KEG 24

***

I am biologically male.

I have lived that way socially, and I define myself that way as well.

Why am I suddenly thinking this kind of thing?

“Is anyone there?”

It is because I have to go into the women’s restroom.

I hesitated for a moment in front of the women’s restroom.

“We are scheduled to clean. If you are inside, I will wait.”

No sound came from inside the women’s restroom.

I cautiously looked for signs of life before entering. I had charged into the front lines and deadly zones without hesitation, but in terms of feeling, the women’s restroom was even harder to get into than those places.

Although I was hired as a special janitor, I was responsible for cleaning every area within the ward.

Because of this, I had been dividing the duties with another cleaning lady I worked with, each taking charge of the women’s and men’s restrooms. Today, the lady hadn’t come to work due to personal reasons, so I had no choice but to set up a sign and enter the women’s restroom to clean.

“What the hell are people eating in the bathroom…?”

I tried my best not to worry about what was in the trash can.

However, I was bothered by the fact that the same kind of trash found in the men’s restroom was also here. I picked it up and read the label.

“Gagam-Sipjeondaebo-Tang.”

It was the name of the herbal medicine packets that I had been finding every time I cleaned the restrooms recently. The ones with QR codes printed on the back.

“They must be throwing them away here because they need to take them secretly.”

They were found too frequently to be thrown away simply because there was nowhere else to dispose of them, but every single packet was crumpled, making it unlikely they had consumed them openly.

Two were found in the men’s restroom, and three in the women’s restroom.

“If I include those who threw them away outside, it’s safe to assume there are at least five people involved.”

While it was possible that outsiders coming and going via various routes took and discarded them, it was currently 8:00 AM. Visiting hours started at 10:00 AM.

The fact that the packets, which were missing when I emptied the trash can before leaving work, appeared in the morning meant they were thrown away overnight.

“Someone within the ward.”

Patients, resident guardians, nurses, and medical staff. Five or more individuals out of a total of 50 people.

Over 10% of them were doing this. The number was too important to ignore.

‎

‎

“Ahjussi, did you do your homework?”

I went to find the little teacher with a question in mind.

As soon as the little teacher saw my face, he spoke sternly and held out his hand. I rummaged through my back pocket and handed him the quadratic equation he had written, along with the answer to the problem asking to find the speaker’s poetry image.

“It’s a subjective question, so why do you keep writing number 3?”

“There is something I want to ask you more than that.”

“Hmm, what is it?”

The little teacher’s eyes lit up, perhaps because he was inwardly pleased, as I had never asked a single question before.

“Is the herbal medicine people are taking Gagam-Sipjeondaebo-Tang?”

“Ah, that.”

The young teacher’s face instantly turned to disappointment. Slightly dejected, the teacher opened the drawer of the bedside table and thrust a sloshing packet of unopened herbal medicine at me.

“Do you want some, Ahjussi?”

“Were you distributing this around the ward?”

“No, this is the first time.”

Unless he was lying, that implied the teacher neither took the herbal medicine nor distributed it.

“Is this a trendy herbal medicine?”

“I don’t know… I wish people would stop buying it…”

The teacher mumbled as he fiddled with the medicine with a slightly gloomy expression.

“Oh my, Seongho-ssi~”

When the teacher’s mother appeared at the entrance calling out to me warmly, he hurriedly scrambled to hide the untaken medicine. I naturally shielded him with my body and bowed in greeting.

“Hello.”

“Were you playing with Minjun again today?”

“Mom, I’m the one playing with Ahjussi. This guy is a fool.”

I couldn’t refute it. I couldn’t grasp the imagery in poetry as well as a 13-year-old could, nor could I solve a quadratic equation.

“Is Gagam-Sipjeondaebo-Tang trending these days?”

“Aha, so you were introduced to the herbal medicine.”

The mother carefully took a packet of Gagam-Sipjeondaebo-Tang out of her bag and whispered in a low voice.

“They say this is made with ten kinds of medicinal herbs and ingredients that grow only inside gates. Normally, you aren’t supposed to take anything other than the medicine given by the ward, so you have to take it secretly.”

There was no way precious herbs would grow inside gates. All there was there was contaminated energy and [unauthorized copy]monsters that would attack humans.

“Have you ever heard of Hwanhae Geumgangcho?”

I’ve never heard of such a thing.

“They say it gives your body positive energy to such an extent that there is a legend saying it changes your destiny if you eat it.”

A legend, indeed.

It hasn’t even been 15 years since dungeons and gates first appeared, so what legend are you talking about?

By that logic, the United States is a nation of tradition and roots boasting a long and storied history.

“You can’t buy them by the packet; they sell them by the box. The price is a bit high, but if you recommend them to people around you…”

“Oh, Mom, stop it.”

The teacher covered his face with one hand, seemingly embarrassed, and tugged at the hem of his mother’s clothes.

“Ma’am, are you the one spreading the herbal medicine around the ward?”

I thought I had caught the culprit…

“No~? The doctor introduced it to me.”

…But I received an unexpected answer.

***

“Huh? Director Oh?”

The nurses, who had been drinking their syrup-heavy lattes with such reverence as if they were the elixir of life, visit our site stared at me with wide, rabbit-like eyes at my question.

“Director Oh? The one who just arrived?”

“Why? Did the Director scold you too, Seongho-ssi?”

“No, not really. I was just curious about what kind of person he is.”

According to information I heard from the nurses, Director Oh, the newly appointed head of the department, was a valuable medical professional, a surgical specialist and a D-class healer.

He was once a highly successful specialist in Awakener patients, but after causing a series of medical accidents due to errors in magic control and becoming embroiled in lawsuits, he was forced into a demotion here at the hospice ward.

“Ah, look, the doctor is making rounds right now.”

I turned my head to see Director Oh entering a patient room with a chart in hand. Although he had a bit of a belly and looked tired, his face was that of a typical medical professional in his 40s trying hard to feign kindness.

“Yes, I will stop by ​Read on​again this afternoon to check on the patient’s condition one more time.”

“Director Oh.”

I waited and called out to Director Oh once he had finished his rounds to the last patient in the ward.

“Ah, yes. What can I do for you?”

“Did you prescribe this, Director?”

I showed him the packet of Gagam-Sipjeondaebo-Tang. At that, Director Oh looked at me without agitation and asked.

“What is it?”

“It’s just that it’s strange that you make patients take it secretly.”

Director Oh scrutinized me from head to toe for a moment, then shrugged his shoulders and let out a sigh as if he’d just seen something filthy. At that sight, [unauthorized copy]I fumbled around my chest to see if something was stuck there.

“So, did you graduate from medical school?”

“Huh?”

“I’m asking if you know anything about medicine.”

“No.”

I said no because I didn’t, but Director Oh put his hands on his hips, turned his head, and let out a mocking laugh. Then, he immediately looked at me with a cold gaze.

“I’m from the Central Center! Did you do more research than me? Did you write more papers?! Huh?!”

After witnessing his sudden, intimidating attitude, I understood why the nurses had been so cautious when talking about Director Oh.

So, he really has a temper.

“How dare you!”

“Can’t I even ask a fucking question?”

“…Huh?”

Unfortunately, I have a temper too.

When I suddenly swore, Director Oh, who had been shouting, hesitated in surprise.

“Did I ask something I shouldn’t have asked?”

I’d confronted S-classes and A-classes if they pissed me off. There was no reason to be afraid of a D-class middle-aged man in his 40s, especially since he had no offensive skills.

When Director Oh saw that I was responding without looking intimidated, his eyes wavered for a moment, but he quickly returned to his high-handed demeanor, crossed his arms, and glared at me with wide eyes.

“You! Just because you’re a little close with Hunter Baek Yejun, you think you’re someone special….”

“Why are you changing the subject?”

I leaned forward toward Director Oh and brought my face close.

“Do you have something to hide?”

Director Oh recoiled slightly, perhaps to show that he wasn’t intimidated, but he didn’t back away.

“Something to hide?! I don’t…!”

Bang!

I pinned Director Oh against the wall.

“Why did you make them take the herbal medicine?”

Director Oh looked up at me with trembling eyes. He was sweating profusely.

“Th-th….”

Then, he grinned maliciously and adjusted his glasses.

“Hey, you… want to make some money?”

I should have refused that suspicious and sudden offer to go into business together, but…

“How much are you going to pay me?”

I couldn’t hold back.

***

“I readily agreed, but….”

I stood in front of a tall building towering over the main street of Gangnam, fluttering the seminar invitation Director Oh had handed me.

The building’s exterior walls were covered in smooth floor-to-ceiling glass, and despite the dark evening, the light flashed so intensely that it felt overwhelming; it looked more like a karaoke mirror ball than an office building.

It was too flashy.

“But why did you invite me too?”

Baek Yejun asked me. He wore a hoodie pulled over his head and horn-rimmed glasses.

“I didn’t invite you. You just followed me.”

“I messaged you asking where you were, and you just sent me this address.”

I answered because you asked; I wasn’t telling you to come.

With his domestic Hunter license still suspended and having completed all 160 hours of overseas activity in just 13 days, this guy spent his days lounging around like a lazy cat, unless he occasionally took on a commission to go to a dungeon.