## Chapter 51 – 51. Head Nun
#51. Discharge
An old one-room apartment with faded yellow wallpaper and zero soundproofing.
Finally, I’m back.
“I never thought I’d be so happy to see this place.”
Even though I’m planning to move out soon, the week in the gate and the three days in the hospital were so exhausting that I missed even this dump.
The gate was one thing, but the multiple tests from morning till night and the IV needles stuck in my arm like it was a meal shattered my expectations of a hotel-like stay.
In particular, the visit from Magic Tower Master, Han Ra-el, was so shocking that it still vividly comes to mind even after being discharged.
-I want to study Jeon Hyun-woo.
Not only did she suddenly hand me a contract, but she also wanted to study me and brought eight bottles of that expensive holy water as a bribe. I don’t know about anything else, but the Magic Tower Master was definitely eccentric.
Of course, considering that I was able to shorten my hospital stay to three days thanks to that holy water, I was grateful.
The effect of the holy water, which was said to be made by a bishop-level priest, was more amazing than I imagined.
With just one bottle, my physical condition recovered beyond normal, and even my tattered magic circuit was restored much stronger. I could feel that magic manipulation had become much easier.
Of course, I still get chills when I think about Choi Hye-na glaring at me fiercely because I was being discharged earlier than expected, but I had too much to do to stay in bed forever.
‘Come to think of it, Choi Hye-na also made a strange proposal, saying she wanted to study me.’
I still can’t forget that shocking first meeting.
-Let me study you. Being loved by mana? That’s an area that’s hard to dismiss as mere talent. I’ll compensate you generously. From what I can see, you’re quite the pauper, so how about 30 million won for each cooperation in research?
“…Now that I think about it, that’s a bit cheap.”
The Magic Tower Master proposed research cooperation while bringing eight bottles of holy water that seemed to easily exceed 30 million won per bottle as a bribe.
As far as I know, the Magic Tower Master’s family is also from a prestigious magic family, so I don’t know if Han Ra-el was a pushover or if Choi Hye-na was trying to take advantage of me.
‘Considering Choi Hye-na’s personality back then, it’s probably the latter.’
It would be a lie to say I wasn’t resentful, but I guess I’ve grown fond of her over time, so I don’t think much about it anymore.
Besides, I already agreed to the Magic Tower Master’s proposal.
There was no reason to refuse, except that the way she looked at me was a bit strange in the first place. She even included a clause that she wouldn’t hold me responsible even if she didn’t find anything through the research, and I even received an advance payment.
Moreover, if I could get acquainted with the Magic Tower Master in any way and continue to maintain a relationship, that alone would be a huge benefit.
[S Bank]
[Deposit 100,000,000 won]
“If I sell the magic stones I collected from the gate this time, I’ll have quite a bit saved up.”
While I was satisfied just looking at the C-grade and C+-grade magic stones of the monsters piled up in my inventory, my head was still complicated.
While I was hospitalized, it wasn’t just Choi Young-ok, Choi Hye-na, and Han Ra-el who visited me.
-Nice to meet you. I’m Yoo Seong-bin, team leader of Special Gate Team 1.
The man who came from the Hunter Association asked me about what happened inside the gate.
He asked the obvious questions from the perspective of the person in charge of investigating the incident, such as whether there were any warning signs when I got caught up in the isolated gate, or whether I noticed anything strange.
That was fine, but the team leader Yoo Seong-bin seemed to be suspicious of me throughout the conversation.
I don’t know what he was suspicious of, but it was suspicious that a man who was a team leader would have such an attitude.
I even felt like I was being interrogated as a suspect, not investigated as a victim.
However, there was no point in making enemies with the Hunter Association, so I didn’t show it or express any dissatisfaction.
“Tsk, if there’s really a problem, they’ll come back later.”
Worrying too much in advance is poison.
Now was the time for me to do what I had to do silently.
“I should go to the department store first.”
Besides, today was the day I was going to the orphanage where I had lived for nearly 15 years, so I wanted to think only good thoughts as much as possible.
***
The head nun was, to put it nicely, kind and generous, but in a way, she was someone who didn’t know how to doubt others.
She had been scammed once, and the orphanage land was almost lost entirely.
Fortunately, the orphanage didn’t disappear because the scammer was caught by the police.
I don’t know why she’s running an orphanage in such a backward neighborhood.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been on this hill.”
The road to the orphanage was much steeper than the road to my apartment.
It was so steep that I wondered if the car would roll backward if I drove up it, and the surrounding area was full of empty houses, making it a place commonly called a shantytown.
Still, when I was young, people lived there quite a bit, but now no one seems to be left, and I haven’t seen a single person yet.
I don’t know how it became such a ghost town, but my heart ached for no reason.
“…I need to make money quickly and move the orphanage to a better place.”
That much was not enough to repay the love and grace I received from the nun when I was young.
She’s like my second parent who took care of so many children in a time when I couldn’t even think about filling my meager conscience.
“…”
But what am I looking at right now?
The orphanage, which I visited after a long time, was so miserable that I couldn’t say anything.
[Scheduled for Forced Demolition]
The red letters written all over the gate and walls caught my eye.
Moreover, the half-open gate amplified my anxiety even more.
Crash!
-…!!
At that moment, someone’s voice was heard from inside, and my body was kicking down the gate and running inside.
The small playground that the nuns had made, the old-fashioned toilet, and even the old graffiti I had made.
In this place where nothing had changed, there was an uninvited guest.
“Damn it, if you got the money, get out!!”
“How can you tell us to leave with just that money? Where are we supposed to go!”
“Ha, is that my business? Huh? Damn it, is that my business… *cough*?!”
Bang!!
I grabbed the temple of the man who was yelling at the head nun and slammed it straight into the floor.
‘I’m going to kill him.’
It was a power that would have killed an ordinary person long ago, but the guy was still alive and wriggling.
“Kuaaa…!!”
It was disgusting to see him spitting blood and suffering. The moment I gathered magic to crush his head as it was.
“Hyun-woo!”
At the familiar voice that seemed to strike my head, I lowered my hand after 3 seconds of deep thought.
Killing is easy, but I didn’t want to commit an irreversible atrocity in front of my mother.
Wrinkled and with band-aids plastered on both hands from hard living, but still with clear and deep eyes.
It’s been a long time.
“…I’m back.”
·
·
·
From the first moment of reunion, I showed an unpleasant sight, but fortunately, the head nun brought me to the head nun’s office without saying anything and served me warm green tea.
Coffee is not good for the body, or something like that, she was really consistent.
“Redevelopment?”
“At first, they politely requested eviction, but after refusing that several times, rough people started coming.”
“Then the outside is also written in red paint?”
“…”
The head nun nodded without saying anything.
At the sight of her exhausted eyes, my brow furrowed without me knowing, and my emotions became so intense that my fists trembled.
I exerted superhuman patience and didn’t get up from my seat.
If I failed to control my emotions even a little, I would have followed the guy who was taken away in the ambulance earlier and killed him right away.
“Okay, okay, let’s stop talking about such gloomy things, and tell me about you, Hyun-woo. I think you’re a sophomore in college now, are the classes worth taking?”
I had a lot of things I wanted to ask too.
Where did the other nuns go, and why can’t I see any children?
But looking at the nun trying to change the subject, I couldn’t dare to ask.
“I dropped out of college.”
And I was wondering how to explain that I became a wizard in that short period of time and that I was now waiting to enter the Magic Tower, when the nun suddenly grabbed my hand tightly.
“…Are you okay?”
“Yes?”
The nun’s eyes were filled with worry.
It was a sincere worry that I had never received even once before going out into society and getting the app.
At that sight, I couldn’t help but wonder why I hadn’t visited here for the past few years, and my heart ached when I thought about the nun who had been suffering from those guys for several months, so I couldn’t lift my head easily.
“Oh my…”
Seeing me like that, she must have misunderstood something, and the nun quickly hugged me, and I made a vow inside.
I’m going to find all the guys who have been making the nun suffer and make them pay the price.
It didn’t matter if it was the president or anyone else.
“You don’t have to worry too much because you can make a living without going to college…”
“Nun.”
I took out what I had prepared from my arms and put it on the table.
“I became a wizard.”
It was a wizard registration certificate issued by the state and 50 million won in cash that I had just withdrawn.
“…Wizard?”
“That’s what happened.”
In order to calm down the nun who was startled after looking at the wizard registration certificate here and there with a blank look, I had to explain for a long time.
I explained as coherently as possible that the magic I started studying on my own suited me better than I thought, and that I was lucky enough to become a wizard and was now waiting to enter the Magic Tower.
Of course, I excluded the part where I was trapped in the gate. I didn’t want to worry the nun with unnecessary words.
“Oh my, what is this?! Hyun-woo is a wizard!!”
Fortunately, the nun purely congratulated me on becoming a wizard without any suspicion.
Rather, the nun, who had been full of exhaustion, smiled when she heard my news, and I felt like I was getting happier too.
That’s how we spent time talking about various things for a while.
We mainly talked about when I was young.
Back then, I was hungry and tired, but I wasn’t lonely.
Even if I hadn’t gotten this other world dating app, I would still be spending time alone in that one-room apartment and going to college alone.
I wouldn’t have met Iris and Chun Yeo-hwa either.
‘I should go see Iris as soon as I’m done with my business.’
The thought of wanting to bring Iris to Earth someday flashed through my mind for a moment.
While I was distracted, the head nun quietly pushed the envelope I had given her back to me.
“Take this money back.”
“Nun?”
“Even if you’re a wizard, it’s still hard to make such a big amount of money. Besides, I couldn’t do anything for you when you left the orphanage, so I don’t deserve to receive something like this.”
The nun shook her head.
“No, why don’t you deserve it?”
I still remember it vividly.
“I still remember. You picked me up from the market floor on a cold winter day when I was dying. You were the only one who helped me while everyone else turned away. If it weren’t for you, I would have died a long time ago, so who would receive this money if you don’t?”
I forced the envelope into the nun’s arms.
“If you’re going to run the orphanage in the future, you’ll need quite a bit of money whether you like it or not, so I hope you don’t refuse. If you’re uncomfortable, please think of it as helping me to relieve my debt of gratitude even a little.”
“Hyun-woo…”
“And from now on, I’ll make sure that those punks don’t even come near this place, so you don’t have to worry.”
I hugged the nun who was tearing up once, and then left the orphanage with the nun who was seeing me off behind me.
‘I should ask Choi Hye-na to help with the orphanage issue.’
Of course, I could have asked Grandma Choi Young-ok. She said she would do anything.
Arranging bodyguards to stop the punks, finding an orphanage building with better facilities, and finding out who is leading this redevelopment would be appropriate compensation for saving Choi Hye-na.
Of course, I would have to give up on asking her to get me magic equipment.
“…Ah, right. My equipment.”
Come to think of it, I haven’t gotten back my equipment that I gave Choi Hye-na to use in the gate.
‘She told me to visit her family, so I’ll go there then, right?’
It wasn’t urgent, so I decided to ignore it.
I had another place to stop by before going to get it, so the next place to go was the Full Moon Swordsmanship Dojo.
I realized that my fate was not peaceful enough to just shoot magic comfortably from behind and freeload, starting with this gate incident.
No matter how much of a wizard I am, I might die someday if I keep insisting on magic.
“So you came running in a suit?”
“I didn’t come running.”
The wolf beastwoman I met after a long time was still small.
“I can see what you’re thinking, you bastard.”
Bang!
