Chapter 224 The Tournament (24)

Cough! Cough!

Coughs mixed with whines fills the room.

Kim Min Hyuk sighs at the sight.

Is that OK?

All eyes turn towards Park Jung Ah in bed.

Park Jung Ah is hiding under the blanket with a face reddened from a cold.

Dont worry. You dont have to mind it since you cant even do that.

According to the symptoms of my poison, this is what happens near the end of the recovery period.

If it was truly serious, it would be hemoptysis instead of just coughing.

Past that would be death.

Well, shes not a newbie, its the first time Ive seen a 70th floor challenger catch a cold.

Park Jong-sik says.

Thats right.

Even easy difficulty challengers become immune to mild colds once theyve passed the 20th floor.

In addition, Park Jung Ah has put a significant effort training her resistance skills such as Poison Resistance because of assassination threats.

Why dont you send her to a better room first?

Park Jong-sik made a conjecture.

Would that be better?

Its okay.

Park Jung Ahs hoarse voice is heard from within the blanket.

Whats there to do if she says its fine?

Then well leave. Thanks to a certain someone, weve become busier. Please take care of her for a few days.

Alright, I have nothing to do anyway.

They reminded Park Jung Ah to take care of herself and then bid farewell.

As they leave, Kim MinHyuk sends a message to me.

[Kim Min Hyuk,30th floor: Jung Ah may feel sorry for us and insist on getting up. You make sure she rests as long as possible. Just take a week off. ]

[Lee Ho Jae, 50th floor: Arent you flooded with work now?]

[Kim Min Hyuk, 30th floor: Yes, but not that much. Take this opportunity to give her a break.]

Kim Min Hyuk tells me that Park Jung Ah always pushes herself on a daily basis.

Her perfectionism had exhausted the people around her, although things have recently improved, shes still harsh on herself.

Kim Min Hyuk also says its worrying because even though she doesnt exhaust the people around her, she is still too cruel to herself.

[Lee Ho Jae, 50th Floor: Okay. Theres a good medicine for that.]

[Kim MinHyuk, 30th Floor: I dont know what it is, but Im anxious.]

I spot Kim Min Hyuk and Park Jong-sik walking outside the dormitory building through the window.

I wave to them when they look towards the window, then sat down beside the bed.

Park Jung Ahs face peaks out from hiding within the blankets.

I told you to wait a few days.

She hides in the blanket again.

Sorry.

Dont say that.

I open the blanket and put my hand on Park Jung Ahs forehead.

If a normal person had such a high fever , theyd be sent to the emergency room immediately, but its not so serious for Park Jung Ah.

Shell be fine after some medicine and a nap.

Ahbooboo, release another blessing. The previous one is no longer effective.

[Okay.]

Ahbooboo replies.

Hes been like this since last night.

The talkative Ahbooboo had become gloomy at some point.

[Hey, whats wrong?]

[Its nothing Just a little uncomfortable.]

This bastard is a sword isnt he?

[Hey, look at Seregia. She hasnt said anything. No agitation, as silent as always.]

[Actually, I was also a little shocked yesterday.]

The quiet Seregia suddenly spoke.

Ah, you were shocked too?

[Yes. Warrior, is this the way the world is? ]

Seregia asks

Thats unusual.

[What?]

[Nothing]

Somehow Seregia seems gloomy too.

Ahbooboo says she wants to be the plant in the fishbowl while floating around in the air. I scold him and tell him to release the blessing.

The scent of poison that has been vaguely lingering around the nose disappears.

Havent you harmed yourself or something lately?

The still Park Jung Ah asks.

I nod.

Its been a while. Whats up?

Nothing I am just asking. Im afraid Im getting in your way.

Shes asking me if shes taking up my training time.

Of course not.

I came to the tournament with thoughts of taking a rest for a while.

If the schedule was really tight, I wouldve already returned to the stages by now.

Its amazing. Im always busy accelerating my growth.

Im doing it now.

Yeah?

Training is always a must.

Im adjusting aura in midair while chatting with her.

Then Even last night?

Of course not last night. Thats dangerous.

[It is.]

[Its awesome.]

I ignore Seregia and Ahbooboo are particularly in sync today.

Dealing with aura is different from playing with clay.

A mistake during its operation could lead to a disaster.

I dont know what Park Jung Ah is happy about, she is laughing

It is good to see her laugh.

I take the herbal powder from the inventory, put it in a bowl, and mix it with water.

Fortunately, it was grounded in advance.

When the powder is completely dissolved, I hand the bowl to Park Jung Ah.

Drink it.

My sense of smell tells me not to drink it.

Its good for you. Drink it quickly.

Park Jung Ah drinks it in one breath.

It should taste like hell because its far too bitter.

As expected, Park Jung Ahs face crumples up and coughs.

I quickly take out another drink from my inventory for her.

Ive drunk it before, so I know how nauseous it is.

Whats this?

An herb called Sanguncho.

This is the herb used by Myong Myong when I was poisoned.

In addition to detoxification, it has a sleep effect. It is the perfect herbal medicine.

I saw it in the store so I bought some.

Youll fall asleep for a while. Youll feel better when you wake up .

Sleep?

Yes.

She wont sleep for days like me.

I adjusted the dosage.

Shell only sleep a day or two so she can get up and eat..

Maybe.

I move the chair to the bedside and wait for Park Jung Ah to fall asleep.

Its been a long time since I looked after someone like this.

Its the first time since Ive looked after Myong Myong.

I dont feel sleepy.

Park Jung Ah says.

I can see her trying to keep her eyes open in order not to fall asleep.

Its clear shes drowsy.

Park Jung Ah asks me to talk to her.

I ask her wanted to hear. She says she wants to hear about what happened since the end of the last tournament.

I decided to talk about what happened to me as I cleared the 40th-49th stages.

I had many stories to tell because those stages were different since I met many people instead of constantly slaying monsters.

These stories might be interesting for Park Jung Ah and can help her in various ways.

As I talk, Park Jung Ah falls asleep.

She tried everything to avoid sleep like biting her mouth or pinching her legs, but lethargy eventually consumes her.

I properly cover her in the blanket.

I get up from the chair and head to the window.

There was a lot of disturbance outside just now..

Because of the frog monster in front of the front door of the dormitory.

A frog is sitting in front of the building where people pass frequently would definitely will cause a stir.

That guy is frozen like a haetae statue.

People probably knew the frog would truly not attack or hurt them so they watched and touched it.

Fortunately, no one attacks it.

Its like watching animals at a zoo.

I can see that people have changed a lot nowadays.

Compared to before.

They no longer have a kind of ruthlessness..

Although they havent reached my level, I felt that everyone was tumbling over dangers in the past.

Everyone stayed sharp and built mental walls against each other.

I knew that breaking those walls was the goal of the Order of Vigilance and Kim Min Hyuk, but it is strange to see people so docile.

It looks like another world.

Frog.

[keeekkeeek!]

I call the frog over the window and it answers immediately.

This guy is more dog than frog.

Its usually a persons mind that determines their identity rather than their physical bodies, but this guy doesnt seem like that..

Roll around.

The frog begins to roll around at my command.

It doesnt roll casually, but follows the movement of the man I had tortured before..

People seem to have fun watching the frog.

Those are the same reactions to seeing a little dog performing tricks on his masters instructions.

[Why are you abusing the poor frog again?]

[Its not abuse. Its an effective exercise.]

Of course, it will cause some muscle pain afterwards.

Thats because it doesnt exercise normally, so it cant be helped.

I stop the frog threw it some meat chunks from my inventory.

The frog begins to eat.

Im worried about whether I shouldve given it worms instead of meat.

People seem to enjoy watching the frog eat the meat.

This makes me feel like a dolphin keeper.

They ask if they can feed the frog.

I reply that it is okay so long as the food is not harmful to the frog.

In fact, I dont know what is harmful to it, but the frog should be able to distinguish edible food.

People take all kinds of food from their inventory and give it to the frog.

The frog refuses food with strong fragrances, but eats lots of raw meat and vegetables.

[How surprising.]

What?

[You get along with people better than I thought. Is it because youre all fellow countrymen?]

Hard to say.

I dont think so.

I recall when I met people in the past.

It was during second tournament.

I was nervous at that time.

I was afraid I would never get along with others.

I was afraid that I would be a loner even after returning to earth from tutorial.

My psychology at the time was to get along with others, I didnt want to be different from them..

I didnt want to leave the tutorial anymore.

Naturally, I lost my passion to grow and to clear the floors. I became more comfortable with the status quo.

Maybe in my heart, I intended to fail the stages.

[How about now?]

Ahbooboo reads my thoughts again.

Next time you meet kirikiri, ask her what happened.

Its different. The distance between me and them is much further now than then.

Although I think the distance between me and the public is getting further, its interesting to see that Ahbooboo thinks it the opposite.

[How?]

How are we becoming further apart?

Its difficult to explain.

After pondering for a while, I decide to use my attitude towards the people in the stages as an example.

I used to treat people in the stages different from those I met here. Thats because theyre actually different types of people.

They are not the same.

Even if I can get along with the people in the stages, They will eventually leave me.

In Idys words, they are imprisoned.

However, there was an exception on the 18th floor after the end of the tournament.

I was very discouraged at that time.

[How about now?]

The same. I treat them the same way. Because they are not different.

So I gradually became alienated from people.

I treat the people I meet in the stages and the other challengers the same way.

I can laugh and converse with people I meet in the stages.

I can eat with them, understand them, and resonate with them.

Under the condition that it doesnt negatively impact me.

Even now.

The sound of someone turning over came from the bed behind me.

[But you dont seem to treat people that way.]

[Of course. Im human too. Even if I only meet people once or twice a year, there will be people who are more welcoming]

[Is that so? Those people should really be thanked. ]

[Yes.]