Chapter 36

A day had passed since Amon brought the party members to the hospital.

The four were each admitted to separate single rooms.

It wasn’t because Amon was a premium customer, nor was it to squeeze more money out of him.

It’s just that shared rooms didn’t exist in America.

Thanks to that, Amon, who had to take care of them, had to move between the four rooms where the four were admitted.

The first to recover was the blue-haired Hail.

Losing an arm was a serious injury in this world, but it wasn’t life-threatening.

Just stop the bleeding and attach a mechanical arm, and that’s it.

Since Hail had been using a mechanical arm to wield a machine gun, there was no rejection.

Next to regain consciousness was Tori.

She also had mechanical eyes, so she had no aversion to switching to mechanical ones.

The two, fully revived in just a day, immediately went through the discharge process and helped Amon take care of the remaining party members.

It was the second day of hospitalization.

Surprisingly, the yellow-haired mage Paul regained consciousness before the others.

“Ugh…!”

His healthy, sudden awakening reassured the party members.

“Hey, I had an awesome dream!”

Seeing him spout nonsense as soon as he woke up, he seemed fine.

However, the yellow-haired one wasn’t fully revived yet.

“Huh? I can’t feel anything below.”

The moment he said that, the party members’ faces stiffened, and they quickly called for a doctor.

The doctor, strolling into the room with a stethoscope around his neck, immediately began testing the yellow-haired one’s body.

And the diagnosis was…

“Uh… the sutures didn’t go well in a certain area.”

“What does that mean, doctor?”

“I was going to tell you after you fully recovered, but… sigh. Please understand. Uh… the patient won’t be able to use their lower body from now on.”

“What?! Hey! Doctor!! What are you talking about! Oh no! This can’t be! I’m a eunuch!!”

The yellow-haired Even began to have a fit.

Hearing this, his party members’ faces turned serious.

Lower body paralysis.

It didn’t just mean the end of his adventurer life.

He would never be able to control his sphincter or urinate naturally again.

Even more serious was the fact that Even would never be able to pass on his genes naturally to future generations.

Artificial insemination was an option, but finding a woman willing to be with a paralyzed man would be difficult.

The party members couldn’t hide their distress at Even’s cries.

“Waaah!!”

The yellow-haired one’s screams filled the room.

However, there was one person in the room who didn’t pity Even.

“Patient, please calm down.”

It was the doctor.

Even though he knew Even’s condition well, all he could do was calmly tell him to stay composed.

Seeing this, Even’s face turned red as he shouted.

“Do I look calm to you?!”

Tears welled up in his eyes.

But the doctor’s expression didn’t change.

Just as Even was about to call him a psychopath, the doctor spoke again.

“Patient, please calm down. If you keep getting angry, you might start bleeding again. Then even the groin we managed to save could die.”

“…What are you talking about?”

“Most of the lower body nerves are dead, but we managed to save the groin nerve bundle.”

According to the doctor’s explanation, the groin nerves controlled the sphincter, urination, and sexual function.

Hearing this, the yellow-haired one’s expression turned to shock.

“Y-you mean…”

“The patient just can’t run. With rehabilitation and leg implant surgery, you might be able to walk slowly.”

“So I’m not a eunuch?”

“Not yet, but if you keep getting excited, you might become one.”

The yellow-haired one’s screams stopped.

Wiping away the tears in his eyes, he thanked the doctor in a gentlemanly, low voice.

“Thank you, Doctor God.”

The person before him was no ordinary doctor.

This person was a god.

The doctor pursed his lips and nodded as if it were natural.

It was confidence worthy of the money.

Before leaving the room, the doctor asked the yellow-haired one in a slightly playful voice.

“By the way, I think you were about to say something to me earlier. What was it… you psychopath?”

“-I’ll make a five-line poem with it.”

Everyone in the room burst out laughing.

—

A week into the hospitalization.

Paul still hadn’t regained consciousness.

His heart rate and blood pressure were stable, but he just wouldn’t wake up.

Not only Paul’s lover Tori, but the other party members also waited for him in front of his room.

Just as everyone was silently praying for his return.

“Ugh… ugh…”

“Paul? Paul!”

A sound came from Paul, who hadn’t shown any reaction for a week.

Among the group, Tori was the first to rush to him.

While the companions hugged him and filled the room with tears, Amon headed to the administrative office to start the discharge process.

And when he checked the bill, he couldn’t help but freeze.

‘A hundred million…’

It was a bill that truly made him gasp.

‘Oh no…’

He had prepared himself for the cost of moving and saving four people, but facing it head-on was overwhelming.

Paying wasn’t the problem.

He had enough savings to grit his teeth and pay.

After all, he earned thousands of dollars every month just by breathing, so daily life wouldn’t be affected.

However, the moment he paid, Amon would have to sell his future.

If Amon or Sonia ever needed to rely on the hospital, they’d be on the express train to bankruptcy.

Even if they didn’t need the hospital, having no savings would cause anxiety in itself.

Not only that.

Amon would have to give up growth for several months.

It meant he couldn’t upgrade his equipment or buy essence.

‘Damn it. Do I have to pour my entire fortune into people I just met?’

No matter how much Amon was filled with goodwill and conviction, swiping his card again was too much generosity.

‘This is really not it… not it…’

Amon, pressing his temples with his fingers, fell deep into thought.

The administrative staff looked at him with suspicion.

“Um… sir? Are you unable to pay…?”

“I have the money. I just need to think for a bit, so wait a moment.”

Amon, unknowingly sharp with the staff, continued to ponder.

Finally, after much deliberation, he handed over his card, his voice strained.

“Can I do installments…?”

“Yes, guardian. Installments are possible. Would you like to do a full installment or a half installment?”

“…Half installment.”

“Understood. Thank you, guardian. It’s confirmed, and you can pay tomorrow when the patient is discharged.”

“Okay…”

He left the administrative office with a grimace.

Amon, weighed down by a sense of emptiness, trudged back to the party.

His mind was filled with curses and self-loathing.

‘Ah, this sucker. Just give it all away. You’re a cat with a bowl, what are you pretending to be an adult for? Ah, you idiot!!’

On the way back to the room,

He even tried headbanging and trembled in the elevator.

When he was almost back to the room, he seriously considered turning back.

‘Should I just tell them to pay for themselves?’

But in the end, he didn’t.

He thought he might as well keep up appearances.

After fixing his expression and pretending everything was fine, he massaged his cheeks for five minutes.

He entered Paul’s room.

“Phew… congratulations, Paul. I’ve already told the administrative office, so you can just be discharged tomorrow.”

“Huh? What about the money?”

“I paid it.”

“Didn’t you call D4C too?”

“Yeah. I paid for that too.”

“No… that…”

The atmosphere in the room grew heavier at Amon’s words.

The party members, feeling guilty, couldn’t lift their heads.

Even the mood-maker yellow-haired one, knowing how much Amon had paid, couldn’t crack a joke.

The blue-haired Hail, whose humor function was removed, and the bold Tori.

They couldn’t even look Amon in the eye out of guilt.

In that silence, Paul furrowed his brows for a moment before returning to his usual state.

And he said to Amon.

“Amon. I’m really sorry, but can we talk privately for a bit? Can you give us some space?”

Amon, also uncomfortable with the room’s atmosphere, gratefully accepted Paul’s offer and stepped outside.

As Amon paced in front of the room for about ten minutes, the door opened.

“We’re done talking. Come in.”

Amon re-entered the room through the door Tori held open.

The first thing he saw was a purple orb in Paul’s hand.

“??”

No way.

This atmosphere.

“Here, take it.”

Paul held out the essence.

Amon was too stunned to take it.

Seeing this, Tori pushed Amon’s back, and only then did he carefully take the essence.

“This is…”

“It’s a unique-grade essence. It’s from the mid-boss we defeated this time.”

“No… that…”

Amon, flustered, couldn’t continue.

When they reached the boss room, he was in no state to imagine the party had obtained an essence.

True to being a hardcore gamer, his heart started racing the moment the essence was in his hand.

‘No, no, calm down, idiot. You don’t even know what the essence does.’

To emphasize again, what mattered in an essence wasn’t its grade but its effect.

Even if it was a legendary-grade essence, if its effect was something like <Becoming Sturdy>, no one would use it.

But even a normal-grade essence with an effect like <The first attack electrocutes the enemy>, which created a significant variable, would have people lining up to buy it.

What mattered wasn’t firepower but variables.

So, the unique-grade essence in his hand was—

“It’s <Sky Step>.”

“!!!!”

Hearing the mage Paul’s appraisal, Amon’s eyes widened.

Sky Step?

Amon’s mouth hung open.

The effect of Sky Step was simple.

[Allows you to step on air.]

In short, it was a double jump.

‘What the…’

Amon’s face turned to shock.

A double jump might seem like a simple effect, but its versatility was unmatched by any other essence.

It allowed you to go places you couldn’t, dodge attacks you couldn’t avoid, and appear where enemies least expected.

Of course, it couldn’t let you stay in the air like flying, and once you jumped, it wouldn’t recharge until you touched the ground again, but even considering that, its versatility was outstanding.

No, it was far superior.

Flying essences could be detected, but there was no way to detect a double jump.

If you were to list essence tiers in the game, it would be tier 0.

It was just human rights.

So much so that in a VS match between a normal-grade double jump and a legendary-grade essence, people would choose the double jump without hesitation.

And now, such an essence was unique-grade.

“Crazy…”

A curse slipped out of Amon’s mouth.

He couldn’t help it.

Sky Step was an essence whose cooldown decreased and the number of steps increased as its grade went up.

At normal grade, you could double jump every 10 seconds, and at abnormal grade, every 5 seconds.

From rare grade, it recharged as soon as you touched the ground.

And at unique grade…

‘Triple jump…!’

Amon’s hands trembled.

If he were to put this essence up for auction, the bidding would start at five times the amount Amon had just spent.

That’s how valuable this essence was.

‘The kindness coin is skyrocketing!!!’

He understood why people couldn’t stop chasing coin surges.

Dopamine was unmatched by any other entertainment.

“Lord…!!”

Unable to contain his overwhelming emotion, Amon let it out.

Hearing this, the room’s occupants burst into laughter.

“You’re looking for the Goddess in this situation!”

“Alright, alright. I’ll go to the church and make a donation later.”

“Oh my, I can’t take this, really.”

Only then did Amon realize his own disgrace.

With the essence in his hand, he had lost his rationality and revealed his greed too honestly.

“No… that…”

“It’s fine. You take it now. We’re all planning to retire from adventuring after this.”

“…What?”

“At first glance, it seems fine, but after replacing our bodies this time, it seems we’ve reached the limit of our implant tolerance. If we keep pushing ourselves as adventurers, our implant psychosis might kick in.”

“Ah…”

Implant psychosis.

Hearing that term, Amon couldn’t say anything.

Humans have a limit to the number of procedures their bodies can handle based on their mental strength, and if they exceed that limit, they gradually lose their minds and go insane.

The insane gorilla Amon had encountered before was an example.

According to Paul, as each member replaced more body parts with machines, they had reached the brink of their tolerance limit.

If they got greedy here, they could turn into insane gorillas.

Of course, this tolerance limit was based solely on intuition, but this party seemed to have some know-how.

“Can you feel it?”

“Meditation, contemplation, and experience.”

It was hard to explain because it was based on intuition.

As he listened, Amon’s gaze shifted between the essence and Paul.

Part of him wanted to tell them to use it as retirement funds.

But the thought of giving up the triple jump was unbearable.

As if reading Amon’s thoughts from his expression, Paul pushed his back.

“We’re planning to retire and start supplying mercenary equipment. If you feel bad, use it and promote our products.”

Amon decided to rely on Paul’s consideration.

“Thank you.”

He immediately used the essence.

As the essence was destroyed, purple light particles were absorbed into Amon’s feet.

‘???’

Normally, it should have been absorbed into equipment, but Amon’s body absorbed it directly.

‘What’s this?’

At the same time, the instructions for using the triple jump played clearly in his mind.

The party members, unaware of Amon’s confusion, thought the essence had been absorbed into his socks and congratulated him.

“Become a legend for sure!”

At the yellow-haired one’s cheers, Amon quickly returned to reality.

Well, it was much better to have it absorbed directly into his body rather than into equipment.

Thinking that what’s good is good, Amon stopped thinking about it.

Then, suddenly, one fact came to mind.

“Oh right. I’ll be back in a bit.”

“Why?”

“I’m going to get some pizza.”

“Oh… okay…”

The party members let Amon leave the room without question.

As he left the room and headed to get pizza,

Amon stopped by the administrative office again.

“We love you, guardian. How can I help you?”

“You know how I said I’d do installments earlier? Can I change the payment method?”

“Yes. Since the payment hasn’t been processed yet, you can change it anytime.”

“Then I’ll pay in full.”

Unlike before, he willingly handed over his card.

He had obtained a tier 0 essence; what was this petty cost?

The staff, seeing Amon suddenly smiling and wanting to pay in full, tilted her head.

‘Did he win the lottery or something?’

She wasn’t entirely wrong.

Thinking that, she processed the payment with Amon’s card.

Even as a staggering amount was deducted, Amon remained all smiles.

After getting his card back, Amon asked before leaving.

“Oh, by the way, is it okay to eat pizza in the patient’s room?”

“It’s fine in the patient’s room.”

“Ah, thank you.”

Amon headed straight to the pizza place.

About an hour later.

Amon returned to the room with a tower of pizzas.

“It’s a party!”

The impromptu pizza party continued until they were discharged the next day.

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