… … … … …

    Less than a minute after pressing the nurse call button, the door to the (presumably hospital room) opened. The person who opened the door and came in was a woman.

    Her appearance in her doctor’s gown was impressive at first glance. She looked about half a span taller than me, and the slender yet voluptuous figure revealed under her clothes further emphasized her elegance.

    Her most striking feature was her silver hair, which seemed to have a slight pinkish tint to it. The silver hair, smoothly styled, added to her intellectual image, and when tied neatly at the back, it gave off a sophisticated vibe.

    And then there were those mysterious red eyes. Those eyes seemed to contain both sharp intelligence and… …a strong animalistic instinct that I could not even begin to fathom.

    “Ah, boy. You’re awake. I’ve been waiting for you for a long time.”

    Her voice was calm as she called me boy, but I could sense some tension. Her red eyes, which seemed friendly at first glance, seemed to hide some other emotion.

    “I… …Doctor, right? What happened to me? Where am I?

    It looks like he was shot in the mart… … but there are no wounds… … .”

    Once I had a question, the questions kept coming back to me. The woman in the doctor’s gown smiled at me as I was confused.

    “I’ll explain it slowly, boy.

    First of all, don’t worry too much, the boy is safe now.”

    She continued speaking in a soft tone.

    “First, let me introduce myself. I am Jin Wol-hee, the doctor and owner of this hospital. The boy… … I would like you to call me by my name.”

    “Ah, yes. Then, Wol-hee… …Can I call you teacher?”

    She seemed satisfied with the title I gave her.

    “Teacher Wolhee… …That’s a nice feeling.

    I’ll continue the explanation. The boy was shot while trying to stop a robbery at a supermarket. He was transported by ambulance and was in critical condition.

    Let’s see… … It’s been exactly a day since the boy was brought in with a gunshot wound. ”

    “But there were no wounds on my body… … .”

    “That’s because I cured the boy.

    I have special powers like the Awakened. I saved you with those powers.”

    Her words were so incredible that I couldn’t believe them. Naturally, my eyes widened as well.

    “A healing ability… …? I heard that on Earth, it’s almost useless because of the lack of magic power… … .”

    “I can do it. I’m not an Earthling, but a person from another world who immigrated through a dimensional gate. That’s why I have some special abilities.”

    “Wow… … .”

    I’ve heard of alien races migrating through dimensional gates, but this was the first time I’d seen one in person.

    At first I thought he was joking, but when I thought about it, there was no reason for the doctor to go to such lengths to make things difficult for someone like me.

    Above all, the fact that there were no scars left on her body supported her words.

    “Really… … Thank you so much. I don’t know what to do with this favor… … .”

    “I did it because I wanted to, so there’s no need to repay the favor. Boy, take care of yourself first.”

    Her warm words filled me with gratitude.

    Ah, I am truly blessed. Sister Seo-yeon, the woman with purple hair, and even Teacher Wol-hee. So many people have been showering me with grace.

    I wanted to live diligently like this and repay their kindness someday.

    … … … … …

    “But… …Where is my cell phone? I want to contact my sister… ….”

    Seoyeon was probably beyond the dimensional gate by now, so she wouldn’t be able to contact me, but I felt like I should at least send her a text message.

    “Sister… … ?”

    When Professor Wol-hee heard my question, her expression hardened slightly.

    “Unfortunately, when the boy was transported, he had nothing on him. His cell phone, his wallet, etc., probably… … .”

    “Ah… … .”

    I sighed. If it was a hundred, the robbers would have searched through my fallen body and taken it.

    After a moment of silence, I looked around again. The luxury of the hospital room caught my eye once again.

    It would be incredibly expensive to stay in a hospital room alone, and the room itself was so big. I couldn’t help but think that the room I was lying in was incredibly expensive.

    Then there was something that had to be brought up inevitably. It was the most sensitive issue between people: money.

    “Over there… …Ms. Wolhee.”

    I opened my mouth cautiously towards her.

    I remember seeing an article while surfing the web a while ago that said that a VIP room costs 5 million won per day. I didn’t want to be mean, but I had to somehow seek their understanding.

    “I really can’t thank you enough… … .

    The cost of hospitalization for such a luxurious hospital room… … I don’t think I can afford it… … .”

    When I asked hesitantly, Professor Wolhee returned the question with a gentle smile.

    “The boy doesn’t have to worry about that. I told you I own this hospital. I’ll take care of all the boy’s hospitalization expenses.”

    “Huh?! But then I’m so sorry… … .”

    “It’s okay.”

    She interrupted me.

    “The boy… … Well, yes. I heard he risked his life to stop the robber. This is a small reward from me.”

    Teacher Wol-hee’s voice was calm, yet warm. Her swirling red eyes were so frighteningly captivating that it had the power to make you believe her words without thinking.

    “Thank you so much.

    Hey, later. Somehow, I’ll repay you――”

    At that moment, Teacher Wol-hee placed her hand on my shoulder. I felt an inexplicable thrill on my shoulder where her hand had touched it.

    “It’s okay. Boy, just think about getting healthy.”

    “Ah… … … .”

    Her kindness was too great for me, who was meeting her for the first time. It reminded me of when I first met Sister Seo-yeon.

    Every time I received such gratuitous favors, I thought, ‘This world is still worth living in,’ but on the other hand, I also felt burdened.

    Will I ever be able to repay them even a little for the kindness they have given me as I live?

    … … … … …

    The sun set and rose again twice. That means two days had passed.

    The sky outside the window was still clear, the weather was sunny, and I――

    “Boy, it’s morning today.”

    While staying in the hospital room, I was receiving the utmost care from Professor Wol-hee.

    Today too, Teacher Wol-hee entered the hospital room pushing a cart containing breakfast.

    “Thank you, Teacher Wolhee.

    … … Ah, it looks delicious.”

    No matter how you looked at it, the food she brought wasn’t typical hospital food. It felt like homemade food, not mass-cooked food.

    Perhaps these foods were cooked by Teacher Wolhee herself.

    “Thank goodness. I’ll be here today, so if you need anything, just let me know.”

    I nodded at the kind words of Teacher Wolhee.

    For the past two days, Dr. Wol-hee has been bringing meals herself and staying in this hospital room all day long until late at night.

    While working on her tablet PC, she chatted with me from time to time, and sometimes they even watched movies or dramas together.

    At first, I felt that Professor Wol-hee’s kindness was a burden.

    I also wondered if it was normal for someone in such an important position to spend so much time on a patient who wasn’t even critically ill.

    So I asked the teacher in a roundabout way, and this was the answer I got.

    ‘I have a lot of work to do, of course, but it’s mostly paperwork. I can do my work here too.

    And I’m here because I enjoy being with the boy, so as long as the boy is okay, I don’t have to worry.

    But asking such a question… … Is the boy perhaps uncomfortable with me being here?’

    When the always calm teacher Wol-hee asked me this question with a slightly anxious expression, I could only wave my hand and say that it was absolutely not true.

    I couldn’t dare tell her that I was a burden, even though she saved my life, gave me a VIP room for free, and is still always considerate of me.

    After finishing my meal, I looked over at Teacher Wol-hee and found her working on her tablet PC.

    Her hands were quick as she typed on the keyboard connected to the tablet PC, but her expression was calm. As I watched her like that, a strange fact suddenly occurred to me.

    “Teacher Wolhee, I have a question… … .”

    She turned her head and looked at me.

    “Huh? What are you curious about, boy?”

    “I’ve been in this ward for two days now, but why haven’t I seen the nurses even once?

    I heard that when you are hospitalized, nurses come frequently to check on your condition in addition to the doctor… … .”

    “… … … .”

    Teacher Wol-hee’s expression hardened slightly at my question, and an inexplicable fear ran down her spine.

    But she soon regained her gentle smile. As her expression changed, the mysterious fear that had made her feel suddenly cold also disappeared.

    “Oh, that’s right.

    Boy, actually I overstepped a bit… … my authority.”

    “Are you overstepping your authority?”

    “Yeah. The boy was a special case, so I admitted him to the VIP ward on my own initiative.

    But since this wasn’t done through formal procedures… … I couldn’t have another employee take care of the patient.”

    “That, that much… … .”

    As I got to know her more and more, I was speechless at her growing grace.

    Not only did they give me a VIP room without going through the proper procedures, but they also stayed in the room all day and took care of me.

    “Thank you so much. I can’t thank you enough… … .”

    At this point, it was time to get down on my knees and express my gratitude.

    As I nodded, Teacher Wol-hee came up to the bed where I was sitting and reached out and patted my head.

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