“Haaah.”
For some reason, I was out of breath.
I looked around and found myself in an unfamiliar place.
“Wh-where am I?”
[Congratulations. You have transcended the power of the dragon on your own and obtained the Origin.]
[The Origin is being reduced on its own due to the master’s restrictions.]
[Sub-skill Mana Heart has been created.]
[You have received the blessing of the Supreme Dragon Zarkanos Berheim.]
[Trait: Protection of the Supreme Dragon has been created.]
[Protection of the Supreme Dragon]
=========================
The protection of the absolute being who embraces the abyss, the beginning of all dragons.
You gain absolute goodwill from all dragonkin.
You possess immunity to all darkness corresponding to the abyss.
=========================
A lot of things were popping up, but I ignored them for now. I waved my hand through the air and first tried to figure out where I was.
“A hospital…?”
When I looked down at my body, all sorts of things were stuck to me.
I tried to get up, but there was no strength in my body.
All my muscle was gone, and I was completely skin and bones.
“What the hell, am I dying?”
When I opened my eyes again, I was on the verge of death.
Slide.
The door to the hospital room opened, and Lucien Farel appeared, wearing unfamiliar medieval noble-style clothes.
“Y-you’re awake?”
Sinhyeok spent a long while trying to remember who he was.
“Ah? Ah! The one who was coming down from the sky!”
That was as far as the scene Sinhyeok knew of him went.
“That is correct. I apologize. I came as quickly as I could, but I was very late.”
Sinhyeok waved his hand dismissively.
“Oh, come on. As I recall, I definitely didn’t manage to finish things off, so didn’t you take care of everything? Then there’s nothing to apologize for.”
Lucien smiled and checked the IV drip.
“How is your body?”
Sinhyeok answered with a smile.
“No. For the first time in my life, I’ve turned into a skeleton.”
“Pfft. You’ll recover soon enough.”
He left behind a red potion.
“Then rest.”
Before leaving the hospital room, Lucien looked at the highest-grade red potion he had confirmed on the battlefield and asked just in case.
“By any chance, did you make this red potion on the battlefield?”
Sinhyeok looked closely at the potion he showed him.
Small red crystals remained inside the red liquid.
It was definitely something Sinhyeok had made.
“Yes. I probably made it.”
“Hm, impressive. May I ask who taught you alchemy?”
“Hm? No one in particular.”
At the words that there was no one in particular, his eyes went wide.
“Surely not?”
“It’s true.”
“Ahem, ahem.”
Lucien hesitated, seriously pondering something.
Just then, someone familiar appeared behind the door to the hospital room.
‘Lee Gangyeol.’
Excessive tension ran through his entire body.
The door opened, and Brigadier General Lee Gangyeol discovered Bu Sinhyeok with his eyes open.
“Lee Gangyeol!”
He even tore out the IV stuck in his arm as he lunged at him.
Stagger.
But because of his weakened body, he staggered disgracefully and tumbled onto the floor.
Startled, Lucien hurriedly supported Sinhyeok.
As Sinhyeok struggled to stand, he glared at him.
“Hey… explain. Explain it!”
Fierce anger surged.
Flustered, Lucien tried to calm Sinhyeok down.
“First, try to calm down!”
Lee Gangyeol stopped him with a hand.
“Lucien. Just let him be. Please.”
At Lee Gangyeol’s words, Lucien hesitated, then sat Sinhyeok on the bed.
“Leave us alone.”
“Understood.”
As he left, he looked at Sinhyeok, filled with rage, and Lee Gangyeol, who looked like a sinner.
When he closed the hospital room door, Sergeant Major Kim Hyeonsuk was right beside it.
“Ah, hello.”
“Hello. Looks like he woke up?”
“He did, but he was trying to kill Lee Gangyeol…”
She wore a bitter expression.
“He would want to.”
She glanced at Sinhyeok’s expression visible beyond the door.
“Phew, I just can’t bear to watch.”
* * *
Sinhyeok was barely sitting on the bed, and Lee Gangyeol said nothing.
Between the two of them was a maddening silence and a one-sided pressure.
“Do you know where I went?”
“The Dragon Soul Corridor.”
At the exact name of that place, Sinhyeok trembled.
“Do you also know what I saw there?”
At the gloomy question, anger faintly piling beneath it, Lee Gangyeol finally closed his eyes.
“Why… why!”
Sinhyeok staggered to his feet.
Even as he swayed, he grabbed Lee Gangyeol by the collar.
“You said it was an accident. You, you were the one who said that!”
Lee Gangyeol, who had twisted and buried what had happened that day, neither resisted nor refused.
“I’m sorry, Sinhyeok.”
Sinhyeok glared at him with calm, empty eyes.
“You… I want to kill…”
He wanted to say he wanted to kill him, but the Supreme Dragon’s question came to mind.
‘Will you kill him?’
That question held Sinhyeok back.
‘Do you not merely want to vent your rage?’
The Supreme Dragon’s brutally honest words held Sinhyeok back and clutched at his chest.
“…you. So get out.”
He let go of the hand gripping his collar.
As the strength left him, he collapsed to the floor.
Lee Gangyeol caught Sinhyeok as he fell.
Sinhyeok did not resist.
He merely looked at him with eyes full of contempt.
After being seated on the bed again, Sinhyeok was left amid a terrible current of emotion.
“Answer just one thing for me.”
Lee Gangyeol nodded to Sinhyeok, who had become hollow.
“Was it because of me? Was I… was I necessary to those insect-like demon bastards?”
“Yes.”
“Why, why? Why?!”
“They believed you were one of the children fated to be a savior who would lead the final war to victory.”
“Fuck, what kind of bullshit is that!”
“There are quite a few children like that. Nations around the world protected and guarded those they believed to be such people.”
Trembling, Sinhyeok asked.
“Then did my family really die?”
“I don’t know. I only know that they took them away.”
At the horrific truth, Sinhyeok grabbed Lee Gangyeol’s sleeve with trembling hands.
“If I hadn’t asked, when were you planning to answer me?”
“……”
“How far did I have to fall apart before you planned to answer me?”
“……”
“I hate you to death.”
When Sinhyeok raised his head, his eyes were filled with nothing but terrible emptiness and sorrow.
“Who are they?”
Lee Gangyeol finally opened his mouth.
“The demon Paimon.”
Sinhyeok let go of his sleeve.
Slide.
He lay back down on the bed and turned away.
“I’ll kill that bastard myself.”
Lee Gangyeol stared for a moment at Sinhyeok’s turned back, then left the hospital room.
Click.
As he came out of the hospital room, Kim Hyeonsuk said to him,
“You’re alive? I thought he’d have stuck something in your chest.”
“Yeah. I wish he had.”
Looking at him inside the hospital room, Lee Gangyeol’s heart ached terribly.
“Do you regret it now?”
“I regretted it long ago. It just hurts too much.”
He tapped lightly on the hospital room door, then turned away.
“Lucien, you can go now.”
“Ah? I will. After a little while longer.”
At the words that he would stay, Lee Gangyeol looked at him for a moment.
“I’ve simply become interested. It’s all right if I watch, isn’t it?”
At Lucien’s request, Lee Gangyeol nodded.
“Do that. I’ll inform the unit separately.”
“Thank you.”
* * *
In the hospital room, Sinhyeok blankly stared at the sky outside the window.
Rattle.
The door opened, and someone came in.
Sinhyeok turned to look for a moment.
“You haven’t left?”
“I’ve become interested in Earth, you see.”
‘Especially you.’
Sinhyeok turned his body and spoke to him, a third party.
“I think I spoke too harshly.”
“It did seem that way.”
“But that damned old man did something even harsher.”
At Sinhyeok’s unstable state, Lucien wore a strange expression, unable to laugh or cry.
“That damn star. Does he think having stars on his insignia is everything?”
“You should have told him to take off his rank insignia and fight you.”
“I won’t do that. I’d still lose.”
At that painfully accurate grasp of reality, Lucien ended up laughing.
“Krh-hm.”
“I hate myself like this too. What kind of idiotic mess is this?”
Sinhyeok turned back to look at Lucien and asked,
“Do you think there’s anyone else in the world who’s gone through something this idiotic?”
Lucien shrugged.
“Who knows. In my case, my family was destroyed, so I couldn’t say.”
“……”
At the case that was far too severe, Sinhyeok was at a loss for words.
“Then I have nothing to say, do I?”
“Krh-hm. No, that is simply my story. What can I do? Krh-hm.”
“Haah. It’s obvious at a glance that you have no talent for counseling.”
“Khrp.”
Sinhyeok rose unsteadily and leaned against the wall.
“Haah, lying down is exhausting.”
Leaning against the wall, Sinhyeok looked at the man guarding the hospital room and sensed something.
‘Why is he staying?’
He had a rather obvious thought.
This man was interested in me. In particular, in my万能 hand.
‘It’s a gain for me.’
He was a genuine alchemist who didn’t exist on Earth.
And not one who relied on the System, but one who had directly learned and mastered the orthodox principles of alchemy.
‘I want to catch him.’
For Sinhyeok, who had gained a firm goal, that man, Lucien Farel, was plenty attractive.
“What is your name? You saved me, so I’d like to know.”
“Ah? I am called Lucien Farel. It is late, but pleased to meet you.”
Taking his hand, Sinhyeok smiled faintly.
“Pleased to meet you too.”
He smiled and did not let go of his hand.
“Um? Excuse me? My hand.”
“Lord Lucien Farel. There’s something I’d like to propose.”
Lucien’s mind flashed.
‘What a clever person! He guessed my intentions and is making the proposal first!’
“Kr, ahem. Indeed. I shall take you as my disciple—”
“I want to buy your knowledge, not become your disciple.”
‘Like a loan, I’ll repay it later. Somehow.’
Strength tightened in Lucien’s hand.
“What did you say!?”
Lucien sprang to his feet.
Standing up, he pointed a finger at Sinhyeok and shouted,
“Why would I!? I refuse!”
He rejected him and spun around.
Sinhyeok looked at him, who had coldly rejected him, and quickly thought things through.
‘This won’t do. Is there no way?’
He hurriedly considered it.
Sinhyeok recalled what he knew about nobles.
‘Still, he’s a noble, and since he researches something that looks impressive, his pride must be high.’
So he scratched at his pride.
“You must be afraid.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You must be afraid it’ll be exposed that your knowledge is pathetic.”
He scratched very hard.
Properly provoked, Farel revealed his anger with a smiling face.
“Ha ha… How dare you.”
Sinhyeok offered a wager to the man whose trigger he had properly pressed.
“Then prove it.”
“Ha ha. How could some mere Earthling understand the world of great alchemy!”
“Then prove it. Or should I show you?”
At the words that he would show him, Lucien was so dumbfounded that he shouted in anger.
“Fine! Then I shall judge your wicked tongue with my alchemy!”
Farel’s eyes blazed with anger, and reason flew out the window.
“I shall tell you one of my recipes. Listen and make it here on the spot!”
Farel took out a potion and showed it to him as he spoke.
“Its name is Light Potion, and its effect is as follows.”
When he opened the lid and flicked it, light drifted through the air.
“It is a potion that creates light. Go on, try making it.”
After bluntly stating only the effect and name, he sneered at Sinhyeok and even kindly gave him a hint.
“Well, considering you are an Earthling, I will at least tell you the ingredients.”
Farel kindly recited the ingredients.
“Luminous Grass, Blue Mana Herb, and purified water. These three are all. How could you possibly make it?”
He snorted and looked at Sinhyeok as if ready to mock him at any moment.
‘You will never be able to. If you are an Earthling, then there is an ingredient missing that you absolutely cannot know.’
After hearing the ingredients and effect, Sinhyeok pondered for a moment.
‘Is it mixing light into mana and storing it? Then should I do it similarly to when I made the Dark Mana Potion?’
Sinhyeok’s mind worked busily.
Farel watched Sinhyeok sink into deep thought and sneered wickedly.
“Do you think racking your brain like that will work? This seems to be a waste of time, so I shall be going.”
Blocked by one of the ingredients, Sinhyeok hurriedly raised his hand.
“Hold it!”
“Hm?”
Farel asked Sinhyeok, who had hastily raised his hand,
“What is it? Procuring your own ingredients is also one of an alchemist’s virtues. If you intend to argue about that—”
“No, not that. Let’s go somewhere to get one of the ingredients.”