Chapter 658

The disease that had isolated his past self from the world and had tried to kill him turned out to be so complex that even the Goddess of Medicine, Hypocria, succeeded in operating on it only after years of research. It was quite remarkable considering that there were not many diseases that took this long to figure out.

The Hall of Heroes could almost perfectly implement anything that existed in memory. For this reason, Hypocria's discovery about the cure for the disease was relatively credible, even though Davey's memories of the disease in the Hall of Heroes may differ slightly. Of course, Davey could not understand how the Hall of Heroes continued to draw the power to create something out of nothing.

Many diseases existed in the world, causing countless deaths. And the disease that pushed Davey's past self toward death was too complicated and dangerous for simple human intervention, so the treatment was more about neutralization than curing. This neutralization was not difficult. With Davey's current surgical skills, he could extend a life by about twenty years. However, a complete cure was impossible. So it was puzzling why Davey, now possessing Hyun-Ah, was proceeding with surgery despite knowing this.

The answer to this became clear when the fact that his sister, Yeon-Hee, had the same disease sank in Davey's mind. He had to do the surgery even though it seemed impossible, especially after seeing his precious younger sibling's tears when she had cried as if the world was collapsing, and Davey had instinctively moved his hands without much thought.

His fingertips trembled, and a chill ran down his spine as if his body was being slashed with knives. Hyun-Ah's anxiety was being directly transmitted to his spirit, but he gritted his teeth.

[Title: One Who Approaches the Art of Medicine Equipped.]

Davey possessed traits that even his master, Hypocria, did not have. But if his skills could not match hers, he would reach a similar outcome by any other means necessary.

The disease was not contagious, and so it was not possible that Yeon-Hee had contracted it from Davey. As he wondered where she could have gotten the disease, Davey broke in a cold sweat.

"Hmph..."

"Miss, you've been operating for a prolonged period of time already..."

Davey sighed deeply. Despite Doctor Han's worried advice to stop the prolonged surgery, Davey refused to give up. Finding that last part was crucial, but even with his heightened sense of touch, he could not locate it.

"If you continue, the vital signs will become more unstable!"

Davey jerked back to reality. Since when did he begin to despair?

'I'm Davey O'Rowane, a being that came into existence through all sorts of hardships to the point of being mentioned in the Hall of Heroes.'

Failure was not an option for him.

Clang!

With a rough motion, he threw away the scalpel and reached out his hand. But then he hesitated again. If he used mana in this world, what would happen to Hyun-Ah? To Yeon-Hee? As a spirit, Davey was allowed to exist and use basic spiritual abilities, including possession. But manifesting mana would overstep the boundary.

"Miss?" Doctor Han's worriedly called out.

This reached Davey as he was hesitating.

If he failed here, his sister would die. His sister, who had gone through so much trouble from a young age to feed her two younger siblings, would face death.

"Miss... It might not work. Maybe it's time to give up..."

"..."

"Miss?"

Davey clenched his teeth harder when he saw the discolored flesh in Yeon-Hee's stomach area again. He then muttered almost tremulously, "Fuck this..."

It was a chilling voice that came out of Hyun-Ah's lips, surprising Doctor Han.

'One is enough. Why are you taking her life now? If it's not working, make it work.'

Instead of using a scalpel, Davey carefully pushed his empty hand in. At the same time, his other hand gripped a needle. Then, without thoroughly checking the insides, he plunged the needle in. Such an odd phenomenon of using acupuncture during surgery would make any medical student angry, but Davey did not hesitate.

"What?!" Doctor Han exclaimed, evidently shocked by Davey, who thrust the needle directly into an organ.

But Davey paid him no mind. He simply kept going, creating a vibrating effect at the tip of the needle by flicking its end.

Woong... Woong...

The needle stimulated the blood flow, significantly changing the body's activity level by increasing it. Then, a precise and sharp frequency resonation started.

Meanwhile, Doctor Han's eyes had grown impossibly wide as he was panicked by the change.

[Hypocria-style Long Needle Technique]

[Range of Pasa]

This was an acupuncture technique developed by Hypocria. It was practically a surgical art that involved applying direct stimulation to the internal parts of the body. Although one small mistake could kill the patient, if the vibration and location were perfect, the solution was within reach.

In the suffocating silence, the surgery resumed. And it was when the last discolored long needle was taken from Davey's hand that Hyun-Ah's breath burst out, as if she had been holding it in for ages.

After that, all that was left to do was easy—quickly stitching up the origin of the disease in Yeon-Hee's body.

"This... This is unbelievable... To witness such surgery with my own eyes..."

As soon as the last stitch was completed, Hyun-Ah's body, worn out from the excessive exertion, ejected Davey's spirit.

Clang!!!

Hyun-Ah collapsed, and despite his shock, Doctor Han immediately rushed to her side, shouting, "Miss! Are you okay?"

"Ah... Ah... Doctor Han?"

"Miss!"

"The surgery?" Hyun-Ah mumbled with dazed eyes.

This prompted an enthusiastic yell from Doctor Han. "A great success!! We've removed all those tiny tumors!!"

Trembling with joy, he further exclaimed, "I've been a doctor for decades, but I've never seen such a perfect and astonishing surgery!"

Ecstatic, Doctor Han jumped up to his feet, brought over the monitor displaying Yeon-Hee's vital signs, and pushed it toward Hyun-Ah, saying, "Look!! Look at these stable vital signs!"

Taking a deep breath, Hyun-Ah staggered as she got back up to her feet. Then a shiver coursed through her while she looked at her peacefully sleeping sister. "Sister... Sister... Are you okay now? You're okay now, right? You must be, right?"

Naturally, her sister, under anesthesia, could not respond, but Hyun-Ah's face was filled with both joy and sorrow.

"We need to stabilize the patient now! I'll take care of moving the older Miss. So please take some rest!"

"Ah... But Doctor Han also..."

"You did it, Miss!! You've succeeded in a surgery that world-renowned doctors said was absolutely impossible. This would make them stick out their tongues in awe!" He exclaimed with unbridled enthusiasm. He then immediately moved Yeon-Hee's operating bed to the private intensive care unit prepared right next to the operating room.

It was only after realizing the surgery was over that Hyun-Ah felt breathless. Really. She had survived, so Hyun-Ah should have been crying with happiness, but the tension prevented even a single tear from dropping. On top of that, she was also out of breath and felt as though her stomach was churning.

If only she and Davey had crossed paths a little sooner. If her Ghost Eye had awakened a few more years earlier, and if she had met him then... She might have been able to erase the most bitter memories of her life.

"I should be happy," Hyun-Ah muttered softly, feeling sick from what her body just accomplished when Davey possessed her. The nausea then prompted her to run out of the operating room.

While Hyun-Ah was overjoyed to have saved her sister, the fact that her brother had died of the same illness made her unbearably sad. If only there had been a little more time, maybe her brother could have been saved too.

Although she did not perform the surgery herself, she couldn't help but think of the if-onlys. If only her Ghost Eye had awakened a bit earlier... If only she had been a little older... Maybe the life of her brother, who died so vainly without her even seeing his last moment...

As she was having these thoughts, her eyes suddenly widened, remembering the being that contributed the most to this surgery. Without him, this attempt would have been absolutely impossible. He had possessed her body, showed astonishing medical skills, then disappeared, only leaving behind an amazing result. He... Where did he disappear to?

As she looked around in confusion, he was nowhere to be seen.

* * *

In a brightly lit hospital room...

"Miss, it really is a relief. It truly is." Doctor Han's tears rolled down his cheeks as he held the hand of Yeon-Hee, who was still unconscious. "I was so guilty of not being able to repay the kindness you have shown me... But to be able to help you like this, this old man is just too happy," he murmured with a trembling voice.

But Yeon-Hee still did not open her eyes.

"You should open your eyes soon. Shake off the pain and enjoy your youth. You should no longer endure any suffering now... The chairman was really worried too. After all, when the young master succumbed to the same illness, it distraught him."

Davey quietly approached while listening to Doctor Han's murmuring. He then laid his translucent hand on his sister's as he looked at her, who was lying on the bed with her eyes closed.

Just from the changes in his own body, it was clear that Davey had already caused too much interference by using holy power. He had changed Yeon-Hee's fate. And as he seemed to slowly dissipate, it became questionable whether he could still return to Earth.

Why did Neltarid even make him experience all these things? His older sister, who held his hand as she wept bitterly and apologized back in his previous life, now seemed so frail.

"Sister... It's been a while," he murmured quietly.

His voice no longer sounded right, and he felt like his pronunciation was slurred. Even then, Davey went on to say, "Sister... Our poor sister, who only suffered."

Just then, something fell with a plop onto the back of his trembling hand.

"I missed you so much. Both Hyun-Ah and you. I missed the both of you so much. I wanted to thank my uncle too. I wanted to say this to you outside the hospital room," Davey said quietly. He then laid his head on her arm.

There was a price to pay. The divine revelation had forced the choice, and that was when he used his power to save her. The divine revelation had offered him a deal then. What could he give up just to keep her alive? Did he truly want to save her? If he did, then he must relinquish something he possessed.

He accepted the deal without any hesitation and deactivated one of the blessings granted to him by the Hall of Heroes in return for earning a title.

And so, one of the blessings that prevented Goddess Freyja from taking him as her priest disappeared. It made his future unchangeable. But even if he had the chance to go back in time, Davey would still make the same choice. And now, the power of Goddess Freya was starting to call him back to Tionis.

He might not immediately become a priest, but it was fair to say that her direct influence over him had increased. Why, then, had Neltarid concocted this scheme? The god Neltarid would gain nothing at all from this. So why?

Davey could not find an answer to his doubts. So the god answered him, but not through words. Instead, the god showed it. And that was when Davey sensed Neltarid's power. And before he knew it, he already felt like he was being held in someone's arms.

[Can you hear me?]

[Do you hear my words?]

[Oh, priest of vengeance. Do you hear my words?]

According to the rumors, it was the voice of the mad god Neltarid.

But it sounded so much like a young child.

[Spirit born from my land. Do you hear my words?]

The voice came to him so warmly.

[I grant mercy so that the long-accumulated pain can be relieved here.]

[Even if you belong to Freyja, trust me. If you trust me, I will grant you a brief salvation.]

'Why? Why is this happening?'

Before he realized what was going on, Davey had already shed a tear in the consoling person's embrace.

A divine revelation, an aspect of a god—it was so good at the moment. So even if it was just a dream, it would have been fine.

"Hyun-Su," a voice called out to him.

Although Davey's appearance and voice had changed, Yeon-Hee still managed to recognize him in the dream. Sure, she might not remember him when she awakes, but that did not matter.

"Sister..."

"Our cute little brother."

Despite being on the verge of dying, her voice contained the love of a sister who thought of her brother, and it comforted him. The voice made him feel like it was stroking his back so comfortingly.

"I missed you, Hyun-Su."

"Yeah... I missed you too."

In the end, he had to admit what needed to be admitted. It was not that he had no regrets. He was just suppressing them. He was shoving them in the very deep crevices of his mind, pretending they did not exist.

But in the end, Davey could not shake off any longing he had for Hyun-Ah and Yeon-Hee.