Healing from Dystopia 27

#027

‘Tsk.’

Clicking his tongue internally, Carlisle got into the car with an indifferent face.

“Why did you come?”

“You used the sap…”

Carlisle cut off the question that his companion repeated with a smiling face.

“I told you to use it in emergencies.”

“That’s true, but that was something precious meant for Carlisle-nim in the first place.”

“So, you’re saying I should have just left him there?”

Answering dismissively, Carlisle recalled Raon’s miserable state sprawled on the ground. His skin was almost completely peeled off and raw, with blood spreading across the floor. The whites of his eyes that had been looking at him were also red with burst blood vessels. Come to think of it, that guy looked like that every time he saw him. In the forest, and here in the plains too. Always on the verge of gasping his last breath.

Well, it wasn’t such a rare occurrence in the current world. It would be strange if he didn’t end up in terrible shape, wandering around here and there with such a pathetic body, gasping for breath.

“Of course not. You did well.”

At the voice tinged with laughter, Carlisle frowned.

“Stop talking like you’re praising a child.”

His companion didn’t mind and continued saying what he wanted to say.

“Why didn’t you offer to give him a ride? You were going that way anyway.”

The car happened to be passing by Raon just then. Glancing out the car window, he could see Raon covering his mouth and coughing from the dust kicked up by the car. His tattered clothes fluttered in the dusty wind. No, he couldn’t tell if what was fluttering was clothes or that wretched body. It was a body as pathetic as rags.

Carlisle unconsciously clicked his tongue.

“He refused. Why did you come?”

His tone wasn’t much different whether he was talking to Raon or anyone else. Even without hearing an answer, his companion didn’t mind.

“I also wanted to see his face a bit.”

Carlisle let out a light snort.

“So what’s your impression after seeing him?”

“Well, I couldn’t see clearly, so I’m not sure. More than that, how about you, Carlisle-nim? You’ve always said you couldn’t tell because you only saw him briefly each time. This time you spent a whole night together, so has your impression changed?”

“There’s no impression to change. He’s selfish, shameless, and inconsiderate. Cowardly yet greedy, servile. With only a decent face, he has a useless body that requires a lot of attention.”

His companion laughed softly.

“That’s harsh.”

Carlisle paused briefly and recalled what had happened in the underground cave. The mushroom fragments clutched tightly in hands with exposed red flesh, and the enhancement stones scattered on the floor.

“Surprisingly, he does use his head somewhat.”

Considering it was a crisis situation, he might be more bold than he appears. Come to think of it, having all his skin peeled off must have been excruciating pain, and looking at his behavior he seems quite cowardly, yet he didn’t say a word about it hurting.

‘What kind of human being is he anyway?’

Should he be grateful that he’s not as whiny as expected?

‘Or maybe he met Eira Wintum and took a pain relief potion beforehand.’

Either way, overall, he wasn’t the type of person who appealed to him.

“Why would I with that kind of human…”

Carlisle started to speak then closed his mouth, but his companion whispered soothingly as if he knew what he was going to say.

“You can’t know a person from just a brief look. As you get to know him gradually from now on, things will change.”

“I hope so.”

Despite his answer, Carlisle’s eyes were cynical.

***

Usually in reality, staying up all night and catching a brief nap on the morning commute doesn’t fully restore your stamina. It’s the same in games.

But right after waking up and hurriedly getting off the bus, my condition wasn’t as bad as expected. Surprisingly, my stamina bar was more than half full. Had I unknowingly picked up and eaten something good for my body? While puzzled, I remembered what Carlisle had sprayed on me.

Normal potions show their effect immediately after drinking or spraying and that’s the end of it, but somehow that potion seemed to still be gradually giving beneficial effects to my body. Not only stamina, but the wounds that had remained all over my body when I got on the bus were now almost completely healed.

“It really must be good stuff…”

I felt like my debt had grown. He might be my lifesaver, but his personality doesn’t seem very good, so I wonder if it’s okay to keep accumulating debt like this. I don’t know what he might demand in return.

I tried to recall Carlisle Lightinger’s face. As expected, I didn’t feel at ease. Rather than a simple back-alley thug like Muchi, you know, he seemed like a real villain of a different caliber. Usually the most frightening people are those whose true nature you can’t fathom, and they’re the final boss types.

I regretted saying I’d repay his kindness when I got the chance. I had the timid thought that it would be best to just hide and avoid running into him rather than worry about debts and favors.

“You returned safely.”

At the voice that suddenly reached me, I looked up to see Elmer standing at the guild entrance.

“Oh, ahjussi. Haven’t you gotten off work yet?”

“Mm, I heard some strange rumors…”

He said while frowning.

Strange rumors?

“Well, it’s good that you came back safely. Get some rest. I’m about to leave work now.”

He sighed with a tired face and patted my shoulder a couple times. Then he went outside without giving me a chance to say more.

He said it’s good I came back safely—could it be he was worried about me? The strange rumors probably refer to me getting swept up with Muchi’s gang in the plains. He must have heard eyewitness accounts from people who returned yesterday evening. That’s why Elmer waited before leaving work to confirm that I returned safely on the morning shuttle. Thinking that way made me feel strange somehow.

‘No, why is an NPC worrying about me like a real person…’

“Oh, right. I need to return the borrowed items too.”

I can return better enhancement stones, but the work vest is in tatters with only the inventory function barely remaining. I should probably repair the vest or buy a new one to return. To do that, I need to sell everything I can to raise money.

And before that…

I wanted to rent a room at the guild to sleep first and organize the various things I’d gathered in the plains, but I had to quickly visit Eira while it was still daylight. I needed to extend my life first.

I immediately ran toward the forest.

‘Huh…?’

What was surprising was that crossing the forest to reach Eira’s house didn’t take much time or consume much stamina. It was puzzling what kind of change this was in just a day or two. When I checked just in case, my level had reached 20.

“…Awesome.”

I stopped in the middle of the road and gaped. Come to think of it, I had killed a boss mob. Moreover, the mine dungeon was a kind of hidden dungeon with quite high difficulty. But would my level jump this high from just that one time? Unlike other games, this game’s max level wasn’t very high. Even if it was early game, leveling up didn’t happen this quickly.

‘Is it different because it was a second-stage mutated one?’

Of course I almost died, but that was because I was weak, not because that thing was incredibly strong. Well, I guess iron wall defense could be called strong…

Other than that… Carlisle’s potion?

“……”

I don’t know. I don’t know why, but anyway, thanks to leveling up, the capacity of both my stamina bar and health bar had increased. Even by a much larger margin than expected. No wonder I felt less tired despite only sleeping for an hour on the bus. Now it seemed like I wouldn’t collapse from stamina shortage just from going back and forth through the forest and beating up some small fry.

Excited, I covered the remaining short distance to Eira’s house at full speed.

“Huff, gasp. Gasp.”

I did something pointless.

I regretted it soon after. It felt like my lungs were tearing. It seemed that just because the stamina bar got longer didn’t mean the quality of stamina improved. This was the price for ignoring the reality that lung capacity needs to be built up slowly, not increased overnight by suddenly sprinting at full speed. Damn reality patch.

I caught my breath with difficulty and raised my arm to knock on the door. But before my fist could reach it, the thick wooden door swung open.

“Huh…?”

As I hesitated, Eira suddenly appeared, grabbed my collar, pulled me inside, then hurriedly closed the door again.

“Why, what’s wrong?”

I asked in confusion. Eira released my collar as if throwing it away with a tense face, then went to the window to secretly look outside.

“What’s going on?”

I also got tense and asked in a lowered voice.

Eira spoke sharply without taking her eyes off the window.

“What’s going on, you ask—that’s what I should be asking. What on earth happened?”

“What do you mean what happened? Suddenly what—”

When I repeated dumbly, Eira frowned.

“You came running here like crazy. Weren’t you being chased by something?”