Chapter 59
A Master Box! It was right below a Challenger Box, and the System had been generous to the second place.
“Ah…”
Yeonhee Woo seemed surprised at the row of computers in this room.
“Did you see the clothes on the table?”
“The paper bag? Is it for me?”
“Take a shower first.”
I thought about the big picture while she showered, and things could go wrong. I had asked her whether she had been the second Awakened, and she replied no. There was a high possibility that one of the Eight Evils and Eight VIrtues got the reward, and the First Evil and the First Virtue would be the top candidates.
However, if Yeonhee Woo had been the second person to discover a dungeon, no one had the ill luck to discover a dungeon before her.
She came out with wet hair, and her skin was perfect due to being a prior Awakened. She only had minimal makeup on, and while she may think this was due to good cosmetics, we awakened do not need wrinkle care in the first place.
“Come and sit here.”
I did not ask her what had happened in the mountain as if it had taken a week to find the entrance, I knew what she would have gone through. She was tough inside that frail-looking body.
I held out pen and paper and told her to write down everything she saw in her status window.
“Status window.”
Yeonhee Woo mumbled and wrote down the information.
[Name: Yeonhee Woo
Mental: F(20)
Accumulated Points: 50
Traits(1) Skill(3)]
[Empathy (Trait) Effect: The user can sometimes feel the target’s emotions. Class: F(0)]
[Heal Fear (Skill) Effect: The user heals the target’s fear, and this skill cannot be used on the user. Class: F(0) Cool time: 24 hours]
[Physical Healing (Skill) Effect: The user heals the target’s physical wounds, and this skill cannot be used on the user. Class: F(0) Cool time: 5 minutes]
These were expected and known, but the last skill was the one Yeonhee Woo had gotten from the Master Box.
[Marie’s Hand (Skill) Effect: The user dramatically nullifies the target’s incapability to fight. Class: F(0) Cool time: 24 hours]
This was from a Master Box, and Yeonhee Woo’s codename was already decided. It would be Marie.
***
If an A or S class hunter had used the codename, I would have remembered. If so, I would have understood the explanation of the potentially A class skill ‘Marie’s Hand’.
“It’s important to understand what the system means in the skill description, and the word ‘nullify’ may be a double-edged sword. However, I think this would be an exceptional skill if there’s a difference between the skill user and the target. Do you know what I mean?”
“You’re talking about our teamwork, right?”
She was correct.
“I believe that this skill transfers the target’s wounds onto the user. You see the class F(0), right?”
Yeonhee Woo nodded.
“The risk is large at the beginning. However, it will decrease as your skill class increases along with other factors. We need to test it here, rather than in a dungeon. How do you feel?”
“Not bad.”
Yeonhee Woo looked nervous from what I was feeling and her own emotions. One never got used to pain and just learned to endure it. Adrenaline in battle helped, but when one tested skills, one focused on pain and the skill’s mechanics. I went to the exercise room and opened the drawer. Yeonhee Woo followed me and showed the same astonishment she had to the computer room, as she saw syringes, ampules, and plastic pillboxes.
“I’m not a healer, so the only thing I can do is to alleviate the pain.”
I pushed the syringe into the ampule, and filled it. I placed it in a metal box, as she would need to be injected rather than take the painkillers orally.
“You understand what I’m trying to do, right?”
Yeonhee Woo nodded with round eyes at my question. Inside the dungeon, who would fight? Her hands would break if I asked her to punch a weighted bag like in the boxing gym. I walked up to her and gave Yeonhee Woo a dagger.
“Here, have this. You wanted a knife, and it’s more expensive than it looks.”
“…What?”
I moved to the other room after giving the knife to her, as blood was hard to remove from carpeting. The bathroom was still filled with steam as she had showered just before. Yeonhee Woo shook as she came with the dagger, and it was a natural reaction. So, I did not want to rush her.
“Things will go like this. You will stab me, and when I give you the signal, you’ll use Marie’s Hand. I should call it to transfer, as you will receive my wound. You will be in great pain.”
“……”
“This floor is entirely mine, and the floors above and below are all empty. I own this building. You don’t need to suppress your screams.”
I put the metal box with the syringe on the counter.
“Inject yourself with that after using the skill, it is an effective analgesic.”
Yeonhee Woo’s hand was on her heart like she wanted to confirm how fast it was beating.
“Take off some clothes.”
I removed my shirt and waited for Yeonhee Woo, as she was still hesitating. I thought this situation may be embarrassing, but her real fear came from the dagger. The end of the blade was shaking along with her entire arm.
Yeonhee Woo took off her shirt, and she lowered her gaze. A week in the mountains would not make her into a hunter, but she now picked up the dagger.
“You will stab and be stabbed. Are you ready?”
“Yes.”
I held her hands which grabbed the dagger, and slowly pulled it to a spot on my stomach. I felt the metal point on my flesh and told her to stab me as hard as she could.
Yeonhee Woo closed her eyes and grimaced, but she did not act immediately. I had to shout at her to stab me, for Yeonhee Woo to overcome her natural revulsion.
I felt something burn in my stomach and clenched my teeth.
***
I saw her face in front of me and could not understand her expression. She was in tears, and I spoke as I saw her eyes.
“You did well. Wait…not yet.”
It was damn painful, and I grabbed the dagger handle. She was sitting against the toilet seat, and tears fell from her eyes. I pulled out the dagger, and my body began to shake, which I could not control.
I sat on the floor as blood gushed out from my wound. She was staring at the blood flow on the tiles like it was alive and looked at me as her voice became louder.
“Now?!”
“Wait…”
I had to wait until I bled out more if my wound was not crippling, like being stabbed in the eyes. I was now cold and felt faint. Everything was becoming vague until the message box popped out.
[Adversity Overcomer has been activated.]
It was then everything became clear, and the shaking stopped.
“Now.”
Yeonhee Woo had been waiting for me, and a new message came out with her screams.
[Yeonhee Woo used Marie’s Hand.]
I felt my muscles jump and felt much more powerful than the last time I used Adversity Overcomer. I had not been healed like this then, but she was still screaming as she lay down on the tiled floor. I saw blood come from her stomach and was mixing with mine. I looked down on her.
“We do not die from that. It is just painful.”
I saw her white face and pleading eyes. However, I only spoke a sentence.
“Use the syringe.”
Edited by Userunfriendly
(EN: Ok, some questions have been asked by readers regarding this chapter. First of all, how did Sun know Marie’s Hand would transfer his wounds to Yeonhee Woo? This is a fairly extreme logical leap. We don’t know. We can assume that Sun has seen similar skills, or skills that work the same way in his past life. We don’t know. I can only go on what the translator sends me.
Couldn’t the skill be tested on a paper cut? No! I made it clear when I added “I had to wait until I bled out more if my wound was not crippling, like being stabbed in the eyes.” Remember, the skill only works on “The user dramatically nullifies the target’s incapability to fight.” By getting stabbed, and suffering from internal bleeding, Sun made himself incapable of fighting.
“The moment you are incapable of fighting, all stat levels and skill classes increase by one rank.” It was no coincidence that the author used similar phrasing as the description for the Man Who Overcame Adversity. This was why I think Sun tested Marie’s Hand by having Yeonhee Woo stab him. A bit extreme, no very extreme, but it would be worse to rely on this skill inside a dungeon, without fully understanding its limitations and effects. )