Chapter 165

“Yu, Yul-ah!”

As soon as Ha Yu-ri spoke, her younger sister collapsed as if she had fainted.

In a rush, I hugged Ruska for a moment, but there was no choice but to immediately check Ha Yul’s condition.

‘Rekalux vanished, and she lost consciousness right after.’

“Yul-ah! Yul-ah! No, no…!”

Ha Yu-ri, perhaps because her sister had collapsed, was in a state of panic.

“First, calm down, just for a moment…”

After checking if she was breathing, it seemed she was still alive.

“My sister, my sister, what do I do? What… sob…”

“Calm down. Your sister isn’t dead, she’s alive, she just lost consciousness.”

“Aah…”

‘For now…’

I opened Ha Yul’s status window first.

The information displayed was the same as when I first checked it.

However, there was one line that had changed.

[Connection with the owner has been severed. The altered personality has disappeared, but she has fallen into a deep positive coma.]

‘A coma? What’s a positive coma?’

I know absolutely nothing about medical stuff. Of course, I roughly know what a coma is, but a “positive coma”? My head hurts just thinking about it.

“…Listen calmly. Ha Yul is in a coma right now. There’s still a chance for recovery, so let’s sort things out first. You’re injured too, you know.”

“Can she recover? I… I… If Yul-ah doesn’t wake up, I don’t think I can go on living.”

“I’ll help as much as I can, so let’s move for now. We can deal with the rest once we get back. You can’t just leave your sister here like this, can you?”

“I-I’ll do as you say.”

For now, the only ones in decent condition were me and Charis.

I hadn’t done much against Rekalux, and Charis had only used up some mana. Aside from a few minor injuries, she didn’t seem to have any serious wounds.

“…Let’s head back for now.”

******

After returning, Ha Yu-ri’s sister was moved to the Mardan Clan’s house.

I heard she’s been receiving professional care in a medical room for the past few days.

And today, I headed to the Mardan Clan’s house to meet Ha Yu-ri in person.

“…Welcome.”

“Clan Master of Mardan Clan, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Since Ha Yu-ri’s adjutant was also present, I spoke formally to her.

‘Well, I should at least maintain her dignity in front of her clan members.’

After all, as a regular member of Eternity, if I spoke casually to Ha Yu-ri without a care, others might find it strange.

“…Congratulations. Eternity’s reputation has skyrocketed this time.”

“Ah…”

What Ha Yu-ri was referring to was none other than Yoo Ju.

‘Well, she rose faster than expected.’

In the end, one of the vacant ranker positions was taken by Yoo Ju.

There was a lot of talk about a first-year like her becoming a ranker, but her performance in the Swamp of Oblivion was beyond common sense, so it ended up this way.

Yoo Ju didn’t seem to have much thought about becoming a ranker, but in our clan, it was naturally a festive atmosphere.

‘We made a huge fuss about it.’

“Haha… Thank you. I’m at a loss for words hearing such praise from the Clan Master of Mardan Clan.”

At my polite words, Ha Yu-ri seemed unable to hold back and spoke up.

“…You don’t need to escort me right now.”

“Ah, yes. Understood, Master.”

Ha Yu-ri dismissed the adjutant who had been following her.

“You can speak casually now. Hearing formal speech from you… feels awkward at this point.”

“You didn’t have to dismiss the adjutant. It wasn’t particularly uncomfortable for me.”

“…It’s uncomfortable for me to hear formal speech from you.”

We continued talking as we walked. She would guide me to the medical room herself.

“What’s uncomfortable? You were fine with it back at the training facility.”

When I brought up the training facility days, Ha Yu-ri flinched and her expression stiffened.

“…What’s wrong?”

‘Did I make a mistake?’

“No, it’s nothing. Back at the training facility… I was out of my mind, no, I was just wrong to you one-sidedly.”

“Enough. You had other reasons for disliking the Dark Sorcerer anyway.”

When I casually brushed it off, her expression twisted.

‘…What’s up with her?’

“I…”

She started to speak but then closed her mouth. It felt like she wanted to say something but couldn’t bring herself to.

It’s a bit awkward to say this, but back then, Ha Yu-ri was clearly the perpetrator, and I was the victim. Yet now, it felt like I was the one tiptoeing around her feelings.

Well, Ha Yu-ri’s state was a bit off.

‘Is it because of her sister?’

If I were in Ha Yu-ri’s position, I’d probably be out of my mind too.

Ha Yu-ri, who had been silent, cautiously spoke to me.

“Um… excuse me.”

“Huh? Excuse me? Why are you stuttering like that?”

‘…Is she worried I’ll use a command to humiliate her?’

Every time I met Ha Yu-ri, I’d use commands to tease her, so it made sense she’d think that.

“I get what you’re worried about, but don’t be. No matter how crazy I am, I wouldn’t want to mess with you in a situation like this.”

I had no intention of teasing her while going to check on her sister’s condition.

“No, it’s not that. I’m not thinking that…”

“Then what is it? Why are you acting so unlike yourself? You’re really off today.”

“Ah… um… can I ask you something?”

“Since when do you ask for permission to speak? Just say it.”

“…Why are you being so nice to me?”

“…What?”

“Th-this time… you helped me. From your perspective, my sister’s situation has nothing to do with you.”

“…..”

‘Why did I help her…’

Honestly, the reason I helped wasn’t anything special.

Ha Yu-ri was a valuable asset to me, so I helped out of necessity.

Just with a bit of mental care on the side.

‘If she breaks, it’s trouble.’

I’m not sure if Ha Yu-ri has the potential to become a Transcendent Being, but at the very least, she’s worth taking care of.

‘And…’

The image of my siblings who died in a fire, whom I couldn’t save, seemed to reflect in Ha Yu-ri.



“Ah.”

“…Just, I understand a little too.”

“Huh? What…”

“Your feelings of wanting to save your sibling, I can sympathize to some extent.”

“Ah… You have a sibling?”

“…Not a blood sibling, but there were siblings I lived with.”

“On Earth?”

“Yeah, but they all died anyway. In a fire.”

At my words, Ha Yu-ri closed her mouth. Then, she looked at me and awkwardly apologized.

“Ah… I-I’m sorry. I didn’t know…”

“Why are you apologizing? It’s not like you started the fire.”

“Ah, no. That’s not it, but…”

“Anyway, that’s why I understand how you feel about your sibling.”

“……”

“…Just think of it as an investment. I’m doing this to get that much out of you later.”

“…Okay.”

At the mention of getting something out of her later, Ha Yu-ri didn’t seem too displeased.

In fact, she seemed rather happy, which left me flustered.

‘…Shouldn’t she be upset?’

I was essentially saying I’d use her later. Normally, she should be upset.

“…By the way, what about calling that person?”

Since neither Ha Yu-ri nor I had any medical knowledge, after some inquiries, we decided to call someone from Earth who was a doctor.

“He should be here soon. There’s not much time left before the appointment.”

As soon as Ha Yu-ri finished speaking, we arrived at the room where Ha Yul was lying.

‘At least her complexion looks better.’

It seemed there were no major issues with her body. She just needed to regain consciousness.

Ha Yu-ri was looking at her sibling with a worried expression.

“…It’s my sibling. What should I do if she wakes up?”

I quietly listened to her ramble.

“…She’ll definitely resent me. There’s no way she’d like an older sister who couldn’t save her sibling.”

“Well… You’ll only know once she wakes up. Thinking she’ll resent you is just your assumption.”

I didn’t even know what Ha Yu-ri’s sibling’s personality was like.

“But you did save her in the end. It’s a much better situation than the worst-case scenario we imagined, so I don’t think you need to be so negative.”

“…..”

Honestly, this is a lucky case among misfortunes.

If Rekalux, that old monster, had mixed Ha Yul with a monster, it would have been a disaster.

When you think about it, just being able to move Ha Yul to a hospital room and monitor her condition is a really fortunate outcome.

‘Being able to worry is something.’

If it were a truly terrible situation, we wouldn’t be having this conversation in front of Ha Yul.

“What if… just what if…”

“What?”

“What if my sibling wakes up but her personality is gone? What should I do? Then I…”

“…From what I can tell with my ability, her original consciousness hasn’t disappeared. It’s just submerged.”

“…..”

“And… I’m looking into ways to restore consciousness. I found out there have been cases where the self was restored even after being submerged for a long time.”

“Huh?”

At my words, Ha Yu-ri’s eyes widened.

If there’s a precedent of restoring the self in a similar situation, then it’s not impossible for Ha Yul to regain consciousness.

What I told Ha Yu-ri wasn’t a lie.

After the Acacia Clan and I looked into it, we found that such a precedent actually existed.

“However, I need to enter your sibling’s subconscious. The problem is that trying it recklessly could lead to big trouble.”

“Ah…”

That’s why we needed to know exactly what state a vegetative coma is.

If we enter the subconscious in a state with very low chances of recovery, there’s a possibility of shock death.

“Sharis can help with entering the mind.”

Since she specializes in mental attacks, I asked her just in case.

I didn’t expect much, but the answer I got was that it’s possible, which left me stunned.

I expressed concern about potentially harming Ha Yu-ri’s sibling, but she said that mental attacks don’t necessarily destroy the mind and can be used to just enter if the person wills it.

‘In the end, it depends on Ha Yul’s condition.’

If the vegetative coma is a very serious state, it might be better to observe without entering the mind.

But if it’s not too serious and there’s a chance of recovery, we can try entering Ha Yul’s mind to attempt treatment.

‘When is he coming?’

Ha Yu-ri and I arrived early, but I wanted to hear the opinion of the man who was a doctor on Earth.

Knock knock.

“I’m Park Joon-sang, who had an appointment today. May I come in?”

“Yes, yes. Come in.”

Ha Yu-ri personally opened the door and welcomed him.

‘He’s young.’

His voice sounded young, and he looked to be in his early 30s.

But since this isn’t Earth, he wasn’t wearing a doctor’s coat.

“Haha… Nice to meet you. I heard you wanted me to check the patient’s condition…”

The man named Park Joon-sang seemed quite nervous.

He was nervous because of Ha Yu-ri, not me.

‘Well, it’s not every day an ordinary player meets a top 3 Clan Master like this.’

Now that I think about it, Ha Yu-ri seems approachable to me, but to an ordinary player, she’s like a star in the sky, so his reaction is understandable.