Cha Sahyeon’s eyes scanned Cha Seohu’s body.
He wasn’t in as critical a condition as Eun Woojeong, who was on the verge of death, but Seohu was still severely injured.
That bothered Sahyeon. His older brother had a skill that could heal others but not himself.
No matter what the circumstances were, Sahyeon didn’t like that someone else had allowed Seohu to fight until he was this hurt.
“Hyung, look at me.”
When Sahyeon spoke and let go of Seohu’s chin, Seohu blinked.
Focus returned to his hazy eyes. With a weary expression, he rubbed his face with both hands.
“I’m sorry I got mad, but honestly, it’s your fault too. How many times have you broken your promise to come right back?”
“That’s...”
“Good thing I stuck a shadow on {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} you. What would I have done if I hadn’t?”
“It’s not like I did it on purpose. This time was really—”
“Hyung.”
“...Fine. Got it.”
Even as he said he understood, Seohu pouted without a hint of remorse.
At times like this, it was impossible to tell who was the older one. Sahyeon jerked his chin toward Eun Woojeong.
“Hurry up and heal him.”
“Mm...”
“And after that, explain in detail how the hell this happened.”
Truthfully, Sahyeon wanted to forget healing and everything else and drag Seohu away from here right now. But since he had witnessed everything in the dungeon through the shadow bird, he swallowed his frustration.
If that bastard hadn’t blocked Seohu’s way... the one lying unconscious on the ground right now would’ve been Seohu.
Unlike that guy, who could be healed, Seohu might’ve died alone on the floor of that abandoned building.
Whenever he imagined something like that, Sahyeon felt that all the power and skills he had were utterly useless.
At the same time, he thought he really needed to find a healer skilled enough to treat Seohu’s wounds anytime, anywhere.
“After you explain, make sure you make it up to me.”
Sahyeon stepped back to let Seohu treat Eun Woojeong and crossed his arms, making a bold demand.
“I’m really looking forward to how you’ll make it up to me.”
“Ugh...”
Seohu felt a bad premonition rise inside him at Sahyeon’s serious expression.
But he couldn’t say anything in return.
If it were the first time, he could’ve shamelessly brushed it off. But as Sahyeon said, this wasn’t the first time Seohu had broken his promise.
And even on a normal day, Sahyeon would cling to him begging for kisses. Now that he had a valid excuse to demand something, who knew what he’d come up with...
'And the Seed progress went up 3% too, which is concerning.'
Once he settled things with Sahyeon, he needed to meet Chronos as soon as possible.
Suppressing a sigh, Seohu turned his attention to Eun Woojeong.
Unconscious, Eun Woojeong had blood at the corner of his mouth and a pale complexion. His mask must’ve fallen off in the dungeon because it was nowhere to be seen.
Seohu opened his mouth to make sure the blood didn’t block his airway, then checked the fang wounds on his shoulder and waist.
The wounds were saturated with venom. Even Seohu’s hands got burned just from touching the venom while undressing him to inspect the injuries.
'I’ll heal you, so please just stay unconscious.'
A brilliant white light began to pour out from Seohu’s body.
[Skill: Holy Power (S-rank) activated!]
[Holy energy overflows!]
Holy Power flowed through Seohu’s hands and enveloped Eun Woojeong’s body.
The light spread across his body, purifying the venom within and rapidly filling the gaping wounds with new flesh.
“Guh... uh...”
As the venom was completely neutralized and the injuries fully healed, the expression twisted in pain finally relaxed.
But his pale complexion didn’t change. Cold sweat still trickled down his forehead and neck.
“What the...?”
Startled, Seohu touched the wound areas, but thanks to the blessing, all he felt was clean, smooth skin.
Even the venom had clearly been purified. The poison that had clung to Seohu’s own hands had also turned to clear liquid.
“Haa... huh...”
Eun Woojeong, who had seemed to relax for a moment, began groaning again. He was clearly still in distress.
As he held Eun Woojeong’s cold hand, Seohu thought for a moment, then realized—
'Could it be his energy that’s the problem?'
Come to think of it, right before he passed out, Eun Woojeong had vomited a ton of blood while grappling with Shelob.
Seohu had assumed it was because of the venom, but what if it was from pouring out all his energy and suffering the backlash?
'It’s possible.'
Thinking back to how many chains Eun Woojeong had summoned during the battle with Shelob, Seohu frowned.
If it was energy depletion, Holy Power wouldn’t be able to help. Seohu’s Holy Power was strictly for healing injuries and purifying demonic monster venom.
'There is a way, but...'
It was hard to use if the person was unconscious.
And if he was that drained, it was unrealistic to expect him to wake up. Waiting for him to come to might just result in him silently passing away.
For Awakeners, energy was practically synonymous with life force.
It was also closely linked to the heart. If you lost enough energy to cough up blood, your life was seriously in danger.
'...So in the end, I’ll have to help him eat it myself.'
Well, it was no different from artificial respiration, so it was fine. The real issue was something else entirely.
Seohu glanced nervously across at Sahyeon, who was watching the treatment from the other side.
'Will that kid even understand?'
He couldn’t let Eun Woojeong die here. This was insane.
Placing a hand on his forehead, Seohu opened his inventory.
[Herb of Recovery]
Restores energy and heals wounds.
(Caution: Healing effects are weak.)
A herb item he had bought long ago.
Its healing ability was weak, but it restored energy.
It looked similar to Korean parsley. Now he just had to find a way to feed this thing to the unconscious Eun Woojeong.
“Ugh...”
He looked back and forth between the herb and Sahyeon with a conflicted groan.
“Hey, kiddo?”
“Why do you only call me that when it benefits you?”
Sahyeon narrowed his eyes. He knew full well that Seohu only ever called him “kiddo” when he was in a tight spot.
“I’m about to try a new method of healing, so, uh... don’t be too shocked.”
There was no point asking him to look away—he wouldn’t listen. So Seohu just gave a vague warning.
“...Why the dramatic warning?”
Sahyeon looked even more suspicious.
“It’s like... artificial respiration. Just saying, don’t be too freaked out.”
“Artificial... respiration...?”
Sahyeon looked bewildered.
Now was the moment. Seohu quickly stuffed the herb into his mouth and chewed, then leaned in.
He pressed his lips to Eun Woojeong’s parted ones.
Using his tongue, Seohu pushed the chewed-up herb into Eun Woojeong’s mouth. The pulpy mash slid deep inside.
He pressed down on Eun Woojeong’s palate and tongue with his own, forcing him to swallow the herb.
“W-what... Hyung!”
Sahyeon’s voice rang out, horrified.
Hearing that, Seohu hastily moved his tongue more quickly. If he dragged this out any longer, Sahyeon’s Seed progress might increase again out of anger.
“Ugh... mm...”
Clearly uncomfortable from the herb and the blocked airway, Eun Woojeong’s unconscious body twitched, then finally gulped down the mass.
Seohu immediately pulled back.
As soon as he swallowed the herb, its effects activated. Color returned to Eun Woojeong’s face, and his breathing normalized.
Whew. Seohu let out a breath of relief.
“Hyung! W-what the hell was that? What did you just do?!”
“Aw, are you upset? Just wait a bit. I need to change clothes first.”
Now that his energy had stabilized, Eun Woojeong would wake up soon. Before that happened, Seohu needed to erase any trace of Cover.
He changed into a clean outfit from his inventory, then threw on a cloak to hide his wounds. While purification worked on himself, healing didn’t, so this was the best he could do.
As Seohu changed clothes, Sahyeon stood trembling with clenched fists, then finally shouted with a betrayed expression.
“Did you just kiss that bastard?!”
“How is that a kiss? I was feeding him a herb. I told you—it was artificial respiration.”
“Why, why did it have to be you?”
“Then who else? You wanna do it instead?”
Sahyeon’s green eyes wavered violently. Pale-faced, he hesitated for a long time before tightly shutting his eyes.
“Just thinking about it makes me want to puke, but if it’s for Hyung—!”
“If it makes you sick just thinking about it, then don’t...”
Standing up, Seohu approached the heartbroken Sahyeon and gently took his hand.
“How is this a kiss? It’s the same as finding someone dying and calling 911 while helping them stay conscious.”
“...Still.”
“A kiss is what you and I did. That wasn’t to save anyone’s life.”
Well, technically that was true.
To calm Sahyeon down, Seohu kept running his mouth.
“You think I had some kind of connection with that guy? Do you really think I kissed him because I like him?”
“No!”
“Right? This was nothing more or less than artificial respiration.”
Seohu smiled gently and sweetly. Entranced by that smile, Sahyeon blushed and nodded.
“Mm. You’re right, Hyung.”
“So you understand?”
“Yeah!”
Feeling a bit better, Sahyeon shyly smiled back at his brother.
Of course, the way he still glared daggers at Eun Woojeong could’ve melted a wall—but who cared? As long as the sparks didn’t fly his way, Seohu was fine with it.
Looking at Sahyeon, who had gone back to being the sweet little brother, Seohu wiped the cold sweat from his brow.
'Whew. Saved the world again today.'

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