This world does not use the Gregorian calendar.

To be precise, the Gregorian calendar ended in the year 2000.

On March 1, 2000, a great upheaval occurred.

Concepts like dungeons, towers, monsters, and magic, which only appeared in myths and legends, manifested.

Moreover, a very small number of humans began to develop transcendental abilities once only imagined in dreams.

This world, which seems similar to the original world, has undergone a transformation so profound that no one can deny it’s different.

It is no longer the Gregorian calendar.

Currently, it is the 200th year of the New Era (新界起源), which started with the great upheaval.

Today is a particularly special day.

I felt a mix of small excitement and anxiety as I took off my patient gown.

‘Finally…’

Today is the day I get discharged.

My body, which was in a state worse than a rag, has roughly recovered.

That’s because the care I received was extremely thorough.

Top-tier healers, who can’t be hired even with money, took turns checking my condition like a rotation.

Even the highest-tier healer, who usually reserves their power, visited periodically to heal me.

In an environment like this, the only thing they can’t save is a corpse.

The problem was my condition, so bad that I couldn’t even complain if buried with a corpse.

It wasn’t just my body being torn and crushed; the blood mist deeply ingrained in the wounds was disrupting and hindering the healing process.

I was genuinely on the brink of being buried alongside a corpse. Even thinking about it now sends chills down my spine.

‘Almost three weeks, huh…’

It took over three weeks for my body to recover almost fully, excluding the loss of my arm.

Three weeks.

If you just hear it, it sounds like a short time.

But considering that I, who had the physical abilities of an ordinary person, caught up to the level of a Shio-ram cadet’s footsteps within that period… it was a precious time wasted.

Especially since I hadn’t resolved my lifespan issue yet, wasting three weeks like that was painful.

‘The schedule ahead…’

The biggest event, the first-semester Tower Entrance, is over.

Dungeon practice in between won’t be a big problem.

The major event to pay attention to is…

‘Is it just the comprehensive evaluation left for this semester?’

Comprehensive Evaluation.

They’ve given us several months of growth lectures from world-class professors and allowed us to enter the Tower of Growth once.

They also provided ample time to consolidate the results obtained from the Tower of Growth.

Now it’s time to properly measure how much we’ve grown, that’s the comprehensive evaluation.

If I remember correctly, there will also be written exams and tests by majors.

And since it’s an  educational institution for nurturing heroes, the most attention-grabbing test is the comprehensive combat section.

All cadets, regardless of majors, participate in a 1-on-1 duel.

As a special admission student, I’m sure to participate.

The stakes are high, and the grades at stake are significant. If you take first place there, you’ll undoubtedly get a good artifact.

Cadets who wanted to achieve good results in the comprehensive evaluation must have been preparing all along.

Unlike someone who got stuck in the healing room as soon as the tower entrance ended.

‘Is this a greedy thought? I should be grateful just to be alive…’

I realized my greed was overflowing. Taking a deep breath, I threw a punch into the air.

The punch sliced through the air. I could keenly feel the wind brushing my arm. As my body recovered, my senses naturally returned.

‘With this, I can jump right into combat?’

It seemed I had even improved. Perhaps because I skipped rope over the line of life and death? My desperate body seemed to have grown.

While thinking such thoughts.

– Tap

‘?’

A hand flew swiftly from the side and grabbed my wrist. My arm, unable to stretch straight, bent awkwardly.

I turned my head in puzzlement. Within my observational range, Professor Atra was grabbing my wrist with a firm expression.

Her hand, which released my wrist, promptly moved toward my face.

– Squeeze…

‘Huh?’

And then, my cheek was pinched. One side of my cheek, caught between her slender fingers, stretched like mochi.

Tilting my head in confusion, Professor Atra let out a deep sigh and spoke.

“I told you to take it easy for a while, so why are you suddenly punching the air?”

‘Is it just because of that…?’

I did put a bit of strength into it, but it wasn’t enough to cause any harm.

Wearing an expression of disbelief, I saw Professor Atra narrow her eyes.

My cheek stretched a bit more. It didn’t hurt. Instead, I had to control my expression to not show that it felt rather nice.

“No matter how good the diagnosis result is, you still need to observe it for a day or two.”

– Nod nod

As I obediently nodded, Professor Atra’s stern expression softened.

Then, as if she felt a bit guilty, she gently rubbed the cheek she had pinched.

My lips twitched. I tried to keep my lips from twitching as I accepted Professor Atra’s touch.

After indulging in her touch for a while, I went through the discharge procedures.

Though my body was almost fully healed, I naturally expected the discharge process to be complicated.

The intensive care unit at the association’s headquarters is truly a place to save those who must not die.

I received exceptional treatment even within the intensive care unit. Therefore, I anticipated the procedures would take some time.

“Discharge procedures? Oh… they’re already taken care of. You can just go.”

‘?’

And then, I heard something akin to a high-pass.

I blankly scanned the person within my observational range.

Dressed in a clean white gown, typical of a doctor, and holding a white stick… in her mouth.

For a moment, thinking it was a cigarette, I stiffened, but seeing the candy through her slightly parted lips, my tension melted away.

The woman with an emaciated look and roughly tied hair was named Lianel Steinlea.

She was the association’s healer who saved me, almost a corpse, a precious highest-tier healer.

“What do you mean, the procedures are done?”

“An association staff member started them from the first day you were admitted and completed them. You can just go.”

Lianel explained indifferently.

“Oh, and the staff member asked me to tell you. Since you made significant contributions to saving lives during the disaster, blah blah… they’re planning to reward you, so contact them when you have time.”

“They did consider letting me rest comfortably to some extent.”

Lianel had once been active on the African front, and it seemed she had built a bit of rapport with Professor Atra during that time.

Hearing the explanation, Professor Atra narrowed her eyes as if puzzled.

“It’s almost like VIP treatment. But they don’t even treat actual VIPs this way, do they?”

“How would I know what the higher-ups think? They must have their reasons for doing this.”

As she replied, Lianel turned her gaze to me.

“It seems you were someone the higher-ups deemed necessary to save. So, Cadet Lee Hayul, please don’t come back here again unless absolutely necessary.”

When a doctor tells you not to come to the hospital, it probably means don’t get sick, right?

As I nodded with a peculiar expression, Lianel briefly nodded and continued.

“The healing is done. Once you regain some energy, you can proceed with arm regeneration. The association has also taken care of it, so you can come here for the regeneration or do it elsewhere. Take good care of your mental health too. And…”

A brief pause.

“Take good care of yourself.”

The final words made me smile.

Though relatively blunt and with faint emotions, concern was evident.

Lianel, who had been looking down at me, blinked.

The end of the lollipop bobbed. As if contemplating something, she gently bit the stick and opened her mouth again.

“The diagnosis was clearly normal. I’m seeing you right now, and you’re normal. But…”

“But?”

Professor Atra frowned at the nuance that seemed to deny the word ‘normal.’

“Cadet Lee Hayul’s body felt strange. I hate to say this to a patient, but it felt like…”

– Like a person who should have died is still alive.

With Lianel’s words, the doubts I had been feeling and past memories surfaced.

Excessive and continuous violence too much for a child to endure.

Memories of my split stomach healing miraculously by the next day.

A body that endured having fire poured over it, wandering for long periods without proper food, yet survived.

Legs that regenerated despite being clearly cut off…

‘……’

The unique abilities I’ve identified are Mana Affinity and Jack of All Trades.

But I kept feeling like there was something more.

I couldn’t grasp it. Even in the healing room, I contemplated myself whenever I had time, but I couldn’t feel it.

There seemed to be something more.

In any case, the healer’s advice(?) marked the end of the discharge process.

“Head back first. Let me emphasize again, don’t leave Shio-ram.”

Professor Atra said she couldn’t enter Shio-ram right away due to personal matters.

Since I was discharged over the weekend, she planned to take care of personal matters over the weekend and come to Shio-ram.

At the association’s headquarters gate terminal.

Professor Atra, with noticeable anxiety, grabbed my shoulder and demanded a response.

I nodded calmly as if to reassure her, despite the countless repetitions of her demands.

But the worry on Professor Atra’s face didn’t disappear.

‘…Hmm.’

It felt overly protective, but considering my condition, which I sensed through the power of Observation, where it was hard to distinguish if it was a body, a corpse, or a rag… it seemed understandable.

With her worried gaze piercing my back and the back of my head, I stepped into the gate.

With a dizzying sensation, I stepped into the cradle, feeling like I returned in no time.

– Ding!

The moment I arrived at Shio-ram’s gate terminal, an alarm sounded in my ears.

The sound was clearly from close by… definitely from me.

This time, I didn’t miss it. With the sound, I furrowed my brows and observed the place where my left arm used to be.

There was no left arm. There was no smartwatch on my left arm.

Likewise, there was no smartwatch on my right arm.

I had a portable hologram projector, but the alarm didn’t come from it.

I had experienced something similar before.

But back then, I thought it was a hallucination in my sleep or a sound from the smartwatch and passed it off.

‘…This.’

I couldn’t just pass it off this time.

‘Isn’t there a status window?’

The suspicion I had given up when I first arrived in this world subtly resurfaced.

While I was pondering this, a hesitant voice reached my ears.

“Um… Cadet Lee Hayul?”

‘Ah.’

I realized I was standing right in front of the gate.

Quickly, I moved out of the way.

The staff on duty were staring at me.

Covering my flushed face with my sleeve, I hurried out of the gate terminal.

That day, I spent the entire day checking for the status window and pondering various things.

Receiving a sudden contact from Elia asking if I had time.

Meeting the Necklace of Confession, which practically eased my mind, and hugging Elia impulsively was the next day.

* * *

– Ding!

[Lee Hayul has entered Shio-ram]

…

[The “Curse of Short-lived Beauty” consumes vitality… consumes… consumes…]

– Buzz…

[The Lord of the Tower of Growth suppresses the “Curse of Short-lived Beauty”]

[The Lord of the Tower of Growth suppresses the “Curse of Short-lived Beauty”]

[The Lord of the Tower of Growth suppresses the “Curse of Short-lived Beauty”]

…

[The Lord of the Tower of Growth sighs in relief]

* * *

End of Chapter