Ch.5148 – Selfish Salvation

During our short bus ride, Yuna and I were able to get quite close.

The only disappointing thing was that Yuna didn’t really have any hobbies.

Even when I tried to start a conversation, we had absolutely nothing in common except for magic.

So naturally, our topics shifted to the academy and magic.

“You were the one who used magic when I collapsed?!”

“You didn’t know? Who did you think it was?”

“I thought it was Teacher Jackie… How did you do that? Something sparkled and then my throat didn’t hurt at all.”

“Want me to show you again? Open your mouth one more time?”

When I wiggled my index finger, Yuna finally seemed to understand what had happened and shook her head, apparently embarrassed.

Her face turned red, and she tried to cool down by opening the window for some fresh air.

“I’m kidding. Actually, I can use that magic on any skin or mucous membrane.”

“Didn’t your finger hurt? Did I bite too hard?”

“Getting bitten by a kiddo without all her teeth doesn’t hurt at all.”

Yuna covered her mouth with both hands in shock.

“NoName, you…! How many teeth do I have? Why do you keep calling me a kiddo?”

Huh? That’s right.

Why haven’t my new teeth grown in yet?

At this age, I should have lost at least four teeth by now. Was I mistaken?

I couldn’t tell if it was a side effect of my illness or the medication, but clearly my physical development was lagging behind other children.

It wasn’t a major issue, but the saddest part was not being able to grow taller quickly.

How long would I have to look up at everyone?

“It’s a secret.”

“Aaaah, come on! Why are you hiding things from me?”

Yuna seemed triumphant about discovering some weakness of mine and kept pressing, but I wasn’t about to give in so easily.

“If you keep asking, I’ll tell Si-hoo your breath smells.”

“Ugh.”

Our trivial chatter continued even after we got off the bus.

I thought talking with an elementary school student would be childish, but Yuna was actually more fun to talk to than I expected.

Is this how uncles feel when teasing their nieces?

As soon as her “princess-like” school persona dropped, Yuna showed her raw emotions without restraint.

But we soon faced a major obstacle.

“We have to climb up there? Isn’t there another way?”

“Nope. Once we get past these Stairway to Heaven steps, we’ll be at my house.”

I couldn’t even count how many steps there were. Roughly estimating with trigonometry, there were at least 500.

Our capitalist society, driven purely by economic principles, chose to install stairs over the hill rather than digging a tunnel or creating a detour.

The Stairway to Heaven was so steep it seemed like we might actually ascend to heaven if we made it to the top.

Let’s just go.

If it doesn’t work out, I’ll force myself to walk around even if it takes longer.

“Is this where you fell?”

“Yeah. We need to be careful going up.”

“If you slip here, it’s either heaven or hell.”

Or reincarnation.

What a terrible thought—hell would be better.

* * *

“Huff… haaa…”

“NoName, are you okay? Should we rest a bit?”

“Yeah… just a little, sorry.”

I feel like I’m dying.

All the unused muscles in my body were sending sharp signals to one spot.

If Yuna poked my calf right now, I’d probably get a cramp immediately.

“Haaa… haaa…”

“I’m sorry, we could have taken another bus and gone around. I made a mistake again…”

“No, you said this way is faster. Let’s go, I won’t rest anymore, I’ll go all the way.”

“Yeah! Just hang in there a little longer.”

When she blamed herself so pitifully, I felt self-conscious about resting.

Since I was the one who insisted on going with Yuna, how could I complain?

I should get up now.

Yuna had such good stamina that even after hundreds of steps, she was still hopping up one step and then jumping down two, bouncing around like a mountain goat on a cliff.

Like an energetic red retriever unable to contain her energy, she came around behind me and put her hands on my back.

“We’re almost there!”

“Don’t push…! It’s dangerous!”

“Hehe.”

Despite my plea, Yuna responded with nothing but an innocent smile.

She definitely had similarities to the old Arin.

The problem with Arin was that she looked down on others too much, while Yuna’s issue was being too defensive, but they shared the common trait of seeking affection without filters from people they were close to.

“I’m just playing today, but from tomorrow, I’ll really study hard.”

If it were another child, I might have scoffed at such a promise, but there was fierce determination in her commitment.

“But there’s nothing at my house. What will we do for fun?”

“Didn’t you say your mother would be there?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“She’ll be happy if you show her the magic you learned at the academy.”

“But the teacher said we should never use magic outside.”

“Up to 2nd circle is fine.”

Since her mother was very ill, if Yuna could use healing magic like “Tissue Regeneration,” she would surely be proud.

I planned to just quietly supervise to make sure she did it correctly.

“This is our house. It’s pretty old, but… don’t criticize our house in front of my mom or I won’t let it slide! I might even… end our friendship if you do…!”

“So we’re already friends? Thanks for thinking of me that way.”

“A-anyway! Phew. How should I introduce you to my mom? This is my first time bringing a friend home… What if she gets mad that I brought someone without telling her?”

“If you worry about such trivial things, you won’t live long.”

Knock knock knock

Since Yuna was standing there wringing her hands anxiously, I knocked on the door for her.

There was no response from inside.

Yuna said her older brother had probably stopped by and left again for his delivery job.

She then pressed the numbers on an old-fashioned button-type digital door lock—no iris recognition or genetic identification here.

“Mom, I’m home!”

She called out to the person she cherished most.

“Mom, I said I’m home! Are you sleeping?”

The house was dark.

Even considering it was home to a patient with poor eyesight, the atmosphere inside was unbearably bleak.

“Mom…?”

Yuna fumbled along the wall to find the light switch.

A single fluorescent light flickered on, illuminating what served as living room, bedroom, and kitchen all in one.

Nowhere in the narrow room could we find any trace of a person.

“No…?”

Yuna’s pupils dilated.

Without even putting down her backpack, she first checked under the blanket, but there was no sign of anyone, not even body warmth.

“This can’t be…”

Yuna shook her head vigorously.

Her innocent face was gone, replaced by mechanical groans.

A yellow note that had been stuck to the inside of the front door fluttered down and landed on my foot.

“Seo Yu-na. Here.”

[Come to Severance Hospital right after school – Seo No-eul]

* * *

“Yes, Professor Cheon. Yes. I’ll be home late because I’m going to a friend’s house. Yes. Please don’t wait for me and have dinner first.”

The delicious Châteaubriand steak that Professor Cheon would have prepared had to be postponed to a later date.

“Mom will be okay, right…? Sob… hic.”

“If you’re really worried, should we call your brother?”

“No-eul’s phone was at home earlier… I wonder why he left it. Mom… I miss Mom so much…”

As soon as we saw the note, Yuna rushed out of the house with her shoes barely on.

The once energetic Yuna was now pale as a corpse, losing her balance and repeatedly falling and getting back up.

The opposite of how she had helped me on the stairs, now I had to practically drag her along.

“Thank you, really… I sob… NoName, if it weren’t for you sob.”

I stopped Yuna, and we called a taxi to head to Gangnam Severance Hospital.

What would have been a 90-minute walk thankfully only took 15 minutes by taxi.

Would she really have tried to walk that far?

Knowing Seo Yu-na, she would have run, not walked.

[Looks like someone’s in bad shape. I’ll take the fastest route with the least traffic.]

The taxi driver, having overheard our conversation, encouraged Yuna as if it were his own concern.

He was a compassionate person.

“Seo Yu-na, look at me.”

How could such a small face produce so many tears?

For Yuna, today had been a day of nothing but crying.

At school, on the bus, at home, and now in the taxi.

“Your eyes have turned into night eyes.”

I had been through that phase too.

When the woman who was once my mother abandoned me callously, and if that wasn’t enough, left me with enormous debt, my life couldn’t have been more miserable.

I firmly resolved never to cry again after that, but in my previous life, I was always weak when my beloved Niobe died, when my brothers and sisters were consumed by darkness, when my master disappeared, and when my colleagues and disciples inevitably faded before the nightmare.

Just once, just one person.

My wish for someone to please help me was barely fulfilled by Hiasen at the end of my life.

Life truly embodies the butterfly effect.

If that woman hadn’t abandoned me,

If I had even one friend who would reach out when I was being bullied,

If I had…

Even knowing such assumptions are meaningless, as humans, we can’t help but make them.

When life seems hopeless, we always look for errors in the past. The more miserable the present and future, the more we do this.

My excessive involvement in Yuna’s life,

The way I’m now gently patting her tears away to avoid irritating her skin,

If someone were to criticize these as extremely personal and selfish actions stemming from my trauma, I couldn’t argue against it.

But so what?

Have any of you ever helped me in my life?

I was a lamb desperately thirsty for salvation, and I knew better than anyone that salvation wasn’t as grand as the word suggests.

A diligent child who greets everyone at school with “hello” every morning might become someone’s reason to live when going to school feels like hell every day.