THIFSGSTW CH 51

Chapter 51: Because There’s a Way

I could imagine what kind of object it was, but I had never heard the name before.

“You call that a herbarium?”

“Yeah. Usually, it’s made with dried flowers, but…”

“But the flowers here don’t dry out?”

“That’s right. They disappear after a while. So it won’t last forever, but at least it’s easy to keep.”

It made sense.

Min Joo-hyuk handed me a long pair of tweezers. I used them to place the flower inside the glass bottle. Then, carefully, he poured in a clear liquid. The petals trembled slightly as they were slowly submerged.

“What kind of liquid is that?”

“Just oil.”

“That’s amazing. When did you learn to make something like this? At the academy?”

For some reason, I felt a little envious. It seemed like they had all attended the same academy.

If I had mana from the beginning, I wouldn’t have lived in the temple. Then I could’ve gone to the academy too and learned so much more.

No, that was too big of a dream. If I had just never developed mana halfway through, I could’ve received a normal education from the other priests. My teacher had been too busy.

If things had been different, at least I wouldn’t be so clueless now. That thought left me feeling a little regretful.

“Hey, Sun Yi-han.”

Min Joo-hyuk’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts. A cool glass bottle brushed against my cheek.

Min Joo-hyuk’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts. A cool glass bottle brushed against my cheek.

“To be honest, this is my first time making one myself. They don’t teach this at the academy.”

“Huh? Then how did you know how to do it?”

“I saw it being made before.”

Could someone really replicate something just from seeing it once? As I was wondering that, Min Joo-hyuk continued.

“Things you haven’t done before seem impressive, but they’re really not a big deal.”

He pressed the lid onto the glass bottle tightly and handed it back to me.

“See? You made this one yourself.”

I gently shook the bottle. Inside, the red petals swayed lightly, blending naturally into the liquid as if they had bloomed in water from the start.

“Can I make another one?”

“Oh, that’s right. You should have one too.”

Min Joo-hyuk summoned another glass bottle. In no time, he made another herbarium and placed it in my hand.

“Didn’t you already give me something?”

Min Joo-hyuk waved the hand I had put a flower ring on earlier.

Of course, his quest had been completed. But that wasn’t the only reason for the gift. The quest was just a side effect.

“I just wanted to give you both.”

“…….”

Min Joo-hyuk paused for a moment, then quickly made another herbarium and placed it in my hand.

“Here, for you too.”

I gazed into the shimmering liquid inside. Min Joo-hyuk spoke again.

“I’ll take good care of the gift you gave me. I’m going to switch shifts with Ha-gyeon now. See you later.”

I watched his figure disappear into the distance and caught a falling flower petal from the sky.

Even though it was the same kind of flower, it seemed more vivid inside the liquid. Maybe it was just my imagination.

As I stared at it for a long while—

‘Huh…?’

The red color of the flower in my hand was fading. It started turning white, as if it were being bleached, starting from where my fingers touched it.

What’s going on? Is this supposed to happen?

‘…No. A flower wouldn’t lose its color just from being held for a while.’

Just then, I heard the sound of a window sliding open above me.

The flower slipped from my fingers and gently fell to the ground.

“Yihan-ah.”

I looked up. The second-floor window was open. A pair of light green eyes gleamed as they looked down at me. Because of the backlight, I couldn’t see Park Yul’s expression clearly.

‘Did he see that just now?’

I didn’t want to show him anything suspicious. Besides, this wasn’t really an important matter. I hadn’t planned on telling anyone. I swallowed dryly.

Park Yul smoothly stepped over the window and landed near me. A breeze tousled my hair.

“What were you doing?”

“…I was just here.”

“Really?”

What was he trying to ask? Just as I clenched my trembling hand into a fist, his voice came again, this time with a faint smile.

“Joo-hyuk told me to come see you.”

Oh, so that’s what it was. I had gotten tense for nothing. I took out the herbarium and handed it to Park Yul. He accepted it.

At the same time, a notification chimed.

<Unexpected Quest!> ‘The Flower Rain Plains’ in Progress!

1. Hero Min Joo-hyuk (Completed!)
2. Hero Raen
3. Hero Song Ha-gyeon
4. Chosen Haro Park Yul (Completed!)

Behind the quest window, I heard Park Yul’s voice thanking me. I nodded.

He lifted the flower crown on my head slightly before gently placing it back.

“This looks good on you.”

“Thank you.”

“Sure. Ha-gyeon is resting in his second-floor room. Raen is still on the third floor.”

Park Yul stopped talking and stared at me. His expression made it seem like he was waiting for me to say something.

But I had nothing to say. As I hesitated, unsure of how to react, he stood up.

“I’m going back up. Don’t stay out too long. It’s still chilly, even in spring.”

He lightly patted my shoulder and disappeared in an instant. It seemed like he had teleported.

I got up too. The flower crown slipped off my head.

Between the red flowers, tiny yellow ones had been carefully placed.

So that’s what Park Yul had done earlier. The red and yellow colors looked good together. I picked up the flower crown and walked inside.

◇

After safely giving Song Ha-gyeon his herbarium, I returned to my room. Now, I only needed to give one to Raen to finish the quest completely.

The sunset outside the window was burning red. I hadn’t seen Raen all day. It seemed like Park Yul, Song Ha-gyeon, and Min Joo-hyuk had been taking turns covering for him. Maybe it was true that Raen was the key figure.

‘Is it really okay for him to keep using mana like that?’

I had heard that mana could be depleted. Raen was said to have a lot of mana, but I hadn’t expected it to be this much. He truly deserved to be called a genius.

Tap.

I climbed the stairs. As I stepped onto the third floor, I saw Raen and Park Yul standing in front of the crystal sphere.

A faint red light was radiating from the crystal sphere. Even amidst the sunset light streaming through the windows, the glow was distinct. Just above the sphere, a square-shaped map floated in the air.

I carefully took a step forward. At the same time, both of them sharply turned their heads toward me.

Ah. I hadn’t made a single sound. How did they always sense my presence so quickly?

Raen looked at me and spoke.

“What’s wrong, Yi-han?”

“It’s nothing. I just came up to see. I’ll stay quiet.”

“It’s not that you’re bothering us…. We’re almost done. Just wait a little longer.”

I nodded and leaned against the wall, sitting down.

I watched Raen with his eyes closed, concentrating. His lips were pressed together tightly. Both of his hands were raised above the crystal sphere. Beside him, Park Yul stretched one hand toward the sphere while his other hand moved busily over the map. His face was serious, without a hint of a smile.

The room was quiet. The sunset light cast long shadows on the floor. I wasn’t sure how much time had passed when Park Yul suddenly placed his hand between Raen’s and the sphere. His expression was more severe than I had ever seen before.

“That’s enough. Raen, since when?”

“…What?”

“Since when have you been overexerting yourself? Take your hands off.”

“…Just a little longer.”

“I said enough. It’s not like today is the only day we have.”

“Just up to here….”

“Raen.”

Raen let out a deep breath. At the same time, the soft glow emanating from the crystal sphere abruptly ceased.

“…You worked hard, Leader. Go down first.”

Raen still had one hand resting on the sphere. It looked as if he were leaning on it for support. The robe draped over his shoulders seemed unusually heavy.

“Look at me.”

Park Yul grabbed Raen’s shoulders, inspecting his face, then made a slight gesture in the air. A chair with a backrest appeared behind Raen.

“Don’t push yourself any further. Sit down. How bad is it?”

“…It’s bearable.”

Raen collapsed into the chair as if his body had given out, his voice trembling. He then lifted a hand to cover his mouth. Even with the sunset light washing over his face, he looked pale.

Park Yul pulled out a small vial from his coat. Inside was a dark blue liquid.

“If it gets too bad, just take this mana recovery potion. Once should be fine. Can you manage for now?”

“Why… why do you have that…?”

Before he could finish his sentence, his head tilted to the side.

I shot up from where I sat. I finally understood the situation. This was no time to just sit and listen. I rushed toward Raen.

I placed a hand on the back of his neck. His cold skin was drenched in sweat.

<The Healer Will Help!> Hero ‘Raen’

Heal / Import

A status window appeared in front of me. I was about to select “Heal” when Park Yul spoke.

“Yihan-ah. Mana depletion isn’t something that can be healed. Raen-ah, just take a little of the potion for now.”

The blue light surrounding Raen flowed into me. The healing gauge flickered beside me. The red bar remained empty. As Park Yul said, healing didn’t seem to work.

Why not? Was it because mana depletion was a condition caused by an external factor rather than an injury?

Raen was still keeping his head down, as if he couldn’t come to his senses.

In front of me, i heard the sound of Park Yul opening the lid of the medicine. From what I’ve heard, mana recovery pills don’t seem like a good thing. Even if it was okay once or twice, Raen didn’t need to use it.

Because I still had one thing I could do.

Perhaps “Import” was a higher-tier skill than “Heal.” Simply filling the gauge might not be as significant as physically taking it in.

I carefully made my choice.

<The Healer Will Help!> ‘Import’ successful!

Thank god. That thought was immediately followed by Park Yul’s voice overlapping with it.

“…Yihan-ah? Sun Yi-han!”

My body suddenly gave out. My legs lost all strength.

<Hidden! Quest> ‘First Abnormal Status Recovery!’ Success!

As a reward, you have obtained ‘Recovery Potion (1 Use).’

A quest window popped up in front of me…

But I didn’t have the energy to read it right now. It felt like my throat was being crushed, like my entire body was being squeezed from all sides. It was as if I were being burned and frozen at the same time. I couldn’t breathe. No, what was happening?

“…Ah, Heuk.”

My thoughts were scattered. My head was ringing. I felt dizzy. It felt like my stomach was turning. I felt like I was going to throw up.

“…..Heugh”

I covered my mouth. So this is what Raen had been feeling.

I felt my body being lifted. Or maybe not? It felt like the hand covering my mouth was being pulled away. I felt like something had been forced down my throat. But I wasn’t sure. My senses weren’t working properly.

It hurt… No, wait. I had to calm down.

There was no way this actually hurt. It was just something temporary. After all…, I was supposed to be immune to pain.

I wasn’t wrong. In an instant, all the pain vanished. I felt completely fine.

Damn system. It had been acting weird ever since that night in the Nightfall Forest, and now it finally decided to work properly. If it continued like this, it would be a bit troublesome.

Park Yul’s face came into view.