Chapter 127 – SSS-Rank Hunter (2)
‘Now comes the real problem.’
The male homeless man who made Witch Ranuvela fly in from the opposite side of the Earth.
Just what kind of dream does this man—who was deemed pathetic—have?
“…No.”
First things first, I need to investigate who this guy is.
But the moment I touch him to move him, I’ll get sucked right into his dream!
During the Olympics, senior could have controlled my body for me, but I didn’t want to experiment with that in a gloomy place like this.
Beep—
I took out my smartphone and contacted Jeon Ji-eun, who was waiting nearby.
(Mr. Kang Moon-soo, what’s wrong?)
“I’ve met someone who has the same ability as me. And a patient too. I think we’ll need to wait until an ambulance arrives from Elmolance University Hospital.”
(Where are you right now?)
“Hmm… I’ll take a screenshot of the satellite map and send it to you. Don’t come in. There are a lot of unfortunate people around here.”
(Understood. I’ll contact the hospital.)
Click—
The call ended.
“…I didn’t get any information.”
It had been a chance to hold Ranuvela back and question her. If necessary, I could have even used physical force.
But I let her go. Probably because her words shook me.
Good deeds.
Service without reward.
Our ways of thinking are different, but I couldn’t categorically declare that Ranuvela’s idea of “good” was absolutely wrong.
While waiting for the ambulance, I glanced around.
“……”
“……”
Everyone wore faces of despair toward reality. Is it because they still harbored “hope” that they hadn’t been captured by dreams?
No way.
‘There must be… some kind of selection criterion.’
In this frustrating situation where even the cause of Ranuvel’s onset is unknown, the only thing I can do is treat them.
“…Hey.”
“Did you call me?”
“Yeah. You.”
A female homeless person lying limply on the ground moved only her eyes to look up at me and nodded.
She looked filthy, but at a glance, she was clearly still young.
“……”
I didn’t particularly feel like having a conversation. That was the extent of my sentiment—thinking it was too early for her to give up on life.
“I’m jealous. You have a good aptitude.”
“Do you know my aptitude?”
“No. But it’s a good one, right?”
“I suppose…”
This person seemed to think the reason for her failure lay in her aptitude.
“Right?”
“A hundred times.”
“Huh?”
“The number of times I went to job interviews holding my aptitude test results.”
“……”
“If you still don’t get it after hearing that, then forget it.”
“……”
The female homeless person turned her body away, as if she didn’t want to talk anymore.
‘Good deeds, huh…’
Is it really right to persuade someone who has already given up on life once?
Or would giving them a happy death, like Witch Ranuvela does, be…
“Kang Moon-soo-ssi. Good day.”
“We’re from Elmolance University Hospital.”
“Hello.”
Did these people ignore traffic lights and speed all the way here? They covered a 30-minute distance in less than 10 minutes.
“This way.”
I handed the problematic patient over to the paramedics and headed to the hospital.
Youth and aptitude are important, but the reason experienced workers are preferred is because they’re skilled at the job.
In a similar sense, Seo Hye-joo—the section chief who has now teamed up with me a full five times—is an extremely capable partner!
Yet,
“Sorry. Now that I’m vice director, I’ve got a lot more to handle.”
Seo Hye-joo, promoted to vice director—the second-in-command at Elmolance University Hospital.
She says her workload has increased tenfold compared to when she only managed the Biotechnology department? Her exaggerated complaints went on and on.
“So this is goodbye now?”
“Have I gone mad? If it weren’t for you, it would’ve taken me twenty years to reach this position.”
“But you said you’re busy?”
“That’s why I hired a decent assistant who has both aptitude and experience.”
Vice Director Seo Hye-joo gestured with her eyes toward Yoon So-ra standing beside her.
“Kang Moon-soo-ssi! Please take good care of me!”
The girl my age who starts every meeting with “Please take good care of me!”
Is her employer treating her well? The flesh she’s putting on her once-skinny frame is gradually bringing out her femininity.
“I was going to have you pick a patient you liked, but you ended up bringing one who’s the complete opposite of the list I carefully curated—almost stupidly so.”
“That’s how it turned out.”
“You said she introduced herself as Ranuvela the 13th, right?”
“Yes.”
“Ranuvel, Ranuvela. What do you think?”
“They’re similar.”
“I mentioned this once before, but Ranuvel comes from the name of a goddess said to take socially maladjusted people from Earth to another world.”
“Another world… a dream?”
“It’s hard to dismiss as mere coincidence, isn’t it? I feel the same way.”
“Hmm.”
There wasn’t enough information.
And as is all too obvious, the only way to obtain special information that can’t be found through internet searches or requests is to go out and gather it yourself.
“So-ra?”
“Yes. Name: Park Hyo-man, age: 26, Aptitude: Construction Operator. Borrowed money from colleagues at his construction company, went missing four months ago. He’s the most recent Ranuvel patient in Korea.”
Yoon So-ra quickly recited the patient’s personal information.
“Most recent means…?”
“Until this person was found, I was the last patient.”
“Hmm.”
The most recent, huh?
“Don’t worry. You probably won’t need to travel overseas much. Patients who need help should come to us.”
“That’s good to hear.”
“Except royalty.”
“…What would royalty have to regret that they got trapped in a dream?”
“If you’re curious, ask them yourself later.”
“Yes.”
At present, the story of patient Park Hyo-man lying in the hospital bed was so commonplace that I didn’t even feel the need to hear the details.
He borrowed money from close coworkers, gambled it away, got thoroughly fleeced by professionals whose aptitude is speculation, and went bankrupt!
‘He’s really similar to my father.’
According to statistics, about 99.8% of people who are dissatisfied with their aptitude and challenge something else end up ruined.
The 0.2% who succeed despite ignoring their aptitude?
No.
That’s the percentage of people who come to their senses and quickly give up before suffering major losses like bankruptcy or physical disability.
There are no exceptions or miracles.
‘Yet people always think they’ll be different…’
Until they’re well-fed and plump, they don’t realize they’re just fish in a farm.
My father was the same.
“Shall we go in right away?”
“Hmm… What’s the schedule like?”
“Don’t worry about that. It’s at a level So Un-hyeon-ssi can handle in your place. As long as he controls your body again this time.”
“How’s the patient’s health?”
If his physical condition is poor like Yoon So-ra’s was, time in reality will flow much faster than in the dream.
I’m curious what the witch did to this patient, but I’d prefer to avoid excessive sacrifice.
“His aptitude is spatial construction worker, so his body seems pretty tough. Considering the harsh place where he was found, his condition is actually very good.”
“That’s a relief.”
“I have a meeting to get to, so I’ll head out now. Handle the rest with my assistant.”
“Ah, yes.”
She really does seem busy.
“Please take good care of me!”
“That’s already the third time you’ve said that…”
“It’s my first time, so I’m a bit nervous, but I’ll manage the patient’s health in the vice director’s place. If there’s any other information you need, I’ll prepare it quickly.”
Her enthusiasm is good, but if you ask whether she’s reliable—well, no.
‘It can’t be helped. It’s her first time.’
The reason Vice Director Seo Hye-joo chose Yoon So-ra naturally came to mind.
A former patient who had personally experienced the inside of a dream.
That was her unique advantage—one the vice director, who is satisfied with reality, doesn’t have.
“SSS-rank supernatural ability.”
“Yes?”
“It’s information from the dream. I don’t know if it’s from a novel or not, but it seems the patient gained an SSS-rank supernatural ability inside the dream.”
SSS-rank.
If I interpret it roughly, it’s a supernatural ability that surpasses even SS-rank, which is already better than S-rank.
A direct translation?
Super-Super-Super.
In games or novels, I’d just accept it and move on, but hearing that term used in reality feels a little overwhelming, doesn’t it?
Anyway,
“It reminds me of something from the past, so I’m planning to prepare for about a day before going in.”
“Something from the past?”
“There’s a bad memory.”
It was the shocking experience of having my limbs torn off without anesthesia.
SSS-rank supernatural ability.
If it’s on the same level as Magic Boy Choi Kang-min—who had power that could either protect or destroy the world single-handedly—it’ll be tough.
I don’t want to die as miserably as I did back then.
“May I ask what kind of preparation?”
“Yes. It’s nothing grand, though.”
***
SSS-rank supernatural ability.
I don’t know who started it, but it’s a term used incredibly widely.
Games, novels, comics, movies…
What I need to figure out here is to guess what kind of ability the patient might possess.
“…This is insane.”
It depends on the imagination, but even after just a little research, the list was filled with terrifying powers.
Time stop, space severing, mind control, infinite growth, absolute immortality, regression to the past, equipment creation, monster taming…
They’re all abilities that make you wonder how anyone could fail with them!
I need to be cautious.
‘My own world isn’t omnipotent! It’s weak against physical types…’
If it’s an SSS-rank supernatural ability specialized in “physical magic” like Choi Kang-min’s, I might not be able to win at all.
How do you counter something that moves at the speed of light?
Pure physical force that I can’t even react to would really be trouble.
“…Alright.”
Preparations are complete. The rest can only be handled by diving in and experiencing it firsthand.
“Please lie down over here.”
Yoon So-ra pointed to the bed placed right next to the patient’s.
Her aptitude is probably doctor, yet the pink nurse’s uniform suited her extremely well.
“Come back safely.”
At this moment, no matter how busy she is, Vice Director Seo Hye-joo always checks personally.
Later on, won’t she eventually skip even this because it’s too bothersome?
Anyway,
“Phew!”
Tap.
After a deep breath, I grasped the rough, callused hand of the patient.
***
“…So this is the difference?”
I remembered a senior once comparing it to Wi-Fi: the closer you are to the patient, the stronger “my world” becomes.
It wasn’t just a simple guess.
Surge!
Power overflowed through my entire body.
It felt like I could handle a whole gang of thieves using mysterious hermit arts from the historical drama <Palace Maid Deok-chun>, even if they attacked in droves.
(Do you now understand a little of my greatness?)
Oh! Great Senior!
(Yes. Keep that attitude from now on.)
Understood.
So, what about my body?
(I, who was called the Blood God, am not pleased to be cleaning up after a novice, but since it’s our contract, I’ll make a special exception.)
What about Sports Toto?
I missed a jackpot opportunity.
(Hmph! I don’t bother with petty gambling that isn’t even real gambling.)
“Ah, yes.”
Because of the senior’s truly petty reason, I missed the chance to rake in a fortune.
(Don’t be greedy. Wasn’t it money you’d already given up on in the first place?)
“Well… that’s true.”
To be honest, I had no idea my Olympic gold medal payout odds would exceed 200 times.
I feel bad for Yoon So-ra, but if I’d known that in advance, I absolutely—absolutely—would not have saved her.
(That’s why the witch called you a materialist bastard.)
“Hmph.”
Unable to refute the senior’s rebuke, I slowly looked around.
A city turned to ruins.
Buildings that had once been beautiful were now reduced to rebar and concrete rubble.
‘…Not exactly a safe place, huh?’
But this wasn’t the time to leisurely admire the scenery.
Whoosh!
I maximized all five senses while sprinting.
The starting point upon entering a dream is always somewhere around the patient. If I’m lucky, I can finish quickly and return to reality—
“GRRROOOAAAR—!”
Ruuuumble!
A monstrous creature hiding inside a half-collapsed building let out a roar and charged at me.
“What the hell is this…?”
(If you stand there gawking, you’ll die.)
“I know!”
It wasn’t just comfortable athletic wear I came in with.
Slash—
Draw Blade Art (Iaijutsu)
I swiftly drew the sword at my waist, slicing off the front leg—or rather, the right arm—of the wolf-like creature running on two legs,
“KYAAANG?!”
Thud!
And finished it cleanly with a kick.
The gray body of the monster, its skull caved in, collapsed with a wet flop.
“How annoying…”
“Excuse me.”
“Oh! A person!”
I’ll omit the adjective “beautiful” for the sake of my smooth dating life in reality.
“…Yes. A person.”
“Pardon me, but do you know Park Hyo-man-ssi?”
“I believe I was the one who was rude first.”
“I’ll be rude about the part where I was rude first as well.”
“Huh?”
As I stared in disbelief at the woman questioning me, one thought crossed my mind.
‘It really is a supernatural ability, huh?’
This woman was floating slightly above the ground, just like the Sword Demon.
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