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Chapter 11
As soon as I stepped into the laboratory, Professor Seong greeted me barefoot, wearing a bright expression, along with the scent of medicinal herbs.
“Bitna! I was just about to contact you since I’m in the middle of developing a new drug.”
In her hand was a medicinal herb item obtained from a newly discovered type of dungeon.
“So, I guess the medicine I prescribed last time didn’t suit you?”
Professor Seong, who had been greeting me warmly, soon let her brows droop.
When I stood there silently, she must have thought it was another issue with the medication.
To reassure her, I gave a faint smile and shook my head.
“No, I came because I have something to tell you.”
“Hm?”
Sensing something subtle in my tone, Professor Seong dropped her gentle smile and blinked.
Instead, I replied with a clear smile.
“I… awakened.”
“…Pardon?”
The professor froze on the spot. She frowned, as if unsure whether she had heard correctly.
“So now I don’t need the mask, the earplugs, or the medicine anymore.”
“My goodness… my goodness.”
“I was surprised too.”
“B-Bitna, you’re 26 years old… right? Awakening at this age? My goodness, what on earth is going on?”
Blinking in disbelief, the professor seemed to realize this was no time for that and pulled me into a tight hug.
I returned the embrace, smiling brightly in her wide arms.
“Congratulations. You won’t be sick anymore.”
Professor Seong was the one who had wished more than anyone for my awakening and health. From the warmth she conveyed, I could feel her sincere kindness.
“You saved my life, Professor.”
“No, Bitna. You saved yourself.”
Her voice, as she said that, was damp with emotion.
“This calls for a celebratory drink.”
She took out tea leaves and cups she had carefully saved away. I had heard before that it was premium tea she’d received from that famous S-rank Saintess.
“Bitna, may I ask what type you awakened as?”
“Ah, well…”
Trying to explain this is really awkward.
Since I couldn’t exactly say ‘shop owner,’ I hesitated before blurting out something that came to mind.
“I’m a healer type, but… a bit unusual.”
“Hmm, in what way?”
“I can’t heal injuries or restore mana.”
“Then… what do you heal?”
Professor Seong tilted her head. Her expression clearly said she wanted to ask how that could possibly be a healer.
I completely understood. Even I hadn’t believed it, despite reading the status window with my own eyes.
“Well…”
I leaned closer toward the professor and whispered softly.
With a request that only she should know.
“Mana addiction. Only one person at a time, though.”
Clatter—!
Before I could even finish speaking, the professor dropped her teacup onto the floor.
“M-Mana… addiction?”
She looked about a hundred times more shocked than when she’d heard that I’d awakened.
Her pupils shook wildly, as if normal thought had become impossible.
“B-Bitna. Did I hear you correctly? You just said you can treat mana addiction?”
“Yes, that’s right. Complete recovery isn’t possible, but I can treat it to a certain extent.”
“There’s no way you’d lie to me, Bitna…”
Professor Seong collapsed onto the sofa as if fainting, seemingly forgetting that her treasured teacup had shattered.
“If that’s really possible… the whole world would be in an uproar.”
“That’s why you have to keep it a secret.”
“Of course. Though even if I told anyone, they probably wouldn’t believe me. Haha.”
The Professor Seong I know isn’t someone who casually spreads information. She’s someone trustworthy enough that Mimi judged her to be a good person, which is why I confided in her.
“Professor, I want to meet a patient who urgently needs treatment for mana addiction. However, they must be an active hunter, and the higher-ranked, the better.”
She answered immediately.
“If we’re talking about a hunter who most urgently needs treatment for addiction, then it’s obviously Hunter Kang Jinseo.”
“……”
As expected, the professor named Jinseo sunbae.
But unfortunately, I felt uncomfortable because I’d already burdened him with far too much, leaving me with a sense of guilt.
“He’s already beyond his limit. It wouldn’t be strange if he collapsed at any moment.”
“Really…?”
I hadn’t known his condition was that bad.
He is South Korea’s greatest force. His health status would naturally be a state secret, so it made sense that I wouldn’t know. Judging only by his level of activity, he seemed like someone with no problems at all.
“If you’re okay with it, Bitna, I’d like you to treat Hunter Kang first. He’s such a pity, I can’t help but let my personal feelings get involved.”
I couldn’t readily give an affirmative answer.
Hearing that his addiction was severe made me desperately want to save him with a labor contract item.
It’s not like I don’t want to help him. Jinseo sunbae is Korea’s greatest force and pillar, and we even went through hardships together for years.
But he’s already burdened by the worldwide misunderstanding that he cleared the Maze Gate because of me, and it’s unclear whether he would agree when told that, in exchange, he’d have to clear the remaining gates on my behalf.
No one knows what could happen in the remaining 21 gates.
Someone with a safety-oriented personality like mine might prefer maintaining the status quo rather than risking uncertain danger.
“Hmm, the skill activation conditions are pretty strict… so just in case, could you recommend someone else as well?”
I couldn’t bring myself to confess my guilt to Professor Seong and glossed it over instead.
She merely wore a regretful expression and didn’t ask any further questions, saying she’d select some suitable candidates and let me know.
I was just about to leave the lab, thinking I should quickly sign a contract with one of the candidates she recommended and produce the oil needed for the Japan Gate raid, when—
“Oh my? Jinseo, you’re here earlier than your appointment time.”
Why was the patient, whose appointment was supposedly still far off, standing right in front of me?
Caught in a completely unexpected encounter, my steps froze.
Isn’t this exactly when the saying “a thief’s heart pounds first” applies?
Still, I have to be confident.
Didn’t Mimi say she erased all traces of me, so even the Hunter Association wouldn’t be able to find me easily?
If I acted awkwardly for no reason, it might only raise suspicion.
‘…Let’s greet him first.’
Even so, we’re seniors and juniors from the same training center, so the junior should greet first.
“Ah, hello?”
How many years has it been since I last saw him in person?
I saw his face often on the news, but facing him like this in real life made only one thought rise vividly in my mind.
‘He’s handsome.’
I know it’s not a thought that fits the situation, but as if my brain had malfunctioned, that was all I could think about.
He was handsome enough to make you sigh.
His stiff expression felt so cold it was almost robotic, yet even that came across as attractive.
Was it even possible for someone to be handsome with bangs that messy? His high-bridged nose and sharp jawline looked like they could slice through monsters.
I could instantly understand why Nara unni was so desperate to recruit Kang Jinseo into her guild.
But admiring a statue should be intense and brief.
After an awkward exchange of eye contact, I hurriedly averted my gaze.
He’d been staring at me as if he might bore a hole through me with his eyes, to the point where I was breaking out in a cold sweat.
“Then, goodbye.”
I bowed and naturally turned to leave—
“Yebitna.”
His voice, lower and firmer than I remembered, stopped me in my tracks.
“You have something to say to me.”
“……”
My breath caught.
