Chapter 2 - Healing a Dragon

I was screwed.

That was the only thought in my head.

Why had I never entered a Gate until now?

Sure, partly because I couldn't heal people.

But the biggest reason, no matter what anyone said, was that I valued my life too much.

The enormous payout from clearing an A-rank Gate?

The expensive byproducts farmed there, the Mana Stones, the randomly dropped items?

All great, but none of it matters if you're dead.

I just wanted to live a quiet, comfortable life treating cute animals, nice and easy.

'And now suddenly, a dragon?'

Even Wyverns, supposedly a subspecies of dragons, required a squad of roughly ten A-rank Hunters to maybe take down a single one.

A dragon, on the other hand, had only ever been observed once in the entire world.

'It was briefly caught on camera at the last moment inside a Timed Gate that appeared in America. That photo made the news.'

A Timed Gate was a type of time-limited defense mission.

It referred to a Gate that automatically closed after you survived for a set duration.

The dragon had vanished beyond the Gate, leaving behind nothing but the terrifying question of just how powerful it must be when even Wyverns were already that strong.

'So why is a dragon like that standing right in front of me?!'

On top of that, it could talk.

I'd never heard of a Demonic Creature inside a Gate being able to speak.

What kind of being had I stumbled upon...?

Mew...

The cat cradled in my arms went limp and lost consciousness.

Not surprising. It would've been stranger for a kitten to keep its wits in front of a dragon.

I felt like I was about to lose mine too.

[I don't know how you got in here, but anyone who disturbs my final rest shall, in this place...]

"Wait, hold on!"

But, well, whether this was a tiger's den or a dragon's den, I was already in it.

They say if you keep your head, you can survive anything.

Just look at this dragon.

Blood was pouring from its body.

I didn't know the details, but it seemed to have been wounded fighting something else.

And judging by the phrase "final rest", it was waiting for its own death.

"I, uh, sorry to bother you while you're resting, but I didn't come here by choice either. I just fell in by accident."

Of course, no matter how injured it was, a dragon could probably erase someone like me from existence with a single glance.

There was only one way to survive this.

"You look pretty badly hurt. Would you like me to heal you?"

My Restoration skill couldn't be used on my own kind.

And obviously, a dragon was not my own kind.

That meant no matter what injuries this dragon had, I could heal them with my EX-rank skill.

'I've never tried it, but it should definitely work, right?'

It wasn't like I'd ever entered a Gate before.

Up until now, I'd only ever used the skill on animals.

'It'll probably work.'

No, it had to work.

Even if it couldn't, I had to make it work.

If I didn't heal this dragon, I'd be killed as the price for disturbing its rest.

[You'll say anything to survive, won't you.]

Damn, how'd it know?

But it wasn't just anything.

I had actual grounds for this.

[No being exists that can mend a Dragon Heart already cracked beyond repair.]

Dragon Heart?

The heart of a dragon?

I didn't know the specifics, but it was clearly an injury beyond the point of no return.

If anything, that only raised my survival odds if I managed to fix it.

"Just trust me. Let me lay a hand on you once, and I'll fix it right up. It's not like one touch from me is going to change anything, right?"

[......]

The dragon looked at me with faintly contemptuous eyes.

What, has this guy been fooled his whole life or something?

"So, may I?"

Honestly, I'd wanted to just shut up and slap my hand on it, saying "just take the heal already", since a while ago.

But I was afraid I'd get killed by some spell if I charged in recklessly, so I couldn't get close.

My skill required physical contact to activate.

Creep, creep.

Since it hadn't told me not to come, I carefully walked over and reached out my hand.

I placed my hand on a scale.

Then I activated my skill.

"Restoration."

A cluster of light burst outward from the point of contact, spreading rapidly.

Fwooooosh!

Ow, blinding.

Had the light ever come out this intensely before?

I nearly pulled my hand away in surprise, even though I was the one who cast it.

On top of that.

'The light isn't fading?'

The light kept streaming into the dragon the entire time my hand stayed in contact.

As if it were a black hole, it was absorbing every bit of light pouring from my hand.

Shwoooop!

'Was the wound that severe?'

Come to think of it, the worse the injury, the longer the light lasted.

A puppy that came in with simple indigestion was healed in less than a second, the light vanishing almost instantly.

But this time, it felt like over a minute had already passed and the light still hadn't gone out.

[Wh-what is...]

Meanwhile, once the cluster of light had fully seeped into the dragon's body, its golden eyes began to widen.

The external wounds had already closed.

Now the light was probably seeping into that thing called the Dragon Heart.

'I can feel it.'

I could sense exactly how the body of whatever I used my skill on was being repaired.

That was how I'd treat animals that came in for one problem, and if there were other issues, I'd let their owners know so it wouldn't happen again.

Things like a problem with their digestive system.

Or arthritis in the hind legs, so please be careful not to put too much weight on them.

Of course, they could always come back to me for another fix.

But isn't it just better to not be in pain at all?

Even without building up repeat customers like that, our Animal Hospital did pretty well.

I didn't exactly want to be so swamped that my work-life balance was destroyed, either.

Earn a decent living, work a decent amount.

What's not to love?

Anyway.

'It really was a serious wound.'

Dragon Heart, indeed; it was no ordinary heart.

Enormously large, containing a massive reservoir of energy.

That heart had been cracked in multiple places and was beating irregularly, like a machine with missing parts.

The light from my hand filled in every one of those gaping fissures.

Whoosh.

Soon the cluster of light faded away.

The dragon was in pristine condition.

"See?"

When I looked up at the dragon with a proud expression, its eyes trembled.

[How on earth is this...]

"Didn't I tell you? I said I could fix everything."

Having healed such a grievous wound for the first time, I felt a genuine sense of accomplishment.

It was true that despite having an EX-rank skill, I'd never used it at a level befitting that grade.

But now, with this dazzling light bursting out everywhere,

having fixed something the dragon itself had sworn was beyond repair, a wave of emotion washed over me at finally putting my skill to its full use.

There was a certain satisfaction to healing, I guess?

The kind that made me think, so this is why healers work so hard with such a sense of duty, even though they can't contribute directly in combat.

But for now, getting out alive was the priority.

I spoke to the dragon, who still looked shaken.

"Um, Dragon-nim. Now that you're all healed up, could you perhaps hear me out? Like I said earlier, I ended up here by accident."

I wasn't asking for much, honestly.

Given that a dragon was here, I'd probably been caught up in at least an S-rank Gate.

The fact that I was still breathing after walking into a place like this was a blessing in itself.

"It just so happens the way in and the way out are different Gates... I'd really appreciate it if you could show me the way out."

I asked as politely as I could.

It wasn't like I was after riches and glory.

I'd just wanted to clock out, go home, and crack open a beer with some fried chicken.

Was that really so much to ask?

The dragon was silent for a moment, then spoke.

[How curious... Truly curious...]

Yeah, I'm pretty curious too.

Curious how trying to help a cat on my way home from work ended up with me healing a dragon.

[I had already accepted that there was no other way, and resolved to embrace my end with grace... Yes. This too must be the will of fate.]

The dragon brought its face close to mine.

Whoa, up close it was genuinely terrifying.

One snort and it could probably blow someone like me away.

The dragon fixed its golden eyes on me.

[My name is Black Dragon Hereos. Master of a hundred thousand Dimensions, and guardian of Arcsion.]

"I see."

I had no idea what any of that meant, but it sounded impressive, so I nodded.

[What is your name, benefactor?]

"It's Jeong Shin-hu."

[Jeong Shin-hu... What exactly are you, benefactor, to possess such power?]

At the dragon's question, I scratched my chin.

"Hmm, what I am, you ask... I just run a small Animal Hospital on the outskirts of Seoul."

[An Animal Hospital?]

"Yes. Since I awakened as a healer, I've been using it to treat animals. Nice and easy."

[...You possess such power, and you spend your days treating small beasts?]

"Yep. It actually pays pretty well, believe it or not. For a human, I'd say I'm living quite comfortably."

And the moment I said that.

Mew...?!

The cat that had been unconscious woke up, saw the dragon's face, and thrashed about in panic.

Swipe.

The flailing paw didn't draw blood this time, but it knocked off the bandage Park Ji-yeon had put on me.

The cat then promptly passed out again.

"...Phew. At least no scratch this time."

When I muttered that, something shifted in the dragon's gaze.

It narrowed its eyes and stared at the wound on my arm.

[Benefactor. Why have you not healed that wound?]

"Oh, this? It's a Penalty on my skill. Apparently it can't be used on my own kind."

[...You can mend a Dragon Heart, yet you cannot heal a single small wound on yourself?]

"I know, right? It's a shame."

Way to casually poke at a sore spot.

[Hmm, is that so.]

Oh, what's this? This vibe?

Could a dragon actually remove my skill's Penalty?

If it could at least make self-healing possible...!

[I wish I could remove that Penalty for you, but... that is beyond my power. It would be the law of causality bestowed upon a human who was granted power.]

"...Yeah, I figured."

[However, making it so that your body is never wounded in the first place, that I can do.]

"Oh?"

Now that I thought about it, if that was possible, wasn't it a straight upgrade over self-healing?

If wounds could be prevented entirely, there'd be no need for healing in the first place.

And best of all, no pain.

[Hold still for a moment. For my benefactor, it is not something I would begrudge.]

The dragon extended its enormous hand toward me.

I instinctively squeezed my eyes shut.

[It is done.]

"Huh?"

It barely felt like any time had passed, yet apparently it was already over.

I opened my eyes and found something inscribed on my arm.

'A... tattoo?'

It was a tattoo written in a language I didn't recognize.

'Oh God. Mom's gonna smack me.'

As if reading my thoughts.

[Do not worry. It will not be visible unless the effect activates.]

"The effect?"

I asked, but.

Instead of answering, the dragon looked at me and began to chant.

[Death Fire.]

Huh?

My vision grew bright.

I looked up at the sky and saw a massive black fireball hurtling toward me.

"Uh, excuse me?"

Wait, Dragon-nim?

You said you were going to spare me!

Did you? Actually, did you ever say that?

But I'm your benefactor!

The dragon, however, had already flapped its wings and casually moved out of the way.

I pulled the cat tight against my chest and squeezed my eyes shut.

KABOOOOM!

Through the deafening roar, I faintly heard the ding of a Status Window appearing.

"......?"

I cracked one eye open.

The spell was gone without a trace.

In front of me, only a message floated in the air.

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

The dragon chuckled softly and spoke.

[How is that? With this, you should never suffer so much as a scratch again.]

Uh...

At this level, forget a scratch; I felt like I could survive a nuclear blast...?