“I have no intention of revealing my identity. I just want you to be a bridge that delivers hope to those you see who are truly desperate and in need of help… Oh, and by the way, I’d like you to keep this a secret from my sister-in-law as well.”
Lee Do-hyeon was deeply moved by Sang-woong’s proposal and his noble heart.
‘I thought he was just a restaurant owner who was a good cook, a nice guy, and a landlord.’
However, seeing Sang-woong offer his immense wealth to help others so readily, and even insisting on strict anonymity to avoid taking any credit, left Lee Do-hyeon speechless.
A sincere respect welled up from deep within his heart.
“Sang-woong, you’re truly amazing. Because there are people like you, this world is still worth living in.”
Lee Do-hyeon’s voice choked up, and he couldn’t continue. The suppressed emotions surged, making his eyes turn red. His damp eyes contained infinite respect and gratitude toward Sang-woong.
“Actually, there are some patients I’ve been keeping in mind. People who had to stop treatment because they had no money, or those who were forced to be discharged because they couldn’t afford the hospital bills. It’s truly heartbreaking… I’m talking about people who seem to have no hope left…”
Lee Do-hyeon accepted Sang-woong’s proposal without any further hesitation. He accurately understood the importance of this task and Sang-woong’s noble intentions.
After all, this was the very issue that had caused him to lose sleep and suffer from a sense of helplessness. Now, thanks to Sang-woong, he could finally resolve it.
“I will gladly take on this task as you wish! I will do everything in my power to ensure your good intentions reach those in need, like a ray of light!”
His voice was filled with new vitality, hope, and a strong will for this mission. The man who had said he wanted to ‘quit everything’ at the drinking table was nowhere to be found. He felt deep in his bones that his work had found meaning once again.
“Then, may I first deliver this news to one of the patients I’ve been most concerned about? He truly seemed… hopeless. I can’t forget the sight of him coming to the Administrative Department every day with his head bowed.”
“Yes, please start with the person you believe needs help the most. I trust your judgment, Brother Lee.”
Sang-woong nodded firmly.
Lee Do-hyeon began to tell the story of the patient who had come to his mind first.
“Phew… there’s a patient named Lee Ho-jun.”
His voice was once again tinged with heartbreak, but it now carried a faint glimmer of hope.
“He is a very young man who has just turned twenty…”
The illness Lee Ho-jun suffered from was ‘Skin Crystallization Disease.’ It was a rare and extremely malignant dungeon disease with a very poor prognosis, where parts of the body would gradually turn hard like crystals due to severe Magi contamination.
In the early stages, it begins with extreme pain and paralysis. As it worsens, the skin of the entire body crystallizes, eventually causing the person to shatter and die in excruciating pain.
While a few treatments existed, the cost was astronomical. It was a desperate disease where an ordinary person—someone who wasn’t a tycoon—couldn’t even dare to dream of a cure.
“It’s still in the early stages, but… parts of the skin on his one arm and leg are turning into transparent crystals. You can practically see the dungeon disease spreading along his blood vessels. He’s suffering from extreme pain and paralysis… and he’s finding it harder and harder to even move…”
Lee Do-hyeon’s face contorted in deep sympathy as he explained the patient’s condition. He tried to speak calmly about Lee Ho-jun’s difficult circumstances, but despair and sadness naturally bled into his voice. He felt the patient’s pain as if it were his own.
“His parents passed away in a Dungeon Break accident several years ago… and he has two younger siblings who haven’t even finished school yet. That young man is essentially the sole breadwinner for his little siblings. He worked day and night without rest to earn money for their tuition and living expenses… but once he caught the dungeon disease, everything collapsed in an instant. Forget treatment, he’s at a loss even for how to feed and clothe his siblings right now.”
Lee Do-hyeon paused for a moment, his throat tightening.
Sang-woong listened quietly to Lee Do-hyeon’s story. The tragic tale of a young man who carried the weight of the world on his shoulders only to be struck by a terrible disease resonated deeply within him. He was convinced once again that this was exactly where his help was needed most.
“Forget hospital bills… they’re in a situation where they can barely afford to eat from one day to the next. The hospital is recommending discharge, saying they can no longer delay the treatment costs. The younger siblings can’t even go to school properly because they’re worried about their brother’s bills… and the patient himself is in despair, thinking of his siblings and his own miserable situation… It really felt like my heart was being torn apart. The sight of that young man bowing his head like a sinner every day in the Administrative Department, begging for just one more chance, and the faces of his innocent younger siblings are so vivid… It was so painful to be able to do nothing for them.”
Lee Do-hyeon could not continue and wiped away his hot tears. Pain and helplessness were etched clearly on his face.
“It’s truly… a relief… Sang-woong… I’m so glad I met you… Now I can give hope to this young man…”
He thanked Sang-woong sincerely, with all his heart. Sang-woong’s good deed was like a ray of salvation descending into the darkness.
Meanwhile, Sang-woong was also deeply grateful that there was someone he could trust and rely on, someone who cared for his patients as if they were his own family.
***
A few days later, Lee Do-hyeon visited Lee Ho-jun’s hospital room.
A heavy and gloomy atmosphere still weighed down the room. Lee Ho-jun was leaning against the bed, and parts of the skin on his arm and leg had already turned into hard crystals.
Instead of the youthful vitality of a twenty-year-old, his face was filled with the pain and resignation of someone worn down by illness and despair.
His younger siblings, sitting beside him, also looked as if their very souls had withered, exhausted by their hopeless reality.
“Mr. Lee Ho-jun, I know very well that you are going through a difficult time.”
Lee Do-hyeon spoke cautiously. His voice contained sincere comfort, along with a clear aura of hope that he could now deliver.
“However, I have some very good news.”
Lee Ho-jun and his siblings’ eyes widened with desperate expectation. Good news? For them, who had to worry about being discharged the very next day because of hospital bills?
“It seems there are still good people in this world. A certain philanthropist… heard your story. He felt very sorry for you and said he would sponsor the full amount of your treatment costs.”
Upon hearing these words, Lee Ho-jun and his siblings froze as if time had stopped.
Full sponsorship?
Their brains struggled to process the words, unable to believe them.
The hospital bill problem that had caused such deep despair was being resolved in an instant? They thought it couldn’t be real—that it must be a sweet dream.
“What…? Full sponsorship… for the hospital bills…? What…? Is that… is that true…?”
Lee Ho-jun’s voice trembled as if it were shattering. In the face of an unbelievable miracle, his voice cracked as he tried to confirm the reality of it over and over again.
“Yes, it’s true. From today on, you can focus entirely on your treatment. The treatments you couldn’t receive because of the cost will also be implemented starting today. You don’t have to worry about hospital bills anymore.”
Lee Do-hyeon gave a warm and confident smile. Tears of overwhelming emotion shimmered in his eyes as well.
Hearing this, tears suddenly burst from the eyes of Lee Ho-jun and his siblings like a broken dam. It was a miracle found at the end of despair.
Lee Ho-jun, who had been stiff with pain and resignation, couldn’t say a word and simply let the tears flow endlessly. Tears fell and spread over his hardened skin.
The siblings covered their mouths with their hands and sobbed, their shoulders shaking silently. The immeasurable pain, despair, and helplessness that had accumulated over time exploded violently along with their tears.
“Oh my god… oh my god… such grace… thank… thank you… thank you… to people like us… such a miracle… thank you…”
Lee Ho-jun grabbed the hem of Lee Do-hyeon’s clothes with trembling hands and offered his gratitude. That gratitude was directed toward Sang-woong.
It felt as though his overwhelming heart, which could not be fully expressed in words, was being transmitted through his fingertips.
Lee Do-hyeon watched them with reddened eyes. It was the moment he witnessed firsthand how much of a massive ray of hope Sang-woong’s good deed had become to those at the bottom of despair.
The helplessness that had weighed on his heart completely vanished, replaced by a surging sense of worth from doing “good work” with Sang-woong.
“That… that philanthropist… we really want to meet him in person and thank him… Even just to see his face… we want to convey this grateful heart…”
“That person does not wish to reveal his identity.”
Lee Do-hyeon relayed Sang-woong’s wishes. Respect was evident in his voice as well.
“He said he finds meaning in the act of helping itself… and that your heart alone is more than enough.”
“But… we… we really want to repay this grace…”
Lee Ho-jun spoke in a pleading, desperate voice.
“He said that… the greatest way to repay his grace is… for Mr. Lee Ho-jun to use this support as a stepping stone to receive treatment diligently and show him that you’ve become healthy. He said your full recovery… would be the greatest joy and reward for him.”
Lee Ho-jun was deeply moved once again by Lee Do-hyeon’s words.
An anonymous benefactor who asked for no money or material things and only sincerely wished for his recovery. He shed hot tears again at that noble heart.
“Yes… yes… I understand… I will… I will definitely receive treatment diligently and… surely show him my fully recovered state… I promise…”
Holding Lee Do-hyeon’s hand with his trembling ones, he couldn’t stop crying as he repeatedly thanked him. His voice held a strong will toward a new life reclaimed from the threshold of death.
Lee Do-hyeon squeezed his hand and nodded firmly. Now, there was no longer an aura of despair in the hospital room. Instead, it was filled with the warm energy of hope and gratitude.
Sang-woong’s help had gifted a life at the bottom of despair with a reason to live again, hope, and the strength to fight.
Lee Do-hyeon now clearly knew what he had to do. To accurately deliver Sang-woong’s goodwill to the places that needed it and help this miracle become a reality. In that process, he could completely wash away the helplessness he had felt as an Administrative Department Manager and find new worth and meaning.
He was ready to carry out this work as Sang-woong’s shadow.
***
Time on the land flew by like an arrow.
Green sprouts poked through the fertile soil, and in the fields dyed with the light of the setting sun, golden crops ripened. Under Sang-woong’s protection, the people released from the Demon Tribe finally embraced freedom.
With roughened hands, they tilled the hard earth and planted sweet potatoes and potatoes. They built simple Rest Areas out of mud and wood. Their sweat became seeds of hope, taking root in the foundation of their new lives.
Sang-woong did not directly interfere in their lives. He firmly believed that the people would enjoy their freedom and create their own order through trial and error.
Just as history had shown, they would be able to find their way even amidst chaos.
But in the meantime, another shadow began to loom among the humans.
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