I Don’t Want This Reincarnation

“…what is it?”

“Let’s talk for a second. Without Healer Min Ah-rin.”

Min Ah-rin, who was looking at me and Cheon Sa-yeon, gently stepped back. “Yes. Um, I’ll be back a little later.”

Min Ah-rin, who was looking at me worriedly, left the hospital room.

“What? If it’s not urgent…”

“I know someone who can save Kim Woo-jin.”

My eyes widened at the unexpected words. I looked at Cheon Sa-yeon. With his personality, there was no way he’d be talking nonsense. I dryly swallowed back saliva and approached Cheon Sa-yeon.

“Are you sure?”

“This is the first time this has happened, so I’m not sure, but it’s more likely than anything else.”

“Who is it? Where can I go to meet them?”

It was worth looking for just because of the high possibility. Cheon Sa-yeon smiled softly as he looked down at me hurriedly asking questions.

“I can contact them for you.”

“……”

“Do you want me to do that, Han Yi-gyeol?”

I furrowed my brow. You were going to contact them instead?

There was no way he would do it for nothing. Come to think of it, he said that there was business to attend to when he first came into my hospital room.

I looked at Kim Woo-jin, who was in pain from all the energy. There was only one choice.

“What are your conditions?”

For this time, whatever you asked for in return, I’ll do my best to accommodate it. When I looked at Cheon Sa-yeon, he raised an eyebrow and said, “Hmm. Well.”

Pretending to think, he shrugged his shoulders and asked lightly, “Aren’t you going to cutely tremble as you beg me for help*?”

“Don’t talk bullshit.”

“It’s not bullshit. I’m serious.”

“Just say what you want. Whatever it may be, I’ll try my best.” I said this in consideration of Cheon Sa-yeon’s feelings, but on the contrary, he had a sad expression on his face. What the hell? I really couldn’t make head nor tail of this man**.

“In two weeks, a party will be held for guild masters all across the country.”

“A party?”

Why a party all of a sudden?

“As gate anomalies continue to arise, the management headquarters seemed to feel a sense of crisis. The purpose of the party is to share and collect information on each guild’s gates… Well, we’ll see if it goes well.”

It certainly made sense to come together for that purpose. Especially for guild masters located in rural areas, it wasn’t easy to get information on the gates.

“…so what does that have to do with me?”

“I can bring a plus-one.”

Creepy—I had goosebumps on my back.

“It can’t be that you…”

“I was just looking for a partner to go with.”

“This crazy…”

You weren’t asking me to go into a gate or kidnap someone.

But a party? You wanted to go to a party together?

“How can your conditions be this?”

I barely swallowed back the words “I don’t want to” before asking, almost arguing, “I think it’s a losing trade for me.”

Cheon Sa-yeon’s white, slender fingers gently stroked my cheeks. “Is that so? Not only can you save Kim Woo-jin, but you can also collect more information on the gates—I think it’s worth getting on your knees to say thank you.”

“……”

It was an irrefutable statement. I bit my lip in embarrassment.

“Although I’m sorry to say this, I’ve never been to a place like that so I’d rather you take someone else.”

“I don’t want to put unnecessary pressure on a partner who’s been forced to follow along. It would be better to put an end to unnecessary worries.”

“…so you mean, if I just follow you to the party, you’ll call them?”

“Of course.”

Was that really it? I was sceptical, but I had no choice but to believe him for now. I accepted his offer without thinking about it for a long time.

“Okay. I’ll go to the party or whatever, so call them as soon as possible.”

“A wise choice.”

Cheon Sa-yeon took out his cell phone and smiled brightly.

* * *

While waiting for that person to come, Min Ah-rin and I made every effort to make sure that Kim Woo-jin could hold on for a little longer—though, I didn’t see any particular effect.

After two long hours, Cheon Sa-yeon returned to the hospital room. Behind him, there was a man I’d never seen before.

“This is Edward Asner (에드워드 애스너), an item maker. He said he wanted to see the patient in person.”

At Cheon Sa-yeon’s introduction, a small man hesitatingly walked forward. Min Ah-rin and I greeted him warmly.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Han Yi-gyeol.”

“I’m Healer Min Ah-rin.”

“Yeah, hello. Please call me Eddy.”

Perhaps because he was wearing an interpreter item, he answered fluently in Korean. Edward, small enough to be half my height, fidgeted with his curly blonde hair and smiled slightly. He looked very young.

“Eddy specialises in producing energy-related items. He can help with Kim Woo-jin’s condition.”

“I just happened to be in Korea. I thought it would be pretty important if Cheon Sa-yeon-ssi contacted me first.”

Cheon Sa-yeon and Edward seemed to know each other quite well. Edward leaned to the side to look behind me, at Kim Woo-jin.

“Is that him? The one with abnormal energy.”

“That’s right.”

Edward looked down at Kim Woo-jin with a serious face. Edward looked at him for a while and then nodded his head. I waited nervously for him to speak.

“Fortunately, it is exactly what I expected. As long as he holds on to his energy, he will recover quickly.”

“Is that really true?”

“Yes. This is not the first time this has happened, so I’m sure.”

This wasn’t the first time?

Min Ah-rin asked, surprised, “Are you saying there was another case like Woo-jin-ssi’s?”

“Mh, it was about last year. There was a child in China whose life was at risk because his energy was amplified. I was able to help him because I was stopping by the village for volunteer work.”

“Then do you know the cause?”

Edward nodded his head calmly at my words. “The child lost his family right before his eyes. After he recovered, he talked to me and said that he had a hard time because he felt guilty for not protecting his family.”

My mind went blank at the answer. Guilty for not being able to protect his family?

“Perhaps something similar happened to this person. What is certain is that energy is greatly influenced by emotions. When you have an experience that is so intense that you can’t control your emotions, your energy also loses balance.”

I barely swallowed back the sigh that was about to burst out. My chest hurt like there were thorns shifting around.

‘Then the reason Kim Woo-jin became like this…’

Was it because of me? The act of trying to protect Kim Woo-jin eventually leading to his death—an indescribable feeling arose.

Edward tapped his large jewel-encrusted ring and pulled out an item. It was pill-like, the size of a thumb.

He put the item into Kim Woo-jin’s mouth.

“It’ll melt and be absorbed into his body. His energy will gradually stabilise.”

“…thank you.”

Edward smiled softly at the thanks.

“It is only a matter of time until he recovers, but what’s important is the future.”

“The future…”

“This person will have a different energy level, just like that child. What I mean is, his rank will go up.”

Even Cheon sa-yeon, who had been silently watching until now, seemed intrigued, eyes lighting up.

Min Ah-rin murmured with a look of astonishment, “Can ranks really go up?”

“If he has this kind of energy, he will probably become an A-rank. Korea has a well-developed ability measurement system, so I suggest he checks it out after he recovers.”

Perhaps because the item took effect while we were talking, Kim Woo-jin’s breathing smoothed out. It was such a relief.

After looking at Kim Woo-jin for a while, I turned my gaze to Edward and nodded my head.

“I understand.”

As long as it wasn’t painful, it didn’t matter how much his rank changed. Rather, Kim Woo-jin might like it, since he was dissatisfied with his ability.

Edward looked at me quietly and smiled at ease.

“Thank you for coming today.”

“Oh no, since it was a request from you, Cheon Sa-yeon-ssi, of course I had to come. And thanks to you, I was able to meet some good people.” Edward, who responded to Cheon Sa-yeon brightly, looked at Kim Woo-jin and made a sad face. “I would like to stay longer, but I have a schedule so I think I have to go.”

“I’ll walk you to the front of the building.”

“Thank you. It was nice to meet you two.”

Min Ah-rin and I shook hands with Edward.

“Thank you so much for your help today.”

“Be careful when you go.”

“Yes. I hope to see you both again.”

Cheon Sa-yeon left the hospital room with Edward, who was waving his hand at us.

As Min Ah-rin picked up a drink, she said, “I’m glad that Woo-jin-ssi is getting better, but I was really surprised. I can’t believe his rank can actually go up.”

I agreed, recalling the novel. There was no such case in the original novel. And yet now, Kim Woo-jin wasn’t even the first case.

Min Ah-rin, who had been thinking about this and that, tilted her head slightly. “If you think about it, it’s similar to when you awaken as an ability user. People with useful abilities often wake up in the face of intense events.”

It certainly was. Someone had awakened with the ability to strengthen their body when they were about to be stabbed by a murderer, and another person awakened with an evasive ability when they almost got into a car accident.

“It’s an unexpected result, so I’m a bit flustered… But Woo-jin-ssi is Woo-jin-ssi. As long as his recovery goes well, I can congratulate him.”

“That’s right.”

I smiled at Min Ah-rin, who was smiling at me, but Cheon Sa-yeon came back after seeing Edward off.

“I’ll have to make an appointment with the measurement centre first.”

Cheon Sa-yeon was sure that Kim Woo-jin would get better. That meant he trusted Edward.

“Can they also detect a change in ability?”

“Perhaps. But he’ll have to see for himself to be sure.”

If Kim Woo-jin became an A-rank, it was clear that his ability to blur his presence, which used to be a C-rank, would also change. I didn’t know what kind of ability he would have, but even if it was a non-combative ability, he had become an A-rank from a C-rank, so he would grow taller and have more stamina.

“Because he belongs to a guild, we cannot hide the results or make them private. There will be an uproar for a while when news gets out that his rank changed from C-rank to A-rank.”

“That’s for sure.”

Perhaps because his fever was dropping, Kim Woo-jin was sleeping comfortably with no furrow in his brow. His face was still a little red, but despite this, he seemed to be recovering well.

He had a lot of things to do when he woke up. Feeling tired already, I wearily exhaled.