Chapter 18 (1/2)

‘This is a dream.’

That was the first thing that came to Joon-young’s mind as he watched the battlefield. His dead comrades stood next to him, laughing. Their heads shattered, pierced by numerous bullets that found their mark. Sh.e.l.ls and grenades sent their limbs flying into the air. Their skin melted in the face of chemical weapons. But they laughed on, and Joon-young laughed along with them.

They were the phantoms of the battlefield. Those who would walk the line between life and death. Unfazed by the mountain of corpses that they’d built and now reside in.

“What are you doing here?”

Sergeant Min asked. He still had the cigarette in his mouth and the gaping hole in his stomach.

“I believe you’re missing a word at the end?”

Sergeant Min giggled at Joon-young’s reply and threw his cigarette to the side.

“There’s a limit to how much you can slack off, sir.”

Just as Joon-young was about to reply to Sergeant Min who was doing a quick salute, his eyes opened and a familiar ceiling came into his view.

“f.u.c.k that dream.”

It made him remember. The mounting tension as the first battle was about to take place. The growing fear as his senses about life and death began to dull. The despair when he realised something in him had already twisted beyond repair. When that emotion disappeared, all that stood was a lunatic. It wasn’t a pleasant thought. As he tried to get himself off the bed, an agonizing pain from his left chest flared.

“Kuk!”

A torrent of coughs overwhelmed his body, which aggravated the pain even more. When the coughs finally began to dissipate, he took off his s.h.i.+rt to have a look on his wound.

“Did it get my lungs?”

Breathing was difficult. A red line ran right across the middle of his left chest.

This world’s medical technology was quite fascinating. He had seen it during his time in the hospital – how a glowing white hand would come close to the wound and it would begin to heal immediately. At that time, he was amazed at technology that would only be possible in a sci-fi movie, but he never thought he’d be the one on the receiving end.

“Why the h.e.l.l does it hurt so much? Why didn’t they just heal me completely when they were at it?”

There was a constant reminder of pain whenever he turned his body, when suddenly the door to his room opened.

“Who is it?”

Isaac turned his head to find a woman he had never seen stand before him, his eyes wide in amazement. Her G.o.dly beauty was unmatched by anything he had ever seen before, including his previous life. Her hair was sunrise-gold with amber eyes, and her body was golden in every proportion.

Isaac was in a daze as he continued to stare at her, wondering as to where this beauty came from. The woman, however, didn’t seem to show much interest and left the room after glancing at Isaac for a brief moment.

“What the? Why’s she just leaving? Ah! Was she the healer? But why haven’t I heard about her before? She should be famous by now with looks like that.”

While more questions popped up in his head, there a sudden ruckus and Reisha barged into the room.

“Sunbae-nim!”

Reisha threw herself to Isaac with a hint of tears on her eyes. Isaac caught her out of reflex, only to be paralysed by the impact of Reisha’s reckless leap.

“Are you trying to kill me?”

Isaac put all his strength in his shaking arm to peel Reisha off of him.

“Do you know how worried we were? We thought you were going to die!”

“Well, I’m alive now. How long has it been?”

“You’ve been unconscious for the last 3 days! Do you know how much of a struggle Kunette and I went through to look after you?”

“Then who was it that healed me?”

“Kunette.”

“Kunette? Then who was that lady that came in the room?”

There was a pause, a head tilt, then a mysterious smile on Reisha’s face.

“Uhuhuh, do you want to know? You’re curious right?”

“No, not really. I’ll know when the time comes.”

Reisha muttered menacingly at Isaac’s apathetic behaviour when Kunette walked into the room this time.

“Oh, Kunette. I heard you’re the one who healed me. Thanks. You saved my life.”

Kunette didn’t say a single word to Isaac. There was only her usual stare. She then handed the bundle of brown leaves in her hand on to Isaac.

“Hm? What’s this? A present?”

“…Choyu leaves.”

“What’s that?”

“It’s an herb we use to heal the lungs, heart or airways when they are damaged beyond the initial healing.”

“Does that mean I’m not fully cured yet?”

“Umm…”

Reisha hesitated to speak, unsure what Isaac would do if he heard it.

“… The Campus refused to treat you since only its students are allowed to receive its services.”

“Oho?”

Isaac was surprised at Kunette. The aggressive tone in her voice was something he’d never seen from her. Reisha also seemed quite mad as she quickly joined in loudly.

“It was horrible of them! We quickly did some first aid and went through the trouble to bring you to the infirmary, and they refused us outright! So Kunette and I just rampaged through their infirmary! At least the students who were there for practical lessons were kind enough to treat you!”

“Huh, now that is harsh.”

Were they just headstrong or lacking the morality? For a healer who saves lives to refuse treating a patient seemed outrageous. Was it because Isaac didn’t have health insurance?

“Then why do I need these choyu leaves?”

“We managed to heal the cut, but it was impossible for us to treat the organs to fully. The only way to treat you completely is to visit the mainland but…”

“I’ll be expelled the moment I step a foot outside Campus, so that’s out of the picture.”

“…”

“So that’s why it hurts.”

“…Does it hurt that bad?”

Kunette came closer and looked up at Isaac. You could tell how worried she was with the look in her eyes. Isaac simply smiled and began patting her on the head.

“I can’t die before I let Kunette eat all the honey in the world.”

Kunette seemed sold on his words, and accepted Isaac’s hand on her head without any resistance.

“Che! You only like Kunette. Maybe I’ll just tell you everything.”

“Hm? Tell me what?”

“Ahaha! It’s nothing.”