HIF 68

Healing Other Than the Hero

I blinked and shifted my gaze slightly. A small child was standing beside me, looking down at me as I sat leaning against the wall. Tiny hands, like fern fronds, gripped my shoulder tightly and were shaking me with all their might.

“Cough, …ugh.”

I hurriedly covered my mouth with my sleeve. The white fabric was stained red in an instant.

Tears were beading and falling from the child’s eyes. They were clearly very frightened. No, but why is a child here? The question crossed my mind, but first, I had to get the bleeding to stop before sorting out the situation.

“He-Hero… are you okay?”

“…Just a moment. Could you… wait?”

I spoke carefully, trying my best not to make the sound of spitting out blood. As soon as the child heard my voice, they let out a small sob, shut their mouth, and nodded vigorously.

Since I didn’t know when the bleeding would stop, I couldn’t leave the child standing like this, so I gently pried away the tiny hands still clutching my shoulder.

“Would you like to… sit next to me?”

The child plopped down beside me in an instant. Why are they so tense? I wondered if I had said something scary, but it seemed they were just shocked by the sight of the blood. The continuous sound of sniffing tugged at my heart.

When would the bleeding stop? It was a bit breathless trying to spit out blood while covering my mouth with my sleeve. A small, tearful voice leaked out from beside me.

“Hero… you mustn’t die….”

It was my first time seeing a child of this age, so I couldn’t gauge it well, but I figured they were about six or seven. Thinking about how wondrous a child’s imagination is, I spoke calmly.

“I won’t die. I’m just going to rest for a bit.”

“N-no, you can’t!”

The child suddenly sprang up and urgently grabbed hold of me. I only managed to calm them down after promising several times that I wouldn’t die.

The child sat quietly beside me again. I felt a bit drained. The bleeding hadn’t stopped yet, but since the child had calmed down, I closed my eyes and recalled the scene I had seen through Future Sight earlier.

‘It was Min Joo-hyuk’s back. That mist-like thing was something that would be found in Cloud-Flowing Valley.’

Aside from the fact that it was sunset, I couldn’t tell the exact date or time. Everything around was so blurry that I couldn’t even properly confirm who was beside him.

Right before I regained consciousness, I definitely heard the sound of flesh being pierced. Was it a monster? Does that happen during battle? In my nervousness, the thumping of my anxious heart seemed to spread throughout my entire body.

‘I have to go back.’

I had to be by Min Joo-hyuk’s side. Starting today. It seemed there was still time before sunset, but I felt rushed.

I felt like I couldn’t leave Min Joo-hyuk’s side for the time being. Suddenly, I realized I hated the time of sunset. Last time, Raen also… No, let’s not think about that. This time, I must stop it before it happens.

Just as I made that resolution, I felt the blood that had been surging up from within slowly stop. I took out a piece of paper containing Clean magic from my clothes, tore it, and tidied up the surroundings.

“Hero, are you okay now?”

A clear voice sounded from beside me. The child had stopped crying and was looking up at me with a clean face.

“I’m okay now. What’s going on?”

I only asked because I was curious why they had come all the way up here, but as soon as I finished speaking, transparent tears filled the child’s eyes again.

“Why…. I’m sorry. Were you very surprised?”

“Hero. …Please speak informally. No, please use low speech.”

I had no way of knowing if children of this age normally used such mature language, or if they were older than I thought.

“I am not a Hero. So, what is the matter?”

I conveyed my intention clearly, but the child shook their head firmly, on the verge of tears. Eventually, after finding a smooth compromise, the child opened their mouth to explain.

“Big brother, there’s something I want to ask of you.”

“What is it?”

“My… friend. They’re sick and can’t wake up, so I wanted to ask you to wake them up if the Hero came.”

The child fidgeted with their small hands. I hadn’t imagined such a small child could speak with such a desperate voice.

Since children believe a Hero can do anything, it was obvious how much they had been hoping. Just as I was feeling sorry because there was nothing I could do, something occurred to me.

‘Healing Other Than the Hero.’

Right, that existed. Stroking the child’s hair, I spoke.

“Let’s go together and see. But we have to keep this a secret. Can you do that?”

“Yes!”

It would be troublesome if it became known that I had healed the child’s friend. The opportunity to heal someone other than the Hero was only available once.

The child looked up at me with sparkling eyes. Then, pulling my finger, they linked their pinky with mine and said in a bright voice that they knew a shortcut where no one passed.

“Is it just your friend in that house right now? Any adults?”

“Usually, my friend’s dad is there, but he doesn’t come home often. He says he’s busy looking for a way to wake them up.”

Indeed, if a child was sick and couldn’t wake up, the parent would be out of their mind. As I stood up and began to walk, I noticed the child leading the way was limping slightly. I called the child to a stop.

“Did you hurt your leg?”

“While playing.”

They say children grow up getting hurt, but seeing a hurt child right in front of me made me feel pity. Since I also had Bringing Other Than the Hero as a reward, I thought I should use it if the condition looked serious.

“You came all the way up here even though you’re hurt?”

“To meet the Hero.”

“What would you have done if I couldn’t do anything?”

“Why? You’re the Hero.”

“…….”

I slowly picked up the child and carefully descended the stairs. The child wrapped their small arms around my neck. Perhaps because they were young, their body temperature was high. Since one slip here would be the end, my steps were tense, and sweat seemed to trickle down my spine.

‘How did everyone carry me around so effortlessly?’

Come to think of it, Park Yul, Song Ha-gyun, Raen, and Min Joo-hyuk were all like that. They would lift me up effortlessly without even using magic. I’m not exactly light.

They must all be stronger than average. I find it a bit overwhelming even to carry a small child like this. Of course, it’s not extremely difficult.

“Big brother, your body is shaking.”

“It’s because we’re going down the stairs.”

“Your arms are shaking too.”

“…I don’t think they are.”

Children are honest. After leaving the bell tower and entering the shortcut, overgrown trees were blocking the sunlight here and there. Dense grass was trodden under my feet.

The child, seemingly not hot, was now playing by twisting my hair. Then, they suddenly spoke.

“Are you the leader, big brother?”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Because it seems like the other Heroes like you the most.”

I felt the child tugging slightly on my hair. Yet, my mind was so blank that I didn’t feel any pain.

“They couldn’t even take their eyes off you. That’s why I followed you.”

“…Right. But what were you playing when you got hurt?”

I was somewhat aware that everyone was paying excessive attention to me, but hearing it spoken aloud made me feel embarrassed. Feeling my face flush, I quickly changed the subject.

“Just because. They said I tumbled down.”

If they couldn’t remember properly, they might have hurt their head as well. I felt it would be necessary to use the Bringing Other Than the Hero reward later. If there were other injured parts besides the leg, I could bring those back too.

“That friend was with me then…. Ah, that building. We’ve arrived.”

There was a house built of logs with the wood grain still visible. It had a large window, and like all houses in this village, it had no fence or gate. The child hopped down from my arms, took a key out of their pocket, and opened the door.

“Is it okay to just go in?”

“I went in every day. Because they were my best friend….”

“Oh, I see. Shall we go in now?”

A sob crept back into the child’s voice, so I quickly continued speaking. As soon as I finished, the child seemed to have regained their composure, nodded bravely, and slipped inside the house.

Creak.

As I closed the door and entered the house, there was a refreshing scent of dry wood. The child opened a room door over there.

“Big brother, it’s here.”

Inside the room was a large bed. A friend who looked to be about the same age as the child was lying buried in the bedding. Neat brown hair was scattered across the pillow. The bangs were loosely braided and pushed back.

The sunlight filtering thinly through the closed curtains of the window illuminated a pale face. From the neck, covered by clothes, up to about half the face, it was stained pitch black. My body shuddered.

“Why….”

When I stopped walking, the child, who was sitting on a chair next to the bed swinging their legs, continued.

“At first it was only on the neck, but it gradually spread. Big brother, can’t you wake them up? Their name is Yeon Seo-ah, and they’re the same age as me. They like apple pie the most, and also…”

The child’s voice grew faint. My head felt like it was spinning. The pitch-black shadow looked exactly as if it had been tainted by a monster. I forced myself to take a step forward and spoke.

“Are there other people like this?”

“Uh, Yeon Seo-ah and I went to play in the valley together…. I don’t remember well, but it’s been like this since then.”

The child slightly rolled up the hem of their left pant leg. From the ankle up to above it, it was stained black.

“So just me and them. Other people are fine. They said they blocked access to the valley immediately.”

The child continued in an innocent voice.

“But this is a secret. My parents told me not to tell.”

“Does it not hurt?”

“It doesn’t hurt for me. It’s just a bit uncomfortable to walk. But I guess it’s not like that for Seo-ah.”

“How long has it been?”

“Uh, around the time it got cold last year.”

Then it was then. Around the time it was confirmed that monsters could permeate other objects.

Was this what Park Yul meant yesterday when he said it felt like magical energy was seeping into his throat? Is this what happens if left untreated? I had to think carefully. I had Healing and Bringing as rewards….

I reached out to Yeon Seo-ah, who was lying on the bed. As I thought about using the healing reward, the Status Window appeared before my eyes.

「Would you like to use ‘Healing Other Than the Hero (1 time)’?」