Kwaaaaang!
The fallen rock hit the ground, raising a thick cloud of sandy dust. Someone handed a gas mask to Dawoon, who had been treating the injured while avoiding falling rocks and Monsters.
“If you breathe the air here for too long, your lungs will rot.”
“Ah, I’m a Healer.”
Dawoon declined politely to the high-rank Esper who had yielded the gas mask, saying he was fine. Though breathing was difficult due to the pollutants and sandy dust mixed in the air, even if his lungs were damaged, Dawoon could heal them immediately.
“I know. Who doesn’t know Jeong Dawoon Esper-nim? You’re with Sau Guild.”
The unknown high-rank Esper laughed heartily and pressed the gas mask firmly into Dawoon’s hand.
“This isn’t an area a low-rank can endure for long. Take care of yourself.”
Dawoon, who had been about to refuse the gas mask, couldn’t bring himself to reject it at the mention of rank and nodded.
Though he could endure for now, as the high-rank Esper said, if he stayed longer, energy would be wasted on fixing damaged lungs.
To reduce unnecessary energy waste, he obediently put on the gas mask.
“This is nice.”
Once he wore the gas mask, breathing definitely became much easier. Dawoon took a deep breath to make up for what had been lacking, psyched himself up, and ran again.
“S… save… me… please….”
Before long, a faint voice came from far away. It was a sound Dawoon had heard all his life, one he could never miss.
“I’ll be right there!”
He relied on his hearing instead of his vision blocked by the dusty wind and found the injured person. Between the crevices of broken rocks, an Esper was waving his hand weakly.
“S… save me… please….”
One leg of the Esper, whose pupils had dilated, was trapped under a rock. The man had a large build more than enough to smash the rock, but judging by his purple-tinged skin, he seemed to have been affected by Monster poison.
So that’s why he couldn’t avoid the falling rock. Dawoon furrowed his brow and immediately bent down.
“I’ll treat you right away.”
Dawoon first firmly grasped the man’s trembling hand. At the same time, he sent the rock crushing his leg flying far away.
“Heuk, ugh… s… save… me… please….”
The man sobbed while clutching Dawoon’s hand. The palm touching his skin stung. Was it the poison’s effect?
Dawoon examined the man’s condition more carefully and immediately began treatment. Since detoxification was much more difficult than general healing, he gathered more Wavelength.
Soon the deadly poison that paralyzed nerves gradually transferred to Dawoon.
Though he didn’t feel the injured person’s pain as it was, the heavier their condition, the different the weight of the sensation that transferred.
Especially in the case of poison, it left a disgusting sensation like vomit seeping through blood vessels. It was a burden close to pain. That’s why many Healers avoided detoxification and only focused on treating visible wounds.
However, no one criticized Healers who gave up on detoxification. The more critical the injury they treated, the greater the burden on their bodies.
Moreover, poison spread through the body could be resolved just by obtaining an antidote without a Healer’s ability. The problem was that the antidote couldn’t be obtained in time.
Tens of thousands of Monster species each possessed different toxic substances. Furthermore, depending on the Esper’s constitution, they could have adverse reactions to antidotes. This was why many died even after finding the right antidote.
Therefore, unless they were fairly high-rank ability users, low-rank Healers usually only gave moderate treatment. They only healed up to the point where it didn’t strain their own bodies and left the rest to the injured person’s luck.
The sickly Jeong Dawoon had treated more ‘moderately’ than anyone. Using his low rank and frail body as an excuse, he often ignored emergency calls.
Of course, it was something the ‘current’ Dawoon couldn’t even imagine.
“The pain will get worse now that the poison is leaving. Please endure a little.”
As soon as Dawoon finished speaking, the Esper cried out in pain and shed tears.
“Ugh, it… hurts… s… save… me… please… I beg you….”
Dawoon gripped the hand of the frantically sobbing man even harder.
“Yes, I’ll save you.”
He spoke powerfully, telling him not to worry about anything, and took off the gas mask. To reduce the man’s pain, contact beyond hand-holding was necessary.
A Healer’s healing was similar in method to Guiding. The higher the intensity of contact, the greater the effect, and the denser it was, the more the efficiency was maximized. Even the point that the burden on the body increased proportionally was the same.
Dawoon planned to first make mucous membrane contact, that is, lip contact, with the man’s leg where flesh and bone were crushed. It was his first time treating through mucous membranes. Since he easily got anemia just from holding hands, he hadn’t been able to do more than that until now.
However, the man’s condition was too critical. This wasn’t the time to worry about something like his own anemia.
He knew there would come a day when he’d have to do it. So it’s today.
“If you wear this, you’ll feel better soon….”
Dawoon, who had been about to put the gas mask he’d removed on the Esper, swayed for a moment.
“Ugh….”
Once he removed the gas mask, the terrible pheromone scent gushing from the man’s body entered his nose along with the dirty air. Since he’d already inhaled, he couldn’t breathe it back out.
He only now realized that the reason his skin felt stinging wasn’t the poison but the pheromones.
So he was an Alpha. It was nothing to be surprised about. The man with a height rivaling Go Yeoul and an incredibly large build was obviously an Alpha to anyone. To become certain of it through pheromones, he could only think his luck was bad.
Similarly, Dawoon’s face, which had been hidden by the gas mask, also revealed his characteristics.
“Ha, haah….”
The Esper’s eyes flashed when he saw Dawoon’s pale face. Dawoon hurriedly tried to put the gas mask back on, but the man was faster.
“Ugh…!”
The man who grabbed and twisted Dawoon’s wrist pounced on his thin body. Having lost his reason, he instinctively subdued the Omega giving off a sweet scent in one go.
Dawoon gritted his teeth and held his breath to avoid the pheromones. The Esper instantly opened Dawoon’s collar and buried his face in the white flesh.
Dawoon, who had been pushing the man’s shoulders several times, struck the man’s injured leg with his knee with all his might the moment his collarbone was bitten.
“Kheuk…!”
The Esper’s large body collapsed to the ground. Dawoon grabbed the back of the Esper’s neck, continued treatment, and fixed the gas mask back on.
“I’m sorry when you’re already in pain. But I have to protect my body too.”
“Heu, heuk…!”
“So I can treat you.”
He apologized appropriately, asking for understanding. Due to the difference in physique, he had no choice but to target the injured area. The opponent was someone Dawoon couldn’t overcome with strength.
“It… hurts… heuk… I think… I’m dying….”
Then, the man held by Dawoon began to wail like a child.
Dawoon, who hesitated, looked into the man’s face. He hadn’t known because of his burly body and rough features, but looking closely, his face showed quite a youthful appearance. He seemed to be around Go Yeoul’s age.
“Ugh, heu…! Heuk, please… s… save… me….”
This guy also seems to be a newbie with only a high rank. They say kids these days eat well and develop well, and that must really be true.
“Why are you crying? I said I’ll save you.”
Dawoon directly touched the man’s wounded area and increased the treatment intensity. Because he had to wear the gas mask, he couldn’t give mucous membrane treatment. However, he transferred Wavelength doing his best.
“If you endure a little… the pain will decrease too.”
That was also something he was saying to himself.
Dawoon, who had been taking deep breaths inside the gas mask, squeezed his eyes shut and opened them. His nose had been tingling, and the annoying nosebleed had burst again.
“Ha, it hurts… it hurts… so much….”
Even though he gritted his teeth and treated him, the man’s pain showed no signs of decreasing. Eventually, even his breathing was about to become unstable.
It can’t get worse from here. Dawoon bit his lips beaded with blood and looked down at the young face stained with tears.
“……”
Recalling how the man had briefly stopped crying when he pounced on him, he gradually released the strength from the hand gripping his neck.
At the same time, the man who sprang up pulled Dawoon into an embrace.
“Kheuk….”
Along with the increased treatment intensity, Dawoon burst out coughing mixed with blood.
Red blood dripped profusely from under Dawoon’s gas mask. Nevertheless, Dawoon didn’t push away the Esper who had pulled him in.
When his body touched the Alpha’s, Omega pheromones helplessly leaked from Dawoon’s skin as well. At the same time, the Esper’s trembling subsided and his unstable breathing regained stability.
Pheromones are really… fascinating.
Dawoon continued treatment with a dazed expression. The man who had been sobbing like a child gradually widened the area of contact as if to absorb all of Dawoon’s pheromones.
He hadn’t known the effect would be this great. Should he have done this from the start? Just as he was thinking blankly, a foot suddenly flew toward the man’s heaving waist.
“Huk!”
The man’s heavy body was instantly slammed into a rock. Dawoon momentarily thought he’d been attacked by a Monster and tried to activate his ability.
However, what had kicked the man away wasn’t a Monster but a person. Seeing how they were walking around fine in this situation, they were definitely an Esper.
Dawoon, who raised his head to properly see the tall Esper, staggered from dizziness. The unfamiliar Esper immediately reached out to catch Dawoon, who had lost his balance.
However, just before his hand touched Dawoon, his body froze.
As expected, it wasn’t a metaphor but actually became cold, hard ice. And ice containing a deadly chill at that.
“Fuck, Dawoon hyung!”
Yeoul, who appeared from afar with a string of curses, came running while freezing everything around Dawoon. At that overwhelming momentum, even the Monster that had been charging at him flinched and slightly changed direction.
