Colossus Hunter – Chapter 78

Ch 78: Angel（2）

I forced a smile. After all, first impressions are the most important for anyone. Especially children, they often hold onto their first impressions for quite a long time.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Oh Han-sung. We’ll be seeing each other often from today.”

Yoo Seo-hee turned her head. Her face, utterly devoid of expression, was staring at me, at the space beyond me, without any focus.

It was as if, like how she would open her mouth in response to the caregiver bringing a spoon to her lips, she reflexively turned her head at the sound of my voice.

But there was no expression. I couldn’t read her thoughts either.

The same went for her memories.

To read her memories with my authority as an Administrator, I needed an emotional surge. Instead of struggling in a dream, I needed a fluctuation of emotions while she was conscious to naturally peek into her memories.

So, I needed to induce more reactions.

‘The black aura has calmed down again.’

The black aura that was so active in the evening was now calm. Does it not activate while Yoo Seo-hee is awake?

I placed a pre-prepared flower vase by the window.

“Do you know what the flower meaning of azaleas is? It’s ‘the joy of love.’ I even gave this flower to my girlfriend before. I did get slapped right away, though. But it became a good memory later.”

Syria. The flower I gave her when I confessed was an azalea. She was initially flustered, then slapped me hard on the cheek with an angry expression.

Later, it was explained that her mind was too complicated and her hand had moved out of habit, which meant that every man who had confessed to her had started by getting slapped first.

I laughed so much when I heard that.

Anyway, the azalea was also a flower that Yoo Seo-hee had given to the Kim brothers. I hoped for even a slight reaction, but she didn’t show any particular change.

“Shall we go for a walk after you finish eating? There are pretty flowers blooming in front too.”

I picked up the spoon instead of the caregiver.

I placed the porridge and side dishes and slowly brought it to Yoo Seo-hee’s lips.

As expected, she opened her mouth reflexively.

From this, it was clear that Yoo Seo-hee was currently in a state where she couldn’t do anything on her own.

That’s why she was occupying a spot in the hospital, with an admission fee of over a million won per day. Yoo Seo-hee’s parents were CEOs of a famous company, and thanks to that, she was under strict management.

‘They said her body is too weak for a walk.’

I read the files related to Yoo Seo-hee.

Recently, her condition had worsened, and her parents had strictly ordered that she must not go outside the hospital room.

Her pale complexion. A body so frail that it seemed she would falter even just by feeling the outside air.

I took out a glass vial, about the size of my thumb, from my pocket.

‘Unicorn’s Tear.’

It was one of the items I had brought back from the Abyss with Itaqua.

It was a hard-to-find potion in modern times, but in the Abyss, you could buy it right away with points. It wasn’t even that expensive.

Unicorn’s Tear had the effect of quickly restoring energy and the body, and strengthening cells. If taken regularly, one would never suffer from illness for their entire life.

I poured water and dropped a single drop of Unicorn’s Tear onto the spoon. One drop was enough to boost her physical strength.

As Yoo Seo-hee drank it, her complexion quickly began to return.

‘The effect is amazing as always.’

It was immediate. I then prepared a wheelchair and lifted Yoo Seo-hee into it.

What could she see and react to in this stuffy hospital room? She needed to see the wide, blue earth and sky outside to regain even a little bit of her dried-up emotions.

‘A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.’

◈◈◈ * *

Yoo Seo-hee was one of the hospital’s major clients.

As she left the hospital room, the nurses began to whisper.

“Uh… isn’t Yoo Seo-hee not supposed to go out?”

“Who is that doctor? I don’t think I’ve seen him before.”

“He’s the newly appointed doctor. I heard he was assigned to Yoo Seo-hee’s case this time?”

“Then, is it okay not to tell them? Yoo Seo-hee’s parents will be furious if they find out.”

I hadn’t dominated every single person in the hospital. But I had already put the staff in charge of important departments and the nurses nearby under my control.

I ignored the whispers and headed towards a small park outside the hospital. It was a space created for patients and their visitors to rest, so there were more trees than flowers.

“The breeze is nice, isn’t it?”

Yoo Seo-hee was like a doll. I thought she would at least show a slight movement, but it was unexpected.

‘Lime, Layul, Raon.’

I stroked my chin for a moment and then summoned the Grass Spirits.

━Did you call for us?

━Where is this?

━The air is so stuffy!

The spirits, who had been playing in Nachalsan Mountain, frowned as soon as they appeared in the modern world. Well, compared to Nachalsan Mountain, which was nature itself, the Grass Spirits were bound to be in pain.

It was early, so there weren’t many people in the park. I checked the locations of the CCTV cameras and smiled slightly as I opened my mouth.

“Make the flowers bloom fully around here.”

━It’s not a difficult task.

━Can we look around here after we’re done?

━It’s stuffy, but there are so many interesting things!

I nodded, and the Grass Spirits began to wander around, asking the not-yet-bloomed flowers and the earth for help. Then, the flowers on the trees bloomed fully, and roots grew around the wheelchair Yoo Seo-hee was in, causing flowers to bloom profusely.

A sight that would have made anyone who saw it flip out, calling it a miracle.

“Ah…….”

There was a reaction.

But as if she hadn’t done anything, she closed her mouth tightly again.

Still, it wasn’t completely hopeless.

In that fleeting moment, I was able to glimpse a very small amount of emotion in Yoo Seo-hee’s eyes.

‘Loneliness. Longing.’

There was a harvest.

At least, I clearly read those two emotions.

Also, if even one milligram of girlish emotion remained, it meant that there was room to continue to work on it.

“What? When did these flowers bloom like this?”

“Wow! It’s pretty!”

The people who appeared late widened their eyes and cheered at the change in the garden.

I harvested the flowers that had bloomed around the wheelchair, arranged them nicely, and placed them gently on Yoo Seo-hee’s lap.

“This is our little secret. You’ll keep it, right?”

I said, bending my knee halfway and looking into Yoo Seo-hee’s eyes.

There was no answer, but I kept talking to her.

Then, I moved the wheelchair again and went back inside the hospital.

Yoo Seo-hee was looking down, staring blankly at the flowers placed on her lap.

I decided to be more daring.

This hospital was too small. Besides, if the emotions I had seen in Yoo Seo-hee were loneliness and longing, there was a higher possibility of eliciting more emotions outside the hospital.

I had to awaken her closed-off emotions. To do that, I needed stimulation. I needed to make her relive her forgotten emotions by encountering new things, or at least things she had been away from for a while.

“Doctor! Yoo Seo-hee is not allowed to go out.”

“Really? Her physical check-up is done, and there are no issues.”

“Without the guardian’s consent…….”

“Then, please keep it a secret. She’s not a chicken, we can’t just keep her locked up in a cage forever, can we?”

As I said with a bright smile, the nurse in charge of the lobby nodded with a dazed look.

I had already dominated about 50 people. The woman in front of me was the same.

Most of them were civilians, so it didn’t cost many points.

About 30,000 points in total.

Considering Yoo Seo-hee’s growth potential, it was an investment worth making.

I leisurely walked out of the hospital entrance and threw off my white gown. Wearing casual clothes and pulling a wheelchair, I looked just like an older brother and his younger sister.

“Where do you want to go?”

“…….”

I asked once, knowing there would be no answer.

I shrugged and hailed a taxi that was passing by.

After that, I put the wheelchair in the back trunk and carefully sat in the back seat with Yoo Seo-hee in my arms.

The taxi driver turned his head and looked at me, asking.

“Where shall I take you?”

“Seoul Land.”

Seoul Land. An amusement park.

The eldest of the Kim brothers had said that he first met Yoo Seo-hee near Seoul Land. Since they had flowers and balloons, they must have ridden the rides there.

Longing. There couldn’t be a better place to awaken her past memories.

There were limited rides she could take, but I just walked around the amusement park aimlessly.

It was a weekday, so it was rather quiet, but there were a few children with their parents here and there.

“I want that! Buy me that!”

“No. You bought a lot today.”

“Waaaaah! Buy it! Buy it!”

“Hey! If you keep doing that, I’ll leave you behind?”

In front of a Pororo balloon, which is the best thing to play with, a little boy was lying on the floor, throwing a tantrum. The woman who seemed to be his mother refused, and when she acted on her words about leaving him behind, the boy quickly got up, crying, and started chasing after her.

And Yoo Seo-hee was quietly watching the two of them.

Then, she looked at the Pororo balloon again.

She still had no expression, but it felt like she was yearning for it.

I slowly bought a Pororo balloon and handed it to Yoo Seo-hee.

“Don’t let go. It’ll fly away if you do.”

Unlike usual, Yoo Seo-hee was holding the balloon tightly.

It was a small change. It was clear that she was showing an ‘obsession’ with the balloon.

It was a good sign.

I tried riding the merry-go-round and bumper cars, but there was no particular reaction.

After that, we headed to the zoo for the last time.

“I want that! Buy me that!”

“How can I buy you a lion?”

“Waaaaah! Buy it! Buy it!”

“Please…….”

The boy from before was stomping his feet while looking at the lion trapped in the cage. This time too, Yoo Seo-hee’s eyes went from the boy to the lion cage.

Krrreung!

Krrreung.

But then, an anomaly occurred.

The lions suddenly started gathering towards where I was, didn’t they?

As if they had come to see a friend they hadn’t seen in a long time, the lions’ eyes were filled with affection.

Also, they weren’t looking at me, but at Yoo Seo-hee.

‘Amazing.’

The one who seemed to be the leader was wagging his tail.

Though she didn’t touch it, Yoo Seo-hee slowly reached out her hand.

Then, the lion lowered its head and then rolled over, showing its belly and acting cute.

It was an amazing sight.

Yoo Seo-hee was communicating with the lion.

‘The other animals didn’t react.’

Only the lions recognized Yoo Seo-hee and came to her.

Was it a natural affinity?

Or was there something else involved?

Perhaps it was related to the owner of the half-wing attached to Yoo Seo-hee.

I stood in front of the cage for a long time and then left the zoo. Yoo Seo-hee kept looking in the direction of the lion cage, as if she was regretful.

I couldn’t keep going to the zoo. No matter how good the effect of the Unicorn’s Tear was, Yoo Seo-hee’s stamina was too weak.

So, I made an accessory in the shape of the leader lion.

Thanks to my skills honed at the blacksmith, it was more intricate than most accessories sold for money.

When I gave it to Yoo Seo-hee, she never let go of the lion accessory.

Even when she slept, even when she had nightmares, she kept holding onto the accessory.

“Save me! Aaaah!”

The girl had a nightmare again today.

The black aura was raging, taking the form of fiercely attacking Yoo Seo-hee’s entire body.

I had been watching it for several days, but the same pattern continued every day.

But today was a little different.

The black aura couldn’t even get close to the lion-shaped accessory.

Yoo Seo-hee was hugging it like a talisman, and thanks to that, a gap was created.

Yes, a gap.

It meant that a space had been created for me to intervene.

‘This time for sure.’

I reached out my hand towards that gap.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzz!

Repulsion. The black aura didn’t welcome me.

But it was weaker than before. There was definitely room to squeeze in.

I gritted my teeth. Smoke was rising from my hand, and it was being crushed, but I didn’t give up.

After struggling for a long time, my hand finally touched Yoo Seo-hee’s body.

At the same time.

━I am ……nira. A girl who carries on the spirit of the Sun.

━Devote your body and mind. My power cuts through the wind, and my spirit makes the world tremble!

━But it’s a pity! Girl, if you were a boy, you could have truly toyed with the ‘Three Goddesses’!

It was Yoo Seo-hee’s memory. When she first encountered ‘him’.

Yoo Seo-hee was crying, hugging her knees in a small, dark space. Even so, the reason she hadn’t lost her body and mind was because she carried on the great spirit.

I could watch the scene from afar. But I couldn’t approach it.

As if I wasn’t allowed that much authority yet.

However, as time passed, the image of the girl in my eyes gradually began to change.

Perhaps this space was a place where time was jumbled.

Her childhood and her grown-up self were lined up in a panorama.

But in the middle of that process, I paused my gaze for a moment.

As I looked more closely at the familiar silhouette, my memories were superimposed on the ‘future image’ of Yoo Seo-hee that I had seen.

The girl had grown up and was holding a sword.

She was wearing full silver armor, hiding her appearance.

I have seen that figure before.

‘Geomsin Arken……!’

The strongest person who had suddenly disappeared one day.

I was called the Last Hero, but the one who was called the Strongest Hero was Geomsin Arken.

Everyone says that if he had been there during the fight with Uriël Diablo, the situation would have been different. But he disappeared like smoke before the fight with Uriël Diablo.

He hadn’t appeared since then.

Everything about him was shrouded in mystery. It was highly likely that Arken was a pseudonym, and even his background or gender was not properly known.

However, whenever he appeared, he annihilated all enemies. That was why he was called the Angel of Death.

But… why is the figure of Geomsin Arken being projected onto Yoo Seo-hee’s future?

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