Chapter 9 - If That Ever Happens

Translator: Roshi

Whirrrrr.

Whirr.

Cer's pupils trembled at the sound.

Kking...!

Cer, who had been lying flat on the floor, quietly pulled the lion plushie into his embrace as if trying to protect it.

The unidentified object moved along the path of Cer's gaze.

It was.

"It's a robot vacuum. If you leave it alone, it wanders around on its own and cleans the house."

Kking...!

Cer followed the robot vacuum with his eyes, fascinated, as it puttered around cleaning.

Whirr—.

Then.

The robot vacuum suddenly changed direction and charged straight at Cer.

Kking?!

Cer froze, tensing up for a moment.

And then.

Beep beep. Whirr.

Having detected an obstacle, the robot vacuum promptly changed direction again and went on its way.

"It avoids everything on its own. Pretty amazing, right? The world's gotten really convenient."

Having just finished the dishes, I pulled off my rubber gloves.

And uttered the magic words.

"Well then, now that we've eaten, how about we go for a walk?"

Kking!!!

At the word "walk", Cer sprang to his feet.

*

Kang Ye-ri, hunter.

An A-rank hunter belonging to the Guardian Guild, one of the nation's four major guilds.

Her hobby was running.

She had always loved exercising, but the skill she gained upon Awakening was a magic-type skill.

Naturally, her stats were skewed toward magic power as well.

It was a shame, but there was nothing she could do about it.

'Running's actually a good way to build up my stamina, so it works out.'

She had moved to the area not long ago.

There was a park nearby that was perfect for running, so she had been going there for her runs.

There had been some students picking fights in the park in the evenings, but once she pushed back, they stopped bothering her.

Yesterday, they had been about to start trouble with someone else, so she went over intending to give them a good scare and chase them off for good.

But the dog the man had with him glared at them, and they suddenly got scared out of their minds and ran off.

Hmm, was it really that scary? Maybe the owner was a hunter who used some kind of psychic skill? she had wondered.

But given that she hadn't sensed any magic power at all, that didn't seem to be the case.

The man seemed like a good person.

The dog was smart and quite cute.

'It's my day off so I came out around lunchtime, but I doubt they'll be here...'

That was what she'd been thinking when she came out.

"Fetch, Cer!"

Kking!

'Oh!'

Luckily, she spotted the man playing with Cer in the park.

Watching Cer chase after the rubber ball the man threw, bring it back, wag his tail, and bask happily in the praise brought a smile naturally to her lips.

Kang Ye-ri was approaching to say hello when.

"Oh, it's wilted."

The man noticed a drooping flower planted nearby and placed his hand on it.

"Restoration."

When he murmured something, the wilted flower, astonishingly, sprang back to vibrant life.

'Wait, he was actually a hunter?'

A healer, at that?

But could healers even treat plants?

For now, Kang Ye-ri quickly walked up to the man.

"Hello?"

"Oh. Even this gives EX... ah, you scared me."

Shin-hu, who had been reading his Status Window, flinched in surprise, and Kang Ye-ri apologized.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you."

"No, it's fine. I was just looking at something for a second..."

Kking!

Cer recognized Kang Ye-ri from yesterday and greeted her, and Kang Ye-ri smiled back.

"Hi, Cer."

After exchanging greetings, Kang Ye-ri chatted with Shin-hu about trivial things, like whether he got home safely yesterday and how she still needed to think more about getting a dog.

"Um... that thing you did just now, touching the flower?"

She carefully brought up what she had witnessed earlier.

At that, Shin-hu scratched his head and said,

"Oh, yeah. I'm actually an Awakener. I have a healing skill."

I knew it!

Kang Ye-ri's eyes sparkled.

"Oh, if you're a healer, are you with a guild by any chance...?"

Shin-hu shook his head.

"No. I haven't signed any contracts."

"You haven't signed a contract?"

Kang Ye-ri's eyes sparkled even more.

'Hold on. Could this actually be a jackpot...?'

Five years had passed since the Gate crisis, so the healer shortage had been mostly resolved by now.

But there was a reason healers were called royalty.

The more healers, the better.

Their asking price was higher than any other class.

But healers were worth every bit of that steep price.

No matter how many powerful damage dealers you had, if they dropped one by one, it was game over.

If he was still unsigned, the Guardian Guild, as one of the four major guilds, had the financial power to recruit him.

'I only saw it briefly, but judging by the speed and quality of that healing, it's definitely a high-rank skill.'

That level of perfect, vivid restoration was something even Kang Ye-ri had never seen before.

However, the flower of imagination blooming in Kang Ye-ri's mind wilted completely at his next words.

"The thing is, I am technically a healer, but my Penalty is pretty harsh, so I can't heal humans. Haha."

Kang Ye-ri blinked.

"You can't heal humans?"

Come to think of it, she vaguely recalled seeing something about this in an article a long time ago.

"Ah...! Could you be that Jeong... Jeong...?"

"Jeong Shin-hu, hunter."

"Oh, right! So it was you...!"

"Yeah, haha. This is kind of embarrassing."

Shin-hu scratched his head.

He was famous, sure, but famous in a not-so-great way.

Of course, five years had passed, so nobody recognized him anymore.

But every now and then, when he had to introduce himself, it still felt awkward.

"These days I'm just running a small private Animal Hospital, living a quiet life. Today's Sunday, so I came out a bit early for a walk with Cer."

"I see."

Kang Ye-ri nodded.

"Actually, I'm an Awakener too. I don't have my business card on me right now, but I'm Kang Ye-ri from the Guardian Guild. I was hoping to make you a recruitment offer with good terms since you're an unsigned healer, but..."

At that, Shin-hu quickly waved his hands.

"Haha, I appreciate it, but I'm good. I'm satisfied with my life right now."

"It seems that way. Most people would despair if they got a Penalty like that... In a way, you're actually pretty impressive."

Seeing him live happily doing what he could, in his own modest way, put the onlooker in a good mood too.

"Well, now that we've properly introduced ourselves, let's say hi whenever we see each other at the park."

"Sounds good."

"If I ever get a dog, I'll come visit as a customer!"

"Haha, it's better if they don't get sick. But if they do, drop by anytime."

"I will!"

Kang Ye-ri waved to Cer one more time, then headed off for her run.

'Should I really try raising a dog?'

Her heart was leaning more and more in that direction.

*

The past few days had been nothing but trouble.

But in the end, Sunday passed peacefully.

And then Monday.

I headed to work early in the morning with Cer.

Leaving him home alone made me uneasy since I wouldn't be able to give him commands immediately.

Cer seemed anxious too, probably because he felt he needed to protect me.

"Ji-yeon-ssaem, you're here early."

"Yeah, the traffic today was... hm? Whose dog is that? Did a client leave it with you?"

"No, I'm going to keep him."

"What?"

Park Ji-yeon's eyes went wide.

"Ssaem, didn't you say you'd never keep a dog? That you hate getting attached and then having to say goodbye... And it's not even a puppy. Where did you suddenly get a fully grown dog like that...?"

Park Ji-yeon already had worry written all over her face.

"This guy was lying in front of our Animal Hospital last night. Looks like he was abused somewhere and ran away. There wasn't a single part of him that wasn't hurt, so I treated him and decided to keep him. Sending him back to his original owner didn't seem like the right thing to do either."

Not that I could send him back anyway, since the Gate was closed.

"Honestly, ssaem. You're too soft-hearted for your own good."

Park Ji-yeon let out a sigh.

Kking!

Still, the moment she looked down and saw Cer gazing up at her with that gentle face, her expression softened.

"He's really friendly with people even though he was abused."

"He's seriously smart and sweet. He won't cause any trouble or get in the way around the hospital. Right, Cer?"

Kking!! Of course, master!

Cer responded with an enthusiastic answer right away.

"Wow, he really is smart. Wait, so where are you going to put him...?"

"For now, the storage room has plenty of space so I'm thinking he can stay there. We have leftover supplies, right?"

"Oh, yeah! Let me go find some floor pads and a big cushion or something."

Park Ji-yeon went to the back and helped set up a temporary space for Cer to stay.

"While I'm working, you can hang out here."

Kking!

Cer settled onto the large cushion and wagged his tail happily, seemingly pleased with it.

"Looks like he likes it."

"That's a relief. He doesn't bark randomly or anything, he's so well-behaved..."

Park Ji-yeon smiled warmly, then headed back to the front counter.

Once I handed him the lion plushie I'd brought along, Cer hugged the Comfort Toy with a blissful expression.

"Alright, shall I get to work?"

No matter how quickly the skill could cure everything in one go, basic chart management was still necessary.

What problem brought them in last time, how to improve their lifestyle habits or diet going forward.

That was the kind of consultation the charts were for.

I was reviewing the Excel file and organizing things in my head when.

Clients soon began coming in.

"Doctor, our parrot...! He normally talks so much, but a few days ago he started talking less and now he won't say anything at all! Hic..."

A girl who looked about middle-school age came in with her parrot.

The parrot did look visibly weak.

Its beak was clamped shut.

Just because it's an animal hospital doesn't mean you can actually treat every animal.

There are separate hospitals that specialize in birds and exotic animals, and most places put that on their sign.

Our hospital didn't have any of that.

Just: all animals welcome.

Bring them all in.

For that very reason, I immediately placed my hand on the parrot.

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

There was a slight resistance, but the shield blocked it automatically.

"Restoration."

Whoosh!

Light seeped in, and the parrot perked up.

"Min-yeong."

"Oh! He's talking again, Doctor!"

"I told you to do your homework!"

"......"

The parrot chattered away as if it had never been sick.

"It was air sac inflammation. Has there been anything recently that might have made the air quality in your home or the surrounding area poor?"

"The air...? Hmm, oh! There's been some really loud construction going on nearby!"

"Then during the construction, try to avoid ventilating as much as possible, and instead make active use of an air purifier. Birds are especially sensitive to air quality."

When I gave her the treatment advice, the girl's face brightened.

"Thank you, Doctor!"

"Min-yeong, if you don't do your homework, Mom's gonna get you!"

"Ugh, okay! I'll do it! Thank you, Doctor!"

The girl left with her parrot, her face caught somewhere between laughter and tears.

"Do your homework!"

......

Anyway.

I checked the Status Window that had appeared at the edge of my vision.

[Your EXP has increased by 1.]

[Bonus: 100 EXP for 10 successful Restorations!]

"Oh, it popped up again!"

The EXP from treating the parrot itself was only 1, but there was a separate bonus for accumulating treatment counts.

I had learned this yesterday while restoring a few wilted flowers.

However, it seemed like the damage had to be above a certain threshold for it to count as one use.

Yesterday, I had walked around the park with Cer, restoring any plant that looked like it was in bad shape.

The success rate wasn't all that high, to be honest.

But watching the dings go off as restorations went through, then suddenly hitting the 10-treatment mark and getting a big chunk of EXP, that was surprisingly fun.

'Especially since animals should almost always count toward the tally...'

If I just kept sitting here treating animals, and went on walks with Cer restoring plants along the way, my healing level would steadily climb.

Then I'd be able to restore consumed organs too, right?

Whenever Cer needed to breathe fire, I could heal him right away.

'Since I have Absolute Shield, if I hold Cer close I can keep him safe, and then...'

FWOOOOSH!!

Done breathing fire? Restoration.

FWOOOOSH again!!

I imagined myself using Cer like a flamethrower.

'...No, no. What am I even thinking!'

Just because I cleared one Gate without a scratch, I kept trying to develop a false sense of security.

The best outcome was never needing to breathe fire in the first place.

And just as I was thinking that.

Kking!!

Cer suddenly burst through the storage room door and came running to me, letting out a whine.

"What's wrong, Cer?"

Cer looked up at me with a restless expression.

It was that classic look of a dog that desperately needs to go, but.

Our Cer didn't poop.

Apparently, the burning organ inside his body incinerated all waste. That was just how it worked.

When I asked, he said he never did.

So it wasn't that he needed to go.

Kking! Kking!

He did look urgent about something though, so I stood up from my seat.

"What is it, what's going on?"

And at that moment.

"AAAAHHH!"

"It's a Gate Break!"

"Monsters!"

"Help!"

Screams rang out from outside the hospital.