SWNOVELXO Chapter 13
Episode 13 Report
We returned to the association and moved to the Gate Processing Division to report to Mr. Park Bu-jang about what we had experienced.
Mr. Park seemed surprised when he first saw Harin, but quickly asked what brought us back as if nothing had happened.
We reported that the Blue Gate had turned into a Black Gate, causing the gate leading to the outside world to disappear, and we were unable to escape from the dungeon and were isolated.
We recounted how we wandered for three hours upon entering, how the boss was fortunately already in a dying state, and how we defeated that boss, which then transformed into a gate.
“So… what you’re saying is that you two entered to handle the Blue Gate, but that Blue Gate turned into a Black Gate?”
“Yes.”
I answered Mr. Park’s question, as he was confirming whether he had heard correctly.
Harin nodded silently.
“This has never happened before… I will report this to my superiors… But for the Blue Gate to turn into a Black Gate… Did you check the time when you came out of the gate?”
“Yes. Before we entered the gate, it was 12:25, and when we came out, it was 12:30. It seems we were in the gate for about 5 hours.”
“That seems a bit strange. The time in the Blue Gate was clearly 3 hours. If the gate transformed just as it disappeared, it should normally be 3 hours and 2 minutes when you came out.”
It seems that Mr. Park was using the formula that an hour inside the Black Gate equals one minute in the outside world.
He wasn’t wrong.
Time flows the same in the Blue Gate as in the outside world.
“Even accounting for a margin of error, 3 hours and 3 minutes is a huge difference.”
“Mr. Park, it seems we might have misunderstood.”
After hearing what I said, Mr. Park placed his left hand on his waist and brought his right hand to his chin.
“It seems we didn’t actually enter the Blue Gate in the first place.”
**********
We had been reporting incorrectly from the beginning.
The place we entered was not blue but black.
In other words, we were fated to be isolated from the start.
After hearing my rephrased words, Mr. Park hurriedly went to report to his superiors.
I said it was fine for me to leave early and rest.
It was uncertain how well the higher-ups would accept this information.
Perhaps because it was the first day, we hadn’t gained any information at all.
‘Let’s not rush things…’
‘Time is on my side… probably?’
I was feeling too exhausted and wanted to go home and relax.
The gift Harin had given me was so heavy that I had been sweating a little from earlier.
My left arm felt numb.
“Harin, I think I’m going to go home now.”
“Oh… are you leaving already?”
“Yeah, I need to put away the gift you gave me.”
“That wasn’t a gift for decoration at your house, you know?”
Harin placed her hands on her hips, assuming a posture as if scolding me.
“By the way, Harin, could you give me your contact number?”
“Are you trying to hit on me suddenly? My number isn’t that easy to get.”
“Stop joking.”
“I’m serious… I’m still an S-rank, you know…”
“Hurry up.”
“Fine, fine! Here!”
I struggled to get Harin’s contact information.
I immediately saved her contact in my phone.
But do visually impaired people use texting?
They can’t see, so even if they have good intuition, they can’t read the text beyond the screen.
And it would surely be hard for them to type in the first place.
“Harin… can you send texts?”
I asked her directly to satisfy my curiosity.
“No? How can someone without sight send texts?”
“That makes sense…”
“… But it’s still possible to talk to you on the phone, so it might not matter…”
It seemed Harin could only make phone calls.
“Okay. That should be enough for us to stay in touch.”
Harin’s ears turned bright red.
Her hair was white, so it was obvious her ears turned red.
“Why do you suddenly need my contact number?… Could it be that you… like me?”
“Why are you acting shy? We’re colleagues, so shouldn’t we know each other’s numbers?”
“…”
Harin’s expression turned cold like it had earlier at the shop.
I had no idea what I had done wrong.
“You… let’s drop the ‘colleague’ talk.”
“What? Aren’t we colleagues?”
Harin tightly clenched her fist.
“Instead of being colleagues… we’re friends.”
The way she said it still seemed unsatisfied.
“I’ll be satisfied with just being friends for now…”
Even with the scorching summer heat, it strangely felt cooler near her, not because of the building’s air conditioning.
“Um… yeah… we’re friends.”
I answered reflexively, but it didn’t seem to be a perfect answer from her perspective.
“Just friends?”
“Then how about best friends?…”
Hearing that, she shyly smiled and nodded.
To lighten the mood, I tossed any question at Harin.
‘Things I found strange…’
“Harin, you have a ton of money, right?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
Harin tilted her head while listening to me.
“But couldn’t you have gotten an eye transplant?”
“Are you talking about a cornea transplant?”
“No, I mean a whole eye transplant.”
“Ah… that method, you see…”
Harin reacted as if she understood my words.
She rambled on as if not having tried it was not the case.
To this day, a whole eye transplant isn’t possible.
They can only perform surgeries on part of the cornea, conjunctiva, and sclera, etc.
In simple terms, it was impossible to fit a new eyeball into Harin’s empty socket.
“Are you okay?”
After her explanation, I tried to comfort Harin, who had become melancholic.
“Yes… I’m fine with this now.”
“Have you tried healing for your eyes…? I mean, you must have tried that, right?”
“… Yes.”
It didn’t help at all.
“Do you happen to know what time it is right now?”
“Right now? It’s 1:12 PM… why?”
“Oh… I’ve always asked people around me for the time to keep track of it.”
I admired how she always tried to live despite not being able to see.
“So you always grabbed strangers to ask for the time?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Wasn’t that hard?”
“It was difficult, but… now that you’re here, it’s okay.”
Does that mean she’ll only come to ask me for the time from now on?
‘I’m not a grandfather clock…’
After this, I continued chatting with Harin.
I felt sensation fading from my left arm.
**********
After finishing our idle talk, Harin said she was going to get back to her work.
Actually, she only had to keep her post in the infirmary for the association.
Unless called to help, there wouldn’t be any serious injuries that would require her help there.
Despite being someone not particularly useful, the association paid her handsomely to keep her around.
What could be the reason? Her overwhelming healing ability? Her figure?
I thought it was something to maintain the balance in the world of hunters.
Harin, the only S-rank healer, possessed healing skills that were astonishingly overpowered.
What if she joined a guild?
That guild would relentlessly handle gates without rest.
It was clear that they’d handle every single low-ranking gate.
If that happened, the low-ranking hunters in raid parties and small to medium guilds would be the first to perish.
As time passed, even large guilds would inevitably suffer losses.
I wondered if the association deliberately held her back to seal her capabilities that could cause significant harm in any aspect.
‘No wonder Harin is a famous figure…’
As I organized my thoughts, I found myself back in my one-room apartment.
Technically, it belonged to Eunbyul.
I needed to tell Eunbyul about what happened today later.
As soon as I walked into the apartment, I felt a chill.
That’s strange. I’m sure I didn’t turn on the air conditioning.
No, this house doesn’t even have air conditioning.
There was just a small fan sitting there.
I placed the gift Harin had given me on the floor and burst open the bathroom door.
– Bang!
…
There was moisture on the bathroom sink.
Someone is here.
It became almost certain that someone had recently used the restroom.
Of the two toothbrushes in the bathroom, one was red, and its bristles were more spread out.
While my purple toothbrush was dry, the red toothbrush had moisture on it.
I began to feel a sense of dread.
First, the possibility that someone might suddenly ambush me was not zero, so I immediately searched for something to arm myself with.
I ripped open the wrapping of the gift Harin had given me and picked up the one-handed sword inside.
But this one-handed sword… looked a bit strange.
Where on earth is the quality one-handed sword? Instead, there was an old, worn-out one-handed sword inside.