The warmth from the porridge was a lie.
It wasn't the comforting heat of a full stomach. It was the clinical, artificial warmth of a battery being charged. The "Stability" buff was a cage, its bars made of counted seconds. He had twenty-four hours. Then the countdown would resume.
Dae-Hyun lay in his hospital bed, the sterile white ceiling his canvas for the crimson text still burned onto his retinas.
[SOUL SENSOR: ACTIVE.]
[PERCEPTION FILTER: SOUL AURA.]
He couldn't turn it off. The world was now a tapestry of emotions made visible. The nurses in the hallway were a symphony of muted blues and weary grays. An old man in the room across from his bled a slow, fading ochre—the color of resignation. It was overwhelming, an intimate violation of every person around him.
He focused on his own hands, resting on the starched sheets. With his normal vision, they were just pale, thin hands. But with the Soul Sensor… he saw it. A swirling, malevolent blackness coiled deep within his tissues, threaded through with pulsing veins of sickly green. His cancer. His "Terminal Debuff." It was a parasitic entity feeding on his life force, and the crimson System had merely slapped a temporary seal on it.
[NEW QUEST AVAILABLE: 'DIAGNOSTIC RUN']
[OBJECTIVE: PERFORM A SOUL APPRAISAL ON A SENTIENT TARGET (0/1).]
[REWARD: SKILL: [APPRAISAL - RANK F]. 12-HOUR 'STABILITY' BUFF.]
Another order. Another carrot and stick. The reward was a pittance of time, and the skill was just a formalization of this cursed sight he already had. But the stick was the yawning chasm of his own mortality.
He had to do it. The thought of using this invasive ability on someone made his skin crawl, but the thought of the black-green corruption resuming its feast was worse.
His door slid open. Choi Yuna entered, her silver aura flowing around her like a calm tide. She carried a small paper cup with his evening medication.
"Time for your pills, Dae-Hyun-ssi," she said, her voice a practiced balm.
She was the only one here. The only choice that didn't feel like a complete violation.
"Yuna-ssi," he said, his voice rough. He needed a pretext, something to justify staring. "Before that… could you… look at me? Just for a second."
She paused, her head tilting. "Is something wrong? Are you feeling nauseous?"
"No. Just… look at me."
Her brow furrowed slightly, but she complied, her professional gaze meeting his. It was now or never.
He focused. He willed the Soul Sensor to sharpen, to go beyond the surface glow and see. The command was instinctual, a muscle he never knew he had.
[INITIATING SOUL APPRAISAL...]
The silver light around her intensified, then resolved into lines of text only he could see, superimposed over her concerned face.
[NAME: Choi Yuna]
[AGE: 25]
[SOUL DESIGNATION: UNBRANDED]
[CORE AFFINITY: Compassion. Order.]
[CURRENT SOUL STATE: Fatigue (Mild). Concern (Elevated for Patient Kim Dae-Hyun). Professional Resolve.]
[POTENTIAL: B-Rank (Latent). SUBCLASS: [HEALER] compatible.]
[NOTES: Soul possesses high resonance for restorative arts. Subject is unaware of her potential. Aura indicates minor sleep deprivation.]
The information flooded his mind, cold and impersonal. It was like reading a medical chart of her very being. He saw her potential, her fatigue, her specific concern for him. It felt dirtier than he'd imagined.
[OBJECTIVE COMPLETE: 'DIAGNOSTIC RUN'.]
[REWARD GRANTED: SKILL: [APPRAISAL - RANK F]. 12-HOUR 'STABILITY' BUFF ADDED.]
The timer in the corner of his vision, which he hadn't even noticed until now, jumped from [23:59:01] to [35:59:01]. A pathetic surge of relief washed through him.
The appraisal ended. It had taken less than two seconds.
Yuna blinked. "What was that about? You were staring very intensely."
"Sorry," Dae-Hyun said, looking away, the guilt a sharp stone in his gut. "I just… wanted to make sure you were real."
It was a weak excuse, but she accepted it with a small, understanding smile. "I'm very real. And I have your medicine." She handed him the cup and a glass of water.
As he took them, his newly formalized [Appraisal] flickered automatically.
[ITEM: Hydrochloride Capsules.]
[EFFECT: Mitigate nausea. Palliative.]
[ITEM: Purified Water.]
[EFFECT: Hydration.]
He swallowed the pills, the action feeling more futile than ever. They were fighting the symptoms. The System and the cancer were fighting for the core.
"Get some rest, Dae-Hyun-ssi," Yuna said softly, turning to leave. "You look… clearer today. It's a good sign."
She left, her silver aura disappearing down the hall.
He was alone again with the crimson screen and his thirty-six hours of borrowed time. He had a skill. He had a little more life. And he had a debt he never asked for.
The System had given him a tool. A vile, intrusive tool that felt like a weapon.
He looked at his own faint reflection in the dark window, at the city where Hunters fought monsters and drew powerful Cards.
They were playing a game of power.
He was in a fight for his life. And he had just learned that to survive, he would have to become a Reaper in truth, starting with the souls of those who tried to help him.
The porridge was paid for. The debt was now his.
To be continued...