Chapter 49

Chapter 49

I Installed a Dating App and Girls from Another World Became Obsessed with Me.

Episode 49: The End

Our expected response to this isolated gate was to establish a barrier at the gate’s entrance with the cooperation of numerous hunters and magic towers, and to deal with the swarming monsters.

The reason for this expectation was simple.

It was the most common, efficient, and least harmful method.

Here, ‘human casualties’ didn’t refer to ordinary people. In this era, the life of a C-class hunter was more valuable than the lives of dozens of ordinary people.

We judged that no one would voluntarily enter a B-class gate, especially during a break situation, as a rescue team.

Or so I thought.

“A romantic, aren’t you?”

A B-class gate, a high-level gate called the worst disaster.

I never imagined anyone would come to rescue us.

‘…But if it’s a magic tower master, that changes things.’

The ash-like gray hair and the obsidian-like eyes reminded me of someone every Korean would know.

Possibly one of the world’s strongest twelve mages, and Korea’s strongest mage, Han Ra-el, the Gray Magic Tower Master.

The C-class, C-class, and the occasional B-class monsters, equivalent to the Wendigo, that were gathered in front of the gate vanished in an instant.

There was no trace of the monsters’ corpses where Han Ra-el’s magic had passed. The once white snowfield was now gray, as if it had turned to ash.

That was the power of a 7th circle mage. Even just a glimpse made me feel the overwhelming difference.

I realized that the difference between the 2nd and 7th circle wasn’t just a matter of five levels.

It made me wonder how strong Iris, who had reached the 8th circle, really was.

‘…If she gets out of prison, they’ll all be wiped out.’

I mentally mourned for Pelledia, which might soon become a sea of fire.

“Nice to meet you. I don’t need to introduce myself, do I?”

Han Ra-el, who had effortlessly slaughtered dozens of monsters, offered me a handshake.

“Of course not. How could I not recognize Korea’s strongest mage?”

I never imagined I would actually meet a magic tower master.

It wasn’t just a feeling of novelty.

Was this how a graduate student felt when they met a Nobel laureate in their field?

My dazed joy was short-lived.

‘I’m really going to die…’

I had used too much mana rescuing Choi Hye-na, and my physical condition was terrible.

I could collapse at any moment.

“You’ve worked hard.”

As soon as Han Ra-el’s finger touched my forehead, an irresistible drowsiness overwhelmed me.

My consciousness faded.

“Leave the rest to me, and get some rest.”

With her gentle smile, my memory ended there.

Han Ra-el looked down at the collapsed Kang Hyeon-u with cold eyes.

It was hard to believe he was the same person from a moment ago. But it wasn’t because she disliked him.

Rather, this was Han Ra-el’s true nature.

A mask created solely for the dignity of a magic tower master.

With no reason to wear the bothersome mask, Han Ra-el discarded her pretense and looked at Kang Hyeon-u.

“Indeed… the saying that he’s loved by mana isn’t just a figure of speech.”

He was truly loved by mana.

Affection, interest, and obsession—phenomena that shouldn’t be observable from mana, which clearly had no ego.

“It was worth coming all this way.”

Outside, the B-class gate in the middle of the capital forced many citizens to evacuate, and the Hunter Association had to cooperate with the magic towers to prepare for the disaster.

Despite the serious situation, none of the monsters that had nested in Korea were willing to move.

They rarely moved easily.

Whether for public or private gain.

Han Ra-el was one of them. She was overwhelmed with the duties of a magic tower master and her personal magic research. Going to a gate to rescue someone?

She thought it was more profitable to do magic research.

She had neither the time nor the reason to care about ‘volunteer work.’

What brought her here was the report Choi Yeong-ok gave her.

A few days ago, Choi Yeong-ok visited her workshop and asked her to save her granddaughter and grandson-in-law. Of course, it wasn’t just an emotional plea.

The well-prepared proposal listed all the benefits she could gain from helping.

Financial benefits were included, and helping Choi Hye-na, the sole heir of the Seongbuk Choi clan, would create a significant debt for the clan, but that wasn’t enough.

It didn’t pique her interest.

Mages should always act based on rational calculations.

In that regard, Choi Yeong-ok’s proposal wasn’t appealing.

Han Ra-el, a mage who should evaluate all proposals rationally, ironically rejected this one because it didn’t stir her emotions or interest.

But Choi Yeong-ok was a seasoned mage who had seen it all. She had anticipated that the proposal’s rewards wouldn’t move Han Ra-el, so she gave her another report.

Han Ra-el’s eyes changed as she skimmed the report.

-Is this really true?

She still couldn’t forget the shock she felt when she received the report.

Creating a circle in just a week, and reaching the 2nd circle in another week? If it were true, it would be an unprecedented achievement, unmatched in the past or future.

Even the first magic tower master couldn’t have done this. Her lack of interest was filled in at that moment.

“I was running low on B-class boss monster mana stones. Sometimes, local procurement might not be so bad.”

Han Ra-el stroked her staff and moved forward.

Before her overwhelming mana, the Ice Golem rose its massive form, but the outcome was obvious.

Riiinggg–

“Huh?!”

I opened my eyes to the familiar notification sound ringing in my ears.

A pure white ceiling greeted me.

“Where am I…”

A fluffy bed, a strange pad attached to my chest, and familiar patient clothes.

It was unmistakably a hospital.

[Affection Change]

[Choi Hye-na 70♡ → 85♡]

[Relationship Level Change]

[Choi Hye-na Lv.2 → Lv.3]

“It’s not a dating sim, why does this keep popping up…”

I pushed the screen floating in front of me aside and lay back down on the bed.

For some reason, I couldn’t muster any strength.

“My phone… is gone?”

I was curious why I was in the hospital, how much time had passed, and how the aftermath was handled, but my phone was nowhere to be found.

Beep-

I had no choice but to press the call button to summon a nurse.

“By the way, isn’t this room a bit too luxurious for a hospital?”

I knew private rooms were expensive, but this was too extravagant to be a hospital room.

The bed alone was so fluffy that I wanted to take it home.

Just like my body, my head felt foggy and wasn’t working properly.

As I let my thoughts wander, I heard someone running hurriedly down the hallway in the distance.

The footsteps grew closer, and soon, people who looked like doctors and nurses entered the room.

“P-patient, are you awake??”

“Uh…”

I was flustered.

I expected maybe one nurse, but a whole group of doctors and nurses showed up.

Before I could figure out what was going on, the doctor was shining a light into my eyes and looking at the monitor connected to the pad on my chest, moving busily without giving me a chance to ask anything.

The nurses were also running around, doing something I didn’t understand.

“…Could someone please explain what’s happening?”

I had so many questions: why I woke up in the hospital, what happened outside, if Choi Hye-na was safe, and so on.

“Ah, your guardian has been called, please wait a moment.”

“Guardian…?”

The only person I could call my guardian was the head nun from the orphanage. Was she really coming?

I was planning to visit her as soon as I got out of the gate, but I didn’t want to reunite like this.

I wanted to return in style, wearing a clean suit and carrying gifts in both hands.

‘She’ll worry a lot if she sees me in patient clothes…’

I worried that reuniting with her estranged son after years of no contact like this would break her heart.

Thump!

The door opened roughly, and a familiar face appeared.

“K-Kang Hyeon-u!”

Flowing red hair, deep purple eyes, and the ample breasts I had touched countless times.

It was Choi Hye-na.

‘You’re here?’

Well, I knew the head nun couldn’t afford a room in this luxurious hospital, so I had expected this to some extent.

But I was still disappointed.

“Thank goodness…”

Choi Hye-na approached me with tears in her eyes.

Her disheveled hair showed how urgently she had come.

Her breathless appearance made her look like the heroine of a romance drama.

As Kang Hyeon-u expected, Choi Hye-na hadn’t slept or eaten properly for the past few days.

How could she rest when she had witnessed Kang Hyeon-u, who had stayed behind to save her, being taken away in an ambulance?

Every day felt like swallowing sharp needles.

When she heard he had woken up, she was already running before she could think.

The room she arrived at contained Kang Hyeon-u, staring at her with his usual blank expression.

“Are you okay? Does anything hurt?”

Choi Hye-na grabbed Kang Hyeon-u’s wrist and checked his condition, completely forgetting about the doctors and nurses.

The doctors and nurses watched the touching scene with warm smiles.

But Kang Hyeon-u’s next words chilled the room.

“Excuse me, who are you…?”

“…What?”

Choi Hye-na’s eyes trembled.

“Hey… don’t joke around…!”

“I’m serious. I don’t remember anything…”

It wasn’t Kang Hyeon-u’s usual rude and perverted voice or tone.

Choi Hye-na remembered the cases of people who had been exposed to high concentrations of mana and became incapacitated.

It was usually a condition that affected ordinary people, but she had heard that sometimes lower-level hunters suffered such aftereffects from contact with high-level monsters.

Choi Hye-na grabbed Kang Hyeon-u’s hand with trembling hands.

“You really don’t remember anything…?”

“…No.”

Thump, something seemed to fall inside Choi Hye-na’s chest.

Her heart ached.

He had saved her life countless times, and in the end, he had sacrificed himself for her.

When he came out of the gate alive, she was so relieved. Even though he had been taken away in an ambulance and hadn’t opened his eyes for four days, she was grateful he was alive.

But what was this?

Amnesia?!

Amnesia was a tragic condition for ordinary people, but for a mage, it was a death sentence, meaning they could no longer practice magic.

“Are you… my girlfriend… or wife?”

“Ah…”

Seeing Kang Hyeon-u’s uneasy eyes, Choi Hye-na made a firm decision.

Yes, he had saved her life countless times.

A life debt must be repaid with a life.

Of course, she wasn’t going to give up her life as a mage. She had something she had to accomplish, even at the risk of her life.

But that didn’t mean she wouldn’t marry. As the sole heir of the Seongbuk Choi clan, continuing the family line was her destiny.

She looked at Kang Hyeon-u again.

He was average-looking but tall. His talent as a mage was overwhelming enough to bring about a renaissance for the Seongbuk Choi clan.

‘…He’s actually kind of good-looking, now that I look at him again…?’

He had some perverted tendencies, but that was understandable for a vigorous man in his twenties.

Her grandmother, the head of the family, had also acknowledged him, so there would be no problem with marriage.

“Yes! I’m your wife…!”

“Excuse me… are you the guardian?”

Choi Hye-na, who was about to declare her resolve with a pounding heart, was interrupted by an unexpected person.

It was the doctor in charge of Kang Hyeon-u and the hospital director.

“I’m sorry, but the patient does not have amnesia.”

“…What?”

What kind of nonsense was this?

Choi Hye-na looked back and forth between the doctor and the nurse with a blank expression, then finally at Kang Hyeon-u.

Kang Hyeon-u was staring out the window, avoiding her gaze.

“…Sorry.”

At those words, spoken without even looking at her, Choi Hye-na’s face turned as red as her hair.

Thump!

That day, the window of the VIP room was shattered.

Witnesses claimed that a person fell out of the window with the glass, but the testimonies were dismissed due to lack of evidence.