Anyway, as a result of a series of events, I ended up spending about two days in a single-person hospital room, enjoying a rather leisurely recuperation.
I ate, slept, and spent the whole day devouring the newspaper and books Han Jae-young had brought . There was nothing else to do.
It was the first ti since I was born as Jeong Da-on that I spent an entire day just eating and sleeping. It felt a bit different.
Of course, it was a bit noisy because Lee Pyeong-hwa was either watching over or keeping an eye on —it's hard to say which.
‘Was I the type to enjoy group living with my peers, even in the military?’
If it were , I would’ve enjoyed sightseeing since I made it all the way to New York, but it’s a strange personality.
“By the way, I think they'll recognize us as having completed basic military training. I heard that yesterday when I was at the embassy being investigated.”
“That’s good news.”
I was relieved to hear this. If they had told to start the training all over again because I went missing during it, I would’ve been really irritated, but it seems they decided to count it as completed.
After all, if a soldier is mishandled during service, the responsibility lies with the governnt.
‘If only every organization were as rational as that.’
“And... they also talked about Seung-hee.”
Lee Pyeong-hwa’s face grew dark as he said this.
Of course, the South Korean side wanted to gather statents to investigate the incident.
Since I couldn’t leave the hospital, I wasn’t involved, but in truth, Han Jae-young and Lee Pyeong-hwa alone had sufficient testimony.
Lee Pyeong-hwa had conducted an investigation related to life in the unit, and it seed that the thought of Seung-hee had resurfaced because of that.
“What did they say?”
“They said that Seung-hee had an overdose due to illegal drugs, causing her magic to run wild. They’re going to investigate our whole training unit.”
“Of course, they would. They’ll need to figure out who brought the drugs in and distributed them.”
“...You really think the culprit is in our unit?”
“I’m surprised that you think it’s possible for the drugs to be brought in from outside.”
The person who handed the drugs to Seung-hee must have been within our unit.
The problem is, ti has passed, so the traces could have been erased, and Seung-hee wasn’t very close to anyone, so there might not be any witnesses.
“Even if the governnt can’t find them, I will.”
“...You really have a lot of confidence.”
After shaking his head, Lee Pyeong-hwa paused for a mont as if hesitating, and then continued.
“You know this, but Seung-hee wasn’t close with anyone in our class... and she wasn’t the type of person who’d easily let anyone approach her. If soone really gave her those drugs, the person who could have done it... would be either or...”
“You’ve already proven to that you weren’t the one, back in the dungeon.”
“...It must’ve been Choi Ji-soo then.”
I was a little surprised, looking up from the newspaper, and stared at Lee Pyeong-hwa.
Lee Pyeong-hwa furrowed his brow.
“What’s with the surprise?”
“I didn’t expect you to bring up that na yourself.”
As I ntioned in the dungeon, I had already placed Choi Ji-soo as the most likely suspect long ago.
As Lee Pyeong-hwa said, Seung-hee was treated as an unimportant soldier in our class, and she wasn’t the type to mingle easily with her peers.
While Lee Pyeong-hwa took care of Seung-hee out of responsibility, there was a strange person who was always with her. That person was Choi Ji-soo.
Seung-hee had a bit of a prickly personality, so I didn’t think she would have taken illegal drugs easily if soone had handed them to her.
But I didn’t expect Lee Pyeong-hwa to ntion Choi Ji-soo as the suspect.
Even when the dungeon monsters had emotionally manipulated us, Lee Pyeong-hwa had defended Choi Ji-soo.
“She’s not the kind of person who would do that, right?”
“I’ve just realized that I’m not in a position to judge others so casually.”
As Lee Pyeong-hwa poured juice into an empty cup he’d placed on the hospital table, he said this.
“To be honest, I thought you were a bit annoying when I first t you. You ca up to trying to be friendly, but you looked at like I was so bug stuck in honey.”
That was a comnt that could easily be misunderstood. I didn’t think I had looked at him like that, but... maybe I had.
“So, I’ve been reflecting. You only really understand people once you’ve spent so ti with them.”
“I don’t know what you an. If you’re referring to the dinsional mishap, Han Jae-young—”
“Han Jae-young told . He said that during the dinsional mishap, he was originally going to interrogate first, but thanks to you taking the lead, he saved a lot of trouble. He said you were thinking of , didn’t he?”
“No, that’s not...”
“So... I just wanted to apologize for what I said last ti about being disappointed after seeing the news. I don’t think that way anymore.”
“...”
Lee Pyeong-hwa’s ears were turning a deep red as he spoke.
...What in the world did Han Jae-young say?
While I was speechless with disbelief, Lee Pyeong-hwa stood up.
He seed unable to stand the awkward atmosphere and was trying to escape.
“Visiting hours are almost over. I’ll co back tomorrow. You should sleep soon.”
With that, Lee Pyeong-hwa hastily ran out of the room.
Since it was a hospital, visiting hours were banned after 6 PM.
Thank goodness.
I wouldn’t have to stay alone with Lee Pyeong-hwa in this awkward and suffocating atmosphere.
“Unbelievable.”
I couldn’t rember when I had said sothing like that, but when I thought about it, I rembered sneaking out of the dormitory and getting scolded by Lee Pyeong-hwa.
And now he was apologizing for that.
‘Am I a fool?’
I didn’t even rember it.
I shook my head.
‘No matter how I think about it, the team composition for this dungeon run was a mistake.’
From now on, I’ll have to avoid these three.
Just as I thought I might finally get so rest now that Lee Pyeong-hwa had left, the mont I settled into the quiet room...
Bzzzzzz!
My phone vibrated.
Co to think of it, even though Lee Pyeong-hwa went back to the hotel, the loudest person was still here.
When I answered the phone, a face filled the screen.
“Daon-ah! Have you eaten?”
Of course, it was Jeong Da-jung.
We weren’t eting in person, but we were video calling.
She was going through the trouble of calling in the morning to match the ti difference between us.
“Are you calling right after waking up? Isn’t it 7 AM there?”
“I called before I went to work. So, how’s your body doing?”
“I’m fine. I don’t have much to do right now other than eat and sleep.”
“That’s a relief.”
Since returning to Earth, Jeong Da-jung had been calling constantly, probably because I had gone missing during basic military training and then suddenly returned to the U.S. She must have been really shocked.
When Jeong Da-jung first saw through the phone screen, she couldn’t speak for a while.
She had dark circles under her eyes, almost turning a bluish hue, as if she hadn’t been able to sleep from worry.
“Daon, are you okay? I’m coming to New York right now—!”
“No, don’t co. I’ll be heading back to Korea as soon as I get discharged. It’s a waste of money and ti.”
“Why are you speaking so coldly? Aren’t you thinking about your sister’s feelings?”
“...It’s fine. There’s no injury. I’ll be going back to Korea right after, so it’s a waste of money and ti. Don’t you have to go to work?”
“Just because you explain it doesn’t an you’re not being cold! I don’t even know what’s different about it!”
Jeong Da-jung’s complaints continued for a while after that.
In summary, she had been incredibly worried when I went missing during military training, but she was upset because I was speaking too matter-of-factly. At least, that was what I understood... but I wasn’t sure.
Honestly, it might be easier for to co up with a new incantation than to completely understand Jeong Da-jung’s way of thinking.
Today, through the video, Jeong Da-jung sighed deeply.
“How many days do you have to stay in the hospital? It feels like nothing good happens after awakening.”
“Well, at least I have a nice house and car now. Isn’t that a good thing?”
The house even had a magical defense barrier worth tens of billions.
But Jeong Da-jung shook her head.
“I’d rather just move back to the old house. I just wish you wouldn’t be in danger.”
It’s amazing that this is truly Jeong Da-jung’s genuine feelings.
Living in a capitalist society, she must have suffered all kinds of hardships taking care of soone like .
—Myaaang!
At that mont, Leo’s barking echoed from the speaker.
It seed like he recognized my voice.
“Is Leo doing well?”
“Ah, yeah. He still seems to hate , but he doesn’t leave .”
“That’s good.”
I had ordered Jeong Da-jung to take care of Leo.
Hearing the barking, it sounded like Leo was upset about when I would co back.
Judging by how well Leo was, it seed Jeong Da-jung hadn’t encountered any problems.
—Sniff?
The wolf, which had been quietly lying by my feet, perked up its ears at Leo’s familiar voice and looked up at .
I stroked the confused wolf and said,
“Co here.”
—Sniff?
Leo had shrunk to the size of a kitten, but since the wolf was summoned with my magic, which had been unusually amplified after coming to this world, it maintained the size of a large dog.
Now, the wolf, even reduced in size, looked like just another large dog. It looked like a puppy with gray fur.
Thump!
I grabbed the wolf’s cheek and stared directly into its green eyes.
Leo had evolved enough to communicate with , but the wolf hadn’t yet.
So when giving the wolf a complex command, I needed to hold its head, make eye contact, and ntally deliver the command.
“There are two C-class dungeons nearby. Can you find them?”
The wolf nodded obediently.
“Bring back the monster’s heart from the dungeon.”
I didn’t move, so I wasn’t lying.
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