I Became a Supporting Character in a Martial Arts Novel - Chapter 30

When I woke up, the ceiling I saw had changed.

‘…… How many times has it been.’

Is it the third time?

Perhaps because it hadn’t been long since I woke up, after staring at the ceiling with a slightly blurry vision for a while, I slowly realized where I was.

‘The Medical Pavilion.’

It was definitely the same room I had been lying in a stupor last time. After repeating a few breaths in and out, I thought I could faintly smell the scent of medicinal herbs.

Only after figuring out where I was, the tension that had been inexplicably maintained was released. My body felt particularly languid, but the memories before losing consciousness were very vivid.

I couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh alone.

The agitated emotions seemed to have all subsided. But perhaps because the aftermath had not completely disappeared, my mood still remained somewhat unsettling and unpleasant.

‘Sorcery……’

Showing me something like that. In the end, I fell for my own trick and ended up with a broken head, but it turned out well.

I moved my fingertips, which felt strangely numb, and rolled my eyes. Thinking about it again, the sorcery was broken so quickly that it felt a bit hollow. I thought it was disgustingly twisting my mind, but in the end, it was just a fluke.

However, ‘it’ left a trace on me. It doesn’t seem like it will easily disappear in the future.

‘Now…….’

Now that I have witnessed that child’s entire life.

‘I feel like I have truly become Haeun.’

I can no longer assert that all those things are just ‘scenes from the original work.’

I don’t know how many hours it took for me to wake up, but if I generously assume it’s been about a day since I broke the sorcery, the day I first learned about this sorcery was two days ago.

Two days ago, when talking about the sorcery, I thought that I should know the most about the Baek family, but in fact, I didn’t know anything.

But now it was different.

Not only the biological father, mother, and siblings of this body, but even the faces of the servants working in the Baek family remained in my mind.

‘How far does this possession go?’

Come to think of it, this whole mess started because I thought I should find out where ‘Haeun’s’ soul was, but instead of finding the owner of the body, I ended up with essentially the opposite result of the original purpose.

‘It feels like an intruder who learns the history of the house has become the owner of that house.’

Huh? Isn’t it too shameless?

I was just blankly blinking with such thoughts.

It was then that the door opened without a sound and a faint presence was heard, followed by Elder Dae quietly entering the room.

‘Ah.’

I felt like I should get up and greet him, but my body wouldn’t lift. I had no choice but to roll my eyes and look at Elder Dae.

He took a few more steps closer, and then our eyes met.

“Hmm?”

Noticing that I was awake, Elder Dae quickly closed the remaining distance with a surprised look on his face.

“You’ve regained consciousness!”

Standing by the bedside, he bent his waist to meet my gaze and asked in succession.

“Well, you seem to be able to see. Can you recognize who I am?”

His tone was more urgent than usual. Moreover, the content of the question was somewhat……

Feeling a little dumbfounded, I struggled to voice my answer.

“…… Yes, you are Elder Dae.”

“That’s right!”

I only recognized Elder Dae as Elder Dae, but the reaction was excessive.

I looked at him in confusion, not knowing why, but instead of explaining the situation to me, Elder Dae quickly opened a container on the small table next to the bed. Inside was a dark-colored powder.

Elder Dae scooped some of the powder and dissolved it in water several times. Then a liquid that looked like the color of hell was completed. Elder Dae scooped it with a spoon and pushed it to my mouth, saying firmly.

“Drink it for now.”

I opened my mouth in a daze without any time to refuse. As soon as I did, I suddenly became wide awake.

For no other reason, the medicine that immediately touched my tongue……

“Ugh.”

It was really bitter. Really.

It felt like it was instantly awakening the dulled senses of my whole body, starting from the taste buds. I couldn’t spit it out in front of an adult, so I hurriedly swallowed it, but the bitterness remaining on my tongue was beyond imagination.

‘I think it’s even more bitter than last time.’

It was enough to make me cough a few times and unknowingly blurt out a complaint.

“Ah, I won’t drink……”

“Tsk. No. If you don’t drink it, the addiction will remain as it is. Then you’ll have to recuperate for two whole months.”

What addiction. What’s the problem again?

“You have to drink it to get better.”

The spoon is pushed to my mouth again.

“It’s bitter……”

“If you finish it all, I’ll give you a sugar candy.”

As soon as I woke up, I felt like crying again for a different reason than before losing consciousness.

In the end, after drinking all that hellish-tasting bitter medicine and actually putting a sugar candy in my mouth, I was finally able to hear why I had to take the medicine.

Elder Dae made me sit up and explained in a low voice.

“It seems you got addicted to the incense because you inhaled too much of it while being in a sealed room. It’s not good to leave it for long, so we need to quickly remove the remaining medicinal effects from your body.”

“Ah, the incense.”

I rolled my eyes with a guilty feeling. It was because I remembered deliberately taking deep breaths to inhale the incense in the room to clear my mind.

‘Come to think of it, when I woke up, I was dazed and the sensation in my fingertips was numb.’

I had casually overlooked it because I had gone through such a serious incident, but it seemed to be a symptom of addiction.

Come to think of it, my body condition was much better now than earlier after taking the medicine. It wasn’t simply that I had woken up from sleep and regained consciousness, but the sensations I received were clearly more vivid.

“Fortunately, your condition seems better than expected, so you won’t have to take the medicine for too long.”

“Do I have to take more?”

It’s not over with just one time? When I asked with a sudden disgusted feeling, Elder Dae answered with a tone so firm that not even a needle could be inserted.

“Of course. Moreover, your twisted energy was even marinated and dulled by the incense, so it will take at least two weeks to return it to normal.”

“Two weeks……”

I muttered the period he suggested in a dazed feeling.

I heard the word addiction, so I can’t complain about not wanting to eat it here again. But the thought of having to eat it for another week makes me feel distant.

However, the moment I unconsciously turned my gaze and saw Elder Dae’s face, the feelings from just before flew away. It was because Elder Dae’s expression and eyes were strange.

‘Too…… You’re looking at me too pitifully?’

But I did succeed.

Those eyes were not the eyes looking at a disciple who had succeeded after hardship. It was the very gaze of looking pitifully at a young child who still had a long way to go.

‘Ah, that’s right.’

I, who was momentarily flustered, realized it a beat later.

Come to think of it, the adults couldn’t know whether I had succeeded or not.

Since I had fainted, they couldn’t hear any words from me, and I even ran out of the room crying and clung to my master, so they must have thought, ‘He failed……’

“Still, still.”

“Hmm?”

“But I did succeed.”

“…….Hmm?”

As expected, it was a part he didn’t anticipate, and Elder Dae’s eyes looking at me gradually widened. I nodded my head clearly at him once again.

“I succeeded.”

“It, it worked?”

“Yes, I felt it breaking.”

On top of Elder Dae’s surprised expression, different emotions finally began to settle. Worry still remained, but joy and anticipation were seen together.

He abruptly stood up from his seat, stroked my cheek once, and then hurriedly turned around and went outside, shouting at me.

“Wait a moment! Just wait a moment!”

He disappeared beyond the door, flapping his robe greatly.

‘He’s probably going to bring the Pavilion Master.’

As expected, not long after, Elder Dae and the Pavilion Master, who was practically dragged by his hand, rushed into the room.

“Did you say you succeeded!”

The Pavilion Master, who approached the bedside making a crashing sound as if he had kicked something at his feet, asked without beating around the bush.

‘He wasn’t dragged, it was voluntary.’

Overwhelmed by his force, I awkwardly nodded my head.

In the meantime, the Pavilion Master took out a talisman from the wooden box he had brought and threw it to Elder Dae as if passing it, and immediately took a seat next to the bed. Elder Dae, who received the talisman in a daze, asked in disbelief.

“What, what do you want me to do?”

“Attach it! Quickly!”

“This guy?”

Elder Dae grumbled a bit, but instead of saying more, he really hurriedly attached the talisman roughly. As soon as he did, the Pavilion Master reached out his hand and, holding the jade I had seen last time in his other hand, checked my insides.

After a short time passed like that and a few checks were made.

I was finally able to be officially recognized for successfully breaking that sorcery.

“It’s really true. It worked.”

The Pavilion Master, who had been so focused on checking that sweat had formed on his forehead, plopped down on a chair, alternately looked at me and Elder Dae, and muttered.

“Talking about talent, talent, as expected…… But I didn’t know you had talent for this kind of thing as well.”

“Hmph.”

Elder Dae cleared his throat as if he was newly proud. The Pavilion Master glanced at such Elder Dae once and then fixed his gaze completely on me and opened his mouth.

“You’ve worked hard. You did really well. I can’t believe it in a good way that you broke it at once like this. There are no remnants felt either, so we don’t have to worry about this sorcery anymore.”

He paused for a moment after a long praise and took a deep breath before asking.

“By any chance, can you tell us how it felt when the sorcery broke?”

“When it broke?”

I blinked for a moment and then slowly answered.

“There was nothing special. But…… It felt like a mirror was shattering. It wasn’t beautiful though.”

“A shattering sensation. So that’s how it is. Then do you know how to break it?”

“Yes, instinctively. It’s hard to explain…… I think it just worked out somehow because it was urgent.”

To be more precise, I followed what ‘Haeun’ had instinctively realized……

‘For now, I should answer like this.’

There are too many parts to ponder about the opportunity to follow along, so I’ll put ‘Haeun’ on hold for now.

‘It’s not appropriate to say, “I saw the memories of the original owner of this body, not the memories I hate during the process of being possessed,” to the Pavilion Master……’

In fact, even if it’s not him, there is no suitable person for anyone.

However, seeing the Pavilion Master inwardly admiring my answer, the feeling of deceiving him was irresistible. I hesitated for a moment.

I should change the subject.

Come to think of it, my master was not here.