* * *

As I slowly opened my eyes, I saw the familiar ceiling of the room. I was lying on the bed in my room at Min Ga-on’s two-story house, where I had been staying for the past two weeks. 

The soft mattress and smooth blanket pressed against my skin, and sunlight streamed through the window, warming my face. A sigh of relief escaped me when I realized I was still alive. The muscles in my shoulders, stiff from tension, gradually loosened.

‘Wow… I swear this time I actually saw the Grim Reaper waving at me.’

The memory of the moment I lost consciousness passed through my mind in an instant. I felt the cold grip around my neck, and the voices and noises around me were fading. I had almost died again. A chilling fear gripped me. My throat was so dry I could barely swallow. My fingertips went numb.

‘Bring any healer, right now!’

At the end, it seemed like Min Ga-on had shouted urgently at Ki Hyun-tae. Ki Hyun-tae, probably feeling guilty, used his teleport skill to bring a healer, and thanks to the quick emergency treatment, I barely survived.

A chill ran down my spine. I had almost been incapacitated. Just as I started to relax, thinking how lucky I was, I felt a strange sensation, as if someone were tapping the inside of my skull with their fingers.

[Healing skill, “□□□ □□” (F) has been activated!]

These were the system messages that appeared while I was unconscious. One after another, messages with the same content as before appeared, and white letters flooded my mind. 

In the meantime, the healing skill triggered when a certain condition was met, but it was canceled again. This time, it had even been upgraded with a huge boost. I was starting to feel extremely frustrated.

‘So, what exactly is the activation condition for this skill?!’

I was incredibly frustrated, and I couldn’t believe I still didn’t even know the skill’s name. That meant I knew almost nothing about it. A skill could only be named once it had been fully analyzed. It was driving me crazy. 

Even the S-rank skills I’d had before weren’t this tricky to figure out. It felt like I was stumbling through darkness without a single clue.

Holding back my anger and frustration, I forced myself to sit up just as the door opened and someone came in. Of course, only one person could enter this room freely. Min Ga-on walked in, his face completely blank and expressionless.

“Yeon-ho hyung!”

When he saw that I was awake, his face instantly lit up as he stepped closer. His smile glinted like sunlight on a sharp shard of ice.

“Does anything hurt?”

I was fine except for being extremely hungry, probably from losing consciousness, as if I hadn’t eaten for days. My stomach let out an embarrassingly loud growl, and my mouth felt completely dry. As if noticing my condition, Min Ga-on handed me a glass of water and said:

“The healers said you lost consciousness because Ki Hyun-tae startled you.”

For a moment, his gaze made me feel like I was a tragic heroine in some drama, and I nearly choked up.

“No, what do you take me for?!”

Ki Hyun-tae, that guy, had a skull-like face I had never seen before. He looked like a corpse that had just crawled out of a grave. Still, I wasn’t some weakling. There was no way a perfectly healthy guy like me would have passed out just because of that.

Of course, the healers who examined me were just following standard procedures. Saying that my mana had instantly vanished as a side effect of casting a high-level skill would have been a bold guess. 

In the end, they seemed to have decided it was caused by mental and physical shock, the root of all problems. There was no point in trying to make excuses. I couldn’t possibly have told Min Ga-on that my mana had been completely drained from casting an S-rank skill.

“But… that’s not wrong.”

In the end, letting go was easier.

“Looking at that creepy bastard’s face nonstop was starting to make me feel sick…”

My voice gradually grew quieter, and my gaze slowly dropped to the floor.

“I feel like I’ve got a fever… and my whole body’s shivering….”

My hand fidgeted awkwardly in the air, and with each lie, my earlobes burned hotter. I fumbled through a ridiculous excuse and admitted it, making his sympathetic gaze deepen even more.

“I heard Hyung has low mana and unusually weak mental strength. Hyung will need to be careful from now on.” 

Now I was in a sickly state I’d never expected. Min Ga-on apologized, looking downcast in a way that didn’t suit his face.

“I’ll apologize, Yeon-ho hyung. You will never have to encounter that man again.”

If he was too dangerous, I’d make sure he couldn’t even set foot in Seoul.

I thought I heard Min Ga-on mutter something coldly, and for a moment, the room felt as chilly as a winter beach. But I only half-listened. Right now, the hunger gnawing at my empty stomach mattered more. My stomach growled like a starving animal. Maybe he had heard the rumbling, because Min Ga-on gave a faint smile and asked.

“Ah, Yeon-ho hyung, you must be hungry, right? There’s a meal prepared on the first floor.”

I nodded hard at the suggestion. First, I needed to eat. Only then could I think straight and get my strength back. So the moment I stepped off the bed—My body suddenly leaned to one side as I lost my balance. 

My shaky legs felt like those of a newborn deer. I hadn’t realized that my already frail body had grown completely weak from missing even a single meal. Honestly, how was I supposed to know I was that weak?

‘…Ah, is this what anemia feels like? Or is it low blood pressure?’

Black spots floated in front of my eyes. Back when I had been Hong Jun, strong enough to clear a dungeon alone on stamina alone, I never imagined anything like this. Dying and coming back had given me some strange experiences. I let out a bitter smile. I shut my eyes, bracing for my face to hit the floor.

Flop.

Just as I was about to fall, my body was gently pulled into someone’s arms. The marble floor that should’ve been hard and painful felt surprisingly comfortable. It was warm and cozy, like sinking into a pillow. Something firm and warm was holding me up.

An arm wrapped firmly around my waist. Someone’s breath lightly brushed my cheek. Then I heard a low, faintly amused voice, so close it made me hesitate to open my eyes.

“You should be careful, Yeon-ho hyung.”

I had briefly forgotten that Min Ga-on was right next to me. He moved fast; no wonder he was an S-class hunter. Even as a guy myself, I had to admit his breathtakingly handsome face was right in front of me. A calm scent, reminiscent of winter rain, lingered around him. As he tightened his arms around my waist, the icy look in Min Ga-on’s eyes slowly softened.

“Or should I just carry you like this?”

“What? No, I can walk on my o—!”

My rushed refusal was swallowed back the moment my view suddenly shot upward. Min Ga-on had picked me up before I could even finish speaking. I felt like an oversized stuffed doll. For a moment, it felt like gravity shifted, and a wave of dizziness swept through me.

‘If he wasn’t going to hear my answer anyway, then why even ask?!’

Once I finally understood the situation, my cheeks flushed bright red. A princess carry—of all things. Trapped inside Ryu Yeon-ho’s body, I reacted frantically. 

Being carried so easily by someone much younger than me made my pride as a man crumble to pieces. And beyond the embarrassing position itself, what made it even worse was how effortless it seemed for Min Ga-on. His smooth forehead didn’t even have a single drop of sweat.

‘I may be scrawny, but I’m still an adult man!’

My inner protest quickly faded. Honestly, Ryu Yeon-ho was pretty slim, even by normal standards. With a build difference like this, it seemed like he could carry me without any trouble. Min Ga-on picked me up and walked down the stairs, muttering to himself.

“Looks like I’ll have to feed Hyung more—he’s too light.”

Being carried over the stair landing felt like I was floating on air. I’d truly given up on everything, burying my face in my hands and letting my thoughts drift.

‘Yeah. Must be nice being strong, you crazy bastard…’

My pride was already shattered, scattered like broken glass. Saying that aloud would’ve only annoyed me more, so I kept it to myself. Once again, the skill activated at a moment I hadn’t expected.

[Healing skill, “□□□ □□” (F) has been activated!]

Suddenly, an unexplainable anxiety rose from deep within me, and I was overwhelmed by a strong premonition that something was wrong.

‘Could it be… this skill…?’

A sudden realization hit me. It was like finding a missing puzzle piece and fitting it into place. My hands were damp with sweat. Despite my tension, the now-familiar message windows appeared one after another before my eyes.

[Healing Skill “□□□ □□” (F) has been canceled due to a low recovery success rate!]

[Healing Skill “□□□ □□” (F) recovery success rate has increased to 19%.

Recovery effect has increased to 7%.

Recovery range has increased to 0.1 km.

Cooldown has been reduced to 24 hours.]

A 19% recovery success rate. It looked like I could finally activate it about once in every five attempts. This time, all the effects had increased significantly. That was good… really good. But as my body suddenly tensed up, Min Ga-on, holding me, seemed to notice something was off and asked about my condition.

“Are you okay, Yeon-ho hyung? You look pale.”

I slowly nodded, my face completely drained of color. It seemed like I had finally found a clue about this skill, though in a way I didn’t like.

‘No way… this skill only activates when there’s physical contact, doesn’t it?’

My mind went completely blank at a condition I could never have imagined. The first time, Min Ga-on grabbed my wrist; the second time, he supported me when I fainted. And earlier, when he lifted me, the skill activated on its own. On top of that, there was an even stranger fact: this damn skill only leveled up when physical contact with the other person deepened.

‘So, what comes next…?’

That would mean I’d have to endure something even worse than being carried like a princess by Min Ga-on. My desire to test the skill and my pride, which couldn’t accept such a humiliating condition, collided in my mind. Just thinking about having to stay on edge at every touch from Min Ga-on made my blood run cold. This wasn’t merely a simple dilemma. It was a trap, unavoidable and relentless.