[Episode 05] Expansion of Influence (2)
[Apartnt 2902]
It went without saying, but I didn’t bother with things like ringing the doorbell. Instead, I imdiately grabbed the doorknob and turned it.
Unlocking the front door wasn’t difficult.
Dealing with electronic devices within the hobound area was easy for .
However.
Click!
The safety lock was beyond my control.
‘Damn it!’
Clack, clack!
‘Is there any way?’
For a mont, I thought of coming down through the upstairs window, but it was impossible.
Due to the restrictions of the hobound area, I couldn’t fully go outside the window.
While there was enough space to extend my hand or head out of the living room window, it wasn’t enough to completely go outside.
‘Right. The new skill I gained!’
In my desperation, I thought of the new skill I hadn’t checked due to the chaotic situation.
Absolute Dweller’s Invisible Hand Lv. 1
– Summons an invisible hand and control it.
‘Bingo!’
I imdiately tried using the skill.
Sothing I felt while using Dignity Maintenance and the Eye was that the most crucial factor in using a skill was one thing:
‘My will.’
What I wanted was the most important elent.
The mont I pictured releasing the safety latch on the front door, I felt the sensation of sothing leaving my body, and the invisible hand attacked the safety latch.
Kwoong—snap!
“…”
The invisible hand effortlessly destroyed the safety latch. It was so powerful that part of the front door was bent.
As I stared at the severely damaged and now open front door, I belatedly thought of a better solution.
‘…I could have just used Vassal Summon.’
Co to think of it, I could have summoned the still idle Choi Hyeong-jun inside to open the door.
But what can I do?
The spilled water is already spilled.
‘Let’s save people first and then think later.’
The darkened apartnt lit up.
The bright light illuminated the entire house, and in the center of the living room, I saw Kim Da-jeong lying as if she was sleeping.
She was a beautiful person.
Even though her life seed to hang by a thread, her beauty still shone through.
‘Why is she like this?’
Why the living room floor?
There were perfectly good beds in the bedroom and small room. But there wasn’t even a blanket laid out in the living room.
“Hey, wake up. Snap out of it.”
I gently patted her cheek.
There was no response, and when I shook her shoulders and body, it was the sa.
She just swayed weakly, unable to regain consciousness.
The only thing that proved she was still alive was the breath barely hanging on.
‘Her condition is worse than I thought.’
Wrinkled skin, sunken eyes, dry lips. There was also a slight fever.
Despite this, her undeniable beauty was so surreal that it felt like watching a princess from a fairy tale.
‘It’s a serious case of dehydration.’
It didn’t make sense.
Especially since there was still water in the kitchen, with bottles and containers left.
There were dozens of small bottled water, each with a capacity of about 300ml.
If only she had taken care to drink them in ti, she wouldn’t have fallen into such a serious state of dehydration.
On the Irish table, there were also snacks like cookies or chocolates, and the cabinet had different types of ran.
There was both food and water, yet she had co to the brink of death.
‘What is she trying to do?’
Was she really determined to die?
Looking at it now, her neatly folded hands seed to calmly accept death.
Even if she had resolved to die, I had no intention of letting her.
I must save her.
‘What should I do?’
In the military, I learned that you should never force water on a patient showing severe dehydration symptoms.
It was especially dangerous for unconscious patients, as it could obstruct their airway.
‘The proper procedure is to send her to the ergency room.’
The only solution was to increase the amount of blood in her body through an intravenous injection.
However, there were no intact hospitals left in this ruined world, and there were no paradics who would co all the way here.
For now, I lifted Kim Da-jeong’s legs for first aid.
Elevating the legs would redirect blood to vital organs, helping to maintain their function for a little longer.
‘If I can’t do anything more, she’s really going to die.’
She was a woman with the Heal ability. I couldn’t let her go so easily.
‘I must save her.’
I went through each of the skills I possessed, considering every item in the shop and the things in the warehouse, but there was nothing that would be helpful for Kim Da-jeong.
After thinking for a while, a clever idea ca to mind.
‘I wonder if I can use it like this?’
There was no need to hesitate.
If I tested it right now, it would either work or not.
‘Quest Assignnt, reward is recovery from dehydration.’
The quest content was ‘Take one breath.’
And then.
[Citizen Kim Da-jeong has completed the quest.]
[Quest cost: 10,000,000 won.]
‘Success!’
Even though it cost a whopping 10 million won for the quest, it was worth it.
“Ugh.”
Because the effect was clear.
Kim Da-jeong slowly opened her eyes, looked at the bright living room lights, and furrowed her brows. She then raised her arm.
“Hey, Miss Kim Da-jeong, are you awake?”
As our eyes t.
[Citizen Kim Da-jeong’s trust has increased.]
A notification appeared, indicating an increase in trust.
‘Here we go again.’
It wasn’t only Kim Da-jeong whose trust increased the mont we t.
It happened with Oh Eon-ju, the entire Ha Dong-geon party, and even Choi Hyeong-jun’s family.
A notification about trust increasing appeared on our first encounter.
‘People I et in person all seem to have a rapid increase in trust.’
It was kind of obvious.
It was natural for trust to rise faster for soone you knew than for a complete stranger.
However, having trust rise imdiately upon eting face to face was a bit different.
It was weird.
The abnormal increase in trust was undoubtedly due to the influence of skills.
‘Is it because of Dignity Maintenance?’
Kim Da-jeong looked at with a dazed expression and asked, “…Who are you?”
“I’m Kim Jae-hyun. I live upstairs.”
“…Huh?”
Gradually, life returned to her eyes. When she ca to her senses, she moved out of my arms.
“W-Who are you?”
“As I ntioned earlier, I live upstairs.”
“How did you get in here?”
“Your condition seed severe, so I forcefully opened the door and ca in.”
“What do you an…?”
Kim Da-jeong looked around the house with a confused expression.
Then.
“Ah…”
She seed to realize sothing and tears started flowing from her eyes.
“Ohhh…”
Kim Da-jeong covered her face with both hands and cried.
Her delicate shoulders trembled lightly.
“…”
While silently watching her sobbing with bated breath, I pondered.
How do you comfort soone?
What do you say to reach soone’s heart when they’re crying so sorrowfully?
I didn’t know.
Providing comfort, whether through words or understanding their sadness, required so level of familiarity. Consolation was sothing achievable only when you knew soone well enough.
I lacked that connection.
Therefore, I decided to say what I wanted to say.
“Ms. Kim Da-jeong.”
When I called her na, she looked up at with a tear-stained face.
Facing her, I spoke.
“Please help .”
I chose not to ask what happened or why she was crying so bitterly.
There was no need to remind her of painful mories.
Instead, I directed her attention elsewhere, to the present reality, thinking it might be less painful.
“My colleague is seriously injured.”
***
Kim Da-jeong stared blankly at the man who introduced himself as Kim Jae-hyun.
‘What is this man talking about?’
The story, which began with a plea for help and news of an injured colleague, had progressed to the point where he claid she had a special power.
‘What nonsense is he saying?’
Superpowers? Healing abilities?
She felt like a fool for taking him seriously when she heard that soone was injured.
‘Healing abilities? Did he say that because he knows I’m a nurse? How does he know that?’
Maybe this man read too many comics.
Then it occurred to her.
Maybe this man, who was fervently talking in front of her, wanted to comfort her.
As soone who had received too much attention from n, she instinctively sensed it.
‘Hmm.’
A kind person.
With the arising goodwill, there ca a curiosity about this man.
His face, which she vaguely saw earlier, ca to mind, and while observing his face as he spoke passionately, she thought.
‘… He’s quite handso.’
His clumsy manner sohow knocked on the door to her heart.
“Pfft.”
“Why are you laughing?”
It was fascinating.
Usually, n who tried to comfort her when she was crying were filled with ulterior motives, but she didn’t feel that from this man.
In any case, if this man’s goal was to comfort her, he had sowhat succeeded.
“Alright. Where do I need to go?”
It was a statent to reciprocate the favor.
However.
“Just a mont.”
[You have received a quest.]
Quest Content: Use Heal to treat the injured Oh Eon-ju.
Ti limit: 1 hour 00 minutes 00 seconds.
Reward: Strengthen Heal proficiency.
Failure penalty: None.
“What?”
While she blankly read the holographic window in front of her, the man spoke.
“No need to move. Since you are in a weakened state, you can stay here and rest. I’ll bring Oh Eon-ju over.”
Then, out of nowhere, an orange appeared from the air and dropped in front of her.
“…Huh?”
“Then, please rest.”
Kim Da-jeong, looking puzzled, grabbed the man who was about to leave.
“Wait a minute!”
“What’s the matter?”
“What is this?”
He looked at the orange she was holding out and answered.
“It’s an orange.”
“No, I an…!”
There were many questions she wanted to ask: the hologram, the orange that appeared out of thin air, but the words didn’t co out properly.
Just as she tried to stand up in frustration.
“Oh—!”
She tripped over her own feet and fell.
Closing her eyes, she expected the impending pain, but…
“…?”
It didn’t hurt.
Feeling sothing odd, Kim Da-jeong slowly opened her eyes.
“!!!”
She could see herself floating in the air.
Although she felt as if sothing was supporting her body, nothing was visible.
Kim Da-jeong looked at the man confusedly.
He casually said, “Since your body is currently weakened, please be careful while moving. Don’t get hurt.”
Kim Da-jeong, who carefully descended to the ground, couldn’t close her mouth.
“Please wait a little.”
While Kim Da-jeong stared blankly in the direction the man had left, she earnestly contemplated while looking at the orange left in her hand.
‘Am I dreaming?’
***
[Citizen Kim Da-jeong’s trust has increased.]
Having cald down Kim Da-jeong and descended in the elevator, I received another notification indicating an increase in trust.
Her trust had already surpassed 30.
It seed that showing her my abilities at the last mont worked well.
‘She really didn’t believe it.’
Since the mont she suddenly stopped crying and started laughing, it felt like sothing had changed.
The talk about superpowers and healing must have sounded ridiculous before.
‘Well, it’s hard to believe until you see it with your own eyes.’
Seeing is believing, and in this case, showing the ability directly was even more convincing.
♩♬―
[First floor.]
[Door opens.]
Arriving on the first floor, I walked down the hallway to et the mbers of Ha Dong-geon’s party at the main entrance.
Since they had co near the side road, it was about ti for them to arrive.
‘There they are.’
The first thing I noticed was Moon Byeong-ho, who was running hard while carrying his grandmother on his back.
‘Well done, Byeong-ho.’
Thanks to Moon Byeong-ho, I had gained a mountain of things today.
As I smiled at him, I suddenly noticed sothing strange.
‘…Why is he running so urgently?’
Running after Moon Byeong-ho was Kang Deok-su, Ha Dong-geon, Kim Ga-young, Yoo Hye-rin, and Kim Geon. All of them were sprinting with clenched teeth, as if they were being chased by sothing.
And soon, the identity of that ‘sothing’ beca apparent.
‘What is that…?’
Chasing closely behind Ha Dong-geon’s party was a massive, red tiger.
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