The Lowest-Ranked Hero Has Returned

Chapter 97: Overheating (2)

"Ah, ugh."

My whole body felt as if it were burning.

It was as if molten iron, heated to searing temperatures, was flowing through my veins instead of blood.

The excruciating pain jolted me awake.

"Brother! Are you conscious?"

"Dale! Are you okay?!"

A strange ceiling.

Berald and Yuren\'s pale, stricken faces.

I suppressed the fiery pain consuming my body and opened my mouth.

"Where am I...?"

"We\'re in the school infirmary! You collapsed, and we brought you here immediately!"

"…How long was I unconscious?"

"About two hours."

Two hours.

Not that long.

"Ugh...!"

The terrible pain flaring from my holy mark as I tried to sit up made me collapse back down.

It felt like I had fallen into boiling lava; my whole body was burning.

"D-Da, Dale! Are you okay?"

"……."

I couldn’t even lie and say I was okay to Yuren. My condition was that bad.

"I\'ll go get a healer right away!"

"...No."

I shook my head and grabbed Yuren\'s hand, stopping him from pressing the call button.

I didn’t know why my body was like this, but I knew that no healer\'s power could fix it.

"I\'ll be fine if I rest a bit."

"…Dale."

Yuren\'s eyes welled up, as if he was about to burst into tears.

"Could you get me some water?"

"O-okay!"

I gulped down the water Yuren handed me.

As the cold liquid went down, I finally started to feel a bit more clear-headed.

"Phew."

"Feeling any better?"

"Better than before."

Though my body still felt like it was engulfed in flames, I was in a much better state than when I first woke up.

‘…What the hell is going on?’

The last thing I remembered was suddenly losing consciousness during a conversation with Yuren.

‘Is it because, like Berald said, I’ve been training too hard lately?’

No, that couldn\'t be it.

It had only been a few days.

In my previous life, I had pushed my body far beyond this for over a month.

And if I had collapsed from overexertion, my body wouldn\'t feel like it was burning in flames.

‘So then why?’

I furrowed my brow and closed my eyes.

I calmed my breathing and focused inward.

As my consciousness delved deeper, the mental world opened before me.

Woosh!

The primordial flame burned fiercely, as if it were about to consume the world.

‘Hmm?’

No.

I should retract that "as always" statement.

‘It seems rougher than usual.’

The primordial flame was burning much more violently than it usually did.

Yes, it was as if it were struggling to survive.

‘What is….’

I furrowed my brow and shifted my gaze.

Something was stretching out violently, as if it were trying to swallow the flame.

‘Ugh.’

When I tried to focus on the presence devouring the flame, a blinding headache and blurry vision overtook me.

‘Is that the other power within me?’

I recalled Professor Elisha\'s words, frowning.

I still didn’t know what exactly that “something” was, but I had a vague understanding of why my body was in this state now.

‘The primordial flame is fluctuating, causing my energy channels to overheat.’

I had never experienced anything like this before while using the primordial flame.

‘Something that’s never happened before is suddenly occurring.’

The only explanation that came to mind was one possibility.

‘The ember... Could it be because of that?’

Professor Elisha\'s words flashed through my mind.

‘She said the balance of power is off.’

If the cause of this overheating was the continued use of an unstable power, then that made some sense.

‘So using the ember for too long could cause me to suddenly lose consciousness like this?’

Not only that, but it could cause my entire energy system to overheat, leaving me unable to move properly for a while.

“Haa.”

I let out a deep sigh, frustrated by this unexpected flaw.

Berald, arms crossed and wearing a stern expression, finally spoke up.

“I knew it. You’ve been practically living in the training hall these past few days... I told you before, Brother—overtraining will ruin your body, didn’t I?”

“Ugh.”

Technically, it wasn’t overtraining that caused this but rather the flaw inherent in the ember itself.

Still, it was true that my excessive use of the ember led to this situation.

"Dale, are you hurt anywhere else?"

"I\'m fine now."

My head still felt hot, like I had a fever, but compared to the fiery pain I had felt when I first regained consciousness, I was much better.

"Let me check your forehead."

Yuren brushed my hair back and pressed his forehead against mine.

We were close enough that our noses nearly touched, and his breath tickled my cheek.

‘No, no, stop doing this. Please.’

If you keep acting like this, I might… fall for this golden-haired guy?

‘No, that’s not happening!’

I can’t end up in some sort of corrupted golden-sunshine romance!

“Dale?”

Yuren frowned as he watched me, seemingly writhing in mental agony.

“You must still be feeling unwell. You’ve got a high fever.”

Yuren gently pushed me back onto the bed.

“Don’t even think about doing anything today. Just lie still and rest.”

“Ugh. Fine.”

Even if I wanted to do something, in this condition, it wasn’t happening anyway.

“Hm. Your clothes are soaked with sweat, Brother.”

“Oh, right.”

Now that I thought about it, my body did feel damp. The training clothes I was wearing were drenched in sweat.

"Ah, right."

I had been feeling a bit sticky for a while, and it turned out my tracksuit was completely soaked with sweat.

"First, change your clothes! I\'ll help you!"

"What? Hey, hey! W-wait! Stop, you bastard!"

I tried to push Berald away in a panic, but I had no strength left in my body.

"Heh heh. We\'re both men anyway, what\'s the big deal?"

Berald grabbed my clothes and started stripping them off.

Including everything below.

"Gah!"

Yuren’s eyes widened in shock.

"Yuren, bring that patient gown over here."

"I-it’s really big..."

"Yuren?"

"Huh, huh? What did you say?"

"I said the patient gown."

"O-okay!"

Yuren ran off in a hurry to fetch the patient gown.

As Berald pinned me down with his brute strength, he gave Yuren a signal.

"I\'ll hold him, so you dress him."

"M-me?"

"Ugh! Stop! I\'ll do it myself, please!"

"Haha. A patient should stay still."

"Ugh!"

Why the hell is this guy so strong?

"S-so... I\'ll dress you now, okay?"

With flushed cheeks, Yuren put the patient gown on me.

I bit my lip and closed my eyes tightly.

\'Damn it.\'

I will never forget this humiliation, Berald...!

"Now then, the clothes are changed, so now…."

Berald looked around the room.

I glared at him sharply.

"What are you up to now?"

"Aren\'t you feeling a bit hungry?"

"Well... now that you mention it, I am."

I hadn’t been eating well due to training lately, so I was quite hungry.

"Heh heh. I can\'t just sit by while you\'re hungry, brother! I\'ll make something special for you!"

"Can’t we just have the food from the infirmary?"

"Ha! What are you talking about, brother? Haven\'t you heard that the infirmary food here is worse than dog food? I can\'t let you eat that!"

"I tried it before, and it wasn’t that bad…."

"Ha! Just sit tight. I\'ll prepare a family recipe, a special dish that has been passed down through generations!"

Berald grinned confidently and pounded his chest.

"Just wait a little!"

With loud footsteps, Berald ran out of the infirmary.

About 30 minutes passed.

As I lay on the bed, eating fruit Yuren was peeling for me, a burnt smell started drifting into my nose.

\'What’s that smell?\'

I wrinkled my nose at the strange scent.

Bang!

"Haha! Brother! The food is ready!"

Berald burst into the room wearing a pink apron (an eyesore to behold), carrying a pot the size of a washbasin.

"...What is that?"

"The special dish I mentioned earlier!"

Berald grinned as he placed the pot on the side table next to the bed.

"Take a look!"

He lifted the lid, revealing a bubbling red liquid that looked like it had been dredged up from the depths of hell.

"Wait a second."

The color looks suspicious.

"What did you put in there?"

"Heh heh. Don’t be too surprised."

Berald puffed out his chest proudly.

"It\'s kimchi stew with a ton of Cheongyang peppers, ginseng, ginger, jujube, cinnamon, onion, garlic, and chili oil — the special family recipe!"

"You crazy bastard."

What the hell are you trying to feed someone who already has a fever?

"Haha! You know the saying: \'fight fire with fire!\' There’s even a saying about treating poison with poison, isn’t there?"

"It’s \'fight fire with fire.\'"

Fine. I\'ll let the kimchi stew slide, but what on earth made him put so many ingredients (Cheongyang peppers, ginseng, ginger, etc.) into a pot the size of a washbasin?

\'Also, there’s no meat in the kimchi stew?\'

Has Berald lost his national pride as a citizen of the Republic?

According to some law in the Republic, not putting any meat in kimchi stew is a capital offense worthy of execution.

"Come on! Just give it a try!"

"I\'m not eating that!"

My whole body already felt overheated from my fever, and there was no way I wanted to put that monstrosity into my mouth.

"Hmm. You really don\'t want to, huh? Well, I guess there’s no helping it."

Berald crossed his arms and nodded.

Just as I was thinking he might be reasonable after all, he turned to Yuren.

"Yuren!"

"Huh? W-what?"

"Hold him down tightly!"

"Umm... but he really doesn’t want to…."

Yuren hesitated, looking at me nervously.

"This is for his quick recovery! Do you want him to stay stuck in the infirmary forever?"

"Well…."

"If you help, I\'ll send you that picture we took last year during extra lessons."

"Wh-what picture?"

"Heh. The one of him dozing off during class."

A picture of Dale sleeping!

Yuren, excited, flared his nostrils and grabbed me firmly.

"Sorry, Dale."

"Wait! No! Stop! Aaah!"

"Stay still, brother."

Berald scooped a huge spoonful of the boiling hot, meatless kimchi stew and shoved it into my mouth.

"Gah! Our base... is in the... northern mountains...!"

"Haha! Good medicine is always bitter!"

Berald laughed heartily as I struggled in agony.