Chapter 293 : Chapter 293
Chapter 293: Power
There was no dialogue between the two.
Ho-cheol slowly opened his mouth.
But he only opened his mouth; he couldn't speak a single word.
What he wanted to say was caught at the tip of his tongue, and all that escaped his parted lips was the sound of wind.
The unharmed Ho-cheol couldn't say a word, and instead, the heavily injured Ye-jin wiggled her fingers as if to comfort him.
Her trembling lips parted.
Her lips, drawn into a slight arc, seemed to say that she was fine.
Only then did Ho-cheol manage to curl his lips into a smile.
“Yes. You’ll be fine.”
Of course, that was just words; she was not fine at all.
She was only clinging to life because she was an Augmentation-type Awakener who had trained consistently.
An ordinary person—no, even an average Awakener—would have died long ago.
All the training and effort she had put in until now were barely holding onto her life.
Ho-cheol wrapped his hands around hers and whispered.
“You’ll be okay. I called for support right away, and an ambulance will be here.”
Of course, anxiety was visible in Ho-cheol’s expression as he said this.
Even if he had some medical knowledge and could perform basic first aid, an injury this severe was a different matter.
It wasn't just a simple laceration or bleeding; her arm was completely blackened and on the verge of crumbling, and the bones below her left knee were shattered.
On top of that, there was massive blood loss.
He had called an ambulance immediately, but given the current situation, could a car even get in?
And if an ambulance tried to enter the downtown area, the fleeing citizens would stop the ambulance by citing their own injuries and forcibly board it.
Would the ambulance truly be able to reach this city center?
And could they even transport Ye-jin back to the hospital?
He had also called his organization's medical team, but they were waiting in a city far from here.
He should have somehow gone to the trouble of finding a Teleportation Awakener and making them a subordinate.
This was the first time he so desperately regretted not being able to call a Teleportation Awakener.
Ye-jin slowly shook her head.
She grimaced, as if even that movement was painful, and said.
“An ambulance. I can’t allow it.”
Her gaze, after shaking her head, turned toward a nearby building.
Ho-cheol, whose attention had been completely focused on Ye-jin, followed her gaze to the building.
It was a large hospital.
The middle floors of the hospital, which easily looked over ten stories tall, had blazing scarlet flames flickering through the windows.
The fire, which completely filled one floor, was mysteriously confined to that single floor, not spreading to the ones above and below.
“That hospital. There are many patients who can’t move on their own. We need at least 20 more minutes for them to evacuate…”
Ho-cheol finally understood why the heavily injured Ye-jin was continuously activating her Trait.
An invisible line starting from her body extended inside the hospital, constantly suppressing the fire.
She couldn't completely extinguish it, but she could at least prevent it from spreading to other floors.
She couldn't stop her Trait until at least all the hospital patients had evacuated.
“You told me to study how to use my Trait at a distance, Professor. Thanks to that, I can do this.”
A type of disaster that no one here, not even Ho-cheol or the Swordmaster, could do anything about.
Ye-jin was holding it back.
“I understand what you’re saying, but it’s too dangerous to use your Trait any more. You could actually die. I know you want to be acknowledged by me, but first…”
Ye-jin, who had not lost her smile even while flinching in pain, suddenly looked serious and glared at Ho-cheol for the first time.
“Do you think I risked my life to save people just because I was concerned about your opinion, Professor?”
She swatted away Ho-cheol’s hand that was holding hers and grabbed him by the collar.
“This is my choice, and it has nothing to do with you, Professor. I thought and thought, and I simply achieved the attitude toward life, the goal, that I chose.”
That voice was precarious and fragile, as if it would break off at any moment, yet it was filled with a resolute will that even Ho-cheol couldn't measure.
A firm, determined will that death could not stop.
Ho-cheol had seen people with such eyes several times before, and he knew well that they couldn't be persuaded.
She was truly Yu-hwa’s younger sister.
“I want a life that is in the right direction, one that can be a signpost for someone else. I want to live a life that is more than just ordinary.”
The strength in the hand that had gripped Ho-cheol’s collar eventually faded.
Just before her hand fell back to the ground, Ho-cheol caught it first.
Ho-cheol’s expression, as he carefully stroked the back of her hand and her palm, was a swirl of infinitely complex emotions.
“I’m ashamed. This is probably the first time I’ve felt this genuinely ashamed of myself.”
He couldn't bring himself to tell her to stop her Trait and safely retreat.
“You’re better than me.”
Ho-cheol muttered sincerely.
Could he abandon his own life for people he had never met?
Ho-cheol couldn't even answer yes to that.
What he risked his life to protect was limited only to the people dear to him nearby.
Beyond that scope, he truly believed he couldn't risk his life.
If she stabilized now, she could save her life, even if she had complications.
But Ye-jin maintained her Trait with all her might until the very end, and as a result, her body was rapidly heading towards death.
With respiration and heartbeat far weaker than before, and her life force fading, Ye-jin looked at the hospital.
Seriously ill patients on hospital beds were still urgently being brought out of the entrance.
Could she hold out until everyone evacuated?
No, she must hold out.
How much time passed like that?
The bustling hospital entrance finally fell silent.
Hearing faint voices that everyone had evacuated, Ye-jin sighed in relief.
Her vision was already blurry, and her consciousness was drifting away.
The urge to close her eyes and find comfort was slowly creeping up.
She squeezed out her last bit of strength and spoke to Ho-cheol.
“Please tell my younger siblings that I loved them very, very much.”
“No. I refuse.”
Ho-cheol adamantly refused.
“Tell them that yourself.”
Instead, he stretched out his remaining hand and clenched his fist.
After a short moment of concentration, he opened his hand again, and a sphere the size of a fingernail appeared on his palm.
Ye-jin forgot her pain and let out a small gasp of admiration at the brightly glowing sphere.
“A radioactive lump?”
“Trying to crack a joke even now. You’re tenacious.”
Ho-cheol held the sphere of light with his index finger and thumb.
It was the residue of power that Smiley had left behind in her final moments.
Her legacy, which he hadn't given to anyone until now.
No, which he hadn't allowed to be given.
It was a truly long way around.
He didn't know the owner was the person closest to him, and he took a difficult and long path, but now, at last, it had fully found its owner.
If she accepted her power, even an injury this severe could be recovered instantly.
The only concern was the magnitude of the power itself.
Of course, compared to Smiley or Ho-cheol, it wasn't even 20%, but conversely, she would gain 20% of the power he possessed just by accepting it.
Power exceeding that of an average S-rank.
Ho-cheol had no way of knowing what side effects or repercussions accepting it would cause.
This was the first case of its kind, after all.
However, it was the power of the gentle Yu-hwa.
Even if the side effects were severe, she wouldn't lose her life, and Ye-jin, who was on the verge of death from continuously using her power, had nothing to lose.
Ye-jin chuckled at Ho-cheol’s explanation.
“I was going to die anyway. So.”
Ye-jin nodded.
“I trust you.”
“You’re relentless.”
I trust you—neither yes nor no—was an incredibly heavy expectation for Ho-cheol.
Ye-jin smiled playfully and asked.
“If there’s any problem, will you take care of me for the rest of my life, Professor?”
“Yes. I’ll take responsibility. I’ll feed you and change your diapers. So just don't die.”
Simultaneously, Ho-cheol pushed the sphere into Ye-jin’s body.
The sphere, touching her solar plexus, passed through her clothes and seeped into her body with startling ease.
The sphere absorbed into her solar plexus illuminated her entire body brightly.
It felt like she had become a human light bulb.
However, that warmth soon turned into a heat that was too much to bear.
“This feels a bit hot…”
Cough— Ye-jin winced and jerked her body.
Starting from her solar plexus, blood vessels became prominent on her pale skin.
The energy was running wild.
To be precise, the currently heavily injured Ye-jin couldn't properly accept the power.
Was she unable to endure it after all?
But there was nothing Ho-cheol could do.
He could only believe and wait.
“Professor!”
Ho-cheol’s head snapped to the side at the shout coming from afar.
Da-yeon, holding a broken bow, was standing there.
Her side was half-punctured, and a long wound was carved into her cheek and forehead.
Behind her, the Swordmaster followed a few steps back.
They seemed to have managed to meet up.
Judging by the bloodstains on the sword he held, he must have cut down several villains already.
He was looking behind Da-yeon with a worried expression.
She was just slightly better than Ye-jin, but she was also seriously injured.
She probably got hurt while helping citizens evacuate.
Da-yeon staggered but quickly approached and knelt beside Ho-cheol.
She gasped when she saw Ye-jin.
Even at a glance, Ye-jin's severe injuries were a testament to her tenacity in staying alive.
“I-Is Ye-jin okay?”
“I don't know.”
Ho-cheol couldn't easily guarantee it either.
Yu-hwa’s power was healing Ye-jin while simultaneously destroying her.
She hadn't fully accepted even half of it.
And the power that wasn't properly accepted lost its way and was eating away at Ye-jin’s body, its new host.
“What about this?”
Ho-cheol briefly explained the energy that was clearly visible to the naked eye.
“The excess energy is the problem... Then.”
Da-yeon bit her lip for a moment, then stretched out her hand and placed it on Ye-jin’s solar plexus.
The energy that had been running wild just moments ago was gathered, flowing instead into Da-yeon’s hand.
It was Da-yeon’s Trait, Energy Absorption.
Since the excess energy was the very thing eating away at her body, just the moderation of that overflowing amount instantly made Ye-jin’s complexion much better.
“Keu-huk—!”
However, Da-yeon’s condition and the completion level of her vessel were also poor, making it difficult for her to accept that power.
Ideally, she should have converted the absorbed energy into her own power, but Yu-hwa’s power was too immense, forcing Da-yeon to simply shove it into her body without conversion.
Blood gushed out with her cough, soaking her clothes.
Perhaps the side effects were less for Ye-jin because she shared a bloodline with Yu-hwa; Da-yeon’s complexion rapidly worsened.
“That’s dangerous!”
The Swordmaster, who had been observing the situation from a short distance, rushed over in alarm.
He grabbed Da-yeon’s shoulder, attempting to pull her arm away.
But before he could, Da-yeon turned her head back.
Drip— Drip— Drip—
Tears fell non-stop from Da-yeon’s eyes as she looked at the Swordmaster.
She spoke in a trembling voice.
“She’s my friend.”
At that sight, the Swordmaster couldn't bring himself to pull Da-yeon away with words like It’s dangerous.
“Growth and friendship. The growth of these kids is truly dazzling.”
It’s hard even for old folks like us to look directly at it.
Muttering that, Ho-cheol slowly got up from his seat.
He had only been by Ye-jin’s side because there was no safety net to protect her until now, but with the Swordmaster here, this area had become the safest place in the city.
“Since the kids have suffered this much, I, as an adult, should set an example.”
He gestured to the Swordmaster.
“When their condition improves a bit, take them to a safe place together and help with the citizen evacuation and control.”
Ordinarily, a hero of the Swordmaster’s caliber should be responding to the villain disaster, but the current situation was far from normal.
It was a villain disaster, yet all the heroes who should respond were stuck.
The Association executives would likely continue to delay the dispatch of heroes from other regions, further increasing citizen damage.
“Then what about you?”
“Me.”
At the Swordmaster’s question, Ho-cheol’s gaze went upward.
Far away, the only intact building in the city.
Byeong-hoo was looking down at Ho-cheol from its rooftop.
“I need to beat that guy.”