Godsent Top Star [EN]: Chapter 81

신이 내린 탑스타 081. 저주를 해제하다 (2)(81/401)

081. Unbinding the Curse (2)

2022.01.20.

Whoosh! The flammable thinner burst into flames the moment the spark touched it. Simultaneously, the talismans began their final struggle. [Screech!] [Aaaack!] The chilling, eerie screams made people flinch. As they burned one by one, black ash began to scatter. Bizarrely, it formed a human-like shape, slowly dispersing into the air. ‘I expected it, but it’s more potent than I thought.’ Burning a few talismans as usual wouldn’t have even made a dent. I even had to perform a sword dance. Well, it was more like a disciplined swordplay than a cheerful dance, but still. And then, I purified it with fire. Just as the tenacious threads of the curse, woven from many dead lives, were about to disappear completely, “Chairman!” someone rushed into the house in a hurry. At the same time, “Gasp?!” I suddenly felt breathless. The soaring flames suddenly diminished as if water had been poured on them. The last shadow of ash disappearing into the air became clear again. Yeonwoo, staring at it, pounded his chest. “Cough!” The blocked breath burst out, and something passed through my throat. [Yeonwoo!] “Oh my god, Mr. Yeonwoo!” My mouth tasted metallic. Yeonwoo, who unconsciously wiped his wet lips, flinched. What was smeared on the back of his hand was none other than bright red blood.

***

“Mr. Kang Yeonwoo. What’s wrong? Are you okay?” “I’m fine… Ugh!” Yeonwoo bent over, suddenly feeling nauseous. This time, what he vomited was also bright red blood. [Oh my! Yeonwoo! I told you not to do it! If you break such a big curse, you might get a backlash!] “Shut up… Quiet…” I know, even without the frantic Dongja-ryeong [a spirit helper] flapping its wings and making a fuss from side to side. My insides hurt like my internal organs were twisted, and something hot and metallic kept trying to come up from my throat. ‘Damn it. I blocked all the returning paths, so what is it?’ I didn’t expect this kind of side effect. Was I being reckless, as Dongja-ryeong said? Am I going to die like this, without strength? Just as I was thinking that, “Um, excuse me… Chairman… I have something to tell you…” “Can’t you see I’m out of my mind with those two eyes?” Growl. The man flinched at the fierce voice and gleaming eyes. He was the one who rushed in when the final process was about to finish. ‘Wait a minute. Could it be?’ A thought flashed through my mind, and Yeonwoo called out to Woo Do-gyeom. “Mr. Woo Do-gyeom. Just a moment.” “Wait a minute. We’ll move to the hospital right away.” “That’s not it, where did that person… come from…” Before he could finish speaking, Woo Do-gyeom strode up to the man and grabbed him by the collar. “You bastard. Where did you crawl in from? You better talk fast.” “T-through the garage…” The man stammered, overwhelmed by the sudden grip on his collar and the fierce eyes staring at him as if to kill him. “That way… Salt… Check the salt…” It felt like someone was stirring my insides. Just as my back, which had been barely holding on, was about to break, “Really, you never let me take my eyes off you.” There was a hand firmly supporting me.

The gentle energy that touched my body seemed to soothe the twisting insides a little. “Give him to me. We need to go to the hospital.” “Why don’t you shut your mouth if you don’t know anything? It’s better for me to be in contact with him right now.” Kwon Seong-hyeon was right. His pure spiritual power was perfect for calming the violently raging energy inside my body. Woo Do-gyeom would be counterproductive. Woo Do-gyeom’s constitution would be the opposite of what I need in my already messed-up state. “…I’ll have them check the salt first.” Woo Do-gyeom quickly gave instructions to his subordinates. One of them rushed back and reported. “The salt at the garage entrance was down. We’ve restored it immediately.” It was as I thought. The perfect defense had been breached. ‘Why of all times.’ What a misfortune to have such an incident at the last moment. Perhaps because the salt had been restored, the throbbing headache subsided a little. “We need to burn those things completely.” Because a loophole had been created, they must have made a final desperate attempt to return here somehow. But now it’s over. “Give me the fire. I’ll burn the rest… Ugh!” Yeonwoo, who was being supported, staggered again as he tried to raise his body. “That’s why I can’t just leave Mr. Yeonwoo alone.” A firm hand supported Yeonwoo again and threw the fire instead. As thinner was poured from all sides, the fire began to blaze again. [Screeeeeech-!] The human-shaped ash that had been stubbornly circling in the air finally disappeared, leaving a bizarre sound. And at that moment. -Ting! [You have perfectly fulfilled the client’s request!] [Congratulations! You will acquire additional stats as a reward.] [Reward: Poker Face] [S+] [New features available…….] The long-awaited notification popped up. The request was over.

***

“Ugh… I’m going to die.” Request completion or whatever. Was it because of the relief that came with the notification sound? I couldn’t even imagine that I would faint on the spot. When Yeonwoo opened his eyes again, he thought. Request completion or whatever, it’s so hard I could die. The culprit who rushed in and made Yeonwoo cough up blood was none other than Woo Do-gyeom’s subordinate. ‘I thought some beggar-like guy was doing it on purpose.’ It turned out that he had urgently brought the news that Woo Do-gyeom’s older brother had suddenly collapsed. Woo Do-gyeom’s expression as he watched his subordinate stammering and sweating as he reported that he seemed to have had a heart attack comes to mind. [My brother collapsed?] Woo Do-gyeom, who said that, was somehow wearing a bitter smile. Twisted up lips and narrowing, ferocious eyes. Nowhere was there any concern or worry. However, only undisguisable disgust and indelible contempt were visible. [What a coincidental timing.] As an addict addicted to drugs, he was originally at high risk of a heart attack. However, as Woo Do-gyeom said, it was a very coincidental timing. ‘Moreover, it was a condition that perfectly matched the profile I had predicted.’ A relationship close to Woo Do-gyeom and able to move around the house freely. A relationship in which they can privately give birthday presents to children. If it is a blood relative, it is a very natural story. Anyway. For that reason, Yeonwoo had just opened his eyes in the hospital. It was a very large and clean hospital compared to the hospitals he knew, and it felt like a hotel where he could stay alone. But looking at the needle stuck in the back of his hand and the electrocardiogram machine beeping and showing the numbers, it seemed to be a hospital after all. “There’s no way I can apply for worker’s compensation for this.” No matter how I look at it, I collapsed and was taken to the hospital… ‘I’m going crazy.’ The mental fatigue was greater than the physical fatigue. How should I put it? To put it bluntly, I feel a little embarrassed? I confidently stepped forward, but suddenly coughed up blood and collapsed. It’s a good thing it happened right before I finished solving it, otherwise… [I told you not to go around showing off your shallow knowledge! What are you going to do with half-assed learning! Hurry up and come home and study properly again and take over my position!] It plays automatically even if I don’t listen. I shuddered at the thought, and the door burst open. “Mr. Yeonwoo? You’re already up? How’s your body… Oh no. You’re shivering! Just a moment. I’ll call the nurse right away.” Kwon Seong-hyeon, who had approached so quickly that I didn’t even know when he had come in, examined Yeonwoo here and there. Then, misunderstanding something, he pressed the nurse call in a hurry. “No, that’s not it…” “Mr. Yeonwoo has a problem because he doesn’t take care of himself. And don’t say you’re okay again. I won’t believe Mr. Yeonwoo’s lies anymore.” “No, when did I ever lie…” I feel somewhat wronged. “About Woo Do-gyeon’s matter. You said it would be nothing.” “It was nothing.” If it hadn’t been for that X-Man at the end. But, wait a minute. I think he called him Woo Do-gyeon, not Woo Do-gyeom? “It’s nothing, but you coughed up blood? Do you know how much blood Mr. Yeonwoo coughed up?” “That’s just because something went wrong for a moment.” “I heard everything from Dongja-ssi [referring to Dongja-ryeong]. He said you almost got a backlash. He said if Mr. Yeonwoo didn’t have such great power, something terrible would have happened.” “……” The culprit was you, Dongja-ryeong. No wonder Kwon Seong-hyeon even knew about the backlash. “Well… it’s all resolved, so it’s okay.” “No. It’s not okay. How can you be okay when you coughed up that much blood? You lost so much blood that you even had a blood transfusion!” Yeonwoo glanced up at Kwon Seong-hyeon’s face. His usually gentle and smiling face was set hard. It looked like it wouldn’t do any good to say no. “Hoo……” I sighed in frustration. Kwon Seong-hyeon, interpreting it in his own way, came over and put a jacket on me. “You were shivering like this and you’re still saying you’re okay… Really. Mr. Yeonwoo needs to take care of his own body first. Okay? Cover yourself with this for now. The fever reducer will help with the chills. I’ll ask them to bring more to cover you, just in case.” Just then, the door opened and people in white coats rushed in. “Patient, are you awake?” “Are you feeling any discomfort?” “The electrocardiogram and pulse are normal, but the blood pressure is a little low.” The medical staff busily examined Yeonwoo here and there. “He was shivering as if he had chills. Can you check him?” At Kwon Seong-hyeon’s request, a thermometer was immediately shoved into my ear. “37.8 degrees Celsius. A slight fever.” “Can we prescribe a fever reducer?” “I’ll prepare it right away.” While the medicine was being prescribed quickly, some people drew blood from Yeonwoo. “The hemoglobin level will come out soon, so I’ll let you know right away.” As the doctors left, Yeonwoo asked. “Hemo… what?” “I told you Mr. Yeonwoo had anemia. That’s why you had a blood transfusion. We need to check if the levels have stabilized.” “If it stabilizes, can I leave?” No matter how I think about it, this is ten years’ worth of teasing material. But. “Leave? Where to?” Kwon Seong-hyeon reacted as if he had heard something he shouldn’t have. “You don’t have any pain, so of course you should be discharged, right?” “No, Mr. Yeonwoo. Mr. Yeonwoo is a patient. The doctor decides when you’re discharged. And no matter how I look at it, Mr. Yeonwoo is not normal right now. Your face is so pale and haggard, how can you say you’re okay?” Well, I guess my complexion might have turned pale because I lost some blood. “That’s something that can be cured by eating some blood soup…” “What kind of era are we living in for you to say such a thing, Mr. Yeonwoo?” I feel like I’m being scolded. “That’s how it used to be…” When Yeonwoo was still young and his head was soft. There were several times when he was doing blood training and he kept drawing blood out of curiosity until he was dizzy. Every time, his mother, Kang Yeon-hwa, would cluck her tongue and buy blood curd herself, boil it thoroughly, and give it to him. I remember feeling better quickly after eating a bowl full. “It might have been like that in the old days, but it’s not like that now. How have you been treating your body, Mr. Yeonwoo?” Then Kwon Seong-hyeon lets out a deep sigh. I feel like I’ve done something terribly wrong. ‘Why do I feel like I’m being scolded…?’ It’s a feeling like I’m making an unreasonable demand? “Don’t even mention the word discharge. Okay? Mr. Yeonwoo needs to rest.” “I’m really okay…” “Anyway, even if you’re discharged, you’re just going to lock yourself in your studio again. Aren’t you?” “I still have some clips left…” “See? Since Mr. Yeonwoo doesn’t take care of himself, I have no choice but to take care of him.” “……?” Wasn’t Kwon Seong-hyeon the one who told me to watch it? “Mr. Yeonwoo is strangely always getting caught up in incidents, so I deliberately kept him where I could see him, but that’s not working either.” “…….” So, he’s saying he did it on purpose?