I Picked Up a Guide to Safe Hunter Life

Chapter 8: Self-Healing (1)  

『That child shouldn't be here yet.』  

"Umm......"  

A voice.  

A voice that was neither distinctly male nor female woke Eunha from her sleep.  

Her entire body felt sluggish.  

It felt like she had become a jellyfish, sinking deep into the ocean, letting the currents carry her aimlessly.  

Eunha blinked her eyes to assess the situation.  

Step. Step.  

The hands of ‘something’ wrapped around her body.  

Cradled like an infant, Eunha was being carried somewhere.  

It was as if she was being held in someone's arms, princess-style.  

And just a few steps ahead, a completely pitch-black [Black Figure] walked forward with their back turned to Eunha.  

A black suit, a black straw hat, and a pure white inverted cross dangling from the hat like an accessory.  

The area beneath the hat was strangely dark, making it impossible to clearly see the [Black Figure]'s face.  

It was so dark that she couldn't tell if she was looking at the front or the back of their head.  

Eunha blinked as she stared at the [Black Figure] walking ahead.  

That person. They didn't seem unfamiliar.  

Where had she seen them before?  

They didn’t look like a scary person. Maybe they were a good person.  

'Where is this...? I was definitely eating dinner at home, and then......'  

As far as her memory went, Eunha hastily looked around.  

It was dark all around her.  

Of course, the darkest place was beneath the [Black Figure]'s hat, but the surroundings weren’t much brighter either.  

It felt like being lost deep in the mountains on a foggy day, with no light source anywhere.  

The only things visible were the hands wrapping around her body and the [Black Figure]’s back as they walked ahead.  

Bubble. Bubble, bubble.  

At that moment, ghostly white flames appeared in the darkness.  

They flickered in the air, as if they would vanish with a single breath.  

More and more of these ghostly flames began to emerge one by one.  

One, then another...  

Multiplying rapidly, they soon filled the vast sky, resembling a field of stars spread across the night.  

Eunha gazed in silent awe at the dazzling sight before her.  

Bubble, bubble... bubble.  

Before long, the ghostly flames began to move. Like a flowing river.  

The countless lights became fireflies, then migrating birds, then a cascading waterfall, all drifting in the same direction.  

The complete opposite direction from where Eunha was heading.  

They were flowing endlessly away.  

It looked so much like a luminous Milky Way that... Eunha grew curious about where they were going and turned to look back.  

『You mustn’t look back, child.』  

But the hands holding Eunha covered her eyes.  

The cry of a beast wearing a human’s skin.  

Several hands wrapped around Eunha’s head, gently but firmly turning it back to its original position.  

A cold hand caressed her cheek.  

Just how many hands were there?  

The hands covering her eyes disappeared, allowing Eunha to see ahead again.  

Now, her head was held in place by many hands, preventing her from turning, leaving her staring blankly at the back of the [Black Figure].  

The 'something' holding Eunha carried the scent of a frozen beast.  

Step. Step. Step.  

They walked endlessly.  

The [Black Figure] leading the way.  

Their footsteps, heavier than dress shoes, resembling the weighty thud of military boots.  

The ‘something’ carrying Eunha followed behind.  

The crunching footfalls of a large beast stepping on snow.  

How much time had passed?  

The [Black Figure] stopped walking and turned to look at Eunha.  

Hmm... As expected, it was too dark to see their face.  

Was there a flashlight anywhere?  

『……Next time you come, I’ll make sure to prepare something.』  

『Child, keep the [Black Book] close to you. Even if you don’t have the book, ‘we’ will still come to find you.』  

And with those words,  

The ‘something’s’ hands covered Eunha’s eyes.  

『It’s time to wake up.』  

And as always, the darkness held nothing.  

…….  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  

"Cough! Cough, cough! Uweeegh!!"  

Eunha convulsed like a trampled worm, retching over and over.  

Bright red blood, pooled in her lungs, poured out, splattering across the bathroom.  

The acrid, metallic scent of iron burned her nostrils.  

Her body ached.  

Was this how a deep-sea fish felt when forcibly dragged to the surface?  

"Kehek! Guh...! Cough!"  

Her previously stopped heart pounded violently, forcing blood through her veins, and her shredded lungs inhaled fresh oxygen.  

She coughed up the blood clogging her throat, feeling as though the inside of her esophagus was being ripped apart.  

Forcing her heavy eyelids open, Eunha gasped for breath.  

"Hhic...! Hhaaah...!"  

The bathroom, where the [Red Woman] had been, was drenched in blood.  

Everything was red. Blood had splattered up to the ceiling, dripping down and soaking Eunha’s hair in a dark crimson.  

Shredded flesh clogged the drain, leaving the floor flooded with blood.  

Thrashing in the blood puddle, Eunha wrapped her arms around herself.  

The [Red Woman], drenched in blood.  

She had been captured by 'it,' stabbed in the chest and stomach with a kitchen knife, her limbs sawed off with a rusty handsaw.  

The memory replayed in her mind like a trauma.  

'It’s' handsaw was old and dull, with barely any cutting power.  

Because of that, her bones didn’t sever properly, and she had been sawed at over and over.  

The sensation of the handsaw grinding against her bones...  

That chilling nerve pain, like having a cavity drilled into a tooth, was unforgettable.  

Wow, that hurt.  

How was she even alive?  

She looked down at her trembling hands.  

All of her fingers, except her index finger, were gone. Barely stumps remained.  

No, rather than being cut off, it was more accurate to say they were torn off.  

The uneven cuts were so jagged that it was hard to believe a handsaw had been used.  

Such a messy job.  

Guess I can only point fingers now.

That thought lasted only a moment...  

The severed ends of her bleeding fingers began to bubble as if they were boiling.  

Crack! Snap!  

Pure white bones sprouted from the stumps.  

Thin layers of muscle wrapped around the bones like threads, and pink flesh covered them.  

The rapidly regenerating flesh expanded in an instant, slowly taking shape... until new fingers were fully formed.  

The nails and fingerprints were intact.  

Though, since they had just been created, the skin was slightly translucent.  

When Eunha carefully moved her newly grown fingers, they wiggled without any issue, which was almost astonishing.  

'……Self-Healing…'  

Eunha stared blankly at her recovered hand, letting out a hollow laugh.  

[Self-Healing]. Eunha's skill.  

A strange ability that not only healed wounds but also reversed even basic bodily changes back to their original state.  

This skill was also the reason why Eunha repeatedly failed the 'Hunter Promotion Exam.'  

No matter how much she exercised to build muscle, everything reverted back within hours.  

She had no idea how to deactivate the skill.  

She had even consulted Hunter-specialized hospitals and the Hunter Association, but all they did was label her as a unique case and ask for consent to collect blood and tissue samples.  

Still, thanks to this skill, she never gained weight and healed quickly, which was convenient.  

To be honest, she didn't even need to eat. She could survive without sleeping.  

But mental stress didn't seem to recover, so she still felt hunger and fatigue just like everyone else.  

To avoid breaking down from exhaustion, she chose not to fight against basic survival instincts.  

'But I really didn’t expect to survive even after my heart was ripped out. Is my healing ability always this strong?'  

A few minutes passed as she gathered her thoughts.  

Feeling the reformation of her severed legs, Eunha staggered as she stood up.  

Her freshly regenerated legs felt weak.  

And strangely, her body felt light.  

It was as if her entire body had become softer.  

She wasn’t sure if it was just her imagination, but her chest and hips felt noticeably heavier.  

Eunha gripped the sink with both hands and managed to lift herself.  

"Whew... Huh? What the—who are you?"  

She had meant to check her face in the mirror.  

But instead, a half-naked woman, resembling Eunha, was staring back at her with wide, startled eyes.  

…….  

Leaning against the sink, Eunha furrowed her brows.  

The woman in the mirror did the same.  

If Eunha’s face were slightly more refined, would it look like that?  

She blankly stared at the woman in the mirror.  

Then, feeling a sudden sense of unease, she quietly shut her mouth and looked down at her own body.  

"Hmm... Well, I’m alive, so I guess it’s fine."  

Was this normal?  

Had she finally lost her mind?  

She decided to think positively.  

She had just come back from the brink of death—what else could matter?  

'……I'll deal with this later. Checking my injuries comes first.'  

Pushing the most noticeable problem to the back of her mind, Eunha examined her body.  

The reflection in the mirror was drenched in red.  

Just like that [Red Woman].  

But that was because she was covered in blood.  

The difference was, the Red Woman had been covered in someone else’s blood, while Eunha was drenched in her own—100% pure.  

Even though her [Self-Healing] skill was still active, her wounds hadn't fully healed yet.  

The skin at the severed areas was still deeply indented, almost like scars.  

Seeing her own body in such a state made her stomach churn.  

It was painfully obvious how her body had been mutilated.  

Especially her chest and abdomen—they had been carved up so much that there weren’t even visible stab wounds anymore.  

Looking at the injuries brought back the excruciating pain she had endured.  

Yet, despite the fear, a strange sense of admiration surfaced.  

Wow, she really didn’t die? That’s insane.  

No matter how she thought about it, the effectiveness of [Self-Healing] was absolutely absurd.  

Was this really that useless skill she had mocked for so long?  

She had always known that her wounds healed fast, but she had never dared to test the limits of her regeneration.  

Because she didn’t want to experience pain.  

She had just assumed she healed ten times faster than normal people… but to think it was at this level.  

"Whew... Whew... Damn, this hurts…"  

Thinking about the [Red Woman] made her breath ragged.  

Eunha, enduring the pain of her recurring trauma, staggered toward the bathtub.  

Being drenched in blood was making her feel unbearably filthy.  

She peeled off her tattered clothes along with the dried blood and collapsed into the tub.  

She kicked the faucet with her foot, turning on the shower.  

Warm water poured down over her.  

"Haah… Ah… Even my voice sounds a bit softer."  

The water stung the wounded areas, but the pain was bearable.  

As she washed the blood off her body, a lazy smile appeared on her lips.  

Her hands still trembled uncontrollably, and her facial muscles felt stiff, but...  

She forced a smile.  

'No matter what… Think positively…'  

It had hurt.  

Shortness of breath. Excessive bleeding. Dizziness, shock, vertigo.  

Having her chest repeatedly stabbed with a kitchen knife felt like the end of the world.  

She had thought she would vanish from existence, completely erased.  

She couldn't breathe.  

The [Red Woman] had terrified her.  

The sight of ‘it’ ripping out her heart and holding it up to her face,  

The malicious intent in every clumsy saw stroke,  

It was an eternal trauma, gnawing away at Eunha’s mind.  

"Stay positive… Yeah. I survived, and that’s what matters."  

She was still in pain, and she was still afraid.  

But she chose to think positively.  

She reframed her thoughts.  

The [Red Woman] had failed to kill her and had run away.  

Who else could have survived ‘that thing’?  

Who else had personally seen what their own heart looked like?  

Only Eunha.  

A forever F-rank Hunter.  

The Resident Ghost of the Promotion Exam.  

Soft-Fist of Euncheon District.  

And the owner of [Self-Healing].  

Since she hadn’t died, she might as well consider it an incredibly unique experience.  

Thinking that way made it seem not so bad.  

Yes, life was all about perspective.  

"Whew… Alright. Enough sulking!"  

Eunha, now feeling slightly energized, sat up in the tub.  

She washed her face thoroughly, then looked around the bathroom, scratching the back of her head.  

The bloodstains covering the bathroom.  

The drain clogged with chunks of flesh.  

When was she going to clean all of this up?  

It seemed like sleep wasn’t happening tonight.