Chapter 4 - A Burglar?

Translator: Roshi

The Demon Dimension.

The Second Demon Palace, managed by Palace Lord Kakinpeto.

From its underground cell, the screams of a beast leaked out.

"You mutt!"

Thwack.

Kking!

"And you call yourself a Hell Hound of the Second Demon Palace, managed by the great Kakinpeto-nim? Huh?"

"The Twelfth Demon Palace, no, wait. Even that's too good for him. He should've just been sent off to some low-tier 900-series palace in the lesser dimensions."

"Pah. Calls himself a Hell Hound but only has one head... Where the hell did this defective runt come from."

The demon guards kicked Cerberus, the one-headed Hell Hound.

Kking!

But Cerberus didn't fight back even once, simply taking the kicks.

In truth, having only one head had little bearing on combat or mission performance.

On top of that, the Second Demon Palace belonged to Palace Lord Kakinpeto, known as the Master of Hellfire.

The very fact that Cerberus had been selected as a Hell Hound to guard this place was proof enough of his combat ability.

But in the eyes of demon society, with its rigid preconceptions and aesthetic sensibilities, a one-headed Cerberus was nothing more than a repulsive freak.

So Cerberus had always been bullied and overworked by the guards.

As a result, the internal organs that let him breathe fire had been damaged, and his combat ability had declined.

With that justification in hand, the demon guards treated Cerberus even more cruelly.

Thwack.

Kking!

The thought crossed his mind that he would die at this rate, but Cerberus had already given up.

There was no way to escape this tiny cage.

But then.

Vrrrmmm...!

"Wh-what?"

A Dimensional Portal suddenly opened inside the cage.

"It's a spontaneous portal! Report to command!"

Kking.

Through Cerberus's fading eyes, the shimmering Dimensional Portal came into view.

It might have been a dangerous portal, but to Cerberus right now, it looked like the only way out.

Kking!

"Hey! The mutt just suddenly..."

"Where do you think you're going? Get back here!"

But Cerberus squeezed out every last bit of his remaining strength and charged into the Dimensional Portal.

Vwoom!

He plunged inside.

He might suddenly fall into an underwater cave, or emerge into a place teeming with enemies.

But it was better than staying put and being beaten to death.

Kking...?

But there was no dangerous terrain, no enemies, nothing at all.

Within the Dimensional Gap, a vast path stretched out before him.

As he followed the path, countless branching roads leading to other dimensions appeared.

A sight he'd never seen before.

He didn't know which way to go.

But at the very least, he couldn't go back the way he came.

They would certainly kill him in the cruelest way possible.

Just as he was about to press forward blindly.

Kking...?

A faint light caught Cerberus's eye.

As if beckoning him to follow.

The light moved along a certain path.

And Cerberus followed that light, step by step.

*

It was a refreshing morning.

Yet another perk of being a lightweight drinker.

No hangovers!

Due to a deficiency in ALDH (Aldehyde Dehydrogenase), the symptoms caused by acetaldehyde hit more immediately than they would for a normal person.

Simply put, I got hit with the hangover all at once, so by the time I woke up, I actually felt refreshed.

Part of it was that lightweights can't drink much to begin with.

And if anyone thought being a lightweight meant no hangovers and used that as an excuse to drink way beyond their limit... well. Rest in peace.

"Anyway, I slept great!"

I had a vague feeling I'd embarrassed myself before falling asleep last night.

What did I do again?

'Right. I threw a fit about wanting a puppy and then passed out.'

I looked down and saw the blank face of the dopey lion plushie cradled in my arms.

"Hoo. You're the only witness to my dark history."

I picked up the lion plushie, now damp and soggy with drool, carried it to the bathroom, and dunked it in a basin full of water.

After extracting a solemn vow of silence through fearsome torture (?), I hung it out to dry in a sunny spot.

Then I stretched out long, and had breakfast.

It was a late breakfast, but today was Saturday.

I'd eaten a spicy pork lunchbox from Ungi Brunch, my go-to meal delivery service, plus a sous vide chicken breast pack, and I was fully fueled.

"Mmph. Well then, shall I head in to work for a bit."

I'd made a big fuss about Friday nights and weekends, but.

Running an Animal Hospital meant it was hard to take weekends completely off.

So on Saturdays, I worked alone from noon to four, running shortened hours.

Sundays were my real days off.

"Still, four hours is basically just popping out for a bit."

I'd organize some charts, and when cute patients came in, I'd give them a quick heal to fix them up.

During downtime, I'd read web novels or watch NewTube channels featuring cute animals.

I'd been a veterinarian for quite a while now and had met all sorts of animals.

But even I couldn't compete with NewTube.

There were even channels of people raising bears, after all...

And while all I did was treat the patients who came in and send them off.

NewTube was nice because you could peek into their daily lives.

"Alright. Before I head out, let me check what's going on in the world."

I still had a bit of time, so I checked the news, and sure enough, yesterday's S-rank Gate was all over the headlines.

[S-rank Estimated Gate That Appeared in Gangseo-gu Vanishes Approximately Ten Minutes After Manifestation, Why?]

[Analysis Team Arrived on Scene After Emergency Alert Was Sent, but Unable to Locate Gate]

[Management Bureau Mentions Possibility That a New Type of Gate Simply Emitted Mana Before Fortunately Closing on Its Own]

[Speculation Circulates That This May Be a Cover-up for New Detector Malfunction...]

[Some Voices Suggest a Hunter May Have Cleared It, However...]

"Hmm, technically I didn't clear it, though."

I healed it and it opened the Gate on its own and left.

'...But should I tell the Management Bureau about this or not?'

Yesterday I'd been too busy savoring the relief of simply being alive.

But thinking about it after a night's sleep, it did nag at me a little.

I ran a quick simulation in my head.

Okay, say I told the Management Bureau exactly what happened.

I got caught up in a Gate and healed a dragon and that's how it got cleared!

I also got a barrier that blocks everything!

Then what?

Oh, is that so? Great! Then shall we see if you can clear other Gates the same way? You said you got a barrier that blocks everything, right? Then you should be perfectly fine going into S-rank Gates alone!

...Wouldn't that be how it'd go?

'Just thinking about it is terrifying.'

Even with Absolute Shield, I'd still have to watch terrifying, disgusting Demonic Creatures swarming at me, wouldn't I?

Ugh. Let's not imagine that.

'Plus, the Durability is sturdy, but it's not infinite.'

And the dragon had at least been a reasonable fellow I could communicate with, so that worked out.

What guarantee was there that if I used a heal on Demonic Creatures charging at me, they'd go, oh, thank you so much! and meekly back off like the dragon did?

They might get even more fired up and attack harder.

I only ended up in the Gate by accident yesterday to begin with.

From now on, just like Yun-a said, I wouldn't look at my phone while walking, and I'd double-check even familiar alleys on my way home.

'I'm absolutely keeping my mouth shut.'

The Management Bureau seemed to be treating it as a simple incident anyway.

And nothing actually went wrong with the Gate, right?

As long as I kept quiet, everything would be just fine.

Phew. Let's just go to the hospital. The hospital.

Just as I was getting ready to head out.

Ring ring ring!

"Whoa, it scared me."

[Hunter Management Bureau, Kim Jun-o]

Good grief.

Speak of the devil.

I swallowed hard and answered the phone.

"Hello...?"

"Ah, good day. Shin-hu-nim. Nothing out of the ordinary lately, I hope?"

"Nope, everything's great!"

I answered in the calmest voice I could manage.

"The reason I'm calling is, the estimated S-rank Gate from yesterday appeared near your hospital. So I wanted to check in, just in case it had any effect on you."

"Oh, not at all. Ha ha ha. Thank you for your concern."

"I'm sure you're well aware, but there have been new types of Gates lately that even we can't get a read on, so please be careful. You are the world's only EX-rank, after all."

"Ha ha. Yes, of course."

In the early days of Awakening, especially during the period when Hunters weren't accustomed to Gates and healers were scarce, the Management Bureau had tried everything to find a way to make use of my EX-rank heal.

They'd searched high and low and even conducted research to find a way to remove or at least weaken the Penalty.

But no matter what method they tried, I could never heal a person.

After that, as healers began appearing one after another and Hunters developed combat know-how and gate-clearing went smoothly.

At some point, the Management Bureau gave up on me.

Of course, being the world's only EX-rank meant I still got the occasional check-in call like this.

'Which, honestly, I prefer. Works out great for me.'

All I wanted was a quiet, peaceful, happy everyday life.

Fortunately, Kim Jun-o wrapped up the call without saying anything unusual.

And I headed to the hospital.

*

"Hello, Doctor. Our baby suddenly started limping on a hind leg yesterday..."

"Ah, I see."

The first patient was a very fierce-looking Chihuahua.

"Let's take a look."

It was a very small dog, so I tried to gently pick it up, but the Chihuahua growled and bit my hand.

[Absolute Shield (S) has been automatically activated.]

[Durability depleted by 0.]

But no dice.

Ooh, solid performance right there.

"Oh no, Doctor! Are you okay? He's not usually a biter!"

"I'm fine."

If anything, it was the Chihuahua who'd bitten me that was whimpering, as if its jaw hurt.

See, that's what you get for biting, you little rascal.

I placed my hand on it and used a heal.

Flash!

A brief light passed over it.

The Chihuahua, now fully healed, became docile.

As if it had never tried to bite me, it looked up at me and wagged its tail.

Woof!

The Chihuahua barked energetically, and its owner's face lit up.

"Thank you, Doctor! Completely better in just a few seconds...! You really are EX-rank!"

"Ha ha... Thank you."

"Oh, I'm sorry if that was rude."

She seemed to be glancing around nervously, worried she'd inadvertently brought up the fact that despite being EX-rank, I couldn't heal people.

I waved my hands to show I didn't mind at all.

"Not at all. I love this work."

I meant it.

Now that I wouldn't get a single scratch no matter how much these cute little guys acted up?

"It was a simple sprain. It seems like he stepped wrong while playing and twisted his leg. Do you have anti-slip pads down in your home?"

"Oh, no...!"

"It'd be a good idea to put some down. Dogs take cumulative joint damage every time they slip."

"Got it. I'll look into it right away. Thank you!"

I gave the Chihuahua a few pets as it nuzzled my face, then waved goodbye as it was carried off in its owner's arms.

Heh heh. What a cutie.

Chihuahuas really are adorable as long as they're not baring their teeth.

I was basking in the satisfaction of another successful first consultation of the day when.

Ding!

"Hm?"

[Restoration, Grade: EX skill's EXP has increased by 1!]

[Current Level: Lv.2]

What's this now?

My EXP went up?

I stared blankly at the Status Window.

This had never happened before.

Wait, my skill even had a Level?

[Restoration][Grade: EX][Lv.2]

Restores target life form.

※However, cannot be used on one's own kind.

"It actually appeared?"

There were two types of skills: Growth-type Skills and Non-growth-type Skills.

So did that mean Non-growth-type was always bad?

Not necessarily.

Non-growth-type Skills, since they mostly couldn't grow, often came with powerful effects right from the start.

Growth-type Skills, on the other hand, were usually designed to be weaker at the beginning, presumably because their growth potential was factored in.

'And my heal was a textbook Non-growth-type Skill.'

Or so I'd thought.

There'd been no Level displayed on it.

And aside from the Penalty, it was an absurdly overpowered skill that could heal any wound regardless of severity.

'But now it's suddenly growing?'

That was when I happened to notice the tattoo on my left arm, visible only to me.

A tattoo inscribed in an unknown script.

The Dragon's Mark.

Could it have some other effect I didn't know about?

I'd heard that other Hunters sometimes discovered hidden properties in their skills beyond what was written in the descriptions.

If that was the case...

'Does this mean my skill can grow now?'

But what would growing even do?

It already healed everything perfectly as it was.

Of course, leveling up couldn't be a bad thing, but...

The EXP had only gone up by 1, and there was no indication of how much was needed for the next level.

Just in case, I kept treating the patients who came in and checked each time.

"Doctor, please save our baby!"

"Oh my, the condition is... Could you bring him over here? Restoration."

Ding!

[Skill 'Restoration' has been used.]

[EXP has increased by 1.]

Even healing an animal that had come in with serious injuries only gave 1 EXP.

I treated a few more patients before closing, but the EXP consistently rose by just 1 each time.

"Hmm. Well, it'll level up eventually."

This was a problem that wouldn't be solved no matter how much I agonized over it.

I decided not to think too deeply about it.

It wasn't like it was causing any problems with my treatments right now.

If anything, hearing that ding and watching EXP stack up with every patient was kind of nice, giving me a sense of progress.

How should I put it... like dropping coins into a piggy bank one at a time?

I clocked out, went home, lounged around killing time, and before I knew it, evening had arrived.

"Hmm, what should I have for dinner tonight to make it a meal worth bragging about?"

Just as I was mulling over the menu.

Beep beep beep!!

"Hm?"

Some kind of alarm was going off on my phone again.

"Another Gate?"

But the sound was a bit different from the emergency alert.

I checked my phone and my eyes went wide.

[Sycom Security Alarm System Active]

[Movement detected on indoor CCTV.]

[Would you like to check the CCTV?]

"What, a burglar?"

I hurriedly pressed the confirm button.

And upon seeing the screen that appeared, my eyes went wide.