LTTH C5

Chapter 5

“Look at this!”

The young man boldly pulled back the cloth wrapped around his left arm, exposing the empty space. At first glance, nothing seemed changed. The skin at the severed area looked surprisingly smooth.

No, there’s no way a severed part could be that clean…

“…Heal.”

Hesitantly, Hansol invoked Heal again while gazing at the exposed left arm. To his astonishment, though faintly, the vanished limb began to regenerate bit by bit. It was neither a hallucination nor an illusion.

“…!”
This is insane…

Hansol felt shock more than joy. Could a mere Heal restore a severed limb? High-level healers would surely be shaken.

“Thank you… thank you so much.”

“Ah…”

Collecting his scattered thoughts, Hansol cast Heal once more. The left arm’s regeneration resumed gradually. Although it seemed he would need to keep casting without rest, the very possibility was infinitely better than none. At last, hope appeared.

Hansol opened his skill window again, revealing the description of his longest-used skill.

Heal Lv. Master

• Heals light injury to one target.

• Has a 50% chance to boost the target’s regeneration ability to its limit.

The word Master was notable, but the added phrase about regeneration was the most striking. He had just witnessed firsthand what that meant. For the first time, he realized that skills could reach a master level—and that mastery unlocked hidden effects.

…A quest.

Among possible explanations for this bizarre phenomenon, the quest was the only one that seemed plausible. Otherwise, perhaps his eyes were deceiving him.

“Heal.”

The regenerating arm, Hansol’s sight, the skill itself—all of it made him chuckle ruefully as he continued casting Heal until his mana was depleted. Occasionally, he slipped in Prayers of Healing to maintain the fragile life of the man called Rachel.

“Thank you. Truly, thank you.”

“There has been enough thanks. Please, stop now.”

Each time the light swept over the young man’s arm, another wave of gratitude followed, and it felt burdensome. Hansol had only attempted to heal the arm because of the quest. Otherwise, he might have abandoned the effort from the start. There was no reason for such endless thanks. Yet the youth’s words continued until Hansol’s mana was completely drained.

“Hah… just a moment.”

His mana, once full, dropped to zero. Hansol took a short breath. The man’s arm had already regenerated up to the elbow. To the eye, the polished edge looked as if the arm had always ended there.

Natural recovery can’t keep up with this.

His mana was limited, and leveling up would not come easily. Even after exhausting himself, his experience bar had risen by only a third. But he could not stop. The young man before him, face streaked with tears like one abandoned, compelled him to go on.

“…You were far more precious than I thought.”

As Hansol pondered how to restore his mana while staring at the skill window, a weighty voice rang in his ear with the lifting of a white cloth.

“What do you think?”

“At that level, surely a high-ranking healer. But why is he here…?”

Beside the duke, who had appeared without warning, stood another man with red hair and a monocle. His blue eyes glittered with curiosity and doubt, forcing Hansol to step back.

“Mana isn’t infinite.”

So healers existed in this world too. Though under different names, they understood that healing consumed magical energy.

Hansol’s healing likewise consumed mana and was not unlimited. But unlike others, Hansol had leveling. With each level gained, his mana refilled entirely. His strange feats were nothing but the result of his low level. Yet now, stalled at level fifteen, such fortune was beyond his reach.

“There’s no one here on the verge of death. Better that you rest.”

“You look so pale you might collapse before them.” Those added words, tinged with unfamiliar emotion, eased Hansol’s tension a little. Surely they too longed for rest. But this miraculous phenomenon could vanish at any moment, and so Hansol dared not stop.

He had finally escaped the title of Eternal Level One. Yet who knew when the fickle system might thrust him back? Until his return to Korea, he had to press harder than ever before.

“…I’ll finish treating this one, then rest.”

“…Sob, sob!”

As the young man began to wail, strange gazes gathered. Their looks resembled those of people witnessing a rare, uncanny creature. Hansol averted his eyes slightly, steeling his resolve once more.

I don’t know when this miracle will end.

Clasping his trembling hands, he waited as his mana slowly began to recover. In a few hours, he could cast Heal a few more times. Perhaps his experience would rise another one percent. He had to push further. Once he left this place, the system might reset entirely.

Hopefully it won’t strip away the levels I’ve already gained…

Though a sinister thought arose, he forced it away. The damn system surely wouldn’t be that merciless.

“…Indeed, he’s different from the rest.”

“Yes. When I first heard the duke speak, I thought he was joking.”

“…A joke?”

“Ha ha. Oh, Healer-nim, if you do this for us, we’ll be deeply grateful.”

Dodging the duke’s sharp gaze, a red-haired mage suddenly grasped Hansol’s hand and shook it vigorously, smiling awkwardly. His pitiful eyes pleaded for help. Clearly, the one called duke was the true commander of this battlefield. Saving the half-dead man had been a stroke of genius.

…More work again.

The young man before him still needed treatment, but so did the half-dead man whose life hung by a thread. Hansol glanced sideways: his mana barely reached twenty. Could he endure?

Suddenly, a message appeared.

Mana recovery increased by 500% for one hour.

…?

“It’s my gift.”

“…What?”

“Kassie, that’s enough.”

“Alright, alright~”

The red-haired mage, Kassie, who had been waving his hands flamboyantly, winked and stepped back. Hansol stared hard at the system window floating before his eyes. It was without doubt a buff—a high-grade one.

“…Who is that person—no, this Kassie?”

“Sniff… Kassie-nim is a mage.”

When he asked the young man, whose tears were finally beginning to fade, the answer came immediately. A mage. Even in Korea, high-ranking mages were regarded as nobles alongside healers. And Kassie wielded a skill that boosted mana recovery by five hundred percent. He had started on a completely different track, and still ran far ahead.

I didn’t expect to feel inferior even here.

Escaping Level One had felt like enough. Yet human greed knew no bounds. Hansol sighed softly, forcing aside the bitterness. To learn skills like his, how far would one have to climb?

“…Level. Still far away.”

“Ah… but it’s a secret—just between us—there are rumors that Kassie-nim has already surpassed the dreaded Level One Hundred.”

One hundred. That, at least, he could respect. Even in Korea, that threshold was infamous. Anyone who reached it would be scouted anywhere. But wait—did he say level? And here, in another dimension?

“W-wait! Level? There’s a system here too?”

“Yes? Of course.”

“…Then… where exactly are we?”

“In England… Didn’t you know?”

…Damn.

Those cursed Association bastards. They told him it was another dimension! But England is no other dimension—it’s simply another country!