Dr. Min's eyes had been unreadable the entire time she ran the scan. Cold, professional, sharp in a way that cut deeper than any scalpel. I kept still under her instructions, breathing in and out, pretending I wasn't watching her more than I was watching the screen.
When the resonance cuff tightened and the machine hummed, I felt it again—that flare in my chest. Like something inside me was alive, pushing back against the system of my body. Her face barely moved when she saw it. A single crease of her brow. Then she shut the machine down, jotted her notes, and announced her verdict:
"You're stable enough for discharge. But you're not cleared for dungeon work for two weeks. Minimum."
I wanted to argue. Two weeks? I felt better already—or at least I thought I did. But the way she said it, calm and final, killed the protest in my throat. When she handed me the form, her gaze locked onto mine with that same weight. Don't mistake recovery for invincibility.
The words stuck with me even after she left.
The door closed softly, and I found myself staring blankly at the empty space she'd filled a moment before. My pulse was racing harder than it had during the scan. My face felt hot. I tried to push it down, but the System didn't let me.
[Quest: Prepare the Vessel]
Conditioning Required. Progress: 0%.
The letters blinked in the corner of my vision. No one else could see them. Not Hana. Not Dr. Min. Just me. And yet, somehow, I couldn't stop thinking about the doctor's words—how she'd practically ordered me to be careful. As if she knew.
"Søster…" Hana's voice snapped me out of it.
I turned my head, and there she was, grinning like a cat that had just caught something. Her phone dangled loosely in one hand.
"You're so dazed," she giggled. "And your face is red. Don't tell me you've already got a crush on Dr. Min."
My ears burned hotter. "What? No. Don't be ridiculous."
"She's such a mature dark beauty," Hana teased, scooting closer with a mischievous glint in her eyes. "I bet she'd make a great sister-in-law."
I groaned, dragging the blanket over my head. "Hana."
"What?" she sing-songed, poking my arm through the fabric. "I'm just saying! I've never seen you look so rattled. And she's totally your type."
I refused to answer, heart hammering against my ribs. It wasn't her type or her beauty that had rattled me—it was that she'd looked at me as though she could see through the skin, through the lies, straight into the thing inside me. The Balance. The knot of light.
Hana leaned back in her chair, humming happily to herself. "Sister-in-law Min Seo-jin… has a nice ring to it, don't you think?"
I pulled the blanket tighter. The System's words glowed faintly in the dark beneath the fabric, as if to remind me there was no hiding from it.
The hospital release was quicker than I'd expected. Hana all but bounced at my side as we stepped out into the daylight, carrying the bag with my spare clothes and paperwork.
"Feels good, doesn't it?" she said, slipping her arm through mine. "Finally out of that place. You've been sleeping in antiseptic for three days."
"Mm." I kept my reply short, but she didn't seem to mind. Her chatter filled the walk to the bus stop, light and distracting. It was almost enough to make me forget the weight of the discharge papers in my bag—and the words that still lingered in my vision.
[Daily Quest: Prepare the Vessel]
Time Limit: 24 Hours.
By the time we reached our apartment, Hana was still humming, already planning what groceries to buy for dinner. I let her have her moment and shut myself in my room with a bottle of water and my phone set to silent.
The System's window pulsed again, bright and unavoidable.
---
[Daily Quest: Prepare the Vessel]
Objectives:
Complete 100 Push-ups
Complete 100 Sit-ups
Complete 100 Squats
Run/Walk 10 Kilometers
Complete 30 Minutes of Mana Breathing Exercises
Rewards:
+3 Stat Points
+1 Random Loot Box
+1 Status Recovery
Failure Penalty:
Penalty Zone
Time Limit: 24 Hours.
---
I stared at it, jaw tight. Push-ups, sit-ups, squats—straightforward enough. The ten kilometers? A stretch, but not impossible. The mana breathing exercises… I had no idea what that meant, but the instinctive tug at the base of my lungs told me I'd figure it out.
Penalty Zone. The words glowed sharper than the rest, as if to remind me what was at stake.
I dropped to the floor.
The first push-ups weren't terrible. My body still ached, but I'd conditioned myself for years, even as a researcher. By thirty, my arms burned. By fifty, sweat slicked my forehead, and my shoulders trembled. At seventy, my vision blurred. I forced myself to one hundred, collapsing to my knees with a grunt.
"Syrra?" Hana's voice muffled through the door. "Are you okay?"
"Fine," I croaked. "Just… stretching."
I moved on to sit-ups. Each one pulled against the bruises still healing across my ribs. I counted under my breath, grinding through the pain. At eighty, I nearly stopped. But the quest window hovered, waiting. Demanding. By the hundredth, I lay flat on the floor, gasping.
Squats came next. My thighs burned by the twentieth. At sixty, I thought my legs might give. At ninety, I had to grip the desk for balance. But I finished them, teeth clenched until my jaw ached.
The run would have to wait until nightfall—I couldn't risk Hana following me.
For now, I sat cross-legged on the floor, hands on my knees, trying to puzzle out the last objective.
Mana breathing exercises.
I closed my eyes. Inhale. Exhale. Focus. I tried to picture the flow of mana the way I'd seen it on the scan, bright veins carrying energy through the body. At first, nothing happened. Then, slowly, warmth spread in my chest. The knot pulsed. My breath deepened, steadier, as if I were syncing to some rhythm I hadn't known was there.
[Progress: Mana Breathing 12%… 25%… 43%…]
I gasped, the glow fading. The System acknowledged it. It was working.
When I opened my eyes, sweat dripped down my face, but my mind felt sharper, clearer than it had in days.
"Unnie?" Hana's knock came again, gentler this time. "Do you want dinner?"
I dragged myself to my feet, forcing a smile as I opened the door. Hana blinked at me, then laughed softly.
"You look like you fought a monster in there."
"Something like that," I muttered.
---
Later that night, after Hana was asleep, I laced my shoes and stepped out quietly. The streets were dark and mostly empty, just the hum of streetlamps and the faint rustle of trees. I ran. My legs screamed with every step, but I didn't stop.
One kilometer. Two. Three. My lungs burned. By five, I thought I might vomit. By eight, my vision swam. But the System's counter ticked upward, pushing me on.
At ten, I stumbled against a lamppost, gasping. The world tilted around me as I leaned against the lamppost, chest heaving. My legs quivered like they were ready to give out, but even through the burning ache, I could feel it—the System was waiting.
A new window blinked into existence before my eyes, its glow cutting through the shadows of the empty street.
---
[Daily Quest Complete.]
Reward options available:
+3 Stat Points
+1 Random Loot Box
+1 Status Recovery
---
I stared at it, half-delirious from exhaustion. The sensible thing would've been to pick recovery—get rid of the soreness, the raw ache in my muscles, the bruises still lingering from the hospital. Or maybe the loot box, just to see what kind of reward this system thought I deserved.
But my legs were still trembling. My lungs still burned. And if this was going to happen every day, I needed to survive the repetition.
"Stamina," I rasped aloud to no one. "All in stamina."
The moment I made the choice, another pulse of light flashed in my vision.
---
[Stat Points Allocated.]
Stamina: +3
New Total: 19 → 22
---
It wasn't dramatic. No rush of energy, no fireworks. Just… steadiness. The ache in my calves dulled slightly, and I could breathe without feeling like my lungs were collapsing. My whole body still hurt, but the difference was enough to notice. Enough to matter.
By the time I staggered back through our apartment door, the city was still asleep. Hana hadn't stirred. She was curled on her side across the room, her phone clutched loosely in her hand, hair a tangled mess.
I collapsed onto my mattress, sweat still damp on my skin, too tired to even wash up. My eyelids dragged shut.
The last thing I saw before sleep swallowed me was Hana's peaceful face—and in the corner of my vision, the smug shimmer of a new notification waiting for me tomorrow.
I woke to the sound of someone shuffling around the kitchen. My body screamed before my brain even caught up. Every muscle ached, my arms heavy as stone, my thighs still burning from squats and the ten kilometers I'd forced myself through.
I groaned, dragging myself upright, only to wince when pain lanced through my ribs.
"Unnie?" Hana's voice floated in from the hallway. A moment later, she peeked into my room, hair still wild from sleep, her school uniform half-buttoned.
She took one look at me and laughed. "You look like you wrestled a troll and lost."
"Thanks," I muttered, forcing my expression neutral. "I just… overdid some stretches."
"Stretches don't make you look like you're eighty years old," she teased, padding over to plop herself on the edge of my bed. She poked my arm, making me wince. "See? You're stiff. What were you doing in here last night?"
"Just… keeping up my conditioning," I said quickly. Too quickly.
Hana narrowed her eyes. "Uh-huh. Sure. You barely exercise when you're not half-dead."
I rubbed at my face, trying to cover the heat in my cheeks. "Maybe I'm trying to change that."
She smirked, unconvinced. "Well, whatever you did, you look like a mess. Don't think Dr. Min would be impressed seeing you limp around like this."
I shot her a glare, but she only giggled, clearly enjoying herself.
"Seriously though," she added, tone softening. "Don't push yourself. You just got out of the hospital. If you collapse again, I'll tell Dr. Min, and then you'll never hear the end of it."
My stomach knotted at the thought. The System's notifications pulsed faintly at the edge of my vision, waiting for me to acknowledge them. I forced a smile instead. "Don't worry. I'll pace myself."
Hana eyed me suspiciously, then sighed, hopping off the bed. "Fine. But if you start groaning like an old lady again, I'm recording it. Evidence."
"Go get ready for school," I muttered.
She grinned and darted out of the room, leaving me alone with the ache in my body. The cheeky grat.
The smell of rice and eggs drifted through the apartment by the time I shuffled into the kitchen. Hana had beaten me there, sleeves rolled up, hair tied back in a messy half-ponytail. She was humming tunelessly as she poked at the frying pan with a spatula.
"You're cooking?" I asked, sliding into a chair at the table.
She shot me a look over her shoulder. "Don't sound so shocked. I can make more than instant ramen."
"You've burned water before."
"That was one time," she snapped, though her cheeks turned red. "Anyway, you should be grateful. You can't even stand up straight this morning."
I grunted, letting my head rest in my hand. Every muscle still ached from last night's quest, but I wasn't about to admit that to her. "Just stiff."
Hana plated the eggs with more force than necessary. "You should be resting, not stretching yourself like some wannabe athlete. What's gotten into you, Unnie?"
I forced a shrug. "Just… trying not to rot while I'm benched."
She sighed dramatically and set the food down. "Fine. But if you keel over, I'm calling Dr. Min."
I nearly choked on my first bite. "Don't you dare."
Her grin was wicked. "Oh, I totally would. Imagine her scolding you. Actually…" She leaned closer, eyes gleaming. "Imagine her showing up here. Doesn't that sound nice?"
I groaned, covering my face with one hand. "Hana—"
"What? You can't tell me you didn't notice how pretty she is. Dark hair, sharp eyes, total professional vibe. I swear, you looked like a middle schooler staring at her."
My face burned hotter than the eggs. "Eat your breakfast."
She laughed, clearly satisfied at having flustered me. Between bites, she started rattling off about school: how her homeroom teacher had finally given up on banning phones during lunch, the new gacha event in her favorite mobile game, how one of her classmates had confessed to another in the middle of gym.
I nodded along, half-listening, but her chatter was grounding. Ordinary. After days of sterile hospital walls and the System's constant pressure, the sound of Hana venting about math homework and cafeteria drama felt like a lifeline.
She finished the last bite of rice, checked the clock, and scrambled to her feet. "Crap, I'll be late." She stuffed her notebooks into her bag, tied her shoes in a rush, and darted for the door.
"Don't forget your lunch," I called, sliding the wrapped box across the counter.
She snatched it up, flashing me a quick grin. "Got it. Don't overdo it, Syrra. And remember—if you groan like an old lady again, I'm recording it!"
The door slammed shut behind her.
Silence fell over the apartment. I stared at the half-empty plate on the table, then at my trembling hands. The System's faint glow pulsed again at the edge of my vision, waiting for me to acknowledge it.
Ordinary mornings wouldn't last forever.