Chapter 70: Episode 18. Rank Up

EPISODE 18. Rank up

Kim Woo-jin, even after his energy, which had been running wild, calmed down, he could hardly come to his senses and slept. It was only after a full day had passed that he opened his eyes.

"Uu..."

Around 5 a.m., Kim Woo-jin searched for water with a groaning sound. As I waited for him to wake up without leaving my seat, I brought a cup of lukewarm water to his mouth.

Kim Woo-jin, who took the water and drank like a baby bird eating food without knowing who gave it, opened his closed eyes and looked at me.

"...Han Yi-gyeol?"

"Oh."

Kim Woo-jin made a surprised face and jumped his upper body. I set the empty glass of water on the side table and sat down on the chair next to the bed.

"Here is..."

"Guild hospital room. You are waking up in two days now."

"It's been two days? How come..."

"I heard you collapsed when the surgery was over. Don't you remember?"

"Fainting..."

Perhaps because Kim Woo-jin had just woken up, his mind was still hazy. After thinking for a while, the guy stuttered in a confused voice.

"My body, was a little hot. I thought it was a cold..."

After staring blankly at me for a moment, he wrinkled his eyebrows and grabbed my shoulder.

"Where are you hurt? Are you okay? The bleeding didn't stop, I'm afraid something will happen before you get to the hospital...!"

"I'm fine, so calm down."

Kim Woo-jin's eyes were red as if they were about to shed tears at any moment. His hand, which was holding my shoulder tightly, trembled.

The fact that he had worried about me enough to lose the balance of his energy could be felt on my skin again. I thought he would be even more anxious if I reacted emotionally, so I unbuttoned my shirt while speaking as calmly as possible.

"Now, see for yourself. No scars left, right?"

I unbuttoned the button all the way to reveal my wounded side. Kim Woo-jin, who blinked his eyes several times and stared at my body tenaciously, gently swept my waist with a careful touch.

"Are you satisfied now?"

"...ung."

Only then did Kim Woo-jin breathe a sigh of relief. I buttoned my shirt again and opened my mouth.

"You are more trouble than me. How is your body?"

"It's okay. Rather, it seems to be lighter than before."

Perhaps not noticing that his energy had changed, Kim Woo-jin tilted his head with a puzzled expression. There was no need to hold onto the kid who just woke up and give complicated explanations.

As I got up from his seat, I pressed Kim Woo-jin's shoulder firmly. Kim Woo-jin, who was lying down again, opened his eyes and looked up at me.

"Sleep more. I'll come back with Min Ah-rin-ssi in the morning. You have something to listen to... You will probably be very busy soon."

"Why? What's going on?"

"I'll explain to you when you wake up."

The unstable energy had improved, but he would need a rest as there had been a lot of strain on the body. As I expected, he was tired, but Kim Woo-jin relaxed his body without resisting. He slowly closed his eyes a couple of times and then opened them, hesitatingly, he opened his mouth.

"Han Yi-gyeol."

"Why."

"It's my fault..."

What an apology all of a sudden? I couldn't even respond properly to the random words and looked at him, but Kim Woo-jin continued with a calm expression.

"The question from the gate. Sorry."

"It's okay. It's not something you have to apologize for."

Apologizing was not what he should be doing. Even if you're disappointed, it's me who hasn't changed my choice.

"Before, I wanted to know what you were hiding..."

"......"

"It's fine now. Whatever you do... I will always be by your side."

The quivering words were a bit childish. I was choked with emotions that I couldn't even define.

"Let me do that, Han Yi-gyeol."

I gave a bitter smile to Kim Woo-jin, who looked at me with a pleading gaze, and covered the dishevelled quilt up to his chest.

The deep blue dawn light gently shone on Kim Woo-jin's face. Without giving any answer, I turned around and left the room.

* * *

"Well. The energy is completely back to normal. We can relax now."

Min Ah-rin, who was holding Kim Woo-jin's hand and examining his energy, said with a bright smile.

"I am A-rank..."

After hearing the explanation from me and Min Ah-rin, Kim Woo-jin still couldn't believe his situation.

"You have an appointment for the measurement centre. You will know the detailed abilities when you measure them."

"This is the first case in Korea where the grade has changed... Maybe the media will flock in."

In fact, it was more likely to be a mess than a little crowded. He had moved up two levels from C-rank to A-rank, but there was no way it would be over after a few articles.

"One way or another, it's true that it's something to celebrate. Congratulations, Woo-jin-ssi."

"Yeah. Now that you're an A, your ability will change, so you can stop worrying about being stuck with useless people."

Min Ah-rin and I said a word, Kim Woojin bit his lip and bowed his head slightly. It was the expression that Kim Woo-jin made whenever he was embarrassed.

"Ah! We still have time, so why don't you try this and that to see what kind of ability you might have?"

Min Ah-rin clapped her hands and said excitedly.

"If you use your energy, your ability will be activated. I'm curious. No?"

I nodded my head. Perhaps Kim Woo-jin was of the same mind, with an awkward expression, he raised his energy.

"Um?"

Then there was something blurry next to Kim Woo-jin. As if looking at a screen with poor transmission condition, the crackling shape looked quite similar to Kim Woo-jin at a glance.

"Kim Woo-jin, use your energy more."

"...like this?"

As I said, he used more energy and the shape became much clearer. Min Ah-rin shouted in surprise.

"There are two Woo-jin-ssi!"

Another Kim Woo-jin, made with Kim Woo-jin's ability, looked at me blankly. Kim Woo-jin was bewildered when he saw his own replica.

"Wh, what?"

"Is it like an alter ego? Or you can duplicate everything."

Either way, Kim Woo-jin, who was made in front of me, was quite interesting. I got closer and took a closer look, but I couldn't see anything different from the real thing. Even the mole under the right eyebrow was the same.

"You have to take measurements to find out. But it doesn't look bad either way."

Listening to Min Ah-rin and looked at the fake Kim Woo-jin, and the guy blushed a little and secretly wrapped his arms around my waist and hugged me. Kim Woo-jin jumped up and down when I left it that way because it was fresh for an action he would never actually do.

"What is that bastard doing!"

Hey.

A pure admiration arose at Kim Woo-jin's ferocity, who relentlessly swears at the person who looked just like him, saying that he was that bastard. Whether or not the real was startled, the fake did not stop hugging me but rubbed his face against my shoulder. He looked like a puppy.

"I guess they look the same, but their personalities are different."

"That's interesting."

"You crazy. Don't you let go right now?"

Unlike me and Min Ah-rin, who were just having fun, Kim Woo-jin growled towards the fake with a hideous face. Then, the terrifying fake withdrew his body slightly and dug deeper into me.

Tsk, tsk. I felt sorry for how he looked, so I patted his back and said something.

"Don't do that. What's wrong with him?"

"What?"

"Even though Woo-jin-ssi's face is like that, he looks very pitiful..."

So that's how it works. I asked Kim Woo-jin while hugging the fake.

"Calm down and figure out your ability. Can you connect your sense?"

"Sense?"

Kim Woo-jin hesitated for a moment then carefully nodded his head.

'Um, that's not good.'

As if thinking the same as me, Min Ah-rin said worriedly.

"If the fake gets hurt, Woo-jin-ssi will feel the same pain."

"It would be convenient if you could control it. If not, we have no choice but to be careful with fakes ones."

All of the abilities have their pros and cons. Right now, even with Han Yi-gyeol's wind ability, its utility had been high since then, but its attack power was weaker than other A-rank abilities.

"We don't know for sure yet, but if you're sharing your senses, you shouldn't use it carelessly."

"Uung."

Kim Woo-jin looked at the fake with complicated eyes. It would still be unfamiliar and awkward. I beckoned to him, contemplating what to do.

"Kim Woo-jin. Come here. It's your ability from now on, so you should get to know each other a little bit."

It meant hugging the fake like I did. However, Kim Woo-jin was rather frightened and stepped back.

"Don't wanna."

At the same time as Kim Woo-jin said no, the fake also raised his eyebrows and shook his head. They got along well in weird places.

"It's cute, but Woo-jin-ssi here doesn't speak. Can't he do it?"

"Um, I think..."

I looked down at the fake with blank eyes and said what I had been thinking about for a while.

"What should I say? I don't think his intelligence is that high. It's similar to a dog? The expression of emotions is even more explicit."

"What is it, I feel bad."

Kim Woo-jin's expression turned pale. Even if you don't like fakes, you don't like hearing people who look just like you have low intelligence.

"From what I've heard, it's said that controlling an alter ego is the most difficult ability in this field. It's because Woo-jin-ssi's first time, too. Wouldn't it be possible to master it with practice?"

"It makes sense."

After all, the alter ego now didn't listen to the owner and did what he wanted.

"By the way, it sticks to Yi-gyeol-ssi and doesn't come off. I think it's because it resembles the owner."

At Min Ah-rin's words, the fake glanced at Kim Woo-jin's eyes and came closer to me. Kim Woo-jin's eyes grew fiercer. This is true.

"Yes. Probably..."

Chu.

As I answered, I stopped speaking at the strange feeling I felt on my cheeks. A cute voice resounded in the room filled with serious talk about abilities.

Surprised, I looked to the side and the fake smiled brightly at me. This guy gave me a kiss on the cheek that only babies could do.

"That crazy bastard!"

At the same time as Kim Woo-jin's angry cry, the fake in my arms disappeared in an instant. Kim Woo-jin cut off his energy relentlessly. The inside of my arms was empty, so regrets came pouring in.

"Why are you so angry? That's possible for a kid."

"That's right. It just he was cute."

"Both... both of you are insane."

Kim Woo-jin covered his bright red face with both hands. He seemed to feel shame for what the fake had done. I don't know at how long he would be able to control the alter ego after that.

"Don't do that, think positively about it. It's a pretty good skill."

"Why don't you take this opportunity to negotiate your salary with Master this time? You went from C-rank to A-rank."

"Oh. That's good."

While putting my head together with Min Ah-rin to extort a little more money from Cheon Sa-yeon, someone knocked on the door of the hospital room.

"Good morning."

It was Woo Seo-hyuk who came to visit. After greeting with a blunt voice, he handed the brochure he brought to Kim Woo-jin.

"I will accompany you to the measurement centre. Read the brochure on the way."

"Did Master send you?"

"Yes. You have to leave within 10 minutes to be on time."

If that's the case.

There wasn't much to do, so we decided to leave right away.