That Face Is the Problem - vanish into fiction

“Yes, I am alright…”

Jae-gyeong trailed off as he replied. However, no one was overly worried, as it was a daily occurrence for Jae-gyeong to trail off at the end of his sentences. Only Da-sol was staring intently at Jae-gyeong.

On the surface, Jae-gyeong really did look perfectly fine. There were small scratches on his face and body, but the other team members were in a similar state to that degree, and it was a level fully treatable with potions. His breathing wasn’t ragged, and his physical balance hadn’t broken down either.

However, as a healer, Da-sol could feel it. Jae-gyeong is currently not fine somewhere.

“Hold on a second. Hunter Jeong Jae-gyeong. Open your mouth wide.”

“Yes…?”

When Da-sol suddenly made his way through the people, stepped forward, and spoke to him, Jae-gyeong was startled out of his wits. He looked exactly like someone who had just seen a cockroach spring up, act familiar, and approach him.

“I said open your mouth wide.”

Feeling displeased yet again by that look of Jae-gyeong’s, Da-sol spoke in a commanding tone. Jeong-eon tried to stop Da-sol, but Jae-gyeong obediently opened his mouth. At that exact moment, blood trickled and flowed down from inside his mouth.

“What the?! Why are you suddenly throwing up blood?!”

Startled, Ri-na leaped right up in place. Hee-ro and Jeong-eon’s expressions turned grave as well. Da-sol let out a rotten smirk as if to scoff.

“You grit your teeth and bit your tongue to endure it today, didn’t you?”

At Da-sol’s question, the other team members stared at Jae-gyeong in sheer horror. Out of habit, Jae-gyeong closed his mouth and tried to bite his tongue again, but he couldn’t close his mouth because Da-sol firmly grabbed his lower jaw. Blood-mixed saliva dripped and ran down along Da-sol’s fingers.

“Uh… th-there… Mr. Da-sol… th-this a b-bit…” (Note: speech distorted from jaw being held open)

“Shut up. [Heal].”

Da-sol used his skill while pressing down on Jae-gyeong’s tongue with his thumb. Soon, the tongue that had been tattered and drenched in blood returned to normal. Da-sol withdrew his fingers expressionlessly, but he kept holding onto the lower jaw.

“I definitely gave you healing priority. Are you not going to use the ring? This is an item bought with company money, so if you don’t use it, isn’t that a breach of trust?”

“I… really was fine…”

“You chewed your tongue right up to the point of almost severing it just to avoid collapsing, and that’s being fine? Your standards are seriously weird. The healer says it’s not fine, so why does Hunter Jeong Jae-gyeong insist he’s fine? Are you looking down on the healer?”

“N-No…!”

“Hey, Da-sol, let’s at least let go of his jaw before we talk. Let’s let go of the jaw. Da-sol, just tolerate it this once.”

From behind, Ye-jin gently soothed Da-sol. As she did, she naturally pried Da-sol’s hand away from Jae-gyeong’s jaw. It was true that Jae-gyeong had done wrong, but she felt they needed to protect at least his bare minimum dignity.

Da-sol didn’t swat Ye-jin away, but he was glaring at Jae-gyeong with eyes that looked as if he almost wanted to kill him.

“If a hunter is injured and in pain but doesn’t come to the healer, that means the hunter doesn’t trust the healer. If you want to make me into an incompetent healer, keep acting this way.”

After saying that, Da-sol marched over to the very back, right beside Yi-hyeon. Jae-gyeong, who was rubbing his lower jaw where Da-sol had grabbed it, bowed his head deeply.

“I am sorry…”

“You all know we have an eeeextremely long way to go, right? Let’s end the conflict here! Mr. Jae-gyeong, take Mr. Da-sol’s words to heart, and Mr. Da-sol, be a bit kinder. Okay?”

Hee-ro cleared up the awkward atmosphere. Jae-gyeong replied weakly, “Yes… I am sorry…”, and Da-sol returned to his dead-fish eyes before stretching one corner of his mouth out long. That was his affirmative answer.

“Still, our Mr. Da-sol really is a competent healer, isn’t he? Even I didn’t know Mr. Jae-gyeong was hurt. You act like you’re perfectly fine, way too well.”

Hee-ro spoke as he patted Jae-gyeong’s shoulder. It was a roundabout warning. Jae-gyeong bowed his head deeply once again.

He had been lectured multiple times that he must never do this again, and they had even stayed together in a camp, yet this time too he had worried his team members and almost broken their teamwork. Naturally, as the tanker, if Jae-gyeong got hurt or died here, the probability of the other team members all falling into danger would drastically increase.

‘Your current emotions are not what’s important, Jeong Jae-gyeong. The Guild Master and Mr. Da-sol are right. Exclude your private feelings and think only about raiding the dungeon. If you’re hurt, heal immediately. If it hurts, heal immediately.’

Jae-gyeong set out on the path while resolving his mind as if brainwashing himself. The other team members also exchanged looks and began to walk after Jae-gyeong.

***

The arduous journey continued after that as well. The jungle dungeon was incredibly vast, and the monsters living inside it were just as diverse.

“Rather than the opponents being strong, this feels like… they’re pushing us with sheer numbers. It reminds me of the time back then when our monsters poured out infinitely. That was truly a nightmare back then…”

Hee-ro spoke, casting a slightly resentful glance toward Jeong-eon as he did.