The faint sound of a small heartbeat. J followed it as if he were under a spell, barely noticing when his feet sank into the swamp.
He didn’t know how long he had walked, but eventually, a building that had remained mostly intact, despite so damage, ca into view. The sound was coming from there. J began to clear away the debris.
‘Why?’
His rational mind questioned him. Even if he saved this person, they would likely die soon anyway. Did he really want to experience another death in his arms? Yet, his hands didn’t stop clearing the wreckage. In fact, they moved faster.
Even so, J couldn’t ignore the sound.
“Ah.”
A small gasp escaped him. Beneath the crisscrossing debris was a tiny space, just large enough for one or two people to huddle in. And in that space…
A boy was there, clutched tightly by sothing that had likely once been his parents, though they had lted away from the poison.
The boy’s eyes, clouded by the toxic fus, t J’s. His lips moved soundlessly.
‘Save .’
J gritted his teeth. He quickly pulled out an antidote from his inventory and reached out to the boy.
“It’s okay.”
A lie he had told countless tis,
“You’re safe now.”
This ti, he hoped it wouldn’t be a lie.
Ti passed quickly.
Kill the dungeon boss, kill the rift boss, kill the dungeon boss, kill the rift boss, again and again. Eventually, he was no longer tasked with rescuing people but only with killing monsters. It was an endless cycle. J’s daily routine didn’t change easily.
However, sothing new had recently been added to his routine.
*Thud, thud, thud.* Black combat boots strode down the hallway without hesitation. The eyes of passersby followed the tall young man dressed all in black. Soone gathered the courage to greet him, "Hello," but J, wearing his black mask, only gave a small nod.
He reached the iron door at the end of the hallway and opened it. Inside, people dressed in safety suits bustled about; it was a research lab attached to the hospital.
J walked through the lab with familiarity, opening another, thicker iron door. Inside, people wearing even heavier protective gear were observing a flask filled with a purple liquid. A researcher standing near the door bowed deeply.
“Ah, J! It’s been a while! Thank you for coming, even though you're so busy!”
The researcher bead as they handed over a tal box. J dropped a heavy pouch into it. The pungent sll of dark liquid seeped from the pouch. The researcher, tense, hurried toward the back storage area. J asked,
“Is there enough poison?”
“We still have so left from the last batch you brought, so we’re good.”
“And the research?”
“It’s progressing well. Will you be seeing the boy today?”
“Yes.”
“Ah, J!”
One of the researchers hurried over. J stopped and turned. It was a familiar face, soone introduced by the hospital director—a potion-making Awakener nad Ga-young, dressed in a white lab coat, with her brown hair pinned up. She looked excited as she approached him and spoke quietly.
“The boy’s condition is improving. The antidote you provided seems to be working. It’s all thanks to you, J!”
“……”
J didn’t respond, just stared at her blankly. Ga-young awkwardly cleared her throat.
“Uh, maybe I’m being too optimistic? We’re still focusing on detoxification, so other treatnts have taken a back seat for now… But at least he’s not at the point where visits are completely restricted anymore.”
Ga-young hesitated for a mont, then said, “I was wondering if maybe today, instead of looking through the glass, you might want to go into the room and see him directly?”
“…Can I do that?”
“Of course! After all, none of this would have been possible without you.”
Ga-young waved her hand dismissively. Whether it was a brief mont of curiosity or a fleeting indulgence, J wasn’t sure. It didn’t really matter.
Following Ga-young’s lead, J walked toward the boy’s room, which was in a secluded part of the hospital. The only sound in the quiet corridor was the echo of their footsteps. After a while, Ga-young spoke again.
“As you’ve seen through the window, the boy is still mostly unconscious. He wakes up occasionally, but never for long. We’re giving him regular doses of painkillers and anesthetics.”
“Is that really necessary?”
“Oh, we don’t want to do it either! But…”
Ga-young sighed, waving her hand in resignation.
“If we don’t, the boy passes out from the pain. That happened once before, and ever since then, we’ve had to keep him sedated. Unfortunately, until we fully detoxify him… Ah, here we are.”
Ga-young pressed her keycard to a device, unlocking the door. After walking down another hallway, they reached a white door. She opened it, revealing a large, white room. In the center of the room lay the boy, wrapped in bandages and connected to nurous machines.
Ga-young stepped back.
“I’ll wait outside. Stay as long as you need.”
“Thank you. I won’t take too long.”
“Oh, there’s no rush! Stay as long as you want!”
*Thud.* The door closed behind him, leaving J alone. He slowly scanned the room.
*Beep, beep, beep.* The rhythmic beeping of the machines felt like an extension of the boy’s heartbeat. J moved closer to the bed.
Through the bandages, only the boy’s nose and mouth were visible. His chest rose and fell slowly, and faint groans escaped his lips. J’s cold eyes scanned the boy from head to toe.
‘This is what improvent looks like…’
Sure, the fact that he no longer needed a respirator was progress, but to J, the boy still looked like a corpse.
J dragged a round chair over and sat a short distance from the bed. He quietly observed the boy’s breathing, watching for even the slightest movents.
"......"
He wasn’t sure how much ti had passed when J rested his elbows on his knees and cupped his chin in his hands. Ever since he had saved the boy, a single question had gnawed at him, refusing to go away. He bit his lip.
‘Was saving this boy the right thing to do?’
Sure, the boy had asked to be saved. But he couldn’t have known that the price of survival would be a body ravaged by poison, unable to move, slowly rotting away.
Was it right to let him endure such pain? Pain so intense that he had to be sedated to the point of unconsciousness. Was this all because of J’s selfish desire to save people?
‘Wouldn’t it be kinder to just end it for him?’
At that mont, the boy’s fingertip twitched. J imdiately relaxed his grip on the chair. He straightened up, fixing his gaze on the boy’s hand. Amidst the steady beeping of the machines, the finger twitched again, this ti more noticeably.
“You.”
The word slipped out before he realized it. As if in response to his voice, the boy’s bandaged finger curled slightly. J’s eyes widened, and he tapped his knee with his finger. Could the boy hear him? J asked again,
“Are you awake?”
The boy’s head slowly turned toward him, as if he were looking at J. Maybe it was just J’s imagination, but it felt like the boy was watching him. The boy’s cracked lips parted, but only a faint breath ca out.
But to J, it felt like an answer.
“So, you’re awake.”
J voiced his realization. In that mont, a feeling he hadn’t experienced in a long ti surged through his body. He knew the na of this feeling.
Joy.
J hurriedly pulled his chair closer to the bed. The boy’s head remained turned toward him. His movents were still subtle, but they were growing more pronounced. J asked,
“How long have you been awake?”
“……”
“How are you feeling? Does it hurt? Are you okay?”
J’s voice grew louder, a rare occurrence. The boy didn’t respond verbally, but his fingers continued to twitch slightly.
J wondered if the boy was trying to write sothing with his fingers, but it didn’t seem like that. It felt more like the boy was simply proving that he was awake. A small groan escaped the boy’s lips. J frowned slightly behind his mask.
“Do you need painkillers? Should I ask them to give you so?”
The mont J ntioned painkillers, the boy turned his head to the other side, much faster than before. It was probably the best he could manage, even if it was still slow.
“...Hah.”
J let out a small laugh as he watched the boy. Slowly, the boy’s head turned back to face him. Without realizing it, the corners of J’s mouth had lifted into a grin beneath his mask.
All the doubts that had plagued him, the fatigue that had consud him, and the sensation of sinking into a dark abyss—all of it had evaporated.
J’s eyes, gleaming playfully, locked onto the boy. Leaning closer to the bed, J rested his chin on his hands and smiled.
“You’re funny, kid.”
It seed that the boy J had saved…
"......"
Had quite a strong will.
Very strong, indeed.
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