Chapter 36: Surely not, right?

“If my daughter had come here… she would’ve loved it…”

Gazing at the beautiful scenery of the café within the gate, Jung Chan-ho, the chairman of ‘Taesung,’ thought of his poor daughter lying in a hospital bed.

Beside him was a translucent soul, tenderly stroking her gaunt cheeks.

[Dad! I’m right here!]

Her soul, with only days left to live, had finally separated from her body.

Perhaps God had granted her a chance to linger briefly by her loved ones for a final farewell.

At that moment, the café’s spirits, seeing a human soul for the first time, approached her with curious expressions.

• Squeak…?
• Squeak…

The soul, seeing spirits for the first time, widened her eyes and stared back.

[What? You can see me?]

Nod, nod—

[Really!? You can actually see me!?]

Perhaps thrilled to be recognized by the spirits for the first time, the excited soul began chattering about all sorts of things.

She explained her current situation to the curious spirits.

That she had little time left to live.

That her father had tried every method, but nothing worked.

And… that being a soul like this was probably only possible today.

• Squeeeeak…
• Squeak…

The spirits, hearing her story, began sobbing with tears and sniffles.

They were so adorable and lovable that it was both sad and amusing.

Just then—

A voice rang in her head, sharp and clear.

[Don’t worry. My friend will help.]

A spirit scattering frost crystals locked eyes with her.

[Huh…? Did you just say that?]

Nod—

Other spirits chimed in.

[My friend is super capable! She restored my homeland!]

[She has tons of purified water! She’s definitely competent!]

She didn’t fully understand what they meant…

But she could tell there was someone these spirits trusted and adored deeply.

The frost-scattering spirit spoke again.

[So don’t worry. We’ll ask her for help.]

With that, it flew toward the counter with the other spirits.

The human soul watched them, smiling bitterly.

It probably won’t work.

Dad tried everything, and it all failed…

As the soul lowered her head in resignation—

The woman who seemed to be the café owner began walking slowly toward her.

…Huh?

But this woman…

Her soul looked different from her face?

“Um… if it’s not too much trouble, could we talk privately for a moment?”

At the chairman’s desperate plea, I led him to the VIP room inside the gate.

After hesitating for a while, he finally spoke.

“I heard recently that three non-awakeners awakened simultaneously.”

He looked me straight in the eyes.

Meeting his gaze, I couldn’t help but feel a rational suspicion.

Why is he telling me this?

Did the agency staff spread rumors?

I quickly shook my head.

No way.

That couldn’t be it.

The determination in their eyes when they promised to keep it secret was unshakable.

“I went to ask them about awakening… but they wouldn’t say a word.”

Hearing that, I let out a sigh of relief without realizing it.

I knew I wasn’t wrong about them.

My trust in the agency staff grew even stronger.

“…I know it’s wrong, but I investigated them. And I found one thing in common.”

That they’d started visiting this café at some point—

His gaze, locked on mine, said it all.

“Having dealt with so many people, I could tell right away that you’re no ordinary person, owner.”

An uncomfortable silence hung in the air.

“…You’re the one who awakened them, aren’t you?”

For a moment, I failed to control my expression.

And the chairman didn’t miss that fleeting slip.

“I’m right… aren’t I?”

His desperate question suggested that he, too, was a non-awakener.

With his immense wealth, he already met the conditions to be a core customer for ‘discreet deals.’

But the important thing was…

It’s too soon.

We’d only met today.

I couldn’t yet judge if he was trustworthy.

He might be a perfect candidate for ‘discreet deals,’ but accepting just anyone with money could put me at risk later.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know anything about that.”

As I turned to leave—

Thud—

He suddenly dropped to his knees, prostrating himself on the floor.

Startled, I tried to lift him, but his body was as heavy and unyielding as stone.

“W-Why are you doing this…!”

“My little daughter… doesn’t have much time left.”

My throat tightened, and no words came out.

“I’ve tried every possible method, but they all failed. Awakening is my only hope now.”

“…”

Come to think of it—

I’d seen posts in the awakener community like, ‘I had stage 4 lung cancer before awakening, but it all reset afterward—jackpot!’ or something like that.

Awakening was said to cure chronic illnesses completely.

“Living for work, I barely did anything for my daughter. Now that I want to be a proper father, the hospital says there’s nothing more they can do…”

The chairman kept banging his head on the floor.

“She’s too young to die… Please, help her…”

And, as if they’d been eavesdropping—

The spirits landed on his head, displaying desperate messages.

[‘Pristine’ sincerely pleads for you to help just this once.]

[‘Lily’ is speechless, crying rivers of tears and snot.]

[‘Lumina Spirit’ offers to return all the purified water it stole if you help.]

“Why are you all like this…”

It’s making me look like the bad guy…

I was already planning to help when he said, ‘My little daughter doesn’t have much time left’…

Carefully lifting the prostrated chairman, I said,

“Actually, part of why I survived without starving is thanks to the ramen from Taesung Foods.”

He looked at me, bewildered.

“You saved me, so I should repay the favor.”

“…What?”

“I’ll tell you how to awaken.”

“Really…? Really, owner!?”

For the first time, a smile spread across his face.

[Dad…?]

The human soul looked around, searching for her father.

While exploring the café’s beautiful scenery, she’d lost track of him.

Her translucent form was growing fainter by the moment.

It seemed her time was truly running out.

[I wanted to spend my final moments with Dad…]

Still, ending her life in such a beautiful, warm place might be a blessing.

As she thought this—

Whoosh—!

A sensation of being sucked in overwhelmed her, and her vision went dark.

Huh? What’s happening?

Struggling to lift heavy eyelids, she saw the familiar hospital ceiling.

“Hyena…!”

And her father, holding her hand tightly, tears streaming down his face.

What was going on?

Her mind swirled with confusion as strange text kept appearing, obstructing her view.

[Confirmed ingestion of ‘Evnair Awakening Ginseng’]

[Detected abnormal awakening reaction]

[Forced awakening in progress due to external intervention]

[Biological Response: Transcendent Recovery]

[Mana Circuit: Fully Opened]

[Rank Assessment: Unavailable…]

[Ability Type: Initializing…]

[※System Error Detected]

[※Exceeds standard awakening process.]

[Entering ‘Awakened’ state.]

Staring blankly at the cascading text, the daughter finally spoke.

“D-Dad…”

“Hyena, you’re awake? What do you see!?”

“Awakening… process… something’s showing up?”

“It worked, it worked! Thank you, thank you so much, owner…”

Jung Chan-ho hugged his daughter tightly, shedding hot tears.

She smiled brightly, meeting her father’s eyes.

“Dad! I know what I want to do.”

He stopped crying, urgently asking,

“Yes, my girl. What do you want? Dad will support you fully.”

What could his daughter want?

To become a coveted ranker like every awakener?

Or to join a good guild and live comfortably?

It didn’t matter.

Connections, wealth—he’d pour everything into whatever she desired.

But—

Her next words were completely unexpected.

“I want to work at that café.”

“Huh…? What café?”

“The café we went to together.”

Her incomprehensible words furrowed his brow.

Did we… ever go to a café together…?

After closing the café and heading home—

Since I planned to explore the winter forest soon, I intended to tackle all the tasks I’d been putting off today.

First, let’s plant some seeds in the unused greenhouse and garden.

Rubidel fruit seeds in the greenhouse.

Harnella flowers in the garden.

After planting, I’d need to make mana potions from the Lumina flowers harvested.

I was out of purified water, so I’d need to meet the necromancer for a trade…

So much to do.

Sigh—

Letting out a long sigh—

I saw someone standing awkwardly in front of my house, holding a large fruit basket.

“Oh? Director, hello! What brings you here?”

“Greetings, Healer-nim.”

We’d exchanged numbers, so he could’ve just called if he had something to say…

Why would a busy director come to my house?

“Ahem, one moment…”

As I wondered, the director suddenly pulled out his phone and made a call.

Buzz—

It was my phone ringing.

“Director, I think you called the wrong number?”

I held up my phone, and he let out a long sigh.

“Oh, must’ve dialed wrong.”

Then, with an awkward smile, he lifted the fruit basket.

“I haven’t given you a housewarming gift yet, and I had something to discuss… so I came by.”

“Oh, really? Come in!”

I opened the door and led the director inside.

Scanning the house, he took off his shoes and got straight to the point.

“I’m here about the variant gate that appeared in Busan.”

…No way.

I quickly averted my eyes from his gaze.

I need to prepare for the winter forest…

Plant Rubidel seeds in the greenhouse.

Start cultivating Harnella flowers.

Schedule a trade with the necromancer.

I’ve got a mountain of things to do.

Was he really asking me to enter a gate…?

No way, right?