"Let's head home for now." "...Yes." Yoo Jin-Ho left Chairman Yoo's hospital room with Secretary Kim. But just before the door closed, none of them noticed a sliver of shadow slipping from beneath Yoo Jin-Ho's feet and seeping back into the room. Click. When the door shut, the lights in the hospital room automatically turned off. Time passed. Late into the night, when no more visitors came, a single shadow crawled out from under Chairman Yoo's bed. Ssssh. An ant soldier climbed atop that shadow. The creature looked around and spotted Chairman Yoo, fast asleep. Talk about a stroke of luck. The moment the ant soldier fixed its gaze on Chairman Yoo and began drooling, it was sucked back into the shadow, and in its place, Jin-Woo appeared. It was the effect of the skill 'Shadow Exchange.' Having already concealed himself with Stealth before the swap, Jin-Woo scanned his surroundings. The area was pitch-black without a single source of light, but to Jin-Woo—whose perception stats had reached their absolute peak—it was as bright as broad daylight. His coldly gleaming pupils finished scanning for surveillance cameras. 'Looks clean.' The only people around were the four guards stationed outside the room. As long Chairman Yoo didn't suddenly open his eyes and start screaming at the top of his lungs, there was no risk of being detected. Convinced, Jin-Woo dropped his Stealth. Ssssss. His transparent body gradually took shape, color returning to its original tones. The reason Jin-Woo was being this doubly cautious came down to one thing. He believed that the existence of the item called 'Elixir of Life' should not be revealed carelessly. Not long ago, Chairman Yoo had presented a blank check. Not satisfied with that, he had also promised to grant anything Jin-Woo wanted within his capabilities. Was it because he was a generous man who enjoyed giving that he had made such an offer? No—there was no way. He was a man who stood at the very apex of entrepreneurs, the kind who could only survive by thoroughly weighing every cost and benefit. A natural-born entrepreneur who had turned a small company inherited from his parents into one of the world's great conglomerates. He knew exactly how much the value of 'something that could cure his illness' was worth. That was why he had offered the best deal he could. But. Not everyone in the world was as gentlemanly as Chairman Yoo. Desperation could, at times, become a motivation that invited recklessness. It was best not to create any cause for trouble. So Jin-Woo wanted to hide the existence of the 'Elixir of Life' item for as long as possible. No matter that the man was the father of someone like a little brother to him, Jin-Woo was not so naive that he would risk the various dangers that could arise in the future for a Chairman Yoo he barely knew. 'How many people would simply hand over something like the Elixir of Life if asked?' He had waited patiently for the right moment, and finally, it had come. After all, being treated a little late wouldn't endanger his life or leave any lasting side effects. If he had to find anyone at a loss, it would be the shareholders who had frantically dumped stocks related to Yoo Jin-Ho upon hearing of Chairman Yoo's collapse, cashing out early. 'Is this why people say the stock market is all or nothing?' Jin-Woo smirked, opened his inventory, and pulled out one of his five 'Elixir of Life.' After using this one bottle, he would have four remaining. Having lost his own parents to illness, he knew exactly how it felt—and spending this one bottle for Jin-Ho's sake didn't feel like a loss at all. 'Why's the kid crying like that? It just makes the listeners feel terrible.' Jin-Woo propped Chairman Yoo's upper body up, opened his mouth, and trickled the 'Elixir of Life' in. Little by little, slowly. Chairman Yoo swallowed it down with ease, as though he knew it was the only lifeline that could save him. "Cough." The bottle was soon empty. Jin-Woo laid Chairman Yoo's upper body back on the bed and returned the empty bottle to his warehouse. Just as with his mother, Chairman Yoo's complexion returned almost immediately. The weakened heartbeat gradually grew stronger. Jin-Woo nodded. 'Done.' The medicine had taken effect perfectly. All that remained was to leave before Chairman Yoo woke up and leave no trace. Jin-Woo concealed himself with the skill 'Stealth' and stood before the hospital room door. Whirrrr— "Huh?" "What's going on?" The guards were thrown into confusion when a door that could only be opened by pressing a button from either inside or outside activated on its own. "Ah!" Then they spotted Chairman Yoo inside the room, beyond the glass wall. What was happening inside the room was dozens—no, hundreds, thousands of times more shocking than the door opening by itself. The guards' eyes went wide as saucers when they saw Chairman Yoo sitting up. "Wh-what?" "The—the Chairman!" One guard, frozen as if he had seen a ghost, strained the veins on his neck. "Doctor! Doctor!" One of them ran off to fetch a physician, while the remaining guards crowded into the room. "Chairman!" "Are you all right?" Yoo Myung-Han, looking refreshed as though he had just woken from a long nap, looked around at the guards. "Why all this commotion? And who are you people, exactly?" "We are—" "Wait." Yoo Myung-Han cut the guards off and looked around the room. A VIP room for patients with incurable diseases. He had long prepared for the day he learned of his illness, so he recognized at once where he was. 'Which means...' Could it be that I— "Fainted and then woke back up?" Whirrrr— Chairman Yoo Myung-Han's head turned toward the sound. Beyond the glass wall, the hospital room door was slowly closing.
* * *
Ding! The elevator door opened. Jin-Woo, who had been watching a crowd of doctors rushing down the hall like a cloud, stepped inside. Come to think of it, wasn't Jin-Ho's birthday at the end of this month? 'A little early, but happy birthday, Jin-Ho.' Thinking that his father's recovery would probably be the best birthday gift for Jin-Ho, Jin-Woo pressed the button for the first floor. Click. A man who had just stepped inside and was about to press the first-floor button froze when he saw the light turn on by itself. "What the... Creepy." He glanced around the empty interior—empty, that is, except for the Stealthed Jin-Woo—muttered "Ugh, hell no," and hurried back out. 'Sorry about that, sir.' Jin-Woo sent a deep, silent apology in his mind before repeatedly pressing the close button. Clunk. Inside the now-moving elevator, Jin-Woo checked his skills. 'Skill Info.'
[Skill: Shadow Exchange LV.2] Class-exclusive skill. No mana required. Swaps the position of a designated shadow soldier with that of the caster. After a single use, a cooldown of 2 hours must elapse before it can be used again. Cooldown duration varies with skill level. Skill available for use in 1 hour, 54 minutes, 11 seconds.
'1 hour and 54 minutes, huh...' Ignoring the extra 11 seconds, there were still nearly two hours left. The Shadow Extraction work wasn't finished yet. In other words, to turn the remaining corpses into shadow soldiers, he would have to cross over to Japan at least one more time. He had left a shadow behind, so as soon as the cooldown on 'Shadow Exchange' ended, that part would be easy enough—but the problem was how to fill the remaining two hours, and where. 'Home... won't work.' What expression would his mother make if her son, who had come home for the first time in a week, had to leave again within a few hours? He didn't need to see it to picture it. Ding! The elevator stopped at the first floor, and the door slid open. Seoul Ilshin Hospital. Even as he walked through the hospital's front doors, still caught in a cycle of deliberation, a good idea suddenly struck Jin-Woo. 'Why don't I see if there's an unclaimed Dungeon somewhere?' Jin-Woo released his Stealth and expanded his perception. He could sense four or five Gates nearby. He pulled out his Hunter Phone and opened the Association app to check Gate information. '...Found it.' A smile spread across Jin-Woo's face when he confirmed that two Gates had gone unreported.
* * *
"Miss, we've arrived." "Thank you, driver." Yoo Jin-Hee, the eldest daughter of Chairman Yoo Myung-Han, stepped out of the car. She had just brought her mother—who had nearly collapsed—home and returned to the hospital. When she first learned that her father was dying of illness, it felt as though the sky had come crashing down. Still, Yoo Jin-Hee had believed her father's words without a shred of doubt.
-I am exploring every possible treatment. It seems I've found a lead, so do not worry.
Had anyone else boldly claimed they could cure her father's incurable disease, she would never have believed it. But her father was no ordinary man—he was Yoo Myung-Han, the giant who held Korea's business world in his hands. So she had clung to a sliver of hope, and now it had come to this. If she had known it would end this way, she would have given up studying abroad and spent more time with her father. Recalling the way her father had tried to hide his disappointment when she told him she was going overseas, she wiped her tears. But just then, as she raised her head, a familiar face slipped past her vision. 'Oh, him?' A face she had seen somewhere before. As she tried to recall where, the man seemed to sense her gaze, pulled his hood down low, and quickly moved away. She tilted her head briefly at his retreating figure, then quickened her pace. Whoever he was, it didn't matter right now. Standing there anxiously waiting for the elevator doors to open, Yoo Jin-Hee's phone suddenly rang. Da-la-la-la-la. Given the late hour, the hospital was completely empty, making the ringtone sound especially loud. Unknown number. She was generally the type who didn't answer calls from unknown numbers. 'Who could it be...?' Perhaps because she had been through so much today, she felt as though she had to pick up. Yoo Jin-Hee pressed the call button and held the phone to her ear. "Hello." -Yes. This is Seoul Ilshin Hospital. Your mother wasn't picking up, so we reached out. She just received a sedative and has fallen asleep, so of course she couldn't answer the phone. But what could this be about? Yoo Jin-Hee's heart lurched with dread at the attending physician's call. She asked carefully, "What's happened?" -Actually, Chairman Yoo Myung-Han... As she listened to the explanation, her eyes grew as wide as a rabbit's. A lie. You're telling me to believe this right now? Her eyes glistening with tears, she asked, "Is... is that really true?" -Even we wouldn't believe it if we hadn't seen it with our own eyes. Patients waking from 'Terminal Sleep' state is something that's virtually unheard of. Anyway, you need to come quickly. We don't know when the Chairman might fall asleep again. "J-just a moment! I'm right downstairs!" Ding! As the elevator doors opened at that exact moment, Yoo Jin-Hee threw herself inside. Oh my God. 'Really... really?' The few minutes it took for the elevator to climb felt like the longest stretch of her entire life. Ding. The moment the doors opened, Yoo Jin-Hee rushed into the hospital room and came face to face with her father looking back at her. From head to toe, he was unmistakably her father—without the slightest doubt. "Dad!" Surrounded by doctors, Yoo Myung-Han turned toward his daughter. "Jin-Hee...?" "Dad!" As she threw her arms around him, patting his daughter's back, Yoo Myung-Han once again felt the reality that he had returned from death. 'I have come back to life.' But could this really be called a mere coincidence? Amid the doctors murmuring "miracle" and his daughter sobbing as she called out for her father, Yoo Myung-Han quietly listened to the sound of his own heartbeat. 'H-how can this be?' Thump, thump, thump! Despite being well past fifty, his heart was pounding as fiercely as that of a man in his twenties.