THIFSGSTW CH 30

Chapter 30: Stay Together

Park Yul stared at me for a moment before smiling brightly.

“The important thing is the present, Yihan-ah. Instead of clinging to things we can’t change, it’s better to find what we can do within them.”

He was right. What mattered wasn’t the past but what I could do now. I nodded and turned my gaze back to the flickering flames before me. The air brushing against my face was cold, but my body felt warm.

I took a sip of the cocoa in my hands. It was still warm. The marshmallows Park Yul had added were melting softly, adding a deeper sweetness. Maybe it was the sugar, but my body felt loose and relaxed. Beside me, Park Yul’s voice sounded.

“Yi-han, are you sleepy?”

I wasn’t particularly tired. I was about to say no when something suddenly crossed my mind.

‘Right. The Healing Gauge.’

I hadn’t checked the status window since waking up, which I had been putting off as soon as I woke up. I almost forgot. Since I would be using “Heal” again in the future, I needed to figure out how to empty the gauge before it filled completely.

It seemed best to check it when I was alone, after telling them I was going to sleep. It wouldn’t look natural to be staring at floating letters mid-air.

I answered that I might be a little sleepy. Park Yul gently took the cocoa from my hands and spoke. “Then, shall we go to bed?”

I silently nodded and got up, following Park Yul. As we moved away from the campfire, the cold air rushed in. It was winter. The end of the year was approaching fast, I could feel it in my bones.

My breath turned white as it scattered into the air. The frost-bitten grass crunched faintly beneath my steps. Following Park Yul, I lifted the tent flap and stepped inside. The air was unexpectedly warm, perhaps a magic had been cast.

The interior was much larger than I expected. A lamp near the entrance cast a soft glow over the vast space. There were two beds, one at each end of the tent. Both were large enough to accommodate two people and covered in plush white blankets. It was practically an entire room moved inside a tent.

“Yul hyung, this place is…”

“Yeah, Yi-han. It’s big, isn’t it?”

Park Yul chuckled and gently pulled me forward. “I put in a little effort this time.”

His voice carried a hint of amusement as he guided me to sit on the bed. 

“Get some rest.”

As he spoke, Park Yul bent down slightly, meeting my eyes.

“Do you want me to stay with you?”

No? That would erase the whole purpose of coming here. I quickly shook my head. Park Yul blinked, as if in thought, then spoke again.

“Then, I’ll be right outside.”

“Yes, Yul hyung.”

Park Yul lightly ruffled my hair before stepping back. “I’ll leave the light on. That’s okay, right?”

He gestured to the lamp near the entrance, and I nodded. Come to think of it, it was impressive that a single lamp could illuminate such a large space. Not too bright, but just enough.

Was it a magical lamp? It could be. Or maybe not. Even without magic, light always pushes back the dark, no matter how vast and deep that darkness may be.

“Alright. Rest well.”

Park Yul’s voice pulled me from my thoughts.

“You must be tired after coming to an unfamiliar place,” he added before waving lightly and stepping outside.

Srak. The soft rustle of the tent flap closing echoed.

As Park Yul said, this was a completely new place for me. And yet, I didn’t feel particularly exhausted or uncomfortable.

‘I guess it’s because everyone is looking out for me.’

The bed and blankets inside the tent were similar to the ones in my room. In a corner of the floor, a few purple wildflowers had been placed, carrying a faint scent similar to the one lingering in Song Ha-gyeon’s room.

I knew that ever since we arrived in this forest, everyone had been quietly watching me, checking my condition. And yet, I couldn’t bring myself to say that I was fine. Or rather, even when I did say it, no one seemed to believe me.

‘Well, in that case, there’s no choice but to show them.’

For now, they would be concerned. But if I looked fine, they would eventually turn their attention elsewhere.

All I had to do was appear perfectly healthy.

Still, I didn’t hate this kind of kindness. Not at all. Even now, this space felt familiar, which was oddly comforting.

‘Alright. Time to check my status window.’

Now that my mind was calm and Park Yul had left, it was the right moment. As soon as I thought about it, the window appeared before my eyes.

<Tutorial!> Emptying the Healing Gauge

Touch the bar to release it!

That was it. No further instructions. A gauge bar floated beside the text, filled with a dark crimson color. I reached out and touched it. A soft ‘pop’ echoed faintly in my ears. It felt as if my fingers were passing through a thin film of water. Then—

“Ugh.”

A surge of blood welled up from deep inside. I quickly clamped a hand over my mouth. Warm liquid spilled between my fingers, dripping down my arm.

Wait, hold on. I had barely resolved to act normal a few minutes ago. It seemed the system was determined to disrupt whatever I wanted. The sharp scent of blood filled the air.

Dumbfounded, I stared at the droplets hitting the floor. Above, I heard a familiar ‘ding’ chime.

My gaze lifted. There was a short sentence appeared on the status window.

<Tutorial!> Completed! ‘

The cheerful-looking exclamation mark suddenly felt irritating. Tutorial complete? All it had done was make me cough up blood. As soon as I questioned it, a sharp pain throbbed through my head.

I had felt this headache before—the day I first saw the status window. But unlike that time, the pain vanished in an instant, like a fleeting brush of discomfort. An unfamiliar information filled my mind, an intrusive sensation like someone had forcefully stuffed thoughts into my head. It was unpleasant.

Amid the chaotic fragments of unprocessed knowledge, I barely managed to extract a single sentence.

You can empty the Healing Gauge by touching it

So, the more I use it, the more blood I’ll cough up. As I continued spitting out blood, I watched the red in the Healing Gauge gradually decrease. I never expected to be able to empty the gauge without consequences. Still, coughing up blood wasn’t exactly an ideal trade-off.

Still, it was better than waiting for a week’s cooldown. I had to admit that much.

Suppressing the rising urge to cough up, I instinctively lowered my head over the side of the bed. I couldn’t let the white sheets get stained. Fortunately, past experience has taught me how to stay calm even in situations like this. Every experience, every lesson—it all had meaning. In one way or another.

I quietly watched the droplets of blood fall. Just as I was wondering if I still had any Clean Magic-infused paper left, another message surfaced in my mind as if it were being inputted.

If you want, you can stop midway

Wait. Then shouldn’t I stop and think this through first? Rushing anything is never a good idea.

I should pause the process, sort out the situation, then decide whether to continue. A new status window appeared before me.

‘Emptying the Healing Gauge’

Stop/Continue

Just as I was about to answer in my head, another flash of text flickered through my mind.

Emptying the Healing Gauge can only be done once per day

That’s the key information, isn’t it? I nearly wasted today’s opportunity. Of course, there was no such thing as time to think things through at my own pace. Just like with Raen’s suspicion quest. The urgency of that moment still felt suffocating when I thought back on it.

I couldn’t shake the feeling that the system was pushing me, cornering me on purpose. Maybe I was imagining things. But if its intention was to keep making me suffer, it was doing a damn good job.

“Cough.”

I wiped the blood from my lips with my sleeve and looked up. My eyes landed on the gauge bar. The red color had decreased by about half.

Almost done.

Just as I was wondering how to get rid of the lingering smell of blood, the entrance of the tent rustled.

“Yihan-ah.”

I turned my gaze. Park Yul stood frozen in place.

Slowly, I raised a hand to cover my mouth again. Maybe this way, the bloodstains on my sleeve would be less noticeable? Of course, it was pointless.

Park Yul stepped forward in an instant. Before I could react, he was already in front of me, his voice calm yet firm.

“Keep your head down.”

His hand gently grasped the back of my neck, applying just enough pressure. My head naturally tilted downward. His touch felt oddly warm.

“Don’t swallow it. Just spit it out.”

With that, Park Yul reached for my hand—the one covering my mouth—and carefully pulled it away. His fingers briefly brushed against the bloodstained fabric before withdrawing.

A comforting warmth spread through me as his other hand smoothed over my back in slow, deliberate strokes. Blood dripped steadily onto the ground, darkening the dirt beneath us.

“Are you feeling really unwell?”

I wasn’t.

But the worry in Park Yul’s voice made it clear, that no matter what I said, he was ready to drag me straight back to the heroes’ mansion. I hadn’t expected Park Yul to see me like this. If I’d known he’d walk in, I would’ve stopped emptying the gauge earlier.

It was too late now. He had already seen everything. Besides, there wasn’t much blood left to cough up.

“…Yul hyung.”

I lifted my head and met Park Yul’s gaze. My reflection was captured in his unwavering, pale green eyes.

“I’m going to stay together with all of you.”

For a brief moment, his eyes seemed to widen in surprise. So he was trying to take me back to the mansion.

But I couldn’t just leave like that. I hadn’t come here only for them, I also had come for myself as well. If I wanted to break free from this relentless system and the suffocating quests binding me, I had to help them.

I wasn’t someone who could save the world. But I could heal those who were saving it.

‘And I wasn’t even really sick.’

I understood why Park Yul was worried. If someone was unwell, they should rest. Park Yul knew that. I knew that.

But he didn’t know that I wasn’t unwell. So to him, my determination must have seemed stubborn, even reckless. But to me, there wasn’t a single reason to turn back.

If I wanted to stand my ground here, I had to be just as strong.

“…Yihan-ah.”

Park Yul looked at me with an unknown look as if it were mixed with various emotions. Park Yul carefully wrapped my cheek with one hand. And then, with his thumb, he slowly traced just below my lips.