episode_0123

123.

“Ah.”

Blood.

Blood gushed out.

As Yoo Dahee retracted her outstretched hand, vein-like things sprang up in all directions.

Splat! Blood splattered on her face.

Sticky and viscous blood smeared Jinsuyeon’s face.

The unfamiliar metallic scent filled her nostrils.

Jinsuyeon absentmindedly wiped the blood off her face with her fingers.

Red.

A very dark shade of blood.

Blood droplets trickled down between her fingers.

The blood, weakly falling, slowly stained the ground.

“Ah, ah.”

Without even considering washing the blood off her face, Jinsuyeon stared blankly at the motionless figure in front of her.

Right in front of her nose.

Lee Jinhyuk stood there.

With a large hole pierced in his abdomen.

He only vomited blood and shook his head slightly.

“Ah, ah, uh.”

Lee Jinhyuk staggered as if he would collapse at any moment.

He vomited blood from the circular hole in his abdomen, unable to control his body as he staggered back and forth.

Gradually, Lee Jinhyuk’s body tilted.

With no more strength to struggle, he collapsed to the ground.

Jinsuyeon, with a bewildered expression, reached out her trembling hands and embraced Lee Jinhyuk’s collapsing body.

She felt no strength from him.

Only the hot stream of blood flowed from his abdomen.

Jinsuyeon stared blankly at the stream of blood.

The blood that had flowed down had formed a puddle.

He continued to pour out blood, weakly surrendering to the ground.

“Ah, ah, uh, ah.”

She tightly embraced Lee Jinhyuk’s body.

Her mind went blank.

It felt as if all the vitality had drained from him. Jinsuyeon couldn’t believe the reality of the situation. It didn’t feel real. She desperately hoped she had seen it wrong.

But reality is a cruel mistress.

The sticky blood, the metallic scent, the thin breath, the screams of people…

…all whispered that this was indeed reality.

“Ah, ah, ah, ah.”

She hadn’t seen it wrong.

Lee Jinhyuk’s body had been pierced.

Organs and blood scattered as he fell.

Because of me.

I was trying to save myself from being tense.

But instead, Lee Jinhyuk, Lee Jinhyuk is dead…

“Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah!”

Facing the harsh reality, Jinsuyeon screamed loudly as she held her dying childhood friend in her arms.

T-The wound is too big.

Too much blood has been shed.

With organs already damaged, this amount of bleeding is dangerous.

Too dangerous!

Jinsuyeon’s body trembled like a leaf.

Her heart pounded, cold sweat dripped down her face.

Unintentional tears flowed down her cheeks. Tears rolled down endlessly, blurring her vision.

Because of the tears, she couldn’t see clearly. Even the sight of the dying Lee Jinhyuk blurred and flowed down.

“Ah, it wasn’t intentional, but well, not a bad result.”

“You!”

Yoo Dahee, who mercilessly pierced Lee Jinhyuk’s abdomen, flicked her blood-stained hair in the wind and sneered at Jinsuyeon.

“Seems like he’s precious to you? Judging by your reaction. Ha, how foolish.”

“Y-you, you, you, you, you!”

Jinsuyeon’s angry voice echoed loudly.

Loss, anger, doubt, sadness, malice, and various other negative emotions mixed chaotically within her, as she glared at Yoo Dahee with a face that reflected her true feelings.

As intense emotions erupted like a volcano, Jin Soyeon could feel something deep within her starting to stir.

She couldn’t bear Yoo Dahee’s mocking words about his sacrifice. She wanted to grab him right then and there and do something to him.

It was the same emotions she had felt during the kidnapping incident.

No, it was even darker, more sinister.

“Oh.”

Even the fearless Yoo Dahee couldn’t help but flinch slightly at the intense gaze filled with a sense of flesh and blood.

It sent shivers down her spine just to meet that gaze.

They say when a woman holds a grudge, frost falls even in the middle of summer.

It’s scary, really scary.

“How dare you…!”

“Do you really care about Jinhyeok…!”

“…!”

It was true.

There was no time to worry about someone like Yoo Dahee right now.

I-I need to treat Jinhyeok, I have to. He must be able to survive if I treat him quickly. I’m sure he can survive if I treat him quickly.

“Damn it!”

“W-What the hell!”

“Damn it! She’s going to die!”

The startled heroes quickly regained their composure and attacked Yoo Dahee.

But due to their exhaustion from the raid with Ouroboros, it was difficult for the heroes to inflict significant damage on Yoo Dahee.

Even though Yoo Dahee claimed to be alone, she was a high ranker-level skilled individual.

Furthermore, Jone used his duplication ability to protect Yoo Dahee for a moment. The heroes quickly used flash grenades to eliminate Jone’s duplicates. However, in that moment, Yoo Dahee had disappeared without a trace.

“Jin Soyeon!”

“Ho-Hong Da-ye, Instructor…”

Jin Soyeon looked up at Hong Da-ye with tears streaming down her face, as she lay Jinhyeok on the ground.

Jinhyeok was just gasping intermittently, spitting out blood.

His condition was extremely serious.

He looked like he could die at any moment.

“J-Jinhyeok, the b-blood, won’t stop, h-how… what should I do…”

“A healing potion! Get a healing potion now!”

“Ah.”

With injuries this severe, even a healing potion wouldn’t be enough.

But she poured the healing potion down his throat with determination.

Was it because the healing potion was expensive? It wasn’t completely ineffective. It stopped the bleeding to some extent and somewhat healed the wounds. However…

“His internal organs are too damaged. It’s beyond what a healing potion can do.”

Hong Da-ye bit her lower lip lightly.

It was clear that the white-haired brat had attacked with intent.

By twisting her magic into a spear-like form, she pierced through his body, causing extensive damage to his organs. It was truly a fatal blow. The wound was beyond recovery through normal means.

For an ordinary person, it would have been a fatal injury.

But thanks to Jinhyeok being a hero trainee and having the protection of a defensive artifact, he could avoid instant death.

Avoid instant death, that is.

*Cough, cough, haa… ugh…*

“Jinhyeok! Jinhyeok! A-are you okay?! Ugh.”

Thanks to the healing potion, Jinhyeok regained some consciousness and weakly looked at Jin Soyeon with a helpless gaze.

Jin Soyeon looked down at the pitiful Jinhyeok, tears streaming down her face, as she bit her lower lip.

Drip. Drip, drip.

Tears fell onto Jinhyeok’s face.

They were the tears of a childhood friend.

“S-Soyeon…”

“Ugh! I-I’m here.”

Jinhyuk called Jinsuyeon with a dying voice, and Jinsuyeon shook her head vigorously with tears streaming down her face.

“It’s, it’s okay… right?”

“I’m fine! So, huff.”

“Th-thank goodness… cough, cough.”

“D-don’t say anything, Jinhyuk! Don’t say anything!”

As Jinhyuk spat out blood again, Jinsuyeon frantically moved around with a pale face.

The situation was already critical due to severe bleeding.

Thanks to the first aid treatment, there seemed to be some improvement, but it was uncertain how effective it would be, so they needed to stay as stable as possible.

“We’re contacting the ambulance right now, so it should be here soon. Just hold on a little longer, Jinhyuk, just a bit more…!”

Hong Daye was currently looking for a vehicle.

She was struggling to call a taxi through her phone, but the chaotic scene caused by several monsters made everyone hesitant to approach.

There was a possibility of being attacked by hidden monsters.

Even if they offered money, it seemed unlikely that help would come easily.

Looking around, all they could see were destroyed vehicles and roads filling Hong Daye’s view. In the worst-case scenario, they would have to carry Jinhyuk and move.

“Damn it, is there anyone coming…?”

“Miss Hong Daye! I called Yoo Seolhyun, she’s waiting nearby, so she should be here soon.”

“Yoo Seolhyun? Why is she here?”

Hong Daye was slightly puzzled by Han Seowoo’s words. Why was Yoo Seolhyun here? But she didn’t have time to worry about that now, as Jinhyuk’s condition was critical.

Clang!

At that moment, a vehicle appeared in the distance.

Several large vehicles parked a short distance away and applied the brakes.

Suddenly, Yoo Seolhyun and a few others got out of the vehicle.

They hurriedly ran towards them.

“Is everyone okay? I heard there’s a seriously injured person… Who on earth… Oh?”

Yoo Seolhyun flinched for a moment.

She saw Jinsuyeon and a man covered in blood lying on the ground among the crowd.

“…Jinhyuk?”

The man lying on the ground with a pierced abdomen.

Yoo Seolhyun felt her heart sink a little.

It was even more unexpected that he was dying.

‘Why is Jinhyuk in such a state?’

She had received a message that he had successfully defeated a large snake.

Why was he in such a critical condition now?

It seemed like he could stop breathing at any moment.

This couldn’t be happening…

“Ugh… Se-Seolhyun, please, save Jinhyuk… please…”

Jinsuyeon burst into tears.

“Let’s get him to the hospital right away… No, with this level of injury, we need to find a healer instead…”

However, healers were not common.

As they were quite rare superhumans, their numbers were limited.

If they were in Seoul, they could ask the healer in the Gaon Nuri Clan, but they were not in Busan.

Even if they tried to find a healer now, it might be too late…

“Tsk. We have a healer on our side. I’ve already contacted them, so we should go there.”

“…Daehan?”

Kang Daehan quickly touched his phone and then clicked his tongue while looking at the unconscious Jinhyuk.

“What are you doing? You’re not going to save him?”

“Oh, thank you, Daehan!”

Upon hearing his words, Jinsuyeon immediately picked up Jinhyuk.

“Jinsuyeon, hurry! Get in quickly! Lay Jinhyuk down here for now!”

“O-okay!”

Yoo Seolhyun quickly guided Jinsuyeon to the back seat of the vehicle, and Jinsuyeon hurriedly got into the vehicle with Jinhyuk.

Kang Daehan and a few others also boarded another vehicle.

“Han Seungju! Hurry!”

“Oh, yes!”

Yoo Seolhyun urged the driver on.

And then she instructed him to head straight to the location Kang Daehan had informed them about.

It wasn’t too far away.

If Lee Jinhyuk could hold on a little longer, they would surely arrive before it was too late.

“… So, Soyeon.”

“You…”

Yoo Seolhyun glanced at Lee Jinhyuk, who was weakly calling out for Jin Soyeon, and bit her lip.

Calling out for Jin Soyeon, who was dying again.

She turned her head sharply.

Watching his pitiful appearance, a strange ache filled Yoo Seolhyun’s heart.

The inexplicable sadness was enough to unsettle her mind.

This feeling was similar to when her mother had been in such a state… No, why? It was indeed a pity that he had ended up like this, but why did she feel this way…?

“We’re heading to where the healer is, so for now, just stay quiet and still.”

Yoo Seolhyun said, as if to calm him down.

“I… have something to say… *cough*!”

“J-Jinhyuk! Don’t speak! Just stay calm! Please, stay still!”

Lee Jinhyuk thought one last thought beyond his fading consciousness.

He wanted to say that thanks to wearing the artifact of resurrection, even if he died, he would come back to life.

But what if.

What if he couldn’t come back to life?

As it was related to resurrection, Lee Jinhyuk couldn’t be sure if the artifact would work properly or not.

So, with his last bit of strength, Lee Jinhyuk made one final request.

If resurrection failed, he wanted Jin Soyeon to think of it as a sacrifice for him.

“Your, your fault… No, it’s not, it’s okay, so I… even if I die, don’t blame yourself… *cough*.”

“Oh.”

This time, he looked towards Yoo Seolhyun.

“Yoo, Seolhyun…”

“Don’t speak, just stay still.”

“Soyeon… I… have… a request… for Soyeon.”

“Jinhyuk? You? Jinhyuk! Snap out of it! Hey!”

“Huh? J-Jinhyuk! Oh no! The healing potions are all used up, what should we do…!”

“Driver! Please hurry, quickly! We can pay the traffic violation fine later, hurry!”

Startled by Lee Jinhyuk’s slumping figure, the women quickly shouted, and the vehicle sped up, reaching the clan where the healer was located even faster.

The women and Kang Daehan’s group took Lee Jinhyuk, who was barely breathing, to the healer and begged for him to be saved. The healer promptly started treatment in the intensive care room.

Jin Soyeon sat in the waiting room outside the treatment room, praying alone and calling out names of gods she had never sought before.

Please, please save Jinhyuk.

If there’s a way to save Jinhyuk, I’ll do anything, anything.

She fervently prayed for Jinhyuk to be saved from death.

Time passed.

Suddenly, the healer opened the door of the intensive care room and came out.

Jin Soyeon and the others looked at the healer with anxious faces, desperately waiting to hear the outcome of the treatment.

“Ma’am, sir? Jinhyuk, what about Jinhyuk…?”

The healer looked at Jin Soyeon, tears welling up in her eyes, then turned away with a lonely expression and slowly spoke.

“At 6:43 PM today… he passed away.”

“What?”

Jin Soyeon collapsed at the news of Lee Jinhyuk’s death.

“He’s, he’s dead? Jinhyuk? He’s dead?”

“….”

“Oh, no, ugh.”

Thud.

Jin Soyeon slumped down with a bewildered expression.

Jinhyuk, he’s dead.

He died trying to save me.

So it’s right that he died because of me.

Jinhyuk was killed because of me and Yoo Dahee.