Perfect World [EN]: Chapter 5

Sitting on a long bench in front of the operating room, Beom-seok sighed deeply, his gaze fixed on the red 3D hologram that read ‘In Surgery.’ He was very worried because she hadn’t come out even after such a long time.

After a while, the message ‘In Surgery’ next to Venus’s name changed to ‘Recovering.’ This meant that, at the very least, she had survived the surgery. Beom-seok stood up, his expression brightening, and approached the door.

Click.

The operating room door opened, and nurse elves busily began moving the bed carrying Venus. Susan, wearing a mask and surgical gown, followed behind, speaking to them as if giving orders.

“For now, move her to the intensive care unit to monitor her progress. Assign nurses to be stationed at all times for the next three days.”

“Yes, understood.”

Beom-seok called out to Susan, who was moving about purposefully.

“How did the surgery go?”

“Well… yes. It was a bit touch-and-go at first, but the patient herself had a strong will to live, so she recovered her vitals on her own. Thanks to that, it ended relatively smoothly.”

She probably meant Venus’s special ability, ‘Venus’s Illusion.’ Since it was almost 4 o’clock now, there had been ample time for it to activate.

“So, she will fully recover?”

“Yes. She lost too much blood, which was dangerous, but the wound wasn’t that extensive. And since I perfectly reconnected all the damaged blood vessels and muscles with microsurgery, if she recovers well, she won’t have any lasting problems, not even with strenuous exercise.”

Beom-seok let out a long sigh of relief. He felt reassured that Venus’s surgery was successful based on her words.

“Whew~ That’s a great relief.”

“Well, yes. Anyway, could you follow me for a moment, please?”

“What’s going on?”

“There are a few things I need to ask you.”

Susan, having removed her surgical gloves and mask, opened a white door on one side of the hallway and went inside. It was a small room, about twelve square feet, with several sinks lined up. Beom-seok, standing side by side with her and placing his hands under the faucet, asked,

“But what do you want to ask me?”

Susan, who was lathering soap on her hands, wore an inscrutable expression.

“You said you came here from the police station, right?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Have you heard anything about why the patient was so badly injured?”

Beom-seok didn’t know the details about that either.

“Well, as far as I know, the police raided an illegal underground arena, and they brought her from there. I don’t know anything else.”

Susan wore a completely incomprehensible expression. Underground arenas were private arenas run by the Mafia, where elves and humans who were thrown in usually fought to the death or until they were almost dead. But the injuries Venus sustained didn’t seem consistent with having been obtained in such a brutal battle.

“An underground arena? That’s hard to believe.”

“What’s hard to believe?”

“Well, you know. If it’s an underground arena, it’s a place where they fight fiercely to the death, but the patient is too… intact, isn’t she?”

Beom-seok, wearing a puzzled expression, said.

“Is that what you call intact?”

“No, that’s not it. Isn’t an arena a place where they fight fiercely, punching and hitting each other? But the only injury she sustained was a penetrating wound in her chest. There wasn’t even a bruise anywhere else.”

Come to think of it, that was a valid point. Even an amateur boxer gets bruises all over their face and body after just one match, so it was strange that she only had a chest wound in an underground arena where they fought to the death.

“Perhaps, Venus just had an accident? Maybe she lost her footing and fell while being chased by the Mobile Strike Force, or she was pushed by the crowd and stabbed by a sharp part of the building.”

Susan shook her head vehemently.

“That’s not it. How could elves, with their strength and sense of balance, have such a ridiculous accident? And the wound on her chest is definitely artificial.”

“An artificial wound?”

Susan gestured with a stabbing motion, twisting her hand as she spoke.

“That wound was caused by stabbing strongly and then twisting the hand like this. You can never get that kind of wound from an accident.”

“Then the one who made that wound must be a modified human or an elf.”

“Yes. Because it penetrated the chest with a blunt rebar [a steel bar used to reinforce concrete]. It’s probably someone with considerable strength.”

Beom-seok chuckled and said.

“Still, he has some conscience. If he was a vicious guy, he wouldn’t have stopped with just one wound and would have attacked until she died.”

“Well, if he had a conscience, he shouldn’t have twisted it after inflicting a penetrating wound with a rebar, right?”

Beom-seok felt a chill run down his spine for a moment. Inflicting a penetrating wound with a weapon and twisting it was a clear sign of intent to kill. That one action widens the wound area and increases damage to internal organs. He knew it well because he always added that motion while killing monsters in the game.

‘Then there’s only one reason why Venus could have survived.’

The only situation where that could happen during a duel was when fighting against multiple opponents. In that case, he wouldn’t have had the time or need to focus on Venus, who was collapsing.

After organizing his thoughts, Beom-seok rinsed his hands in the running water without saying a word and wiped them on a nearby towel. He thought that the police would handle it, and there was no need for him to worry about it at all.

Venus stayed in the intensive care unit for five days after that. Even though she was an elf with excellent recovery abilities, it was a necessary precaution considering that her life had hung in the balance during the surgery. In the end, Beom-seok only saw her during the short visiting hours allowed for 10 minutes a day. Still, he was able to spend pleasant days seeing Venus flapping her big ears happily every time she saw him.

Yawn, yawn.

Deep in the night, Beom-seok was sound asleep in a hospital room at the Mikhail Treatment Center. He was there to watch over Venus’s bed, as she had been moved to a general ward today. Of course, he had thought about hiring a caregiver, but he decided it would be good to spend time together and build a friendship on their first day in the ward, so he stopped himself. He felt he had too little time to be with her during that time.

Rustle, rustle.

Beom-seok slightly opened his eyes at the unpleasant noise spreading in the hospital room. A faint silver glow floating in the dark space was repeatedly disappearing and reappearing, creating a bizarre atmosphere. Thinking he was still dreaming, he pinched his thigh hard.

‘It hurts.’

Beom-seok was startled. The fact that he felt pain meant that what was happening now was real. Beom-seok shook his head greatly, dismissing the thought of a ghost. Such a fantastical being could not appear in this game, which is future-oriented but pursues realism.

He ordered the hospital room system to turn on the lights.

“Room 311 system. Lights on.”

Inside the brightly lit hospital room, Beom-seok realized that he was facing a familiar gaze. Venus, wearing a patient gown, was blinking her big eyes and just sitting next to him, staring at him. It seemed that the silver glow from earlier was emanating from her left eye.

Surprised, he hurriedly got up from his seat. It wasn’t good for her, who needed to rest, to be moving around like this.

“Hey. What are you doing here instead of being in your bed?”

“I wanted to be with Master….”

It was an honest answer without any exaggeration. An elf could never deceive her master. Beom-seok smiled at the admirable thought. He appreciated her wanting to be with him and lying on this uncomfortable cot with her sick body. But he couldn’t let the patient lie on this narrow cot, leaving the comfortable and fluffy patient bed.

“Whew~ Venus. How can a patient come down here and sit like this? Go back to your bed and lie down quickly.”

Venus quickly climbed onto the patient bed. It was an elf’s duty to obey her master’s orders. However, they had free will. Perhaps that’s why Venus was lying in the corner of the right side of the bed, leaving one side of the left side of the bed completely empty. It could be seen as a cute sit-in strike asking him to lie down with her.

Of course, Beom-seok could ignore her and just lie down on the cot and go back to sleep. But if he did, he would see Venus drooping her ears in disappointment, so he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

‘Well. The bed is big anyway.’

The room they were currently staying in was the most luxurious single room in this treatment center. Susan, who felt sorry for the treatment refusal incident, consulted with the administration office and arranged for him to be hospitalized at the cost of a general ward. Thanks to this, the bed in this room was luxurious and large, unlike other places. It didn’t seem too difficult for two people to sleep together.

“Okay. Just for today.”

Her face, peeking out from the blanket, was full of bright color. Beom-seok coughed repeatedly and lay down next to her, opening his right arm. Venus, who was snuggling up to him with a pillow, buried her red, flushed cheeks in his shoulder. Beom-seok, with a happy expression on his face, settled into a comfortable position and closed his eyes.

But this was a clear mistake. No matter how much it was a hospital room and she was a patient, what man would just spend the night with a woman he was always attracted to? Especially a being with the beauty of a goddess. Before long, his ‘precious thing’ began to stir shamelessly.

Sensing this, Venus said softly, as if whispering.

“M-Master. I’m okay.”

It was obvious what she meant by ‘okay.’ Even if it wasn’t, Beom-seok’s mind readily interpreted it as such. He swallowed hard and shook his head wildly.

‘No. No. This is a hospital, and she’s a patient. She’ll be discharged in a few weeks anyway, so it’s not too late to do it then…….’

But even now felt like a long time coming. It had been 5 days since he had logged into the game. He had spent this time alone in solitude. Before he knew it, Beom-seok was slyly glancing at her information window and checking her stamina. There, along with a stamina level close to 3500, was a status message that read ‘Injury Requiring Attention.’ It was a grade three levels lower than the ‘Critical Injury’ on the first day, indicating that her health had stabilized to some extent.

The thought that this might be permissible began to dominate Beom-seok’s mind. And this became an indulgence, a decisive catalyst for moving his body.

He suddenly turned his body and climbed on top of Venus.

“Well. I have to get rid of the master-slave dynamic anyway.”

A lame excuse popped out. That’s how shameless he felt about desiring Venus right now. But from her point of view, there was nothing more she could ask for. It was the elves’ instinct, beyond their mission, to devote their bodies to their masters and be with them for the rest of their lives.

Venus wrapped her slender arms around his neck.

“M-Master. Please come to me.”

Beom-seok swallowed hard and pulled down her patient gown bottoms and pink panties all at once with his right hand. The exposed pink crevice and lush silver forest took his breath away.

————-

To be continued next time.