137

Chapter 137 - An Uninvited Guest - 4

Miracles sometimes arrive without any forewarning, yet occasionally, they compensate us in one grand gesture by using all the efforts we have accumulated like a savings account.

Today was such a day.

"Huh?"

Hwarin cocked her head quizzically, as if she heard something utterly unexpected and seemed unable to comprehend my words.

"Your face. It's healing."

"What kind of joke are you making in this situation?"

What situation, indeed. Was it such a shocking statement that she couldn't believe it? Hwarin pursued with an urgency akin to someone demanding a hidden gift to be promptly presented.

"I'm serious. The blemishes on your skin – they're disappearing."

Thanks to staring blankly at Hwarin's face, accentuated by the lighting, I noticed it. It was a small area, but where there should have been a discolored spot, I distinctly saw clean skin.

"Don't even joke about my face, or you won't get off easy."

Hwarin glared at me with a mild ferocity, as if she'd been betrayed.

"Do I seem like the kind of person who would joke about that? Just wait."

Where's a hand mirror when you need one? I hastily rummaged through the drawer for it.

"Seriously?"

Hwarin spoke to me with incredulity in her voice.

"Here, take this hand mirror. See for yourself."

Hwarin, with an expression that couldn't hide her disbelief, carefully examined her own face in the mirror I offered.

"….I don't see anything different."

"It's healing, I'm telling you. Look."

It's often someone who has been closely observing the changes, not the person who looks in the mirror absentmindedly every day, who notices first.

I came up behind Hwarin and pointed at the changes on her face in the mirror, touching gently to emphasize the healed spots.

"Here, the spot has faded, and here, it's disappeared..."

I indicated each area - where spots had vanished or diminished. Though the healing wasn't dramatic, I could clearly point out parts that showed improvement.

Once I pointed them out, Hwarin also seemed to finally notice, her eyes shifting from skepticism to sheer astonishment.

"Your face is still subtle, but the upper body looks a lot clearer in terms of clean skin."

Although I had never seen Hwarin's naked body, she had mentioned that the condition of her upper body was similar to that of her face. However, the skin near her collarbone, which Hwarin had just revealed, showed patches of clear skin here and there.

"Really?"

Startled, Hwarin hastily loosened the front of her clothing to look at her chest. Aren't you mindful of my presence behind you?

Oh. Thank you. Really, thank you.

The view from the back was even more splendid. Before, it was like the Grand Canyon, but from this angle, it was the Himalayas.

"Here and here. This skin is clear."

I resisted the urge, pressing down on Hwarin's alabaster skin with my fingers to check its elasticity.

"The spots are really…."

Hwarin's voice trembled vigorously.

"Yes. They are disappearing."

"Am I… am I getting better? Is it healing?"

Hwarin's shoulders shook. I could sense a moisture in her voice, as if it was on the verge of spilling over with the slightest touch.

"Yes, Hwarin."

I spoke with certainty.

"Sob! Sob…"

She couldn't hold back her tears anymore. Is there a towel nearby?

"Such a pretty face shouldn't be crying like this. …Ack!"

As I moved away from Hwarin to look for a towel, she turned around and embraced me with a tackle-like hug.

"Sob. I. I'm healing."

Hwarin wept into my clothes and continued to cry. I patted her gently.

"You did good trusting me, didn't you?"

"Uh-huh, sob! Sob."

That means yes, right?

Hwarin's crying fit lasted a while. Over ten years, a girl who writhed in pain without hope finally found it. A cry filled with hope is never too lengthy no matter how long it lasts.

I comforted Hwarin until her emotions settled.

"You... really meant what you said earlier?"

Once pacified, Hwarin peeked up at me with a slightly suspicious gaze.

It's getting challenging to part with the pleasant feeling of her chest. I thought to myself.

"What do you think I was going to say?"

"See, no... It definitely wasn't that."

Hwarin looked at me dissatisfied. What? I don't have a single nagging conscience. Look into my clear eyes.

"What is it?"

"It's over. Damn. You... really. I like you. But I hate it. Absolute madness."

"What are you on about?"

Is this how you treat someone who just comforted you?

"Pfft. Forget it."

Hwarin laughed at my puzzled expression, then gently pushed away from my body.

"Hey, they say if you cry and then laugh, you'll grow hair on your behind."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It's an old Korean saying. Sudden shifts in emotion aren't good, so as a punishment, something aesthetically unpleasant happens…"

"So you're saying I should grow hair on my behind?"

"That's not what I mean, haha."

I reassured her with an awkward laugh that it was just a slip of the tongue.

"Wah! You're infuriating!"

Hwarin kept punching my chest, her face now betraying no trace of her recent tears.

-----------

"It really is disappearing."

While Hwarin briefly stepped out to compose her disheveled appearance, I sat on my bed and murmured to myself.

Heaven-defying Talent.

It's the ability I came to know belatedly after arriving in this world, one that allows me to change the destinies of heroines.

If I'd been inhabited in a martial arts world, I would have expected to have martial arts talent, but to think in this martial arts dating sim world, I'd be granted the ability to strategize over heroines, it's fitting for this world indeed.

'The noticeable effects from the rise in fame are indeed surprising.'

Previously, my ability seemed to be nothing more than debuff removal, but today I finally saw therapeutic effects.

Truly, this was extraordinary news. Although I couldn't guess how much fame was required to treat Hwarin's skin condition, surpassing the minimum threshold was promising enough.

I can't be satisfied here; I need to keep on gaining fame.

If things continue to go smoothly, Hwarin could attain the clean face and normal skin she so dearly wishes for.

And if I continue to become more famous...

"I might be able to save the fate of the Star of Death."

In an instant, the image of a girl with black hair and crimson eyes flashed through my mind.

Expressionless face. A girl seemingly desiccated of all emotion. Yet, underneath, she harbored profound feelings and nursed a painful wound deep in her heart.

— See you again. Yoon Ho, bro.

'Sohee, where are you now, and what are you doing?'

The memory of her from our last night is still vivid. So is the way we parted, promising to meet again.

Can I really change her destiny?

"What are you thinking about?"

Hwarin, having washed her face, wiped the moisture with a towel and asked me.

"Various things."

I gazed fondly at Hwarin's face, showing signs of recovery, and replied. She peered at me through narrowed eyes and spoke up.

"Perhaps... were you thinking of that friend?"

Was she careful not to touch a sore spot in my heart? I sensed a subtle hesitation in Hwarin's voice.

"Yeah. I was just wondering. If that friend had taken the medicine, would she have recovered? Or would it have been insufficient?"

The truth is, it wasn't another poison, but the Star of Death. I casually brushed off her remarks and looked back at Hwarin's skin.

Strictly speaking, Hwarin wasn't a Toxic Human.

In the original story, the character Tang Hwarin fell for Dang Geoho's scheme and consumed a prepared deadly poison, becoming an incomplete Toxic Human.

Although successful in creating a poison gland inside her body, she was left imperfect. Mangled skin. She had to writhes in pain from the constant suffering and was unable to perfectly control the poison within, causing toxic powder to leak from her body.

Betrayed by Dang Geoho, the only person she trusted, she reached the point of no return, cursing the world and becoming a villain.

The world, to scorn and despise her, attached a nickname to her: similar to a butterfly leaving traces of powder, she was the Toxic Human spreading poison dust.

The Poison Butterfly Dang Hwarin.

That was the reason for her derogatory nickname.

However, in this world, she had not developed a poison gland. Not a Toxic Human, but merely an experimental subject of toxins. The side effects leave her as nothing but a suffering patient.

The symptomatic improvement Hwarin shows and overcoming the fate handed down by the stars are undoubtedly different magnitudes of events.

Still, a step has been taken.

As a writer. As a Heaven-defying Talent. The road ahead is still long. Yet, even if I were to collapse from exhaustion, I would rise and continue walking.

Sohee, your brother is living diligently as he promised. I hope, no, I must save your fate.

"Hey, Yoon Ho."

Hwarin snapped me out of my reverie with her sharp tone.

"Huh? What is it?"

Watching Hwarin, I saw her lips pouted and her expression slightly annoyed. It's like a festival day, rather than a funeral; why such a face?

"It's nothing. Just called you."

Hwarin said with a look as if she had something to tell me but was holding back.

"You have something to say. What is it... Oh no."

I tried to get off my bed, but suddenly lost balance and collapsed back onto it. The effects of alcohol seemed to be returning.

"Just sleep."

"I have to hear it before sleeping."

"Will you leave... No, it's nothing."

Hwarin shook her head rapidly as if she had made a grave slip of the tongue.

"Hmm?"

"I just wanted to thank you for treating me, but it seems like you were thinking of something else."

Is that what it was? From Hwarin's perspective, it must be an almost miraculously great happening, and my distraction could indeed upset her.

"Alright. I'm sorry."

"Why are you apologizing for something like that? It's me being unreasonable, don't mind it. Just go to sleep quietly."

Hwarin quickly brushed off my apology, took the pillow, and placed it under my head.

"Anyway, I'm sorry. And congratulations."

"Yeah... Thank you."

Why does her joyous smile seem tinged with sadness?

Perplexed by Hwarin's expression, I nevertheless succumbed to the spreading numbness of the alcohol and fatigue.

**************

Dang Hwarin silently watched Kang Yoon Ho's breathing even out.

Once she was sure that he was in a deep sleep, she took something out of the drawer.

Dang Hwarin looked at it for a long while before murmuring softly enough not to be overheard.

"Should I throw away... the medicine."

In Dang Hwarin's hand was the fake medicine she had been consistently taking, given by Kang Yoon Ho.