Chapter 55
In an instant, Kim Ji-young's eyes widened.
"A-a son...?"
Although she was seeing it for the first time, she couldn't mistake what it was.
The Spirit's Tear had been a source of hope and dreams for those suffering from mana syndrome when it was first discovered.
"How on earth did you get something so precious?!"
At Kim Ji-young's unusually high voice, Lee Su-hyeok and Lee Seo-yun quickly appeared.
"What's going on?"
"Did something happen?"
Their reactions were not much different from Kim Ji-young's earlier one.
"Oh, oppa, is that..."
"Could it be... the Spirit's Tear?"
"Yes."
Lee Seong-jun nodded confidently and held out the wooden box, showing them its contents.
"H-how did you manage to get this?"
It was an extremely expensive item worth hundreds of billions, and even if you had the money, it was impossible to obtain due to lack of availability.
Yet, inside the wooden box in Lee Seong-jun's hands, the Spirit's Tear was proudly nestled.
"As you all know from the news, I did pretty well in this Raid Gate. The White Tiger Guild gave this to me as a reward."
To be precise, it wasn't just "pretty well."
Given that hunter-related stories were the biggest topic in South Korea, articles about the rankings of the rookies from the top 5 guilds participating in the Raid Gate were pouring out non-stop.
As a result, his family members, who watched the morning and evening news regularly and went out to work and socialize daily, couldn't help but know about Lee Seong-jun's achievements.
'First place.'
It was a rank he had achieved by defeating Song Seung-jun, who was walking the royal road.
It was truly remarkable, but to avoid putting unnecessary pressure on his family, he had been pretending not to make a big deal out of it.
Moreover, he had planned to react as calmly as possible even if sudden events like the previous bank account revelation or moving house occurred.
However, the Spirit's Tear was far beyond those expectations.
"But still, to give you a Spirit's Tear as a reward...?"
They had heard stories about how the guild's stock prices had risen significantly due to the Raid Gate results, and that the top-ranking rookies had received considerable rewards and benefits.
But they had never heard of anyone receiving such an expensive item worth hundreds of billions like the Spirit's Tear.
"I had set some special conditions in advance, so I was able to receive it easily."
Lee Seo-yun and Lee Su-hyeok nodded in admiration at Lee Seong-jun's calm and convincing explanation.
"...Amazing."
"That's incredible, truly incredible."
But Kim Ji-young couldn't accept this situation so easily.
"Son, perhaps...?"
"Yes, you're thinking correctly."
Kim Ji-young's eyes trembled at Lee Seong-jun's confident answer.
Unless one was a fool, it was easy to guess why Lee Seong-jun had obtained the Spirit's Tear.
It was to cure Kim Ji-young's mana syndrome.
While she was incredibly grateful, she couldn't readily accept it.
An item worth hundreds of billions - it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Lee Seong-jun had risked his life to obtain this Spirit's Tear.
Even for family members who had spent a lifetime together, it was natural that such a gift couldn't be easily accepted.
"..."
Kim Ji-young bit her lower lip hard and looked directly into Lee Seong-jun's eyes.
A hint of denial flashed across her usually warm and gentle gaze.
But soon she shook her head and began to mutter to herself.
"So that's why you suddenly participated in the Raid Gate... It was all for this."
The image of her son, Lee Seong-jun, going through all sorts of hardships to obtain the Spirit's Tear, flashed through her mind.
Naturally, Kim Ji-young's eyes, which had been fixed on Lee Seong-jun, filled with apologetic emotions.
"Because of this useless mother, our son..."
"What are you saying? Why would you call yourself useless, Mom?"
"As a mother, instead of taking care of you all, I've only been a burden to the family."
Looking at Lee Seong-jun, who had spoken with a somewhat agitated voice, Kim Ji-young cautiously moved her lips.
"I'm truly sorry..."
"Please don't say such things. The everyday life that I took for granted - living in a clean room, eating warm meals, wearing neat clothes... It was all possible because of your dedication and love..."
Lee Seong-jun, with a bright smile on his face, continued:
"So, at least to me, no, to all of us, you're the most excellent and proud mother in the world."
It wasn't just about daily life.
Mother, Kim Ji-young, could be said to be the most dedicated parent in the world.
"Do you remember the monster invasion that happened when we lived in Gimpo years ago?"
It was about 20 years ago. Although he had only been a kindergartener at the time, it was such an intense event that he remembered it clearly.
The sudden invasion of monsters and the chaos that ensued.
Screams could be heard everywhere, and the area quickly turned into a scene of pandemonium.
Lee Seong-jun's house, located nearby, couldn't escape the aftermath either.
As monsters broke into the house, the entire family, except for Lee Su-hyeok who had left early for work, was surrounded by monsters.
It was a life-or-death situation, but Kim Ji-young didn't back down.
With a determined expression, she blocked the monsters' path and protected the young Lee Seong-jun and Lee Seo-yun.
Of course, Kim Ji-young, being an ordinary person, couldn't hold off the monsters for long.
It was barely five seconds.
However, that short time created a great miracle.
It bought enough time for a hunter operating in the vicinity to rush into the house and deal with the threatening monsters.
"If you hadn't protected us then... Seo-yun and I wouldn't be alive like this."
"That was just what a mother should do, sweetheart."
Lee Seong-jun clenched his fist.
A dedication willing to throw away one's own life - it might be said to be natural as a parent, but it was by no means an easy thing to do.
That's why he was so grateful, and why he was determined to cure his mother's illness.
"...I feel the same way. I just want to do what's natural as a child."
There was not a hint of deceit in Lee Seong-jun's unwavering eyes.
"So please, don't feel burdened and accept it."
"..."
At last, tears began to flow from Kim Ji-young's eyes.
She had wanted to hold back as much as possible.
As a parent, she didn't want to show her crying face to her children.
But she couldn't hold it in.
Lee Seong-jun's sincere warmth was welling up deep in her heart, causing a great ripple of emotion.
She was so grateful and proud.
"Our son... you've become so reliable. I always thought you'd be the child I needed to protect and take care of..."
Lee Seong-jun silently listened to Kim Ji-young's words, smiling.
"Thank you, thank you. Our son."
"I'm the one who should be thankful for giving birth to me and raising me."
As bright smiles spread across the faces of both Lee Seong-jun and Kim Ji-young, Lee Seo-yun carefully opened her mouth.
"I love our family so much too, but given the situation, I think there's one point we need to address..."
With this sudden interjection, naturally, the family's attention turned to Lee Seo-yun.
It was a somewhat burdensome situation, but Lee Seo-yun steadfastly continued what she had to say, considering it quite important.
"Shouldn't we bring in a mana expert before consuming the Spirit's Tear?"
Mana syndrome - while the cause of its onset wasn't clear, the reason why the disease couldn't be cured was clearly identified.
It was because the absorbed mana continued to remain throughout the body.
Unlike hunters who could handle the energy called mana, ordinary people had no way to control mana, so the absorbed mana would accumulate indiscriminately in the body. Occasionally, these accumulations would go berserk, causing various painful phenomena.
Therefore, for treatment aimed at complete recovery, not only was the Spirit's Tear necessary to absorb the mana in the body, but a mana expert was also essential to help spread that energy throughout the body.
However, it was unlikely that Lee Seong-jun didn't know this.
"There's no need to worry about that."
"Did the White Tiger Guild introduce a mana expert too?"
"No, that's not it."
The family members, including Lee Seo-yun, tilted their heads in confusion.
Fortunately, their doubts didn't last long.
"I'm going to do it myself."
"You can do it, oppa?"
Unlike Lee Seo-yun, who had her eyes wide open, Lee Seong-jun nodded nonchalantly.
"Yes."
To be completely honest, he was confident he could do it better than those called experts.
After all, Lee Seong-jun had the ability to spread energy throughout the body.
'Blood energy.'
Originally, it could be said that there was no part of the human body where blood didn't flow.
Moreover, Lee Seong-jun knew the martial arts of blood demons, which could be considered the highest among abilities that handled blood energy.
'Blood Palace Plunder.'
As the name suggests, it was a martial art with the ability to control the target's blood through blood energy pushed into the body.
Of course, it wasn't simply controlling the blood flowing through the body's blood vessels like second-rate martial artists did.
It meant being able to control everything related to blood at will, including heartbeat, movement amount and speed, and even direction.
This meant that he could guide the energy contained in the Spirit's Tear to every corner of the body.
"Please sit here."
With a confident demeanor - the son, Lee Seong-jun, they had known so far wasn't someone to show off without any basis.
Therefore, Kim Ji-young sat down on the chair Lee Seong-jun pointed to without saying a word.
"Just swallow it like you would take a vitamin."
"Is that all?"
"Yes, but please don't get up until I say it's okay."
After nodding once and confirming that Kim Ji-young had swallowed the Spirit's Tear, Lee Seong-jun immediately raised his hand and placed it on her back.
Lee Seong-jun carefully flowed blood energy into the arm touching her back.
Soon, red blood energy arising from his palm spread into Kim Ji-young's body.
Of course, these weren't the violent ones used against enemies, but ones imbued with warm energy.
As the warm energy spread throughout her body in an instant, a moan-like exclamation burst involuntarily from Kim Ji-young's mouth.
"Ah..."
At the same time, Kim Ji-young's blood, which had been flowing through her blood vessels as usual, began to move according to Lee Seong-jun's will.
From here on, there was nothing difficult.
However, that didn't mean he let his guard down.
It was only natural - after all, this was about his family mother's health.
'There must not be even the slightest mistake.'
Exercising a high degree of concentration, Lee Seong-jun led out the energy contained in the Spirit's Tear with delicate movements.
From small cells to large organs, he absorbed the energies accumulated throughout the body as carefully and gently as if handling a newborn baby.
Thus, the energy that started moving from the lower abdomen, the dantian, swept through the legs, then surged upwards, passing over the shoulders, and finally brushing past the head to reach what could be considered the starting point.