Chapter 25

“That’s a relief. I was prepared to pay for scar revision if needed.”

“…I appreciate the sentiment.”

Why not simply avoid punching me in the first place rather than offering the cure afterward? Or at least pull your punch a little?

Grumbling internally, he watched the elevator doors slide open. Offering direct private access without a hallway like a penthouse, the doors revealed a riotously colorful living room. The space exploded with vibrant hues, as though an entire forty-eight-crayon box had come to life: furniture, wallpaper, and accent pieces in every imaginable shade.

“Oh, you’re here?”

Shim Woo-joo was waiting right in the center of that dazzling room. Eui-rim bowed politely from the waist.

“Hello.”

“Hello, Hunter Kang Eui-rim. Good to see you again—though this is probably the first time you’re meeting me conscious.”

“Yes, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” Eui-rim replied, bowing once more.

Having encountered her in his previous life, this wasn’t truly a first meeting for him either. Still, he had never seen her looking so vibrant and relaxed. This was likely her true self.

“Have a seat. I won’t keep you long,” Woo-joo said cheerfully.

Seo Hae-gun bypassed the sofa she offered, heading straight for the kitchen instead. He seemed to visit frequently, navigating her home with effortless familiarity.

Eui-rim watched in silence as Hae-gun poured coffee from a designer machine. More than anything, discovering that Shim Woo-joo and Seo Hae-gun were close friends came as a shock.

As two of the nation’s handful of S-ranks, mutual acquaintance was expected, yet he had never heard so much as a whisper that they were close friends. He wondered why they had kept their connection strictly hidden from the public.

“I heard you were a healer,” Woo-joo began, settling into the armchair opposite him. “That you worked at Seon-i Public Health Center before circumstances forced you to step down.”

Eui-rim straightened his posture and met her gaze. “Yes, that’s correct.”

“You can’t manifest healing skills at all anymore?”

“No, none at all.”

“How did that happen? It’s extraordinarily rare for awakened skills to simply vanish.”

“I haven’t been able to determine the cause myself. I simply woke up one morning, and they were gone.”

He suspected it was the toll exacted for crossing the timeline, but he could hardly confide that to Shim Woo-joo.

Woo-joo nodded with a thoughtful expression before moving on. “Did you complete the Gaia re-evaluation?”

“Yes, I just finished the secondary examination earlier today.”

“Then the Association will probably summon you again soon. I hope you can figure out a plausible explanation before then. The bureaucrats over there love nothing more than hounding people until they get answers.”

In fact, a text from Yoo Tae-geun had arrived the previous evening—warning him that an official notice requesting a follow-up inquiry would arrive soon, so he should prepare himself.

“Well, Hae-gun will run interference for you,” Woo-joo added, jerking a thumb toward the kitchen. “Despite his prickly exterior, he looks after his own guild members remarkably well.”

“I didn’t realize the two of you were close,” Eui-rim noted.

“Who knows? Rather than close, we’re just old acquaintances. We both awakened quite young,” Woo-joo said, waving a hand casually. “The reason we act distant in public isn’t complicated. The higher-ups despise seeing S-ranks socialize. So we keep in touch strictly off the radar.”

“…I see.”

A quiet sigh nearly slipped past his lips at an explanation he had never once considered.

They hate seeing S-ranks associate with each other? Wouldn’t it be safer for top-tier hunters to cooperate?

“Too many old geezers in the ministry tremble at the thought of S-ranks banding together to stage a coup,” Woo-joo remarked dryly.

Surprised by a shadow falling over his shoulder, Eui-rim turned to find Seo Hae-gun, who had approached soundlessly, holding out a steaming ceramic mug. “Want some?”

“Ah, yes. Thank you,” Eui-rim said, accepting the mug with both hands.

He had assumed Hae-gun was only making coffee for himself, so the gesture was surprisingly thoughtful. Taking a sip of the rich brew, Eui-rim slid over on the sofa to make room for Hae-gun to sit beside him.

“Oho, look at you two getting along already,” Woo-joo remarked with a sly smirk.

Seo Hae-gun simply took a sip of his coffee without answering, clearly refusing to indulge her teasing.

“Well, it’s impressive. Maybe it’s his mental resilience, but he sits quite composed even sandwiched between two S-ranks. That’s no small feat for a D-rank.”

Naturally, Woo-joo was not one to let the silence sit. Having had her say, she pushed herself up from her armchair.

“Anyway, enough small talk. Shall we get down to business?” Clapping her hands lightly, Woo-joo drew their attention with a professional smile. “You’ve likely heard already, but I asked to see you to re-examine your condition. You were unconscious during our previous encounter, so I couldn’t run a thorough diagnosis.”

“Does an in-depth diagnosis require the patient to be conscious?” Eui-rim asked.

“Yes. To be honest, the last time I had to run an examination this comprehensive was on that guy sitting next to you. Usually, a passing glance is enough for me to read symptoms.” Woo-joo tapped the corner of her eye with a fingertip, offering a reassuring grin. “No need to tense up. I’m just checking for lingering debuffs and seeing which restorative affinities your body will accept. It won’t hurt at all.”

“Understood. I appreciate your help,” Eui-rim said, bowing his head respectfully.

He didn’t know how much of his metaphysical state she could perceive, but opportunities to be diagnosed by an S-rank healer were practically nonexistent, so cooperating was the wisest choice. Even if an anomaly surfaced, feigning ignorance was always an option, so he felt no real anxiety.

Snap

A crisp snap resonated through the room. While Eui-rim had been lost in thought, Shim Woo-joo had snapped her fingers to draw his attention back.

Oops. How discourteous. Focus on Senior Woo-joo.

Exhaling softly, he prepared to apologize.

Or rather, he intended to exhale and apologize.

“…”

Why won’t my voice work?

It felt as though his vocal cords had knotted tightly together. Not a single syllable could escape. His throat constricted as if clamped in a vise, and a sudden, violent heat surged through his core, as though liquid fire had been poured into his stomach.

In the next heartbeat, the world plunged into absolute pitch-blackness. He had been sitting in the middle of a brightly colored living room a second ago, yet like a sandcastle obliterated by a tidal wave, every shred of reality collapsed, swallowed whole by the void.

Splash, splash…<

Then, alongside that strange, echoing sound, his vision cleared.

In a hazy world veiled in mist, strangely familiar figures sat clustered together, dipping their hands into a pool of water and splashing about playfully.

The instant their gazes locked onto him, Eui-rim recognized them.

The entities who had weighed his soul and cast him across the threshold of time.

They were the Five Fingers he had encountered before crossing the timeline.

[Not yet.]<

[Next time…]<

Their voices dissolved into echoes in a split second, scattering away. Behind them, a pair of iridescent eyes opened, and like morning light dispelling shadows, the darkness slowly receded.

“Gasp…!”

Air surged back into his lungs, accompanied instantly by violent nausea. His ears felt muffled as though submerged underwater, but after a few seconds, ambient sound rushed back into sharp focus.

“Eui-rim-ssi.”

Lifting his head, Eui-rim met Seo Hae-gun’s gaze. Hae-gun’s hands gripped his shoulders firmly, his brow furrowed in a sharp scowl.

“Holy fuck… what the hell was that?!”

A harsh shriek broke through the room.

Tearing his gaze from those piercing blue-gray irises, Eui-rim turned toward the cry to find Shim Woo-joo clutching her face, groaning in agony. Blood welled beneath her palms, streaming down her cheeks and fingers to drip onto the carpet.

“Your eye… you’re bleeding,” Eui-rim stammered, horrified.

Hae-gun was the first to react. Grabbing a box of tissues from the side table, he pressed a handful into Woo-joo’s trembling hands.

“Are you alright?” Hae-gun asked.

“Pardon? Ah, yes… I’m fine,” Eui-rim replied, shaking his head. “Right now, Senior Shim Woo-joo is—”

“I’m fine too,” Woo-joo wheezed, wiping her face. “Just… thoroughly shaken up.”

Tossing the bloodstained tissues into the bin, she fumbled across the coffee table, grabbed a small dropper bottle of saline solution, and squeezed several drops directly into her irritated eyes.

Is that enough? Doesn’t an injury like that require advanced healing?

Fortunately, his worry was short-lived. Woo-joo’s assurance proved true; after blinking several times, her bloodshot eyes cleared back to normal. Exhaling a ragged breath, she slumped back against the sofa cushions. Triggering her appraisal skill had clearly drained an immense amount of mana.

“I’ve never encountered anything like that before,” she muttered, pressing the back of her hand against her brow. “Even when I diagnosed Seo Hae-gun, it didn’t backlash this hard.”

“Is it that bad?” Eui-rim asked.

“Who knows? I honestly can’t tell. The real problem is that I couldn’t see anything at all.”

The confession left Eui-rim in stunned bewilderment.

Couldn’t see anything? Does that mean an S-rank healer couldn’t read my condition at all? But why?

Could it be connected to the vision I just saw?

“No need to worry. She’ll recover in no time,” Hae-gun offered quietly, noticing Eui-rim’s dazed expression. “When it comes to self-healing alone, she’s better than I am.”

Hae-gun assumed Eui-rim was rattled by Woo-joo’s violent reaction.

“Yeah,” Woo-joo agreed with a rough groan, making no attempt to hide her frustration. “I couldn’t read a single damn thing.”

“Could it be that my mental-type skill blocked it?” Eui-rim broached cautiously, wondering if Shackles of Oblivion had triggered a defense, but Woo-joo shook her head in flat denial.