THIFSGSTW CH 19

Chapter 19: At the Very Least, For Saving You All

The scene before my eyes felt unfamiliar. The tree branch that had pierced through Raen’s waist in a chilling manner quickly snapped back to its original position. It all happened in an instant.

“Ku… huk….”

Raen crumpled to his knees as if collapsing on the spot. From beneath his trembling hand, which was pressed against his waist, thick blood dripped endlessly. He coughed up a mouthful of blood, spurting it out mercilessly.

His eyes were bloodshot, and cold sweat beaded on his forehead. Struggling, he raised a bloodstained hand,

Chak.

He cast a magic. Vines shot up from the ground, tightly entangling the tree. Among them, one particularly thick branch darkened ominously, was stained with blood.

Raen’s expression relaxed slightly as if reassured, and he immediately reached into his robe. He seemed desperate, searching for something.

A sharply cut blue gemstone tumbled out from within his robe, slipping from his fingers. It was soaked in blood. Raen bit his lip hard and stretched out his trembling hand toward the gemstone. Just as his fingertips were about to touch it—

Thud.

His body collapsed powerlessly.

Lying there with his eyes closed, Raen barely breathed, completely still. The pool of thick, sticky blood around him slowly spread wider.

The sunset was pouring down. Raen’s red hair shimmered under the light. The pool of blood, reflecting the sunset, gleamed darkly. Everything was red, yet somehow, it felt chillingly cold.

The view slowly pulled away. Raen never got up again.

Hwaak.

I suddenly snapped back to consciousness. I had woken from a dream. I was still in my dark room.

Somehow, I had fallen out of bed and was sitting slumped against the floor. My back was damp with cold sweat.

“Ugh… haah….”

Blood was pouring from my mouth. Unlike the last time, when the healing gauge had maxed out and I simply spat out blood, this was different. It felt like it was surging up from deep inside, as if I were vomiting.

A blue system window flickered before my eyes.

<Future Vision Intermediate> Skill Activated!

Future vision? Wasn’t it just a dream? Did this mean that what I saw was actually going to happen?

My fingertips turned cold. Then… what happens to Raen? The image of him collapsing at the end was still vivid in my mind. The pool of blood spreading around him, growing wider.

No. It couldn’t end like that.

“…Hngh… No.”

I didn’t want that. I didn’t want to lose someone like that. I didn’t want to lose anyone.

Because you all told me that I deserved to be here. So you had to stay here, too. I didn’t want to see any of you alone, left cold like that.

Tears streamed down my face. The way Raen had prioritized binding the monster over treating his own fatal wound wouldn’t leave my mind.

Why? Why did he have to go that far? For what?

“Sun Yi-han!”

A sudden voice jolted me back to reality.

Song Ha-gyeon was kneeling in front of me. I don’t think I’d ever heard his voice so urgent before. I had no idea how long he had been there. His clothes were slowly being stained with the blood I had vomited.

“…Hyung.”

I reached out to him. I needed certainty. Certainty that I was really here, in this moment. That what I had seen was a future that hadn’t happened yet. I needed that reassurance desperately.

Song Ha-gyeon embraced me as I leaned into him. His body was stiff, but the warmth I felt somehow calmed me. He still smelled faintly of grass.

“Hngh… Haah… Hyung….”

Tears spilled onto his shoulder. My throat tightened.

The night was pressing down heavily.

The unknown future was terrifying. But seeing the future… was just as terrifying as the unknown future.

Song Ha-gyeon gently ran his hand over my back. I let myself rest against his warmth and thought blankly.

‘I…‘

Honestly, I don’t know about saving the world. The system tells me to save the world, but I was never meant to be a hero. I never really cared about that.

But if you—if all of you—are forced to crumble just because you bear the title of heroes…

If you are quietly worn down, slowly fading away somewhere unseen…

Then at the very least, I want to save you all.

No matter what.

◇

The blood spilling from my mouth finally stopped after a long while.

It seemed that future vision required blood as a price—activating the skill automatically, and then drawing out the payment afterward.

Earlier, everything had happened too suddenly, and I had been overwhelmed by fear. But now that I’d calmed down and thought it through, it was actually a relief. Since I knew the future, I could change it.

Now, the question was, how much could I say? Was it even safe to speak about it?

I had no idea what would happen if I revealed the future and disrupted fate. If I carelessly shared what I knew and created an unpredictable variable, things could spiral out of control.

It was better to let things play out as I had seen. That way, I could prevent it from happening.

‘Raen… he was alone.’

No one else was there. The image of him disappearing into the sunset flashed through my mind, and I clenched my eyes shut.

No—calm down. I forced myself to focus. This hadn’t happened yet. And it wasn’t going to happen. Because I wouldn’t let it.

The time was late afternoon, near sunset. The location was a forest path dense with trees. I hadn’t been there.

So I just had to make sure I followed Raen when he went out alone.

‘I still have the healing cooldown left, but…’

I wouldn’t assume the worst. If I could stop him from getting hurt in the first place, there would be no problem. I could warn him beforehand or push him out of the way before the tree branch struck.

It was best to prevent accidents before they happened. I just had to watch carefully and wait for the right moment.

“…Sun Yi-han. This… what is this….”

Song Ha-gyeon’s voice broke through my thoughts.

Oh. He must be really shocked.

His eyes were shaking as he stared at me. His hands were stained red with my blood. The thick, sticky puddle of blood on the floor reeked in the air.

It was only then that I truly noticed the scent of blood. I covered my mouth with my sleeve. My face must have looked terrible. My eyes were hot, likely swollen from crying, and my lips had to be smeared with blood.

Song Ha-gyeon stared at me with a grim expression. Then, he silently cast a cleansing magic. A soft glow shimmered, and the pool of blood vanished without a trace. He reached out and carefully lowered my sleeve from my mouth, wiping away the bloodstains as he did.

Every time I saw it, I found it fascinating. I wish I could use magic, too.

His hands, always precise and gentle, cupped my face. His touch was warm—maybe my skin just felt cold in contrast.

“…Is it always this bad?”

He traced away the tear stains on my cheek with his fingers. His voice was calm as usual, but there was the faintest tremor underneath. I hesitated. What exactly was he asking?

Ah. I realized what he meant. I had told him before that I sometimes coughed up blood.

“…Sometimes.”

I had no choice but to repeat the same words I had said before.

Song Ha-gyeon’s expression darkened. He seemed quite shaken.

Well, of course, he would be. If I saw someone suddenly coughing up blood in their sleep like they were having a seizure, I’d be terrified too. And if they woke up only to start crying uncontrollably, the confusion would double.

I gave him an awkward smile and added a quick excuse.

“I just had a nightmare. I think it scared me a little.” I chuckled lightly and said, “You were startled too, weren’t you, hyung?”

That’s right. It was just a bad dream. A future that wouldn’t happen.

And since it was embarrassing that I had cried, I really hoped he’d forget about it. Anyone would react like that if they were caught off guard. Really. Song Ha-gyeon was still looking at me with those sunken eyes.

“…Do you not know why you’re coughing up blood?”

“Uh… no. But it’s not because I’m sick. I was told there’s nothing wrong with me.”

The system had said I wouldn’t feel pain and wouldn’t die, so technically, it wasn’t a lie. But Song Ha-gyeon, unwilling to accept that, spoke faster than usual as if he couldn’t believe me.

“No. That doesn’t make sense.”

“But… it’s true, isn’t it?”

The moment the words left my mouth, I suddenly recalled a conversation between Song Ha-gyeon and Raen. Raen hadn’t been able to believe that I could heal people. And Song Ha-gyeon had said the exact same thing to him back then.^[1] “But… it’s true, isn’t it?”

The moment I thought of Raen, my body flinched involuntarily.

It lasted only a fraction of a second, but Song Ha-gyeon seemed to have noticed it. He removed his hand from my cheek and firmly grasped my wrist.

“Are you cold?”

I shook my head.

Just thinking about Raen made my stomach drop. If I was already like this now, I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to stay calm when I saw him tomorrow.

“…Your body is cold.”

“It’s autumn. And it’s late at night.”

“…….”

A blanket materialized out of thin air and draped over my shoulders. It was warm.

Song Ha-gyeon gently rubbed my wrist. Then he pressed his index and middle fingers against it.

A soft, white light leaked from the lantern on the table. Under that faint glow, his composed face looked almost serene. The steady pressure on my hand lingered for a long time before gradually easing. My now-empty hand felt strangely… a little lonely.

Song Ha-gyeon seemed lost in thought for a moment before summoning a small glass bottle, about the length of a finger. He uncapped it and brought it to my lips. Before I could process what was happening, he tilted it slightly, and I swallowed a mouthful.

A subtle sweetness spread through my mouth. Warmth seeped into my body.

Song Ha-gyeon, as if nothing had happened, started massaging my hand again, from my wrist down to my fingertips.

Watching him, I quietly spoke.

“Ha-gyeon hyung… can you keep this a secret?”

“…Why?”

“I think everyone would worry too much.”

“You don’t want me to tell them?”

I nodded firmly.

Song Ha-gyeon pressed his lips together. His eyes locked onto mine, unwavering. When I looked up at him with a pleading expression, he finally let out a small sigh and gave a reluctant nod.

“…If this happens again, at least tell me.”

Why?

Just as I was about to ask, he continued in a slow, deliberate voice.

“…I can make medicine.”

Oh.

That made sense. I didn’t think I’d ever need it, but I nodded again.

I was relieved that he wasn’t going to tell anyone. If he had, I would’ve needed to come up with even more explanations. Now, all I had to do was keep a close eye on Raen.

‘It won’t be long now.’

It wasn’t some distant future. I couldn’t be certain, but I had a feeling. The night settled heavily around us.

And just as I expected, that day wasn’t far off.