Chapter 20
Part 19
“If... If you touch my hand... it'll feel horrible. Cold... creepy...”
“I don't care.”
Grab.
Without hesitation, Yugeon took her hand.
Warm.
Firm.
Seo Hwarin's eyes widened.
Huh...?
Normally, the moment someone touched her...
They would recoil from the disgusting cold.
This man did not even blink.
Instead...
The energy flowing from his hand seemed to suppress the Death Energy rampaging inside her.
“Th-Thank you... for saving me...”
“How long are you planning to keep living like this?”
“...!”
Seo Hwarin's heart dropped.
He knew.
This man knew she was not an ordinary Healer.
“W-What do you mean...?”
“That power inside you. If you leave it alone, it'll eventually devour you.”
“H-How do you know...?”
Her face turned white.
Her entire body shook.
Her secret had been exposed.
Would he kill her now?
Would he say monsters needed to be eliminated before they became dangerous?
Yugeon's answer was the exact opposite.
“Why don't you become my companion?”
His second companion after regression.
Yugeon looked straight at Seo Hwarin.
“Why don't you become my companion?”
Yugeon's offer was simple.
But it carried enormous weight.
Seo Hwarin stared up at him.
This was the man who had driven away Roberan's party.
The man who slaughtered the Orcs in moments.
The hand he extended was rough.
Yet dependable.
“M-Me?”
She asked with a trembling voice.
She could not believe it.
Everyone avoided her.
Everyone treated her like a monster.
Everyone eventually abandoned her.
She had been expelled from parties dozens of times.
Even guilds had thrown her out.
“But...”
Seo Hwarin lowered her head and stepped back.
Her eyes moved toward her fingertips.
A faint black haze still remained there.
Death Energy.
“I'm... a ticking bomb. The more I heal, the more this black energy builds up. If it loses control someday, I'll hurt you too.”
She was afraid of getting close to people.
Because it always ended the same way.
She would get hurt.
Then she would be abandoned.
“You won't hurt us.”
Yugeon's answer was immediate.
“And you won't lose control. I won't let that happen.”
“How can you be so certain...?”
“Because I know how to control your power.”
“...What?”
Seo Hwarin's eyes widened.
That horrible power...
The power that even she hated...
He knew how to control it?
“H-How...?”
“Become my companion, and I'll show you.”
“...”
“Why don't we test it first?”
Seo Hwarin still could not answer.
That was understandable.
This energy had tormented her for years.
Someone suddenly saying it could be controlled...
Of course she would doubt him.
She had probably spent years desperately searching for a solution herself.
“Test it?”
“Let's go. I'll show you.”
Yugeon motioned ahead.
There were no monsters left on this floor.
They could move to the next one.
“Mincheol.”
“...”
“Cha Mincheol?”
“Ah... What? Yes! Hyung!”
Yugeon tilted his head.
Mincheol had been staring blankly at Seo Hwarin.
Had the battle exhausted him?
Why was he standing there like his soul had left his body?
“Collect the items around here. Then we'll move to the next floor.”
“Yes! Understood.”
Mincheol quickly came back to his senses.
He gathered the scattered items.
Then all three moved to Floor 27.
Sector 3, Floor 27.
[Blood Arena]
A red land filled with the smell of blood.
Even the sky was crimson.
Floor 27 resembled a massive arena where Tower monsters constantly killed each other to prove their strength.
Its size, however, was nothing like an ordinary arena.
It was almost as large as Gwanghwamun Square.
“Huh? I thought those people from earlier would've moved to the next floor, but they're not here.”
Mincheol was talking about Roberan's party.
He had already forgotten their names.
Yugeon had expected them to be here.
But the entrance was empty.
“They probably realized it was too dangerous for them.”
Yugeon spoke calmly.
“They abandoned their Healer, so their endurance is gone. Even they would understand that entering Floor 27 like that would be suicide. They probably left the Tower.”
“Yeah. Without a Healer, they would've died here.”
Mincheol snorted.
Seo Hwarin smiled bitterly.
Once again...
She was reminded that she had been abandoned.
Even though it had happened many times...
She had never truly gotten used to the feeling.
“All right. Let's test it.”
Yugeon turned toward her.
“You really... can control it?”
Seo Hwarin asked carefully.
She still could not believe him.
The Death Energy in her body had been a curse since the day she awakened.
An incurable disease.
Yugeon removed the Lantern of the Hundred Ghosts' Night Parade from his waist.
A blue flame flickered inside the old bronze lantern.
“Take it.”
