about Manifestation Fever.
They said that manifestation and the increase in mana come simultaneously, bringing terrible pain, but in the end, one must overcome it alone.
Since there are no medications other than antipyretics, some said that staying in a hospital isn’t particularly helpful.
Even now, the doctor only mentioned monitoring the progress; he didn’t say he would take any special measures.
In that case, going home is the right choice. No, even if staying in the hospital were helpful, I had to go.
“Lee Yeon-soo, just stay here.”
Kang In-ho tried to stop me, but I shook my head firmly.
“No. I want to go. I have to go.”
Unlike the original story, I manifested as an Omega. And Kim Joon is a Beta. Also, Ju Tae-han, who was an incompetent D-Class Esper in the novel, has Re-awakened as an S-Class.
It’s not just the flow of the story; people’s innate traits and ranks have changed. And I had a guess as to why.
And if my guess is correct, the evidence will be at Joo Seung-hyuk’s house. That’s why I must return home.
In the end, Kang In-ho followed my wishes.
He probably knows that once Manifestation Fever hits, there’s no other way but to endure it.
The hospital provided a booklet containing precautions for manifestation and prescribed antipyretics.
Since manifestation usually occurs in the mid-to-late teens, the cover of the booklet featured a drawing of a boy and girl in school uniforms.
To think I’d actually manifest at this stage…. I was happy that I could now smell Joo Seung-hyuk’s pheromones, but before I got intoxicated by the happiness, there was something I had to do.
The fact that I manifested meant that the original Lee Yeon-soo also had a body capable of manifesting. However, he failed to manifest even the following year and eventually lost his life.
Despite putting in tremendous effort to manifest, unlike me. And I found the efforts the [stolen content]original Lee Yeon-soo made suspicious.
In The Swamp of the Guide, Ju Jeong-han pities Lee Yeon-soo and hands him a medicine that supposedly creates a unique Jeokrunhwa. This likely refers to the Special Red Rune Flower on Abite Island.
Because in the original story, both Abite Island and the Special Red Rune Flower would have belonged to Ju Jeong-han.
However, the medicine had no effect, and Lee Yeon-soo fell into despair again.
But what if that medicine actually blocked Lee Yeon-soo’s manifestation…?
According to Ju Gyeong-chan’s research materials at the villa on Abite Island, experiments to make Betas manifest had minimal success, but side effects where Alphas or Omegas lost their pheromones appeared frequently.
There were also research results from abroad stating that taking Jeokrunhwa lowered the pheromones of Omegas and Alphas to the level of a Beta.
At this point, it was safe to say that the effect of Jeokrunhwa was to lower mana and matching rates and eliminate pheromones.
And since it was possible to cause harm with Jeokrunhwa in the past, it would have been even easier to make now that he had obtained the Special Red Rune Flower.
If Ju Jeong-han set his mind to it, he could have created a drug that blocks manifestation.
Come to think of it, loss of taste was also among the side effects of the Jeokrunhwa experiments.
The original Lee Yeon-soo liked a restaurant called Lambert at the Shinjeong Hotel. However, the taste there was truly disastrous. Beyond a matter of preference, it was truly horrible. It wasn’t empty because the prices were high; it had no customers purely because it tasted bad.
Could this also have been one of the side effects of the drug?
Ju Jeong-han fed Lee Yeon-soo a drug to block his manifestation, and as a result, his sense of taste was paralyzed.
Of course, this could be excessive speculation. But this wasn’t the only strange thing.
The original Joo Seung-hyuk found Lee Yeon-soo’s mana disgusting, and the matching rate between the two was on a downward trend. Well, that part could be possible.
Matching rates change for various reasons. Since the two in the original were polar opposites, the matching rate could have dropped. However, while Joo Seung-hyuk found Lee Yeon-soo’s mana so disgusting, he evaluated Aaron’s mana as being fine.
If Aaron used Dust in both the original and the present, this was extremely suspicious.
Currently, Joo Seung-hyuk is so sensitive to mana that he can tell Aaron used Dust just by a brief touch. Yet, the original Joo Seung-hyuk performed Guiding with him several times and, far from sensing Dust, evaluated his mana as being quite decent.
When I found out Aaron was addicted to Dust, I found this point suspicious. But since so many things from the original had changed, I brushed it off, thinking it was just one of them.
However, thinking that Ju Jeong-han might have used illegal drugs made it look different.
Could there be a connection between the continuous drop in the matching rate between the original Joo Seung-hyuk and Lee Yeon-soo, and the fact that Joo Seung-hyuk didn’t notice Aaron’s Dust use?
Ju Jeong-han didn’t just block Lee Yeon-soo’s manifestation; he fed both Joo Seung-hyuk and Lee Yeon-soo a drug to lower their matching rate.
Enjoying the story?Support me on Ko-fi
Comments 0
You must be logged in to comment.
No comments yet. Be the first!