Chapter 172
Chapter 172
Slight dizziness accompanied the long-awaited 'contract completion' message. Enduring the dizziness, I closed and opened my eyes; I naturally expected to see Seo Dawon or the other servants in front of me, as had happened before.
But...
'...Where am I?'
An unfamiliar room greeted my bewildered self as soon as I opened my eyes.
To be exact, a panoramic view of a hospital room came into view. I was lying atop a bed, with an electrocardiogram next to me, that beeped with every tick of the graph on it's screen.
As soon as I dropped my gaze to look down at my body, I saw that I was wearing a patient's garb as well and a thick needle inserted into my arm. When I followed the connecting tube, I saw a saline fluid packet hanging from a stand.
Let alone after a [Vengeful Ghost Memory], I had never woken up in a hospital room before, so I was flustered. Furthermore, my lips were dry, and my throat, as if it was being ripped apart, hurt far too much to speak. It felt as if I was in a particularly bad condition.
'I was fine up until I summoned 'Woo Ragi.' Did something happen afterwards?'
At that moment, I thought deeply about the last memory playback. I moved my hand a little, but I felt a stinging pain poking into my skin. Looking down, I saw a blue bruise. While I was unconscious, a needle must have been stuck into the back of my hand.
'I shouldn't move around recklessly...'
Something must have happened after the summoning. Ominously, I couldn't even see the noisy servants that had always surrounded me.
'Seo Dawon.'
Just in case, I quietly called out his name, but, as expected, everything was still calm. The same was true of Lackey.
So, I decided not to move around futilely, rolled my eyes, and suddenly thought, 'Wouldn't I be able to get a grasp of the current situation if I manifested the [Status Window?]'
The [Status Window] could appear before my eyes with just a thought. Since the window updated in real time, it was highly likely that I could be informed of any changes.
'[Status Window]!'
So, I read the words that popped up before me, but... Somehow, my situation was quite grave.
'What's this penalty?'
An ominous 'minus' sign accompanied all the stats in the [Status Window]. In addition, all of the [Class Skills] had turned red, which meant that there were restrictions on their use.
However, it all felt so utterly unfair while observing the [Status window]-there were no warning messages or any foreboding signs that something bad would happen before pushing ahead with summoning Woo Ragi. The summoning activated without problems and now the system informs me that I've gone beyond my own limits? 1 Did it think I'd just accept that?
"...What is this...bullcrap...? Ngh... My side fucking hurts..."
I straightened my torso in righteous anger from the absurdity of the situation, but my condition was really the worst. I might not have been scared from the [Status Window], but it seems as if my body suffered pain that could only result from being beaten all over.
In the end, I lifted my head briefly, violently trembled, before plummeting back onto the plush pillow. If anyone had been watching from the side, they probably would have just seen me stretching my neck a little before suddenly lying down once again.
-Creak.
Fortunately, I was not alone for long. A nurse opened the door and entered; she quickly approached me as soon as she saw my open eyes.
"Choi Lee-kyung-nim? How's your condition?"
"......It's A-Alright."
"Wait a moment."
Afterwards, a doctor entered, and I underwent a few tests. I was ferried to and fro, through the hospital hallway, while lying on the medical cot; I felt a little anxious after seeing the expressions on the hospital staff that were moving me.
'This is the Ahn Hospital...'
Who on earth moved me here? Also, will I not be able to see Seo Dawon or the other servants until the penalty ends? When will the penalty end? etc... All these thoughts occupied my brain.
Also, I was a little hesitant to ask the doctor or the nurses about the other surrounding situations. I was a little suspicious of their attitude-their tendency to restrict information from their patient. I had no idea who was paying for the hospital fee either, so I just naturally lied down as I was told without saying another word.
However, when I returned to my hospital room after various exams, an unexpected person was waiting for me.
"Lee-kyung-ssi..."
"...Hui-seo-ssi?"
"I'm relieved, truly..."
It was Koo Hui-seo.
* * *
"Was Hui-seo-ssi the one to hospitalize me?" I asked.
"...Yes..." Koo Hui-seo replied in a somewhat hoarse voice. He then approached my prone self cautiously; his eyes seemed to be swollen and red. As if he had cried.
Hui-seo held a flamboyantly patterned handkerchief in his hand; while I stared at him, he dabbed at his eyes with that handkerchief several times. My heart wobbled a little bit at his cow-like gentle eyes dripping tears.
For some reason, I assumed he was crying like that because I was hospitalized. Because he kept staring at me like that... Furthermore, like a startled young child, he stayed at a distance while sniffling and dabbing at his eyes without being clingy, like he usually would.
Therefore, I waited for him to calm down, but Koo Hui-seo had only sniffed at the occasional 30-minute intervals.
Since he didn't seem to have any intention of speaking, I eventually asked him a question first. "Excuse me, are you crying because of me?"
"Yes..."
"Uh...Mm. Well, I don't have any idea of how I ended up here either..."
"Lee-kyung-ssi, you almost died..."
I thought he was crying a lot just a while ago, but, after mentioning that I almost died, it was as if a faucet had been opened.
Surprised and frightened 2, I raised my hand to stop him. Though it wasn't my intention, Koo Hui-seo took my open arms as an invitation to hug me and dragged me into an embrace.
The weight of his body pressing down on me was a bit heavy. However, after feeling his wet and warm face rubbing against my chest, it felt a little cruel to push him away. Left with no choice, I sighed loudly and patted the man's back. As soon as I did that, his grumbling sound grew larger.
Like that, 10 minutes passed by. Koo Hui-seo still refused to leave my embrace, but his tears had stopped.
Even though I thought the other was a bit shameless-still laying in my arms without being embarrassed of his tears-I didn't push him away. I'm just too used to this person's bizarre actions now. Furthermore, since he was only placidly clinging onto me, I wasn't scared either...
"Excuse me... Please explain. How did you know to come to my lodgings and take me to the hospital? How many days have I been hospitalized?"
"3 days..."
I paused his nuzzling in order to ask some necessary questions; Koo Hui-seo replied, mumbling his answers onto my collarbone. I pushed him away, telling him not to do that, but, since his blinking eyes were on the verge of crying again, I sighed and let the other do as he pleased.
With my tacit permission, Koo Hui-seo continued to like a baby. Only after I dryly coughed a few times, did he raise his torso. Then, he explained the situation to me with a more placid attitude, "Lee-kyung-ssi called me...Don't you remember?"
"I did?"
"Yes... You called me twice. You called, didn't say anything, and then called again..."
"Is that why you decided to find me at my lodgings?"
"Yes... I wondered if there was something you wanted to say that couldn't be conveyed over a call..."
Since I had no memory of that, I assumed that those were the servant's actions. Knowing that I'd been penalized, they must have contacted Koo Hui-seo, the most useful person at that time.
Since they couldn't manifest properly in the world without my intervention...maybe they chose to use the phone with what little physical force they could exert...
TL: Bonus chapter as promised! Thanks to Kie and Sh1kari for the Kofi >.< Maybe I can get through my backlog of thanking people sometime soon >.<
The other thing I'm thinking about is making a quick discord for this + my other series, so it's easier to compile fanart/have people contact me about errors/typos etc!
Footnotes