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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Kiteretsu]
[Proofreader - Kyros]
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Chapter 7: Are You a Fool? (2)
Even for an Awakened One, they weren’t all-powerful. Outside the Otherworld, they were just slightly more physically capable than regular people.
"Because there’s no Mana Stone."
In the Surface World, Awakened Ones needed Mana Stones to use their skills since magic energy didn’t naturally imbue humans there.
But this didn’t mean they couldn’t use any skills at all. Talents, which didn’t require magic energy, could still be utilized.
Awakened Ones went all in on Talents for a reason. Sometimes, even if someone’s skill combination or abilities were subpar, a single powerful Talent could make them highly sought after by many teams.
Unlike skills learned from skill books, Talents had unique conditions for acquisition, and few details about them were widely known.
Currently, apart from relying on pure luck, the only ways to obtain a Talent were either by consuming a monster's essence or by triggering an "Unnatural Awakening."
Talents acquired through Unnatural Awakening tended to be of low rank, while essence drop rates were abysmal. It wasn’t like essence was some cheap toy that just dropped left and right, right?
Having three Talents, in this sense, was a rather unusual occurrence.
"It’s a shame I don’t really know what two of them do, aside from ‘Blood Exchange.’"
Is that just how all Talents are?
[Historic Revelation (D)]
Level 1 (0.00%)
Consume SP to glimpse a predetermined future.
During this vision of the future, the flow of time freezes.
I’ve tried using this one. For 10,000 SP, I could see about one second into the future. Anything less than that was technically possible, but so fleeting it was practically useless.
Since I have around 50 million SP, if I decided to blow it all, I could glimpse up to 5,000 seconds ahead. But that’s barely an hour and a half.
"If I don’t even know how to replenish SP, it’s not really a reliable option."
Still, it’s not a worthless Talent. When faced with death, even a second can make all the difference—especially now, with the cycles of regression finally over.
"Really, it’s unbelievable."
I had so many things I wanted to do once regression ended. I even had a bucket list.
I thought I’d feel happy once I escaped it all. But now that it’s actually over, and it ended so abruptly, I don’t feel relief or joy—just an overwhelming sense of emptiness.
"So, what do I do now? I have to survive, right?"
Ever since I opened my eyes, this question has been haunting me. My thoughts were always about "How do I die well?" But now, it’s shifted to "How do I stay alive?"
There’s a high chance this is my last shot, too. In that sense, Historic Revelation might be D-rank, but it’s not a bad Talent.
The initial rank of a Talent doesn’t mean much anyway.
After ‘Blood Exchange,’ the next most useful Talent was [Learned Memory (S)]. However, due to the nature of Talents, it wasn’t something I could test out while lying in a hospital bed.
[Learned Memory (S)]
Level 1 (0.00%)
There is a misalignment in the flow of time and memory. Only experiences from repeated regression cycles can accelerate your learning speed for identical actions.
This wasn’t something I could toggle on or off. It seemed to be passive, so I planned to test it once I got out of the hospital.
Thanks to the accelerated recovery from ‘Blood Exchange,’ I was finally set to move out of the ICU and into a general ward on the seventh day.
* * *
“Hic, h-hic… Oppaaa!”
And then Min-Ah came to visit. Was it a month after the accident, until the rescue team went in and found me? Then I’d been unconscious for another month and in the ICU for a week.
Visitors, even family, weren’t allowed in the ICU, so this was the first time Min-Ah had seen my face in almost three months.
Seeing her rush over to me felt strangely unfamiliar. Min-Ah burst into tears, crying so hard it was almost surprising. I hadn’t realized she could cry like that.
Min-Ah cried like a faucet turned on full blast, as if she was going to dehydrate from all the tears pouring out.
"Hey! Stop it, stop crying! Anyone would think this was a funeral!"
Finally, I snapped at her, and then—
Whack, whack.
“Ow! Why are you hitting me?”
“You deserve way more of this!”
“Oh, so you’re planning to kill me—ugh…”
“You jerk! You worthless idiot! I told you not to do dangerous things!”
If she wanted to curse at me, fine; if she was worried, just say so. Making me feel all embarrassed like that.
Because of the “Blood Exchange” Talent, my stamina was weak but my recovery was high, so even her tiny fists actually hurt.
As I clamped my mouth shut, I started coughing.
“Guh...! Cough... feels like... I'm dying...”
“Oh no, Oppa? Are you okay? Someone, help—”
“Kidding.”
“Die!”
“Oh? Seriously? Going to finish me off?”
“Ahhhh! You lunatic!”
I laughed, clutching my stomach, and Min-Ah wiped her tears, managing a half-relieved smile. Did she finally realize just how absurd this whole situation was?
After the commotion settled, an awkward silence hovered between us. I hadn’t really planned it, but if I ever managed to escape the endless regression, there was something I genuinely wanted to say.
“Sorry.”
“So you do know you worried me, huh? Because of you, I was—”
“Not just that. Well, yeah, that too.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Just… sorry for everything. When I think about it, I really wasn’t there for you at all.”
If only you hadn’t been there, if only you hadn’t gotten hurt, if I hadn’t been your brother, if I’d been alone—wouldn’t my life have been better?
Why did I have to sacrifice so much? What did I ever do to deserve this? Should I have just ignored everything, pretended not to care?
Honestly, if only you—
“Now you’re saying this?”
“…Huh?”
“So you finally realized it? Yeah, I know. I’ve always known you don’t care about me.”
“Hey, you make me sound terrible.”
“You are terrible. A trashy guy who only cares about money.”
“I earned that money because—”
“Because of me. That’s why I never minded. Even if you didn’t care about me, even if you turned into a money-obsessed maniac, it was all for me. So it’s nothing new to me.”
Maybe even she felt awkward about her own words because Min-Ah gave my back a few strong pats. Ouch, she’s got a serious punch.
“Thanks.”
“Just focus on getting better, idiot.”
“I feel pretty much healed already…”
Thanks to Blood Exchange and the attentive care from the medical staff, I was feeling much better.
“Wonder how much the hospital bill will be.”
“Oh, there you go with money again.”
Min-Ah grumbled when she heard me mumbling. I understood her frustration, but it was a real concern.
“If I’d known this would be my last regression, I would’ve drained my account for insurance and bought a rune!”
Life insurance doesn’t cover situations like this.
"Since it happened during a guild raid, maybe they’ll help out... but that’s wishful thinking. I’m just a mercenary."
Technically, I’m like a temp worker with a single-page contract. I’m not an official guild member, and they have countless ways to get out of paying if they want to.
“...Are you listening? I told you not to worry so much about money.”
“How can I not? Do you know how expensive medical bills are?”
“The guild said they’d cover it. Guess you really made it, huh? Cheong-Yeong Guild is huge, isn’t it?”
“Maybe for me, but what about you...?”
“They covered my medication and exam fees too.”
“Exam fees?”
“We’ll talk about that later. Right now, just focus on getting better.”
Min-Ah proudly held up a large bottle of medication that held a month’s supply. It was her way of reassuring me.
“Did someone from the guild come by? Who? Got their name? A business card?”
When I pressed her with questions, Min-Ah looked flustered. But I had to know.
“There’s no such thing as a free lunch.”
Especially in matters involving life and death. If I knew what they wanted, I’d have a better idea of their next move.
“You’re being so serious... Ah, hang on.”
Min-Ah pulled a crumpled business card out of her bag. I looked at the name printed on the high-quality cardstock.
“This was the first person who came by. Crazy, right?”
I understood her reaction. I was just as surprised.
Cha Woo-Jae
Kim Do-Jin had many disciples, and Cha Woo-Jae was one of the most famous among them.
Team Leader of Cheong-Yeong Guild’s 7th Team.
Though his title was just “team leader,” his 7th Team was considered the top team, only second to Kim Do-Jin’s. Not only was Cha Woo-Jae well-known, but everyone on his team was equally famous.
"I figured someone influential would get involved, but this is bigger than I expected."
Cha Woo-Jae wouldn’t come to see me directly, right? Maybe he only came because I was unconscious at the time. I handed the card back to Min-Ah.
“It really is impressive.”
“He said to contact him if we need anything. Oh, and he was really handsome.”
“More than me?”
“Of course.”
“Hey, can’t you at least pretend I’m handsome? I am your brother!”
“Fine, then—who’s prettier, me or Han Se-Ra?”
“...”
“See? Same answer.”
“She’s a celeb, you know. And an Awakened One at that!”
I protested, telling her to at least make fair comparisons, but Min-Ah ignored me.
Comparing me to a goddess like Han Se-Ra? That’s just crossing the line. If I said anything more, I’d probably get another earful, so I kept quiet.
We didn’t say much else. Maybe it was the “Blood Exchange” Talent, but my stamina drained quickly, and I was exhausted.
The next day, I was feeling much better. Min-Ah headed to school, and a visitor came around noon.
She was a tall woman in her late twenties with her hair tightly tied back. She wore a black training suit that clung to her form, and I recognized her immediately.
Oh Yeon-Su.
An Awakened One on Cha Woo-Jae’s team.
“I’m Oh Yeon-Su. I heard you regained consciousness. Are you Lee Su-Hyuk?”
“Oh, yes. Thank you for coming.”
"I heard you can walk."
"Yes."
"Good. Then follow me."
I followed Oh Yeon-Su to an elevator tucked away in a corner of the hospital, taking it down to the basement. This hospital, run by the Cheong-Yeong Foundation, was technically open to the public, though it was famously expensive and often called a "billionaire's hospital." Only those with ties to Cheong-Yeong Guild could really afford it.
Oh Yeon-Su led me down a corridor that looked like a bunker and opened a door midway. It was odd to see a room like this in a hospital.
‘This feels like I'm being treated like a criminal.’
Inside, there was nothing but a metal chair and desk. One wall was made of glass, and I could see Oh Yeon-Su walking to the other side, likely to watch me through it.
After sitting and waiting for about five minutes, the door opened, and a man in a suit walked in.
Cha Woo-Jae.
Wow, he really is handsome.
As I started to stand up and greet him, he waved me off. "No need; you probably haven’t fully recovered yet."
Cha Woo-Jae sat across from me, crossing his legs and resting his elbow on the table, chin in hand. But he was staring right at me...
"Did you kill the Guild Leader?"
What the hell? Where did that come from?
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Kiteretsu]
[Proofreader - Kyros]
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