By Zephyria A small heartbeat. J followed it as if possessed by something. He was so engrossed that he didn’t even notice his feet sinking into the swamp.
How long had he walked like that? A building, though broken, appeared, relatively maintaining its shape. The sound was coming from there. J began to sift through the debris.
‘Why?’
Reason asks. Even if you save him, he’ll die soon anyway. Do you want to experience someone dying in your arms again? But the hand sifting through the debris didn’t stop. Rather, the speed increased.
Even if that were the case, J couldn’t ignore this sound.
“Ah.”
A small exclamation burst out. Below the intertwined debris, there was a small space where only one or two people could barely huddle. And in that place…
There was a boy, embraced by something that must have been his parents, though they were completely melted.
Eyes, blurred by Poison, stared at J. Lips moved silently.
‘Please save me.’
J gritted his teeth. He hurriedly took out an Antidote from his Inventory and reached out to the boy.
“It’s okay.”
The countless lies he had told,
“It’s okay now.”
Hoping that this time it wouldn’t be a lie.
Time flowed quickly.
Killing the Master of the Dungeon, killing the Master of the Rift, killing the Master of the Dungeon, killing the Master of the Rift, killing the Master of the Dungeon…. From some point on, he was assigned only to kill Monsters instead of rescuing people. Endless repetition. J’s daily life doesn’t change easily.
However, a rare new routine has been added to his daily life.
Thump, thump, thump. The black Walker cuts through the hallway without hesitation. The gazes of passersby were fixed on the tall young man dressed in all black. Hello, someone mustered the courage to greet him. The black mask turned towards someone.
With a small nod, he opened the iron door at the end of the hallway. People in safety suits moving busily, it was a laboratory set up in the hospital.
J familiarly crossed the laboratory and once again threw open the iron door. This time it was a thicker iron door. Inside, people wearing even thicker clothes than those in the laboratory were observing the purple liquid in the flask. A researcher standing by the door bowed his head.
“Ah, J! It’s been a while. Thank you for coming today despite your busy schedule!”
The researcher handed over a metal box with a bright expression. J placed a heavy pouch inside with a thud. Along with a pungent smell, black liquid seeped out of the pouch. The researcher headed to the back warehouse with nervous movements. J asked.
“Is the Poison not enough?”
“We still have some left from the last time you gave us, so it’s enough.”
“Is the research going well?”
“Yes, it’s going quite smoothly. Are you going to see him today too?”
“Yes.”
“Ah, then J!”
One of the researchers approached with hurried steps. J stopped walking and turned his head. He was definitely a Potion-making Awakener, the hospital director had personally introduced him, so he was someone he knew.
A woman wearing glasses and a white coat, with her brown hair tied up in a large clip, Ga-young had a rather excited face. Ga-young, who had come closer, whispered in a small voice.
“First of all, his condition is gradually improving. The Antidote we developed seems to be working. It’s all thanks to you, J!”
“…….”
When J stared silently without answering, Ga-young coughed awkwardly.
“Um, was I being too excited? We’re still focusing on detoxifying the Poison, so other treatments have been pushed back a bit… But still, it’s not as impossible to visit as it used to be.”
Ga-young glanced at J’s expression and said.
“I was wondering if you could go directly into the ward to see him from today. You’ve always only seen him through the glass.”
“…Is that okay?”
“Hey, of course it is. It’s all thanks to you that we’re doing this research.”
Ga-young waved her hand. Whether it was a short deviation, curiosity, or self-satisfaction that made him accept the offer. He didn’t know anymore. In fact, it wasn’t that important.
J followed Ga-young’s guidance and moved his steps. The child’s ward was prepared separately deep inside the hospital. While only the sound of the two people’s footsteps continued, Ga-young opened her mouth.
“Just to let you know… As you can see through the glass, J, he’s almost unconscious. He sometimes comes to his senses, but he can’t stay awake for long. We’re injecting him with painkillers and anesthetics periodically.”
“Is that necessary?”
“Ah, it’s not for any other reason! We don’t want to do that either. But….”
Ga-young sighed, waving her hand.
“If we don’t, he’ll pass out from the pain while enduring it. He’s been doing that ever since he fainted once before. It’s unfortunate, but until we completely detoxify the Poison, it will continue… Ah, we’ve arrived.”
Ga-young pressed the card key firmly on the device and opened the door. Passing through the door and walking down the hallway, a firmly closed white door appeared. She opened the door. Inside was a white and spacious ward. In the center, wrapped in white bandages and connected to numerous machines, lay a boy.
Ga-young took a step back.
“I’ll be waiting outside. Feel free to stay and come out.”
“Yes. I’ll leave after a while.”
“Oh, I’m not trying to pressure you, really! You can stay as long as you want and come out!”
Thud, the door closed behind him. J slowly looked around the ward.
Beep, beep, beep…. The regularly ringing beep seemed to replace the boy’s heartbeat. He slowly moved his steps and approached the bed.
The nose and mouth barely revealed between the bandages, the upper body slowly swelling and sinking. Occasional terrible groans. A chilling gaze scanned his entire body.
‘This is what they call improved….’
Well, he could say it’s improved compared to before since they removed the oxygen respirator. J coldly sneered. Even so, he was still no different from a corpse.
J dragged a round portable chair from nearby and sat down at a suitable distance from the bed. And he watches quietly. He observes the boy’s breathing. He observes very slight movements.
“…….”
How long had it been? Soon J rested his elbows on his knees and propped up his chin. From the moment he held the boy’s hand, one fundamental question that had been constantly tormenting him. He bit his lip.
‘Was it really the right thing to save this boy?’
The boy did ask to be saved, but… He wouldn’t have known that the price of survival was to have his whole body submerged in Poison, unable to move and feeling his body rotting away.
Is it right to leave him to endure this pain? He’s fainting because he can’t overcome the pain. Isn’t all of this just my selfishness?
Isn’t he suffering because of my selfishness to save people?
‘Would it be better to just take his life….’
At that moment, the tip of the boy’s finger moved slightly. J momentarily released the strength he had given to his hand. He straightened his back, which had been leaning forward, and fixed his gaze on his hand. Amidst the regularly ringing machine sounds, the finger moved once again. The movement was bigger than before.
“You.”
Words popped out before he knew it. As if responding to the voice, the finger wrapped in bandages shrank slightly. J widened his eyes and tapped his knee with his finger. Was his hearing not damaged? He asked again.
“Are you awake?”
The head that had been looking at the ceiling slowly turned to the side and faced him. It seemed like the eyes covered by bandages were looking at J. But it might just be his imagination. The pale, cracked lips slowly parted. What came out was just a small breath….
But it was like an answer.
“You’re awake.”
J put the correct answer into words. At that moment, a feeling he hadn’t felt in quite a while surged through his entire body. J knows the name of that emotion.
Joy.
J hurriedly grabbed the portable chair and moved closer to the bed. The boy’s head was still facing J. The movements, which were so small that only someone with good observation skills could have noticed, gradually became larger. J asked.
“How long have you been awake?”
“…….”
“How’s your body? Does it hurt a lot? Are you okay?”
J’s voice became unusually loud. In contrast, there was no answer in sound, but the boy’s finger was still moving slightly.
He thought he was writing with his finger, but that wasn’t it, it just seemed like he was proving that he was awake. A small groan flowed from the boy’s mouth. J slightly frowned behind his mask.
“Do you need a painkiller? Should I ask them to give you one?”
At that moment, upon hearing the word painkiller, the boy turned his head to the opposite side at a noticeably faster speed than before. It was probably his best effort. Still slow, though.
“……Huh.”
J, who had watched the scene, let out a hollow laugh. In the meantime, his head slowly turned back towards J. The corners of his mouth behind the mask were raised without him even realizing it.
The agony that had been constantly tormenting him until just now, the fatigue that was eating away at his body, the feeling that seemed to be sinking from the bottom, had all evaporated as if they had never existed.
Two playfully shining eyes filled with the boy. J, who had leaned his upper body close to the bed, propped up his chin and smiled.
“Hey, you’re funny.”
It seemed that the boy he had rescued….
“…….”
Had a strong will.
Quite a bit.