Chapter 155: Meeting (2)
"I'm good at games. Maybe even better than you, Almond."
As soon as Sang-Hyeon heard that, he could feel something heating up inside of him. It wasn't because of her seductive appearance.
'Better than me?'
It was, in fact, the complete opposite. No man would get angry over seeing a beautiful woman. Instead, he felt angry because she told him she was as good as him at video games.
'I can't believe I'm being provoked by something like this.'
Sang-Hyeon was surprised by his own reaction and looked away.
'What's wrong with me?'
He couldn't believe he got upset just from hearing that she was better than him in video games. It wasn't even about archery. Also, it was evident that the girl was just joking around. When did video games become so important for Sang-Hyeon? Or maybe it was because he felt sincerity behind the girl's words.
"What's your name?"
Sang-Hyeon held the pen firmly, wishing to get the autograph over with quickly.
"I don't need my name on it. Just your signature is fine."
"Alright."
Shshk.
Sang-Hyeon wrote his signature and drew a tiny Almond beside it. After the girl received the note again, she burst into laughter. Her scary look and sharp eyes melted away from the smile.
"What is this?"
"It's an almond."
"Do you normally put this?"
"Ah, I just started doing it because my signature looks boring. Is it lame?"
"Yes, but..."
The girl told him the signature was lame without a change in her expression while laughing.
"If I'm the first one, then I like it. I like being the first."
Didn't she just like my drawing?
As Sang-Hyeon thought that, the nurse called for his name.
"Yu Sang-Hyeon?"
"Ah, yes."
Sang-Hyeon signaled farewell to the girl with his eyes and went in for his assessment.
***
After Sang-Hyeon was called into the diagnosis room…
"So his name is Yu Sang-Hyeon," the girl muttered to herself. Then she scratched her head.
'... But why is he getting the same assessment as I am?'
It was odd. Why was Almond getting the same assessment? The girl checked the name of the room he entered again.
[Specialization in Brain Wave Research]
'It's the same.'
He was getting the same assessment as she was. In this country, several hospitals specialized in the brain. However, brain wave research needed to be more extensive. The research itself was very particular, and only about five medical professionals in the country specialized in it. Among them was Dr. Song Ha-Na, who was here right now. She was not originally affiliated with this hospital either. She was here because the biggest hospital in the country, Ahsung Hospital, didn't want to have a category they couldn't handle. They proposed a partnership with her and brought her here. At a young age, Song Ha-Na was already a foundation board member.
The girl's gaze shifted to the door, her eyes gazing intently. Receiving treatment from the best also meant that the situation wasn’t good.
What was the reason? She was curious.
'But is he alone?'
He needed a guardian with him.
***
As soon as he went inside the room…
"Hello, it's been a while," Dr. Song Ha-Na greeted him with a smile.
"Yes."
"Have you been doing well?"
"Yes, I've been doing well."
"I've tuned in to your stream a couple of times."
"?"
Sang-Hyeon turned red. After hearing that she watched his stream, he first thought of his kiss scene with Raina. Sang-Hyeon could brush off most things, but seeing himself like that was embarrassing even for him.
'She probably didn't see that...'
He hit peak viewership during his story mode gameplay, and the clip of him kissing was repeatedly replayed. Sang-Hyeon kept denying himself. He told himself that doctors were busy and they didn't have time to watch during that time. Unfortunately for him, the kiss scene was shown during the peak time at 6 P.M.
"Fantasia needs to make a game like that too, right? I really thought it was a real person."
"...?"
"Raina, she was so realistic."
"Ah..."
She saw it. Sang-Hyeon was now even redder.
Song Ha-Na giggled and added, "Oh my, are you embarrassed? I didn't watch that scene."
If she knows about it, she obviously watched it...
"Ah... Thank you for not seeing it..."
Song Ha-Na laughed once again seeing Sang-Hyeon respond with no energy. Since it was a serious situation the last time he saw her, he couldn't see her bright side. Now, instead of a doctor, she seemed like a university student.
"I'm not watching the streams to stalk you, Sang-Hyeon. I wanted to see if you were limiting your gameplay time. You seem to be sticking to it well like during the Battle Large mission to reach Diamond..."
Song Ha-Na pinpointed all the times he had played for over 3-4 hours. He was impressed that she knew. She was probably not watching all of them live, but checking the times of the replays.
"... When you played the story mode, you went way overboard."
Song Ha-Na gave a doctor's glare to Sang-Hyeon. Sang-Hyeon had nothing to say. He was blinded by wanting to beat the story mode in one try and getting the mission reward.
"How's your body?"
"I was alright during the story mode."
"Was it because there wasn't much movement?"
"Yeah, I think that's why."
"Hmm... That's useful information."
Scribble.
Song Ha-Na wrote in her note like a doctor.
"Do you normally find any difficulty with your right hand? Daily?"
"It's hard for me to do something for a long time. Also, I can't do anything delicate either."
"Something for a long time... like what?"
"Typing is the most noteworthy. When it's bad, after three hours, I start shaking. If I take my time, sometimes I can last seven hours."
"Ah, then when you worked in an office, it was probably difficult for you if you had a lot of work pushed back."
"The other employees were burdened because of me."
"... Hmm. How about delicate things?"
"..."
Sang-Hyeon paused for a moment.
'Archery.'
He couldn't use the bow. Excluding that, nothing significant in his daily life required delicate control. What could he say in place...
"When I repair things... I have difficulty grabbing small nails."
"I see. So there's not much problem with daily activities, right?"
Sang-Hyeon nodded.
"That's good. There's a booster, but it's costly and can temporarily make you better for the day. It treats minor cerebral palsy. The exact name for it is a stem nerve booster. It's a momentary effect."
"... There's something like that?"
Sang-Hyeon's eyes widened.
"Yes, but everything comes with a cost... A significant side effect was discovered with the booster, so it's been banned. There's another patient who wants to use the booster again, but it'll probably never be allowed again. There's a significant risk to the user's life."
The side effect seemed to be serious. Sang-Hyeon's right hand trembled. He kept repeating to himself,?'another patient.' A patient wanted the booster despite their lives being in jeopardy. What was the reason they needed the booster so badly? Sang-Hyeon seemed to understand a little.
'If I was still an archer, I wonder if I'd be the same...'
When Sang-Hyeon got into the accident, there was no such booster available.
'I wonder what it'd be like if my right hand could function properly again...'
Sang-Hyeon's heart pounded.
'Could I... stand in a stadium once more?'
His heart pounded even stronger.
‘How would it feel, just one more time… Maybe I can still get a gold medal.'
It was a funny thought despite athletes training every day for it. For some reason, he felt a surge of confidence. Wouldn't it be okay just to receive the booster for game day? No practice, only the real deal...
"Sang-Hyeon?"
"... Yes?"
"You have to sign this."
"Ah..."
A white paper was in front of him.
"I have provided you with information regarding the availability of this booster, and this document grants me the authority to decide whether to give you a prescription for this booster or not."
"..."
It meant that he needed Song Ha-Na's permission to receive the booster.
"If you go against it, you'll be punishable by the law. If we are to prescribe it for you, I need to discuss it with the hospital and the doctors of the association to give it to you."
"That's a little scary."
"If you don't sign this document, I won't be your doctor anymore. Nowhere else in the country will accept you."
"... Alright."
Sang-Hyeon signed the document for now.
'It's just a dream.'
He shook his head to wave the thoughts away.
Scribble.
He signed the document with his usual signature.
"If I determine that it's needed, I can prescribe it. So if something happens, please contact me."
"Ah, alright. Thank you."
Song Ha-Na smiled as if it weren't a big deal.
"Then, now... huh?"
She laughed out loud upon seeing the document.
"What is this?"
"...?"
"This."
Chuk.
There was a picture of an almond where her thumb pointed at.
"Ah... It's by habit. Haha. Should I do it again?" Sang-Hyeon scratched his head.
"No, it's cute. Now, I'll start the assessment. Your guardian is waiting outside, right?"
"... Sorry?"
Sang-Hyeon finally remembered why Ju-Hyeok wanted to tag along.
"Your guardian isn't here?"
"Ah, yes. Do I need a guardian?"
"Hmm, well, because the diagnosis happens after we put the entire body to sleep. Since we were at Fantasia's facility last time, we will do a specific brain wave analysis we couldn't last time. This will cause you to be quite dizzy—"
In short, if he wanted to go home today, he needed someone to help him.
"Then I'll contact my manager, and we'll continue."
"Is that okay? Then, if you'll come over here—"
It wasn't a big deal. He just needed to send a text to his manager.
***
After around two hours…
"It's done."
Sang-Hyeon had no energy left in his body.
"You'll stay lying on the bed until your guardian arrives."
'He's still not here?'
He couldn't even speak. It was a strange, indescribable sensation. He barely picked up his phone and checked Ju-Hyeok's message.
[Ju-Hyeok: I'm going to Manager Oh because he desperately called for me!]
[Ju-Hyeok: Should I at least send Ji-Ah?]
[Ju-Hyeok: Hey, I think Ji-Ah is asleep. Just stay there.]
There was a reason he wasn't here.
'Why did Manager Oh call him?'
Sang-Hyeon didn't know. He fell onto the bed, feeling dizzy.
"This is a temporary waiting room, so you can stay here for another hour. If you need to stay longer, I'm sorry, but we would have to move you into a regular room and also charge extra. If your insurance doesn't cover..."
No. Even though he had money, an uninsured hospital stay wasn't welcome.
'Let's just go after sleeping for an hour.'
Sang-Hyeon set his alarm for fifty minutes and fell asleep, thinking he could at least catch a taxi. Then, fifty minutes passed by.
"Urgh..."
Dammit, his body was still the same.
"Hello."
"?"
"I'm the guardian."
A man was standing there, who he had never seen before. The man looked like a bodyguard befitting the guardian title.
"... Who are you?"
"The young miss sent me. She said you're in a predicament because you don't have a guardian with you..."
Bzzzt.
He brought out an electric wheelchair.
"Have a seat for now. Your room's time is almost up."
Sang-Hyeon was a little worried that he was getting kidnapped. Of course, what would they do with a grown man like him...
"Ah, Sang-Hyeon. Don't worry. He's one of my other patient's guardian," Song Ha-Na told him.
"Ah, I see. Thank you."
"Yes, I promised I'd do it for free, but the hospital rooms are out of my jurisdiction... so I had no choice. I'm sorry."
"No, it's alright. Thank you."
Sang-Hyeon placed his body into the man's wheelchair. The man pushed him out of the hospital, quickly moving his feet as if he had a destination. He headed beyond the grass field into the open. The girl with the long hair from before waited for him there.
***
Meanwhile, Ju-Hyeok and Manager Oh finally met.
"Hey, Ju-Hyeok, I'm sorry for suddenly asking you to come like that."
Innread.com ].
Manager Oh got up from the table inside the cafe and greeted him.
"Ah, yes. What's wrong? The message you sent earlier..."
"Ah, never mind that for now. Should we talk about the good news first?"
Was there good news? Ju-Hyeok nodded for now.
"Let's do that."
"The?LIL admin reached out to us for an interview with Almond. You know the?LIL company, right?"
"Yes, Police... right?"
The name of LIL's company was called Police. All of their games were failures except for LIL. Thanks to the different game modes of LIL and making a huge comeback, they were now one of the biggest game companies in the world.
"Yes, it's an interview from Police Korea. I heard he was the first to achieve something on the Korean server, right?"