novelraw Chapter 34 : Chapter 34
Chapter 34 : Chapter 34
Chapter 34: Eye of Deception (2)
“…….”
The smell of disinfectant and antiseptic brushed faintly past the tip of my nose.
In my still dark vision, voices were heard.
Sounds of people chatting quietly among themselves.
“My body doesn't particularly hurt, can't I just be discharged?”
“Why not. It's nice to take a break from work. It's a free vacation.”
I opened my eyes which were difficult to open.
What I saw was a pure white ceiling, still a hospital.
‘Hospital? Am I alive?’
I examined my body thoroughly.
At least everywhere I could see.
It didn't take long to realize that nothing had changed.
Jjirit-
However, the moment I thought that, a sudden heat rose from my palm.
A sensation of a foreign object was felt.
The feeling of something squirming and popping out from inside the skin.
“Ugh…….”
A groan leaked out unknowingly.
‘Don't tell me.’
I had felt a similar sensation just before.
In that strange space called the ‘Core of the Soul’.
I looked down at my clenched fist and carefully opened it.
The moment I saw my palm, my breath hitched.
An eye was floating in the center of my palm.
A real eye, damp and wide open clearly.
Embedded roundly, it was quietly looking up at me.
“…….”
Our eyes met.
Awkward air lingered.
An eye somehow familiar.
Whoever looks, wherever one looks, looking upside down, looking inside out, it is that eye of Balzac.
The message ‘Named Villain ‘Balzac’ digestion complete’ suddenly came to mind.
‘Don't tell me that…… really?’
At that moment, a message popped up in the air with a ttik-.
[Acquired ‘Eye of Deception’.]
I stared blankly at the message and the eyeball with my mouth open.
And realized one important fact anew.
‘Wait, I have to live with this thing attached to my hand?’
I just grabbed it because it was free, but an eye grew on my hand.
Like a monster likely to appear in a horror novel.
“……No way.”
The moment words came out unknowingly.
Sounds of someone moving busily were heard from beyond the surrounding curtains.
Peolleok-
The curtain was pulled back in an instant.
“Oh! Our hero has woken up!”
Someone who popped out from beyond the curtain shouted.
I hurriedly covered my hand and turned my head.
“Yes?”
“Don't you remember? At the Mystery Hall! You fought for us!”
Nodding roughly, I wrapped my palm with the tissue next to me.
I couldn't show this eye to just anyone.
It's a problem visually too, and if it becomes known that an eyeball suddenly grew on a palm, how would I explain it.
“That friend woke up? That's a relief!”
Starting with the middle-aged man, people around added words one by one.
Soon, curtains were pulled back and the view opened up.
And at that moment.
[Bae Gwansik]
[Psychological State: Joy, Relief]
‘…What is this?’
A strange window popped up on one side of my vision.
“Everyone is safe thanks to this! It’s a miracle, a miracle.”
“Anyone seen a pen? I want to get an autograph…….”
“Ask the nurse for one.”
Around me, chaos began as the fact that I woke up became known.
It seems everyone was waiting for me to wake up.
Some people even fought to come in front of me.
‘…….’
But in that situation, what caught my attention was the newly appeared message window above all else.
Of course, I had always been seeing it until now.
The ‘system window’ forming in my vision.
But this one was a bit different.
Until now, system windows always floated right in front of my eyes or in my side vision.
‘That one is floating right next to another person.’
This message window was sticking right next to the head of the middle-aged man making a fuss looking at me.
[Bae Gwansik]
[Psychological State: Joy, Relief]
I rubbed my eyes.
Rubbed them vigorously.
The message window didn't disappear.
Rubbed one more time.
It didn't disappear this time either.
‘…….’
Only after some time passed did the [Psychological State] disappear naturally.
Like unchecked notifications automatically going down over time.
Wait, regardless of how it happened, is the information correct for now?
Curious, I asked the middle-aged man.
“By any chance, are you Mr. Bae Gwansik……?”
“Uh? How do you know my name?”
Then Mr. Bae Gwansik asked back in surprise.
It was worth being surprised.
Except for the fact that we were caught in the same incident, we were complete strangers.
But why did such a message window suddenly appear?
The moment the question brushed past, I caught the empty feeling felt on my hand.
‘Oh no, the tissue…….’
The tissue had come loose.
As the part where the eye was became slightly wet, it created gaps here and there.
And the eye revealed like that.
That wet eyeball was staring at the opponent with eyes wide open.
And the moment that ‘stare’ happened.
[Jin Yura]
[Psychological State: Relief, Comfort]
[Yoo Jimin]
[Psychological State: Anxiety, Joy]
[Kim Jaehyeok]
[Psychological State: Adoration]
Next to everyone, their psychological states popped up along with their names.
Emotional information was flowing into my head like computer data.
As those fragmentary pieces of information made of short words came in, a stinging headache began to brush past.
“He was really cool back then, you know? Handled the sword incredibly well. Wow~ I felt thrilled when he cut down those zombies.”
“Mister, those are called undead, not zombies.”
“Anyway! Oh right, look at my mind. Can you take a picture once? I want to send it to my daughter.”
People flocked in an instant.
All of them were chattering, and the ‘Eye of Deception’ was scanning all those people.
Numerous names and their emotional states popped up randomly and flowed into my head.
The headache began to get stronger gradually.
I hurriedly hid my palm under the blanket.
Only then did the ‘Psychological State Windows’ that were popping up like crazy stop appearing.
It seemed emotional information only popped up when this eye was looking at the opponent.
‘Should I call this fortunate?’
Seeing emotions whenever needed might be good, but.
I ended up taking on a physical characteristic I don't want to show others.
The moment I tried to weigh whether it was a good thing or a bad thing in my own way.
Teong- teong-
Someone made a low and clear sound at the entrance.
“Everyone? Didn't I tell you repeatedly? Since there are many who need stability, please keep conversations quiet if possible.”
A nurse, presumably a woman, boasting bulky muscles appeared.
She had tapped the wall with the metal chart in her hand.
She didn't hit hard, but a worry brushed past that the wall might crack if she hit it wrong.
“No well~ We were also talking quietly in whispers, but the student who saved us woke up so-.”
“He woke up? So? That doesn't change the rules. Even if the president wakes up, that remains unchanged.”
When someone answered in a voice as small as an ant crawling, she continued sternly.
Her voice itself wasn't that loud.
But because everyone was quiet as a mouse, those words were heard clearly.
Right after giving the warning, her fierce eyes turned toward me.
‘I'm screwed.’
Anxiety seeping in instinctively.
It felt like being spotted by a huge beast.
She approached me in an instant with disciplined steps and opened her mouth.
“Patient, so you’ve woken up? Seeing you cause a disturbance as soon as you wake up, your body must be healthy?”
“Haha…….”
I wanted to say ‘I only answered a word or two’, but.
I decided to drop it as it seemed like stirring up a hornet's nest for nothing.
“First, I will check your condition. Please don't move for a moment.”
She operated the device on her wrist.
A moment later, a soft light leaked from the monitor next to my bed.
Blue scanning light slowly scanned my body up and down.
“Body temperature 37.2 degrees, pulse 82 beats per minute. Hormone levels are stable too. Hm, normal range. But to be sure-.”
With familiar hand movements, she took out a thermometer and held it out.
“Keep this in your mouth. I will measure your blood pressure one more time in the meantime.”
Her movements were rough but strangely skilled and precise.
While wrapping the manual blood pressure cuff around my arm, the nagging continued.
“Now, give me your right arm.”
The nurse said.
Wait, right arm?
“By chance- is the left arm okay?”
I asked back immediately. Right arm won't do.
A strange eyeball is embedded in my right hand.
“What? The right arm would be more comfortable in your current position. Is there a special reason?”
“That is- well, I’m left-handed.”
“That doesn't matter. Give me your right arm.”
The nurse placed the blood pressure monitor on my right side.
“…….”
I extended my arm with my fist clenched.
“You shouldn't clench your fist when measuring blood pressure.”
A stiff voice pierced my ears.
First, as long as it's not seen somehow.
I faced my palm downward and struggled to spread my fingers, pushing them toward the floor.
“Put your arm down neatly- no, not stiffly like that. And you absolutely must not move. You understood, right?”
Stiff voice and tone, enough to make one wonder if she has bad feelings toward patients.
However, a message was popping up next to her too.
[Lee Dahye]
[Psychological State: Relief, Reassurance, Gladness, Joy]
‘……Ah.’
Only then did I realize the Eye of Deception was looking at the nurse's feet.
Is it not necessary to look at the face necessarily.
It seemed the ability activated even by looking at a part of the opponent's body.
Nurse Lee Dahye continued speaking somewhat threateningly.
But somehow the stern attitude didn't feel like her true feelings.
‘If that psychological state is real-.’
I smiled at her who continued nagging and said.
“Thank you very much for worrying. Truly.”
“…….”
Ttuk- her words stopped.
Not only words but her hands also stopped.
At the same time, silence flowed.
As if the hospital room itself froze.
Only the naturally operated blood pressure monitor tightened strongly around my arm.
Silence continuing even after the machine finished operating.
‘Ah, did I make a mistake?’
Just when regret was slowly washing over.
“Heum heum-!”
The nurse corrected her posture and cleared her throat.
“Ha…… Anyway. Since the student looks to be in good condition, that's a relief. Others are also getting better gradually.”
She checked the chart and continued speaking.
A bit of stiffness left her voice.
“Still, you have to finish receiving all the IV drips. Don't overexert yourself……. If you feel pain, tell me and I’ll give you painkillers. Hm, and, rest quietly. No well…… if it's just sharing a little conversation……?”
Her words were getting long.
Next to her, a new message popped up.
[Psychological State: Satisfaction, Warmth, Happiness, Embarrassment]
“Yes. Understood.”
I answered with a gentle smile.
She responded with a smile too.
A soft smile, completely different from before.
“Then I will take my leave-.”
Just as she turned to leave, whispering sounds were heard from somewhere.
“No way, for that scary nurse to become a gentle lamb like that.”
“Shh! She’ll hear!”
The nurse's steps stopped abruptly- ttuk.
The whole hospital room held its breath.
“Voices…… are heard well?”
She turned her head slowly.
Smiling a truly scary smile this time.
[Lee Dahye]
[Psychological State: Annoyance]
‘As expected.’
I quietly turned my gaze and pulled up the blanket.
‘Eye of Deception.’
A bizarre ability to peek into the opponent's emotions.
Though I only had a taste, the performance seems certain.
Just that, if the hanger-on cumbersomely attached to the palm is a problem, it is a problem.
Ttiring-!
[Task: Challenge! Scoop Reportage!]
[You have completed the on-site coverage. Write an article and acquire rewards.]
While my head was hurting due to the uninvited guest stuck to my right hand, the Zero Times coverage quest notification was delivered.
‘Eventually this was the starting point.’
Saved Seol Hayun in crisis and went to catch a scoop while at it, only to come back as an oddity.
Still, I should write the article.
Since I have to receive the maximum reward for suffering like a dog.