Chapter 39
I’m not sure what misunderstandings they have, but I’ll just let it slide for now.
“Haha… Well, more importantly, how’s your wound?”
When I tried to change the subject, Baek Yi-heon nodded nonchalantly.
“I’ve bandaged it, so it’s fine.”
One might think it’s absurd to say that after being stabbed in the stomach, but in his case, it was a valid treatment method.
We don’t have a healer in our group anyway.
Since this temple was relatively safe from monster invasions, we decided to rest until Baek Yi-heon’s wound healed before heading into the city.
‘A day or two should be enough.’
Given his monstrous recovery ability.
At that time, I thought so carelessly.
💎
On the third day of our stay at the temple…
“This can’t be…”
I suppressed a groan as I looked at Baek Yi-heon’s wound after removing the bandage.
Far from healing cleanly, the wound was rotting.
“There’s no way a wound like this wouldn’t heal with the blessing he received!”
“It must have been quite painful, how did you endure it?”
To Yudam’s question beside me, Baek Yi-heon answered with a slightly embarrassed expression.
“…I just thought it was in the process of healing.”
I bit my lip hard to stop myself from scolding him for being so insensitive.
I had seen him training with a wooden sword in the temple’s backyard just yesterday.
“Is it possible that the monster planted larvae in the wound?”
“It wasn’t the parasite’s main body, so probably not.”
I quickly replied to her question.
“And there’s no way a low-level monster could survive in an awakened person like Baek Yi-heon-ssi’s body.”
But if that wasn’t the case, even I couldn’t easily guess why the wound hadn’t healed.
“…Perhaps.”
At that moment, Yudam, who had been closely examining the wound, muttered softly.
“Perhaps what?”
“It seems that monk might have applied poisonous herbs from the temple to the blade.”
I urgently asked Yudam, who was explaining with a troubled face.
“Poisonous herbs?! Why were such things in the temple?”
“Right after the April 1st Incident, many injured people flocked to our temple. Among them was someone skilled with herbs who helped with treatment.”
Yudam added slightly.
“The poison was prepared in case monsters appeared.”
There was such a person?
But now wasn’t the time to dwell on that.
“Then there must be an antidote, right?”
“Yes. There should be some left in the main hall, probably prepared in case humans were harmed.”
Only after Yudam nodded did I relax.
“Phew…”
Then, looking at Baek Yi-heon’s wound, which must be very painful, I muttered.
“That’s a relief…”
Seeing my expression, Baek Yi-heon quickly covered the wound with a bandage again.
Even in this situation, this man is worried about me worrying about him.
“I’m fine.”
Then, this person who rarely smiles tries to force a smile.
However, his face was unusually pale unlike usual.
“I’m not worried. Once we find the antidote, you’ll recover quickly.”
I said confidently, putting on an unperturbed expression.
But ever since seeing his blackened wound, my heart had been racing.
‘…Why do I have such an ominous feeling?’
I raised one hand to my pounding heart.
Since earlier, I had the sensation that I was missing something.
💎
Yudam returned from the main hall with a pale face.
“…It seems they burned all the antidotes.”
At that moment, I could tell my face had lost all color without looking in a mirror.
“Damn. For a parasite, it’s thorough.”
Grinding my teeth, I hurriedly exclaimed.
“Then can’t we make new ones?”
“Well, that person did share the herb combination, but… strangely, even when following it exactly, it doesn’t produce the same effect.”
Damn it.
Feeling things were getting complicated, I ruffled my hair and asked urgently again.
“Then, where is that person now? Why did they leave the temple?”
“They were taken. The Dowonhyang Guild took everyone away as soon as the injured recovered.”
Again, it’s Dowonhyang.
“Then, if we go there, we can find that man, right?”
“Yes.”
“You remember his face and name, right?”
“Of course. Especially the name, it’s hard to forget.”
“…What?”
Yudam smiled faintly.
“We shared the same name, although our surnames were different.”
Suddenly, a chilling sensation ran down my spine.
“By any chance, was his surname… Choi? Was it Choi Yudam?”
“That’s right. How did you know?”
Yudam asked, seeming surprised.
Ah, now everything makes sense.
That the man could treat all the injured with mere herbs.
That even when making medicine with the same combination, it couldn’t produce the same healing effect.
It was all possible because that man, Choi Yudam, was a healer contracted with Gandharva.
Despite hearing news of the Choi Yudam I had been searching for so desperately, I couldn’t smile.
I bit my lip as I looked down at Baek Yi-heon.
‘…If that’s poison made by Choi Yudam, this is really serious.’
I had believed that since it was Baek Yi-heon, he could overcome the wound eventually even if it was difficult.
But if it was poison made by an awakened one, and moreover an avatar of Gandharva, even the great Baek Yi-heon wouldn’t be able to handle it.
“…We need to leave, as quickly as possible.”
Before that poison spread, we needed to go to this Dowonhyang place and find Choi Yudam.
💎
We immediately left the temple and headed to downtown Busan in our hidden camper van.
There’s no time to hesitate.
In just three days, Baek Yi-heon’s wound had started to rot.
‘Who knows what will happen if we delay any longer.’
Damn it.
Choi Yudam. For a healer to leave such a powerful poison at the temple, is he in his right mind?
I cursed at the man whose face I didn’t even know yet as I floored the accelerator like a madman.
As a result of driving like a lunatic…
Screech—
“…There it is. We can see it from afar.”
I muttered, gripping the steering wheel tightly after parking the car on a deserted hill.
In the distance, we could see a massive stone wall that seemed to reach about 3 meters in height.
“Certainly…”
I murmured quietly as I stared at the sight.
It hasn’t even been a month since the Gate Outbreak occurred.
To have built such a large barrier already…
‘At this rate, they must have started construction right after the incident… Just who is this man called Gain?’
As I chewed my lip while looking at the construction site, I let go of the steering wheel and slumped down in the back seat.
“We should make a plan first.”
We couldn’t just barge in there and ask, ‘Is there someone here named Choi Yudam?’
“Moreover, we’ve fought with Dowonhyang guild members at the outlet before. Someone might remember my face.”
“Are you certain that Yudam is in there?”
Just as I opened my mouth to answer Baek Yi-heon’s question, which he painfully uttered while clutching his wound…
“Well, there is a Yudam here too.”
Yudam’s calm response made me momentarily forget what I was going to say.
Seeing my confused face, she added with a serene expression.
“That was a joke.”
“…Oh, really? I couldn’t tell because your expression didn’t change at all.”
I laughed very awkwardly.
How can someone make a joke so calmly and seriously?
I had noticed it at the temple too, but she really had a subtle way of saying whatever she wanted to say.
“It is confusing. It’s also cumbersome to use surnames every time.”
After pondering for a moment, I spoke up.
“…Then should we call you Bhikkhuni Yudam after all? No, wait. That’s even longer, isn’t it?”
“I hear that nowadays, secular people use nicknames among friends by dropping the last syllable.”
Yudam said something that sounded like an old person with a face like a teenager, then calmly added,
“Why don’t we do that too? He would be Choi Yu. I would be… Lee Yu.”
She smiles with her characteristic serene face.
For a moment, my eyes wavered greatly.
Asking to be called by a nickname.
In my entire life, I had never called anyone by such a term.
And more than anything else…
‘Among…. friends.’
Why does my heart flutter so much at that small word?
💎
Thank you for reading! ♡
